Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: The Hidden Treasure
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“But since I’ve been focused on my artistic activities for so long, I don’t know much about it. Would it be okay if I ask a few questions?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“What’s everyone’s ranking at the Magic Academy?”
At Bert’s question, they each answered.
“I’m 1st Year #1.”
“I’m 2nd Year #6.”
“Wow. Everyone’s rankings are incredibly high.”
Bert’s gaze turned to me.
“72nd.”
“……Even mid-tier at an elite school is impressive!”
“……Yes.”
Then her gaze finally turned to Lee Seo-jun.
“I already know about you, Seo-jun, since you’re so famous. You’re #1, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Oh my〜 Your family must be so proud.”
At Bert’s words, Lee Seo-jun gave a bitter smile. I paused my meal for a moment and looked at Bert.
Bert directed another question at Lee Seo-jun.
“Seo-jun, do you have any siblings?”
“No.”
“Oh, so you’re an only child?”
“Probably.”
Bert smiled softly at Lee Seo-jun’s response.
“Probably? That’s an interesting answer. Hehe.”
“I don’t have any family.”
“Oh…… I’m sorry.”
Even though she clearly knew and had brought it up, Bert shamelessly offered an apology. Then, with a look of pity in her eyes as she gazed at Lee Seo-jun, she added,
“Do you have no memories of your family at all?”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“You don’t even know what kind of people they were?”
“That’s right.”
Hmm. Bert nodded.
“Our situations are similar. I grew up as an orphan too.”
“Is that so?”
Lee Seo-jun showed interest.
“Yes, so I understand how you feel, Seo-jun. Not having family is really lonely and desolate. Let’s cheer each other on.”
“Thank you.”
Lee Seo-jun smiled and replied to Bert’s comforting words.
At the same time, a sweet aroma of grilled meat wafted from a small mountain lodge about 1 km away from Bert’s residence.
Five people were sitting in a circle here, enjoying a barbecue.
They were Jaun’s members, waiting while eating on Bert’s orders.
“Uherhera. Delicious. So delicious. Kids, eat up.”
“You piglet. Stop stuffing your face. When are you gonna lose that weight?”
“Argh. Why are you picking on me again? You wanna die? I told you not to mess with me.”
The young woman, Natasha, picked on him, and the huge man, Ska, spat food from his mouth in anger.
“Ay, you crazy bastard…… It’s all over me!”
“Hey. Both of you shut up and eat.”
At Jin’s words, Natasha and Ska glared at each other before shoving meat into their mouths.
“Ah, but how long do we have to wait?”
“It’s 8:20, so about an hour and forty minutes left.”
“Ah, but do we really have to do this?”
“Bert insists on testing Lee Seo-jun’s skills. What can we do?”
“Still, acting like petty thieves is lame!”
Ska yelled loudly, pointing at the black mask in his hand.
They were planning to impersonate the thieves who stole artist Charlotte’s artwork today to test Lee Seo-jun’s abilities.
It was a ridiculous method, but there was no better way to hide their identities and face him directly.
Of course, there was also Yu Hong’s personal reason for disguising themselves as petty thieves while hiding their identities.
“Bert said to do it. And I think it’ll be fun.”
At Jin’s words, Ska sighed deeply and grabbed eight pieces of meat from the grill, stuffing them into his mouth. Then he grinned.
“Uherhera. Delicious. So delicious.”
“But can I just kill everyone except Lee Seo-jun when we get there?”
“Are you insane? Just fight moderately and run away. That’s your role.”
“Hmm, not confident in holding back……”
Natasha scratched her head.
After finishing their meal, they had some free time.
The current time was 9 PM.
About an hour remained until the incident at 10 PM.
Bert had said they could act freely until then, since the theft would likely happen after 10.
Lee Seo-jun and Lee Hyun-joo had gone outside together earlier.
Peeking out the window, they were chatting on a hill with a nice atmosphere.
They were probably talking about past memories or future paths.
And Choi Seo-yoon……
No idea. Maybe touring the mansion and viewing the artworks.
“Hmm…… It has to be somewhere around here.”
I had been wandering the hallways for about 30 minutes, looking around.
To find the secret space hidden somewhere in the mansion.
“Man, it’s really huge.”
The mansion was about four stories tall. Each floor alone seemed to be around 500 pyeong.
They must have stolen plenty of valuables during their 13 years in hiding, given how much money they had.
As I kept walking forward, a massive grandfather clock gleaming in gold appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Wow. It’s all gold.”
Not exaggerating—the entire clock was gold.
How much would something like this cost?
It’s big enough for three people to fit inside.
I was admiring the grandfather clock when suddenly the Outsider’s Blessing activated, revealing the complex magic formulas etched into it.
“……A barrier?”
Definitely a barrier.
Concealment magic, illusion magic, locking magic—various formulas were visible.
“……Found it.”
This is it. Jaun’s secret room hiding their treasures.
Jaun stores some of the treasures or items obtained through terrorism in their hideouts.
Of course, even in the original story, they revealed 13 hideouts, so including undiscovered ones, there are probably more.
I glanced out the window.
Under the bright lights, I could see Bert drinking tea in a chair.
No one inside the mansion was watching me.
Even if I secretly dispelled the barrier now, no one would notice.
Plus, with nearly an hour until the appointed 10 PM, it was the perfect timing to dispel it and sneak the treasures……
“Hmm.”
But dispelling the barrier now felt a bit off.
Bert could detect the mana release needed to dispel it.
Of course, there was a solution.
A special method only I could use in this world: the Point Shop.
［Entering the Point Shop.］
［Searching for ‘Mana Concealment’.］
►［Item］ Low-Grade Mana Concealment Potion (C)
►［Item］ Mid-Grade Mana Concealment Potion (B)
►［Item］ High-Grade Mana Concealment Potion (A)
►［Item］ Top-Grade Mana Concealment Potion (S)
►［Special］ Mana Concealment Field (SS)
A flood of search results appeared.
I selected the ‘Low-Grade Mana Concealment Potion’.
［Low-Grade Mana Concealment Potion (C)］
Category: Item (One-time use consumable item)
Description: Upon consumption, conceals mana flow below C-Grade.
* Duration: 10 minutes
Price: 5,000
Mana Concealment Potion.
A one-time special item that conceals mana flow for a short time.
Dispelling the barrier doesn’t require much mana, so the low-grade potion should suffice.
[Purchase?]
‘Purchase’
Whoooong—
A pure white light burst in front of me.
The light gradually took form, becoming a bottle filled with transparent liquid.
I examined it before gulping it down in one go.
“……Hmm.”
Unlike Mana Elixir, this potion had no taste. It felt like drinking plain water.
[For 10 minutes, mana below C-Grade is concealed due to the effect of ‘Low-Grade Mana Concealment Potion’.]
This should do it.
I slowly approached the grandfather clock. Gathering mana in my hand, I injected it into the clock.
Blue mana burst forth, and the magic formulas on the clock lit up.
I couldn’t fully dispel the barrier.
They needed to find out as late as possible that I had dispelled it and taken the treasures.
Fortunately, the barrier here was designed to open by just slightly tampering with the magic formulas.
Whoooong
Mana surged, and the grandfather clock’s form began to change. Soon, the illusion magic hiding the passage lifted, revealing a new space.
“……Done.”
I slowly stepped inside.
O O ooo....
As I entered, the barrier behind me restored itself, and the entrance vanished.
A long hallway stretched out before me.
Calming my pounding heart, I walked forward step by step.
A small room was visible in the distance. If my guess was right, the treasures would be in there.
“Is this it?”
A golden chest shining brightly.
It would be great if the item inside was the ‘Holy Relic’ that plays a major role in the later story, but the chances were slim.
According to the original, they store the Holy Relic in a more special and secure place.
I activated the Outsider’s Blessing and looked at the golden chest.
“……Hmm.”
As expected, it was covered in a complex barrier.
And this barrier’s magic formulas were several times more intricate than the one on the grandfather clock.
The problem wasn’t just the barrier. It was also sealed with sealing arts using magic tools.
“Tch.”
Dispelling the sealing arts wasn’t too hard, but extracting the items without breaking the seal entirely would be quite tedious.
If I fully dispelled the sealing arts, Jaun’s group would notice the theft immediately, and who knows what they’d do to us.
“……This’ll take some time.”
About 20 minutes?
No big deal.
There was still plenty of time.
I used the Point Shop to buy a few more Mana Concealment Potions.
I spent over 10,000 points in an instant, but the value of the hidden items here likely exceeded that, so no issue.
All preparations were complete.
Time to unseal it.
Somewhere in the mountains of Gangwon-do.
Yu Ah-yeon and Jeong Je-won, who had been tailing Lee Seo-jun’s group, had been wandering the mountains for about an hour.
They had successfully followed him through the portal gate to Gangwon-do, but things went wrong after.
They completely lost track of Lee Seo-jun’s group while being careful not to get spotted.
“Ah, this is bad. We’re totally lost.”
They had even gotten lost. Gangwon-do’s mountains were famous as a monster field.
Especially late at night like this, the field monsters became ferocious, making it dangerous enough that even seasoned wizards avoided night hikes.
_Grrr……
“Aigoo. The monsters are starting to wake up.”
“No choice.”
“Sis. If we keep this up, we’ll be fighting monsters all night……”
Jeong Je-won grumbled. But Yu Ah-yeon ignored him and kept walking up the mountain.
“Oh yeah. Sis, where’d you go last night?”
Remembering how she had dashed out last night for an investigation, he asked.
“I went out to investigate something, just like I said.”
“Any good results?”
Yu Ah-yeon fell silent for a moment. She had investigated Kim Sun-woo all night yesterday.
His activities, family relations, birthplace—his personal details. But oddly, almost no information on Kim Sun-woo came up.
“……It’s ambiguous. And weird.”
“What’d you investigate?”
“Kim Sun-woo.”
“Hmm…… What about Kim Sun-woo?”
“There’s absolutely no info. Not even family relations or birthplace…… basic stuff.”
At Yu Ah-yeon’s words, Jeong Je-won tilted his head.
“Huh? Is that possible?”
“I’m puzzled too. How can someone have this little information?”
Even thinking about it again, it was bizarre. How could there be no info at all?
At first, seeing Kim Sun-woo’s sparse personal info, she thought he must be a Jaun member planted at the Magic Academy. But upon second thought after some time, something felt off.
If Kim Sun-woo were a Jaun member, would they make his forged identity this easy to spot? Jaun would have faked it more convincingly and seamlessly.
“So you suspect Kim Sun-woo is with Jaun?”
“On hold for now. But it’s suspicious enough to keep investigating.”
That was when it happened.
Kuuuung……!
A powerful mana explosion was felt from afar. The mana’s rank was at least A-Rank or higher.
Yu Ah-yeon and Jeong Je-won’s gazes turned there.
“Let’s go!”
“Got it!”
Time passed, and I managed to partially dispel the barrier and seal. Opening the chest revealed various items inside.
“Ooh.”