Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Herti (1)
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My companions' voices seemed to fade as my vision changed.
A pitch-black darkness, completely empty.
I called out to my companions, but there was no response. In that moment of panic, a sphere of white light descended from above.
It felt similar to the sphere of light that had first brought me to Elsia, but wait a minute...
The sphere grew larger, transforming into a human figure.
She was a stunning blonde beauty, so radiant it made my eyes widen. Six pure white wings were attached to her back.
So this is why they're called angels.
My admiration for her beauty was fleeting; I knew I had to keep my wits about me.
I had expected this to some extent. They must have summoned me because of my shoes.
“I am Seria, one of Elsia’s administrators. May I have your name, Summoned One?”
Hearing the word 'administrator' sent a cold sweat down my back, but this was a little unexpected.
She was speaking formally and acting friendly, and she didn't even know my name.
Is she a different entity from the sphere I saw before?
In any case, the situation doesn't seem as bad as I thought.
She called herself an administrator, but the fact that she doesn't even know my name must mean she doesn't have the absolute authority of a game's GM.
“My name is Oh Hyeon-ung. Where am I?”
“So you are Oh Hyeon-ung, the Summoned One. This is a temporary space I’ve created.”
A temporary space?
“Temporary space or not, why did you bring me here?”
It was nine times out of ten because of the Boots of Enhancement, but I decided to play dumb for now.
“I’m not entirely sure myself, but the system is designed to summon individuals here and notify me automatically when an unauthorized, illicit act is committed in Elsia.”
If it's an illicit act, it must be because of the boots, but something is strange.
When I first received the boots, the butler did try to dissuade me with a rather uneasy expression.
But nothing like this happened when I enhanced them outside, or during all the time I’ve been wearing them while hunting.
Could it be that I was caught because I tried to enhance them inside the Labyrinth?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I agree. Looking at you now, there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly unusual. Could you tell me what you were doing when you were summoned here?”
The fact that she's asking what I was doing makes me think my guess was right.
I thought I was going to lose my shoes for sure, but if I play my cards right, I might get through this unscathed.
Right. They say you can survive even in a tiger's den if you just keep your cool.
“Summoned One?”
“I was just about to move from the 50th floor to the 51st.”
“The 51st floor? You’ve already cleared the 50th… Well, it has been about three years, so it’s about time, but the Summoned Ones of this round are quite impressive.”
I'm the only one who's reached the 50th floor. The fact that she doesn't even know that confirms it.
Elsia’s administrators don’t have absolute authority like the GMs of a typical game.
“This round?”
“You’ve passed the 50th floor, so you must know, right? In Elsia, there are also Summoned Ones who have come from worlds different from your own.”
As she spoke, she scanned me up and down, then tilted her head.
“For someone challenging the 51st floor, your equipment is quite good, isn’t it?”
A chill ran down my spine.
Normally, all equipment emits a faint light according to its grade when not worn, but the moment it’s equipped, it stops glowing.
Even without the absolute authority of a GM, she is an administrator, after all. Can she tell what kind of items I have just by looking?
“Uh… well…”
“There’s no need to be so surprised. An administrator can tell an item’s grade just by looking at it.”
I thought I was caught. What a relief.
“I got lucky.”
“It seems so. There doesn’t appear to be anything particularly wrong, so I suppose there was some kind of error.”
She's just going to let it go like that?
“An error?”
“It happens from time to time. Perhaps the Summoned Ones of this round are so capable that clearing the 50th floor early caused an error.”
“I see. Then, could you send me back to where I was…”
“That might be a bit difficult.”
What does she mean, difficult…?
Her expression suddenly hardened as she spoke.
Could it be that she knew all along and was just deceiving me?
“What do you mean…”
“You were inconvenienced by an error, so you must receive compensation before you go.”
…She’s giving me compensation?
“What’s wrong? If we’ve inconvenienced the Summoned Ones, it’s only natural that we compensate you, isn’t it?”
She said it with a bright smile, but I was dumbfounded.
She was right, of course, but I didn't think those were words for the ones who had dragged me here without a word of warning.
“I… I see.”
“Your equipment is already so good, it’s hard to decide. Is there anything you want? Oh, but the Orb of Wishes is out of the question.”
I never expected she'd offer something like that anyway.
Honestly, I don't have much desire for more equipment.
“Is anything other than equipment possible?”
When I told her what I had in mind, the angel tilted her head.
“Is it not possible?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just a fascinating suggestion, one I’ve never heard before.”
“So…”
“I can’t tell you the reason, but that might be difficult. It feels a bit excessive for compensation for an error, don’t you think?”
What I had asked for was to be able to summon my companions even outside.
“If that’s too difficult, could you at least tell me how?”
“That’s not difficult at all. Just obtain the Orb of Wishes.”
…And she calls that a method.
“You truly care for your companions. Since I’ve heard such an interesting proposal, I’ll give you an interesting reward. Now, farewell.”
As she spoke, the angel snapped her fingers, and my vision began to change again.
“Hyeon-ung! Are you okay?”
“Mister!”
“Hyeon-ung, where did you go? We were worried.”
“…Are you all right?”
“Kkyuing!”
All my companions had expressions of immense worry.
“It was nothing.”
I was about to explain the situation when a notification window appeared.
[You have obtained 1x Random Item Box as compensation for the error.]
She called it an interesting reward, and it’s the same kind of box I got as a Pioneer reward.
Come to think of it, I still haven't checked the one I got last time.
Well, I should be grateful for this.
Not having my Boots of Enhancement confiscated is the best reward of all.
I also learned some things about the angel.
Confirming that she doesn't have absolute authority like a game GM is a significant gain.
Based on her words and actions, it seems I'll be fine as long as I don't enhance items inside the Labyrinth.
I briefly explained the situation to the others and took the random item box from my inventory.
I figured this would also be affected by luck, so I temporarily unsummoned Alpen and summoned Radios.
“Hyeon-ung, you’ve finally called for me. It feels like it’s been too long.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that.”
“This time, whose memories shall I consume…”
“Ah, just stay still.”
I felt a little bad for Radios, but Rina was glaring at him with a look of disapproval, so I planned to quickly open the item and send him back.
When I took the boxes from my inventory, they were unfortunately both glowing red, not yellow.
“Kkyuing!”
I was a little disappointed, but Goldie, who hadn't shown any greed for items lately, approached one of the boxes and settled next to it.
“Alpen… isn’t here right now, is he? Rina, hold onto Goldie for a second.”
“Okay! Come here.”
“Kkyuing! Kkyuing!”
Caught in Rina’s hands, Goldie struggled, but it couldn't overcome her strength.
Seeing Goldie so interested must mean it's a pretty decent item.
With a sense of excitement, I opened the lids of the boxes.
One was a ring, and the one Goldie was next to was…?
A red egg.
“It’s an egg.”
“Hyeon-ung, could this be?”
“Yeah. Goldie came from an egg like this, too.”
I didn't expect to get another pet…
The size is similar, but the color is completely different, so it seems to be a different species from Goldie.
“No! Wait! Goldie!”
“Kkyuing!”
Rina was distracted looking at the items, and in that moment of carelessness, Goldie broke free and approached the egg.
Thinking it was after the items, I picked up the ring.
[Agnes's Ring (Unique)
A special ring containing the power of the high-ranking fire spirit, Agnes.
Mana +30, Luck +20
Special Effect
Fire-attribute magic attack power +50%]
The stats are simple, but it seems like a perfect ring for Timi.
No, the ring isn't what's important right now.
My hand holding the ring felt useless as Goldie approached the egg.
I was worried it might try to eat the egg, but thankfully, it didn't use its mouth. Instead, it tapped the egg with its tiny hands.
Cracks formed on the shell, and from inside, a bird slightly smaller than Goldie broke through and emerged.
Its body, beak, and even its legs were all a fiery red.
Only its eyes were yellow. It looked at Goldie and immediately started pecking its head.
“Ppoyo! Ppoyo!”
“Kkyuing? Kkyuing…”
After being attacked, Goldie immediately fled to Hanna.
The red bird studied us calmly, then trotted over to me before suddenly flying up and landing on my shoulder.
It’s amazing that it can already fly when it hasn’t even been a few minutes since it hatched.
I carefully touched it with my finger and found its feathers to be incredibly soft.
It didn't even try to run away.
In fact, it rubbed itself against my cheek, full of affection, unlike a certain someone.
“Ppoyo! Ppoyo!”
Its cry is a bit unusual.
“Radios, thanks for your help. You can go back now.”
“What? But I haven’t even been out for ten minutes…”
“I’ll call you again next time. I’ll even have a memory ready for you to eat then.”
Though I have no idea when 'next time' will be.
“If it is your will, Hyeon-ung, then I have no choice. Very well.”
Radios had a disappointed look on his face but returned obediently.
I immediately summoned Alpen, and as expected of the best beastmaster, he identified it at once.
“To think I’d see a Herti in person… Where on earth did you get this little one?”
He seemed incredibly fascinated.
“So its name is Herti. Is it rare?”
“Not as rare as a Golden Dragon, but it’s an incredibly hard creature to find. They spend almost their entire lives in lava.”
“It lives in lava?”
“They’re also known to only lay their eggs in active volcanoes.”
I wondered if being outside would be a problem for it, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.
“Hey, loser, does this thing have any special effects like Goldie?”
“A Herti… I’m not going to say.”
Oh boy. It seems our Alpen has finally reached his breaking point.
“Why’d you stop talking? Are you sulking?”
“Rina, stop it. Alpen is clearly older than you; how long are you going to act like this?”
“I just thought Mister would be curious, so I asked first, but he’s making a big deal out of nothing.”
Making a big deal? He was just explaining things calmly.
Honestly, just when I think our Rina is being decent, she has to go and do something obnoxious.
“Alpen, I don’t feel the same way as Rina. You’re a precious companion, too. Please continue your explanation.”
“As expected, there’s no one like you, Hyeon-ung. A Herti is incredibly fast. There’s probably nothing faster than a Herti in the air. Its stamina is top-notch, too.”
“Hmm, is that all?”
It's a bit underwhelming.
“I’ve heard they can share their vision with their master, but I believe that’s only possible once the Herti has grown a bit and has formed a strong bond.”
Even more underwhelming.
Well, it is cute, at least.
As a way of saying 'let's get along', I stroked its feathers again with my index finger.
“Ppoyo! Ppoyo!”
“It’s cute. Let me touch it… Ouch!”
Milli approached and reached out her hand, but the Herti pecked at her with its beak.
It was so calm when I touched it. It's got a bit of a temper.
“Alright, we’ve checked everything we needed to, and we have a new companion, so now let’s really head to the 51st floor…”
I was about to say, but there was still one more thing to do.
“Mister, what is it now?”
“This is the last thing, I swear. Timi?”
“Me?”
I handed Timi the Agnes's Ring that had come from the other random box.
“Oh my, Hyeon-ung, are you finally proposing?”
“Proposing? What are you talking about? I looked at the stats, and it seemed like it would suit you, so take it.”
Timi took the ring with a disappointed expression and put it on her finger herself.
“It looks good on you. I was going to put it on for you.”
“But you said you weren’t proposing, didn’t you? In my country, putting a ring on someone’s finger is something you only do when you’re proposing.”
“Oh, is that so.”
So putting a ring on someone's finger has that kind of meaning. It's a bit like on Earth… No, wait a minute.
Last time, I got a ring from the Emperor Mimic and gave it to Rina as a gift.
I’m sure she asked me to put it on for her back then, so I did…
“What are you doing? Let’s go to the 51st floor. If you’re done giving out gifts.”
Rina’s face, as she urged me on, was as red as a beet.
“Right. Let’s go.”
She's so dishonest with herself, I thought as I stepped toward the portal.