Jeon Jae-woo had confidently declared that he would clear a Legendary-grade Ruin that produced Magic Stones, yet he refused the Hunter Administration’s offer of assistance.
Commissioner Yoo Jeong-tae and Minister Lee Cheol-su tried several times to dissuade him, but Jeon Jae-woo remained firm in his decision to clear Underground Labyrinth alone.
If he failed, he said, he would accept additional personnel and attempt it again then.
Naturally, accepting the Hunter Administration’s support would have been safer, but Jeon Jae-woo was concerned about exposing Myeolgeop and the Elder Lich.
He wanted to avoid revealing the beings created by Heaven’s Box to others whenever possible.
“But are you two really going to be all right?”
Jeon Jae-woo asked them with a hint of concern in his voice.
Of course, no one could possibly doubt their strength.
However, Myeolgeop and the Elder Lich specialized in combat, not Detection.
The Elder Lich responded with a faint chuckle.
“Maker. The Golem called Myeolgeop that is Bound to you is the finest combat machine on this planet. Is it not only natural that its ability to detect enemies would also be overwhelmingly superior?”
[If the Elder Lich summons Undead through Necromancy and sends them to explore the labyrinth, locating the monsters should not be difficult.]
So their respective abilities could even locate monsters that were hiding.
Even so, Jeon Jae-woo could not completely rid himself of concern.
Underground Labyrinth was an extraordinarily valuable Ruin even among Legendary-grade Ruins.
Hunter superpowers such as the European Union and China had been watching it greedily. There had to be a reason no one had managed to clear it until now.
Moreover, Myeolgeop had fought so intensely in the Ancient-grade Ruin that it had practically worn its joints down. It needed some time to recover.
‘I should probably reinforce our forces.’
Quite some time had passed since he created the Elder Lich, and as it happened, he now had some useful materials on hand.
Jeon Jae-woo gathered the roots that Myeolgeop had severed from the World Tree inside ‘The Sun That Never Sets’ and placed them into Heaven’s Box.
[Time Remaining Until Production Is Complete 23 : 59 : 59]
Then, one day after the box began production—
-HUMMMMM…
A new entity emerged from Heaven’s Box amid a soft glow.
〈Novum〉 - Bound (Jeon Jae-woo)
Description – An Artificial Spirit frequently created by the god of Earth in ancient times. Although it is a spirit capable of interfering with the natural world, it was designed to be more compatible with intelligent life forms such as humans. The Chief God of Earth used its power of Purification to repel the parasitic authority of an Outer God.
Type – Artificial Spirit
Traits – Natural World (Transcendent). Purification (S). Creation Regeneration (S)
Novum.
That was certainly an unusual name.
As usual, the description of the entity was filled with things Jeon Jae-woo could not understand.
The creature called Novum resembled a long, opaque white Slime.
The Slime stretched its body this way and that in front of Jeon Jae-woo before speaking for the first time.
“Master? It is nice to meet you.”
“??”
Jeon Jae-woo was startled when an ordinary human voice emerged from the Slime-like body.
‘Oh. Its voice is incredibly gentle.’
If not for its Slime-like appearance, he might genuinely have thought that an ordinary person was speaking to him.
“Yeah. Nice to meet you too. I look forward to having you with us.”
“I’ll do my very best~ Just tell me anything you need!”
Its agreeable personality was nice, unlike the eccentric Elder Lich or the machine-like Myeolgeop.
Jeon Jae-woo checked the abilities of the Artificial Spirit Novum once more.
It possessed one Transcendent-grade Trait called Natural World.
And two S-grade Traits called Purification and Creation Regeneration.
Jeon Jae-woo clenched his fist.
‘Another Transcendent-grade Trait finally appeared after Myeolgeop.’
Then again, Myeolgeop had emerged from nothing more than flowerpot soil lying around his home and possessed two Transcendent-grade Traits.
This time, he had used the roots of an actual World Tree as material, yet Novum possessed only one.
It made him realize all over again just how impossibly fortunate he had been to obtain Myeolgeop on his very first attempt.
In any case, judging from its Traits alone, the new Artificial Spirit Novum clearly seemed to be a Healer-type entity.
Purification was a Trait that restored the body to its normal condition when affected by abnormalities such as disease or poisoning.
Creation Regeneration probably healed direct physical injuries.
Jeon Jae-woo could not yet tell exactly how severe an injury it could heal.
There was, however, one thing he did not understand.
‘What exactly is Natural World supposed to do if it is a Transcendent-grade Trait?’
He had even less of an idea than he had when he first saw the Elder Lich’s Resurrection and Soul Summoning Traits.
Jeon Jae-woo asked Novum itself to explain the Trait.
“Ah. This one? It is a Trait that lets me directly connect with nature. To put it simply, I become one with nature.”
“……”
Yes, but what could it actually do with that?
If it became one with nature, then what? Could it use magic? Strengthen its body?
The Elder Lich chuckled and offered an explanation from beside them.
“To connect directly with nature is an extraordinary ability. As it happens, it is precisely the sort of Trait we need.”
“Why is that?”
“Any living creature that forms part of nature would never be able to escape the perception of one connected to the Natural World. Would that not make it far easier to eliminate the monsters hiding throughout Underground Labyrinth?”
Oh.
Now that he heard the explanation, they really had obtained an entity perfectly suited to Underground Labyrinth.
He could investigate exactly what the Natural World Trait was capable of later.
For now, finishing the Ruin clear as quickly as possible took priority.
“Shall we begin right away?”
Myeolgeop, the Elder Lich, and Novum all expressed their agreement.
With his forces reinforced, Jeon Jae-woo entered the Ruin alongside his subordinates.
[‘Underground Labyrinth’ Exploration Requirement: Eliminate all Shadows hiding within the labyrinth. (0/1024)]
Jeon Jae-woo and his companions entered the dim underground labyrinth.
The moment he stepped inside, Jeon Jae-woo immediately understood why Underground Labyrinth was so difficult to clear.
It was so dark that he could barely see with his own eyes, yet the paths branched off in dozens of different directions.
On top of that, there were more than a thousand monsters they had to hunt.
No matter how many powerful Hunters someone poured into this place, twenty-four hours would inevitably be insufficient.
“What do you think, Myeolgeop? Can you handle it by yourself?”
Myeolgeop attempted to detect the surrounding area several times before responding.
[I can clear the Ruin alone. However, reducing the clear time as much as possible would be preferable to minimize unexpected variables. An Artificial Spirit with exceptional detection abilities would be a considerable help.]
So creating another entity through Heaven’s Box had indeed been the right decision.
Jeon Jae-woo looked down at the round Novum he had personally carried into the Ruin.
“What do you think, Novum? Can you help Myeolgeop with whatever it asks?”
“Yes, Master! I’ll start detecting them right away!”
How adorable.
Between a dreary Golem and a gloomy Skeleton, it felt as though a ray of light had finally appeared.
The Elder Lich spoke in a distinctly harsher, metallic voice compared to Novum.
“Then the two of you should go. I will remain here and protect the Maker.”
After taking Novum from Jeon Jae-woo, Myeolgeop held the Artificial Spirit in its arms and flew through the interior of the labyrinth.
Now all Jeon Jae-woo had to do was wait until Myeolgeop returned after eliminating all the Shadows.
***
Around the same time, in the office of the President of China.
“How is the Legendary-grade Ruin clear progressing? Everything is proceeding without difficulty?”
“Yes. Everything is going smoothly. The Hunters on the front lines are performing well.”
The Director of the Hunter Management Bureau nodded in response to the President’s question.
It was the third day since China had expelled the Koreans from the jointly cleared Legendary-grade Ruins and begun clearing the newly appeared Legendary-grade Ruin.
Only three days had passed since the new Ruins were announced.
But China had not earned its reputation as a Hunter superpower for nothing.
In that short time, it had already reached the verge of clearing one of the new Legendary-grade Ruins.
All that remained was a single round of rest and reorganization before the final assault.
Then the Legendary-grade Ruin would belong to China.
The President took a sip of tea with a fairly satisfied expression.
‘Arrogant Koreans. Do not think this is the end.’
South Korea had always maintained a high level of trade dependence on China, both in the past and the present.
The President intended to use this incident as an opportunity to ensure that South Korea could not obtain a single Magic Stone from a Legendary-grade Ruin for the foreseeable future.
It was similar to how China had repeatedly used Rare Earth Elements as leverage during trade disputes among China, South Korea, and Japan in the past.
Since the beginning of the Ruin era, Magic Stones obtained from Legendary-grade Ruins occupied a role similar to Rare Earth Elements and Lithium before the Great Cataclysm.
By cutting off the supply of Magic Stones, China could inflict severe damage on South Korea’s major industries in an instant.
‘I will drag this out for two or three months. Once they can no longer endure it, I will let them breathe again little by little in exchange for the rewards from the Ancient-grade Ruin.’
They would pay dearly for daring to steal the Ancient-grade Ruin that was his(?).
It was unfortunate that China’s name had not been engraved into the Ruin System as the clearer, but what did a mere record matter?
As long as China could obtain the valuable rewards from inside the Ruin, that was enough.
-BANG!
Just then, an official hurriedly threw open the office door and rushed inside.
“W-We have a serious problem!!”
“What is it?! The President is present. Compose yourself—”
But the subordinate’s report immediately rendered any discussion of his disrespect irrelevant.
“U-Underground Labyrinth… Underground Labyrinth, the Legendary-grade Ruin, has just been cleared!!”
The moment those words left his mouth, fury flashed in the President’s eyes.
He dropped his teacup and shot to his feet.
“What?! Underground Labyrinth, China’s(?) Ruin, has been cleared?! Who dared to do such a thing?!”
From the President’s perspective, this was almost as shocking as losing this month’s Ancient-grade Ruin.
Underground Labyrinth was one of the Legendary-grade Ruins that had remained uncleared.
Its difficulty was exceptionally high even among Legendary-grade Ruins, but it contained enormous deposits of exceptionally high-quality Magic Stones.
China had invested more effort into clearing Underground Labyrinth than any other country, and its Exploration Rate there had been the highest by far.
Yet at this very moment, all the effort they had poured into it had become meaningless.
After all, a Ruin belonged to whoever cleared it first.
‘Who could possibly have cleared Underground Labyrinth… Do not tell me…?’
“The clearer’s nationality is listed as South Korean, and the name is Jeon Jae-woo… This appears to be…”
“That damned bastard…!!”
Had the same Korean Hunter who took the Ancient-grade Ruin now cleared Underground Labyrinth as well?
How long had it even been since he successfully cleared the Ancient-grade Ruin?
And now he had already cleared another Legendary-grade Ruin.
The President’s face was filled with rage, but deep within his heart, fear was beginning to take root.
Just how powerful was this man if he could clear an Ancient-grade Ruin and then immediately dispose of a Legendary-grade Ruin as well?
But the shocks were not over.
Several minutes later, the Chief of Staff entered with an urgent expression and reported to the President.
“Your Excellency. We have a serious problem.”
“A serious problem? Is there something worse than losing Underground Labyrinth?”
“Well… we just received word that South Korea has cleared the Legendary-grade Ruin that we were in the middle of clearing.”
“…What?”
For a moment, the President thought there must be something wrong with his hearing.
No.
Perhaps he merely wanted to believe that.
And the person who had taken the newly appeared Legendary-grade Ruin from China immediately before they completed its clear was none other than Jeon Jae-woo.