Chapter 106 – Red Dragon’s Lair (12)

Ariane lifted her hands up and said

“Summon”

And on her palm was a small ring . She handed it over to Sungjin . Sungjin examined the strange ring .

The ring was transparent, and a mysterious blue material floated within . The material moved unpredictably . It sometimes bundled up together, separated, or flowed like water .

While Sungjin was watching the material, Ariane said

“It’s an item containing the power of the strongest Wizard in human history, Anatol of the Blue Sky . ”

Sungjin tilted his head when he heard this . He had heard the name ‘Blue Sky Wizard’ before . But Soldamyr next to him replied

“My goodness, this object contains that wizard’s power?”

Sungjin stared at him . Now that he thought of it, Soldamyr mentioned it before .

‘There are several famous wizards in history, but among them, Wizard of the Black Flames, Wizard of Purple Light, and Firmament Wizard are the most famous . Since I am a blue magician myself, I respected and studied the Wizard of the Blue Sky Anatol the most…’

Sungjin held the ring above his head . But instead of an information screen, he heard the Operator say

[Unclaimed item . ]

Sungjin frowned . Even if he found something in a raid, if the Operator did not officially grant the item to him, he couldn’t check any info nor use it .

‘Just what kind of item is it…?’

He thought when Ariane told him

“Put it on . ”

Sungjin replied to her

“But I can’t equip nor use it right now . ”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

Sungjin tapped on his cube and said

“Without the Cube’s permission, even if I have an item like this I can’t use it . Probably once the raid is over, I will be granted the item as part of the normal raid reward process . And once it’s been officially awarded to me, I’ll probably be able to use it . ”

“Hmm really?”

Ariane walked up to him and snatched the cube out of the air . It was the second time he saw it happen, but it was still amazing . She could grab other’s cube . Ariane said as she took a look at the cube .

“This really does… look like an item related to…”

Sungjin opened his eyes wide .

“You know who made it?”

Sungjin never even imagined that the cube hid clues as to its maker . He immediately asked

“This… I mean you know someone that made the Operator?”

Ariane gave Sungjin a look as she replied

“I don’t know for sure… but an item has a creator of some sort, right?”

The ‘Operator’ was a tool for progressing the Raid system . If there was a maker of the system, then it meant he was the architect who planned the whole thing .

“Just who…”

“…I can’t tell you any more than that… Mother warned me not to get involved with it . ”

“Mother?”

Seeing his surprise, she replied in a ‘matter of fact’ manner .

“What? Every living being has a mother, right?”

She was right . Sungjin was abandoned and orphaned as a child, but someone must have given birth to him . What had surprised him was the fact that she also had a mother who was taking care of her .

Ariane was plenty strong on her own . He couldn’t even imagine how powerful her mother must be . Sungjin said to her

“Couldn’t you give me the smallest hint about it? Who planned and carried out this raid system?”

Ariana looked off to the side for a moment before replying .

“It’s not exactly correct to say the raids were planned and carried out per se… how to say this… More like the raids are being watched and recorded… since there’s meaning in doing so . ”

She said something he couldn’t quite comprehend . Sungjin thought of using ‘Jeremiah’s eye’ to find out more . If he could read her surface thoughts (if it was possible), he might find out something more profound, but unfortunately, it was on cooldown .

“Well… if it’s just hint”

She raised her hands once more

“Summon . ”

She had summoned a pen . She handed it over to Sungjin and said

“Try using this . I don’t know if this will give you a hint though . ”

Sungjin accepted the pen . The pen looked very ordinary . Its exterior looked like it could be found in any regular stationary shop . When Sungjin was busy looking at the pen, Ariane suddenly said her farewell .

“It was fun, Human . I hope that my presents will help you escape your tragic fate . ”

Sungjin looked at her . He had so many questions for her, but it didn’t seem like she would tell him any more than what she already did .

“Thank you very much . ”

Sungjin lowered his head to express his gratitude .

“Then I’ll take my leave . ”

When he looked back up, she was already gone . The only thing remaining was the ring and the pen she had left behind . Although it wasn’t officially awarded to him, it was still something he had earned .

Sungjin was about to place the items into his pocket, but he noticed a piercing gaze . Soldamyr was tilting his head to see the item in Sungjin’s hands . Sungjin handed the ring to him .

Soldamyr was overwhelmed that it was offered to him, and carefully received the ring with both of his hands .

“Ohhh… this is the…”

Sungjin wasn’t sure yet, but it was apparently an amazing item . Sungjin asked him

“So what is it?”

“I don’t know… Just… there is an incredible amount of Mana contained within . ”

Sungjin took the Ring back . The material within was still moving strangely .

‘If I want to find out what’s in it… I need to quickly get to distribution . ’

All he had to do was use the Trollseeker marble . But he couldn’t use it here yet . If he were to use it here, he might have to spend quite an effort and time to get to where the trolls might be .

Dimensional transfer was best used where the boss was located . Sungjin moved back to the Lava fall and said

“Soldamyr, give me flight . ”

“Power to defy Gravity, Levitation!”

Sungjin left the cave with the treasure with Soldamyr . Once they were out of the spacious cavern, he could see the hunters in the distance . The hunters were shocked to see Sungjin again .

“A…Alive…”

“Did you succeed?”

Sungjin moved between them and said

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Ohhh…”

“Amazing . ”

But he had no time to be listening to their praises . Sungjin said to them

“I am going to leave here . The rest of you work…”

He was about to finish his words when he noticed the ‘Friar’ . A potential troll . Originally, he was planning to trick him with ‘Let’s troll together’, and kill him after, but it would take too long . Sungjin just said to the Hunters

“Work together and hunt rest of the mobs . ”

“What? You’re leaving?”

Several hunters asked, but he didn’t have time to answer their questions . Sungjin shook his hand and said

“Well… I can’t explain everything but Mr . Immortal and Mr . Friar, may I see the two of you real quick please?”

Sungjin called them over . The hunters were curious about what Sungjin was up to, but they didn’t dare interrupt what he was doing . They were already seeing ‘Master Hunter Sungjin’ as a monster stronger than a Dragon .

The Immortal and Friar came forward as instructed . Sungjin faced them and said

“For Mr Immortal… Please rally the other hunters and hunt down rest of the mobs . If you utilize your leadership, you will be able to manage it with the nine of you . ”

The Immortal had been cooperative with Sungjin from start to finish .

“Yes, Master Hunter . ”

“Ok, go back for now . ”

Sungjin sent the immortal back to the group and was left alone with the Friar . The Friar couldn’t possibly know what Sungjin wanted to say . He probably thought Sungjin just wanted to say

‘Since you are a healer, please take care of the others’

Like Sungjin had done with the Immortal . But Sungjin suddenly said

“I know what you’re planning . ”

“Excuse me?”

Disregarding the Friar’s surprise, Sungjin just continued to speak .

“I don’t know if you are going to do it in the future or not but… I’ll give you just one warning . If you do it in the future, I will be coming after you to kill you . ”

Sungjin had avoided using the word, but his words made the ‘Friar’ freeze up . Sungjin had correctly read his mind .

“You understand, right?”

Sungjin patted his shoulder twice and walked over to the others .

“Then I hope we see each other again, friends . ”

Sungjin left behind the hunters and walked back to the cavern with Khal Gal’s corpse .

After taking out the Trollseeker marble, he said

“Pursuit of Justice”

Pillar of bright light came down upon Sungjin from above .

[Dimensional transfer requested . ]

The distribution began .

[Monsters Slain . Hell Hound: 48 . Magma Golem: 4 . Red Dragon Demihuman: 2 . Total 32000 points . ]
[Boss Monster Slain: ‘Red Dragon’ Khal Gal: 2000 points . ]
[Hidden Boss: ‘Khal Gal’s Mother’ Ariane: 2000 points . ]
[Final Point count: 36000 . Distributing points . ]

[Your contribution is 58% . 20880 Stat points,20880 Black Coins awarded . Raid Clear Bonus 3000 Stat points and 3000 Black Coins awarded . Item effect ‘Additional 10% gained’ activated . Distributing 23880 Stat points and 26268 Black Coins . ]

Because it was a ten man raid, despite his percentage being the worst he’s ever seen, the reward was several times higher than in other raids .

[And now we will distribute the items . ]

Sungjin solemnly awaited the items to appear .

[Redrun – Red Dragon Scale Armor]
[Aio – Ring of Great Sage]
[Mu – Brush of reply]
[Merka – Pulp of Evolution]
[Enhancement Stone X3]

An incredible number of items burst forth . Not only had he been rewarded with the items Ariane had handed over, but he also received Scale Armor, Pulp of Evolution, and three Enhancement stones .

[Congratulations, Legendary Item Redrun…]

Everything he received was of legendary class . Sungjin put everything away except for the Scale Armor, Ring, and the brush . Meanwhile, the Operator granted him a title .

[Last but not the least, you will be awarded titles you’ve earned on this raid . ]
[Dragon Slayer – Attacking a Dragon deals four times the normal damage . ]

“Ooh…”

Dragon Slayer was an attractive name . And the passive ‘deal four times the damage’, although it wasn’t immediately useful, if he ever had to fight a dragon, it would prove even more useful than Master Hunter title .

‘Since I have Star of the Nameless, there might be a day I might use it…’

Sungjin decided to keep it in mind .

[Distribution has ended . ]
[Request for Dimensional transfer has been granted . ]
[You will be teleported in 10 seconds . 10, 9]

Sungjin said to Soldamyr,

“Soldamyr, let’s meet back at the Inn . ”

“Yes Master”

Soldamyr bid his farewell, and soon after, Sungjin was teleported . To the new Dimension .

*

Sungjin took a look around . Khal Gal’s corpse was visible on the other side, with his tongue hanging out .

‘It must have been a relatively successful party…’

Sungjin had killed Khal Gal and even cleared the hidden boss, but not much time had actually passed . The fact that Khal Gal was taken down so quickly meant that this party had been full of strong members .

‘I don’t think they could have gotten far…’

Sungjin decided to run towards the cavern where the Hidden piece was located . Since if there were any trolls, they would have gone in that direction .

But even as he ran, he checked the items he had obtained from the raid by raising them above his head . Normally he would have slowly checked them after killing the trolls, but this time he couldn’t hold himself back out of curiosity .

‘Just what does it do?’