Chapter 47 : Into the Dungeon. (5)
Chapter 47: Into the Dungeon. (5)
There were countless types of dungeons.
Jungles, of course.
Deserts, seashores, caves, palaces made of crystal, and so on.
Once you passed through a gate, all kinds of unknown spaces unfolded.
This world, filled with chaos, still had its own rules.
Like Earth, it had gravity and oxygen.
Living, breathing creatures like monsters roamed about.
And if certain conditions were met, a door that allowed you to leave would open.
It was impossible to move from one dungeon to another.
In other words, Jincheon and the Superior Guild could not enter the place where I was currently standing.
However, exceptions did exist.
For example…….
‘Is it here.’
The place where I stopped after pushing through the undergrowth was where a massive, sturdy giant tree had taken root.
The enormous tree, which looked to be thousands of years old, towered straight up toward the sky.
‘If I were to climb this, it would take half a day.’
I loosened up my body appropriately and lowered my stance.
Applying <Judgment of the Superhuman>, I loaded mana into both legs, kicked off the ground, and leaped upward.
In the blink of an eye, I arrived at the top of the giant tree.
When I climbed onto a thick branch, I saw members of the Dio Guild down below, collecting loot.
‘Let’s hurry.’
I stretched out my arm and groped around near the leaves.
On the surface, it looked like an ordinary leaf with nothing special about it.
Srrk.
A peculiar sensation was felt at my fingertips.
It was as soft as silk and as slick as a snake.
I concentrated mana at my fingertips.
Soon after, a transparent object revealed itself.
A silvery shell reflected the sunlight and sparkled.
Silvery-white dragon hide.
It was a Silver Knight.
“Found it.”
Seeing a dragon inside a dungeon was extremely rare.
Instead, traces they left behind were occasionally discovered.
Only dragons could freely cross between dungeons.
They sometimes shed their skin atop tall trees.
This habit appeared exclusively in low-tier <Crisis-grade> dungeons.
Some scholars explained that in <Apocalypse-grade> dungeons, there were monsters comparable to dragons, leaving them no leisure to enjoy molting.
The reason such legendary items had rarely been found until now was precisely because of polymorph.
Dragons used high-grade magic that allowed them to freely alter their form.
This also applied to their shed skin.
Who would have dared to imagine it.
That a part of a dragon’s body, turned transparent, was hidden atop a giant tree.
Sharrk.
I looked down at the Silver Knight, carefully spread across both hands.
The thing Kkalkki had wanted so desperately.
A rare item that could not be bought even with money on the market.
I had obtained dragon hide.
‘This should be enough to craft the Purple Devil’s suit.’
I took out a pouch made of Dvergr cloth.
It was a magical wrapping cloth that had been extremely useful the last time I raided the vault of the gangster boss, Cha Chi-do.
The large hide slid smoothly into the sack.
‘First, acquired one!’
I quickly climbed down the tree.
The next task was already decided.
I faced a tree larger than my own body.
I took a deep breath and stood up straight.
‘Alright, let’s do this.’
I grabbed the area around the massive tree trunk with both hands and infused it with mana.
After a moment, a round, blue pattern floated before my eyes.
‘There it is.’
I already knew about it, yet I couldn’t help but marvel anew at the mysterious phenomenon.
The so-called Magical Circle.
It was a powerful and mysterious phenomenon that ignored physical laws.
Those who obtained it could wield mystical power for the rest of their lives without separate mana.
Usually, Magical Circles appeared throughout dungeons in places beyond human reach.
The deepest depths of the deep sea, the Abyss.
Deep within volcanoes spewing lava.
Or the Celestial Land (天上地) floating above the clouds.
However, when strict conditions were met, they sometimes formed in surprisingly ordinary places.
For example.
‘The mysterious energy leaking from dragon scales accumulates in the tree.’
This was a hidden piece that appeared only in low-level dungeons.
I reached out toward the Magical Circle.
‘Judging by this pattern…….’
Whoosh.
In an instant, the energy of the circle seeped into my entire body.
“Ghk!”
My back felt stiff and sore.
It felt as if someone was engraving mana-made seals into each joint of my spine.
I exhaled roughly and waited for my condition to settle.
When the pain subsided, I straightened my waist and clenched and unclenched my fists.
The Magical Circle I had absorbed would later be called this.
“Blessing of Effort.”
It was a miracle that multiplied the results of training by tens or even hundreds of times.
Simply put.
If you did one bench press at the gym, it meant achieving the effect of a hundred strength-training reps.
For an awakener like me, who lacked talent to a painful degree.
‘It’s an opportunity I absolutely need.’
I took a deep breath.
The fresh air of nature filled my lungs.
“It feels like I’ve been reborn.”
I had indirectly encountered a dragon and obtained an outrageously overpowered opportunity.
Now, the only thing left was—
I knelt on the spot and took out a compact field shovel.
Not long after digging at the base of the tree, something caught on the tip of the shovel.
It was a square safe decorated with gold plating.
The oxidized iron here and there made it look far from ordinary.
A so-called item passed down since ancient times.
‘Jackpot.’
To think knowledge of the future could be this terrifying.
Everything proceeded without the slightest deviation.
This time as well, when I infused the box with mana, the lid opened weakly with a tick sound.
I closed my eyes and opened them again at the dazzling light leaking out from inside the box.
Inside were various accessories.
Earrings and necklaces, bracelets and rings.
All of them were made of special metals unobtainable on Earth.
These were items once worn by the ancestor of the orc I had just killed.
If I went outside the gate and put them up for auction.
‘They’d truly fetch whatever price people were willing to call.’
If my memory was correct, this <Orc’s Box> had been sold for about 16 million dollars at a London Sotheby’s auction.
In Korean won.
‘That’s over 20 billion.’
Reality began to feel increasingly unreal.
I had barely scraped together one billion through a lifetime of grueling labor, scrimping on food and clothing.
Yet with a single dungeon entry, I earned an astronomical sum that was impossible to obtain even in dreams.
I put the Orc’s Box into my pouch.
While the Dio Guild’s combat unit collected goblin blood and divided up the orc’s corpse.
I secured a reward beyond imagination.