Chapter 44
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Tiger's Den (3)
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A lavish feast was spread out before his eyes.
To anyone else, it might have just looked like a pile of rocks, but to Min-jun, they were more precious than any jewel.
"Dan-woo, mind if I take care of those for you?"
"I'd love that, but..."
"Then let your big bro handle it nice and clean."
With Dan-woo's permission, Min-jun reached out toward the mountain of starstones, humming a tune without realizing it. The starstones responded by starting to glow.
Then, as if a glitch had occurred, the system began spitting out messages one after another.
[Absorbing starstone.]
[Star Power experience slightly increases.]
[Star Power experience slightly increases.]
.
.
.
[Star Power experience slightly increases!]
[Star Power level rises!]
'Whoa, to think I've been struggling all this time when I could level it up this easily.'
Even as Min-jun cheered inwardly, the system messages didn't stop.
[Acquired a large amount of Star Power experience at once.]
Ding!
[Acquired title 'Starstone Devourer'!]
[Star Power level rises due to achieving the first feat.]
[Promotion quest has arrived!]
'A title and a quest too?'
Min-jun looked at him with eyes dripping honey, and Dan-woo, sensing something off, quickly put some distance between them.
But Min-jun was too fast for Dan-woo to evade.
"W-What are you doing!"
"Dan-woo! I'll take responsibility and get you out of here. Just trust your big bro."
"Let go of me first!"
"Uncle, me too! Me too, airplane!"
Min-jun held the flailing Song Dan-woo up in the air for a while, then, at Song Seo-woo's request, scooped them both up and spun them around.
"Hehe! So fun!"
"...Grr."
The flight, which brought joy to one and shame to the other, circled the air for quite some time before finally landing.
After setting them down, Min-jun checked his status window and confirmed that his Star Power stat had reached Lv. 5.
'Leveled up to 5 all at once... And a title and quest—'
「[Starstone Devourer]
Grade: Rare
Effect: Title given to one who devours starstones. Increases starstone absorption rate by 20%.」
「[Main Quest - Promotion]
Difficulty: D+
Clear Condition: You've found a way to raise your Star Power stat. Fulfill the next condition to take the next step.
① Star Power Level (5/10)
Time Limit: None
Rewards: Space Market membership grade increase
Penalty on Failure: None」
'So raising Star Power level is the condition for the next grade.'
Two months after first awakening Star Power, he had finally figured out the promotion condition.
His stats had been rising, but lately, he'd felt like he'd hit a plateau.
With the path forward confirmed, Min-jun was still fixated on the rewards when Song Dan-woo snapped him out of it with a loud call from the side.
"Un... How do... you...?!"
'If I collect starstones to raise my membership grade, I can buy rare-grade items now—'
"...Dang it, ...Uncle!"
"Huh...? Oh? Did you call me?"
"What were you staring at so intently? I called you like a dozen times and you didn't answer."
"Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"
Poof—
Seeing the pile of starstones, having fulfilled their duty, turn to dust and scatter, Song Dan-woo pointed at it with his finger and demanded an explanation.
"How did you do that?"
"Yeah! Tell my big bro too!"
Fair enough. He had no idea how Dan-woo had obtained the starstones.
But considering the amount piled up, they weren't something he'd gathered in a day or two.
Even though he'd planned to discard them not knowing their use, he felt like he should reward him to ease his own conscience.
Min-jun replied to the adorable siblings grilling him.
"Dan-woo, you're at Silver grade right now, working on your body transformation rate, right?"
"...How do you know that, Uncle?"
"I've been through it all before. You should be able to get rid of the starstones once you've maxed out your body transformation rate. Here, take this. It's my thanks."
Min-jun handed Song Dan-woo a purple-glowing orb.
"This item will be a big help in the poison mist."
It was the mid-grade poison resistance potion he'd received as a reward for blocking off the police hospital.
He'd achieved the highest contribution toward blocking the police hospital, earning a grade higher than what others got.
It was useless to him, but with its poison neutralization effect, it would be quite useful for Dan-woo.
'It makes sense they gave this as a reward. If I'd known ahead of time, Geon-ho or So-hee could've used it...'
Dan-woo, who apparently knew the item, opened his mouth wide in delight the moment he received it.
"Not low-grade, but mid-grade?! You sure it's okay to give this to me? My low-grade poison resistance potion just expired, and I really needed one."
Min-jun bought a doll from the market for Song Seo-woo, who was shouting 'I want a present too!', and smiled sincerely for the first time in a while.
* * *
Having received the gift, Song Dan-woo grew much friendlier and spilled his entire story.
"So you three have been staying here?"
"Yeah. About a month now."
Having heard Song Dan-woo's full story, Min-jun looked at the unconscious middle-aged man lying there.
It was a simple, heartwarming tale. The middle-aged man had passed out saving these young siblings, and the grateful kids had been taking care of him ever since.
"So that uncle got hit by the mist too?"
"There was poison mist, and there was a big fire back then, so the firefighter uncle got severe burns. Of course, thanks to that fire, we survived the spiders."
"Firefighter uncle?"
"Yeah. The uncle who saved us. He's a firefighter."
Min-jun carefully compared the man's face to So-hee's, but with half his face disfigured by burns, it was hard to tell.
'They kinda look alike, but maybe not. It's ambiguous...'
But Min-jun couldn't rule out the possibility that the man was So-hee's father.
No, deep down, he was almost certain.
There aren't many people who would rush in without regard for their own life to save others.
'Well, even if not, so what? Someone like that deserves help.'
Just like that, one more life was added to Min-jun's shoulders.
The number of people he was responsible for here jumped from two to five in an instant, but he decided to embrace the heavy burden.
"Dan-woo. Do you know how to save people hit by the poison mist? Oh, just asking in case."
"I do."
"...Huh? You do?"
"...But, Uncle. It requires risking your life."
"Haha, you worried about me?"
"Worried? Pfft..."
Song Dan-woo turned away to hide his flushed face and pretended otherwise, but his red ears betrayed the young boy's feelings.
Min-jun found the pure child's demeanor cute, but he also recognized the emotional weight the boy carried.
"You're talking about that uncle, right?"
"Yeah. He did me a huge favor, etched into my bones. I want to repay him, but I lack the ability."
"How about this?"
"...?"
"Let's team up. You want to save that uncle, and I want to save my friends. You know the method, and I have the ability to make it happen?"
Min-jun usually hid his abilities, but he felt it was important to instill confidence and security in these kids now.
"Hmm... Okay. But first, I need to check if that uncle meets my standards."
Min-jun grinned and ruffled the hair of Dan-woo, who was squinting at him appraisingly.
Song Dan-woo fussed about being treated like a kid again, but he didn't seem to hate it.
* * *
Over the next few days, Min-jun scoured Atlnak's Labyrinth Garden with Dan-woo.
They encountered hordes of spiders along the way, but following Song Dan-woo, they ghosted past the packs.
"Spiders are more sensitive to sound than sight. So staying silent is key."
"'Rifts' turn into 'gateways.' Those giant trumpet flowers are the gateways—there are three in total here. They're like the pillars holding this place up."
"Each gateway has an owner. Monsters named 'Regina,' 'Fraus,' and 'Sicarius.' They don't come out unless something big happens. We're good for now."
"That over there is Garak Market Station. Someone escaped that way, so the spiders smashed it. I tried to escape first—"
And so, Song Dan-woo led Min-jun around and taught him everything he knew about Atlnak's Labyrinth Garden.
"But Dan-woo, how do you know all this?"
"I just learned it struggling to survive here. The system told me some too."
Min-jun nodded at Song Dan-woo's answer.
He himself had gotten other info when his quest to track Regina changed to another quest.
「[Sub Quest - Escape]
Difficulty: B-
Clear Condition: You are trapped in Atlnak's Labyrinth Garden. Close the three supporting gateways to dismantle the labyrinth garden and escape.
(Gateways can be closed by paying 50,000 hours or eliminating the owner.)
① First Gateway Closed (0/1)
② Second Gateway Closed (0/1)
③ Third Gateway Closed (0/1)
Rewards: Karma +5.0, 8,000 hours, 'Atlnak' power reduced by 30%.
Refusal or Failure: None」
While scouting the labyrinth garden, Min-jun and Song Dan-woo never stopped collecting starstones, which raised Min-jun's Star Power level by one more.
'If I had time, I'd keep collecting starstones to level up Star Power, but first things first.'
After several days of thorough scouting, Min-jun and Song Dan-woo were hiding in a building, spying on Garak-dong Cathedral.
"So basically, we have to close that gateway right in front of us to get rid of the poison mist?"
The cathedral's front yard, denser with mist than anywhere else, had a rainbow-colored gateway blooming there.
"Yeah. That's the third one that appeared, and the poison mist started after it showed up."
"Then stay here, Dan-woo. I'll go take care of it."
As Min-jun reached to ruffle Song Dan-woo's hair like always and moved to go, the boy grabbed him.
"Uncle, are you dumb? Why charge into the tiger's den?"
"Then?"
"It says in the art of war: To catch a tiger, you don't enter its den—"
Dan-woo picked up a stone shard and wrote Chinese characters on the ground.
Thirty-Six Stratagems
Stratagems of Attack
15th Stratagem: Lure the Tiger from the Mountain
: Make the tiger come out of the mountain.
"You make it come out of the den."