CH 284

Chapter 284

Without delay, I called out his name, “[Choi Kyung-sik].”

“Yes, yes~” Choi Kyung-sik raised his head and responded playfully. Soon, the light passing through him was blocked by an opaque body; he begun to cast a shadow. The alchemist stood firm in Geum Miyoung’s basement.

“Haah…” He exhaled for a long while, as if he had been holding his breath for quite some time. However, whereas I exhaled white mist, nothing came out of his mouth. Nevertheless, Choi Kyung-sik took another deep breath. It felt like…he was enjoying the feeling of being resurrected–of being alive.

Of course, he didn’t spend too much time luxuriating. After inhaling for the last time, Choi Kyung-sik opened his eyes immediately and said, “[Open Toolbox].”

Then, beneath his feet, a green magic circle appeared. I thought something would immediately follow, but only the magic circle appeared. However, Choi Kyung-sik continued, “[Search; Keyword: Prototype, Start].”

Just then, a strange voice came from the green circle. Exactly like…an artificial intelligence help program on an Apple Phone. “[The ‘Prototype’ you are searching for is currently unstable. Do you wish to proceed?]”

“[Proceed].”

Once it had received Choi Kyung-sik’s confirmation, the green magic circle rumbled and heavily vibrated. Soon, a huge crack began to appear in the center of the circle.

Thin, white arms popped through the gap; I was shocked to see the face that followed–Geum Miyoung.

Despite the woman’s pallid tone, her face and body looked incredibly normal, as if she were still alive. Just like that, Geum Miyoung(?) gently clawed up the magic circle. However, she couldn’t walk, so she remained on her knees. Furthermore, her eyes blinked vacantly at nothing in particular.

Though I didn’t ask him to justify those oddities, Choi Kyung-sik began to explain all on his own as if he were fending off my future complaints. “She lost too much of her brain mass as she was converted into a Homunculus.”

I looked between the Alchemist and Geum Miyoung alternatingly before asking, “Is… Is she alive?”

“No way.”

“……”

“She’s just at the bare minimum needed to move around a little. That’s not even a proper Homunculus. Anyway, first things first… [Prototype, Stand properly in front of the scanner].” Choi Kyung-sik shrugged his shoulders before commanding his creation.

After hearing his command, Geum Miyoung stood up sluggishly. Moving limply like a zombie, she stood in front of the iris scanning device and brought her pupils closer to the reticle.

[Security measures will be deactivated]

Now that the security was easily terminated, the tightly locked door opened wide on both sides.

The servants moved straight past Geum Miyoung and through the open door. I, too, hesitated before walking past the Homunculus. As I passed by, I took a quick glance and felt goosebumps rise all over my skin. A black, viscious liquid kept seeping from Geum Miyoung’s nose; she kept her eyes trained on the scanner. I was afraid that this half-alive woman would appear in my dreams.

Fortunately, Choi Kyung-sik, bringing up the rear, grabbed my stiffened arm. He hugged me from behind, covered my eyes with his hands–like eyepatches–and whispered in my ears, “Don’t look too closely at it.”

“…W-Why?”

“It’s such shoddy handiwork–I’m a bit embarrassed.”

I would have never guessed that would be the reason, but… Haah. In anycase, ushered forth by Choi Kyung-sik, we were able to enter the warehouse containing the slush funds. We immediately found dozens of instant inventories in display cases.

“Let’s open one.” Kim Olim lifted up the glass window and placed the key in the top compartment. Choi Kyung-sik took over, gripped the key handle, and twisted his wrist in the air. It looked like the Alchemist was pantomiming opening a door.

Suddenly, a deep crack appeared in the air; gold coins and jewels poured down like a waterfall, pooling at my feet. All kinds of shiny, sparkling materials mixed into the overflowing hoard. Only when the basement floor was completely covered did the outpour finally stop.

Jung Garam quickly picked up one and bit it with his teeth. Woo Ragi scolded the Assassin, “Are you seriously trying to determine if it’s real gold?”

Garam shouted, his cheeks flushing a rare red, “Hey! Why are you nagging at me?!”

However, Woo Ragi picked up a gorgeous necklace from the outpouring golden mountain and began to scrutinize the jewel embedded in the center. “Hey–this is a top-grade mana stone.”

Choi Kyung-sik responded, “Give it to me! Gimme!”

Woo Ragi lightly tossed the necklace at the Alchemist. The Alchemist grinned as he snatched it out of the air without letting it drop to the ground, mumbling, “Wow… For the first time in a while, it feels like I’ve entered a treasure room.”

Meanwhile, Lackey was diving into the sparkly, treasure-filled floor, scrambling around in its excitement.

“First, divide what’s here and place them in your inventories. For the rest of the keys… Choi Lee-kyung, place those all into your inventory.”

“Ah! Got it!” I was dazed by the enormous amount of jewels, but, after hearing Kim Olim’s instructions, I placed the keys to the display cases in my inventory as instructed.

It didn’t take long to pack up the keys, but, when I looked back after finishing my task, the bejeweled floor was completely swiped clean. Exactly like when we first arrived. Except for the jewels that Lackey had adorned itself on its neck and fingers. Because Kim Olim didn’t really remark on its appearance, I merely held the excited skeleton in my arms.

“Let’s leave now. It’s almost time for the security to switch shifts,” Kim Olim urged us. I tried to follow her out while carrying the heavy skeleton in my embrace.

“Huh?” However, at that moment, a small glimmer of light caught my eyes from behind the key box. I thought it might have been a key I missed, so I reached out and grabbed it. When I pulled it out, I realized that the key was a different color than all the other keys I collected. I approached the Paladin with the black key. “Excuse me… I found this towards the back… What is it?”

“Hm? Ah, that’s… a [sealed instant inventory]. Usually, one can open the inventory just by holding the key in hand, but, using something like that, one can place a double layer of security on the important items.” Kim Olim said as she looked closely at the black key I held. “I can’t really know for sure, as I don’t have any [appraisal] skills, but I believe it’d be best to take this one as well.”

“Alright. Can we use Geum Miyoung to bypass the security on this one as well?”

Jung Garam, who had been listening silently to me, suddenly reached out. “Give it to me.”

“Huh? Okay…” I handed Jung Garam the key.

The Assassin wore a monocle and stared at it for a long while. After careful examination, he grabbed the key and cautiously twisted it, as if he were cracking the code for a safe. Left twice; Right three times.

Thud–!

Jung Garam must have succeeded–something like a wooden coffin appeared in the air after the assassin finished his twists.

The issue, though, was that the coffin gave off an ominous aura. I tried to dissuade him from opening the thing, but Garam had already moved to open the lid without hesitation.

And…

“Ah.”

Inside… it looked to be a dusty, haphazard heap of secondhand items.

I noticed, among that heap, a long staff–the longest staff I’d ever seen. It looked familiar. I believe I’d seen it before, but… This was surely the first time I’d ever encountered something like that.

“This is… Seo Dawon…” However, before I could even speak, Jung Garam reached inside the coffin.

There was an old compass–glass broken–in his hands. Incomprehensible letters were embossed onto the compass’s frame, crammed onto any available surface. My mouth automatically closed when I saw the Assassin’s expression.

Kim Olim suddenly came closer; she also bent down and picked up a bird-shaped badge. During the [vengeful ghost memories], I remembered she had worn the badge on the edge of her shield when she was still alive.

Woo Ragi stood with his arms across his chest, looking down at a tasseled sword-sheathe belt. Though one of its wings was crushed, an ornamental butterfly adorned the belt.

Choi Kyung-sik blew on a half-demolished, round stone. Only when the dust was cleared did I recognize that the Alchemist was holding his Golem’s nucleus. Furthermore, there were a few other owner-less keepsakes. I suppose they belonged to the two guildmates we had yet to resurrect.

Of course it took us a long time to process… Clearly, relics from [Red Lotus] were collected and stored like garbage. I tried to say something, but I couldn’t think of the right words. In the end, I remained silent. Then, a system message popped up, triggered by this situation.

[Sub-scenario completed! Find the Past — You’ve acquired your Servant’s keepsakes.]

[You’ve succeeded in a fairly difficult mission! Nothing is more effective in inspiring the Servants’ resentment for revenge than showing them objects that make them recall the past.]

[As a reward, a multi-server has now been opened: you can summon two or more servants at the same time. However, if two or more servants are simultaneously summoned, the Necromancer’s vitality is consumed until the summons are recalled. So, be careful when using this!]

[However, the amount of vitality required to summon each Servant varies depending on the level of friendship and intimacy.]

[The Scenario is paying attention to your rapid growth.]

The system was usually known for maliciously taunting their Users, but, today more than any other day, I wanted to pummel the guy who wrote its script.

‘Honestly, how does any of this merit congratulations?’

I tempestuously removed all the system messages that blocked my view.