READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 291. Ocean (Creature)
【Midnight Fragment】
[Grade: Epic]
[(※Note: As of now, there are no confirmed experimental values for dungeon damage with attributes exceeding S-Class attacks or penetration. The grade classification follows international standards for magic power assigned to people or monsters.)]
An item that deletes all powerful skills it comes into contact with.
How on earth is such a powerful item displayed in a place open to the public?
‘Now that I think about it, something seems off.’
There were others in this room besides us, visiting to appreciate the exhibits.
Building A, Hall 1.
Here, various safety artifacts were artfully arranged to inspire public interest in dungeon culture.
‘There seem to be security measures, but still, leaving this here where anyone can walk by is…’
Seems careless.
I kept my thoughts to myself while observing the analyzer.
‘Ah!’
Suddenly, a bit of information popped up from the bottom of the display. The device must have sputtered a bit before pulling up the text.
[…It follows classification. The number of uses for this item is confirmed to be “2”.]
Then it makes sense.
It appeared that Earth’s people were unaware of the hidden secret of that item.
‘They must have tossed it out for display after it had already reached its “capacity.” Well, without the skill deletion function, it’s nothing more than a symbolic piece of cloth.’
Hehe.
In that case, this is great news.
‘I might be able to buy it at a very cheap price!’
[Midnight Fragment].
That 60cm by 60cm piece of black fabric played such a role in Alphauri.
A magic canvas that works well with specific techniques.
Alphauri’s mages were aquatic beings, inscribing formulas on water-resistant materials (mostly cloth) for their spells, so the analogy fits quite well.
The best method lasts the longest is to design the magic circle during the weaving phase, so they create the fabric.
Sometimes saying they “weave” spells is a form of expression that originated from this culture.
‘Hmm.’
Anyway.
I felt a flicker of joy in front of the magic-design canvas I hadn’t seen in a long while.
Then I turned my head and asked Ito, who was right next to me, how much the starting bid for that item would be.
“What? You want to buy the Midnight Fragment in the case…?”
But I never expected such a response to come back.
“I apologize for the late notice. This is not an item scheduled for the Tokyo Highlight Auction. It has already consumed its two uses and is currently being utilized as a display piece only.”
Moritake Ito, a person who began explaining with his hands neatly clasped in front of him, was very careful with his word choices so as not to provoke those listening.
“And I can share this information only with Hunter Kim Gi-ryeo, but there are currently no unused Midnight Fragments available in the global trading market…”
“Hmm.”
“Our Japanese government gathered this news using all of our information networks, so you can trust it.”
Why did he have to come to me so formally from the start?
‘Hmm.’
Ito continued explaining for a while, but to summarize, they kept repeating the same thing.
This black cloth in the case is not for sale.
They even mimicked a parrot to insist on this point.
Moreover, it seemed there was more than one reason why they couldn’t proceed with the transaction.
Initially, I thought I could cheat Earthlings and drive down the price, but things started to spiral.
The displayed [Midnight Fragment] is owned by none other than the Japanese government.
Therefore, an individual cannot arbitrarily decide to sell it. This epic item has already lost its functions—at least in their eyes—but its research value is too high to casually export abroad…
Damn it. Research purpose, huh? I get it now.
Do these Japanese really think they’ll see any change just by raising the bid a little bit?
I asked if I could give them a few hundred billion, but the answer remained the same.
They still refused even if I offered them billions.
“I’ll discuss this with the people from the technology office, even during the event.”
Damn it!
Anyway, why won’t they sell when someone offers money!
[Midnight Fragment].
I came all the way to Japan just to see it, and now the deal is falling apart before it even started.
Does that mean I have to give up on the trip and go back empty-handed?
‘Or should I aim to buy another epic item with whatever budget I have?’
Neither option seemed particularly attractive.
The [Midnight Fragment] had a high chance of being inexpensive because Earthlings mistakenly thought it was unrecyclable.
In fact, proper epic equipment, as I mentioned before, comes with a staggering price tag.
1 billion is really the “minimum” entry point in the epic auction market. To find an epic item appealing to Alphauri that isn’t the [Midnight Fragment], I might need several times that amount in assets.
Thinking about the cost of a new fighter jet on Earth, it isn’t strange for that price flow.
‘Well, dungeon items do have significant technological mysteries deserving of that price…’
I truly found myself caught between a rock and a hard place.
But then.
Suddenly, a plan flashed through my mind.
…Let me elaborate.
From Imabari’s perspective, this might be a very bad idea.
I started thinking, ‘What if I switched the cloth in that case with a fake and took the real one?’
The catalyst was my encounter with Kang Chang-ho.
Initially, the easy money that fell into my lap made me think of expanding my magic tool collection by casually coming to Japan.
But while pondering on the plane, the significance of this Tokyo auction struck me a little harder.
Desiring human bodies.
Stuttering.
At the same time, facing Earth’s intelligences wanting to bring demise.
When I compiled testimonies from many mammals, I learned that this phenomenon couldn’t be dismissed.
‘Kang Chang-ho… has encountered a ki-simche host.’
From now on, I might need to collect magic tools not out of mere curiosity but for survival.
Given my body’s current state, dealing with ki-simches would be challenging. I urgently needed that item to save my life.
No, honestly, in this capitalist era, not selling items at all seems a bit harsh, doesn’t it?
‘Exhibiting it. To just let something unused go to waste!’
It’s hard to grasp the culture of preserving things for beauty’s sake.
‘Well, they love preservation. Yet these jerks destroy nature without a second thought. Seriously!’
Moreover, the more I think about it, the angrier I get since these mammals had made a lot of mistakes in the past involving me.
‘The life of this Great Mage is worth a billion—it’s an absurdly cheap calculation. Upon reconsidering, I should view all conditions as an extension of that Legendary incident.’
Among all nations, they were the only ones to respond to Japan’s request for help to prevent an S-Class dungeon break.
But Ito and his crew seem ungrateful, their heads turned by Legendary, trying to kill aliens, right?
‘In truth, my magic was so low I quietly let it slide…’
I thought I had shown kindness worth more than a billion just by keeping a few of those guys’ attempted murders quiet.
With everything that has transpired, one would think that the fourth S-Class Hunter of Korea should receive at least a handkerchief from them.
Yet, they refuse to sell a mere item.
‘These jerks! Their trembling fear is just a facade and a lie, right?’
Given the circumstances, the twisted nature of those wicked Alphauri was bound to deepen.
If it were back in their prime, they would have already wiped out such pitiful miscreants in an instant.
I recalled my experiences during the Dragon Raid.
And as a result of all this contemplation, I resolved.
‘Yeah. Let’s just steal it.’
I decided to achieve my goal by my own means.
No matter how much I calculated, the previous Dragon Raid was simply an incident that ended mildly because the victims were weak.
I believed that they hadn’t yet paid the proper price for their actions.
“Sad to hear there’s nothing for sale. Can I possibly see real trading items coming up in the second Highlight Auction?”
“Ah! About that…”
If I could end my grudge through switching items without perpetrating a massacre, wouldn’t Earthlings actually be grateful?
So, I quietly rationalized in my mind and casually threw a glance at the magic tool I had marked.
A piece of fabric shining in a bright glass case.
There are no grand barriers, but the real problem is how to get it out in a foreign place filled with CCTV.
*
Meanwhile.
Around 2 PM.
Just as an alien was about to hatch some crafty scheme…
The Alphauri alien had no way of knowing.
In reality, inside this venue, there was a possessor of dangerous thoughts, almost like a competitor.
Drrrrr…
An aged, old-fashioned door of the past slid open sideways.
Through the now-open door came a specialized security company from Japan.
Their company mixed non-awakened and awakened individuals in an 80:20 ratio—also due to the difficulty of poaching talents in the raid industry, but partly because psychics tend to get entangled in lawsuits.
If awakened beings injure civilians while maintaining order at a venue like this, they receive a disproportionately larger backlash.
Strong psychic bodyguards, those in the top 10%, only moved in special situations like this.
Unless you’re dealing with F-rank fish fry or E-Class, nothing more.
Thud.
Moving with the heavy force of saltwater.
Yet, how many professionals are there in this world who can control their movements so that the water doesn’t ripple recklessly?
“Event security, huh…”
Naturally, they must reduce contact with non-awakened individuals as much as possible.
“Ah.”
“Finally on shift.”
“Welcome. The traffic wasn’t too bad, was it?”
“It was fine.”
The current situation was a security company’s afternoon shift change.
The awakened individuals who came from outside exchanged a few words with the humans inside.
They then assumed positions, encircling some treasure displayed in the center of the room.
“Alright, I’ll be counting on you until evening.”
“Yeah. Be sure to tell the third team not to be late.”
With a total of 15 awakened beings clinging to keep watch over an item, it seemed a bit inefficient, but humanity is still weak, ruled by sleep. What other options are there?
After smoothly changing over shifts.
A brief, awkward silence filled the room.
“How about a game of word chain?”
Sigh.
However, staying silent was too dull in their mundane job.
I’ve heard the company owner got close with a senior Japanese official and managed somehow to secure a position instead of the hunters.
But the nature of the hard-earned job was to protect some crafts for 24 hours.
‘They look just like children’s toys. One of those items is worth more than towering skyscrapers in downtown Tokyo.’
It’s also questionable whether they even need people for this job.
An A-rank defensive awakened had crafted a barrier.
An alarm that goes off if the object moves even 0.01mm from its fixed position.
Not only that, but the beautiful purple patterns hovering around the item serve as traps that incinerate anything living that touches it.
Wrapping an item in another item for protection—what a ridiculous idea.
‘Seems kind of foolish.’
Yet, for some reason, they still required a security detail, strictly adhering to the typical procedures.
However, one security company’s officer secretly thought that was a waste of tax money.
With three separate trap items owned by different parties laid out like that, theft of the treasure seemed virtually impossible.
‘Besides, even during an earthquake, there’s an S-Class present at the venue.’
But just then.
A voice suddenly emerged from one side of the room.
An unexpected exclamation.
“Wow~”
A colleague standing nearby was intently viewing his phone’s screen.
“Hey, Kida. Look at this! Isn’t it cool? There’s a ranker in Korea who can completely control his magic power!”
Though he was involved through connections, it wasn’t exactly appropriate to be slacking off on the job with security cameras everywhere.
A Japanese individual thought his colleague had gone a bit overboard but peeked at the screen to see what was so engrossing.
‘Hmm.’
What his colleague focused on was a replay video on a streaming site.
[Off the Air ● (－ω－) zzZ]
[Broadcaster: UUU]
[…I happened to encounter Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo from South Korea.
Originally, I went to Seoul to meet with my mom.
But it just so happens that Mr. Kim operates in Seoul too?
I wondered if we might run into each other… but those odds seem utterly ridiculous.]
The subtitles were somewhat a mess.
‘Hmm. Did they just upload sentences generated by an auto-captioning tool without cleaning them up?’
Regardless of the video quality, the man on screen conveyed one clear message.
‘A certain S-Class hunter from South Korea felt no magic burden even when close…’
A certain Japanese broadcaster claimed he stumbled upon Kim Gi-ryeo while on a trip to Seoul.
He mentioned that Kim Gi-ryeo had a vibe that was remarkably relaxed, akin to a non-awakened individual.
The security guard was taken aback by what he saw.
Even Iori, who is known to have a friendly demeanor and be popular among the citizens, couldn’t easily blend into the streets due to the constant pressure carried by top-ranking awakened individuals.
“Is it real?”
“From what I see in the comments from other kids living in Korea, they’re saying the same thing. Seems like it’s true.”
Is that Korean hunter really something else?
He could control his magic that finely.
The guard at the door nodded absentmindedly.
But the yellow-haired Korean was hard to focus on when the surroundings were so distracting.
“Quite impressive… Cough. Cough! But, I really think it’s not proper to be on your smartphone during work hours…”
“Ha ha, got it. Don’t worry. Just bored staring at the wall in this cramped room made me look at something for a second. There’s quite a lot to worry about, you see.”
“Hey, shall we play a word chain?”
“You’ve always been losing, so why do you keep wanting to waste time with that?”
Even with great security measures in place, it’s vital to remain vigilant—there are treasures in the room that no security team could ever compensate for.
‘Let’s see. [Triaina], and what else was there?’
In this room were two items set to be featured in the upcoming Tokyo Highlight Auction.
One was a familiar shape, while the other was a total mystery artifact.
Presumably, it was a new piece of equipment that hadn’t been revealed to the press.
‘Looks just like children’s toys.’
But in any case, knowing their names and functions wouldn’t change the fact that I had no money to buy them.
Yawn.
A security guard in a black and white suit opened his mouth wide in a yawn, fighting against the boredom as he monitored the storage room.
– Sparkle.
But then, after several minutes had passed.
The officer positioned at the front turned to stretch and glance behind.
‘Wait… Was that just my imagination?’
Oh?
The cute pink artifact in the second box—wasn’t the gem set in the middle supposed to be a cooler color?