In any case, Han-eol quickly selected only three relics that he truly needed.
A thin membrane called the ‘Flayed Skin’ was his first choice.
Translucent in material and stretching like spandex, the Flayed Skin had been a favorite item that the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast wore on her own body.
Through the influx of knowledge whose route of acquisition he could not trace, Han-eol grasped the Flayed Skin's usefulness.
So he promptly stripped the Flayed Skin from the three-eyed, eight-tailed beast's corpse, rinsed it thoroughly in water, and put it on himself.
The three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast had been taller than Han-eol.
So at first he worried, ‘Will this even fit me?’
It was a groundless worry.
Perhaps because the Flayed Skin's elasticity was so exceptional, it fit him perfectly.
The arms, of course, differed too much in length, so he had no choice but to fold them over several times before wearing it.
‘Well, it hardly shows. This is good enough.’
It was not only the arms; the tail section of the Flayed Skin was also awkward to deal with.
The Flayed Skin had originally been made to match the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast's build, with openings for eight tails.
But Han-eol had no tails.
‘Nothing to be done about it.’
For now he rolled that section up and wound it around his waist like a belt, then moved his arms, legs, and torso this way and that.
Because the Flayed Skin was extremely thin and elastic, he had no sense of wearing anything on his body at all.
And once he actually had the seemingly translucent Flayed Skin on, everything underneath showed through clearly, making him look stark naked, without so much as a scrap of underwear.
Han-eol considered this an advantage of the Flayed Skin.
But the most important advantage of the Flayed Skin lay elsewhere.
According to the knowledge engraved in his brain by some unknown route, the Flayed Skin's Defense Power was, astonishingly, more than ten times that of the A-grade vest he owned.
And that was not all.
Its resistance to fire, cold, poison, and lightning was unspeakably high.
He could not be certain, but the Flayed Skin seemed to outperform even Shinseong Group's S-grade armor.
‘Maybe it's even better than Ex-grade armor.’
Han-eol's weakest points were precisely Defense Power and resistance.
And since this one Flayed Skin seemed to shore up that weakness considerably, he was in a good mood.
After the Flayed Skin, the second relic Han-eol took was a ring.
A ring bearing the name ‘Pyros' Ring.’
The ring was as fine as a spider's thread.
So once it was on a finger, it was barely visible.
Han-eol forcibly pulled Pyros' Ring off the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast's long finger.
The ring was so fine that, had the knowledge not been abruptly injected into his head, he would never even have known such a ring sat on her finger.
Pyros' Ring had the following two features.
First, a Stealth (Stealth: concealment, hiding) function.
Second, a function that greatly increased movement speed.
Unfortunately, Han-eol could use only the second of these.
To make use of the ring's Stealth function, he would have to be able to handle demon spirit energy, the energy source of demon beasts.
But Han-eol was not a demon beast.
Nor was a demon spirit stone embedded in his body.
‘It'd be perfect if I could pull off the stealth ability too, of course. But even just the movement speed increase is something.’
Even after his awakening, Han-eol's Speed/Agility stat was a mere 8.
Among ordinary people, 8 was the level of a national team track athlete, but among ability-holders, 8 marked him as a bottom-tier loser.
For someone like him, Pyros' Ring would be a truly enormous help.
‘And this ring can help me run when the Girit tribe comes hunting me down, too.’
Han-eol quickly slipped Pyros' Ring onto his middle finger and chose one final relic.
The last relic he chose was the airship.
Shaped like a sleek surfboard, this airship bore the name ‘Pyros' Fallen Leaf.’
‘Now that I hear the name, it fits. It resembles a surfboard, but it looks like a fallen leaf too.’
According to the knowledge Han-eol had gained, Pyros' Fallen Leaf was far faster than any fighter jet or missile humanity had ever built.
What is more, it could establish communication with its master from tens of thousands of kilometers away.
It also possessed a stealth function and an automatic combat function.
‘Just riding Pyros' Fallen Leaf around, I could put down most demon beasts.’
Han-eol liked the airship immensely.
There was just one thing.
Pyros' Fallen Leaf was not built for a rider to climb inside and sit. To ride it, one had to keep one's balance standing on top of the airship, the way a surfer rides a wave.
And what if, in that state, Pyros' Fallen Leaf ran at top speed?
‘Ughhh, no way.’
Just imagining it made Han-eol's teeth chatter.
‘Someone like me couldn't withstand the headwind. I'd just get blown right off.’
Enjoying the flight, surfing leisurely atop Pyros' Fallen Leaf as it flew far faster than an intercontinental ballistic missile at a dizzying altitude?
For that, Han-eol's stamina, Defense Power, and sense of balance fell hopelessly short.
Even if he wore the Flayed Skin, that would not change.
So if he wanted to use this superb relic to 100 percent of its potential, he would need some other means.
Of course, even without 100 percent utilization, Pyros' Fallen Leaf was useful enough.
‘It's not as if I have to fly faster than a missile, is it? I'm fine moving a little slower, close to the ground.’
Here in the Highland, where there were not even cars, using Pyros' Fallen Leaf at that level alone was plenty to be satisfied with.
That was how Han-eol saw it.
Having secured those three relics, Han-eol added a few more items.
First he crammed mana crystals, materials, medicinal herbs, and the like — things worth submitting to Shinseong Group as results — into the space-contraction vacuum pack in his backpack.
These had been lying about carelessly in the three-eyed, eight-tailed beast's dwelling.
His reason for taking mainly materials rather than relics was simple.
‘If I bring back something too precious, they'll grill me about why I didn't bury a mother metal in such a rich bonanza field. So let's keep it moderate. Moderate.’
Then the corpse of the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast caught his eye.
The three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast held one demon spirit stone each in her throat, her chest, and the crown of her head.
Han-eol had learned firsthand how difficult it was to extract a demon spirit stone from a Girit's body. And right now he had no leisure to be greedy about them.
But perhaps because two of the beast's tails had flipped backward, torn through her innards, and burst out of her maw, the demon spirit stone lodged in her throat was dangling half loose, and that sight caught Han-eol's eye.
‘Ahhh. When it's come to this, I can't just leave it behind, can I?’
Han-eol drew the ultra-vibration blade from his calf and began digging out the demon spirit stone lodged in her throat.
Sawing at the skin around the throat with all his might, scraping hard with the tip of the blade.
After ten-odd minutes of breaking out in a cold sweat, the triangular demon spirit stone came free of the three-eyed, eight-tailed beast's neck and dropped neatly into his palm.
It was about the size of Han-eol's fist.
That was only half the size of the demon spirit stone he had dug from the male Girit's chest last time.
‘But somehow this one looks more precious than the last.’
Han-eol examined the demon spirit stone from every angle.
The stone dug from the three-eyed, eight-tailed beast's throat displayed a mysterious phenomenon, as though five-colored clouds were drifting inside it.
The energy it gave off was nothing short of wondrous.
Han-eol stuffed it into the side pocket of his combat trousers and scrambled onto Pyros' Fallen Leaf.
WHIIIIRR—.
Han-eol had done nothing but form the will in his mind, yet Pyros' Fallen Leaf set its own course and rose into the air.
He had no confidence in riding Pyros' Fallen Leaf as handsomely as the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast had, so he flattened himself facedown against the airship, pressing his body as close as possible. Then he curled his fingers and toes in tight.
Han-eol knew it too.
‘I must look completely undignified and unsightly.’
But what did that matter?
When his life hung by a thread, appearances were no concern at all. Han-eol fled the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast's dwelling as fast as he could and flew toward the place where the transmitter was buried.
‘Even at this very moment, the Girits of the Sixth Continent must be flying here in force to avenge the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast.’
So Han-eol had to plunge into the blue mist as quickly as possible and return to Mid-Land Seoul.
That alone was his path to survival.
‘Hurry. Hurry.’
SHWOOOOSH—.
As Han-eol urged it on, Pyros' Fallen Leaf steadily picked up speed. Wasteland soil was sucked up in a swirl, forming something like a jet stream behind the airship.
‘Faster. Faster.’
Han-eol's bowels were on fire.
Even by the time he reached the wasteland where he had first fought the male Girit, the Girits of the Sixth Continent had not appeared. It was a great relief.
‘I shouldn't take a guided transfer anywhere near here for a while. If the Girit tribe of the Sixth Continent catches me, I'm finished.’
To avoid a guided transfer here, he would have to replace the watch hand he was currently wearing with a new one.
Han-eol separated the mother metal and the child metal in his backpack, then swapped the child metal machined into the shape of a watch hand with the hand inside the watch he was wearing.
The first time Han-eol pulled this stunt, his heart had been in his throat.
But this was the second time, and now his heart did not pound so hard.
‘That must be why there's a proverb about the needle thief becoming an ox thief. Haaa~.’
Han-eol let out a sigh he could not explain, then joined the swapped watch hand to the mother metal and stowed it carefully back in his backpack.
‘Next, I need to take this.’
Han-eol dug up the two-fist-sized demon spirit stone he had buried in the ground earlier — the trophy harvested from the male Girit's chest — and packed it into his backpack.
‘Let's bring this one to Shinseong Group. I seem to have been out cold for quite a while, and if my results are too meager, it might draw suspicion.’
In its place, Han-eol buried the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast's demon spirit stone in the ground.
After a great deal of time had passed, the Girit tribe of the Sixth Continent would have no choice but to withdraw.
‘I just have to wait until then. Long after the fact, I'll come back here and dig it up.’
Now everything Han-eol had to do was done.
Han-eol rode Pyros' Fallen Leaf swiftly toward the blue mist.
The spot where he had been transferred two months ago was about ten minutes away on foot.
But when he traveled on Pyros' Fallen Leaf, the blue mist appeared in a matter of seconds.
‘Now you run far away too. Don't get caught by the Girit tribe of the Sixth Continent, and stay well hidden. Then let's meet again later.’
Han-eol stroked Pyros' Fallen Leaf quietly.
BEEP, BEEP, BIP, BIP.
Pyros' Fallen Leaf seemed to be crying mournfully.
‘No. I can't stay here any longer. I have to go.’
Han-eol soothed the whimpering Pyros' Fallen Leaf, then plunged straight into the blue mist.
PIIING—.
A violent wave of dizziness slammed into him.
When Han-eol opened his eyes again a moment later, he was underground at the secret platform built at the bottom of the Han River in Mid-Land Seoul.
The date of Han-eol's third visit to the Highland had been June 9, and today was August 9……. Which meant he had returned to the Mid-Land after exactly two months.