Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: War Clouds Over Sail Kingdom
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A new alarm appeared.
And not on my smartphone, but right in front of my eyes.
"A trait effect?"
It was an EX-grade trait, no less.
The problem was that there was no explanation at all, so I had no idea what its exact abilities were.
At least from this alarm, I could get a sense of how it worked.
I looked over at Ji Tae-hoon's corpse.
"I just need to use this guy as a sacrifice, right?"
What was done was done anyway.
Without hesitation, I designated Ji Tae-hoon's body as a sacrifice.
As that alarm rang out, heat emanated from Ji Tae-hoon's corpse.
Soon after, blue flames erupted, quickly enveloping the body.
The corpse was swiftly consumed by the ferocious blaze, burning away smoothly.
Blue flames.
They grew stronger by the moment, brightly illuminating the dark dungeon, with dazzling light and a faint breeze rustling through the surroundings.
"......"
The body gradually faded away along with the flames.
In the end, nothing remained where the fire had swept through.
Just the cold dungeon floor.
My moment of reflection was short-lived as another alarm appeared.
The alarm presented three selectable options.
I examined each one in turn.
[Dungeon Core Upgrade]: The vital organ known as the heart of all dungeons. Upgrading the dungeon core increases its durability and expands the power of the dungeon.
"Hm..."
I pondered for a moment.
Was there really any need to upgrade the dungeon core right now?
Of course, its importance went without saying—it was crucial enough to make your mouth hurt just talking about it.
If the core was destroyed, the dungeon would be destroyed along with it.
And I knew that if my dungeon was destroyed, I'd die too, so I couldn't just neglect the core.
But my current dungeon boasted tremendous power.
At one point, its rating had fluctuated between bronze and iron grade.
The last alarm I'd received had announced an upgrade to silver grade.
But in my eyes, it was too much to call it mere silver grade.
Celia was already 6-star, with 5-star Death Knights and Goblin Lords, and a Lich on the verge of promotion to 5-star.
Back when I thought of it as just a game, I'd chalked it up to game balance.
But now, even I could tell.
'It's definitely not weak.'
It wasn't just at the level of defending the dungeon.
If not for the range limit keeping me from going outside, I could've attempted to conquer the continent with this force.
"So, pass on this one."
I was curious about the part about expanding the dungeon's power, but not right now.
In fact, I'd already decided what to pick.
The altar upgrade.
I'd wanted to upgrade the altar for a while but hadn't been able to—now I finally had the means.
Of course, I checked option 3 first.
[Empty Dungeon Creation]: Creates an empty dungeon at a desired location. The grade of the creatable dungeon varies based on the sacrifice's stats.
The sacrifice I'd just used was a single C-rank Hunter's corpse.
This would barely create one empty dungeon, at best.
"Dungeon creation, huh..."
Dungeon creation was certainly appealing, but there was one thing to consider.
Whether it was Azmo's dungeon that he'd offered to me or this new creation, there was something nagging at me.
The dungeon core.
If my original dungeon's core was destroyed, I'd die.
So what happens if Azmo's dungeon or a newly created one is destroyed?
I immediately tapped my smartphone screen to check the dungeon list.
[Nest of the Evil God]
- Overall Manager: Celia (★★★★★★)
- Lieutenant: Vacant
- Subordinate Dungeons: [Red-Headed Tribe], [Fog-Shrouded Village], [Demon Realm Scraps], [Sticky Pool]
Special Note: Contains a dungeon core linked to the soul of the owner, Yi Kang-hyun.
[Temptation of Illusions]
- Manager: Vacant
- Lieutenant: Vacant
The list of dungeons I owned appeared.
Maybe because I'd gained a new trait, the system had changed a bit.
"As expected, only one core is directly linked to me."
Among the dungeons I held, only the 'Nest of the Evil God' was truly connected to my soul.
And unless it was a case like Azmo offering his dungeon, subordinate dungeons weren't ones I directly dominated.
'No problem there.'
If Azmo's dungeon or a new one collapsed, as long as my original dungeon was safe, it was fine.
I was about to select my reward and exit the game when—
"Ah, I need to appoint a manager."
Azmo's offered dungeon currently had no manager.
It was obvious who it would be anyway.
[Temptation of Illusions]
- Manager: Azmo (★★★★)
- Lieutenant: Vacant
The lieutenant spot was vacant too, but so was Celia's.
'I'll appoint lieutenants later.'
I could pick them through lieutenant selection.
And I'd put the Lich's promotion on hold for now.
I'd seen everything I needed in the game.
Now it was time to return to reality and choose my reward.
Without a second thought, I selected the dungeon altar.
Alarms announced the altar upgrade and level increase.
"Does this mean I can now use a wider range of sacrifices?"
Before the upgrade, I'd barely managed to bring in Maru.
Of course, Maru was now 4-star, so that wasn't possible anymore, but with the altar leveled up, the range had surely expanded.
As I was thinking about how to make use of all this, the guy who'd passed out earlier woke up.
"Ugh... Uh..."
I approached him.
"You with us?"
"Where... Hic!"
He jolted in shock the moment he saw me.
I asked his name.
"J-Ji Sung-min."
He hesitated for a moment before giving his name: Ji Sung-min.
"B-But what about my d-dad...?"
His father, Ji Tae-hoon, had already been used as a sacrifice.
But I had no obligation to tell him straight.
"I ask the questions. You just answer. Nod if you understand."
Ji Sung-min nodded slightly.
With Maru standing guard nearby, it was basically a threat anyway.
I stared him down.
Ji Tae-hoon had been a father who doted on his son terribly.
He'd probably passed on a lot to him in preparation for his own demise.
"First, hand over the hidden money."
Leaving Ji Sung-min to despair as he checked his lower half, I sorted through my thoughts.
As expected, the money Ji Tae-hoon had left his son was far from small.
'Didn't expect a slush fund account, though.'
No, was it actually obvious?
And it wasn't just money—I heard plenty of stories too.
Fortunately, his guild wasn't an issue.
Black Sun Guild wasn't even a proper guild to begin with, and they didn't do anything legal, so they wouldn't pay much attention to missing members.
It was a loose organization, so Ji Tae-hoon and Ji Sung-min disappearing wouldn't cause problems.
The real issue was Kang Jin-su's side.
He'd said he'd handle cleanup after this job was done.
"I always call when the job's finished. But I don't really know who comes for cleanup..."
Ji Sung-min trailed off.
I couldn't be sure if Kang Jin-su himself would come or send others.
'Can't gamble here.'
I gave Ji Sung-min an order.
"Call him first."
"W-Who?"
"Who else? Kang Jin-su, obviously. Just say something urgent came up and hang up."
I took Ji Sung-min outside the dungeon for a bit.
Normal communication didn't work inside, so it was unavoidable.
Then he contacted Kang Jin-su right away.
All I needed was to buy a little time anyway.
"Y-Yes... Yeah. Something urgent came up... Yes... Just give us a bit more time, Dad's... Oh, okay..."
Maru stood by Ji Sung-min's side, sword drawn.
The area around the dungeon was so remote no one passed by.
Thanks to that, Ji Sung-min followed orders without any funny business.
After telling Kang Jin-su about the urgent matter and hanging up—
"He said okay..."
I flashed him a bright smile and headed back into the dungeon.
Clap—
I clapped once.
"Alright, Kang Jin-su can wait. Just one thing left to check."
"Hic!"
Ji Sung-min himself.
Last time it was a corpse, so I'd used it as a sacrifice right away, but this was a living person.
I activated my ability on Ji Sung-min.
The same alarm as before appeared.
But this time, an additional message showed up.
'Is this possible because the altar leveled up?'
I hadn't been able to send Maru back when he was 1-star.
And Ji Sung-min was an F-rank Hunter.
Essentially the same grade as Maru back then.
The altar level-up must have made it possible.
I'd considered using him as a sacrifice right away, but as an F-rank, he didn't seem very useful.
If there were a bunch, maybe, but for a single test subject, I picked the latter without hesitation.
Sending Ji Sung-min straight to my dungeon.
"Hm..."
Any dungeon I owned worked.
For now, I planned to keep Ji Sung-min alive.
He'd spill more info later.
The Nest of the Evil God had the succubus Celia.
Temptation of Illusions had the incubus Azmo instead.
I thought it over briefly and decided.
"The incubus dungeon's better, right?"
An incubus was male too, so he wouldn't harm him.
I nodded and selected 'Temptation of Illusions' right away.
The moment I did, blue flames wrapped around Ji Sung-min just like before.
"Aaaagh!"
He screamed in shock at the sudden flames.
But it didn't last long.
His scream vanished along with the fire soon enough.
Only the dungeon floor remained where Ji Sung-min had been.
Staring at the floor, I spoke up.
"You can come out now. I know you're there."
I'd known since earlier that monsters were nearby.
I'd left them alone since this was just an F-rank dungeon.
At most, basic skeletons lurked here.
Clatter—
Clatter—
The skeletons stirred at my words, making noise.
One skeleton soldier stepped forward and looked at me.
"Clack clack."
The skeleton soldier clacked its jawbone at me.
Then it bowed at the waist.
"Huh?"
I'd only heard bone-clacking sounds.
But.
"Clack clack."
(Mighty one.)
"Clack clack."
(Look upon us with favor.)
I could hear their words.
Intelligent monsters could usually speak understandably to people.
But for most monsters like skeletons, you needed the Tamer trait to comprehend them.
I turned to Maru right away.
"Maru, say something."
Maru immediately began clacking.
"Clack clack clack—"
(You are our exalted, great, creator and master of the dungeon—)
"Stop."
I raised my hand to silence Maru.
"Ha... Is this another trait power?"
I'd discovered yet another ability of the trait.
King Carendia de Sail, who ruled Sail Kingdom.
His expression was as cold as ice right now.
Several nobles stood before Carendia, but they only exchanged glances, none daring to speak.
After a short silence, someone finally spoke.
"Your Majesty, their insolence grows worse by the day."
With that, voices erupted from all around.
"Indeed! They're clearly using the Church's name to tame the kingdom! First a priest goes missing, now twenty Holy Knights vanish—and in our Sail Kingdom, no less!"
The nobles nodded in agreement.
The White Church had first sent a Heretic Inquisitor over a missing priest.
They'd agreed back then to avoid escalating things.
But this time, they'd crossed the line.
Not just a priest—twenty Holy Knights had gone missing.
And the Church had notified them they were dispatching not only Heretic Inquisitors but Holy Knights as well.
"The priest's disappearance was surely a lie too! It's time we showed them our strength!"
The nobles' voices grew louder.
And one person had been watching this from the start.
'Irena,' standing beside King Carendia de Sail.
Irena was the princess of Sail Kingdom and the king's only daughter.
Barring any issues, she was set to succeed him as the next queen.
Irena grimaced at the nobles' display.
'Disgusting vermin...'
They weren't raising their voices out of true concern for Sail Kingdom.
On the contrary, they wanted to use the White Church to undermine the king's authority—without letting him fall completely.
They sought to elevate their own noble power while leaving the king as a mere figurehead.
Irena glanced at her father.
'Father must know this too...'
Irena turned her head back.
She softened her expression.
But she couldn't stop the faint trembling in her clenched fist.
In truth, she knew it too.
That her father was aware but staying silent.
'I need power.'
A king without power was always alone.
Growing up watching her father, Irena felt that truth to her bones.
And if she ascended to the throne, things wouldn't change much from now.
To alter that destined future, she needed power.
'Even if it means contracting with a demon...!'
War clouds began to gather over Sail Kingdom.