Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Under World (1)
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The next day.
I woke up at the crack of dawn, completed a light training session, and headed to the Association.
“So, you’ll be investigating the Heukseonghoe in cooperation with the Valhalla Guild from now on?”
*Clink.*
Team Leader Han Jun-man asked, setting down the coffee he was drinking.
“Yes. Well, the Valhalla Guild will be handling most of the investigation, though.”
“That makes sense… It’s not something you could do all by yourself, Mr. Oh-jin.”
Team Leader Han nodded with a grin.
“This is great news.”
“It is.”
The fact that the Valhalla Guild was partnering with me was welcome news for the Association as well.
“Haha. Thanks to you, Mr. Oh-jin, even those executives who were nagging me every day can’t say a word.”
Not only had I caught the kidnappers who were on the run, but I had also forged this cooperative relationship with the Valhalla Guild.
It was an achievement he couldn’t have possibly imagined just a few months ago.
“In that spirit, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“Anything.”
“I’m thinking of getting some new equipment.”
“Equipment?”
“Yes. All custom-made.”
I handed Team Leader Han the equipment request form I had prepared in advance.
“I need a spear made of silver, from the blade to the shaft. Mixed with Seong'yuseok to increase its hardness.”
Of all metals, it had the highest electrical conductivity.
A weapon with a silver base could maximize the ‘Noejeon’ ability he possessed.
“Hmm… I see. But besides the spear, what is this?”
Team Leader Han pointed to a piece of equipment that looked like a bracelet.
It was too bizarrely shaped to be a simple wrist guard.
“Well… to put it simply, it’s a device that fires wires like bullets.”
“Like the web-shooters Spider-Man uses?”
“Something like that.”
The only difference was that it fired wires instead of webs.
“However, the entire wire needs to be an electromagnet.”
That way, when a current was passed through it, it would stick to metal.
“Oh, and of course, please mix in Seong'yuseok to increase its hardness as well.”
“Hmm… It doesn’t seem like it would be too difficult to produce.”
The shape was a bit unique, but the technology involved was simple.
All it needed was the function to shoot out a wire and retrieve it.
“But is there a particular reason you need this kind of equipment?”
“Because a spear alone has its limits when it comes to utilizing the Lyra Stigma.”
He was different from Lee Shin-hyeok.
He had no intention of stubbornly using only a spear to reach the pinnacle of spearmanship.
‘I need equipment that can utilize Noejeon.’
The device he had devised was this wire shooter.
If used well, he could move freely through the air like he was using 3D maneuver gear, and he could also bind enemies with the wire.
‘And once they’re bound by the wire.’
It was over.
By sending a current of Noejeon through it, he could instantly turn any enemy caught in the wire into a piece of electric barbecue.
‘Though it looks like it’ll be a bitch to handle.’
He figured he could manage it with practice.
“A wire shooter… I think that little one would love it.”
Team Leader Han let out a small laugh, thinking of someone.
“Understood. I’ll put in a request with the equipment production team.”
“The payment…”
*Gulp.*
I swallowed dryly and cautiously opened my mouth.
I could feel a cold sweat trickling down my spine.
‘It’s going to be ridiculously expensive, isn’t it?’
A spear made of solid silver and a bizarre device called a wire shooter.
On top of that, it had to be reinforced with Seong'yuseok, so the price would be no small sum.
As if to quell my rising anxiety—
“Haha. You don’t need to worry about the payment for the equipment.”
Team Leader Han smiled warmly.
‘No way.’
Oh-jin’s eyes widened.
“Didn’t you make a brilliant contribution to the joint operation with the Valhalla Guild? The higher-ups are looking upon you favorably, so the Association will bear the cost of the equipment production.”
“Team Leader Jun-man…”
No.
“Brother Jun-man!”
*Whoosh!*
Overcome with emotion, I threw my arms around the team leader.
“Wh-Wha?”
The gorilla—no, Team Leader Han’s eyes widened in surprise.
“M-Mr. Oh-jin?”
“There’s no need for such stiff formalities between us!”
“What do you mean, ‘between us’?”
Team Leader Han started sweating profusely.
“A-Ahem. Please, calm down.”
“Ah, yes.”
I calmed my excitement and sat down on the sofa.
“And finally, this…”
Lifting the last document under the equipment request form, Team Leader Han tilted his head and asked.
“What on earth do you need this for? I doubt it’s for you, Mr. Oh-jin.”
At the sight of an item even more random than the wire shooter, Team Leader Han scratched his head.
“It’s not for me, but I need one. You don’t have to have this custom-made; you can take your time finding it. Ah, and as it’s written there, it must be of the highest quality.”
“Ah, yes. Understood. Then, our Association will…”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
“—I’ll buy this with my own money.”
I said in an unwavering voice.
“With your own money?”
Team Leader Han asked, looking surprised.
It was a decision hard to imagine from the miserly image Oh-jin had shown until now.
“Yes. This is… something I must acquire with my own money.”
“Hmm, I see. Then I’ll bill you for the amount later.”
He organized the equipment request forms and placed them in a file.
*Clap.*
In the middle of organizing the file, he clapped his hands as if he’d just remembered something.
“Ah, right. The appraisal results for the Seongyumul you gave me before are out.”
Team Leader Han slid a tablet over.
It showed a picture of the blue cup that the Heukseonghoe had swapped.
“The grade is 3-star. The relic’s effect is to speed up mana recovery.”
“A 3-star…?”
Oh-jin’s eyes widened.
He had expected it to be 1 or 2-star at most, but to think it was a 3-star.
‘Damn, those bastards are the gift that keeps on giving!’
He couldn’t even begin to guess how much he had earned from the Heukseonghoe alone.
“What would you like to do with this Seongyumul? Will you be using it yourself, Mr. Oh-jin?”
“No. Please sell it along with the Seong'yuseok.”
Any other effect might have been useful, but mana recovery was completely useless to him.
‘Because I have more than enough to not need recovery.’
It was better to turn it into cash here.
“Yes, understood.”
“Ah, while you’re at it, sell these too.”
I also handed him the two high-grade Seong'yuseok I had obtained from Yujin.
“Wow… These are quite high-quality Seong'yuseok.”
“How much do you think I’ll get if I sell them all?”
“Hmm. Including what you gave me before, about 1.7 billion? If we’re lucky, we might get up to 1.8 billion won.”
“……”
Holy shit.
‘So… with the money I got from Lee Woo-hyeok, I’ve earned about 5 billion won?’
*Squeeze.*
The fist I clenched trembled.
‘Now—it’s not much longer.’
An electrifying thrill ran down my spine.
If he combined it with the money he had saved over the past few years, it was an amount that would let him just barely afford the item he wanted.
‘Barely won’t do.’
10 billion won.
To securely obtain that item, he needed exactly 10 billion won.
‘And.’
He had already decided where to get the rest of the money.
“Team Leader. Would it be alright if I asked for just one more favor?”
“Of course.”
Team Leader Han nodded readily.
“Seoul Station. I need a map of the sewer system underneath it.”
“…Excuse me?”
Team Leader Han stared at Oh-jin with a dumbfounded expression.
A map of the Seoul Station sewers?
What in the world could he possibly need that for?
“I’m going on a little treasure hunt.”
I replied, the corners of my mouth lifting into a grin.
“…Even if you say that, I have no idea what you’re thinking.”
“Hahaha. There’s something to it.”
*Sigh.*
Team Leader Han let out a short sigh.
‘He’s still a man whose thoughts I can’t fathom.’
There was no eccentric quite like this one.
“Alright. I’ll try to get that for you as well.”
As a direct government agency, obtaining something like that wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Yes, thank you.”
Oh-jin stood up from his seat with a satisfied smile.
As he stepped outside the Association, the fresh sunlight poured down on him.
‘Just 3 billion more.’
Within the memories of Lee Shin-hyeok that had flowed into him during his third awakening.
If he could just obtain the massive Seong'yuseok embedded in the forehead of that fleshy beast.
The thing he had craved and yearned for so much.
—He would be able to reach ‘Paradise’.
* * *
A week after requesting the equipment from the Association.
As usual, Oh-jin went up to the rooftop in the early dawn and devoted himself to training, performing acrobatic movements that an ordinary person wouldn’t even dare to attempt.
“Hoo, hoo!”
His breath came in ragged gasps.
In a one-armed handstand, he spread his legs wide.
30kg iron weights were strapped to each of his ankles.
“Hup!”
Bringing his widespread legs together and straightening them, he lightly lifted his body, which had been supported by his left arm, into the air.
From his left arm to his right.
*Thud!*
As he switched the arm supporting his handstand, his center of gravity shifted slightly.
Beads of sweat on his forehead dripped down.
*Thwack!*
After twenty reps, alternating between his right and left arms for the handstand, he righted himself with a clean back tumble.
The cold December air cooled his heated body.
“Next is…”
Just as he gripped his spear to practice with his Stigma.
*Wooooong!*
A light burst forth from the silver necklace.
“Huh?”
With wide eyes, Oh-jin lifted the necklace from his neck.
The confusion was brief.
He easily understood what this cluster of light signified.
‘She’s finally coming back.’
His long-awaited noble goddess.
*Twinkle.*
The silver light emanating from the necklace coalesced into the form of a small woman, about 30cm tall.
A dress that scattered radiant light and long, silver hair.
Golden eyes turned toward him.
A slight smile formed on Oh-jin’s lips.
“I’ve been waiting.”
[Ahem.]
*Hmph!*
With her arms crossed, Vega glared at Oh-jin with a stern expression.
[Did I not tell you to speak comfortably?]
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, she had said something like that before they parted.
So many crazy things had happened in the meantime that he had completely forgotten.
“Haha, my bad.”
With a light laugh, he extended his hand toward Vega, who was floating in mid-air.
“—Welcome back, Vega.”
[Fufufu.]
*Poof.*
Flying lightly through the air, Vega perched on his palm and elegantly crossed her legs.
*Hmph!*
A huff of excitement escaped her nose.
She straightened her back and exclaimed in a triumphant voice.
[I have returned!]
It was their reunion after three weeks.