Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Found It
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The moment he confirmed the message that the contribution tallying was complete and Aheta's Hidden Treasure Vault had appeared...
Thud!
...a "door" crashed down right in front of Park Chan-woo.
A black door just big enough for one adult to squeeze through.
It had no other distinguishing features, but beyond it lay the hidden treasure vault itself.
Creeeak!
Without a second's hesitation, Park Chan-woo flung the door open and stepped inside.
He didn't give it a moment's thought.
'That was a long one.'
This "second night" had felt especially grueling.
Not in terms of clock time, but mentally.
Ever since the second night began, Park Chan-woo hadn't slept a wink.
And that was hardly the end of it.
Carving paths through impossible terrain, conquering trials, slaying Khan—it had drained his stamina and willpower to the brink.
Then, in a final burst of defiance, he'd cleared the remaining quests to rack up contributions.
The fact that he hadn't collapsed on the spot was a miracle.
'Can't pass out after coming this far.'
All of it, every grueling step, had been for this one moment.
To make Aheta wail in anguish.
He might not bankrupt the guy outright, but this was the perfect chance to steal something truly precious from him.
Thanks to that, he'd forced open the "hidden treasure vault" that had been tucked away out of sight.
Hold on.
I have to hold on.
He felt like death, like he was on the verge of madness, but he'd endured through sheer force of will.
He shifted his thoughts.
'Aheta's a treasure hoarder.'
Among the Creators, Aheta was known for amassing the most treasures.
For someone like that to go out of his way to hide it meant it held immense value.
It had to be something so enticing that even other Creators would covet it.
Honestly, Park Chan-woo had only learned about Aheta's "hidden treasure vault" for the first time just now.
So how could he not be excited?
"......Hmm."
Soon, upon peering inside the door, Park Chan-woo let out a low groan.
An impossibly vast space stretched out before him.
And within it, countless "treasures" lay jumbled together.
Tens of thousands... or more.
Mountains of treasures piled so high they were beyond counting.
And not a single one looked ordinary.
'At minimum, Legendary grade...!'
It was shocking.
His composure cracked, his eyes trembling faintly.
Sell even a fraction of this, and he could buy the world.
The Demon Merchant Guild might even go bankrupt.
There were that many staggering treasures, enough to trip over.
And Aheta had been hiding all this.
'Pick just one from all this?'
But it wasn't without restrictions.
Park Chan-woo looked up.
Near the ceiling.
A sign hung there, inscribed with the "rules."
It was a long list, but it boiled down to this.
'Pick one and take it out?'
No greed allowed.
Purely a test of eyesight.
In exchange, the chosen treasure would automatically become "exclusive equipment."
What was exclusive equipment?
Gear crafted for that person alone.
Something that couldn't be made right now, obviously.
A name that wouldn't appear for a long time yet.
No matter which one he picked, regrets were off the table.
But.
'The real prize is hidden, huh.'
Overwhelming treasures and these trial-like rules.
He saw right through the reason for it all in an instant.
...Something worth hiding.
That's why even if someone entered, they'd never take it.
No magic, no weapons, no tools.
How incredible must it be to warrant all this?
Truly intriguing.
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin as he slowly advanced.
He turned his head, surveying the treasures scattered everywhere.
'Some I recognize, some I've never seen.'
First, he ignored the ones he knew.
Aheta wouldn't build a vault this massive just to hide commonplace treasures.
There had to be something on par with—or surpassing—the "Final Relic: Star of Arrogance" he'd obtained climbing the Tower of Arrogance.
'Something not yet in the Abyss. Something so rare it can't even be logged in the Mystery Codex, unobtainable by normal means.'
So it had to be something he didn't know.
A mystical, divine treasure that even Park Chan-woo—who'd hit level 99 and delved endlessly into the Abyss—had never seen or encountered before.
This was a "hidden" vault, after all.
True to its name, the real deal was concealed.
Park Chan-woo was in the position of hunting down Aheta's true masterpiece treasure.
Within three hours.
Using only his eyes and wits.
...Oh, and one more thing.
'Mana waves.'
Every item and creature in the Abyss had "mana waves."
These "waves" were a bit different from "patterns."
Mana patterns defined the "existence" itself, bound by unique rules hidden within.
"Waves," on the other hand, radiated outward, repelling other entities.
The force that allowed an individual to exist as itself.
Without mana waves, it couldn't repel others—and without repulsion, it would simply cease to be.
That was how "death" worked in the Abyss.
Turning to dust happened when an existence fully lost its mana waves upon dying.
The waves vanished in that final instant.
'Mana waves are the force that lets us exist in the Abyss. Lose them, and the Abyss's poison erodes you to powder.'
That was why only Abyss gear could kill Abyss monsters.
Earth items lacked mana waves.
Only awakened humans entering the Abyss gained them.
Hard-won knowledge from years of research.
Scholars who pieced this together wondered:
"What if we awaken Earth items to give them mana waves? Could we use them in the Abyss?"
Earth weapons packed a punch.
Guns, bombs, nukes.
Stronger than most magic, no mana required.
But dumping nukes into the Abyss did nothing.
No mana waves on the nukes themselves.
Unless you awakened the nuke, it couldn't affect the Abyss's ecosystem or lifeforms.
But no one knew how to awaken a nuke.
The hypothesis died there.
We didn't even know how humanity had awakened en masse in the first place.
However.
Park Chan-woo had dug a bit deeper into mana waves.
...More precisely.
He could sense them instinctively.
It was one of the qualities the God of Offerings called the mark of an "Archmage."
'The stronger the mana waves, the higher the hierarchy and rank.'
Obvious, really.
Stronger Abyss entities exuded stronger mana waves.
But there was only one way to gauge their power.
'Gotta touch it directly.'
Physical contact.
Only then could he sense the wave's thickness and intensity.
He'd used mana waves before.
'...When Khan tore Azos apart, I read his waves.'
Finding Khan's weakness had relied on mana waves too.
The instant Khan's hand touched Azos.
Park Chan-woo had sensed the waves emanating from the Conqueror Khan.
They matched exactly the waves from "Khan's Palace," where he stood.
That clinched it.
Khan's palace was Khan's weakness.
'No time to touch and check everything.'
The problem was the sheer volume.
No magic meant no summons, so he'd have to inspect every treasure here himself.
Mountains that looked like at least a hundred thousand items at a glance.
How long would that take?
Three hours? Not even close.
Kyuu?
That was when it happened.
Fluffy burst from his pocket.
'No rules about pets.'
Come to think of it, the rules said nothing about pets.
Though Fluffy didn't seem particularly helpful here.
Kyuuu!
Fluffy stretched like it was yawning, puffing up.
The fuzzy furball detached from his side and dove into the treasure piles.
Swish!
Shhhh!
Incredible speed.
Rifling through the treasures too fast to follow with the eye.
"What are you doing?"
Ignoring Park Chan-woo's question, Fluffy darted through the piles for a good ten minutes or so.
Thud!
Rumble rumble rumble!
Soon, a gigantified Fluffy lumbered back and dumped a pile of treasures at his feet.
Then, staring right into his eyes...
Kyuu!
...it cried out confidently.
What was it saying?
No, what had it done?
What Fluffy had just...
'...No way?'
Park Chan-woo touched the treasures Fluffy had dropped, one by one.
And then.
Smirk.
He looked at Fluffy and flashed a broad grin.
"Fluffy. You're my lucky charm."
Kyuu!
Praised, Fluffy bounced around joyfully.
Rolling this way and that to express its delight.
He wanted to shower it with more praise, but now was time to focus on these treasures.
Every one of them pulsed with intense mana waves.
The hidden treasure vault was divided into about ten sections, each densely packed with around ten thousand treasures.
Fluffy had scoured one section in just ten minutes.
And brought back only the ones with the strongest "mana waves."
Whether due to his influence or not, Fluffy could clearly sense mana waves to some degree.
Plus, it was small and fast.
'...This could work.'
Park Chan-woo clenched his fist.
Aheta's hidden true treasure.
Or "treasures."
Now there was a real chance to find them all!