Chapter 71
Luckily, it seemed there were no issues with clearing it through a loophole.
Gyuseon was delighted to have completed the quest and received a Transcendent skill.
Phew, at least it was all over.
First things first, we needed to get out of this godforsaken place.
It was the kind of place I never wanted to visit again if I could help it.
When we came out of the dungeon...
“... What are you doing?”
“Can't you tell? Working out!”
Senior Choi Kang was doing strength training, repeatedly lifting and lowering a massive boulder they'd apparently picked up somewhere.
Just as I was about to sigh.
“It's light, isn't it?”
“It sure is. This much is way too light.”
“Want me to make it heavier?”
“Oh! You can do that?”
What was this about now?
Gyuseon approached the boulder Senior Choi Kang had set down with a smile.
They put a hand on it and spoke softly.
“Activation: False Gold Alchemy.”
Then the boulder began to harden and transform into a white mineral substance.
After a little while, Gyuseon smiled and tapped it a few times.
“It's done.”
“Huh.”
Senior Choi Kang confidently walked over and tried to lift the boulder, but their expression turned a little odd.
“Grrrnnngh!”
This time, they even added mana.
They lifted the boulder, now a solid lump of metal.
After managing a few squats with the metal, Senior Choi Kang sat down on the ground, panting.
“... Just how much heavier did it get?”
“Rock has a density of about 2.5 to 3.0 grams per cubic centimeter, and I changed its composition to that of an osmium-iridium alloy.”
“Could you put that in Korean...?”
“Gold has a density of about 19 grams per cubic centimeter, lead about 11, and steel about 8. This osmium-iridium alloy, on the other hand, is one of the densest substances in nature. It's roughly 22.5 grams per cubic centimeter. Compared to the rock, that means it's about nine times heavier for the same volume.”
“... No wonder it felt a lot heavier than a barbell at the gym.”
Steel has a density of a little under 8 grams per cubic centimeter, so this thing weighed three times as much as a barbell of the same volume...
They'd created a crazy metal for super-heavy weight training.
Senior Choi Kang must have had the same thought, because their lips were wreathed in a delighted smile.
“Thank you! Thank you!”
They grabbed Gyuseon's hand with a huge, pot-lid-sized one and shook it up and down...
Then they went back to the boulder—or rather, the crazy metal lump—and resumed training.
“I can feel the burn... I can feel it...! Hyaaaah!”
I don't wanna watch. I don't wanna see this.
Gyuseon, who'd created that spectacle, only smiled with satisfaction.
Anyway...
“I thought False Gold Alchemy could only make gold?”
“More precisely, it's the ability to change an object's composition. The original approach was indeed to try to make gold, but in the end, the idea became that if you could make gold, you could make other metals, too.”
That... made sense.
I mean, if you could make gold, why not other metals?
“How long does it last? It can't be permanent, right?”
“I suppose not? It's only an imitation, after all. Unless you're a god, you can't change the substance itself. Still, it can last quite a while. Oh, of course, Mr. Segyun's ‘Gluttony’ is an exception.”
Gyuseon grumbled about how divine attributes were invincible and so on.
Hmm, come to think of it, the golem-like beings in the Golden Castle that I'd attacked had all reverted once the False Gold Alchemy wore off.
Now then...
Now that we'd finished demonstrating Gyuseon's newly acquired False Gold Alchemy skill...
“That's enough. Let's go!”
“One more set! Hup!”
... That person was probably going to pester me to make a super barbell with three times the density for a while.
**
While Kim Segyun was getting into a scuffle in Colombia...
The situation in the United States was taking a disturbing turn.
Washington, D.C., Senate hearing room.
The senators on the committee were raining questions down on the FBI director seated before them.
Republicans and Democrats alike were all condemning the FBI director.
“This happened in the middle of New York City, of all places! Wall Street! A terrorist attack there, and you had no prior intelligence? No coordination with the CIA or NSA?”
“... I'm sorry.”
The FBI director had nothing to say but that.
As the head of domestic counterintelligence, the director was indeed responsible.
Even if there were mitigating circumstances, there was no choice but to accept the blame.
After taking nearly two hours of withering attacks from members of both parties at the hearing, FBI Director Elizabeth Carter emerged looking pale.
The deputy director, who had been waiting in the car, bit their lip and said,
“Why did you just sit there and take it at the hearing!”
“... Well, what else could I say?”
“You know what! That!”
Even as they spoke, the FBI deputy director glanced around warily.
Then they lowered their voice as much as they could, almost whispering.
“... That the last trace of the assassins was found on Kaiser's private jet!”
At those words, Director Carter gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
“Do you want to fight the entire United States?”
“But...”
“If you want to fight him, go ahead. Taking a few insults in the Senate is the right move. You think those old senators don't know what's going on?”
“You mean...”
“Even a three-year-old would know. Isn't it basic investigative procedure? Suspect whoever benefited the most. A Middle Eastern assassin came all the way to Wall Street and picked off only the people trying to take control of Kaiser Corporation? Come on. Even Kaiser himself would know.”
The deputy director's face turned pale.
“That means...”
“It's a warning. A demonstration of his ability to punish you by any means necessary if you dare turn your back on him.”
“Is that really what happened?”
“What else could it be? What, are you going to put Kaiser on trial and ask whether he teamed up with a Middle Eastern terrorist organization and killed everyone who got in his way, making it look like the work of Middle Eastern assassins?”
“... You think he actually did that?”
“It wouldn't be surprising if he did. According to intelligence, the head of the Assassins' Order used to run dungeons with Kaiser.”
The deputy director clenched their teeth.
Director Carter gave the deputy director a wry smile.
“Are you angry?”
“... I am.”
“You can't throw eggs at a rock just because you're angry, can you?”
Director Carter's eyes turned cold as she gazed out the window.
“And it's not just ordering assassinations. There's war crimes, too... The list goes on.”
The girl named Elizabeth Carter, who remembered Kaiser as a righteous man, was gone.
All that remained was an adult disillusioned by the sight of a fallen hero.
“Someday, the time will come when we bring him to trial. I can't die before then.”
**
If the United States was in such turmoil because of one man's existence...
Then the situation in Western Europe, especially France, was no different.
[Ahmad Triain reaches Level 70!]
[Will he break the ‘Under Seventy’ era?]
Ahmad Triain defied the government's pleas and reached Level 70.
At the same time, new Level 70 Gates appeared in four of France's thirteen regions (régions), and the pacification effect vanished.
Since regions that had been pacified lost that status, it dealt a tremendous blow to France's dungeon economy.
Fortunately, thanks to Nouvelle-Aquitaine, which Segyun had recently pacified, the number of non-pacified regions had at least gone down by one.
And the place Ahmad Triain headed as soon as he reached Level 70 was...
The région where Paris was located, and his hometown and home...
The Level 70 Gate in the Île-de-France région.
“Pwahahaha! What a perfect location.”
The Eiffel Tower.
The Gate had formed right beneath the Eiffel Tower.
After laughing heartily as he looked at the Level 70 Gate rippling as if it were about to swallow the Eiffel Tower, Ahmad slowly stepped inside.
And exactly two hours later.
Ahmad emerged from the Eiffel Tower Gate, surrounded by reporters.
A groan rippled through the crowd.
There was no halo of light, and no pacification judgment message...
Which meant he hadn't cleared it.
“Haha, so that old man Kaiser wasn't bluffing after all.”
Ahmad Triain had honestly been skeptical.
Maybe the Level 70 Gates were just a bluff by Kaiser?
Maybe Kaiser could clear them, but was spreading disinformation to cement the Under Seventy order.
That had been Ahmad's thinking.
But...
His impression after entering an actual Level 70 Gate was...
“That old man Kaiser was hiding something after all.”
The Level 70 Gate...
Was much... worse than Kaiser had described.
Behind Ahmad Triain, undead in various states of destruction were being ejected from the Gate one after another, dropping to the ground.
Among them...
There was even a Transcendent-grade Death Knight whose production cost exceeded 100 trillion won.
As Ahmad recalled them and gathered them up, a reporter among the crowd filling Trocadéro Square in front of the Eiffel Tower asked,
“Mr. Triain! What do you think the odds are of clearing a Level 70 Gate?”
“This one?”
After thinking for a moment, the words that came from his mouth were:
“Can't clear it. This one.”
He plunged the people of France into despair.
The despair spread beyond France, reaching Hunters who had been planning to challenge Level 70.
“Th-then...”
“Alone? I don't think I can clear it. It was designed that way from the start. In a shitty way, too.”
“... Perhaps if you joined forces with Kaiser...”
“Did I get shot in the head? Team up with that obnoxious old man? We have our brother, don't we? Our brother!”
“Are you referring to Hunter Kim Segyun?”
“Yeah. With someone like him, maybe we could at least... get started?”
Once again, Kim Segyun's stock skyrocketed around the world.
“Well, I'm busy, so I'm off. I have to go to Korea.”
“Why... are you going to Korea...?”
“Why do you think? All my undead got wrecked. That's why.”
He did have an undead priest, but one and nineteen were worlds apart in terms of how quickly they could be repaired.
It was easier to just spend the money and get them fixed.
At the South Korean National Undead Repair Center...
A very important customer was expected.
**
“What?”
I’d been planning to return to Korea...
What a disaster.
Ahmad had arrived in Korea.
He wasn't exactly someone I wanted to run into...
“Captain, we can change our route, right?”
“Yes. Where would you like to go?”
That was the nice thing about having a private jet.
Since we were returning from South America, on the opposite side of the world from Korea, we had to make a stop somewhere to refuel anyway.
“You said we didn't have to go over the Pacific, right?”
“Yes. South America is on the opposite side of the world from Korea, so there's not much difference in distance if we go via the Atlantic and around Europe. Shall we head across the Atlantic?”
Since Ahmad had Eclair, his private jet, Ahmad could zip around in an instant, but even Eclair wasn't invincible.
If I remembered right, once he used its space-compression function, he couldn't use it again for twenty-four hours.
And since he'd come to Korea to get his undead repaired, he probably wouldn't be going anywhere while they were being fixed.
In other words... Europe without Ahmad.
“Then let's go to France. I should stop by the Petrus winery in Bordeaux for the first time in a while.”
Ever since the Petrus winery had been deeply impressed by me, I'd heard they'd been releasing entirely experimental wines lately.
In Bordeaux, famous for its traditions, that kind of radical approach was enough to make people say ‘How dare they,’ though some appreciated their pioneering spirit.
And the main reason I needed to visit the Petrus winery was...
─Bring me some melo... I mean, wine.
─Drink Cheonsang. It's good for your health, too.
─Hey, even the best stuff gets old if you drink it all the time. I heard Petrus has a few experimental wines they're keeping under wraps instead of serving anyone but you. Go get them.
─You said they were serving them to me?
─You don't like alcohol that much, do you? Someone who likes it should drink it.
... A certain boozehound was already making me run errands because we were stopping by Europe.
We landed at Bordeaux Airport to refuel and, while we were at it, picked up some wine from the Petrus winery before taking off again.
But not long after we took off...
A voice came from the cockpit, calling for me.
“Yes, what is it?”
“An HHH signal is being continuously broadcast on the emergency frequency.”
“HHH?”
“It's an official code recognized by the International Hunter Association. It's like a call-up order from the local association summoning all Hunters in the area.”
“Is it like an SOS?”
“You could say that. It was sent by the Italian Association.”
“... We're just passing through. Do we have to respond?”
“It's a recommendation, not an obligation.”
“No, but why are they calling everyone in all of a sudden?”
The answer to my question came from behind me.
“I think it's probably because of this.”
When I checked the phone they handed me...
“Whoa.”
I couldn't help being surprised.
[Italy: Magnitude 8.0 earthquake near the Strait of Messina, Sicily. (Breaking)]
An earthquake, out of nowhere?
And just as I was passing by?
At the same time... my phone began ringing loudly, too.
It was the International Hunter Association app.
[Earthquake Relief Personnel Assignment Request (Hunter Kim Segyun): 2,000,000 Points]
Up until now, the Hunter Association points I'd accumulated but never spent had felt almost meaningless... but a huge number of points was another matter.
They were the only way to get relic-grade items that money couldn't buy, after all.
But the points weren't the problem.
The Italian Hunter Association...
The problem was that they'd singled me out and asked for help.