Chapter 166
[So you brought back a legendary item from Japan?]
[But why is that for the national interest?]
The reporters bombarded them with questions.
The spokesperson waited for things to quiet down before slowly opening his mouth.
[I can’t reveal the exact item for security reasons... but this item is currently jointly owned by Korea’s Guardian, Hunter Kim Suho, and Hunter Kim Hanbyeol, and is being strategically deployed.]
[Hunter Kim Hanbyeol?]
[Yes. The item can only be used by those two. Unfortunately, there was no one in Japan who could use it, and the same goes for our company. In the spirit of fulfilling our social responsibility....]
“He’s good at talking.”
Come to think of it, there wasn’t a single thing wrong with the spokesperson’s words.
I know that the country belongs to the people.
Wasn’t that Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution?
And I’m a citizen too. That means this country is mine as well.
What’s for me is for the country. The country’s things are my things too.
I said to the broker uncle, who was still on the phone.
“So you agreed to make it public up to this point?”
[Yes. The arrangements have been made with both Korea and Japan.]
“Great. Oh, and don’t forget to bring in that YouTuber.”
[What are you planning to do... You mustn’t go too far.]
“I’m just going to give him a light warning, that’s all?”
[That’s what you said to former association president Park Sang-cheol too... Anyway, understood. He’ll be caught soon.]
“Yep, thanks.”
I hung up, satisfied.
Overall, it was a perfect presentation with nothing to nitpick.
“Let’s take a look at the gallery reactions too?”
Sure enough, the hot posts were already flooded with talk about the broadcast.
[Real-time news comment reactions.jpg]
ㄴ Look at those old folks flip-flopping, lol
ㄴ We did a boycott, so now we’re doing a full-buy campaign?
ㄴ The poor couldn’t afford it to begin with~~
ㄴ But they can buy stocks.
[Kim1byeol doesn’t even have to do anything and the company makes items for them]
ㄴ Saying, ‘I did nothing on Floor 48,’ lol. You’re a non-awakened, aren’t you?
ㄴ As everyone knows, the Hunter Gallery is 90% non-awakened.
ㄴ Honestly, I’m jealous. I wonder what it feels like to hit S-rank at 23.
ㄴ If it were me, I’d post proof in the gallery every day and farm attention.
ㄴㄴ That’s exactly why you can’t awaken.
[But what kind of item do you think that is?]
ㄴ There isn’t a single legendary item Japan owns that only mages can use, is there?
ㄴ Yeah. And all the ones they own have already been accounted for.
ㄴ Then it’s an undisclosed item?
ㄴ Seems like it.
ㄴ If it were undisclosed, how would Arari know? That doesn’t make sense.
ㄴ Kim1byeol can pull off the mysterious-persona thing, but why isn’t Kim Suho saying anything?
[Japan just made an announcement too. Here’s the three-line summary.]
[Summary: for a legendary item, it wasn’t very good. Since it had nowhere to be used, all it did was rack up maintenance costs.]
[We’re going to use the suit we got to restore the entire sea.]
[We’re even close to obtaining a new legendary item, so what’s the problem?]
[It was a win-win deal where both sides benefited.]
ㄴ Where’s the three-line summary?
ㄴ Desperate flailing to avoid doing dogeza, lol
ㄴ Just something to placate their domestic media.
ㄴ But the fact that the item worked is undeniable, right? Thanks to it, they’ve already pushed through four floors in no time.
ㄴ Oh, now that Daehanbyeol-nim has that item equipped too, she’ll turn things around for us.
Completely reversed public opinion.
The gallery was full of nothing but praise.
Finally, I headed over to the Mage Gallery to check today’s broadcast reactions as well.
[Title: This is ridiculous. That’s their own company.]
[Author: Fridge]
[At this point, isn’t that basically fraud?]
ㄴㅇㅇ(22D.2D2): This guy milked the research funds.
ㄴㄴ Magic Is Firepower: ?
ㄴㄴ Pkkatju: Is this for real?
ㄴㄴFridge: Hey, if you say it like that, people who don’t know will misunderstand.
[Title: Honestly, the suit design is terrible.]
[Author: Pkkatju]
[The Taegeuk Warrior isn’t easy, you know....]
[The design sense is catastrophically bad...........]
ㄴㅇㅇ(22D.2D2): I didn’t choose it ㅡㅡ
ㄴMagic Is Firepower: Is the performance actually better?
ㄴㅇㅇ(22D.2D2): No, it’s just paint.
ㄴ Fridge: It really is a scam....
ㄴPkkatju: Let’s get a proof-of-wear pic and charge him with fraud, then.
ㄴㅇㅇ(22D.2D2): I absolutely won’t wear it.
[Title: But what is this legendary item announcement?]
[Author: Beetle]
[I’ve never even heard of that item, so why are they saying it’s being used together with me?????? I seriously don’t know.]
ㄴFridge: This really is a scam....................
ㄴㅇㅇ(22D.2D2): Ah, well, that’s because....
ㄴMagic Is Firepower: So what kind of item is it? Can’t we use it?
ㄴㅇㅇ(22D.2D2): Sorry, but this item is single-use.
ㄴㄴ Fridge: That’s a scam too............. Don’t believe it.....
I didn’t reveal the item’s exact effect.
Because there was one person who looked like they’d get PTSD if I called it a Magic Reflection Mirror.
And that was part of why I hadn’t said anything from the start.
ㄴㅇㅇ(22D.2D2): Anyway, everyone except me probably lacks the mana to use it lol
ㄴMagic Is Firepower: Ugh, now I’m pissed.
ㄴBeetle: You’ve grown up and you’re already talking back to your seniors.
ㄴPkkatju: There are no more cute newbies, you know. That’s sad, you know.
As expected, this is when I feel most relaxed and happiest, hanging out in the gallery with these people.
I was in the middle of typing another comment.
The Black Mage interrupted.
[What’s so funny, grinning like that?]
“... Was I smiling that much?”
[Yeah, disgustingly so.]
“....”
I brushed a hand over the corners of my mouth.
No, I mean, of course you can smile a little when you’re chatting with friends.
I tried to excuse myself in my head, but the embarrassment didn’t go away.
I closed the gallery and got to my feet, stretching.
“Looks like it’s about time to head into Floor 49.”
Floor 50 wasn’t far away.
***
[You have entered Tower Floor 49 (EXTREME).]
It was still underwater outside.
But the atmosphere was clearly different from the previous floors.
Rather than the dark, gloomy deep sea where not a single ray of light got in, the surroundings were softly glowing.
“What’s going on here?”
When I leaned out onto the deck to look, I saw enormous coral formations.
Corals radiating warm, mysterious light.
“Should I break one off and take it?”
“No use. The moment I broke it, the color faded.”
“So you already tried it first, huh.”
Teach, the ultimate bootlicker, came over at just the right time.
He was a rather unusual guy in many ways, but there wasn’t much time left before I’d have no reason to see him anymore.
At the very least, I’d have to think about what specialty loot this stretch of the 40s would have on the next floor.
If there was nothing, I was thinking of taking back the teleportation flags, of which there wasn’t a single one left now.
The same went for the item I’d lent Teach for a while.
“I guess I can turn off the light now.”
I took back the deep-sea anglerfish lantern hanging from the bow.
The surroundings were bright enough anyway.
It was a lantern with hypnotic effects, so I’d probably find a use for it someday.
The ghost ship kept moving forward.
Skimming low, as if it would scrape the floor.
It was when we’d nearly passed through the forest of coral.
“What’s that?”
“A building... maybe?”
Far ahead, traces of a massive man-made structure came into view.
Giant pillars and crumbling walls.
Anyone could tell it was the remains of a city.
“Teach, do you know anything? Like an ancient civilization sunk beneath the water or something.”
“Well... I’ve never heard of anything like this, even in old books...”
Even Teach, the ship’s second brain, seemed to have no idea.
And naturally, I, the first brain, didn’t know either.
“Let’s just go take a look.”
Looks like that’s probably the stage for Floor 49.
A city sunk beneath the sea.
But just as we tried to enter the city—
The ship could no longer move forward, as if it had struck a transparent barrier.
“There’s something here.”
After pumping mana into my eyes, I could really see a transparent wall.
“Fire the cannons first.”
“Understood. Fire!”
KWAANG! KWAANG!
The ghost ship’s cannons all belched fire at once.
Ash and soot stained the once-invisible defense wall, faintly revealing its shape.
The wall barely rippled and didn’t budge at all.
“Tch, a barrier, huh....”
“Captain, I think there’s a gate down below.”
When I turned my gaze after hearing Teach’s words, a hole really was there.
A hole connected to a half-collapsed gate.
Thanks to that, I could infer what the original gate must have looked like.
“The ship can’t go in.”
A car might be able to fit, but my ghost ship is much bigger.
That left us with no choice but to get off the ship.
“No helping it. Looks like I have to go alone again.”
I held a coral in my mouth and jumped down to the seafloor.
A huge gate came into view. A gate with no guards left to defend it.
Just as I was about to step inside—
Thud!
Teach and the crew landed beside me.
All of them fully armed, too.
“What? You guys were going to follow me too?”
I looked at them in genuine surprise.
This is the deep sea—a dangerous place where one wrong move means instant death, isn’t it?
“We can’t just let the captain go in alone.”
“We’ll help too!”
Teach and the crew shouted with solemn determination.
I felt tears welling up at once.
I even started to wonder if I’d been too harsh on them all this time.
“Alright, let’s go together. If we find treasure along the way, I’ll share some.”
“That’s our captain!”
The atmosphere turned warm and fuzzy.
That was when it happened.
[Squawk! Squawk!]
Teach’s parrot, with no gear attached, took off.
A bird with no safety line attached to the ship.
Even so, it moved freely as if it weren’t underwater and slipped right into the gate first.
“……?”
How is it breathing?
I stared blankly at the parrot.
And so did Teach and the crew.
Looking more closely, they didn’t have safety lines either.
“What is this.”
“It seems this place is a bit special.”
Teach answered nonchalantly.
Only then did I realize.
These guys weren’t risking their lives for me.
They’d only followed after seeing the parrot moving around just fine, assuming it was safe.
“Hey, tell me the truth. Why did you get off?”
“Obviously for the treasure.”
“Ugh... I was a fool to get emotional.”
I clicked my tongue.
But even so, I decided to give their courage some credit.
Pirates, after all, had seen the enemies we’d fought so far.
At the very least, they should know that just because something can breathe here doesn’t make it easy.
None of them here could take on the giant sea monster I’d defeated.
Even so, they followed anyway.
Even if it wasn’t for me, but for the treasure and for themselves.
“Then let’s get going.”
“Aye-aye!”
“We’re gonna be rich!”
We stepped into the city limits.