Chapter 336 5th area, Old Blue Zone 1

Chapter 336 5th area, Old Blue Zone 1

'Shall I open the letter first, or the box?'

Hansoo pondered for a moment, but decided to open the box first.

He was curious about its contents.

'Anyway, you usually look at the product first, and then read the directions after.'

Hansoo mumbled to himself as he approached the box; Kiriel, Ekidu, and Karhal followed suit.

Hansoo asked the three:

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Ha, this is nothing, you know? As long as we win, we'll heal."

"I'm fine as well."

The three replied with voices full of vigor.

And Hansoo stared at the three.

'…It really has been a while.'

Two of them… two years.

One… a few decades.

He really couldn't think of what to say since it had been so long since he'd seen them.

Even though he had so much he wanted to say.

Karhal chuckled as he watched the hesitating Hansoo, and then spoke to him while pointing towards the box.

"Stop staring at me and just open the damn box first! I'm curious too. I'm feeling very greedy right now, you know?"

Hansoo smirked and nodded.

"Sure, since I'm the one who got hit the most and suffered the most, it makes sense for me to open it."

"Dammit, do you not know that I suffered a lot, too? While you were asleep. Ugh."

Karhal shuddered at the memories as Hansoo laughed at him.

Hansoo then approached the box that stood out from its surroundings; it was neatly tied by a ribbon.

He untied the ribbon and opened the lid.

pew

Something came out, with bright lights accompanying it.

Not one, but many.

'…Four?'

Four boxes, all completely different in color and appearance.

And weirdly, the four items each had a name on them.

[For Hansoo-Gang]

'…That's some strange taste. They even misspelled my name. It's K, not G.'

From the sloppy penmanship, he knew right then who had written these words.

Since there was only one type of person who kept trying their best to be kind to them in this damned world.

'I don't know why they didn't meet us personally, but…'

Anyway, he realized why they'd divided it into four objects.

It depended on a person's contributions.

But from what he knew, the reward for the Arc-Roa would be more than big enough for the four of them.

"There seems to be one for each of us. Let's take a look."

Kiriel and the other two walked up to their respective boxes and took out their contents.

"Oh, mine is a crystal? I guess I fought a bit harder than Ekidu."

"Yes, mine seems to be a crystal too, but a bit smaller than Karhal's."

Ekidu and Karhal both received crystals.

The crystals were huge. It would have taken at least half a year for them to gather a similar amount if they hunted for it on their own.

'Those… shouldn't be able to get them to a 2 star, but it'll be pretty close.'

Well, the Ark-Roa did devour countless transcendents.

After calculating the size of Karhal and Ekidu's crystals, as well as their current level of strength, Hansoo then lifted his item.

His reward was a bit different from Kiriel's.

'Mine is… a Marble?'

A marble with countless forms within it.

It seemed to have been created by mixing countless different colors, and looked like a typical black bowling ball one could find in any bowling range.

However, it was only the size of a fist, and looked much, much more beautiful than a bowling ball.

On the other hand, Kiriel's item looked like a claw from a beast.

Or maybe a tooth, or maybe a horn.

'But it doesn't seem to have any effects. Doesn't look edible, either.'

At that moment, Hansoo saw the letter.

There seemed to be an explanation below their names.

<arc-roa's metamorphosed core - ½>

'Mmm…this doesn't really explain it.'

He still wasn't sure what it meant.

Hansoo picked up the letter and opened it to read; he wanted to try and figure out what this Marble could be used for.

[Hahaha! I wonder if you're doing well! A pity I can't meet you in person. I can only write you a letter, instead.]

'…'

Hansoo shook his head at the still-playful words of the fairy and continued to read.

And the question he had in his mind was answered for him.

[I'll explain why I cannot appear before you, but… let me say this first. Those so-called beings you guys call 'transcendents' are just people who sit between the Abyss and the seven-colored zones.]

He knew this.

It was the reason why the transcendents were many time stronger than ordinary people of the same zone.

The Seven Zone system was made to strengthen humans to the point where they could reach the level of the Abyss anyway.

The existence of the transcendents meant that the system created by the fairies to raise the people's strengths just wasn't enough anymore.

'Even if we touch our ears, the system panel no longer comes up.'

Although the normal adventurers might still be under the system, if those people were the students preparing to enter the university called 'Abyss', then the transcendents were the graduates who were fully qualified.

And to become as strong as a transcendent, you needed to at least be as strong as a level one would be at the Violet Zone, because the people of the Violet Zone would still be able to survive in the Abyss.

Of course, that was in comparison to the 1 star transcendents.

'The Solo Numberings… they don't have much meaning anymore. They're still useful, though.'

Solo Numberings were nine items that were at their strongest when raised to the level of the Violet Zones.

Which meant that the items reached their limits at the Violet Zone.

Maybe the 1 star transcendents could still use them, but for a 2 star like him, they weren't enough.

And truthfully, they'd already stopped using the artifacts left behind by the fairies when they were in the Abyss.

They'd used those artifacts to kill the fairies and rip apart the abyssal beasts, and then recreated a weapon from their corpses.

[Since we're only the managers of the Seven Zones, it's hard to pry into the affairs of transcendents since you guys are basically graduates. Still, don't get too cocky. It doesn't mean you're stronger than us or anything. Heh.]

'Childish.'

He knew this already.

The God's messengers who controlled this world would not go down with just this measly strength.

[But then, we can't really leave you guys alone, you babies of the transcendence… It'll be a waste of time if we don't help since this whole system was made to strengthen you guys, right?]

Hansoo nodded.

These words were correct.

The best artifacts and skills of the Seven Zones were those categorized at the level of the Solo Numberings.

The very definition of Numbering meant being the most powerful of the Seven Zones.

All his Zero Numberings had been given to him directly by the fairy anyway.

No artifacts, only skills.

[You can use crystals to strengthen skills, and through fighting you can raise their mastery level, but artifacts are a bit different. It's possible for you to create one, but you don't have enough information at hand to do so.]

Hansoo nodded at these words.

A powerful beast like the Arc-Roa could be transformed into a weapon that even he could use.

Which is how he'd fought in the past as well.

But in order to do that, their alchemy, metallurgy, and their crafting abilities needed to be at a much higher level.

It wasn't like a game where a blacksmith could just hammer at some random materials, and then create a godly sword out of the blue.

It was much more realistic.

One needed to be at the same level as the Violet Zone at least.

Recycling the corpses of beasts to create artifacts that transcendents can use; only those who'd raised their mastery of all three skills to the level of the Violet Zone level Only the people whose masteries of these three skills had been raised to the level of the Violet Zone, acquired countless knowledge and created an efficient method to handle such materials could create artifacts that transcendents could use by recycling the corpses of beasts.

'It'd be even better if I could acquire the <plant> system I was going to get from the Violet Zone.'

[Of course, giving you crystals isn't very fair for you. You don't need them. You've already had the right to leave from the beginning.]

Hansoo already possessed the right to go over the wall without the crystals.

This meant that he was at an advantage compared to others, but at the same time, he was also losing out.

What was the point in killing beasts if he had no use for their crystals?

His skill masteries would rise, but there were no other rewards.

[So this is my act of benevolence to you. Since you've already leveled up, you'll need to gear up as well, right? I'll send you something every time you kill some useful fellows so keep that in mind. And try harder if you want to gain more skills. You'll receive another skill every time you manage to kill something by yourself.]

'…Is it like a material?'

If it was, then he could create a good artifact even if he didn't have the skills to do so.

Since the fairy had already taken care of the middle processes for him.

Hansoo smiled at this point.

'Not bad.'

He could just raise his masteries to get stronger, and then find other ways to get the three remaining skills.

The thing he'd been most worried about was the artifact, but now the fairies had solved the issue just like that.

This was a much better reward for him in comparison to a crystal.

'I've gained this, too.'

—rumble—

After taking a glance at the hammer in his hands, Hansoo read the last line of the letter.

[P.S. Having the Mjölnir is cheating… but,I'll let it go, since the others are also working hard.]

Hansoo destroyed the letter after reading those mysterious last words.

'The others are also working hard… hmm.'

There were still questions left unanswered.

Like his missing ring.

But those questions would naturally be answered once he went up.

'Finally, it's time to go up.'

Hansoo mumbled towards the sky-high tower in the distance.

...............

One month later.

—rumble—

The giant elevator loudly opened its doors.

'5th floor.'

Hansoo thought of the things he'd done in the past month as he stepped off the elevator.