Chapter 48: Alchemist’s Dungeon
Chapter 48: Alchemist’s Dungeon
“Oppa. What are you doing?”
Yoojung poked her head in, and after confirming I was there, she quickly entered. Her voice was low, as if she were displeased about something. The sullen look on her face was a clear signal to me that she was about to be a pain again. I set down one of the records I was holding in my left hand, sighed, and spoke.
“What is it now?”
At my blunt tone, Yoojung’s face immediately fell. Nevertheless, she pouted her lips and finally spoke her mind.
“She keeps bragging that Oppa gave her permission to do special training. Tossing and catching a coin all by herself… It’s not even that impressive.”
“What’s there to brag about? And Sol isn’t the type to show off over something like that.”
“No, it’s true! She keeps tossing and catching that coin…”
“She’s practicing a binding spell. I told her to do it.”
When I cut her off nonchalantly, a look of disappointment was plain on her face. Ignoring it, I was about to pick up the record again when Yoojung’s mumbling voice reached my ears once more.
“Oppa, you’re so mean. You only told Hyun and me to practice Sensing.”
“I told you to practice it because you need it. For melee types, Sensing training alone is enough at the beginning.”
“But still~”
Even though I’d made it perfectly clear before, Yoojung whined in a drawn-out voice. My already complicated thoughts felt even more tangled.
“What do you mean, ‘but still’? I told you, Sol’s base magic power stat is higher than yours. For support classes, that’s all they need. And that coin training wouldn’t even be much help to you.”
Four days had passed, and Ahn Sol now held the unofficial title of longest Sensing duration among the kids. Since I began guiding her, Sol had been making full use of her enormous Magic Power. The instructors’ lessons had never quite clicked for her, yet her skill improved in a single day under my guidance, so she now looked at me as though I were some kind of god.
During my first run, I had reached the realm of Sword Master with only 48 Magic Power. I was therefore more confident than anyone when it came to efficient mana control, and I had taught Sol part of that know-how. Since I knew exactly how effective those techniques were, there was some basis for saying I had favored her a little.
Yoojung seemed quite upset about being surpassed by Sol. Since then, she often came to find me whenever I returned to the inn, unreasonably demanding that I give her private lessons too. I could soothe her if it were just once or twice, but her repeated requests were becoming quite tiring.
“I only taught her a little about controlling mana. Anyway, go practice Sensing some more. Look at Sol. Once she sets her mind to something, she works hard at it.”
“Hmph. You always dote on Sol. And I’m going to take a little break, so there.”
With a displeased look, Yoojung let out a short huff, then shuffled over and stuck close to my side. I shrugged and turned my gaze back to the map. Yoojung stared intently at my face, then picked up a piece of paper lying nearby.
“The Rise… and Fall… of Ancient… Alchemy? Oppa, what’s this about?”
“It’s nothing special. Just put it aside somewhere.”
Reading a document on ancient alchemy, I picked up a pen and drew a circle on a part of the map. Yoojung looked at the map, which was covered in circles, and continued in a small voice.
“What’s this? And what are all the circles on the map?”
“Records. Map analysis.”
“Ugh, come on. I’m curious about what you’ve been up to lately.”
Frustrated by my short answers, Yoojung pressed me with a whining tone. I kept my eyes on the map as I continued.
“I’m researching old records. Just hunting the monsters around the city isn’t efficient. I’m looking for clues about certain locations by reading records from Mule’s distant past.”
“I see… But can you really find clues just by looking at these?”
“It might be easier to go pluck a star from the sky.”
The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth, but Yoojung just giggled carefreely. I had gathered every single record related to alchemists and laboratories, so the pile on the table was quite substantial.
It was one thing to consult records for details once I already possessed some information. Digging through them merely to find an initial lead was foolish. There were simply too many records, and their scope was too vast. I could not even be certain the recorded events had truly occurred, so blindly following them would be a poor decision.
And yet, I was the one making that foolish decision. That was precisely why I had ignored every unrelated record. I was doing this only because I knew a laboratory and Ancient Alchemist Vivian’s Dungeon existed near Mule; otherwise, I would have headed straight for the Cave of Screams.
I continued in a weary voice.
“If it were easy enough to find this way, it would have been discovered long ago. For now, I have no choice but to try everything I can.”
My words seemed to pique her interest, and I saw a spark of life return to Yoojung’s eyes. When Yoojung offered to help, I readily accepted her kindness. I already knew exactly what would happen in five minutes.
Just as I expected, after five minutes, Yoojung started glancing at me furtively. Then, after mentioning Ahn Hyun and Ahn Sol, she fled the room using training as an excuse. With her personality and disposition, there was no way she could endure such a tedious process.
I gave a faint smile at the sight, then turned my head back to the maps and records.
*
How many more days had passed? The once-clean map was now densely packed with circles from my analysis. At a glance, they seemed haphazard, but there were a few spots where the circles were particularly concentrated. Of course, I wouldn’t know for sure until I went there, but I had a few hunches.
In any case, thinking I was finally done for now, I sank into my chair. I glanced at the window and saw that a dark night had already fallen. The kids suddenly came to mind, and when I extended my senses, I could hear their even breathing from the next room. It seemed they had finished their training and gone to sleep. A small smile formed on my lips as I thought about the progress they had made.
In just one week, the kids had shown the passion to meet the standards I had set. They sometimes showed signs of wanting to leave the city quickly, but thankfully, they followed my instructions to prioritize their training.
There was only one reason the kids followed my instructions. It was not that they lacked thoughts of their own. They trusted my decisions so completely that they joked, “Listen to Oppa—or Hyung—and good things will come even in your sleep.” From the Rite of Passage through the User Academy and up to the present, following my lead had never cost them anything.
This round of training had produced clear results despite a few complaints. They had practiced only Sensing, yet not just their Magic Power but their other stats had risen evenly as well. Seeing Hyun so delighted that his Magic Power had increased by 2 points after only eight days made me a little envious.
I had entered the Academy with the 4-point reward for the mission in mind. But I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that despite training my stamina so hard, it hadn’t risen by a single point.
Anyway, the issue with my own stats was a problem I couldn’t solve right now, so I immediately dismissed the thought. To change the subject, I felt it was about time we left the city. However, there was one final problem I was still mulling over.
It was the question of our caravan’s composition.
It did not matter how Users composed their parties when merely hunting monsters around a city. Once their objective was exploration or a dungeon assault, however, a balanced caravan was basic Hall Plain common sense. We had more than enough melee types, but an archer—or Ranger—and a Priest-class User were essential roles in a standard caravan.
Still, did we truly need those additions now? A Priest-class User was indispensable, but we already had Sol. A mage was optional, and I could guide the kids in place of an archer. With Third Eye and my memories of operating around Mule, the chance of us becoming lost was effectively zero.
The only issue was that if the kids got used to the current composition, it would become a headache later on. In the future, there would surely be opportunities for more difficult explorations or expeditions. Even if I could cover many roles now, I couldn’t look after them forever. Since this would be their first expedition, they would learn and experience a lot, and it would be problematic if they accepted our current setup as the norm.
Knock, knock, knock.
I was still organizing my thoughts about the caravan when a quiet knock sounded. I extended Sensing and detected one woman outside the door, then raised my head and spoke softly.
“Yes. Who is it?”
“It’s me. You already know who it is, don’t you?”
“……”
She hadn’t even received my permission, yet the woman opened the door and came in. Of course, knowing her identity, it was hard to see her as a simple innkeeper. To be honest, I couldn’t understand for the life of me why a User of her caliber was currently in Mule.
The woman had briefly appeared in Mule, then vanished just as suddenly as she had arrived. And when she reappeared in the Hall Plain, she had become an enemy of the clan I belonged to.
I still remembered what the woman before me had once said.
〈Maybe. If I had met her first, I might have entered her service immediately. She was that compelling a User.〉
Judging from what she said back then, it was highly likely she didn’t belong to any clan yet.
The Ragnarok Siege and Annihilation Battle flashed through my mind. In the end, the woman had been executed—literally—by the Princess of Execution, who was on our side. Even so, the terrifying power she had displayed remained vividly engraved in my memory.
The woman wore her usual languid smile. She was a woman who exuded a decadent charm, highlighted by her slightly drooping eyes and the beauty mark beneath one of them. She spoke to me in a gentle tone.
“Hello. May I come in for a moment?”
What nonsense was she talking when she was already inside? I nodded with an unenthusiastic expression.
“…It’s late. What brings you here?”
The woman didn’t answer. Instead, she slowly closed the distance between us. The woman before me was someone who could take my life in an instant if I let my guard down. I couldn’t just relax, so I discreetly began to raise my magic power.
The languid smile remained on the woman’s face. And in an instant, I saw her pupils turn a shade of gray. Having been on high alert from the start, I reflexively activated my Third Eye.
『Unique Ability. Activation of Eyes of Temptation confirmed.』
『Third Eye has been activated. Eyes of Temptation has been seen through.』
Well, well.
“Oh my… Must one keep track of the time when seducing a man she fancies?”
“…The kids are in the next room…”
What a joke. I had endured this kind of attack until I was sick of it while operating in the underworld, so I knew every standard countermeasure. Even so, I deliberately let my eyes grow unfocused, flushed, and answered as though affected. I intended to see what she would try.
“It’s fine… Don’t you worry about that. By the way, your room rental ends today. What are your plans?”
There was no way she came here this late at night just to ask that. This was probably a question to test whether I was under her spell. I answered readily, though I made sure to add a dash of hesitation for flavor.
“I was planning to leave the city tomorrow morning…”
“Leave…?”
At my words, the woman glanced over my table. I could see her expression change strangely. I doubt she could have understood much from a brief look, but it seemed she had guessed what I was up to from the map.
“User Kim Soohyun.”
“H-How do you know my name…?”
The woman spoke my name as she took a step closer. Now, we were close enough to touch if we just reached out our arms.
“The new User who just arrived. The Super Rookie of the User Academy.”
The woman didn’t stop, taking another step forward. I remained seated in my chair while she stood directly in front of me, our eyes meeting. Her pupils, now a shade of ash gray, stared into mine.
“Say what you will… you’re still a new User who’s been here for less than four months.”
The woman’s hand reached out and gently cupped my face. I could feel her soft touch on my left cheek. I deliberately started breathing heavily, panting slightly.
“That day, you truly surprised me. Even though I used only a little Magic Power, I never expected a chick fresh out of the Academy to know how to use Disruption.”
“That was…”
“So I’ve been looking into you and watching you since then… but I don’t get it. You’re truly unpredictable. This is the first time I’ve encountered a case like this, so I’m quite confused myself. But the more I look at you, the more my intuition sounds an alarm… that there’s something different. That you’re hiding something.”
Oh, is that so?
Perhaps feeling that I was completely under her spell, the woman’s movements became even more uninhibited. Just as the hand that had been gently caressing my face was about to pull away, I hurriedly grabbed it. Seeing this, the smile on the woman’s lips deepened.
“My intuition has never been wrong.”
I deliberately burrowed into the woman’s embrace like a baby nestling into its mother’s arms. To be honest, during my first run I had harbored a private desire to be held by her at least once. Whether she knew my dirty intentions or not, she drew my head against her chest with a satisfied expression, and I buried my face there without restraint.
“Hoho.”
I savored the woman’s soft, supple breasts and her fragrant scent. Watching me, she let out a relaxed smile. The hand that had been stroking my hair came to a stop, and then her suggestive voice whispered in my ear.
“Are you hiding something? From the kids, perhaps…?”
“A little…”
“Then won’t you tell me—and only me—what you’re hiding…?”
“That’s…”
The moment I showed a faint sign of resistance, the woman pulled me into a tighter embrace. She continued in a soothing voice.
“It’s okay… Just tell me.”
At the woman’s coaxing voice, I slowly opened my eyes. After pretending to think for a moment, I feigned defeat and quietly began to speak.
“Actually, I…”
“Yes, yes. You are?”
As the woman looked at me with an excited face, I spoke calmly.
“I like shadows.”
“…What?”
I glanced at the woman’s shadow cast across the room. The shadow on the floor came into view. At her question, I smiled slightly and replied.
“Your shadow is very pretty.”
When I finished speaking and looked back up, I saw the woman’s face had hardened to a frightening degree.