The Ancient Crystal Stained with Malice

I hadn’t intended to interfere, but a hideous building like this deserved to be torn down. Crunch, crunch. Spiderwebs stretched across every corner, and a foul, unidentifiable stench hung in the air. Cigarette butts and empty beer cans littered the floor like some delinquent hideout. With a heavy thud, I shoved aside a long wooden bench that blocked my target area, clearing more space.

‘Right beneath here. The closer I get, the clearer the power feels. It’s surprisingly intense.’

From a distance it had been barely detectable, but once inside the building the energy grew remarkably strong. It seemed someone had set up a trick similar to Cognitive Impairment… yet it wasn’t a standard mana circuit. No, this was an entirely unfamiliar formula. I didn’t recognize it at all. Whatever. Time to dig.

Using the Tunnel Destroyer skill—which had recently reached its highest grade—I began digging downward little by little. Just as I had sensed, I soon reached a passage wide enough to move through comfortably. Splash. The water was only deep enough to cover the soles of my feet. It didn’t seem to function much as a proper sewer line.

Hmm. The moment I reached the bottom, there was no need to search. A crudely carved hole gaped in the wall directly ahead, and inside it rested something emitting an eerie glow. A thin cloth had been draped over it, but it was merely placed there without any real concealing effect. Did they not even bother trying to hide it? Well, who would ever come this far underground?

If the mana had been properly contained, no one short of a sensory-type awakener like me would have noticed it. Still, it seemed unlikely that whoever handled an object of this quality would be foolish enough to completely rule out the existence of someone like me. Perhaps they simply hadn’t had the luxury of time.

Whatever the case, the object before me was a crystal. It looked remarkably similar in color and shape to the one I had received after defeating the ‘Fang,’ yet the sensation it gave off was completely different.

‘A lucky find? Feels a bit too dangerous to call it that.’

The message that appeared the moment I picked up the crystal was filled with negative connotations, just as I expected. The word “malice” appearing right from the start made it blatantly suspicious. Forcibly absorbing mana… I didn’t need to ponder what that meant. My body and the surrounding air were already being drawn toward it.

It was clearly stronger than the previous crystal, even pulling at the mana inside me. This was definitely a problem. ‘What on earth were they planning to do with this? It can’t store mana indefinitely… or can it?’

I shouldn’t limit myself to my existing knowledge. It was possible this crystal connected to a separate storage space, unlike the one I had encountered before. ‘That would be incredibly dangerous. What were they trying to accomplish by gathering this much mana?’

At this absorption rate, even a single day’s worth could trigger a massive explosion. Something this hazardous needed to disappear into my inventory—for the peace of this neighborhood.

‘Hehe—anything new is good, right?’

Holding it in my hand confirmed it didn’t immediately harm the user. I stored it in my inventory and waited a moment. …No noticeable changes. Since nothing else in the church caught my eye, I left immediately.

On the way home, I stopped at a public restroom in the park to wash off the filth, then headed straight back. ‘Guess that’s it for today. Ended with a rather sudden lucky find. Still, a productive day overall.’

When I arrived home, Yeonhee was still unable to sleep. She tossed and turned on the floor, kicking off her blanket one moment and suddenly clutching her head the next. ‘…I need to be careful. Maybe I should let things stay quiet tomorrow…’

Though letting a few days pass in peace didn’t seem like a bad idea either.

*

The next day we cleared the orc dungeon without issue once more. Back home, we spent the evening awkwardly stealing glances at each other in a heavy silence. Usually Yeonhee was the one sneaking looks at me, but now I found myself frequently checking on her condition with my senses.

That night I used Mimicry to take her form, but she had already locked her door and gone to bed. She clearly wasn’t sleeping easily, yet the message was unmistakable, so I didn’t push. Besides, the lecherous target selected by the skill was over ten kilometers away, so there was nothing I could do anyway.

Yeah, villains couldn’t be lurking in our neighborhood every single night. The first three days must have simply been good luck.

The following day we ran the orc dungeon again. Heo Min-sol’s information was supposed to arrive today, so there was no need to overexert ourselves. Yeonhee and I acted as if nothing had happened, but Joo-a kept asking if something was wrong. It seemed the strange atmosphere was obvious even to others.

Wait, they could sense it? Still, the awkwardness didn’t last long. Yeonhee apparently couldn’t stand the distance anymore. From the moment we left ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the gate, she began inching closer until she was practically glued to my side. She would glance around nervously, then subtly brush the back of her hand against mine.

Was this her way of asking for reconciliation? But I really hadn’t done anything wrong… It wasn’t like I had taken her first time or anything.

“……”

Yeonhee didn’t speak, but her silence seemed to say, It’s your turn now, Ilwol. I offered no particular reaction. Instead, I simply watched the hunters bustling in and out of the gate, wondering if I might spot anyone I remembered.

Truthfully, just standing outside the gate and observing the hunters was entertaining. I occasionally recognized familiar faces. Oh—there was another one right now. Someone I used to run into often during my low-rank days.

“Ugh…”

When I didn’t give the reaction she expected, Yeonhee looked slightly shocked. Without realizing it, she began biting her lower lip between her thumb and forefinger. She seemed anxious. We had only been distant for two days. In the end, she was the first to reach out. I had been testing how long she could hold out, but it turned out she couldn’t endure even a few days. That was good news for me. Once you fall for a skeleton, there’s no turning back, after all.

After finishing the dungeon run, we waited a short while until information arrived from Helen. It contained Heo Min-sol’s residence and recent activities, obtained through Helen’s connections. I had assumed she would still be recovering at home, but the report said her necessary treatment had already been completed.

‘How could she have healed so quickly? Did she meet a top-tier healer?’

Of course her severed hands and feet hadn’t regrown, but the speed was far beyond what I had anticipated. Had she somehow caught a truly powerful sponsor? Her family didn’t seem particularly wealthy… I had many questions, but after a quick meal we headed straight for Heo Min-sol’s house.

The Apex bastards who had been tailing us yesterday were nowhere to be seen today, so Arin planned to finish this matter immediately.

* * *

Denar Panigial—the man from another world known as the Wicked Elder of the Blue Eye organization—only had time to carefully read the report that had arrived at lunch the previous day when evening came the next day. His servant had insisted it required immediate attention, but he had dismissed it as unimportant. Now he regretted not reading it sooner.

“Ha… Which bastard stole the crystal?”

Since it was an object that needed to absorb mana, he had instructed it be left somewhat exposed. He had believed that if the spell formula he provided was properly implemented, it would be nearly impossible to detect. Yet the report said it had vanished the very day it was installed. A vein bulged prominently on his forehead.

“Hoo…”

Denar pulled up a map on the now-familiar smartphone device and tapped it with his finger.

“…Does that mean there’s a sensory-type awakener of that caliber in this area?”

If so, that person could be roaming around devouring every crystal they had placed. Above all, a sensory-type was a major obstacle to his plans.

“Goddammit!”

Rage boiled up from deep within. Those crystals hadn’t been easy to obtain. Though it was merely one among countless others, the psychological blow of continuously losing to an unknown enemy was severe. Could those two bastards be behind this as well?

“Nothing is ever easy. It will take at least several months to absorb enough mana for the summoning…”

In the end, he decided to station ‘Fangs’ at every location where crystals had been planted. Since they weren’t needed immediately, this much should be acceptable.

“Hoo… Ah… How irritating… Nothing goes right. Heh……”

He let out a hollow laugh, but his eyes burned with hatred.

“Haa… Uwaaaaah—! You fucking son of a bitch!! If I catch you, I’ll tear you apart alive!!”

Kwaaaaaang—!

As he roared toward the sky, a pillar of light erupted from the ceiling of his office. The beam pierced through the clouds and soared high before vanishing without a trace moments later. The following day, several news outlets ran stories about the unidentified pillar of light that had pierced the heavens, but for some reason it failed to draw much attention.

* * *

“Hmmm~ So it’s that one?”

Joo-a asked Yeonhee with an incredulous expression.

“Yes, yes. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It’s definitely correct.”

Yeonhee answered after carefully comparing the photo and address Helen had provided. It was a luxurious villa that looked to be at least 80 pyeong. In ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this neighborhood, a newly built property of that size…

“It has to be worth at least 18 billion won,” Joo-a said with conviction. She had recently been house-hunting, so her estimate carried weight. Since the gates opened, the global average inflation rate had never dropped below four percent. Even accounting for the more than twenty percent increase compared to pre-gate times, the house was outrageously expensive. It was hard to believe a woman named Heo Min-sol, barely in her mid-twenties, had acquired it alone. Yet according to the records, she was indeed the owner.

‘Fuck… Even I didn’t live in a house like this in my previous life. She should live according to her station.’

In my past life I hadn’t been particularly attached to housing, so I remembered simply sleeping in a 2.5 billion won apartment. Of course that was still expensive, but given my income it had been a relatively cheap place, and people around me had found it strange. Anyway, there were only two possible conclusions. For whatever reason, she was quite wealthy, and her house would certainly be equipped with security systems capable of detecting stealth. In the worst case, there might even be a sensory-type awakener inside.

‘Still… it should be enough, right?’

I had said it several times before, but I had even infiltrated Jo Giman’s house in the past. While my stats were quite different then compared to now, something of this level shouldn’t be too difficult.

“Ilwol, can you do it?”

Tap. The sun had completely set and it was already evening, but the street was still frequented by passersby. Remaining hidden, I answered by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clacking my teeth together.

“Then we’ll wait for you at that café over there. If anything goes wrong, just spam bombs and fireballs!”

‘Thanks for the thought, but I’d rather not.’

I didn’t bother replying to Joo-a and simply gave the signal that I was heading out.