Chapter 116
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: Maze (3)
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“......Looks like F-grade.”
I pouted.
You could tell at a glance. The relic only had a single root.
Just in case, I stored the looted relic in my inventory and attempted an appraisal using the [Dungeon System]'s built-in function.
Consuming 30 EXP to appraise the item.
F-Grade Relic
“Hmm......”
I rubbed my chin while checking the Relic's details.
📦 Name:Treasure Hunter
⭐ Grade:F | Rare
🔮 Attribute:Lifestyle
📜 Description:
Upon implantation, looting probability increases after hunts. Can sense special energies. Can gauge item values to some extent. Enables interaction with surrounding objects. Hands occasionally become more dexterous.
Good, it's Rare. Even at F-grade, after taxes and fees, it'd net 300,000 to 400,000 Ren.
“......Should I implant it?”
Treasure Hunter.
I'd normally sell it, but this was exactly the kind of relic I needed most.
Besides, 'Lifestyle' attribute relics put the least strain on the body.
“Eh, why not.”
Implanting was simple. Relics were designed to bond with living beings from the start—just place it on the desired spot and draw it in with mana.
I chose...... my forearm.
Smooth—
As I placed the relic and summoned my mana, it instantly adhered to my skin.
“Ow, hot!”
The relic etched briefly into my skin before fading away.
Implanting Relic.
'Relic: Treasure Hunter' infuses into entity ID 5029.
📦 Name:Treasure Hunter
⭐ Grade:C- | Rare
🔮 Attribute:Lifestyle
📜 Description:
Luck greatly increases during search-related activities like hunting and exploration. Can sense special energies. Can easily gauge item values. Enables active interaction with surrounding objects. Hands become dexterous when needed.
“Done......?”
I tilted my head, frowning as I glared at the [Dungeon System] displaying the relic's description.
Thinking I'd misread, I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
It was the same.
“......What the hell.”
I focused on the relic's grade.
[■ Grade: C- | Rare]
C-minus grade.
Why C-minus?
It had definitely been F before implantation.
“......”
I stared blankly, lost in thought.
The [Dungeon System]'s appraisal simply analyzes the relic via its algorithms and relays the info to users. That's why relics work normally outside dungeons, with grades based purely on their 'performance'.
In other words, it performed at F-grade pre-implantation but upgraded to C-minus post-implantation.
That's what the [Dungeon System] was saying.
“No way......”
A certain memory surfaced.
The time I'd summoned a tasting ghost to clean up after Jade.
The ghost I'd called moved faster and devoured far more than in my previous life.
“It wasn't my imagination after all.”
It wasn't imagination.
Definite.
The Perion recorded in my Notebook.
It's melting into my very mana. Slowly undergoing Body Integration.
Amplifying my 'everything' in the process.
In short—
Just as my body evolved into a fortified physique, this relic was enhanced by my Perion.
Even the simplest mana formula or lowest-grade relic, once it reaches me, has its performance amplified......
I swallowed silently. My head heated up. A flush rose to my face.
Excitement?
Feels good, but no time to jump for joy.
I reforged the key at the iron door. Click—opened the exit.
Whoooosh——!
Arctic cold rushed in.
Snow had piled up to knee height, and Terence and the others were, predictably, long gone.
“First...... let's go.”
I'd secured the relic.
Now, the evaluation exam remained.
I shook off my lingering daze and trudged into the blizzard.
Whoooosh——!
Blizzard-swept snowfield. Mountain watchtower shelter.
Elise's team was warming up there.
“......Almost froze to death. Hey, Esher. What's it like outside now?”
“Between minus 30 and 40 degrees.”
“What is this, the Antarctic?”
Kain and Esher chatted while Rae mumbled blankly, plastered to the floor.
“Thinking of just giving up......”
“Don't. We're only on stage 2. Probably 4 or 5 stages at least?”
Hospital, then this snowy mountain. Constant forks, group monster spawns, endless blizzards.
Hellish for freshmen.
“Elise. You hungry?”
Kain asked Elise by the window. She glanced at Rae and nodded toward her.
“Rae. How's it going?”
“Hmm~? Still nothing coming up...... They're moving, though. Mana keeps draining...... Feeling sluggish.”
The blizzard here would likely never end. Better to use mana spell formulas than brute force through the snow.
“Keep controlling them. Plenty of time left.”
Rae and Elise had inscribed mana spell formulas on cloth scraps, using gray orbs as makeshift mana stones to deploy Summoning Art: Moles for scouting ahead.
Elise commanded 13 moles, Rae 25, searching for the exit.
“What about us?”
Esher and Kain...... were useless in this area, so they handled support like hunting food.
“You two make food.”
“Obviously. We'll make it tasty.”
Ignoring the pair pulling out pots, Elise opened the [Dungeon System].
[Dungeon System]
[ID: ElizeEEM]
[EXP Held: 833......]
She tapped [Recent Party List].
[5029 ●]
Sion Askal. His ID was still online(●), but clearing this snowfield solo would be tough.
He didn't seem gifted in mana spells, so probably stuck somewhere.
“......Haa.”
Elise sighed, biting her lip.
'I need to approach first.'
The <Headlip> advice kept surfacing.
Approach first.
Drop the pride.
Elise finally opened the <Message> system.
The [Dungeon System] had diverse functions—experienced dungeon divers would find even this maze easier.
Why consultants said the College Board kept favoring elites.
The rich had more dungeon experience, after all.
Sending message costs 3 EXP.
Messaging required EXP—experience gained from monsters. Best to conserve it.
One message equaled a Lv.1 monster.
Elise squeezed her eyes shut.
Tap—pressed send into thin air.
Thud—smashed her face into the blizzard-lashed window, rubbing her heated cheeks.
“Elise, what're you doing?”
“You okay?”
Kain and Esher asked.
Elise eyed their reflections in the glass. She started to speak...... but shook her head.
No idea.
I don't know.
Sion's the same, yet here I am, changed.
Pity?
Or sympathy?
If so, worse than mere disgust.
“Hey, if you're hurt—”
“Not hurt. Just make food.”
Elise sat back down.
Sion's reply took forever.
Kain and Esher set the meal, they ate chit-chatting, and as they lay to rest briefly.
Message from 5029.
A reply came.
Elise flinched, trembling.
Her eyes widened at the message.
......One hour earlier.
I trudged through the blizzard. Blizzard or snowstorm? Slack off, and it'd bury me as a snowman.
Back to the evaluation exam, but something felt off.
“An F-grade relic making headlines?”
The unease wouldn't fade.
Treasure Hunter instinct? Or paranoid greed? Either way, F-grade relics weren't news-worthy.
Even Rare ones. F-grades were for bottom-feeders like me—Association folks would sell to mage towers or grind for materials immediately.
Unless mana anomalies like the mandragora overlapped with dispel, no need to advertise like that.
“Smells fishy.”
I sniffed around pointlessly as I walked.
Whoooosh—
Indeed, each gust carried a suspicious scent. Teasing my cheek, drawing me in.
Sniff sniff—
“Ah......”
I stopped.
Relic implant heat? My body burned, shrugging off cold and snow.
Whoooosh—
I gazed windward.
Regression memories rewound: sounds from before.
—Association official who acquired rune crystal said maze entrance and...... cut—
“......Hold up.”
A snag.
Maze entrance and?
If just one F-grade relic, wouldn't it be at the entrance?
Message from ElizeEEM.
Messages my ass.
I waved it off.
Looked around.
Suspicious scent, but blizzard obscured everything. Visibility zero anyway.
SZX-9500 useless here. 'Blizzard' obstacle blocked magnification.
“......Hoo.”
Not like I had zero options.
I did.
Perion.
Perion would surely amplify the relic momentarily.
Problem: side effects.
If too severe, bye-bye exam score.
Treasure vs. exam.
Both once-in-a-lifetime chances...... Why the hell pair them?
“......”
I closed my eyes. Placed hand on forearm where relic implanted.
Deep breath.
Opened eyes.
Perion activated.
Grayscale world turned pitch black. Faint 'colors' drifted from somewhere. Scent sharpened.
I chased it.
Definitely nearby.
Something treasure-worthy.
Squish—squish—squish—
Trampling endless snow, climbing steep incline.
Squish—squish—squish—
Scent thickened, threadlike color strands sharpened—then.
“......Here.”
Source found.
Something leaked from beneath snow-buried ground.
I dove in almost. Buried body first, reached out.
Grabbed something.
Clutched tight. Yanked with full power.
Shrashrashrash——!
Some plant ripped out roots and all.
“Ugh!”
Flat on snow, I stared.
Gem-blue twinkling plant, and below roots: pristine white fragment.
Rune shape.
“......A relic.”
Another relic.
This one with three roots.
C-grade.
I drank in its radiant glow, murmuring entranced.
“......Worthy of news.”
C-grade and up sold only at auction. Had to publicize.
Stored relic in inventory.
Heart pounded.
Dopamine surged.
First thrill like this. Never been lucky in either life.
“I'm dying......”
Lying there, grinned vacantly.
“Hm......”
But getting cold.
Not just happy vibes keeping me down.
Tried sitting up.
“......Nngh.”
Body wouldn't move.
No strength below waist.
Side effect, probably.
Makes sense: three hours hospital, slaughtered Butcher, hours climbing snowy slopes to dig......
I gazed blankly skyward. Raised wrist smartwatch.
Give up.
About to—then it hit me.
Message from ElizeEEM.
Elise's message.
Breathing ragged, opened [Dungeon System]. Inbox immediately.
Sender: ElizeEEM
What are you doing?
Quick reply.
Reply came fast.
Sender: ElizeEEM
What do you mean?
Eyed smartwatch. Coordinates displayed. Sent them.
No real hopes.
Just hated quitting manually.
Wristwatch would auto-evac near death anyway.
Grasping at straws.
Message sent to ElizeEEM.
Reply arrived, but eyes too heavy to read.
Sleep crept in softly.
Whoooosh——
Raging blizzard.
Snow blanket enveloping my body.
Within it, I slowly closed my eyes.