Mythic-Grade Item (1)
Everyone was staring at me with slightly dazed expressions.
An item? In a situation like this?
Even I thought it was a little absurd, but when things had gone this badly, the right answer was to raise our specs even by the smallest amount.
There might be a mythic-grade item here.
There could be a mythic-grade item somewhere in this shattered exhibition hall. When we were in a situation where we had to do something, boosting the entire expedition party's stats wasn't an option—it was a necessity.
"Of course, it might be best if we search for anyone who has been isolated as well."
"Is there a way to clean up this mess?"
"It's not our job to clean it up; it's the museum manager's job. Since the emergency program or whatever it was has activated, the contingency set by the Crack Guardians should have kicked in. What matters right now is our bodies, not anything else. For now, please move us quickly, Hyunsung. I... can't move my body at the moment..."
"Ah... yes."
Looking up at Kim Hyunsung, who was still holding me in his arms, I saw him nod as if he understood.
It's worse than I thought...
In truth, his body was hardly in a normal state either. He had kept swinging his sword at the chains through that explosion, so of course he would be in ruins.
Park Deokgu, who had taken the same damage I had, was in no condition to brag about himself either. Sun Heeyoung and An Gimo were continuing to pour out divine power, but it looked like it would still take some time before anyone could recover completely.
—Gedrick... Gedrick!
Meanwhile, Yuliena kept crying out for Gedrick. I slid her into the scabbard at my waist, which calmed her down a little, but the faint humming that still leaked from her was unsettling.
Getting out of here is going to be a job in itself.
"We'll make our way out through the exhibition hall that opened up on the side. Other monsters may have awakened, so it'd be best to move in the direction opposite the monster exhibition hall."
"Ah... yes."
"We'll move as quickly as possible and recover a little on the way. Let's go."
Every member of the expedition party nodded.
They all probably wanted to rest.
I wasn't the only one whose mana had been drained to the limit. To break the seal laid by the Crack Guardians, everyone had used more mana than they could normally handle.
Everyone had high stamina stats, so they were at least walking normally, but unfortunately, I was in a position where I was allowed to make a little more noise about how miserable I was.
My body really won't move.
Of course, ending up as close as possible to the warm, safe embrace of Kim Hyunsung hadn't been intentional, but the situation wasn't bad.
Even while my body was exhausted, the members of the Black Swan guild staring at us with odd expressions were a little bothersome, but... I didn't bother paying them much attention.
They don't think I'm just putting on a show, do they?
Everyone knew I was physically weak. At any rate, once I finished speaking, everyone began rushing toward the massive hole while being carried in Dialugia's arms.
Leaving the glowing fragment of the ancient god behind, we entered the exhibition hall.
Even now, grotesque shrieks were still echoing from behind us, but the thing wasn't looking at us at the moment.
Of course it isn't.
There was the thing that had imprisoned it for an uncountable length of time right nearby. It probably wouldn't calm down until it had smashed everything in this place to pieces.
As expected, the museum was in an utterly miserable state. Most of the exhibition halls were wrecked beyond recognition, and the weapons and artifacts inside them had been completely smashed as well.
Even when I scanned them with the Mind's Eye, the place was overflowing with garbage that didn't even show a grade.
Nothing worth salvaging here.
"Let's move to the next room. If we stay here, the aftereffects might reach us. Our target for now is the manager's office."
"The manager's office?"
The one who asked was Park Yeonju.
"Yes. There should be a place where Manager Max's main body is located. It doesn't seem to be here, so he must be pretty busy... He won't be able to pay attention to this side anymore. For now, Yeonju, please take off the ring you received before entering the dungeon. We don't need the dungeon manager's guidance anymore."
"Yes. I was planning to do that anyway."
"And... Hayan?"
"Yes? Y-yes! Oppa."
"Hayan, I think it'd be best if you started making a map from now on with the Black Swan rangers here. I'm fine, so don't worry too much... it's just mana exhaustion that's keeping me from moving, nothing else."
"Yes, Oppa..."
"Can you draw maps, Miss Hayan?"
"No. But I always keep track of my location. I think it will help. It should be fairly detailed and accurate."
"That's... a very unusual couple."
I didn't bother answering Park Yeonju's remark as she looked at us with curious eyes.
It probably seemed strange that a girlfriend was tracking her boyfriend and the target was allowing it.
On Earth, that would naturally be unpleasant, but in a place where you could be kidnapped at any moment and never know what might happen, it was entirely possible.
At least by my standards...
"Heeyoung and Gimo, and the other priests should rest a little as well. If you all collapse from exhaustion, the expedition itself becomes impossible."
"Yes."
"It might be hard to relax, but you should still try to catch your breath if you can."
"Well, our brother's right. Rushing around pointlessly isn't always good... in fact, we're in such bad shape that it's hard enough just to walk properly, never mind fight."
"That's right, Deokgu."
"In that sense..."
"I was already planning to set up camp once we got a little farther away from that side."
"And eat too?"
"Of course we have to eat. Though we've lost a few supplies, so we'll need to ration."
Rest was that important.
If circumstances allowed, I would have recommended taking a nap.
Of course, I knew better than anyone that such a thing was impossible.
Considering the thunderous crashes still echoing through the museum, I honestly didn't even want to recommend setting up camp.
There's no helping it.
It was, quite literally, a choice we had no option but to make because the expedition party's condition was so terrible.
Just as I was letting out a small sigh, one of the ancient god's fragments suddenly shattered something, and a single tentacle pierced through the left wall.
"Whoa! Jeez, that startled me!"
"What the...?"
"I— I almost dropped dead from shock."
Jung Hayan was clutching her chest too, clearly startled, and from that alone it was hard to imagine how shocked everyone else must have been.
Calming the expedition party was one of the jobs people like me did.
I had been startled too, but there was nothing for it—I had to speak as if nothing was wrong.
"It probably isn't aiming for us. It seems to be writhing around on its own... For now, it'd be best to move somewhere that tentacle can't see us."
"B-but why is it just sitting there?"
"Well... I don't really know what an ancient god's fragment is, so I can't say for sure... but it does look like it's trying to take root. Maybe it's trying to disable the museum's functions, or maybe it's trying to absorb mana flowing in from the dungeon itself. Right now, instead of thinking about a dozen things at once, it's better to focus on just one."
"R-right."
I was scolding Park Deokgu, but I couldn't help feeling the same confusion myself.
Its main body was definitely glowing, but...
Is it really trying to take over?
I figured I should ask Dialugia later, since she had once said she'd heard about ancient god fragments before. The fact that she had been quietly thinking to herself ever since returning to her human form suggested she clearly knew something.
Fortunately, she didn't look especially grim, but every now and then she wore an expression that seemed almost like self-loathing.
She had said that duty had become vague and forgotten now, but dragons, by nature, were the kind of race that protected the balance of the continent.
Since she had made a major contribution to destroying the ancient god's fragment, I could only guess that she was thinking of her grandmother, who had probably passed on long ago.
In any case, the expedition kept moving forward.
Using the map Jung Hayan and the rangers had drawn, we began figuring out the museum's overall structure.
Every now and then, we spotted the ancient god's tentacles, but the thing really wasn't moving.
So it really did take root.
The Crack Museum had become a museum consumed by an ancient god.
I didn't know exactly what consequences that would bring, but one thing was certain: it had become easier to move around.
The proof was that the walls blocked by the system were now breaking under the impact dealt by players.
It's definitely eating into it.
We could tell from scattered signs that the museum's functions were stopping one by one.
I was curious how the museum, having activated some so-called emergency program, planned to handle this, but I also knew perfectly well that going to check would be idiotic.
Given the continued booms echoing from afar, the museum was still grappling with the eye tentacle. By now, the other side was probably in chaos.
There was no way it could be properly contained.
If the museum's functions really had stopped, then the sealed monsters inside might have awakened too.
Maybe they were even beating the hell out of one another in there.
At the very least, it was a simple enough guess that the museum could have remained alive and then, just like reality itself, turned real.
Since the museum still showed no sign of collapsing, it seemed like Max was doing his best to clean up the mess, but...
Can he hold it off?
It was hard to tell which side I should be rooting for.
Of course, there was a happy ending spinning around in my head.
The expedition party rescues the trapped people, secures an item, escapes the museum, and then the museum seals the ancient god again. A perfect scenario.
It was the kind of ending with no loose threads left behind.
Of course, given my tendency to always assume the worst, it was hard to fully indulge in that happy ending, but when it came to situations I couldn't possibly handle myself, it didn't seem bad to think positively for once.
That was when we thought we had put a little distance between ourselves and the site of the disaster.
"Huh... this place seems a little more normal..."
It was Deokgu who said that quietly.
"Indeed... this looks all right."
Cho Hyejin nodded as well.
There was no sign of the ancient god's fragment, and the room was large enough for thirty people to rest in.
Most importantly...
"Brother! There are items everywhere in here! This place seems to have stopped working too... and the exhibition hall doesn't seem to be responding either? Hey! There are even a few legendary items over there... Can I take these?"
"Oppa, there's a staff here! I... I think this one is legendary grade too!"
"There seem to be a few heroic-grade items too... Since these came from the rift, they appear to be in better condition than the usual stock. There are also some items that increase divine power, Kiyoung."
"Does Sister Heeyoung want anything too?"
"It's not that I want them, exactly, but there's another scripture over there... and I'm curious about it..."
There were still intact items left behind.
I had thought there might be, but this was still the sort of situation that left everyone's mouths hanging open.
The sight of everyone standing there with their jaws dropped was honestly kind of cute.
It was a situation worth feeling good about, of course, and there was even someone rubbing his eyes in disbelief, so no further explanation was needed.
And yet.
The moment I turned my head slightly, I too was forced to gape.
Whoa...
A sword glowing with a faint white light.
Th... that's insane.
It looked a little rough around the edges, but even a quick glance made it obvious that it was a masterwork sword.
The light spilling from it pointed directly at Kim Hyunsung.
Mythic grade.
We'd hit the jackpot.
Hyunsung! This means we're safe, right?!
A smile spread across my face for the first time in a while.
Postscript
Kim Hyunsung: K-Kiyoung hyung! This time it's mine, right?