Chapter 94: Jackpot, Jackpot, and Another Jackpot
Chapter 94: Jackpot, Jackpot, and Another Jackpot
“You said this was a laboratory for human experimentation when we first came in. But this… I don’t even know what to say.”
“It seems things happened here that were too cruel to speak of.”
Vivian nodded once and let out a deep sigh.
“Yeah. But that’s not all….”
She paused, then lifted the records she had set down. Seeing her face scrunch up again, I grew intensely curious about what could possibly be written in them.
“The test subjects… it looks like they weren’t just human.”
“Not just human… Hmm. It’s true that not all the monsters we’ve encountered so far have been humanoid. Are you saying they experimented on animals as well?”
At Shin Sangyong’s question, Vivian threw the records to the floor and answered with a look of disbelief.
“If that was all, I wouldn’t be reacting like this. The record I read is a diary-style report written by the person who used this room. For a diary, it contains some pretty detailed information, but….”
“So? What the hell does it say? Stop dragging it out. It’s frustrating.”
As expected, the impatient Yoojung cried out sharply, anxiety on her face. Vivian took a deep breath and continued calmly.
“First of all, you can think of this first floor, where we are now, as a place where they gathered the failures.”
“Failures… I don’t understand. The first floor is where people come and go, so ensuring its stability should be essential. Why would they release uncontrollable failures on the first floor?”
Vivian shrugged at Jung Hayeon’s sharp question. Then, realizing it was Jung Hayeon who had asked, she let out a violent cough. Since joining our party, Jung Hayeon had never once spoken to Vivian. No, she hadn’t even made eye contact. It was clear she was intentionally avoiding her. This was the first time she had ever spoken to Vivian. Vivian, who must have known this as well, looked startled and stammered out a reply.
“Th-that, I don’t know. We can’t know what the people back then were thinking unless we were there. But according to the record I just read, everything we’ve met on the first floor is a failure. It doesn’t say whether they were originally stored elsewhere or if they got out due to some other circumstances.”
“Setting the first floor aside, what about information on the second or third floors?”
I questioned Vivian with some urgency. The failures were not important at that moment. I wanted to know why the word I had seen appeared in the records. I recalled encountering the Demonkin while active in Hall Plain during my first run. If the same thing happened again… Goosebumps rose across my body.
“I want to tell you what kind of experiments they did on the humans they captured, I want to curse them out, but it feels like spitting in my own face, so I’ll keep my mouth shut. However, it seems the second floor has the ones that showed some degree of success, not the failures. But, what’s important isn’t any of that….”
Finally getting to the point? After a brief pause, Vivian continued in a low voice.
“‘We summoned one ancient Demonkin by sacrificing the one hundred experimental subjects who had produced the most outstanding results.’ That’s what the record says. Those bastards… when progress slowed, it seems they even turned to black magic—specifically the magic of the Demonkin, said to be the most vicious of all.”
“Demonkin…?”
The others murmured in confusion, apparently hearing the word Demonkin for the first time. I groaned, and Jung Hayeon’s face turned deathly pale. One hundred sacrifices. That was far too many to summon a mere low-grade Demonkin. Whatever they had summoned was above low-grade.
Vivian observed our reactions before speaking again in a cautious voice.
“Yes. Demonkin. Soohyun, do you know anything about them?”
“…A little. I remember reading about them in the User Academy library.”
My lips felt dry. A realm called the Demon Realm existed within Hall Plain—or perhaps it was more accurate to say it was reached through a Portal. The Demon Realm was inhabited by creatures known as devils and Demonkin. Some of the devils… could be considered counterparts to the angels.
They might be ordinary devils, or they might be devils that stood as counterparts to angels. The chance of the latter was effectively zero. Like angels, such devils could not intervene directly in Hall Plain by descending into it. The problem was that even ordinary devils were never easy opponents.
The ordinary Demonkin created by devils opposed to the angels were also extremely powerful. Under specific conditions, Demonkin could manifest in Hall Plain. They could not appear with their full strength intact; the more powerful the Demonkin, the greater the proportional restriction placed on their manifestation.
There were ways to circumvent those restrictions, one of which was summoning Demonkin through sacrifices. The laboratory’s Residents had sacrificed one hundred extraordinary successful subjects. I could not yet judge exactly what that amount would call forth, but if a Balrog-class devil appeared, even I would have to accept some casualties.
A headache began throbbing through my skull. Merely thinking about the bastards from Hell waiting for openings deep underground was painful enough. The prospect of dealing with devils and Demonkin as well was already exhausting.
I forced my mind clear. For the time being, conflict would move beyond monsters into battles among Users. Large-scale intervention by Demonkin or the beings of Hell lay far in the future, and worrying now offered no solution. I spoke dryly.
“If they sacrificed 100… just how powerful of a creature are we talking about?”
“Umm… I can guarantee it’s above low-grade.”
Jung Hayeon, who had been listening, cut in with a trembling voice.
“Then… does that mean it’s mid-grade?”
“It could be even higher. I can’t say for sure without knowing the quality of the sacrifices. But if we’re talking about 100 humans as the standard, that’s more than enough to summon a mid-grade.”
Fear shadowed Jung Hayeon’s face. Had she encountered Demonkin before? I moved a subtle step closer and spoke.
“Have you ever fought Demonkin before?”
Startled by my sudden whisper, Jung Hayeon looked up with a jolt. But after confirming it was me, she gave a slight nod.
“Yes… one low-grade Demonkin, by chance…”
“How did you handle it back then?”
Jung Hayeon closed her eyes, as if recalling the event. After a moment, she continued quietly, her eyes still shut.
“I don’t remember the details. For some reason, that low-grade Demonkin seemed to have had its power sealed. A crowd of Users rushed out and attacked it all at once, under layers of divine support magic. Even so, I fully grasped the power the Demonkin displayed. They are never opponents to underestimate.”
“There was also news of a mid-grade Demonkin appearing on the Southern Continent. More surprisingly, a single User repelled it. Demonkin are certainly fearsome, but they too are only one part of Hall Plain. We don’t even know its level yet, so there is no reason to frighten ourselves in advance.”
Ah. Was he talking about her from the Southern Continent? As Shin Sangyong, who had been listening quietly, pushed up his glasses and continued Jung Hayeon’s account, I remembered a certain blonde female User. Still… only part of Hall Plain. I suppose that might be true of ordinary Demonkin.
I nodded briefly and turned my head back to Vivian.
“Soohyun, don’t worry. I looked serious because I despise Demonkin summoning itself, nothing more. Low-grade or mid-grade, whoever appears, I can win. Don’t underestimate me—Vivian, an Ancient Alchemist and Chimera Alchemist.”
“Right… that’s reassuring. In any case, we’ve obtained important information. Good work.”
“Heehee. It was nothing. Anyway, what the guys in this lab did in the past was despicable, but that has nothing to do with us, right? Wasn’t our goal just to explore?”
“That’s right.”
When I agreed lightly, Vivian continued in a brighter voice. Someone beside us muttered, “You summon magical beasts too…” but they did not understand. Magical beasts summoned by mutual agreement and kept under control were fundamentally different from uncontrollable Demonkin.
“So, shall we continue exploring the second floor?”
At her words, I slowly shook my head. The party members all turned to look at me with surprised expressions.
“We will halt any further exploration for today. We’ve already achieved our initial goal of clearing the first floor. It might be a bit early, but we’ll be camping in this room tonight.”
At my firm declaration, the party members’ faces showed they finally understood, and they each sat down where they were. Right. Vivian was right. What was I so afraid of in the first place? I had unconsciously assumed the worst-case scenario, but the chances of that happening right now were nonexistent.
And even if it did happen, I was confident I could overcome it. I activated the Player Status window in the air.
〈 Player Status 〉
1. Name: Kim Soohyun (Year 0 User)
2. Class: Sword Specialist
3. Nation: -
4. Clan: -
5. True Name · Nationality: Master of the Sword · Republic of Korea
6. Sex: Male (24)
7. Height · Weight: 181.5 cm · 75.0 kg
8. Alignment: Lawful · Chaos
〈 Stats: 12 Stat points remaining 〉
1. [Strength 94] [Durability 92] [Agility 98] [Stamina 72] [Magic Power 96] [Luck 88]
〈 Achievements (1) 〉
1. Rite of Passage Boss Monster
〈 Unique Ability (1/1) 〉
1. Third Eye (Rank: S)
〈 Special Ability (1/1) 〉
1. Unity of Sword and Self (Rank: EX)
〈 Latent Abilities (4/4) 〉 (1 Ability point remaining. This point raises a rank rather than a stage.)
1. Close-Quarters Combat (Rank: A Plus)
2. Unyielding (Rank: A Plus)
3. Mind’s Eye (Stillness) (Rank: A Plus)
4. Blessing of the Battlefield (Rank: EX)
I now possessed power beyond comparison with myself during my first run. It was not merely a matter of higher Stats. I carried a bundle of Unique, Special, and Latent Abilities that other Users longed to possess even one of. Beyond that, the ancient shamaness’s tattoo was engraved over my heart, and cleansing every impurity from my body had further improved my magic circuits and mana utilization.
And the Eternal Flame. I had embraced it in preparation for the Atlanta Recapture Battle. Hell used a summoning ritual similar to the Demon Realm’s, and the being summoned then through 1,700 Users forced into sacrifice had been the Inferno of Death—the Sovereign of Hell. I had chosen Eternal Flame specifically to counter that being.
The only flame of the same element capable of opposing Hellfire.
Accordingly, even if high-grade Demonkin appeared, I was confident I could crush them alone. I was strong now. There was no need to judge everything from the perspective of my first run. I wet my lips and let my gaze settle.
In any case, the best method was to prevent the summoning in the first place, but such things were not under my control. I let out a short sigh and closed the information window. For now, it seemed best to rest, recover our spent stamina, and then tackle the second and third floors simultaneously tomorrow.
“Oppa. Wanna eat? Food, food.”
“Pig.”
“Moron.”
After answering Ahn Hyun’s teasing with a vicious insult, Yoojung hopped over and grabbed my arm. I nodded and addressed everyone. Come to think of it, I had only announced that we would camp; I had not yet given any orders.
“Alright, we’ll start preparing to camp now. I’ll place magic stones around the perimeter and set up the campsite, so the mages, please set up any other necessary magic for camping. The rest of you, prepare the meal.”
“Oppa, what about the night watch?”
“No exceptions. We’re definitely setting a watch.”
At my words, Yoojung’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. The others chuckled, then rose and began carrying out my orders. Yoojung approached and held out a backpack. I accepted it silently and reached inside.
I might end up spending some Stat and Ability points this time. Listening to Yoojung whine behind me that she wanted the final watch shift, I pulled out the Magic Stone my hand had found.