Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Hidden Piece
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'Safety's confirmed, so let's bring the others up first.'
I descended the cliff again and had the harpy fly the party members up one by one. Just to be safe, I rode along with each of them. Even if it was somewhat tamed, you never knew what might happen with people.
"Oh, flying pretty well, huh? You've got some strength."
Thanks to its evolution, the harpy effortlessly carried two people all the way to the summit.
Of course, it tired out by the end, but when the Saintess used her recovery, it bounced back like nothing had happened.
'It's a recovery that works even on monsters. Fundamentally different from holy-attribute heals.'
That was why people occasionally brought their dark-attribute pets to ask the Saintess for a heal.
"Hey, good work."
「Kyaaang…!」
Praise made even a monster happy.
The harpy placed a hand on its hip, thrust its chin up, and struck a triumphant pose.
The way it oddly resembled Shin Seo-yeon... must've been my imagination?
"Yanma, what're you strutting for? Come on over here. Unnie's cold, so stick right to my back."
「Gyaaaang….」
The sight of its shoulders slumping as it waddled over was a dead ringer for the Crimson Flame Witch. I had a nagging worry that the early training might've backfired, but I brushed it aside.
"So that's it? The spot where we get the hidden piece?"
"Yeah."
Crunch crunch. We trudged step by step across the snow-covered summit toward the building that stood there abruptly.
The structure vaguely resembled a lighthouse or an observatory. It wasn't particularly large, but it dominated most of the mountaintop, giving it a solid presence.
Or maybe it was because the world had darkened, and it stood alone in the night sky, emitting a soft glow.
"It's some beautiful building. I wonder what it's for."
The ivory exterior blended nicely with the snow, and from the top, a pale blue barrier sprayed out like a fountain, settling gently around the area.
"Huh? The air suddenly got warmer."
Once we stepped inside the barrier, the air grew noticeably milder. The women looked around curiously at the surprising change.
"This way."
I'd seen buildings like this plenty of times before, so I strode right inside. The interior of the small structure came into view, and as I stood at its center, the building began emitting a brilliant rainbow light.
"Wh-what is it?"
"A trap?"
The party tensed up, but for a small ruin like this with preservation magic, traps weren't worth worrying about.
This was a kind of reward room.
Plus, I'd gotten the info ahead of time, so I calmly focused on the spectacle unfolding before me.
[Discovered Sanctuary <Tomb of the Stars>.]
[Reward: 10 bonus stats granted.]
[A now-forgotten ancient being acknowledges you.]
"Sanctuary? Tomb of the Stars?"
Trials had various sanctuaries scattered around. They were one of the few routes where players could score bonus stats.
Discovering a divine sanctuary and offering a sacrifice granted extra rewards, and the more you found across different regions to increase your tributes, the bigger the payouts got—or so I'd heard.
"Huh? Oppa, what's that?"
I placed the five [Whispering Silvergrass] I'd gathered on the way up into the air.
"Can't tell just by looking, kiddo? The sparkly stuff's gotta be expensive."
"Auntie, don't act like you know if you don't."
[Whispering Silvergrass] gave off a soft glow at night, like phosphorescence. It was a perfect fit for the owner of the [Tomb of the Stars]. Sure enough, the notification updated before my eyes.
[<Exile Buried in the Night Sky> praises your efforts.]
A cluster of pure white light gathered, then took on a certain form. It floated toward each person and materialized.
"This is...?"
"A pouch...?"
It was a palm-sized pouch that anyone would mistake for a common coin purse.
But when the party checked the item info, their eyes went wide.
'Finally got it—the Subspace Pouch.'
As far as I knew, this little thing could hold about the volume of two duffel bags.
Like an inventory, time inside was practically frozen, keeping food fresh. And the best part? Its weight never increased, no matter what you put in.
"Wow!"
"J-jackpot!"
The party, checking the item info just like me, looked stunned.
"Auntie, keep stuffing stuff in!"
"The weight isn't going up at all?!"
Lee Sera and Shin Seo-yeon were already testing it out by shoving things inside. The Saintess and Han So-hee followed suit, slipping their shoulder bags right in.
Their eyes widened in an instant.
"That whole huge backpack just went in? Incredible."
"Th-this thing is ridiculously convenient."
The women hopped around happily after emptying their packs.
No one could say it was easy moving around with stuff weighing down your shoulders. Climbing cliffs with 20-30kg packs, swimming through water, fighting monsters...
-If only I didn't have this damn load, it'd be so much easier! Always getting in the way!
Every player fresh from Earth must've thought the same.
But now that inconvenience was gone, they had every reason to celebrate.
"Thanks, Min-jun!"
"Thank you. I'm truly glad I chose to stick with you."
The Saintess and Han So-hee expressed their gratitude, while Shin Seo-yeon and Lee Sera were still lost in play with their new pouches.
"Umhahaha! No more lugging around these heavy backpacks!"
'Knowing she'd love it this much, maybe I should've brought her from the start.'
Of course, bigger bags came later, so I'd planned to send her back eventually. But as the party said, it might be worth rethinking—risks and all—to keep traveling together.
'Even with my solo habits ingrained, that might be for the best now. Things are way different from the first round.'
Anyway, with these handy pouches, farming and making money would be a breeze compared to others.
'Alright, time for a tally.'
While the party played around with their pouches, I reviewed our gains here.
Achievements: [Caught Some Bats], [Nightmare to Harpies]
Title: [Slaughterer]
Items: Stat Shards (171), Whispering Silvergrass (154), Magic Stones (0)
Misc: Giant Slayer enhancement, Harpy taming
'...And the secret bitch squad, though that's hush-hush from the ladies.'
That was roughly what we'd accomplished here.
I was satisfied.
Way more than expected. The title was especially nice.
[Slaughterer (Normal): Deals 30% additional damage to all demi-humans.]
'Plenty of demi-humans to face ahead.'
From the mid-trial point, when those headaches really started piling up, [Slaughterer] would make a real difference.
The [Whispering Silvergrass] investment would pay off big in cash, and [Giant Slayer] would serve as our team's heavy firepower at least up to the twelfth trial.
No need to even mention the value of the harpy and bitch squad.
'Accomplished more than planned—way more.'
Honestly, even for a ten-year vet like me, scrambling around cliffs all day was exhausting. One slip meant instant death, same as always.
But I knew grinding hard early on meant things got easier later, so it didn't feel so bad.
'While others are barely scraping by with their lives in this trial, we've farmed like kings.'
A satisfied smile crossed my face as I addressed the party.
"Alright, everyone, quit yapping and let's head out."
The party seemed plenty satisfied too, responding right away.
"Yeah!"
"Sweet, time to rest!"
"Great job, everyone!"
"Well done, all. You worked the hardest by far."
I thanked them in return and pulled out my pocket watch. They all followed suit, checking that their wind-up watches matched mine.
"Meet up exactly ten minutes after returning, in front of the dorm."
"Got it! Ten minutes, right? I'm heading out first!"
With that, the party began moving to the next rest area one by one, their bodies turning to mirages and fading away. The harpy watched with wide eyes.
It must've seen it a few times before, but this was the first up close.
「Kyaaang…!」
When Shin Seo-yeon left, it had been bouncing around excitedly, but now that everyone was gone, it looked anxious.
Its eyes turned to me—the only one who hadn't left yet.
「Auuu….」
It grabbed at my clothes.
Its gaze, full of reluctance, seemed to beg me not to go.
I raised my index finger and pointed at the sky.
"Wanna come along?"
It obviously couldn't understand human speech. It'd never been taught.
So it shouldn't get it... right? But the harpy nodded vigorously.
"You really gonna follow?"
Nod.
...Hah, no way it picked up the habit of nodding from doing it in front of Shin Seo-yeon, did it?
"Then wait here just a sec."
Truth be told, I still wasn't sure if it'd turn into the letter envelope or not. But oddly, conviction welled up. No problems bringing it along.
'Transcendent-grade items always pull off miracles beyond imagination.'
Sometimes enough to throw the whole selection process into chaos.
So it'd be fine.
"Stay put right here. I'll call you over soon. Got it?"
I stroked its head as I spoke, and it grinned wide, nodding enthusiastically. I chuckled and activated the quest window.
[End the trial and proceed to the next region?]
Whew. I looked up briefly at the starlit sanctuary and the beautiful starry sky beyond it.
That made it two trials down.
'And soon, the third trial.'
That one would be just as insane—maybe even more so.
But whatever... cross that bridge when we got there.
I gazed blankly at the stars adorning the night sky, then glanced back at the blinking notification and murmured softly.
[End the trial and proceed to the next region?]
"Yes."
My senses vanished in an instant, and when they returned, a familiar space welcomed me.