Chapter 84: The Great Library of Magic (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 84: The Great Library of Magic (2)
Amidst the marble floors and brilliant lighting, countless books of all kinds lined the endlessly sprawling bookshelves.
Though they were tangled like a maze, Jinhyuk navigated through them without a single hesitation.
Forward.
More precisely, toward the center where the information desk was located.
How long had he walked?
At the end of a widening corridor, he spotted a desk made of ancient wood and a figure sitting behind it.
"Hmm?"
Scrape!
An old man wearing a monocle and a black suit stood up from his seat.
A faint look of bewilderment crossed his face.
Jinhyuk knew why.
He had to be wondering how Jinhyuk had navigated this maze to find the information desk on his very first try.
"How unexpected. Usually, first-time visitors get lost in the maze of books."
"I just followed the path, and it led me here. I hate to brag, but I'm actually quite lucky."
Jinhyuk shrugged.
It was a ridiculous excuse, but Rick didn't press him.
Instead, he looked at Jinhyuk with intrigue.
"I am Rick Hennessy, the caretaker of this library."
Rick politely tipped his fedora and bowed deeply.
An intermediate administrator bowing to me...?
This was exactly why this old man was terrifying.
It would have been much easier to deal with him if he had talked down to Jinhyuk or ignored him.
Maintaining such impeccable manners despite his high status was proof of how much composure and power he possessed.
He was a tycoon who ran one of the largest merchant groups in the Tower while simultaneously managing the Great Library of Magic.
To get what he wanted from such a sly old fox, Jinhyuk needed a plan of his own.
"I'm Kang Jinhyuk."
"Ah, Player Kang Jinhyuk. Welcome. You who have received the Tower's recognition and arrived here faster than anyone else. As a reward, you may purchase one of the books in the Great Library of Magic, so please, choose to your heart's content."
Rick gestured with both hands.
A treasure trove encompassing barriers, spells, magic, and illusions.
Literally everything was here.
However.
"Just because I choose what I want doesn't mean I can actually have it, right?"
"Haha, quite right. This place merely offers you the opportunity to choose. To purchase it, you must pay its equivalent value. Of course, we do not accept Earth currency. Please note that we only accept Coins or bartering through items."
This was also expected.
But since any decent magic book cost hundreds of millions of Coins, purchasing anything with Coins was practically out of the question.
"I don't have many Coins on me, so buying with Coins is out. I'm more interested in bartering. Could you recommend a suitable magic book?"
Jinhyuk pulled out Merlin's Staff from his subspace inventory.
He placed it carefully on the table.
Twitch.
Rick's eyes trembled slightly.
It was his telltale habit whenever he took a liking to an item.
"Hmm. Then how about this? It is a fire-attribute magic book, said to have been written by a Red Dragon itself. If we trade it for Merlin's Staff, it would be a fair deal for both of us."
Rick quickly selected a book with a red cover inscribed with golden runes.
Of course he'd try this.
In the past, Jinhyuk had suffered massive losses by agreeing to barters without knowing the exact value of his items.
He had emptied his entire inventory just to get a single, useless magic book.
It was a mistake born of his belief back then that finding the Great Library of Magic was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
But now...
"That's strange."
"Strange? In what way?"
"As far as I know, this book wasn't written by a Red Dragon, but by an imperial court mage. His name was... Telemos, right? The one who had barely crossed into the 6th Circle?"
He wasn't even the chief mage.
Just some low-ranking mage, ranked around 70th in the court, who had scribbled down a magic book.
How dare he try to hype up such garbage and sell it?
"...?!"
Rick's pupils shook violently.
If his face had shown a mix of slight doubt and curiosity earlier, it was now a blend of sheer shock and wariness.
"How did you..."
"I have a lot of connections, you see. Naturally, I pick up a fair share of information."
Smiling brightly, Jinhyuk pulled out a coffee pot, filter paper, and coffee beans from his subspace inventory.
These were items he had purchased from the Coin Exchange before coming here.
"It seems like we have a long chat ahead of us. Would you care for a cup?"
Jinhyuk placed the finely ground beans onto the filter paper and poured hot water over them.
"No, coffee is hardly the priority right now..."
Rick shook his head, but his nose suddenly twitched.
The rich, fragrant aroma of coffee filled the room.
"Could this be..."
It was indeed coffee brewed from Bengenti Jungle Coffee Beans—Rick's absolute favorite.
"Do you also enjoy this coffee, Player Kang Jinhyuk?"
"I'm not a fan of instant coffee, so I looked around quite a bit. The coffee beans found inside the Tower definitely have a much better aroma. Of course, this one suited my taste the best."
"...Hmm. You have excellent taste in coffee. Personally, this is my favorite as well."
I know.
I've seen you chug twelve cups of this exact coffee every single day in the past.
Personally, Jinhyuk preferred a caramel macchiato loaded with syrup or a chocolate frappuccino over bitter coffee, but what mattered right now was winning the old man over.
[The affinity of Rick Hennessy, the Librarian, increases dramatically.]
[Though he is a merchant who always pursues profit, he will soften his stubbornness just for you.]
An acute eye that saw through the authenticity of items.
On top of that, sharing the exact same taste in luxury goods made it impossible for Rick not to like him.
Above all, since Jinhyuk was subtly utilizing his 'Communion' skill, this psychological warfare was practically over before it even began.
"If you don't mind, may I ask you a personal question, Player Kang Jinhyuk?"
"Go ahead, ask whatever you like."
"I already knew you were different from ordinary players from the moment you arrived here. However, it seems you possess a background that goes far beyond merely being 'special'."
Information that a player who had just entered the 5th floor couldn't possibly know.
Since he had spoken of it so casually, Rick had no choice but to assume there was a powerful force backing him.
"You want to know what that background is. That's what you're asking, right?"
"Spot on."
...Perfect.
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
He had been waiting for Rick to ask this all along.
"To be honest, the Egyptian deities are backing me. Thanks to them, I was able to come here and obtain various pieces of information about the Tower."
"The... the Egyptian deities?"
"Yes."
"H-how can that be? For those beings to already show interest in a player..."
"They seem to dote on me quite a bit. Of course, it's more attention than I deserve."
If Anubis had heard this, he would have clutched the back of his neck and collapsed.
No, collapsing wouldn't even cover it; he might have bitten his tongue and thrown himself off the top of a pyramid.
After all, the sheer amount of torment Jinhyuk had put him through could fill an entire book.
But from Rick's perspective, there was absolutely no way to verify this.
At least, not at this very moment.
"It seems... I have treated you far too poorly, Player Jinhyuk."
Rick's tone of voice shifted completely.
"A person of your caliber deserves treatment befitting their status. As an apology, I shall present you with one of the books here as a gift."
Oh?
Look at this.
Jinhyuk had expected the terms to change, but this was beyond his expectations.
He was basically handing over a blank check, regardless of the price.
"Can I really choose absolutely anything?"
"This is strictly a token of my apology. Please, do not worry and choose at your leisure."
"Well, if you insist..."
If price was no object, there were plenty of things he wanted.
Originally, he had been prepared to trade away Merlin's Staff.
Thanks to this, he could get his most desired item for free.
Jinhyuk began to stroll leisurely along the bookshelves.
* * *
Step.
His pace gradually slowed.
A moment later, Jinhyuk stopped in front of a secluded bookshelf.
Row 12F, Column 127.
This was the spot.
I hated looking at my school textbooks so much, yet why am I so thrilled to see this?
Jinhyuk pulled a book from the shelf.
It was an ancient tome with a striking black cover.
"Are you certain you want that one? It is indeed an excellent magic book, but it is written in the Ancient Runic Language, so not just anyone can read..."
"'I, the Black Dragon Makedrian, leave this record to commemorate the day I became an Ancient Dragon. For a thousand years, I have contemplated how to break the laws of the world... blah, blah, blah.' A book written by a lizard with a severe case of eighth-grade syndrome. I'll take this one."
Jinhyuk casually recited the first page of the book.
The Ancient Runic Language was nothing to him.
Having stared at it for over ten years, it was more familiar to him than Korean.
"Bwahaha! It seems I have underestimated you once again. As expected of someone blessed by the deities."
Rick burst into a hearty laugh.
Whether his laughter stemmed from amazement at Jinhyuk's ability to decipher the Ancient Runic Language, or from the casual disrespect Jinhyuk showed toward a dragon, a creature hailed as the ultimate lifeform, was unclear.
The only certainty was that Jinhyuk had successfully won the favor of one of the most influential intermediate administrators in the Tower.
"I, too, shall keep a close eye on you, Player Kang Jinhyuk. I sincerely look forward to the day we meet again."
With those final words,
Rumbleeee!
the library began to crumble, dissolving into a handful of sand.
Now that he had claimed his reward, it was time to return to reality.
* * *
The 5th floor of the Tower of Trials.
Although only two days had passed since the 4th floor was cleared, quite a few people had already challenged the 5th floor.
Due to the nature of the maps, which closed on a first-come, first-served basis, they wanted to secure even the slightest advantage.
And among them, the most popular location was the 'Mine'.
[C-101 has closed.]
[D-77 has closed.]
[E-158 has closed.]
Watching the status window flash rapidly, Jinhyuk let out a soft exclamation.
"Wow. The speed at which these are filling up is practically on par with college course registration."
It was a speed rivaling ultra-popular elective courses like 'Sex and Love' that filled up in a single second.
He understood why.
The fact that simply finding a gem counted as a clear must have been highly appealing.
At the very least, the risk of losing one's life would be lower compared to other places.
However.
"They don't seem to realize that while it's safe, the clear speed is abnormally slow."
Finding the 'Royal Diamond' buried deep within the mine was about as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.
It was common to fail even after swinging a pickaxe for ninety days straight. Above all, they would only exhaust their bodies for that long period with absolutely nothing to show for it.
Jinhyuk didn't even glance at the popular maps.
Instead, he looked at the place players dreaded the most.
[Z-01 (Psychiatric Ward)]
Current Waiting Players: 37
Time Remaining: 0h:2m:13s
The Psychiatric Ward.
A building of death where cursed monsters and crazed patients roamed.
This was the battlefield he had to choose on the 5th floor.
It's almost closing time.
But just as Jinhyuk was about to accept his entry...
Tring!
An unexpected message arrived from those who had never once revealed their presence until now.