Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Chapter 21: Grave Robbers (5)
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After Yang Tae-ho joined me, I resumed cleaning up the surface before heading into the recommended mission zone.
Of course, now that I had company, we exchanged bits of conversation here and there.
I needed to gauge his full capabilities to minimize any mishaps in combat.
“Your attribute mana is under a thousand?”
“Yeah, that’s right... It must look pretty weak to you.”
“Anything else I should know?”
Most of the topics were about adjusting our hunting pace.
But in the process, I uncovered something astonishing.
“Your chaos limit is in the 70s?”
“As expected, you’re surprised. It’s true, though. Wanna see?”
Yang Tae-ho pulled up his status window to prove his point.
The chaos value displayed there was a staggering 51%.
A number I hadn’t seen since the very early game days.
“You gotta hit over 70 before the hallucinations kick in.”
Yang Tae-ho gave an awkward shrug, his smile a mix of sheepishness and nonchalance.
I was more than amazed—almost deflated.
‘How is he so fine with chaos that high?’
If his limit really was in the 70s like he claimed, it was incredible.
‘Shouldn’t he be a Buddha by now?’
The point at which chaos affected you varied by personality.
People like me, quick to anger or aggressive, felt it early on.
‘My chaos limit’s around 30.’
That’s when the whispers start and the violent urges hit.
Push past 50 without purification, and self-control slips away.
That’s why I’d been grateful for my purification trait time and again.
Yang Tae-ho, though, claimed his limit was 70—not 50 or 60.
It was already impressive that this second-wave player had hit 40,000 mana and geared up.
Turns out the reason was his chaos limit.
Fewer purifiers needed compared to others, so faster growth.
“Anyway, haven’t you finished clearing the meseo yet?”
Just as I was marveling at his Buddha-like composure.
“Where to now? We’ve gone pretty deep... Shouldn’t we head back?”
Yang Tae-ho, who’d been quietly doing his part and following along, voiced his first concern.
“There are still contaminated areas left to clear.”
I checked the map taking up one side of my vision as I replied.
Yang Tae-ho glanced at me, his mouth opening and closing hesitantly.
After a moment’s pause, he couldn’t hold back anymore and asked carefully.
“How do you know that? No mission’s popping up for me. You been here before?”
This game doesn’t tell you where the contaminated areas are.
You stumble into them while moving around, and that’s when missions trigger.
Or you transfer directly from Earth to mission zones.
‘I know because of the map.’
Normally, there’s no way to pinpoint contaminated areas.
So he couldn’t make sense of me saying more missions remained.
With curiosity, doubt, and a hint of unease in his question, I curled my lips into a smile.
“Yeah, I have.”
Soon after, we reached that tunnel from before.
I clicked the golden star marked on the map for confirmation, and a small window popped up.
MISSION - Recommended
[Contaminated Area Purification ★★(04-2776)]
Eliminate all enemies within the designated area and destroy the meseo.
• Meseo (0/6)
[Rewards]
Choose one of the following.
• Mana 80, Reputation 4
• Attribute Mana 40, Reputation 8
※ Additional Reward: War spoils worth 2.7 billion won
It was one of the recommended missions the system promised me—with an especially hefty payout.
Thanks to Belego’s vault, I had some personal funds secured, but still.
‘More’s always better.’
I closed the mission window and peered into the tunnel.
The gently sloping passage led downward, its end lost in shadow.
‘Meseo underground, huh...’
Meseo referred to a hole that had settled into an object and taken physical form.
Which meant there had to be something for the hole to latch onto to form a meseo.
‘Could’ve just been a rock, though.’
First time for something like this, but not impossible.
I decided not to overthink the meseo’s position.
Instead, I focused on the path to get there.
With a meseo formed, monsters would swarm inevitably.
That process would carve out a path, so reaching it shouldn’t be too hard.
‘If it’s blocked somehow, we turn back.’
With Yang Tae-ho handling earth attribute too, we wouldn’t get buried alive pointlessly.
“Let’s go in.”
“Y-You mean down here?”
I grabbed some suitable wood for a torch, then pulled out the backpack I always carried in my inventory.
From it, I took oil and cloth to fashion a proper torch and lit it.
Without delay, I squeezed into the tunnel.
Yang Tae-ho hesitated a moment but soon followed.
“Hoo, it’s tight in here. This really the way?”
“Probably.”
The tunnel was so narrow I couldn’t even stand straight.
In the end, I swapped my spear for a dagger.
One hand held the makeshift torch, the other gripped the dagger—and right away, the minor welcoming committee began.
Bizarre creatures burst from countless holes in the walls.
I’d already spotted their approach on the map.
The instant one emerged from its hole, I stabbed it with my dagger.
“Squeak!”
Mana barely scraping the late teens.
In terms of combat power, they were bottom-tier even among the hundreds of field mobs.
‘A regular adult could take these down with a knife.’
I poked around the corpse for a bit.
About a meter long, pierced clean through by the dagger.
Reverse-triangular head like a snake’s, with legs sprouting right beside it—mole-like overall.
Most striking: no eyes.
Instead, pointed ears jutted from the top of its head. Bat-like.
A monster I’d never seen, yet its form felt familiar.
“This is a volpo.”
“Volpo? These things got names...?”
“Most don’t.”
There was a monster encyclopedia from Bihar, sort of.
Only the ones listed there had clear names.
Roughly 30% cataloged, 70% not.
‘Honestly, that’s about as far as they got before quitting.’
At first, I was baffled they’d half-assed it, but once I knew the backstory, it made sense.
The monster encyclopedia stalled because there weren’t enough mages dedicated to biological research.
About nine years ago, nearly half the mages in the magic tower defected to the demihumans.
The damage was catastrophic, from what I’d heard.
Through those mages, the alliance’s garrison positions, supply routes, and other classified intel all leaked straight to enemy command.
High-tier monsters I hadn’t encountered yet.
‘Generals, marshals, and legion lords.’
They had the smarts to negotiate during the war.
Some could even communicate directly with demihumans.
Prime examples: 9- and 10-star evolved types with near-human intelligence.
So the enemy targeting key alliance strongholds wasn’t coincidence—it was strategy.
‘That’s around when we really started losing the war.’
The shock lingers; even mages who stayed loyal get treated like risks.
That’s why Ahel and the others wear restraints under strict watch.
Because of this, further monster research ground to a halt.
The encyclopedia hadn’t advanced much since nine years ago.
There were field reports from combat vets, but without systematic validation, they don’t spread widely.
They’re just used as guidelines for behavior in spawn zones.
So yeah, calling it an encyclopedia is a stretch.
Still worth a read once.
You get solid basics on cataloged monsters.
I recalled volpo traits.
‘No vision, terrible sense of smell.’
But hearing abnormally sharp.
Add this place’s features and exploitable patterns.
Piecing it together, a way to clear over 2,000 of them quickly dawned on me.
* * *
Thud-thud-thud-thud-!
Each time Yang Tae-ho slammed his shield, a racket echoed.
We stood in a cavern about 5 or 6 meters wide, the noise reverberating like thunder.
Perfect bait for sound-sensitive volpos—what could be better?
“Lord almighty, what in the world...”
The proof was in Yang Tae-ho staring upward, dumbfounded.
Volpos were crawling out from above, skittering across the ceiling to drop down.
Not just the ceiling, either.
Walls of our chamber, even the floor.
Turn your head, and volpos were pouring from every hole in sight.
In the past 20 minutes, we’d probably bagged 600 or 700.
Not the fastest pace, but unavoidable.
I was limited to wind attribute.
‘Wind’s just not great for AoE, huh.’
Unlike fire, which delivers physical impact just by manifesting elements, wind needed secondary shaping into sharp forms.
I’d love to whip out easy fire magic, but...
‘Fire spells here? Carbon monoxide poisoning waiting to happen.’
Water attribute wasn’t viable either.
It resisted my control too much.
I could break it down, but manipulating it freely like fire? Different story.
Ahel said it’s because my affinity skews toward fire.
Both suit me, but between water and fire, fire feels more natural.
Like, both colors match me, but I’ve only got one favorite.
‘Yeah, as a kid on camping trips, I preferred fireside over swimming.’
Pretty active me, but dipping in water? Rare. Parents found it odd.
Not that I hate water, but preference leans fire.
So water magic in combat was off the table.
Too risky if shit hit the fan—I needed quick responses.
‘Earth attribute’s awkward for attacks since I’m shoving corpses into the ground nonstop.’
Stuck slicing them one by one with wind.
‘Roasting ’em in fire would be quicker, but no choice.’
Had to take the time.
I steadily cut down the volpos swarming this spot.
That’s when Yang Tae-ho, helping bury bodies, muttered in dismay.
“This is gettin’ to me somethin’ fierce.”
Then he tossed a casual question.
“Never seen a sight this soul-crushin’ before, but you’re cool as ice? Like you’re from another world or somethin’.”
Amid his exclamations, Yang Tae-ho eyed the scene—familiar to me—like it fascinated him.