Chapter 68
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Library of Records (2)
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As we climbed up to the high ground, the first thing that caught our eyes was a stele resembling the obelisks back on Earth.
"...Hyungnim, what is this thing?"
"...Beats me... It looks important, at least..."
Seeing the stele, it was clear it served some purpose. In this barren wasteland of nothing but rocks and dead trees, the sudden appearance of such a massive monument felt out of place.
Seo Yu-ju spoke up.
"Looks like there's some ancient script carved on the stele. Maybe these letters are a clue?"
If Seo Yu-ju was saying that, it meant there was definitely something to the writing.
I approached the stele for a closer look, but the problem was I knew nothing about ancient languages. Just in case, I activated my unique trait, but unfortunately, it didn't grant any ability to decipher ancient script.
'Well, she'll probably just tell us the answer anyway...'
Seo Yu-ju seemed concerned that blurting out the answer would raise suspicions, so she was pretending to study the stele and the documents.
Or maybe she really was studying it. If she hadn't come here herself in her first timeline, she might not know the details.
The rest of the party was investigating the stele too, but without knowledge of ancient languages, there was no way they'd uncover anything.
Cha Hyun-jin shook his head in utter confusion and muttered,
"...I don't understand a single thing. What the hell does it say...?"
"Hey, what would your brain even figure out? Quit wasting your time and take a break."
"Whoa... Noona, that doesn't sound like something you should be saying to me..."
"...What?"
"I mean, sure, I'm dumb, but even I have more brains than you, on a good day..."
"What the hell? That's not true."
Just as Cha Hyun-jin stared at Kang I-seo in disbelief at her shameless remark, Seo Yu-ju spoke up.
"...According to the translation... it says this: 'Make the eyes of the highest suns all gaze upon the center.'"
"...The highest suns?"
Well, the sun was indeed the highest thing in the sky, so I got the gist, but what did it mean for all its eyes to gaze at the center?
'Multiple suns? What?'
There was only one sun in this world. No doubles or anything like that.
Lee Yu-rim seemed struck by the mention of suns and started speaking up.
"...What if the 'eyes of the sun' refer to these steles?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look closely at the stele's shape—it's just like the obelisks on Earth."
Kang I-seo, unfamiliar with the term, asked Lee Yu-rim,
"What's an obelisk?"
"...Monuments built during ancient Egyptian dynasties. They might differ on this continent, but on Earth, obelisks symbolized sun worship."
'Sun worship, huh...'
Lee Yu-rim's idea definitely made sense.
"You can see eye-like patterns carved on this stele. And they're only on one face... so maybe we need to rotate it? Assuming it can be rotated, that is..."
Everyone nodded, faces lighting up with possibility.
Seo Yu-ju was gazing at Lee Yu-rim in surprise. Her guess was probably spot on.
"Yu-rim's idea sounds solid. Considering there are two more high grounds besides this one, there's a good chance they have steles too."
A glance at the wasteland map showed the three high grounds forming a triangle around the center of the wasteland.
"Let's try rotating the stele to see if we can adjust its direction."
The stele's cross-section was square, so with one person per face, we grabbed hold and started turning. It began to shift bit by bit.
Grind...
"...Nngh!"
"Ugh... This thing's stuck tight! Hey, put your back into it!"
"...Nngh... Noona! I'm giving it everything I've got...!"
Thanks to Cha Hyun-jin, Kang I-seo, Kim Ho-won, and Wi Ho-yeon stepping up, we managed to align the eye toward the center.
I wondered if brute force was the right way, but Seo Yu-ju's expression confirmed it was correct.
"Good work, everyone."
"Not at all, Clan Master. It was nothing."
Wi Ho-yeon hadn't even broken a sweat. Her high stats made it a breeze compared to the other three.
"Hoo... Must be nice sucking on honey over there, huh?"
"...What? Why am I catching strays all of a sudden?"
"...Just saying. I'm jealous you're chilling."
"Yeah, tough luck. Two more to go, right?"
"...Ugh."
As I smirked and teased Kang I-seo, Seo Yu-ju spoke up.
"Alright, let's head to the next high ground."
The second high ground had an identical stele, which we rotated the same way.
On the way to the final one, we ran into some monsters once, but as Seo Yu-ju had warned, they were mostly pushovers, so the fight ended anticlimactically.
It was my first time seeing Wi Ho-yeon fight, and it was easy to see why she was called Sword Empress.
Wolf-like monsters dropped one by one under her blade—a spectacular sight.
'She's still stronger than Seo Yu-ju for now...'
That was my thought, given the current gap in their stats.
'Makes sense they'd assign her as a bodyguard.'
Still, I figured it wouldn't take Seo Yu-ju long to catch up.
Wi Ho-yeon was still growing too, but Seo Yu-ju's growth rate was off the charts.
"Are you alright?"
"...Ah, yes. Thanks to you..."
A few monsters that had closed in on me were bisected by her swings, dead before they could reach me.
'She's strong.'
I suspected that in time, she'd reach the level of the three great clans' masters.
The others were brushing blood off their weapons.
"Hyungnim, these guys were total weaklings."
"Probably because they're just normal and rare grade."
One thing I learned from the fight: my unique trait worked on monsters too. They were a mix of normal and rare grades.
"More importantly, Oppa. These monsters look just like wolves..."
"Yeah, Ha-eun. Aside from being a bit quicker, they're pretty much the same."
I knew their names thanks to my trait but kept quiet about it.
Seo Yu-ju spoke up, probably to satisfy the party's curiosity.
"These are called Black Fangs. Basically wolves."
True to her words, their corpses showed black teeth.
"As Yun-seong-ssi said, they're normal-grade monsters. The bigger ones top out at rare, so not much threat."
"I see. They did feel a bit weak."
"Actually... the reason we chose the Ashen Wasteland as our expedition target is because only Black Fangs show up. Seemed low-risk."
'Lies.'
A pretext. She wouldn't pick this place just for that. There had to be some real benefit or reward.
"Other clans and parties dismissed it as worthless since only Black Fangs appear... but you never know."
Fair enough. No one would expect treasures in a place with such weak mobs.
"Anyway, let's head to the last high ground."
At the final high ground, as expected, there was the stele.
"...Yu-ju unnie, what happens once we rotate this one too...?"
"Who knows... Maybe a dungeon appears?"
'...Like in the tutorial?'
From what Seo Yu-ju said, it seemed likely a dungeon would reveal itself, just like back then.
"Yu-ju noona, should we... rotate the stele?"
"Yeah. Everyone, let's turn it."
As the final stele faced the wasteland's center, the ground trembled with a massive rumble.
Rumble...!
"Shit, what the—?!"
"Noona, th-the ground's shaking too much!"
'What the hell...?!'
The roar continued endlessly as a colossal cylindrical tower surged from the wasteland's center.
Everyone stared, transfixed, struggling to keep their balance in the absurd scene.
The tower rose endlessly before the rumbling finally slowed to a halt.
"Ha..."
We all gawked at the tower's majestic form. Even the regressor Seo Yu-ju was entranced.
One oddity: the tower was pure white, like the tutorial's starting building.
'...Is it even a tower?'
I questioned it because of its insane size. Its height pierced the clouds—unfathomable.
Wi Ho-yeon spoke in a trembling voice.
"This... I've never seen anything like it. What..."
Even she, with three years in this world, was seeing it for the first time.
"Crazy... Shit, it's huge... Is this really a dungeon?"
I shared Kang I-seo's doubt. If it was a dungeon, it had to be at least legendary grade.
'Damn... Yu-ju noona, you sure about this?'
I trusted her choice, but it didn't look like an easy dungeon. You could feel it from the exterior alone.
I glanced at Seo Yu-ju's face—no worry, just eager anticipation.
'...Something good must be in there.'
Her expression suggested definite gains for her or us.
Curious if my trait worked on the tower, I activated it.
[Library of Records (No Rank) - Detailed information about the library cannot be confirmed.]
'...A library?'
It was surprising my ability worked on the building at all, but calling that tower a library was ridiculous. It didn't look like one.
'How is that a library? And 'no rank'?'
As we all stood there dazed, Seo Yu-ju spoke.
"...Let's head to the tower's entrance."
We slowly made our way toward the building, staying vigilant for monsters, but thankfully none appeared.
About thirty meters from the entrance, everyone let out a low whistle.
'Up close... the scale is insane. Crazy...!'
Curious about her plan, I asked Seo Yu-ju,
"...Yu-ju-ssi. What's next?"
"...Thinking of going in."
"Y-Yu-ju noona...! Isn't that dangerous...?"
I knew it was a library thanks to my trait, but Cha Hyun-jin and the others looked worried.
It was understandable if they mistook it for a dungeon.
"Yu-ju unnie... I agree with Hyun-jin oppa. Isn't it risky? If it's a dungeon, the size alone..."
Mid-sentence, a voice echoed from the building.
Congratulations on being the first to discover the Library of Records.