Chapter 72
With Masked Castle emerging from the crisis, the overflow incident at Namdong Industrial Complex in Incheon had, for the moment, been brought under control. The media, however, was still dragging Yoon Sang-hyuk and Masked Castle through the mud, churning out malicious articles one after another.
Yoon Sang-hyuk gave none of it any reaction.
Instead, he was examining the enormous structure under construction in the empty space between the outer and inner walls of Masked Castle.
“When do you think it’ll be done?”
“It’ll probably be finished by the time you get back from visiting the corpse-loving freak.”
Lee Chul-woo smiled with obvious satisfaction.
It was a fairly large project, but once players with absurd, inhuman strength were thrown into the mix, the pace of construction had become outrageous. Even the members of the Masked Mercenary Group who had no hunting schedule at the moment were being mobilized.
“What about the others?”
“They’re down in the basement, banging their heads together and playing house.”
Ever since he had handed over the golem blueprints, the basement family had not once left the basement.
“A golem workshop. Just thinking about it makes my blood race.”
“It’s all thanks to me having such a good younger brother.”
“You don’t have to say that for me to be grateful.”
“How’s the mithril alloy coming along?”
Lee Chul-woo scratched his head.
“Harder than I thought. Finding the optimal mixing ratio isn’t easy. Michael and I are still researching it.”
An alloy was a matter of combining metals, but it also stepped one foot into alchemy.
If it were only a matter of working with mithril, Lee Chul-woo would not be worrying like this. An alloy was not improved simply by throwing in as much high-strength metal as possible. You had to understand the compatibility between the metals and find the optimal ratio.
For Lee Chul-woo and the basement family, the top priority was clear: they had to make a golem.
Since the amount of mithril was limited, alloying it with another metal was not optional but essential. For now, they were trying to create an alloy of mithril and the corpse of a Red Knight, the so-called Red Haum, but if that failed, they could always alloy mithril with the corpse of a Black Knight, Adamantium.
“You’re aiming for a Unique-grade golem?”
“Not aiming for it. Even with all our effort, anything beyond that would be impossible. You know as well as I do that we can’t get the materials needed for a Legendary golem’s core. And even Unique-grade is only if everything goes perfectly. We might end up with a lower-grade golem instead.”
“If it’s you and the others, you’ll do just fine.”
He had gathered people obsessed with a single field. If these guys could not do it, then no player on earth could.
“Still, it’s a shame.”
“The subspace?”
“Yeah. If we could apply that somewhere else, it would be incredible.”
The golem blueprints also contained the method for creating the subspace used to store the golem. The basement family had gone off researching the principles behind that space, hoping to adapt them for other uses, but in the end they had learned nothing.
Who knew what the golem’s subspace might be used for in the future, but for now it would serve only as storage for golems.
“You aren’t spending all your time in the smithy and skipping home, are you?”
“Huh? Ah, no.”
“My sister-in-law would chew me out if she found out. So make sure you go home. You’re still in your honeymoon period.”
“The honeymoon... yeah, it is a honeymoon.”
He had married, then been dragged into Eternal World the following year, and returned twenty years later. In reality less than two years had passed, but for Lee Chul-woo it had been a very long time.
“Once I actually came back, it just hasn’t felt easy. You know what I mean, right?”
“I do.”
Living a normal life after surviving twenty years in that insane world called Eternal World was no simple matter. Yoon Sang-hyuk was proof enough of that.
Other than spending time with his younger brother Yoon Sang-min now and then, he was almost always hunting or handling something related to hunting.
“Even I think this isn’t right. We should live while enjoying ourselves like ordinary people, too.”
“Then go home properly, every single day.”
“I’ll try.”
“Why are you talking about trying when it’s something you should obviously be doing? If you keep skipping home, I’ll throw you out of here.”
“Ugh.”
Giving Lee Chul-woo, who let out a groan, a light tap on the shoulder, Yoon Sang-hyuk moved on.
“When are you heading to the airport?”
“I’ll go after I’ve looked around here.”
“When you get there, make sure you take my revenge for me too.”
“Revenge? Ah-ha. You still had that in your heart?”
Today, Yoon Sang-hyuk was going to Egypt.
Lee Chul-woo had once clashed heavily in Eternal World with Ahmed Hassan, the master of the Tower of the Dead, Egypt’s representative guild.
Ahmed Hassan, by virtue of being the master of one of the ten major guilds, had asked Lee Chul-woo to repair his weapons first. Lee Chul-woo had refused, saying he would handle things in order.
Offended, Ahmed Hassan had released every undead he possessed around the Twilight Smithy that Lee Chul-woo ran. As a result, Lee Chul-woo had been unable to work properly for quite some time and had been forced to sit around idly. In the end, Yoon Sang-hyuk stepped in, and Ahmed Hassan tucked his tail between his legs and called his undead off.
“I have no intention of forgiving him gently.”
“Just don’t go too far.”
“A lot of people died. I can’t just let that slide.”
“Right. I’m sure you’ll handle it your way.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In the recent dungeon overflow in South Korea, many lives were lost. If it turns out that a specific organization or country was connected to this incident, I will never forgive them. This is the will of me, the President of the Korean Player Association, and it is also the will of the Lord of Masked Castle, the Masked Lord.
The man watching TV frowned deeply.
“Why is he holding a press conference like that?”
The man, his face half-hidden beneath a thick beard, was Ahmed Hassan, master of the Tower of the Dead and the representative guildmaster of Egypt.
“Could he know something?”
Ali Gabr, second-in-command of the Tower of the Dead, lowered his head.
“He left no traces, did he?”
“Right. Still, watch closely in case a dungeon overflow happens in Egypt too.”
“We conduct regular purges at all times. More importantly, do we proceed with the raid on the Tomb of the Nameless King as scheduled?”
“Hoo...”
Ahmed Hassan let out a long sigh.
Since returning to reality, he had attempted to clear it four times, and failed four times. The place Ali Gabr had mentioned was the Tomb of the Nameless King. It was the only dungeon in Egypt that could not be cleared.
The Tomb of the Nameless King had manifested within the Pyramid of Khafre in Giza, Egypt.
Because of that, a world-famous cultural treasure had vanished. The Tomb of the Nameless King did resemble a pyramid in structure, but it was not the real thing. Once the pyramid became a dungeon, the globally renowned tourist attraction and cultural landmark, the Sphinx, had disappeared as well.
“We’ll go.”
It was not a choice; it was a necessity.
As its name suggested, the Tomb of the Nameless King was a king’s grave. The monsters that appeared there were high-tier undead. The difficulty was so high that they had not yet managed to clear beyond the early stages, but even so, they had to keep pushing through it for the Dead King’s Bones needed to summon undead.
“Turn off the TV. Just watching it makes me restless.”
“Yes, Guild Master.”
While Ahmed Hassan was still weighing the strategy for the Tomb of the Nameless King, the office door suddenly flew open and one of the guild members rushed in.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Ali Gabr barked at him.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that this is urgent...”
“Fine. What is it?”
At Ahmed Hassan’s question, the guild member pointed at the TV.
“You should watch the news.”
At Ahmed Hassan’s signal, the guild member picked up the remote, turned the TV on, and changed the channel. The moment Ahmed Hassan saw the screen, his face twisted.
An all-too-familiar face was there, and it was one he did not welcome.
“The Masked Lord.”
The Masked Lord was on TV. Judging by the background behind him, it looked like an airport.
Reporters were asking him questions.
- Hello. We heard you are visiting Egypt. Could you tell us the purpose of your visit?
- Some people are saying the Namdong Industrial Complex overflow in Incheon is connected to a certain player in Egypt. Is that true?
Ahmed Hassan shot to his feet.
“W-What the hell is that nonsense?”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In the car heading to the airport, Yang Su-chan was in the passenger seat, and Park Ho-sung, wearing the mercenary mask, sat beside Yoon Sang-hyuk.
“Doesn’t the mask bother you?”
“I’m used to it now. And you know my personality. Honestly, wearing a mask is more comfortable.”
Yang Su-chan fiddled with his phone.
“The association president’s holding a press conference.”
“Turn the volume up.”
“Oh, you’re going hard.”
Indeed, Lee Hyung-seok’s attitude was quite firm. In fact, Yoon Sang-hyuk had been the one who asked him to hold the press conference in that way.
“But can you beat him?”
“Why do you have to say something so hurtful?”
Yang Su-chan twisted around and glared at Yoon Sang-hyuk.
“Over there I lost because my level was lower, but if you’re talking pure skill, he doesn’t even come close. That’s right, absolutely.”
“I’m taking you because you begged me to, but if you go over there and lose, I’m kicking you out immediately.”
“Haha, don’t you worry. You’re seeing my babies with your own eyes, and you still say things like that?”
Yang Su-chan had made significant progress while staying in Masked Castle.
By researching together with the basement family, his skill as a necromancer had also grown immensely. That development was reflected exactly in the undead he created.
For several of his higher-ranked creations, he had even enchanted the bones with magic and drawn tattoos on them using monster blood.
As they talked, they reached the airport before long.
The car stopped in front of the passenger terminal, and Yoon Sang-hyuk and the others got out. As if they had been waiting, reporters and broadcasters swarmed around them.
“Hello. We heard you are visiting Egypt. Could you tell us the purpose of your visit?”
“Some people are saying the Namdong Industrial Complex overflow in Incheon is connected to a certain player in Egypt. Is that true?”
“Do you expect a dungeon overflow to happen in Egypt as well?”
He had no idea what they were basing these questions on.
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked over the reporters and spoke in a cold voice.
“Not long ago, a guest came to visit us. Since a guest came calling, this time I’m simply paying a visit as a guest myself. I only hope you’re all properly prepared to receive one.”
With that, Yoon Sang-hyuk began walking toward the interior of the airport. The broadcast cameras captured the back of him as he left.