Chapter 41
“You want to clear a dungeon in Taiwan?”
The Director, Jo Hyeong-bin, whom I’d spoken with on the phone before, was sitting right in front of me.
Zephyros got a call directly from the minister, while I got one from a director? There had been a moment when I felt a little slighted, but it turned out that was just another ignorant thought.
Lately, my ignorance seems to keep popping up. What can I do? Until recently, I was just an ordinary guy who never would’ve had the chance to meet directors or ministers.
I can do better from now on.
Anyway, the reason that thought was ignorant...
Vice ministers and assistant vice ministers, all the way down to assistant ministers, were Grade 1 civil servants who didn’t handle much actual work. A director of a central government ministry was a Grade 2 civil servant and could be considered the person ultimately in charge of the actual work.
So... the highest-ranking civil servant handling the work had called to discuss it, and I’d complained, asking if there wasn’t someone higher up.
Ahem, anyway...
Director Jo Hyeong-bin was a pretty high-ranking official.
I hadn’t realized because his voice sounded young, but he looked young too.
“Um... Hunter Kim Segyun? Are you listening to me?”
“Oh, of course. Yes, yes.”
“All right, then. I’ll proceed with negotiations with the Taiwanese government.”
At his words, Zephyros, who was behind me, said,
“Director Jo, we don’t have time to waste playing ping-pong with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Hurry it along as much as you can.”
“Foreign Affairs? MOTIE?”
“When you ask how to break through a dungeon overseas, one ministry passes the buck, saying diplomacy is for Foreign Affairs, and then Foreign Affairs says dungeons are an industrial matter managed by MOTIE, and they give you a load of shit...”
“Ah... Hunter Ryu, you haven’t worked with the department lately, have you?”
“...What?”
“Everything changed as soon as President Kang Min-guk took office. There was a government reorganization plan to consolidate all dungeon-related diplomatic and industrial affairs under the Awakened Management Department.”
“Damn, that’s crazy... I think I’m becoming a fan of that Kang Min-guk guy.”
Zephyros looked moved, as if to say that a single vote really was precious.
Hmm... Is it really that impressive?
“You really... live in a good world...”
This guy was practically about to cry.
After being swept up in a wave of emotion for a while, Zephyros cleared his throat and composed himself.
“As for the cards to negotiate with Taiwan...”
Director Jo listened to what followed and nodded.
“Yes, the department was already planning to proceed along those lines. We’ll do our best. Leave it to us. Hunter Ryu, if you have any further advice, please tell us anytime.”
“...What’s with you people... You’re scary...”
“Pardon?”
“You weren’t like this before, were you? You bureaucrats with your iron rice bowls...”
“Come on, we can’t coast on iron rice bowls anymore. The whole organization has been overhauled. The president’s view is that the dungeon industry is a fully fledged growth engine for the future. The bureaucrats you knew have probably all retired or been pushed into dead-end posts. They’ve probably ended up at some local branch of a regional dungeon management office.”
“So they could do it all along...”
And with that, Zephyros emphasized for the second time that I really had to vote properly.
I know...
After Director Jo left, Zephyros cautiously asked me,
“By the way, you’re confident you can clear the dungeon... right?”
“Nope.”
“What?”
“I’m confident I can fail.”
“Good grief, enough with the wordplay...”
A laugh escaped me.
At my current level, no Gate in the low twenties, even one deemed impossible to clear, could hold me back.
On top of that...
Recently, while running dungeons, I reached pure Mastery B without any items and immediately used a Mastery Upgrade Ticket. I’d been saving it for the best possible efficiency, so the timing worked out.
[You have used a Skill Mastery Upgrade Ticket (below Mastery A).]
[Undead Rise (Unique) mastery has increased to A.]
[Due to the effect of the Scepter of the Constellation Avicenna, Undead Rise (Unique) mastery increases to S.]
[Mastery A Effects: (1) You can maintain a total of 5 types of undead. (2) You can temporarily strengthen undead by consuming mana. (3) You can use 2 presets.]
The first effect I got at Mastery A was the preset.
It let me swap between sets of five types of undead.
In practice, that meant I could use ten types of undead.
Of course, there was a 30-second cooldown on switching presets, and I couldn’t use undead from different presets at the same time, so I’d have to think carefully about how to arrange them.
And the long-awaited new effect I got at Mastery S, when I used the staff too, was...
[Mastery S Effect: .... (4) The Mastery S Feedback effect is applied when undead are destroyed.]
[Feedback]
Description: For all types of followers to which this effect is applied, (25%, with the Mastery S effect applied) mana is refunded. Mana refunded by this effect temporarily exceeds the maximum. Any mana exceeding the maximum dissipates after 10 seconds.
Just as you’d expect of Mastery S, this was a huge one too.
Feedback.
It was mana recycling in the truest sense.
Even better, the mana could go beyond the maximum.
For necromancers, who usually maintained only as many undead as their natural mana regeneration could support, Feedback was like rain during a drought. If they maintained undead at their maximum, they had virtually no mana recovery, so getting some mana back meant their mana could recover even while they were doing that.
It was a skill that could be extremely efficient for ordinary necromancers, but even more so for me.
Now that I had everything ready... all I had to do was prepare the bacteria.
Ms. Gyuseon, I’m on my way.
**
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Yes. It hasn’t been... that long, has it?”
“I saw you yesterday, after all. Still, I’m happy to see you every day.”
Ms. Gyuseon’s bright smile was pretty, but also a little creepy.
If I tried to satisfy all the pent-up research desires she was hiding behind that smile, I probably wouldn’t come out in one piece.
I should keep her in check as much as possible...
“Anyway, the thing I asked you for...”
“Oh, yes. Here. Concentrated corpses of various bacterial strains. The lids are different colors for each type, so it’ll be easier if you memorize them.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. It feels good to recycle strains that died naturally during my research, too. Oh, and this...”
“What is this?”
There was something orange that looked like a giant gummy worm.
“It’s not a bacterium, but I thought it might come in handy. You said the one you’re clearing this time is a maze, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
A maze was practically no obstacle to me, either.
I’d planned to just smash through all the walls with No. 1.
“It’s larger per individual than bacteria, since it’s a slime mold. But if you can use this too, it’ll definitely be a huge help.”
“Then, as a test...”
I used Undead Rise on what she called a dried-up, dead slime mold.
[You have raised approximately 3.8 million Physarum Polycephalum strain corpses.]
[They will become your loyal subordinates and follow you.]
The number was really small, though?
Compared to my other legions, which usually numbered from several billion to tens of billions, and at most hundreds of billions, it was much, much smaller.
[Currently Maintained Undead]
(Preset 1)
<Hidden>
(Preset 2)
(1) Physarum Polycephalum (Yellow Network Slime Mold)
─Number of individuals: approximately 3.8 million
─Description: A single-celled organism that feeds on fungi and grows by extending its colony’s membrane in all directions. It possesses primitive neurons and has the ability to learn.
─Ability: Colony membrane expands at 1.3 m/h per 100,000 individuals (base 1 cm/h, with 230% Control effect applied)
“Yellow Network Slime Mold?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s a slime mold. In English, it’s called a slime.”
Unlike the orange giant gummy worm I’d seen, the ones I’d raised were a somewhat dull color.
I tried using its ability once, but...
“Hmm... the speed...”
Even boosted by Control... its growth rate was far too slow.
At 1.3 meters per hour, it’d probably take more than a week just to find my way through a dungeon.
I could solve that by increasing the number of individuals, but...
Hearing that, Ms. Gyuseon gave an awkward smile and shook her head.
“Slime molds grow a little differently from bacteria. Unlike bacteria, which keep dividing into two identical cells through binary fission, slime molds grow as multinucleate organisms, so they grow much more slowly than bacteria.”
“Oh, I see.”
“I thought combining it with Mr. Segyun’s ability might help, but that’s too bad.”
Yeah, too bad.
A colony that spread like an AI, maintaining its own consciousness while searching for the optimal path.
It was certainly appealing... but its performance left a lot to be desired.
Still, I might find a use for it later.
I didn’t think I’d need it right now, so I should reverse-summon it.
**
It was only the next day that I heard the department had finished negotiating with the Taiwanese government.
They’d persuaded them that if the pacification effect drove up the stock prices of domestic Taiwanese dungeon-development companies, Taiwan could temporarily avoid a hostile takeover spree by Kaiser Corporation, just as Korea had.
They also pointed out that the opening of the dungeon market was imminent, and that attacks had already begun in Japan, leaving the Taiwanese government little choice but to take a fairly submissive stance.
“Three trillion won just for one clear?”
No, this is a bit... Even so, wasn’t that way too much to get out of them?
“A substantial portion of Taiwan’s GDP depends on the dungeon industry. The impact of opening the dungeon market will be considerable. They’d want to stop it, even if they had to spend money. Besides, Taoyuan is a prime region where all of Taiwan’s core Gates are concentrated. And...”
And?
“The fee they paid Kaiser Corporation to clear that same Gate about ten years ago was already around one trillion won. The amount was calculated by adding inflation and the time value of the ten years it had remained impossible to clear. I believe this is the best outcome we could’ve hoped for, but if you’re not satisfied, we can renegotiate...”
“N-No. I’m very satisfied.”
Long live the department for smoothly securing a deal like this.
As expected, professionals were on another level.
“Yes, then you can leave the country right away.”
“Right now?”
“Yes, a private jet is waiting at Gimpo International Airport.”
Why were these people so fast at getting things done...
Were they really civil servants?
**
When I arrived, Taiwanese officials personally escorted me to the Gate.
An embassy... no, I’d heard Taiwan had a representative office since it wasn’t a country.
Still, I’d heard that ever since the Awakened era began, the system had listed Taiwan as the ‘Republic of China,’ strengthening the unity of the Taiwanese people.
Conversely, China, which had tried by every possible means to prevent the ‘Republic of China’ designation, had been left like a dog staring at an empty rooftop after the chicken had escaped.
Since it was impossible to change a system whose principles they didn’t even understand.
At any rate, it seemed the representative office had made a request to the Taiwanese government.
[You are entering the Stage 23 Gate, ‘Maze of a Thousand Transformations.’]
And so, barely a day and a half after the decision had been made, I entered the Gate.
The gimmick of the Maze of a Thousand Transformations was simple.
Break through the maze and enter the destination point to clear the dungeon.
The problem was that the maze really did transform endlessly.
The walls changed in real time, obstructing the path to the destination, while the identical surroundings made it all too easy to lose your sense of direction.
“Whoa, damn... This is a little different from what I heard.”
The maze had changed so drastically that the information I’d received was practically useless.
“At this rate, it’ll take forever to break through all this.”
The maze gradually grew more complex, and this dungeon had been left uncleared for several decades.
The maze’s complexity and density had reached truly extreme levels.
This was a pain.
I’d even considered having No. 1 smash through every wall in the maze if necessary, but that would take at least several days.
“Still, it’s better than standing around.”
Just as I was about to walk in one direction, breaking through the walls...
A monster appeared in front of me, blocking my way.
“A slime?”
It was a Maze Slime, the main monster in this maze.
A monster that wrapped its target in an acidic substance, suffocated it, then slowly dissolved and broke it down.
Of course...
It was simply broken down completely by No. 1, leaving no trace.
I walked for a long while, dissolving slimes and walls as I went, but naturally, I never reached the destination.
“Hmm, now I’m really starting to wish I had that Yellow Network Slime Mold thing.”
Wait, was it similar?
Maybe it’d be better to just break through all the walls.
At that moment.
I sensed a wall forming on the other side, writhing as it took shape.
A wall forming in real time? Was the wall itself some kind of monster?
“...Huh?”
I think I might’ve just gotten close to the answer.
[Skill ‘Microscopic Vision’ is being used.]
[Skill ‘Microscopic Vision’ has detected microscopic beings in the ‘wall made of Maze Slime corpses.’]
[Maze Slime]
─Description: Slime molds have gained powerful fission and cohesion abilities through life stones. They are often mistaken for a single organism, but are actually a composite of tens of millions to hundreds of millions of slime mold individuals. They can divide on a massive scale through mana and extend their colony. The colony has the property of hardening as it dies.
What the...
Is this a dungeon version of Yellow Network Slime Mold?
Come to think of it...
‘Yes, that’s right. It’s a slime mold. In English, it’s called a slime.’
Damn... I just remembered. Slime molds were called slimes in English.
Anyway, since I could only summon beings from the ‘microscopic world’—in other words, invisible creatures—I’d never considered that I could revive a slime big enough to be visible.
If that thing was a composite of hundreds of millions of slime molds...
[Would you like to use the Undead Rise skill?]
[Target: approximately 1 quintillion 329 quadrillion 999 trillion 999 billion 900 million Maze Slime strain corpses.]
[Warning! There are too many strain corpses that can be revived in this space! Please specify the desired amount!]
No matter how slowly slime molds grew...
The corpses of slimes that had been respawning and growing in this maze for decades...
Had accumulated in quantities I couldn’t even begin to guess.
To begin with, these countless maze walls were all made up of slime corpses...
Well, this is...
They might as well be blatantly asking me to clear the dungeon, huh?