The Challenge of the Ancient Stone
Henrik let out a dry laugh.
“You think you’re better at gemcraft than me?”
Kang Yoonsoo nodded.
“If you keep refusing to use your left hand.”
Henrik’s eyes sharpened instantly. He quickly regained his composure and gave an incredulous look.
The middle-aged man rubbed his rough beard.
“It’s true our family heirloom is only passed down to the greatest craftsman of each generation. But how do you plan to prove your skill? You look far too young.”
“I can craft with ancient stone.”
“Ancient stone? Are you joking right now?”
Henrik’s eyes widened.
“Ancient stone is a first-class material that’s already hard to obtain, and even top-tier jewelers struggle to work with it. You’re saying you know how to handle it?”
“If you give me time, I’ll obtain the material and show you the finished work myself.”
“This is ridiculous.”
Henrik glared at Kang Yoonsoo with a sharp gaze.
But the middle-aged man soon sighed.
“Fine, damn it. You did bring the Mud Gem’s treasure and even gave me a silver coin, so I’ll give you a chance. But if your skill disappoints me even a little, I’ll treat you like some fool full of hot air.”
The Best Jeweler
📍 Location: Henrik’s location
🎁 Reward: Elicerson family heirloom
Hidden quest.
It was a request that could never have been obtained if one had only seen Henrik as a shabby drunkard.
Kang Yoonsoo gave a slight nod and left the spot.
“Thank you.”
Shanette also bowed in thanks before following behind Kang Yoonsoo.
Henrik scratched his cheek and watched Kang Yoonsoo’s retreating figure with a strange expression.
His eyes, filled with deep insight, held a question.
“Is that kid really young?”
It was odd.
He looked unmistakably young on the outside, yet his inner self felt more worn than an elf who had lived for centuries.
Henrik furrowed his brow while scratching his cheek.
He had seen eyes like that somewhere before.
An unpleasant memory surfaced.
The middle-aged man unconsciously clenched and unclenched his left hand with force.
Yet the movement was strangely unnatural.
‘He couldn’t have noticed the secret of my left hand.’
Henrik shook his head.
“Well, whatever. There’s no way he’ll actually bring ancient stone anyway.”
Ancient stone was a rare mineral even dwarves struggled to mine.
It was said that ancient stone possessed a total of nine attributes, each hiding a mysterious and wondrous power.
Even if a top-tier jeweler spent several days pouring sweat and blood into it, crafting a perfect gem from ancient stone was nearly impossible.
Yet he claimed he would personally work with such a difficult mineral?
It was something that could never happen.
The drunkard wandered out of the back alley to go have a drink.
The Red Rock Excavation Site was located in the rocky area on the northern outskirts of Riel.
Dozens of survey tents were spread across the vast land, and hundreds of archaeologists, explorers, and adventurers were diligently sifting through the ground or swinging pickaxes.
Most of them were people who ended up empty-handed after rummaging through pebbles and gravel.
Occasionally, the lucky ones would unearth rusted swords or suspicious head ornaments.
‘This reminds me of the life when I was active as an Excavator class.’
In a past life, Kang Yoonsoo had founded the continent’s largest excavation team and thoroughly searched every excavation site.
He had not only found excavation items but also stripped away entire strata to excavate fossils whole or explored ruins buried underground.
‘There really wasn’t a single relic I hadn’t held in my hands. Especially the Ancient God’s armament set was the best in terms of performance. It even deflected the Ruin Dragon’s breath and blocked Sirian’s magic spear.’
Of course, that was all in the past.
Kang Yoonsoo shook his head, his mind unnecessarily clouded with old thoughts.
The two of them crossed through the crowd and entered the largest excavation team tent.
It was filled with scholars busily flipping through old books.
At the highest desk among them, an old man was closely examining a pebble with a magnifying glass.
His slightly crooked silver-rimmed glasses and graying hair spoke of the years he had lived.
The old man set down the magnifying glass and asked with a puzzled expression.
“Who are you two? What brings you here?”
“We’d like to join the excavation team’s work.”
“Ah, and your names?”
“Kang Yoonsoo.”
“Shanette.”
The old man pushed his silver-rimmed glasses up his nose and spoke.
“My name is Lamax. I’m the leader of the Ancient Rock Excavation Team and an archaeologist. I sometimes double as a historian. The participation fee is ten silver coins.”
Kang Yoonsoo paid the fee.
You have become a temporary member of the Red Rock Excavation Team.
Current Contribution Points: 0
Lamax stood up and clasped his hands behind his back.
“I’m glad more young people are joining the excavation work these days, but it seems they’re here to hunt for treasure rather than explore history. That’s not a very good trend.”
“Treasure hunting?”
When Shanette asked, Lamax nodded.
“If you find excavation items at the site and bring them back, the excavation team will calculate appropriate contribution points. Those points can be exchanged for rare items or useful tools within our team. It seems the young ones are coming here aiming for those points.”
Lamax clicked his tongue while looking disapprovingly at the Travelers diligently digging at the ground.
“Excavation isn’t treasure hunting. It’s a grand endeavor to chase after faded history. I want you two to understand that.”
The excavation team leader pointed to the side.
It was a massive rock of dizzying height.
Red dust hung thick around the rock.
“If you need excavation tools like pickaxes, shovels, or magnifying glasses, you can purchase them here. That rock is our current excavation site. Ferocious monsters appear there, so some people get seriously injured. Be careful.”
Lamax added an explanation.
“If you’re afraid of monsters, digging through the dirt around here to find low-value excavation items is also a decent option. Of course, most of the time you’ll just be sifting through pebbles.”
At that moment, Kang Yoonsoo spoke.
“I want to know about the lost history.”
“What?”
Lamax’s expression turned cold in an instant.
“It’s Henrik, isn’t it? You must have heard it from that drunkard. Damn it.”
“Yes.”
“That loose-lipped fool. If it were up to me, I’d want to spill his secret too.”
Lamax quickly scanned the two of them and spoke firmly.
“Normally I would’ve chased you out saying I don’t even want to see you, but since you’ve joined our excavation team’s work, I’ll let it slide just this once. Go back.”
“I’ll bring the Tablet of Records.”
“What?”
“The Tablet of Records. To chase after the lost history, we need that, don’t we?”
Lamax looked surprised, then shook his head.
“Even I haven’t been able to excavate the Tablet of Records. And you’re saying you’ll find it? That’s absurd.”
“I’ll bring it.”
When Kang Yoonsoo spoke with certainty, Lamax shook his head as if he had no choice.
“I’ll give you the request for now. But if you fail, I won’t even speak to you from next time onward.”
Legendary Quest - History of the Void
📍 Location: Red Rock Excavation Site
🎁 Reward: Unknown
Kang Yoonsoo went to an excavation team member and purchased excavation tools.
He bought a pickaxe, shovel, magnifying glass, and brush, then packed them into his bag or carried them on his body.
Shanette gave him a puzzled look.
“Are you planning to use all of these?”
“Yeah.”
The two of them walked toward the massive rock.
A small crevice was visible at the bottom of the rock.
The inside stretched long, allowing them to descend underground.
‘This place always feels so vast whenever I come here.’
The Red Rock Excavation Site was extremely wide, and its internal geography was complex.
That meant there were many hidden relics and many lurking monsters.
‘Before that monster appears, I’ll dig up every valuable relic.’
The boss monster of the Red Rock Excavation Site.
The time when that powerful being would awaken was around now.
The sound of flapping wings echoed from the other side of the cave.
A large creature was hanging upside down from the cave ceiling.
It was a massive beast-type monster—a Big Bat.
Big Bats were bats with sharp fangs.
Each individual had a large body and pitch-black wings.
The moment Kang Yoonsoo and Shanette drew their weapons, the Big Bats on the ceiling spread their wings and charged.
Flying monsters.
Compared to ordinary monsters, their defense was weak, but their attack speed and agility could not be underestimated.
Kang Yoonsoo swung Lavian’s longsword in the smallest possible arc, cutting down every approaching Big Bat.
Though not as skilled, Shanette also swung Death Scythe in a wide arc.
The scythe’s strike, drawing a semicircle, easily scattered the swarm of Big Bats.
The two of them hunted the Big Bats without difficulty.
After the hunt, Kang Yoonsoo’s level increased by one.
His level became 74.
“Mass Corpse Resurrection.”
When Kang Yoonsoo shouted, the Big Bat corpses began to twitch and rise.
Their originally brown eyes had turned red.
Mass Corpse Resurrection skill level has increased.
Special attributes are granted when resurrecting certain corpses.
The Big Bat corpses gained the Bloodsucking attribute.
Blood-craving, violent bat undead.
They were Blood Big Bats.
“Kweek! Kweek!”
The Blood Big Bats craved blood.
It was the instinct of the undead.
Undead with a certain level of intelligence prioritized their own instincts over their owner’s commands.
Occasionally, incompetent necromancers were swarmed and annihilated by the very undead they had resurrected.
The most necessary ability for a necromancer was leadership.
Commanding an army of one required a fitting level of ability.
Kang Yoonsoo raised his right hand and sent the Blood Big Bats into the summoning space.
317 Blood Big Bats have been stored in the summoning space.
Current summons in the summoning space — Blood Big Bats: 316, Rotten Mud Gems: 76, White the White Wolf Beast, Sally the Salamander.
Maximum number of summons that can be stored — 306
The Blood Big Bats howled wildly but ultimately obeyed their master’s command.
“Being a necromancer isn’t easy either.”
The two of them headed deeper into the underground of the excavation site.
Though several branching paths appeared, Kang Yoonsoo walked forward without hesitation.