Chapter 32
“The Russian Federation leases many dungeons to foreign companies. That Gate was one of them. It was called Star Spirit Valley, a standard Stage 17, ten-person instanced dungeon. The by-products weren’t anything special, and the monsters weren’t particularly strong. Then one day, they discovered rare metals were buried in the valley itself.”
Hmm, I see.
Gates with mineral veins are common, after all.
But...
“Instanced?”
“Yes.”
“Then, if you mined it and cleared the dungeon afterward...”
“The dungeon would reset.”
“What an absurdly overpowered cheat.”
My jaw dropped.
So it was an infinite-refill mine?
Gates like that had to be incredibly rare.
I’d never heard of one before, either.
Of course, only Awakened above a certain level could enter, and you couldn’t bring modern mining equipment inside, so there were limits.
Still...
“Seonggwang Resources Development bid on the dungeon to secure a steady supply of the rare metals Seonggwang Electronics needed. In exchange, they agreed to donate half of what they mined to the state. Then the trouble started.”
“What happened?”
“As they dug deeper, they found a very rare ore called a Star Relic. I’m sure you already know about it. It’s a precious material that Hunters all over the world are after.”
I didn’t know that.
So all the big names, unlike a newbie like me, had already been looking for them.
“The government said it couldn’t recognize Seonggwang’s ownership of the Star Relics, while Seonggwang argued that, under the contract, it owned all the metals they mined.”
Of course. There was no way they’d just hand something like that over.
“But after taking the case all the way to court, Seonggwang won.”
Ohhh, justice prevails!
Of course, the princess sitting in front of me was frowning as she spoke, since her country was the one losing out.
Honestly, even if it’s a dictatorship, a contract is a contract. Right?
“In return, the fixed-term contract was changed to one with limits on both the term and the number of mining operations.”
There it is. Figures.
“Why?”
“If they hadn’t found Star Relics, they would’ve mined only as much as was profitable. But what do you think they’d do if it suddenly became far more profitable?”
“They’d pour as many people as possible into it during the contract period to get every last bit out.”
It was an infinite-refill mine, after all.
“Exactly. The court decided that the price of Star Relics would plummet otherwise. The ruling limited them to the average number of mining operations they’d conducted before the Star Relics were discovered.”
I could understand Russia’s position, too.
And for Russia, it was a pretty reasonable outcome.
“So Seonggwang Resources Development, now limited in the number of operations, started digging deeper each time to mine more Star Relics. That was when the problem arose.”
**
“But lately, isn’t the amount of that relic or whatever coming out getting smaller?”
The dungeon did reset, but the mineral veins weren’t always in the same place.
The amount they mined had dropped so much that you could tell the Star Relics were getting scarcer.
“Let’s dig a little deeper! There’s definitely more farther down!”
A man who’d Awakened with a useless ability shouted desperately.
This mining opportunity mattered a great deal to him.
The more relics he mined here, the more incentive pay he’d receive.
The higher-ups had been pressing them to mine as many Star Relics as possible, too.
The man put more strength into his pickaxe swing.
And at last...
Rrrumble! A corner crumbled away, revealing a massive ore vein.
“O-Ohhh!”
But it wasn’t the brilliant silver shine of the Star Relics.
It did glow, but...
It was an ominous blue.
The moment he was exposed to the light, dizziness suddenly swept over him.
Even the Hunters responsible for clearing out the monsters dropped to their knees, dizzy.
At the same time, a system message appeared.
[The dungeon environment has changed drastically.]
[Emergency Mission! The Stage 17 Gate, ‘Star Spirit Valley,’ has undergone a drastic environmental change and become ‘Mutated Star Spirit Valley.’ Subdue the dungeon to restore the environment.]
[Due to the change in the dungeon, the pacification status of the Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Federation has been revoked.]
“W-What’s going on...?”
Before he could even figure out what was happening, blood trickled from his nose.
Then the monsters began to respawn.
The Hunters barely managed to get back on their feet and fight, but these were no longer the same Star Spirits they’d been able to handle with ease, leaving just one alive to lure it away.
In an instant, the Hunters were torn to pieces.
Next was the man’s turn.
‘My family...’
Thinking of his family waiting at home, the man squeezed his eyes shut.
**
“We didn’t find out it was the Cherenkov effect until after several more members of the relief team had died.”
“The Cherenkov effect?”
“It’s the phenomenon where radioactive materials emit a blue glow.”
What? Radiation?
“Wait, are you saying that valley was full of radioactive material?”
“That’s right.”
“And you want me to go in there and clear it?”
“A considerable amount of time has passed, so the radiation isn’t as dangerous now. Hunters are physically stronger than ordinary people, so you should be able to last about thirty minutes.”
Is this a joke?
So it’s “not that dangerous” because Hunters are stronger than ordinary people, and they can last thirty minutes?
That means I can only last thirty minutes.
“What happens after thirty minutes?”
“You’ll exceed the exposure limit and gradually start dying. You won’t be able to avoid permanent damage even if you make it back out. If you stay much longer, you could die.”
That makes me sick.
“So it’s a time-attack dungeon with a thirty-minute limit?”
She smiled and nodded.
“For reference, a party of Level 40 Hunters went in to investigate and barely made it out alive. The monsters aren’t anywhere near Stage 17 strength anymore.”
“But the clear requirement is still Stage 17.”
What a mess.
I was Level 19 now, so if I leveled up just a little more, I wouldn’t even be eligible to enter.
So I had to decide before reaching Level 22.
“My father said ten percent, but I know that isn’t a realistic reward.”
At least she knew that.
“So there’s room to negotiate?”
“The most the state can offer is around twenty percent.”
That seemed nowhere near enough for the difficulty.
Twenty percent, for a thirty-minute time-attack in a radioactive dungeon...
And the monsters were insanely strong.
The risk was huge, and the reward was small.
It’d be nice to get a Star Relic, but was it worth it?
“The Hunters Association will contribute a share as well. How about forty percent in total?”
What? It suddenly went up to forty percent?
“If we’re already talking about forty percent, how about we split it down the middle so neither of us feels shortchanged?”
Our princess’s expression hardened.
“You’re being greedy. Forty percent is already the most I can offer.”
“Come on, then you can clear it yourselves.”
I figured it might be worth a try if I got half.
After glaring at me and thinking it over for a long while, she made her decision.
“All right. We’ll give you fifty percent.”
“Okay, thanks. Fifty percent!”
The negotiations ended to my satisfaction. Now I just had to figure out the logistics.
“I’ll need to go back to Korea to prepare before the raid.”
“I’ll lend you my private jet.”
“No, you don’t have to go that far.”
“It’s the least we can do. Please don’t refuse.”
Arina smiled warmly as she said it.
The negotiations had gone well, and she was even offering me a private jet...
But the moment our eyes met, an uneasy feeling began creeping up on me.
What was wrong?
**
In the end, my unease made me turn down the private jet.
As soon as I got outside, I called someone.
─Hello.
Hearing that familiar voice somehow put me at ease.
“Zephyros.”
─Yeah, I saw the article.
“It’s already made the news? That was fast.”
─Of course. You think there aren’t any Korean correspondents in Russia?
“True.”
─You took a while to call. What’s going on?
“Well...”
As I started explaining what had happened, Zephyros spoke urgently, his tone serious.
─Shh.
“......?”
─Hang up and wait a moment.
A little while later...
A system message appeared before my eyes.
[Ryu Hyeonsu: You’re involved with the Russian president’s office, and you’re still making a phone call like nothing’s wrong?]
W-What?
[Ryu Hyeonsu: It’s an item that lets you send a one-way message to one designated person, no matter how far away they are. I was right to set you as the target, just in case.]
What? There are items like that?
[Ryu Hyeonsu: Your phone is probably tapped. And now this lunatic’s caused trouble again. Why couldn’t you just clear the Gate quietly and collect your points? What were you thinking, going to the Kremlin!]
No, it wasn’t like I went there of my own accord... No, how was I supposed to know that a woman inviting me to dinner at her house would suddenly take me to the Kremlin?!
If you were in my place, would you have known?!
No matter how much I shouted in my head, Zephyros couldn’t hear me. It was a futile outburst.
Ah, this is so frustrating.
[Ryu Hyeonsu: I know about Star Spirit Valley, too. It got the CEO of Seonggwang Bio and a whole bunch of others fired. Seonggwang Resources Development was a subsidiary of Seonggwang Bio.]
Huh? Seonggwang Bio?
Could this be the incident behind Gyuseon saying he’d backed the wrong side and lost out in office politics?
That would make sense.
[Ryu Hyeonsu: Russia hit them with massive damage claims, too, so Seonggwang Group practically withdrew from Russia. The occupational injury lawsuit in Korea is probably still ongoing. More than a few people were exposed to radiation because of that—some died, and others are still dying. It was a famous case in the Hunter industry... Of course you wouldn’t know about it.]
Yeah, I didn’t know.
[Ryu Hyeonsu: Because of that incident, the Hunters Association made it an official rule that Hunters must be checked with a Geiger counter after clearing any newly discovered dungeon. In case they’ve been exposed to radiation. They made us do it after we cleared the Stage 50 dungeon in Hawaii, too, even though it was pointless. Jake had a hell of a time procuring a Geiger counter that the Hawaii headquarters didn’t even have. Ah, that’s TMI.]
Our teacher even keeps up with all the slang.
[Ryu Hyeonsu: Anyway, come back to Korea first. We’ll talk after that. I don’t even know whether you can do it, and even if you can, it’s not something you should decide hastily.]
Yes, sir. Of course.
**
As soon as I arrived at Incheon Airport, I saw Zephyros waving at me.
“Why’d you come all the way here?”
“I was a little busy and couldn’t go with you, and you went and caused trouble right away.”
“Heheh.”
“Don’t give me that ‘heheh.’ I’ll smack you.”
As I chuckled, Zephyros handed me something.
“What’s this?”
“What do you think? It’s an item.”
An item?
[Ansible Earring I]
[Quality]: Legendary-grade accessory
[Description]: The power of solidarity is faster than light. When two people wear one earring each, nothing can frighten them.
[Details]: By consuming mana, you can have a real-time conversation with the owner of Ansible Earring II. Mana consumption is proportional to the distance between the owners.
When I looked at Zephyros, he showed me an earring of the same design.
“I don’t have pierced ears.”
“What, is this your first time wearing ear jewelry? Oh, I guess it is. Why do you have so many empty slots?”
“Because I’m broke.”
“Bullshit.”
Hmm, even I thought that was going too far.
A trillionaire calling himself broke.
I needed to fill my item slots, but even with money, items were hard to buy.
The ones you wanted were rare, and even when they appeared, they disappeared quickly.
“Just hold it up to your ear.”
“Oh, you’re right.”
It slipped on as if it had always been there.
A man wearing an earring...
As a ‘manly man,’ it felt a little weird, but it wasn’t as bothersome as I’d expected.
“From now on, we’ll use these to communicate instead of our phones. Between Kaiser and the Russians, people are starting to pester you from every direction.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. So, what are you going to do?”
“At fifty percent, I think I should do it, but I’m a little worried...”
“What are you worried about?”
Zephyros asked, wearing his characteristic smile.
I sighed and told him,
“You know how people say the problem is when something seems too good to be true?”
“I do.”
“That’s exactly the situation. Even so, for the share to jump from ten percent to fifty percent after just a couple of conversations... It’s not like they can change it on a whim.”
“Hmm.”
Zephyros smiled and asked me,
“What does it mean to clear a dungeon?”
“Huh? Uh... good?”
“It’s irreversible. You can’t take it back.”
“Right. You can’t.”
“It’s easy to say one thing before you go in and another after you come out.”
Exactly.
That was where the uneasy feeling had been coming from.
“There are way too many ways they could pull something here. First, the information is unreliable. They said enough time had passed for the radiation risk to drop, but if the radioactive element has a short half-life, the danger would keep decreasing on its own over the next few years, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
“Then there’s no hurry, is there? Star Relics aren’t the sort of thing whose market price will suddenly collapse in the short term. They’re a material people can’t get enough of. If that’s true, then if I were the Russian president, I’d wait for the radiation to dissipate naturally rather than give fifty percent to a foreign Hunter.”
Zephyros had pinpointed the contradiction I’d only vaguely sensed.
As expected, experience like his didn’t go away.
“What if the radiation level isn’t what they said? What if going in there means you won’t live long afterward? Second, even if you do clear it, are they really going to pay you the full fifty percent? Who’s doing the mining?”
“The Russian government...”
“And they’ll be completely honest and settle the accounts properly, right?”
“......”
“Even if your share is fifty percent—or ninety percent—it means nothing if they lie about how much they mined.”
I’d thought about that, too.
Just in case, if we signed a contract, I’d planned to add a clause allowing us to monitor the mining.
They could cheat even then if they were determined to, though.
Still, I could probably deal with that part... The first issue was the real problem.
“They might be considering both at once. If you go in, clear it, and die, there’ll be no one left to enforce the contract. And if you survive, they can just cheat on the settlement. That’s probably what they’re thinking, isn’t it?”
...That’s infuriating.
It made me want to give them a taste of their own medicine.
Kaiser’s people had already pissed me off, and the Russians were even worse.
The problem was...
One side was the world’s leading multinational corporation.
The other was, quite literally, ‘state power.’
When would I ever be able to stand on equal footing with people like them?
I didn’t have the power to fight them, so for now, I had no choice but to back down.
“I’ll give up on clearing the dungeon.”
“Good idea.”
“You didn’t try to stop me from the beginning because you wanted me to learn a lesson?”
“Oh, if you figured that out on your own, then this trip to Russia was already worth it.”
Zephyros smiled and left me with one quiet remark.
“Today’s lesson: the state isn’t benevolent. That includes our own government.”
He’d dealt with countless countries during his life as a Hunter, so his words sank all the deeper into my heart.
**
The next day.
After informing the Russians I wouldn’t be clearing the dungeon, I stopped by the Cheonan research lab on my way to the office.
“Boss!”
Wow, that...
Before, I would’ve taken that as a friendly welcome, but I couldn’t see it that way now.
Look at those hawk-like eyes fixed on my research.
Taking a step back, I cleared my throat and asked,
“How are things going?”
“Great! We’ve made a lot of progress since we worked on the research together, Boss! Come with me!”
I was practically dragged to the CTO’s office, where I got a briefing for a while.
Well, I didn’t understand much of it, so I mostly let my eyes glaze over.
I had to chime in with things like, “Wow, that’s great,” and, “Nice.”
“That’s the end of the briefing.”
“Good work.”
“When can you help us with the next study...?”
“S-Soon.”
Was I imagining it, or was an unavoidable slaughterhouse looming?
“Oh, by the way... Do we have any bacteria that can defend against radiation, or eat it, or something?”
I asked just in case, just in case...
“Do you mean Deinococcus radiodurans?”
We do?
Long live bacteria! Take that, Russians!