novelraw Chapter 622
Chapter 622
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 622: The Real Job (5)
Alden Miras.
He was the third son of the cosmic noble house Miras, whom Yeongwoo had met last night in the dungeon called ‘Aesthetics of the Circle.’
At the time, Alden had been visiting the dungeon as the final journey to become his family’s heir, and by bad luck, he ended up meeting Jeong Yeongwoo 07.
‘And instead of leaving the dungeon alive, he signed a contract to give me money as soon as he inherits the family’s legacy.’
The ‘price of his life’ clearly specified on the contract was 10 billion karma in cash and one of the family’s swords, ‘Blessing of Frost.’
And also, as the price for the massive amount of prestige Yeongwoo—no, the planetary shipmaster—had obtained from dueling him, it was written that he would make a donation to Planet Doatel as well.
‘Come to think of it, there are quite a few places money is going to come in from……?’
At this rate, even wiping out the 29.7 billion debt he owed Toma would be done in an instant.
Of course, Yeongwoo didn’t intend to repay that debt immediately with the money he’d earned this time.
“Go on, connect the comms already. Let’s hear what he’s saying.”
When Yeongwoo waved his hand to approve the connection, Earth pointed at the glass window at the front of the bridge.
『A comms screen will appear over there. Alden Miras, connecting.』
And soon the front window shone brightly, and Alden’s figure appeared—his entire face wrapped in metallic bandages except for his left eye.
“Ah, long time no see. Did you succeed in becoming the heir?”
Then Alden Miras narrowed his one eye slightly and nodded.
「I did. You could say it was thanks to you.」
“Even after becoming heir, you still look rough as ever. I thought you’d show up wearing some kind of golden armor.”
Yeongwoo shrugged and cracked a joke, but Alden didn’t accept it.
「As per the contract, I will transfer 10 billion karma and Blessing of Frost.」
“Stubborn guys are exactly why I like them.”
「I don’t like you. But I must fulfill the contract.」
With those words from Alden, truly, through the Earth Ship’s communications room, 10 billion in cash and Blessing of Frost—one of the Miras family’s swords—were transmitted.
As a result, Yeongwoo’s balance was restored once again to 10.6 billion, and above all……
“Blessing of Frost—bring it here, quickly.”
At Yeongwoo’s excited gesture, Earth pulled Blessing of Frost up through the bridge floor, where it had arrived in the communications room.
This was possible because Earth was the Earth Ship itself.
『What a flashy sword.』
Earth, who had checked Blessing of Frost’s tooltip before Yeongwoo, made a surprised expression.
“Well, it’s a noble house’s sword. They said it was a sword they used to hand out to heir candidates.”
Receiving Blessing of Frost from Earth, Yeongwoo immediately checked the tooltip first.
Because if Yeongwoo’s own memory was correct, Blessing of Frost’s effects included ‘Prestige Reduction Rate.’
And indeed.
「Blessing of Frost」 – Legendary Greatsword
【Reduces incoming frost damage by 20%】
【Gains 10% Prestige Reduction】
【Frost Domain】
【Mark of Miras】
Frost Domain:
|All nearby enemies’ movement speed reduced by 15%.
Mark of Miras:
|This greatsword bears the sigil of the Miras house.
‘It’s there……!’
Blessing of Frost had a 10% Prestige Reduction Rate effect.
This was the reason Yeongwoo had dared to demand a family sword.
‘Prestige Reduction Rate is really hard to collect. It’s a structure where you have to rip off a little from everywhere and complete it.’
Anyway, thanks to this, Yeongwoo’s Prestige Reduction Rate reached a whopping 60%.
10% from the legendary one-handed sword ‘Shining Blasphemy,’ 20% from the Stage 1 Mythic Catalog collection effect, 20% due to Artari’s Strength obtained from the elixir Agpha.
And this time, securing an additional 10% through Blessing of Frost, he completed a total of 60%.
‘Still 40% empty. With just this, it feels like I can’t pull insubordination on Prestige-ranked targets.’
Where on earth was he supposed to get the remaining reduction rate?
‘Looking at it, they’ve set it up so only the guys who can strip gear from all directions can match the reduction rate.’
Even Yeongwoo himself, to make 60%, had to do all sorts of things like racial alteration, mythic catalog collection, obtaining special equipment, and so on.
From the start, you couldn’t gather Prestige Reduction effects through ordinary-level activity.
‘Well, a normal guy wouldn’t have any interest in Prestige Reduction Rate in the first place.’
But Yeongwoo wasn’t a normal guy.
He was a ‘Rebel’ the achievement system had acknowledged long ago, packed full of desire to ignore the hierarchy the universe had set.
“Hey, Alden.”
「Now you’re bold enough to call my name as you please?」
“Your family has a fleet too, right?”
At that question, Alden thrust his chest out hard.
「Of course.」
“Then how many ships are in it?”
「Are you asking about our fleet’s power? If it were something I could answer just because you asked, it wouldn’t be classified information.」
“Ah. Right.”
Each family’s fleet information was classified.
“I’m curious what scale of engagement our ship can handle right now… but I guess we won’t know until someone actually picks a fight.”
After shrugging as if he understood, Yeongwoo raised his index finger as if to say don’t forget.
“You didn’t forget the sparring fee you owe me, right? Just donate it to Doatel under my name. Like we promised then, the amount is up to you, but now that you’re a proper heir, you’ll keep at least the minimum Prestige.”
「Understood. Are you done talking now? I want to stop looking at your face.」
“Either way, you gave us money, so you’re my customer. And we’re the type to accommodate customer requests as much as possible.”
With those words, Yeongwoo ended the communication with Alden Miras.
Phaat!
Then outside the window changed once again into the multicolored scenery of the relay tunnel.
―So right now… you suddenly earned 10 billion?
Jiseon asked with an expression like she couldn’t believe it.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Since what happened with Alden took place inside the night dungeon, most of the people here—including Jiseon—didn’t know the exact details.
“Suddenly, you say. That’s because you don’t know how much I suffer every night in the dungeon.”
Besides, wouldn’t he soon have to go suffer again?
“I’ll have to head out again soon.”
In the meantime, quite a bit of time had passed, and in about ten minutes, the night dungeon would open along with a new anomalous weather.
“The next black hole—said it’d take about three hours, right?”
『Yeah. There’s a significant concern it overlaps with your dungeon time.』
“I’ll do whatever I can to finish the dungeon within three hours, so if you arrive before I’m back, wait near the black hole.”
『What if we end up engaging someone in the meantime?』
“That’s why there’s an acting captain, isn’t there? If it looks like a fight we can handle, engage under Mr. Mantero’s instructions. If things start going bad, dive into the black hole.”
『Understood. Still, I hope it doesn’t come to the worst-case scenario.』
The worst-case scenario, in Earth’s mind, was facing the black hole without the shipmaster.
And then, at last.
「As of the current time, [Anomalous Weather] Toxic Downpour is generated.」
Tonight’s anomalous weather began.
『Toxic downpour? Sounds brutal just from the name.』
When Earth snapped his fingers, the bridge window that had been showing the relay tunnel projected the real outside scenery—the sky of Metal Seoul.
Swaaaah……!
Specifically, the sky above Gwangjin District, where deep blue rain was pouring down.
“Alright, I’m going. Good work, everyone.”
After looking over the room, Yeongwoo stepped toward the bridge exit, taking only the Golden Goblin with him.
Tat.
Then the elevator carried Yeongwoo down to the lower level in the blink of an eye, and Negwig, who had been waiting at the entrance early, greeted him.
-Kkwiik.
Negwig welcomed Yeongwoo with its characteristic sharp cry.
In response, Yeongwoo wiped away the toxic raindrops starting to strike his forehead with his hand and climbed onto Negwig.
“This dungeon we’re going to today might be the last one. We’ve only got two spheres left now.”
If he couldn’t find a way to keep supplying golden spheres, not only the dungeon, but even the means to feed humanity would disappear.
So, as Earth said, the most urgent problem might indeed be securing golden spheres.
‘I don’t know how wide the range of “non-qualified planets” is. Are all places not under planetary trial non-qualified planets?’
If that were the case, then in theory it would mean he could obtain spheres on Doatel, or even on Tehen, where they had stopped earlier.
But if there were separate criteria for a non-qualified planet, then for a while he’d have to roam space looking for such planets.
‘No, if it was going to be like this, shouldn’t they have given me something like a non-qualified planet detector?’
Yeongwoo drove Negwig to an empty lot in Gwangjin District, complaining—half-complaint, half-not.
Then, around the time he judged enough space had been secured, he stepped down to the ground together with the Golden Goblin.
“Let’s summon it over there. This dungeon will probably be pretty large too.”
When Yeongwoo pointed to the center of the lot, the Golden Goblin set the golden sphere down there.
Now all that remained was activation.
Suaaah—!
Soon, the golden sphere turned pitch black, informing him that summoning the night dungeon had become possible, and Yeongwoo, without delay, placed his hand on top of the sphere.
Teop.
Then the ground immediately trembled, and the wave bursting out from the sphere dyed the area ash-gray.
‘What is it, today’s dungeon.’
Since it was a dungeon he could enter only once per day, he couldn’t help but be excited every time.
And depending on the dungeon’s rules, wouldn’t the survival rate change dramatically?
Kwaddeudeuk!
Then the ground at Yeongwoo’s feet began to crumble, and the moment Yeongwoo stepped back upon seeing it, a huge spire surged up from beneath the ground.
Kudeuk!
And simultaneously, from the sky too, a spire descended upside down and struck heads with the top of the spire on the ground.
‘What… this one isn’t ordinary.’
Yeongwoo barely stopped his hand from instinctively reaching toward his waist.
Then, right on cue, from between the two spires whose tips were touching, an incomprehensible voice rang out thunderously.
And then transcendent letters appeared before Yeongwoo.
「We invite you to the ‘Slaughter Ground.’」
“Slaughter Ground?”
「In this dungeon, you can obtain great rewards and fame, but survival is not guaranteed. In any way whatsoever, some among the participants will die.」
“Well, isn’t that the same for any dungeon?”
As Yeongwoo muttered like that, a huge red portal opened its mouth, and above it it revealed a number.
「Average survival rate : 26%」
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]