Chapter 47

CREEEAK.

The door opened. Everyone in the tension-filled room turned toward it.

"How did it go?"

The woman who entered slowly nodded in answer.

"It worked."

She extended her hand, and four rings formed around her wrist. The number of rings represented her magic grade; fewer rings meant purer mana.

"I've reached fourth-grade mana."

"Yes!!"

"Finally...!!"

Everyone burst into cheers at her answer. Only then could she let out a sigh of relief herself.

"Well done."

She was Serin Hassen, a mage of the [Phoenix Corps].

"I hardly deserve the credit. Kerga, you're the one who overextended yourself for me. You spent a fortune buying that Dragon Mana Stone."

"There's no need to say that. If it lets us conquer the Labyrinth Tower, that much is nothing."

Sensing the mana gently radiating from her, Kerga spoke with anticipation.

"I hear the Red Tower has reinforced its front line. It's a race now. We can't afford to drag our feet either."

She nodded.

"As soon as Gyeongsu recovers his lost levels, we're going straight back into the Labyrinth Tower. Serin, learn fourth-grade magic before then."

At his gesture, David set books down in front of her.

"The Red Tower refused to sell us fourth-grade spellbooks. Petty bastards. So I snapped up every one I could find on the black market."

"All... of these?"

"After buying a Dragon Mana Stone, this is pocket change."

As David spoke, pointing at Kerga, Serin looked overwhelmed by their generosity.

"They're not free gifts. Three days. Learn them all by then."

"Don't worry. It won't even take two."

Her answer made everyone gathered there laugh.

"That's right!! That's the [Phoenix Corps] for you."

"Now this is exciting! Serin's surpassed the Red Witch, hasn't she?"

"Exactly. Time for the mage rankings to change!!"

"Keep it quiet. We'll give Serin the most spectacular debut possible when we clear the tenth floor."

Kerga's eyes gleamed as he spoke.

'After months of being stuck in the Labyrinth Tower, we're finally starting to see a way forward.'

Maintaining a raid team cost a great deal of money. He still prided himself on being the best in the world, but that alone couldn't keep the sponsors satisfied forever.

One failed attempt at the tower after another.

He hadn't shown it, but the truth was that he was just as anxious as anyone.

There was the [Norn Raid Team], currently tackling the Labyrinth Tower's seventh floor, and [Red Bloom], which was still on the fifth but had boosted its firepower by recruiting Jin Horyun, a player with the Rare-grade hidden class [Monk]...

More and more up-and-coming raid teams were setting their sights on the Phoenix Corps' position.

"Everyone, prepare thoroughly. We won't get a second chance. We need to use this opportunity to prove once again that we're at the top."

The others nodded at Kerga's words.

"And David. Did you look into the person who sold the Dragon Mana Stone?"

"Well... I contacted K separately, but he didn't have any particularly useful information."

"Hmm."

"He did say Peron was hired to deliver the proceeds, though."

"Peron?"

"Yeah. You all know him. The guy who handles all sorts of dirty work in the Dark Forest. I was thinking we might try getting in touch with him."

"Would he give us any information?"

For some reason, David answered Kerga's question with a supremely confident smile.

"He wants to come over to the central continent. Apparently, he's looking for someone to back him."

"So he's aiming higher."

"Probably. That seems to be why he takes jobs from clans on the central continent. Mostly rookie hunting, from what I can tell."

Rookie hunting.

It meant hindering the growth of rival clans' newer recruits. Alliances and clans hired assassins like Peron to keep their own identities from being exposed.

"A hunting dog aiming for the top... I wonder. Is that even possible? If he's been hunting rookies, everyone must know his face by now."

"I'm sure they do. He'll just end up being used and discarded."

"Honestly, it is a problem. At this rate, fewer people will make it to the central continent."

It was a chronic problem in [Evil Tale], which had been running for years: hunting grounds, dungeons, everything was under the control of clans and alliances. To operate on the central continent, players had no choice but to place themselves under one of those groups' protection.

"But there's nothing we can do. We're only interested in the Labyrinth Tower, but the Red Tower, the alchemists' association Plaz, the Druid alliance Wooden Cloud, the Guardian Order... None of those big powers will give up their territory easily."

"It's not as though there's no solution. Someone just has to unite the central continent."

"Who?"

David stared steadily at Kerga, who had asked the question.

"Forget it. Let them play their territory games. I'm not interested."

"Conquering the Labyrinth Tower is important, but if we stay divided like this, it'll cause trouble someday."

"Enough of that. Just tell me how we're going to get Peron to give us the information."

"Tsk... Well, when I looked into him, it seemed he'd even taken a job from the Genesis Corps recently."

"The Genesis Corps?"

"You know them, right? The clan backed by JR Group. I think JR Group's second son is the clan leader."

Kerga frowned at the mention of their name.

"That psycho who thinks he's some kind of cult leader?"

"A psycho... Well, you're not wrong... Still, they've been one of the most active groups on the quest front lately."

"He's not someone I particularly want to deal with. So? Are you saying Peron has ties to them?"

David shook his head.

"No. I'm saying that might be how desperate he is. Offer him a way to reach the central continent, and I bet he'll do anything."

"Us?"

"We offer to recruit him into the Phoenix Corps. His skills don't seem bad, either. We were planning to recruit a follow-up team anyway."

"So you're saying we should sweet-talk him."

"Exactly."

Kerga nodded at David's explanation.

"If he's even taking jobs from the Genesis Corps, he must really want to get into the Labyrinth Tower. He might spill more easily than we expect."

"All right. David, try contacting him."

"Will do. And..."

"Yes?"

"Did you know? Apparently, someone's been going around breaking your Dark Forest dungeon records lately."

"My records still hadn't been broken?"

Unlike the serious-faced David, Kerga sounded unconcerned.

"Aren't you curious who it is?"

"What's there to be curious about? It's more surprising that no one had broken records from years ago. If they're any good, we'll meet on the central continent eventually."

Kerga spoke as he took items out of the guild house's storage.

"By then, we'll be even higher up."

"I still think we should pay attention. You might not have noticed because you're all so focused on the Labyrinth Tower, but apparently, things have been quietly changing in the Dark Forest lately."

A man who had been listening to David and Kerga joined the conversation. He was Fogan, the heavy knight who held the [Phoenix Corps]'s front line alongside Kerga.

"Changing?"

"You know the Ulda Alliance? They've been busy these past few days. I looked into it, and apparently a raid dungeon has appeared in the Dark Forest."

"A raid dungeon? Well, that's something new. I suppose the company added new content to attract new players."

"It's still the Dark Forest. How good could the rewards possibly be? Right?"

"True..."

No one thought much of Fogan's news.

* * *

"Wh-what is this?"

The moment the reward chest opened, everyone present was stunned.

[These are the Ice Cave's first-clear rewards.]

[Rewards far superior to the normal rewards will be granted.]

▶ Frozen Hide x 30

▶ Intermediate Potion x 10

▶ Lowest-Grade Rune (Agility) x 1

▶ Lowest-Grade Rune (Strength) x 1

▶ Lowest-Grade Rune (Vitality) x 1

▶ 10 Gold

-Runes dropping in the Dark Forest... People will go wild if they hear about this.

At the sight of runestones, which were rare even in the Labyrinth Tower, Gareth began typing faster.

"It might just be because these are first-clear rewards. I suppose we got lucky."

Woojin spoke as he examined the runes inside the chest.

"The runes are one thing... but I never expected C-grade equipment to drop, too."

Besides the standard items, the chest contained three additional drops. Peron took a small dagger out of it.

Name: Ice Claw

Grade: C

Description: A dagger made from Taikan's claw.

Extremely hard and imbued with the cold element, it deals additional damage to opponents.

▶ Deals additional cold damage equal to 15% of base attack power.

▶ Increases critical hit chance by 5%.

Name: Frost Armor

Grade: C

Description: Armor made from Taikan's fur.

Armor woven from magic-resistant fur. It offers excellent defense and protects the wearer from magic.

▶ Defense + 100

▶ Halves magic damage taken by the wearer once.

-You normally have to reach around the third floor of the Labyrinth Tower for C-grade items... And these have decent effects, too. Yet they're dropping in the Dark Forest. They're better than mediocre gear from the central continent!

Even Gareth, who had spent time on the central continent, couldn't hide his amazement at the drops.

'Actually, even B-grade items can drop here...'

Recalling the [Philosopher’s Stone] he'd obtained, Woojin chuckled at Gareth's words.

-Anyway, the developers were pretty clever. Now I see why they made a raid dungeon. This will let people gear up fairly well before heading to the central continent.

"Exactly. I wish something like this had come out a little sooner."

Peron gave a bitter smile at Gareth's comment.

"There's no need for regrets. Having the gear won't make it easy to establish yourself on the central continent."

"What?"

"It'll just make you better prey for player killers."

Woojin's cold response seemed to drain away Peron's excitement, leaving him looking sheepish.

'If they think gear like this is decent... Kahira really was an incredible craftsperson.'

Unlike the others, who were marveling at the rewards, Woojin was disappointed. Both armors were C-grade, but his [Magic-Infused Ancient Leather Armor] had four bonus effects, whereas the [Frost Armor] had just one.

-Ahem. Well, shall we divide the rewards now? Khan, you have first pick, so tell us what you want.

It was only text chat, but Woojin could sense his impatience.

'Looks like he's got his eye on something.'

"Nothing particularly appeals to me... If there's something you need, say so. We might as well divide things according to who needs them instead of trying to outguess each other."

-Th-then! Could I have the armor?

Gareth replied as though he'd been waiting for those words.

"Peron, what about you?"

"I... have my eye on the dagger."

As he was a Ranger, it was an entirely reasonable choice.

"Kim Chan, you?"

"Well... I can't use the dagger or weapons anyway... If I had to choose, I suppose the vitality rune?"

"Good. Then let's do this. Everyone takes what they asked for. Ruen and I will take the agility and strength runes. We'll split the hides evenly."

Woojin took the last remaining item out of the chest.

"And I'll take this."

-Are you... really all right with that? That's just a junk item. You even shared the quest with us. You're getting far too little out of this.

"If you're grateful, have the Ulda Alliance watch my back when I reach the central continent."

-Hahaha!! Of course we will. Come find us anytime!

Woojin chuckled at his hearty reply.

"Peron, take the armor with you and deliver it to Gareth. You'll be faster on your own."

"Understood."

"Kim Chan, you can use return magic, right?"

"Yeah. It's still low-grade, so I can only take one person with me."

"That's enough. You take Chason."

At Woojin's words, Chason scurried over to Kim Chan's side.

"What about you, Boss?"

"Don't worry. We'll take our time heading back."

Once he finished speaking, the others began leaving the cave one by one.

"Ruen, you use the agility rune."

After making sure all the party members had left, Woojin handed her the rune.

"But... are you really all right with this? You worked the hardest, Master. Your reward is so..."

Ruen sounded worried.

"No. It's plenty."

In contrast to her concern, Woojin wore a deeply satisfied smile.

Name: Piece of Ice

Grade: C

Description: A piece of ice commonly found in the Ice Cave. It doesn't seem to have any special properties. It might make a decent sculpture...?

Just as its description suggested, it was a useless junk item.

[You have discovered a magic circle.]

[Activate the magic circle to hatch the Egg of the Phantasmal Spirit.]

[Activating the magic circle requires the consumption of a material of C-grade or higher.]

But not to Woojin.

HUMMMMM!!!

As he set down the piece of ice, light began pouring from the magic circle.