Chapter 203
Chapter 203
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: The Prophecy Mystery
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At my words, Han Se-yeon continued driving without a reply.
The car glided forward smoothly.
It entered the underground tunnel and emerged, only stopping when a red traffic light appeared.
Han Se-yeon, gripping the steering wheel, turned her gaze toward me.
“How did you know that the Han family possesses the Prophecy Mystery?”
“I pieced it together from the miracles Chairman Han Dae-hyun pulled off in the past and a few incidents. And you’ve heard the rumors before, right? This kind of speculation.”
In reality, whispers that the Han family might possess the Prophecy Mystery often circulated among ordinary people.
Just like the rumors in the world I originally lived in about a certain corporation imprisoning aliens.
Some broadcasters had even aired programs speculating whether the Han family truly owned the Prophecy Mystery.
That was how many mysteries surrounded the Han family’s rise to power.
“...It didn’t sound like mere speculation. How should I put it? It was that voice of yours, Jin-woo, full of your usual certainty.”
“Did it come across that way?”
The traffic light changed from red to green again.
The stopped car surged forward once more.
“Since you seem to know everything already, I’ll be straightforward. The Prophecy Mystery. Yes, the Han family does possess it.”
She revealed it surprisingly readily.
“But even if I wanted to help you with the relic, I can’t. My father and brother manage it, and it’s set up so only Han family members can use it.”
That was news to me. Only Han family members could use it?
There was no reason for Han Se-yeon to lie to me, so it must be true.
Disappointing, but unavoidable?
“But why do you want to use the Prophecy Mystery?”
Why, indeed.
The reason I wanted to use the Prophecy Mystery was curiosity about the moment Lee Seo-jun died in my previous life.
If I could glimpse that day through its prophetic power, some of the mysteries surrounding his death might unravel.
Beyond that, I was curious about the process of using the Prophecy Mystery.
“Everyone wants to know the future, don’t they?”
“That’s a pretty vague reason, considering you act like you already know the future most of the time.”
Her words hit a nerve, and I let out a small chuckle.
But I couldn’t admit to knowing the future, so I played innocent.
“How would I know the future?”
“You might. There are even stories of humans with prophetic abilities in the distant past.”
“Those are just stories.”
“You’re more conservative than I thought, Jin-woo. Dismissing human potential isn’t good.”
Her mention of human potential drew a faint smile from me.
“To be honest, it’s less about curiosity over the future itself and more about the process of peering into it.”
“The process?”
She looked at me with genuine surprise.
“Don’t you wonder how the relic works to reveal the future? And how far into it does it see?”
Han Se-yeon fell into thought for a moment. Then she spoke.
“You shouldn’t get your hopes up.”
Her sudden words made me glance at her.
She met my eyes briefly before turning back to the road ahead.
“According to my brother, it’s incredibly uncooperative, and the futures it reveals are extremely limited.”
10:30 PM, Han Se-yeon’s house.
Under the soft glow of a small lamp, Han Se-yeon sat at the table, crafting an elixir from blue seaweed.
Not wanting to disturb her focus, I quietly took a seat across from her.
“You don’t need to mind me. Make yourself comfortable.”
She spoke while carefully handling the seaweed.
“No, it’s fine. I can’t relax while you’re working because of me.”
Han Se-yeon paused her elixir-making and looked at me.
“There’s liquor inside if you’d like some.”
“Liquor?”
“Yeah, I have a rare bottle. It was made by a wizard from the British Mage Tower using their relic.”
That did sound tempting. I do have a weakness for fine liquor.
Still...
It felt wrong to drink alone while she worked.
“I’m good. It’d feel awkward drinking by myself.”
“Oh, come on, no need to feel bad about it.”
Han Se-yeon smiled faintly at me before diving back into her work.
I watched her for a bit, then stood up. I’d already toured the house, but sitting face-to-face like this felt awkwardly idle, so I wandered again.
As I strolled through the living room, I spotted some documents on the table.
They appeared to be records of mana stone transactions and lists of wizards specialized in mana stone mining.
With the mana stone shortage lately, it seemed they were trying to secure their own supply.
Flipping through the list, my eyes stopped at one section.
JWK.
That sounded like my company.
Out of idle curiosity, I scanned the contents.
It mentioned releasing stock for about three days before suddenly vanishing.
In truth, with mana stone prices steadily rising, I’d been stockpiling to sell later.
I glanced subtly at Han Se-yeon’s back as she worked at the table.
Part of me wanted to say JWK was my company and offer to help with mana stones, but the timing wasn’t right.
And it would come out eventually anyway.
As I reviewed the documents, Gretel’s gifted mana stone suddenly came to mind.
I pulled out the mana stone and held it in my hand.
At a glance, it looked like just a large mana stone. Nothing particularly pretty about its shape.
But why had Gretel suddenly given it to me? Dungeons had plenty of this size.
Just in case, I activated Outsider’s Benefit.
[Mana Stone (???)]
Classification: Mana Stone
►???
*It holds latent power. Can be unlocked using a relic.
...What? Latent power?
“Jin-woo!”
Startled by the hidden effect, I heard Han Se-yeon call out loudly.
I hurriedly pocketed the mana stone.
“Yes?”
“The elixir’s ready.”
“Already?”
I approached Han Se-yeon.
On the table sat a potion infused with mana from the blue seaweed.
[Refined Blue Seaweed Elixir (S)]
Classification: Elixir
Description: Upon consumption, magic power increases by 5%.
Mana recovery speed increases by 50%.
*Fresh state. Efficacy decreases after 3 days.
“Oh.”
The effects were impressive.
Even if nothing else, the magic power boost alone warranted high praise.
“I used sacred herbs to amplify the effects. It should greatly help with your magic power.”
“Thank you. Can I drink it just like this?”
“Yes, best to consume it right away. The potency fades over time.”
I pocketed the elixir. Han Se-yeon gave me a puzzled look.
“You’re not drinking it now?”
“I’ll do it at home. If I take it now and pass out from the effects, it’d be a bother.”
“No need to worry about that.”
I couldn’t help but worry.
And who knew what might happen if I blacked out here.
Like my Kim Jin-woo disguise being exposed, for instance.
“It bothers me, that’s all. Freshness lasts about three days anyway, right?”
“Hmm. True.”
Smiling, I sat back down across from her.
“More importantly, how about that rare liquor you mentioned earlier?”
We parted ways after drinking quite wholesomely at Han Se-yeon’s house.
Returning home in a pleasantly buzzed state, I consumed the elixir.
As expected, a surge of potent magical energy coursed through me, and I blacked out.
The next day, when I opened my eyes, my magic power had risen to 68.
It had been 21 on the first day after regression, and now 70 was within reach.
Feeling great, but I had prior business: investigating Gretel’s mana stone.
I couldn’t figure out how to unlock its latent power, so I postponed it.
The description said to use a relic, so I’d find a way soon enough.
Two days passed like that.
I met Lee Seo-jun again.
[You have achieved the ‘Mini-Stage Conquest’ accomplishment.]
[You have obtained 3,000 points as a reward.]
“Phew. Finally done.”
“This is the reward room.”
Today, Lee Seo-jun and I had conquered a massive dungeon in Chungcheongnam-do.
Massive dungeons hid numerous stages within, allowing many people to tackle them simultaneously in one dungeon.
It was akin to a ‘tower.’
Conquering the mini-stages of such massive dungeons wasn’t too hard, so Lee Seo-jun and I succeeded without major risks.
We’d synced up plenty of times before, so our synergy was tremendous.
“Please, Spirit’s Tear, come out.”
Lee Seo-jun clasped his hands in prayer before the reward chest.
The Spirit’s Tear occasionally dropped in certain dungeons as a reward and was used to enhance equipment or potions.
Such versatile Spirit’s Tears were also key materials in necromancy.
“...Tch. Let’s just buy it with money. Why are we doing this grind?”
What Lee Seo-jun and I were doing was pure grind.
Like in a game, endlessly farming a dungeon for a rare item with a drop rate under 1%.
“The Spirit’s Tear costs 300 million. Where would you get that kind of money?”
“Hey, even if I could afford it, that’s not the point. I’ve got money.”
Irritated, I grumbled, and Lee Seo-jun glanced at me.
“I don’t want to owe you.”
“...Sigh. Fine. Let’s open the reward. If it doesn’t drop here, I’ll just buy it. Okay?”
“...No.”
Ignoring me, Lee Seo-jun opened the reward chest.
Creak...
The lid opened, and a brilliant light flashed.
The blinding light obscured my vision. Moments later, the reward revealed itself.
“...Crazy.”
Seeing it, a curse slipped out involuntarily.
[Spirit’s Tear (B)]
Classification: Material
Description: Amplifies the effects of magic-infused tools.
“...This actually dropped? On the first try?”
“Whoa, jackpot! See? I told you it’d drop.”
Lee Seo-jun, who’d been meek after my nagging throughout the dungeon, puffed up with confidence.
I stared at the Spirit’s Tear in disbelief.
This made no sense.
Well, it wasn’t impossible.
Even the original Lee Seo-jun had lucked into a Spirit’s Tear against impossible odds.
But the future had changed, and so had the timing and location of our dungeon run—I’d assumed a different reward.
“Ha...
What kind of coincidence is this...
No, I was starting to doubt if it was coincidence anymore.
Lee Seo-jun clutched the Spirit’s Tear, grinning ear to ear as he turned to me.
“Now we’ve got the Spirit’s Tear. Just a few left.”
“...Yeah.”
“Next week’s the Training Chamber, so we’ll pause on collecting mysteries for now. Or since we’ve got time, want to hunt for others?”
I pondered his question.
We’d gotten the Spirit’s Tear sooner than expected. With time to spare, it wasn’t a bad idea.
“Let’s head out first.”
And so, Lee Seo-jun and I exited the dungeon.
Hardly anyone was outside. Given the low average reward grade of this massive dungeon, it was expected.
Still, we’d chosen it because we were minors.
Without pro wizard credentials, dungeon entry was forbidden.
Of course, plenty of students sneaked into deserted dungeons like this.
“So, looking for other mysteries now?”
“Well...”
As I started to reply, my pocket smartphone buzzed.
Using Outsider’s Benefit, I checked the source.
Not a message.
An email. Opening it revealed a long message.
Reading it, I thought ‘finally’ as my hands clenched.
“No, something came up. Not today.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Let’s hunt the rest after the Training Chamber.”
“...Sure.”
“See you.”
After a brief goodbye to Lee Seo-jun, I headed to a quiet spot.
Soon, I found a park bench and sat down.
Seated, I activated Outsider’s Benefit again to reread the email.
［Greetings. This is ‘Red Rock.’ Results for the information request from ‘SW’ are in.］
Red Rock, the information guild.
Known alongside the Han family’s guild as holding the world’s most extensive intel.
Their fees were steep, but their work was impeccable.
Since winter break started, I’d anonymously commissioned them.
And now, the results had arrived.
［Name: Kim Chang-hyun］
What I’d requested was information on Kim Chang-hyun.