Chapter 199
Chapter 199
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 199
Chapter Title: New Goal
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“Kim, if this water’s enough for you, they say take as much as you want.”
It was water infused with things spawned by abyssal beings. To the masters of Paju’s Three Tombs, it was nothing but a nuisance.
The moment permission was granted, an achievement message popped up.
[Achievement Unlocked! You have gained favor with the faction ‘Spirits of the Bygone Age.’
You have obtained the ‘Common Achievement: The Ancestors Are Pleased.’
As an achievement reward, you receive Debug.Log(“Invalid object called!”) and bonus experience.]
‘Did they not expect me to take this water?’
Truth be told, glitches like this cropped up all the time when I played as a game. No big deal. The game was riddled with bugs.
“Alright, then—”
Just as I moved to act, a message window suddenly blocked my view.
[You’ve not only completed the Thousand Gold Hall’s commission but also fully won over Captain Thousand Gold, the unstable element. Thanks to your heroic actions at Paju’s Three Tombs, the spirits of the bygone age will show you goodwill as well.]
“Kim? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing. Hang on a sec. Gotta figure out how to take this water.”
“Bwahaha! You said you’d take it without even a way to carry it?”
“Ugh, not that. Anyway, just wait a bit.”
This was finally the point where the quest wrapped up. Quest completion message and experience incoming any second.
And if my guess was right, Tier 5 spells would unlock this time.
[Quest Completed!
[Escort Quest: Captain Thousand Gold and the Goblin Imps] Reward: 5,000,000 XP + Bonus based on mission performance.]
[You have accumulated enough experience to reach the next level. Level increased by 1.]
[You defeated ‘Blood Leech.’ Understanding of abyssal beings increased.]
[You defeated multiple ‘Goblin Imps.’ Understanding of goblins increased.]
[You defeated ‘Mighty Predator - Sunbu.’ Understanding of abyssal beings increased.]
[You defeated multiple cultists (Gourmet Expedition Party). Understanding of the Mountain Predator Cult increased.]
[You exerted tremendous influence over ‘Saltgold and One Thousand Broken Waves.’ Understanding of the underworld increased.]
[You have accumulated enough experience to reach the next level. Level increased by 1.]
[Experience Bonus: You achieved a total of (4) achievements.]
[You have accumulated enough experience to reach the next level. Level increased by 1.]
[Level 51 Achieved!
Level-up reward: Gain 1 bonus stat point to freely allocate.]
Where to put the bonus stat point?
‘Oh, right—my Charisma’s at 19.’
I assigned the point to Charisma, bringing it to 20. Charisma wasn’t just a measure of good looks.
It encompassed otherworldly influence, affinity with other races, and negotiation power with higher beings.
[You have accumulated enough experience to unlock Tier 5 magic usage. Note that to properly use Tier 5 magic, you’ll need a grimoire containing Tier 5 spells or the necessary training.]
[System: ‘Spell Mastery’ trait activated. Automatically acquire basic spells of Tier 5.]
“Cock-a-doodle-doo—!”
A rooster crowed again from far off, as if urging me on.
‘Lucky I didn’t dispel the sound distortion.’
They wouldn’t flop over like the goblin imps, but it’d still annoy them.
The sky was turning that pale blue of dawn, and one more crow would mean the sun was truly rising.
I gazed at the massive volume of water sloshing around the boat and spoke.
“Alright. I’ve figured out how to take it.”
“How?”
“Rather than explain in boring detail— I’ll just show you. Reddie!”
“Kee-eeek!”
Reddie came flapping in with a flurry of feathers.
“Yeah, Reddie. Stay right there!”
I channeled mana and influence through Reddie’s body in all directions.
Now over level 50, with Tier 5 magic unlocked. Even without solidified spells, I could do a whole lot now.
Keeeeeeng—
Like fireworks shooting into the pale dawn sky, lights of every color bloomed into complex mana lines and magic circles.
“Whoa—”
I sensed astonishment not just from Seocheon-seul but from Paju’s Three Tombs masters too.
Amazed by the scale and form of the mana I’d unleashed?
Time to deliver on everyone’s expectations with something spectacular.
“Edict of Hasty Yield! Your roles are done. Coalesce, condense, congeal—and gather in my hand!”
Kwarrrrrrrumble—
Light, smoke, immense power, whirlwinds, my robes flapping wildly.
The vast lake—big enough to float the boat, spanning a kilometer radius—compressed in an instant onto my palm.
Splash.
“Whew—”
I wiped the sweat trickling down my neck and examined the object I’d just created.
“Turned out exactly as planned.”
In my hand was a perfect cube, each side just 20 cm.
More like a sealed transparent aquarium? Inside, a deep blue liquid churned wildly.
“Bwahaha! Incredible! You never tire of pulling new tricks out of your hat. More goblin than goblins, this Kim of yours.”
“Not that impressive. Only possible here, at this time.”
Thanks to the lingering goblin imp sorcery. My magic alone couldn’t pull this off.
“Nah, no goblin from Thousand Gold Hall could match what you just did, not even close. Even the Three Tombs masters are impressed by your feat.”
Looking around, Paju’s Three Tombs masters were expressing something toward me. I couldn’t hear their voices, but I could tell they were pleased.
Eh, a bit embarrassing.
They basked in it briefly before sinking back into the earth and vanishing. Off to sleep again, I suppose.
Just cleanup left now?
“First, the boat. Rolly!”
Grumble—
With the boat stowed, Paju’s Three Tombs returned to its original state.
Well, not entirely.
Goblin imps littered everywhere around Paju’s Three Tombs.
Most smashed or crushed by Seocheon-seul’s diamond staff.
And—
“Groooan……”
People collapsed amid the goblin imps.
“Huh? What are those Kims?”
“Cultists from the Gourmet Expedition Party.”
“Huh. Surviving that chaos is one thing, but didn’t they sink in the water?”
I was curious too. Checking their status gave me the answer.
“Some luck, but looks like the Three Tombs masters saved them.”
“Hmm. Generous souls.”
“Eh, maybe they just didn’t want them sticking around as vengeful spirits.”
Could be both, but it didn’t matter.
“My…… power……”
“All of it…… all gone……”
The cultists had lost every ounce of power they’d amassed.
“So the elephant-headed Kim survived too?”
“Yeah. That’s him.”
The Gourmet Expedition Party’s judge, Sunbu, had undergone a far more dramatic change than the others.
“Heh heh heh…… heh heh heh……”
Once a 3-meter brute, now Sunbu was a tiny, shriveled old man giggling insanely.
“Wasn’t he like 96?”
Back to his true age, basically.
Sunbu and the Gourmet Expedition Party cultists had mostly survived—but in a way, it was worse than death.
What awaited them was life as useless cripples or madmen, not even petty criminals.
“All their power’s in that thing?”
“Hm? Oh. Yeah, pretty much.”
I looked down anew at what Seocheon-seul meant by “that.”
The cube compressing all the rainwater pooled in Paju’s Three Tombs.
This held the lifetime power amassed by all these cultists.
“The Blood Demon King’s pervasive blood demon aura, the goblin imps’ sorcery, the blood they gathered, even chunks of that massive blood leech—all melted into it.”
“Yeah. Compressed like this, it’s gotta be pure nectar.”
I said it jokingly, but Seocheon-seul’s face turned serious.
“Kim. You’re not thinking of drinking that, are you?”
“Drink it? Ugh, I’m not that crazy.”
“Not just you—even banquet offerings tend to pull stunts like that, so I worried.”
Wait—come to think of it, the goblin imps called me a banquet offering too. Something bugged me.
“Banquet offerings?”
“What’s up, Kim?”
Banquet offerings? And what Seocheon-seul just said meant……
“There’s more than one banquet offering?”
“More than one? Well, yeah.”
“No, wait—Captain Thousand Gold! Do you know what a banquet offering is?”
“Well—”
Finally, past the fake-know-it-all act and fake-out, real info dropped.
“—no clue.”
“……”
“Hm? Kim?”
“You don’t know?”
“Nope.”
Hang on. Classic goblin rhetoric. Stay calm, draw it out slowly.
“Captain Thousand Gold. C’mon, tell me straight. How’d you know I’m a banquet offering?”
“Oh, that? Great King Mangold told me.”
“Ah, got it. So other goblins know generally? The goblin imps called me one too.”
“Nah. Probably heard it from the Blood Demon King.”
“Ah, makes sense.”
Good—Seocheon-seul was the friendliest, most cooperative intel source yet.
“You said earlier banquet offerings do stuff like that? So Great King Mangold mentioned other humans too?”
“Yeah. Seen a few besides you. All chased by abyssal beings or up to absurd nonsense. But of the ones I saw, you’re the most absurd.”
The [Banquet Offering] itself was a penalty trait drawing in abyssal beings. Makes sense there’d be others.
But what I wanted to know was different.
Were the other [Banquet Offerings] yanked from outside this world too?
“Any other banquet offerings besides me still alive?”
“Hmm—most I met died quick. Great King mentions ’em sometimes, so I know roughly.”
Most dead, huh?
Fitting for this unfair game.
‘No point dragging this out with Seocheon-seul. Negotiate with Great King Mangold?’
Nah, bad idea.
He’d count my questions as a contract.
“Oh, right.”
Seocheon-seul continued with a thoughtful hum.
“The most recent banquet offering I saw might still be alive. Great King never said he died.”
“There’s a live one? How recent?”
“Around…… two days ago? Or longer? Anyway, after Baekje lost this area to Goguryeo.”
Paju became Goguryeo territory in 475 AD.
1,500 years ago.
I sighed and scratched my head furiously.
Ugh, maddening. Goblin as intel source, of course.
“But you saw something? Remember what he was doing last?”
“Came to Thousand Gold Hall looking for a way to dodge dogs.”
“Dogs?”
“Yeah. Dogs. Great King said there’s a round room in Paju, so hide there.”
Chased by dogs into a round room?
One thing came to mind. Few places in Paju had facilities like that.
“Hmm, Kim. Fun chat, but I need to prep to head out.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure.”
Perfect timing—a new goal.
Another banquet offering besides me. Once this wraps, dig into him.
‘Ah, but……’
Just rest a couple days……
Up all night—exhausted.