Chapter 291. Ocean (Creature)
[Fragnt of the Midnight]
[Rank: Epic]
[Description: Instantly nullifies any skill upon contact, across all tier levels.]
[!!Caution: There is currently no confird experintal data regarding dungeon damage with either attributes of penetration or attacks exceeding S-rank. The phrase "across all tier levels" refers to the international standard mana classification applied to humans and monsters.]
An item that erases every skill it touches, regardless of its power. It's an item with such an incredible function—so why on earth is sothing like this being displayed in a place where even ordinary people can see it?
"Co to think of it, sothing about this feels off."
There were occasionally others in the room besides us, here to view the exhibit as well. Hall 1 of Building A. This area was arranged like an art gallery, with various safe artifacts on display to stimulate public interest in dungeon culture.
"There do seem to be security asures in place, but still, leaving this here where just anyone can walk by..."
It seed careless.I watched the analyzer while that particular thought crossed my mind.
"Ah!"
But a mont later, another piece of information appeared from the bottom of the display. It seed the device had stuttered slightly while retrieving the text, likely due to a minor glitch.
[...follows the classification. And it has been revealed that this item can be used twice.]
That makes sense, then. I'm guessing the Earthlings don't seem to know the hidden secret of that item.
"They must have already filled up the 'capacity' and turned it into a display. Well, without the skill-nullifying function, it's nothing more than a symbolic piece of cloth."
Kkkk.
Then this is good.
"I can buy it for a very cheap price!"
[Fragnt of the Midnight]. That black fabric, 60 cm wide and 60 cm tall, served this purpose in Alphauri.
A magical canvas that works especially well with certain techniques. The mages of Alphauri were aquatic creatures, so they preferred to inscribe formulas onto materials that didn't dissolve in water—mostly cloth. In that sense, the material fits quite well. The most enduring thod was to design the magic circle during the weaving stage, essentially creating the cloth with the spell embedded from the start. In fact, the expression "to weave a spell" likely originated from this very culture.
'Ahem.'
Well, anyway, I found myself quietly pleased to be standing in front of a magic circle canvas for the first ti in a while. Then, turning my head, I asked Ito—who was standing right next to —how much the starting bid would be for the item, since I wanted to buy it.
"Yes? You an... you want to purchase the Fragnt of the Midnight in the display case?"
But I didn't expect to hear sothing like this.
"I'm sorry for telling you this so late. This item is not scheduled to be part of the Tokyo Highlight Auction. It has already been used up twice and is being used ONLY for exhibition purposes."
The man nad Moritaka Ito began his explanation with both hands neatly folded in front of him, and it was imdiately clear that he was choosing his words as carefully as possible so as not to provoke the listener.
"And this is sothing I'm sharing only with you, Hunter Kim Giryeo, but as far as I know, there are currently no unused Fragnts of the Midnight available anywhere on the global market..."
"Hmm."
"This is information obtained through the full mobilization of our Japanese governnt's intelligence network, so you can trust it."
Anyway, they should've acted this politely from the start.
"Hmm."
After that, Ito's explanation went on for quite a while, but to sum it up, it was all the sa thing. The black cloth in the case is not for sale. He had been repeating that like paraphrase parrots.
On top of that, it seed there wasn't just one reason the item couldn't be sold. At first, I thought I could trick these clueless Earthlings and drive the price way down—but things were getting more complicated by the minute.
The [Fragnt of the Midnight] on display before my eyes belonged to none other than a branch of the Japanese governnt. Therefore, an individual couldn't just decide to sell it on a whim. Even though the item had already lost its functionality—or at least that's how they saw it—its high research value ant it couldn't be casually exported overseas.
"Damn it. Research purposes, huh? Sohow, I can actually understand that."
With the Japanese being that resolute, would simply offering a higher price really change anything? Clinging to a sliver of hope, I asked if it would still be difficult even if I offered hundreds of billions. But the answer remained the sa. Even for billions, they said no.
"I, I'll try to continue negotiating with the people from the Ministry of Technology throughout the event, at the very least."
Damn it! Anyway, if soone is offering money, why aren't they selling it!
[Fragnts of the Midnight].
I had co all the way to Japan just for that one item, and now the deal is falling apart before it even begins. Does this an I'll have to give up on the treasure and go back empty-handed?
"Or should I try aiming for a different epic-grade item with the money I have instead?"
Neither option was all that appealing. The [Fragnt of the Midnight] only seed likely to be cheap because Earthlings had conveniently mistaken it for a non-reusable item. In truth, as ntioned before, properly functioning epic-grade gear ca with a staggering price tag.
1 trillion won was truly the minimum buy-in for participating in the epic-grade auction market. If it wasn't Fragnt of the Midnight, then finding another epic item that could et an Alphauri's standards might require several tis that amount. Considering the cost of a next-generation fighter jet on Earth, such market dynamics weren't exactly unreasonable.
"Well, dungeon items do possess a kind of technological mystique that's worth that price..."
A true dilemma—caught in a situation where neither advancing nor retreating is an option.
But then—a sudden idea flashed through my mind. A plan.
...Let elaborate. From Imabari's point of view, this would probably be an utterly reprehensible idea. Because what just crossed my mind here and now was sothing along the lines of, "Then what if I just swap the fabric in that case with a fake and one walk off with the real thing?" A truly devious thought.
The catalyst was the duel with Kang Chang-ho. At first, it was just so money that had fallen into my lap for free. So I thought, why not pick up a few more magical tools?—and ca to Japan on a whim. But sowhere on the plane, as I mulled it over, the significance of this Tokyo auction started to feel a bit more serious.
Those cosmic calamities—creatures that lust after human bodies, speak in stilted tongues, and whenever they encounter Earth's intelligent beings, their eyes blaze as they rush to bring death.
Based on the testimony I heard from a certain mammal, this phenonon isn't sothing that can be brushed off lightly.
"Kang Changho... had encountered a possessed host of a Gishimche."
From now on, it might no longer be about petty curiosity—I might truly need to collect magical tools for survival. In my current physical state, dealing with a Gishimche would be nearly impossible. To preserve my life, that artifact had suddenly beco an urgent necessity.
No, but really—in this age of capitalism, isn't it a bit too harsh to outright refuse to sell sothing at all?
"Exhibition? Sacrificing space to keep things that won't be used!"
The culture of preserving an object purely for its beauty was, for so reason, hard to relate to.
"They sure love preserving things. Yet these sa folks go around destroying the natural order without a second thought. Seriously."
What made it even more infuriating the more I thought about it was the fact that those mammals had once made a huge mistake involving in the past.
"This great mage's life being priced at just a trillion won is honestly a gross undervaluation. Now that I think about it, maybe I need to reconsider everything as just an extension of that whole Legendary incident."
I was the only hunter among all nations who responded to Japan's call for help and stopped an S-rank dungeon break. And yet, Ito and his group—blinded by the prospect of a Legendary—had tried to kill an alien, without the slightest sense of gratitude?
"In reality, it was only because my mana was at a bug-level low that I let the whole thing slide quietly..."
I believed that simply keeping quiet about certain people's attempted murder was already an act of kindness worth more than a hundred billion. Because of that past incident, it was only natural—by the laws of the universe—that Japan should have willingly offered up at least a handkerchief to the fourth S-rank Hunter of Korea. And yet, they wouldn't even comply with the simple request to sell an item.
"These brat's ton it all hypocrisy and a lie to be so scared and trembling like that."
It was already a situation where the naturally harsh temperant of an Alphauri could only beco more twisted. If it had been during my pri, I'd have already slaughtered those pathetic would-be killers in the blink of an eye while hunting the dragon. I recalled everything that had happened during the Dragon Raid. And after all that reflection... I made up my mind.
"Alright. Let's steal it, as expected."
He decided to achieve his goal on his own. No matter how much he calculated it in his head, the last dragon raid was simply an incident that ended peacefully because the victims were weak. He felt that they still hadn't paid a price truly fitting for their actions.
"That's a sha you're not selling it. Then, could I maybe take a look at so of the actual items coming up in the second day's highlight auction?"
"And that's..."
Wouldn't it actually be sothing Earthlings should be grateful for, if—whatever the reasons—he settled his grudge with a re item swap instead of carrying out a massacre?
And so, I quietly finished rationalizing it to myself and cast a subtle glance at the magic artifact I had marked. The fabric gleaming inside a bright glass display case. There may not be any grand barrier spells, but the real issue is how to steal that in a foreign country filled with CCTV on all sides.
***
anwhile, around 2 p.m.
Around this ti one alien had just made up his mind to pull sothing shady, the alien lifeform from Alphauri still had no idea—that within this very venue was soone harboring dangerous thoughts, practically a rival in intent.
Dirrr.
A worn, old-fashioned door—resembling sothing from a bygone era—slid open to the side. What entered through the now-open doorway was a professional security company from Japan. Their workforce was made up of roughly 80% non-awakened and 20% awakened individuals—a ratio partly due to the difficulty of recruiting talent from the raid industry, but also because superpowered people were more prone to getting entangled in lawsuits.
If an ordinary person were injured while being restrained in a venue like a concert hall, those with magical powers would receive disproportionately more criticism. That's why the top 10% of elite psychic bodyguards only moved in situations as special as this one.
If they were mimos from F-rank to E-grade, maybe. But carrying a heavy power like seawater and moving with it—no matter how much they gesture, how many experts are there in this world who can control it so the water doesn't ripple recklessly?
"Security for the event venue, huh...."
"Phew."
"Finally, shift change."
"Co on in. Was there any traffic on the way?"
"It was okay."
The current situation was the afternoon shift change of a security company. The awakened individuals who had arrived from outside exchanged a few words with those already inside. Then, they took their positions in a formation surrounding a certain treasure placed at the center of the room, standing guard.
"Then, I'll be counting on you until the evening."
"Yeah. Make sure to tell Team 3 not to be late under any circumstances."
It might seem inefficient to have as many as 15 awakened individuals guarding a re object, but humanity is still a fragile creature ruled by sleep—so what other choice do they have?
After the routine shift change, an awkward silence briefly settled over the room.
"Shall we play word chain?"
"Sigh."
But staying silent any longer was difficult—this job was just too boring. Rumor had it the company's CEO was close with a high-ranking Japanese official, which is how they managed to secure the post over actual hunters. But the job they had managed to land with such effort turned out to be guarding so craftworks 24 hours a day.
"They really do look like kids' toys. Can you believe an item like that is worth more than a skyscraper in downtown Tokyo?"
Besides, it's questionable whether this job even needs people in the first place.
A barrier crafted by several A-rank defense-type awakened individuals. An alarm that goes off if the object shifts even 0.01mm from its fixed position. And on top of that, those beautiful purple patterns floating around the item are traps—designed to instantly incinerate any living being that touches the marked target.
Protecting an item with an item?
"It seems stupid."
And yet, unsure of what they were anxious about, the higher-ups in this country insisted on deploying separate security guards, strictly following their usual manual. But the head of the security company secretly thought it was a pointless waste of resources. With three different trap items owned by separate parties laid out like that, theft of the treasure was nearly impossible.
"Besides, even if an earthquake hit right now, there's an S-rank in the venue."
But at this ti, a voice ca from one side of the room. It was an unexpected exclamation.
"Wow—"
The staff mber standing next to him was currently looking at their phone screen.
"Chief Kida, take a look at this. Isn't it amazing? Apparently, there's a ranker in Korea who can fully control their mana, wondering what on earth was going on that made him so focused.
"Hmm."
What his colleague had been so focused on was a replay video from a streaming-exclusive site.
[Off the Air | —w—] zzz]
[Broadcaster: UUU]
[...and that's how I happened to encounter Mr. Kim Giryeo of South Korea (emphasis).
Originally, I had gone to Seoul to visit my mother.
But it just so happened that Mr. Kim was also active in Seoul, so...?
Maybe, just maybe... we might run into each other—
With that little hope, I chose the Association as the eting spot lol
[Even thinking back on it now,
it was a totally ridiculous chance.]
Sohow, the subtitles are kind of a ss.
"Hmm. Did they just upload the sentences created by the automatic subtitle generator without editing them?"
No matter the quality of soone else's video, the man on the screen was saying just one thing.
"An S-rank Hunter from South Korea... and even when standing close, there was no sense of mana at all..."
A Japanese entertainer who had traveled to Seoul claid to have run into Kim Giryeo by chance. According to his account, Kim Giryeo in person had an aura so calm and unassuming, it was as if he were an unawakened civilian.
The bodyguard who watched the video couldn't hide his surprise. Even Hunter Ion—well-known for his easygoing personality and sociable nature, and popular among the public—still couldn't blend into a crowd easily, all because of the inherent pressure that top-tier awakened individuals give off.
"Is it true?"
"Besides this broadcast, if you look at the comnts from people living in Korea, they're all saying the sa thing. It must be true."
The guard at the door nodded noncommittally. But the surroundings weren't ideal for fixating on the blond-haired Korea any longer.
"That's pretty amazi—ahem. Ahem! Uh, anyway, I still think it's not a good idea to be on your phone during work hours..."
"Heh heh, got it. Don't worry. It's just that being stuck in a small room staring at the wall made my hand reach for it for a mont. Honestly, you sure do worry a lot."
"Everyone, aren't we playing word chain?"
"Why do you keep trying to kill ti with that every day when you always lose?"
No matter how well the security systems were set up, what lay behind them were items so valuable that even if the guards worked for generations, they could never afford to compensate for them—so they had to stay sharp.
"Let's see. What was [Triana] and the rest?"
In this room were two items featured in the upcoming Tokyo Highlight Auction. One had a familiar shape, but the other had been completely unrecognizable as any known artifact. It was likely a newly discovered piece of equipnt that had never been revealed to the public before.
"They look just like children's toys."
Well, not that it matters—even if he knew his na and abilities, he couldn't afford it anyway.
"Haam."
An awakened guard in a black-and-white suit, yawning widely just like soone else. And so, so fighting off boredom, they continued their watch—making sure no one could get anywhere near the vault.
Flash.
But then, a few minutes later, the section chief standing in the front row of the room turned around, stretching as he did so.
"What the... Was that just my imagination?"
Huh?
That cute little pink artifact in the second case—co to think of it, wasn't the gem in the center originally a cool color?
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