Chapter 77
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Magitech City, Laputa - 1
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Lee Hyun-wook stood before the colossal door, the first ‘vault’.
"Team Leader Lee, that key opens this door, right?"
Lee Jeong-jun asked, and Lee Hyun-wook nodded.
At that, everyone’s eyes filled with anticipation.
"Oh, as expected..."
Lee Hyun-wook took the silver key he had obtained from the ruins guardian and inserted it into the massive door on the left—Vault 1.
*Click!*
It was a perfect fit. Soon, the great door began to open slowly.
*Rumble—*
"Oh!"
A soft light spilled out from within.
Lee Hyun-wook was the first to step inside.
The space was entirely pure white.
It was structured like a corridor, unbefitting the name ‘vault’, with all sorts of items displayed on the left and right. It felt less like they were stored in a vault and more like they were exhibited in an art museum.
The Hope Guild members looked around, unable to contain their admiration.
"Wow, look at all that. You can tell just by looking that every single one is a pricey item, can't you?"
"Yeah, they look like they're at least Rare Grade. Maybe there are even some Hero Grade items?"
For ordinary Players, even obtaining a ‘Rare Grade’ item was difficult, so it was only natural for their eyes to widen and mouths to water.
However, the Cheonghwa Guild members could only smack their lips.
"Hah... Dazzling. But I doubt we'll get any of it, right?"
"*Tsk*, I wonder how much all of this would be worth..."
These items would be distributed after the dungeon was cleared, but since Lee Hyun-wook's ‘contribution’ was overwhelming, the majority would go to the Hope Guild. In effect, they were all his for the taking.
‘Every single item here is quite good, but the one truly important thing is at the very end.’
Lee Hyun-wook reached the end of the room, in front of a large, glass-box-like object.
Upon closer inspection, however, what enveloped the box wasn't glass but a translucent ‘barrier’. Inside it lay a flat, eyeball-shaped metal sculpture, about the size of two knuckles.
- Warning! Only those with vault access may approach!
Here, ‘vault access’ referred to the key to this room that Lee Hyun-wook held.
This meant Lee Hyun-wook could pass through the barrier. He boldly stuck his hand through and grasped the item.
*Woooong—*
[Item Information]
- Name: 3rd Fragment of the Eye of Horus (Legendary)
- Effect: Allows you to see things that cannot be seen through ordinary means.
* True power is unleashed when all ‘fragments’ are collected.
‘...To think I’d get this so early.’
Lee Hyun-wook felt that he was growing stronger faster than he had anticipated.
Horus was the sun god of Egyptian mythology, and his eye was regarded as a kind of talisman with various symbolic meanings, called the ‘King’s Eye’ that sees through all things.
True to that lore, even as an incomplete ‘fragment’, it was a Legendary Grade item. Much like ‘Hugin’, it was an item specialized for ‘information acquisition’.
However, while Hugin detected things that actually ‘exist’, this allowed one to see things that ‘do not exist’.
Simply put, it was like gaining the ability of an ‘Analyst’ type Player, enabling him to see a monster's level, an item's hidden information, a gate's detailed stats, and more.
‘And that is a tremendous advantage in this day and age.’
Most major powers, be they nations, guilds, or corporations, operated multiple 'Analyst parties' and went to great lengths to improve their capabilities.
‘It’s only natural. In any world, information is power...’
The ‘game information’ only Analysts could see was power,
and power led to opportunity.
‘And if I absorb this... my eyes will change this time.’
Lee Hyun-wook tucked the Eye of Horus deep into his inner pocket.
Having collapsed once when his ‘Aether Engine’ was formed, it was wiser to absorb it in a safe situation after the dungeon raid was complete.
Now, up to this point, everything was part of a scenario Lee Hyun-wook already knew.
‘Now... it’s time to open the next room.’
Lee Hyun-wook exited Vault 1 and stood before Vault 2.
This was an unknown space, even to him.
"Don't tell me, you can open that one too?"
Park Mu-han asked with a look of surprise.
"Yes, I received it as a reward for a hidden quest."
"Ah, I see..."
Lee Hyun-wook gave a plausible reason for being able to open it, then took out the ‘Master Key of the Ancient Heritage’ and inserted it into the keyhole.
*Click—*
And so, Vault 2 opened.
The space inside was several times larger than Vault 1.
"Hmm..."
But unlike Vault 1, it was a desolate scene. No matter where he looked, he couldn't spot anything that could be called an ‘item’.
"This is strange. There seems to be... nothing?"
"I know. I thought this would be a better vault..."
The Hope Guild members who followed him in couldn't hide their disappointment.
The only notable features were two massive tunnels on the right side. On the floor of those tunnels, some kind of magic circuit was engraved.
‘Those look like launch tubes...’
The launch tubes looked like paths for firing something massive to the outside. In front of them was a square ‘platform’, shaped as if a fighter jet or a spaceship might be docked there... but on that vast platform, there was only a single small object.
It was...
"Hey, over there, there's something!"
"Hm? A shield... isn't it?"
Yes, it was a shield.
But why on earth was such a small shield sitting all alone on such a massive platform? It was a scene that was hard to comprehend.
‘...Something’s off.’
There was a high probability that a trap was hidden in such a strange scene.
"Halt. Everyone wait there."
At Lee Hyun-wook's command, everyone stopped near the entrance.
*C-c-crack—*
He covered his entire body with hardening and even cast a mana shield.
Then he slowly approached and dropped a steel bead onto the platform.
*Tuk—*
He then slowly rolled it toward the shield.
"......."
But there was no reaction.
‘...There’s no trap.’
Lee Hyun-wook stepped onto the platform and approached the white shield.
He placed his hand on it.
- You have obtained Prydwen (Legendary).
‘What, so it is just a shield?’
Lee Hyun-wook looked around once more.
No matter how he thought about it, its placement was strange.
But there was nothing else in sight.
‘Still, Legendary Grade. Was Mythic Grade too much to hope for?’
Of course, even a Legendary Grade item was of enormous value, but he had held some expectations for a door he couldn't open in his past life.
Lee Hyun-wook put his disappointment aside and checked the item's information.
The moment he did, he couldn't help but frown.
[Item Information]
- Name: Prydwen (Legendary)
- Effect
1) King’s Shield: Greatly increases the defense of all ‘Retainers’ for 5 minutes. (+50%) * Cooldown: 30 minutes
2) Transform: Can ‘transform’ into a small airship.
It was the second skill that caught his eye.
‘...What? This can become an airship?’
An airship was a vehicle that flew using magical power.
"Why, how can a shield become an airship..."
Lee Hyun-wook didn't know the story behind this item, Prydwen.
In Arthurian legend, it appears interchangeably as King Arthur's ‘shield’ or ‘ship’.
That was likely why both versions were implemented in this game. And in a single item, no less.
‘In any case, this... is a jackpot, isn't it?’
In this era, there were only a few real ‘airships’ in the world.
The ‘Ship of Theseus’ of the Republic of Chad.
The ‘Five Dragon Chariot’ of the KOR A.M.T's Order of Holy Knights.
The ‘Somersault Cloud’ of China's <Great Sage, Heaven's Equal> Guild.
And now, there was a fourth.
‘But I can't test this function here and now.’
There were too many eyes watching to debut a new item.
If this fact became known to the world, it would become a headache.
So for now, he had to hide it.
And one more thing. The moment he found this item, the quest was completed.
- Congratulations! You have successfully cleared the hidden quest <Path of the Ancient Civilization's Successor>!
* 1 ‘Master Authority’ for the ancient ruin Laputa will be unlocked.
‘Hm? Master Authority...’
[Laputa: Master Authority]
1) Emergency Return: Return to Laputa’s ‘Order Tower’.
* ‘Prydwen’ is required to use this function. (Cooldown: 1 hour)
It seemed that through hidden quests like this, he could obtain some kind of authority over ‘Laputa’. Just because he had the ‘Master Key’ didn't mean he got everything at once; it seemed to provide opportunities to acquire things one by one.
‘...It should be fine to reveal that I'm Laputa's administrator soon.’
When he first met Woo Seong-mun after the wave ended, Woo had secretly approached him and subtly asked if he had gained anything related to Laputa.
‘But back then, I played dumb and said I didn't know.’
That was because, at the time, Lee Hyun-wook had almost no authority, and getting deeply involved with the government carried a high risk of being pushed around. Of course, Woo Seong-mun likely hadn't given up on the idea that he had something and was probably keeping a close watch.
But the situation was quite different now.
Lee Hyun-wook had now accumulated enough achievements to not be swayed by government power, so he should be able to properly exercise his ‘Laputa Administrator’ authority.
Lee Hyun-wook looked back at the Players.
"...Alright, let's continue with the dungeon raid."
Of course, clearing this dungeon was the priority for now.
***
49 hours after entering the gate, the dungeon raid was complete.
Not a single person was sacrificed; everyone returned safely.
"...Here, this is the World Stone."
Park Mu-han handed the World Stone to an Analyst Player from the Cheonghwa Guild. Now they could analyze it to measure the ‘contribution’.
"Let's see, the contribution is..."
But the moment he analyzed it, the Analyst Player's face stiffened.
"T-Team Leader Park, this... the contribution... how..."
"Yes, well, that's right. We were pretty much just along for the ride."
He admitted it cleanly with a hearty laugh.
He was talking about the fact that the total contribution of the Cheonghwa Guild, which had entered with a staggering 51 members—three times the number of the Hope Guild—was a mere 21%.
‘Lee Hyun-wook... there was no way for me to catch up to him.’
Park Mu-han had given it his all, driven by a sense of challenge. But until the moment the boss monster's last breath was drawn, Lee Hyun-wook had been overwhelming.
Thus, the Hope Guild took almost all the rewards.
Among them was the ‘Latent Item’ that Lee Hyun-wook had been aiming for.
[Item Information]
- Name: Hammer Imbued with a Strange Power
- Effect: Increases the probability of a ‘skill’ being granted to a crafted item.
‘It looks unremarkable now because it’s a latent item, but once its potential is unlocked, it will become a Legendary Grade item.’
When it finally displayed its ridiculously overpowered effect of granting ‘skills’ to crafted items, the faction Lee Hyun-wook was building would become an immense power.
Just then, a commotion could be heard from somewhere.
"—Hey! There he is!"
A crowd of reporters had gathered near the entrance to the area where the gate had appeared.
'.......'
It seemed that the fact Lee Hyun-wook was participating in this raid had been leaked, probably because he was moving with the Cheonghwa Guild.
‘Damn, I should have been more insistent about keeping my identity under wraps...’
The Cheonghwa Guild staff tried to hold the reporters back, but since Lee Hyun-wook wasn't a member of their guild, they were half-hearted about it.
In the end, the reporters swarmed toward him.
"—Mr. Lee Hyun-wook! A moment for an interview, please!"
Lee Hyun-wook had tried to ignore it until now, but his name and actions were still a hot topic in the public eye.
Since he had completely avoided contact with the outside world, landing the first interview would be a massive scoop, making the competition among journalists fierce.
"We know you're still with the A.M.T, so why did you join the Cheonghwa Guild for this raid?"
"Ah! Does this mean you'll be transferring to the Cheonghwa Guild after your military service is over? Mr. Lee Hyun-wook! Please say a word!"
In any case, media exposure wasn't good. And now he was being misunderstood like this...
"Among your famous exploits, there's a story about you making it rain steel. Is that the name of a skill?"
"And Mr. Lee Hyun-wook, it's known that you're an F-Grade. How are you able to be so active?"
But Lee Hyun-wook didn't answer a single question and got into a car.
"Hoo— We'll leave immediately!"
"Yes, please go."
As the car started moving, Lee Jeong-jun, sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly spoke up.
"Ahem, Team Leader Lee, did you know?"
"...Yes?"
"Well, you have a lot of fans. There's even, like, a fan cafe for you."
"What? Fans..."
"How should I put it? Since you don't show yourself much, you've developed this mysterious image. The true hero who saved Seoul without making a fuss! That's how the public sees you. Haha... You don't really check the internet, do you, Team Leader?"
"...No, well, I barely look at it."
"Look at this. Your popularity is bigger than you think. You're mentioned way more than most of the popular rankers these days."
Lee Jeong-jun showed him articles and reactions related to him on the internet.
Naturally, there were debates, but there was also a mood of deification, given that he had saved Seoul.
‘At this rate... it's no wonder the rankers are starting to resent me...’
And that day, a story about Lee Hyun-wook appeared on the news.
- ...Lee Hyun-wook, many people doubt him. I did too. But I saw it with my own two eyes. The rumors about him are all true... and perhaps even more. Yes, that's right.
The person being interviewed was Park Mu-han, the raid leader from Cheonghwa. As he was ranked 151st in the country, his testimony held weight.
With that, the rumors about Lee Hyun-wook began to grow even stronger.
- The Mysterious Savior of Seoul, His Skills Begin to Be Proven!
- [Feature] F-Grade Player Lee Hyun-wook, How Did He Become the Greatest Hero?
But Lee Hyun-wook paid no mind to such things.
That night, Lee Hyun-wook looked up at the massive object illuminating the night sky of Seoul: ‘Laputa’.
‘Before I tell Woo Seong-mun about my administrator authority, I need to go to Laputa first. And as it happens, with Prydwen, I now have a way to get there...’
It seemed the time had finally come to take his first step into that secret city in the sky.