Chapter 126: Prophet of Wrath (1)
Shuuu— Tztztztzt…
The five Hunters emerged from the unstable giant portal.
The red, shimmering portal immediately shrank and vanished.
“A disaster-grade dungeon…”
“It was cleared in just four days!”
“We need to report to the Association immediately…”
“What report? The Association President himself led the raid.”
The U.S. military, Awakener Association, federal government Hunters, and even CIA Hunters guarding the area around the dungeon gate all burst into cheers upon seeing the disaster-grade dungeon disappear.
The atmosphere was filled with congratulations for their safe return.
“Has it already been four days?”
“About 100 hours.”
“We spent around 50 hours in the labyrinth, so the time difference with Earth is roughly double.”
Jin-young’s party wanted to check the dungeon clear rewards first, but they had to postpone it for now.
The Hunters who had been controlling the area around the dungeon gate were swarming toward them.
“Congratulations on clearing the dungeon, Chairman.”
“Prophet-nim, you’ve decided to return to active duty after all. And your comeback raid is a disaster-grade dungeon clear. Truly admirable.”
Since they were all Americans, most of the congratulations were directed at Hannah, Michelle, and Kyle.
On the other hand, Jin-young and Eun Ji-eun, whom they didn’t know, only received simple nods as they passed by.
“It feels a bit bittersweet.”
“The less attention you get, the better. You’re a secret agent now too.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
Eun Ji-eun nodded in understanding at Jin-young’s words.
“Thanks to the Association President, America has become the first to clear a disaster-grade dungeon.”
“It’s not thanks to me. Without that Korean Hunter over there, we would have been wiped out. We just followed behind him.”
At Kyle’s words, the American Hunters asked back in surprise.
“Is that really true?”
“Yes. It’s all thanks to Psycho-nim, the superstar who dominated the Federation General Assembly and the one GODS fears the most.”
Hannah added.
As a result, the Hunters’ attention shifted toward Jin-young.
At least it was fortunate that, thanks to tight control, there were no reporters present.
“I don’t really want attention. Tell them to move aside.”
“Yes. Everyone, since Agent-nim feels burdened, please move over there…”
At Hannah’s guidance, the American Hunters moved to one side.
At that moment, only one woman approached Jin-young and Eun Ji-eun.
“Congratulations. Psycho, Silver Snow Agents.”
“Huh! How do you know me…”
“I’ve heard that voice somewhere before.”
Jin-young frowned for a moment, then remembered whose voice it was.
“Director Lily?”
“Yes. Lily Dalton from the Awakener Intelligence Department.”
Lily Dalton from the CIA, who had successfully arranged the villain information-sharing agreement between Korea and the U.S. with Director Bo-hoon.
He had heard her voice once through secret communication, but this was their first face-to-face meeting.
Eun Ji-eun looked at Lily with curiosity and asked,
“Wow, CIA? Isn’t that an incredibly big deal?”
“It used to be the world’s best intelligence agency. Until recently.”
“So it’s not anymore?”
“Now it can’t even compare to the National Intelligence Service where you two are.”
At Lily’s smooth flattery, Eun Ji-eun’s eyes sparkled as if impressed.
But Jin-young, who saw through her intention, let out a small laugh and said,
“So what do you want to say? It looks like you have a favor to ask.”
“As expected, I can’t hide anything from Psycho-nim. It’s not exactly a favor, but something I’d like you to keep in mind. During the recent large-scale GODS terror attack, Marc Diaby, the Association President of the European Union who suffered a major defeat, has gone missing.”
“That French Hunter? Is it GODS’s doing again?”
Marc Diaby, a black Zero-grade Hunter of French nationality.
He was someone Jin-young had met at the Federation General Assembly.
He was more famous for his auxiliary ability of large-scale teleportation than his main combat ability.
Of course, his combat ability wasn’t weak either, so his disappearance was suspicious.
“We suspect that as well, but there are almost no traces left, making tracking impossible. Please be careful in case of defection or brainwashing.”
“Anyway, we’ll probably go to Europe for disaster-grade dungeon raids, so I’ll look into it while I’m there. Well, only if it’s not too far.”
“Thank you just for saying that.”
Disaster-grade dungeons would appear not only in America but all over the world.
If the location Lily Dalton sent was close to a dungeon, Jin-young planned to stop by and investigate.
It would be good to stop GODS’s schemes in advance if they were plotting something again.
After the noisy congratulations ended and everyone dispersed,
The five Hunters who had participated in the raid remained in place.
They were going to check and settle the dungeon clear rewards.
First, the basic clear reward Manastone given to each individual.
In a 1st-grade dungeon, one would usually receive 2~3 1st-grade Manastones, but in their hands lay only a single Manastone.
It was a rather poor reward for a disaster-grade dungeon, but,
“I’ve been feeling it since earlier, but this isn’t a 1st-grade Manastone.”
“It seems to surpass 1st-grade… but the mana is unstable, so it looks like it needs some stabilization.”
Hannah and Michelle marveled at the large Manastone that filled both hands and still had some left over.
In truth, size didn’t matter much.
The size of a Manastone was often determined by the size of the monster.
But the mana contained in this Manastone was greater than any other they had seen.
The only flaw was that the mana was slightly unstable compared to other Manastones.
“Then should we call it a disaster-grade Manastone? Or a Zero-grade Manastone?”
Kyle said while examining the Manastone that gave off a deep red glow.
Michelle answered,
“Calling it disaster-grade feels a bit ominous, so Zero-grade would be better.”
“How much would it sell for?”
Since they were the first to obtain a Zero-grade Manastone, its value couldn’t even be estimated.
Of course, none of them planned to sell it.
Just absorbing it would bring an enormous leap in their level.
However, because it surpassed existing 1st-grade Manastones and contained unstable power, caution was needed when absorbing it.
They planned to store it safely and absorb the Manastone later in a secure location.
Besides the Zero-grade Manastone, Jin-young was also holding two additional rewards.
They were the main rewards for escaping the labyrinth.
A silver circlet elegantly embedded with blue and red jewels.
“This should suit the Chairman.”
Jin-young handed the circlet to Hannah.
It not only helped with mana operation, rapid condensation, and release, but also increased regeneration and even cast an automatic barrier.
“Are you really giving this to me?”
Hannah looked incredulous.
In dungeon raids, ownership of main rewards or hidden rewards usually went to the person with the highest contribution.
That was why Jin-young had been holding all of them.
If they had all been from the same guild, it would have gone to the guild, but right now the rights belonged solely to Jin-young.
He could use them himself or sell them for money.
“Did I look like the type who would give something only after receiving payment?”
“Uh…”
Hannah couldn’t easily answer.
Since it was an artifact from an American dungeon and Hannah’s contribution had been quite high, his conscience wouldn’t allow him to sell it for money.
Besides, he hadn’t come here to make money — he had come to help the Hunters grow.
In any case, just selling the artifacts he had swept up from the Treasure Room would easily bring in hundreds of billions, if not trillions.
“Take it. I’m really giving it to you, so don’t overthink it.”
This circlet would be used most efficiently by Hannah.
“Thank you.”
She immediately put the circlet on her head.
Next was the hidden reward.
“This one is perfect for you.”
Jin-young tossed the bracelet.
Kyle, who caught it reflexively, asked,
“Partial giantification?”
“It enlarges the rock-hardened right arm for either defense or attack. Perfect.”
“…Thanks.”
Among the four Hunters excluding Jin-young, Kyle had suffered the most.
That was simply the fate of a tanker.
It was the perfect artifact for him, so Jin-young gave it to him.
Since there were no suitable artifacts for Eun Ji-eun and Michelle from what he had, Jin-young looked through the items he had swept from the Treasure Room and picked appropriate ones.
“This is for Michelle, and this is for my junior.”
“You don’t have to give me anything…”
“Wow! Thank you!”
Michelle looked hesitant to accept, while Eun Ji-eun happily took hers.
What he gave Michelle was a ring that amplified mana.
What he gave Eun Ji-eun was a bracelet that stabilized mana and helped with delicate control.
As expected of treasures guarded by dragons, most of the artifacts were related to mana and magic.
“And this is for the meal.”
Jin-young divided the gold bars he had swept from the Treasure Room among the four.
It was about 100 kilograms per person, but this was only an extremely small portion.
“That’s quite a lot for a meal.”
Even the Hunters who already had no money worries had their mouths wide open at the amount of gold bars.
It wasn’t just the monetary value that attracted them — there was a magical allure to the sparkling gold itself.
It wasn’t an illusion; it actually contained mana.
However, it wasn’t dangerous at all.
Because the tentacle had already finished inspecting them in subspace.
After the settlement was finished,
“You all worked really hard.”
“Until the Second Great Cataclysm, train with the mindset that you’re already dead.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I should go back to the office and dig through some uncleared dungeons.”
Kyle seemed to already be itching for more action, as if this raid had been a huge stimulus.
When he thought about it, most dungeons would be weaker than disaster-grade, so it was natural for him to gain confidence.
After finishing his goodbyes with the American Hunters, Jin-young took Eun Ji-eun and stepped through the portal.
***
“Psycho Agent! Welcome back.”
Director Kim Jeong-moon of the secret research division greeted him enthusiastically.
“Looks like I’m not welcome, Director.”
“Of course Silver Snow Agent is welcome too.”
After giving a half-hearted greeting to the pouting Eun Ji-eun, Kim Jeong-moon approached Jin-young.
“Thanks to the Holy Grail you brought, we’ve started mass production of the latest elixir. The new Creep suppressant test is also going very well. Now Hunters above 3rd-grade can endure for dozens of hours even in the deep areas of contaminated zones.”
“That’s great.”
Kim Jeong-moon spoke excitedly while Jin-young nodded along and walked forward.
“The enhancer is still under development, but it would be nice if we had a suitable source material.”
At that, Jin-young stopped walking and poured out a bunch of artifacts from subspace.
Chwa-ra-ra-ra-rak—
When all kinds of sparkling accessories, weapons, and armor poured onto the floor in various colors, Kim Jeong-moon’s eyes widened.
“W-what are all these…”
“Use whatever might be helpful. But you have to return them without damaging them. I’m going to sell them all.”
“Of course! Thank you!”
After shaking off Director Kim Jeong-moon like that,
The real reason Jin-young had come to the secret research division wasn’t that.
Creak—
“Oh? Agent-nim. What brings you here?”
Jeon Yu-hwan, the top Manastone craftsman of the secret research division.
Since there hadn’t been much Manastone crafting work lately, it had been a long time since they last met.
“I came to have some Manastones processed.”
“I thought you didn’t deal with Manastones anymore, Agent-nim.”
“I thought so too, but I got something interesting.”
Jin-young took out a red heart from subspace.
It looked like a jewel at first glance — a mass of power.
Upon seeing the Dragon Heart, Jeon Yu-hwan’s eyes grew wider and wider.
“This… could it be…”
“You’re probably thinking the right thing.”
“Isn’t this the legendary material that has completely disappeared from the market and even the black market?”
Dungeons where dragons appeared were not only extremely difficult to clear, but even finding them was hard.
That was why Dragon Hearts had become an extremely rare material.
As a result, Manastone craftsmen rarely had the chance to process Dragon Hearts, making it difficult for their skills to improve.
“How about it? Can you do it?”
At Jin-young’s question, Jeon Yu-hwan rested his chin on his hand and stared intently at the Dragon Heart.
After thinking for a long time, he finally spoke.
“I can process it. But I can’t guarantee I’ll make the best Manastone.”
Jin-young liked Jeon Yu-hwan’s honest attitude.
That was precisely why he had no choice but to entrust it to him.
“It’s fine even if you ruin one or two.”
Jin-young poured out Dragon Hearts from subspace.
Seeing more than twenty hearts, Jeon Yu-hwan’s eyes nearly popped out.
“W-what… What exactly did you do to get these…?”
Even if one cleared every dragon dungeon in the world, it would be impossible to gather this many.
Of course, Jin-young had obtained all of them from a single dungeon, but he didn’t bother explaining.
“If you practice, you’ll be able to make the best Manastone, right?”
At Jin-young’s question, Jeon Yu-hwan nodded with a determined look.
“I will make a Manastone that surpasses 1st-grade.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Jin-young nodded.
He thought that was the end, but when he didn’t leave, Jeon Yu-hwan asked,
“Is there something else you need?”
“Hmm… I’ve been thinking, and I think it’s better to absorb it now.”
Shuu—
What Jin-young took out from subspace was a large red Manastone.
It was the Zero-grade Manastone obtained from the disaster-grade dungeon.
By now, his Hunter rank had already surpassed the top tier of 1st-grade.
He was curious to see what would happen if he absorbed this Manastone.
Tztztztzt…
Jin-young decided to test it right away.
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