Chapter 19
I arrived at Honolulu International Airport, and despite the nearly eight-hour flight, I was hardly tired at all.
So this is what capitalism tastes like.
I’d paid close to several million won for an eight-hour flight, and still felt refreshed.
Ah, of course, I could feel refreshed because it wasn’t my money.
The ticket had been bought for me by our great Zephyros Ryu Hyunsoo, who’d made 130 billion won overnight.
“What are you doing?”
“I was just feeling newly grateful to the great Mr. Zephyros.”
“...Are you being sarcastic?”
“Of course not. I feel like prostrating myself before you.”
Zephyros had made 130 billion won, but I’d also gotten a 100% return on nearly 2 billion won, so I’d made another 2 billion—and my 20 billion won debt had vanished in one fell swoop.
Thanks to his advice, I’d basically made 22 billion won. I could prostrate myself a few times for that.
No, wait... Was it bad to do it several times?
“Enough nonsense. Let’s get out of here.”
“Huh?”
When I gaped at the enormous line for immigration in front of me and looked at Zephyros, he headed not for the line, but for a different, empty immigration counter.
“We don’t have to stand in line?”
“Anyone with an S-rank or higher USDE License can use the diplomatic line and bring up to three accompanying personnel. They’re exempt from most security checks, too.”
“USDE?”
“United States Dungeon Expert License. It’s a U.S. license for dungeon experts.”
“When did you get an American license, too?”
“Back in my day, everyone had them. USDE and EUDE were basic, and ODE was optional. You know the EU is the European Union license, and ODE is the Ocean, or maritime, license.”
Zephyros explained as he casually handed his passport to the immigration officer.
The Black immigration officer gave him a salute and said,
“Thank you for your service. Have a nice day, sir.”
“You too.”
I didn’t know much English, but I’d heard that phrase plenty of times on YouTube and the like.
Wasn’t it something like “Thank you for your service”?
I thought it was usually said to soldiers.
Naturally, the immigration officer didn’t say anything like that to me. He just stamped my passport and waved me through.
“Um, Zephyros.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not a soldier, so why did the immigration officer say that to you?”
Zephyros answered my question after saying something like, “You speak English?”
“Even if I’m not American, having a USDE License means I’m considered personnel who can be called up in an emergency on American soil.”
“...What?”
“You have to agree to that before they’ll issue the license. The state government has the authority to call up USDE-licensed Hunters during an emergency. The federal government does too, of course.”
“Whoa. Really?”
“Of course. Why would they give foreign Hunters benefits this good for nothing? If anything goes wrong here, you’ll be called up whether you like it or not.”
“I see. Well, we’ll be heading back soon anyway.”
“Let’s rent a car first. It’s hard to get around here without one. Anyway, where are we going?”
“Kilauea Volcano. That’s where I want to go.”
At my words, Zephyros stopped dead in his tracks.
“Hey, you should’ve told me that earlier. The volcanic areas aren’t here.”
“...Isn’t this Hawaii?”
“How many islands do you think there are in Hawaii? Good thing you mentioned it before we left the airport.”
Zephyros went on to explain.
We’d landed on Oahu, home to Honolulu, the most popular tourist destination. The volcanic areas were on Hawaii Island, the largest island in the state, also known as the Big Island.
We immediately bought tickets for a domestic flight and headed to the Big Island.
Unlike Honolulu on Oahu, which had felt like one big tourist attraction the moment we stepped outside, Hilo—the Big Island’s main city and the second-largest city in the state of Hawaii—felt like an ordinary city where people lived.
We rented a car there and headed for Kilauea Volcano.
I took the wheel.
It wasn’t because Zephyros had grumbled, “You expect someone my age to drive?” I’d planned to drive from the start.
Even by car, it was nearly a 90-minute drive from Hilo to Kilauea.
And the roads weren’t in great condition, so it would probably take even longer.
We couldn’t spend all 90 minutes in deathly silence, so I spoke to Zephyros, who had closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep.
“Are there no Gates around here?”
“What...? You think there wouldn’t be? Of course there are. Some of them are probably pretty important, too. The monsters in the Gates around here yield a lot of rare earth elements used in high-tech industries.”
Even as he let out a yawn, Zephyros answered me without missing a beat.
“You really know everything. I’m glad I came with you.”
“Not bad for someone who came along as your backup after a woman turned you down.”
“Like I told you, that’s not what happened.”
We bickered and chatted, and the time flew by.
After paying the entrance fee and entering the volcanic area, an overwhelming sight unlike anything I’d ever seen in my life spread out before me.
“Wow...”
The ground was scorched in every direction, and lava bubbled away through cracks here and there.
The smell of sulfur, like the smell of egg yolks, was strong enough to make my head throb.
Of course, there was someone right beside me letting out a huge yawn as if this was nothing special, but at least to me, it was amazing.
“I’m going to sleep in the car for a bit.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Leaving Zephyros in the car, I parked in the designated safe area and got out. Then I slowly walked toward the ground where the lava was churning.
I took out the scepter—the staff—from my inventory, along with No. 3, which had dwindled so much that it was no more than a speck to the naked eye.
Maybe it was my imagination, but I could feel No. 3 twitching in response to the lava.
“Go on. Grow quickly.”
As if it had been waiting for me, No. 3 slipped into the lava.
(3) Magmophile
─Population: 3,623,074 individuals (Currently dividing under optimal conditions. If the environment remains unchanged, the population is expected to reach 1 billion—the current maximum maintainable number—in 20 hours and 33 minutes.)
Thankfully, it had begun dividing steadily.
The problem was that I’d have to wait here for 20 hours.
“I guess I should tell Zephyros to head back first.”
Even so, I couldn’t make someone who’d come all this way for me suffer in a place like this for over 20 hours.
“No, wait... Do I really need to wait for them to divide? Couldn’t I just raise more from the dead?”
Microorganisms living in magma had to be constantly reproducing and dying.
If so, then maybe inside that lava...
[Skill, ‘Mician,’ is being used.]
[Skill, ‘Mician,’ has detected the presence of microscopic life within the target.]
[Numerous Magmophile individuals have been detected.]
My guess had been right.
“Undead Rise.”
[Would you like to use the Undead Rise skill?]
[Target: 387,662,232 Magmophile corpses.]
“Jackpot.”
It would’ve taken a long time to increase their numbers through division, but I’d realized I could replenish them by raising the individuals that had naturally died in the lava.
If I did this one or two more times, I’d be done, wouldn’t I?
Just as I casually went back to the lava to use Mician and Undead Rise again, it happened.
“Put your hands up and don’t even move your fucking ass!”
Cold sweat streamed down my back at the English words coming from behind me.
It was a long sentence, and the guy sounded furious...
Had I done something wrong?
I turned around with a pleasant smile and replied,
“I’m fine, thank you, and you?”
The classic Korean greeting.
But something was off.
That thing in that bastard’s hand... Was that a gun?
“Are you playing with me? Get your fucking ass down and give me that shit!”
When I looked in the direction he was pointing,
“You mean you want this?”
The gun was pointed at the scepter I was holding—Avicenna’s scepter.
I gestured toward it, and he nodded.
“Wow, that’s some nerve. You’re trying to rob a Hunter for their item?”
If a Hunter could use their abilities properly, how could an ordinary person hope to take one on with just a gun?
But at the same time, I thought that an ordinary mage who couldn’t react in time might have no chance against a gun.
Maybe that was why he’d targeted me, seeing me with a staff in hand.
Hunter items were so expensive that, if he got lucky, he could make more than he would robbing some rich family’s house.
So, robber, you had it all planned out, huh?
But the robber had one major problem.
First of all... I wasn’t an ordinary mage.
Pffft! The moment my gaze fell on the robber’s handgun, it crumbled to pieces.
“Oh shit! Oh shit!”
Trembling, the robber threw away the crumbling gun and tried to run.
More precisely, he’d tried to run.
No. 2 had pinned his shoes to the ground.
So he took off his shoes and ran, but his socks got stuck, too.
When he took off his socks and tried to run, his bare feet got stuck.
In just a few seconds, he’d shed his shoes and socks one after another, only to end up pinned to the ground barefoot.
That was No. 2 showing off its top-tier restraining ability.
After we’d had that little scuffle, Zephyros finally came strolling over, letting out a yawn.
“What happened?”
Zephyros tilted his head after seeing the robber repeatedly yelling for help.
“Why has he taken off all his perfectly good shoes and socks?”
“He’s a robber.”
“A robber?”
“He threatened me with a handgun and told me to hand over my item.”
“Wow, gutsy bastard. Hey, you made a big mistake. This guy’s a very famous Hunter in Korea.”
It seemed the robber finally understood the situation, because he started begging for mercy.
“He says to let him off just this once?”
“We can’t. We should turn him over to the police.”
“Well, all right.”
Zephyros called 911 and said something. Before long, a police car arrived.
Zephyros fluently explained the situation in English.
I really should learn English...
After he’d spoken with the police for a while, he turned to me, who was getting frustrated because I couldn’t understand what they were saying.
“Apparently, there’s been a string of robberies targeting Hunters around here. A few people have even been killed. The victims were mage-type Hunters carrying staff-like items.”
“...It must be hard for mages to dodge bullets.”
Well, I had Athena if things came down to it, so I probably wouldn’t have died to something as small as a handgun.
“There are a lot of Gates near this volcanic area, so it sounds like the robber was targeting Hunters who came here to raid them. Man, I guess the days of Hawaii being safe are long gone, huh?”
“That’s quite an experience. An armed robber with a gun, of all things.”
I was glad I’d gotten strong enough to deal with something like that.
It would’ve been so unfair to get shot and killed on the street, of all places—not even in a dungeon.
“They want us to come to the station voluntarily to give a statement. That’s all right, isn’t it?”
“We don’t have a choice.”
I’d come all this way and wanted to fill No. 3 up before leaving, but I’d just have to come back tomorrow.
With a little regret, I got into the rental car and followed the police car.
After a long drive, we arrived at the Hawaii State Police office, where the police asked me all sorts of questions.
I testified to what I’d seen, and although I had no idea how Zephyros translated everything along the way, it seemed like my story had gotten across just fine.
Zephyros had been talking with the police for a while when he furrowed his brow and turned to me.
“The guy you caught is a real scumbag.”
“Huh?”
“He was behind all three of the recent Hunter robbery-murders in Hawaii. They found evidence when they searched his house.”
...He wasn’t even human.
“The Hawaii State Hunters Association had even put a bounty on him, and you caught him.”
“A bounty from the Hunters Association?”
A bounty from the Hunters Association.
This... It seemed like an unexpected jackpot was about to fall into my lap.