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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 16
Wolha and I left for the Gate early in the morning.
It was the place where Ilha and Wolha used to work together.
"It's this way."
"Should we take the bus?"
I stopped Wolha, who was heading towards the bus stop as if it were natural, and called a taxi on the spot.
"Hyung, you can't keep spending money like this."
"Time is money, Wolha. Didn't you say that even an hour would be precious later?"
I asked Wolha a question in the taxi.
"We just need to go there and stamp our seals, right?"
"Yes, we're going to terminate our employment contracts."
"Terminate the contracts?"
"You know, that law Baekya-nim made a while ago. The one that requires Gate mining companies to get a stamp from porters whenever they quit."
I had made so many laws that even I couldn't remember them all.
Wolha looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Why are you talking like you don't know? You worked longer. You must have stamped the papers when I recovered and we changed companies, right?"
"Did we?"
"If we didn't, they're breaking the law, right? Should we report them now and get a reward?"
His eyes lit up at the mention of a reward, and it was quite a sight to behold.
"Forget it. It's all in the past."
I remembered.
When we were cracking down on that artifact scam, we added a clause to the Awakened Protection Act.
'Didn't we make it so that if a porter dies, the company has to shut down?'
'We did?'
'So the mining company owners aren't reporting porter deaths and just pretending they quit on their own.'
'Wow. That's a new one.'
'What should we do about it?'
'Wouldn't it be enough to get a stamp from them whenever they quit?'
'Wouldn't everyone find that bothersome? And there's the actual issue of porters leaving without notice.'
'It's a matter of life and death.'
I knew that Ilha and Wolha were quite diligent and skilled porters.
They wouldn't let them go easily.
That's what I thought the whole way there, and as expected, I was right.
A Gate opened near Namhansanseong Fortress.
A mining company was located on the second floor of a commercial building next to it.
In that place, which had an atmosphere somewhere between a labor agency and a mercenary office...
The tough-looking executives grumbled.
"Hey, how can you just quit like this after not showing up for the past few weeks without saying anything?"
"We naturally assumed you both would come back. We even kept your spots and took good care of your equipment."
"Come on, young people shouldn't be so disloyal. They say hardship builds character when you're young. Just finish up today's work, okay?"
Things were getting messy.
Wolha spoke firmly, but the seasoned executives tried to brush it off with friendly smiles.
"We're quitting. Bring us the contract."
"Don't be like that, just think of it as earning some extra cash and help us out for today. We have to pay tribute to the Guild, you know?"
Every time they smiled, the smell of cigarettes wafted from between their yellowed teeth.
I desperately suppressed the urge to test the combo of the 'Ghost Princess's Handkerchief' tightly tied around my wrist and the 'Champion's Sword' sheathed in leather and slung over my back.
No.
Why should I suppress it?
Since things have turned out this way, how about I start by splitting the loudest one in half and then resume the conversation?
I can calm Wolha down later.
Yeah. That's a good idea.
As I reached for my back, the Gate outside the window suddenly caught my eye.
The Gate had consumed the entire interior of the neighboring commercial building.
Come to think of it, I remember receiving a report about the Gate at Namhansanseong Fortress.
The raid went well, the yield was good, and the golem mobs were non-aggressive, making them ideal for mining.
I distinctly remember them mentioning that it dropped artifacts related to the 'Hardening' skill.
Unless I have overwhelming firepower like before, durability is crucial for me now that I've fallen so far.
Didn't I almost get trampled to death by horse hooves just yesterday?
"..."
Looking at the fingers of the company executives, I noticed they were all wearing rings that seemed to be defensive artifacts.
"In that case, I'll just go in and say goodbye to my former colleagues."
"Hyung!"
Wolha was shocked as soon as I spoke.
His delicate face hardened with worry.
Yeah, I understand.
He probably thinks his airheaded brother is about to get taken advantage of again.
This time, it will be different.
"But only I'll go in. And I'll stamp the papers as soon as I come out."
Alright. Let's go hunt some golems in secret.
* * *
The executives of 'Woori Mining,' a subcontractor in charge of managing the Namhansanseong Grade 3 Gate, had been in a state of chaos lately.
'Million Loans is completely bankrupt. Everyone's dead, and the building burned down.'
'So what happened to hyungnim?'
'They investigated the burnt jawbone found there, and it matches our hyungnim's gold tooth placement.'
Their main job was as mining company executives, but their side hustle was scamming porters as loan sharks for Million Loans.
Initially, the idea was to keep the porters in debt so they couldn't quit easily.
However, as their relationships deepened, the commission they received for each person they sent increased.
'This month, we made more from referral fees.'
The mining company's profit margins weren't that high.
After paying rent to the Guild, the Gate's owner— daily wages to the porters, and taxes, there wasn't much left.
Naturally, their eyes turned towards the side benefits rather than the main task.
Before they knew it, they were more enthusiastic about their side hustle than their main job.
'This is a gold mine!'
'I didn't know they worked so hard.'
'Let's sell another artifact. Someone get a fake one quickly.'
They had also caught the Ilha and Wolha brothers in the same way.
With a debt exceeding 800 million won, the brothers were destined to work themselves to the bone, filling the executives' pockets until they died.
But then something completely incomprehensible happened.
Million Loans went bankrupt, and their boss died along with it.
In that situation, as if they had been waiting, Ilha and Wolha came to them, saying they wanted to quit.
They had many questions.
Did they pay off their debt to Million Loans?
What exactly happened to the boss?
...Did you two do something?
However, these weren't questions the mining company executives, who were officially unrelated to Million Loans, could ask.
In that situation, if the two of them were willing to part ways, and even better, if one of them was willing to enter the Gate where there was no phone signal, they were just grateful.
【Would you like to enter the cleared Gate 'Aringen's Open-Pit Mine'?】
【Y / N】
Before reaching the ending, this Gate was a rocky plateau filled with giant Golems.
Now that the ending had been reached, most of the high-level mobs were gone, but even the F-Rank and E-Rank monsters roaming the field as remnants of the nightmare were fatal to porters.
The place with the best Mana Stone yield was at 12 o'clock from the entrance.
That was also where the porters worked.
Step.
However, contrary to his words about greeting his colleagues, Ilha headed in the opposite direction, towards 6 o'clock.
Of course, the executives welcomed that.
'Thank you.'
In the desolate and gloomy Gate, it was hard to see each other even if they were just a short distance apart.
There were also many towering rock pillars in this area, blocking sounds intermittently.
No one would know what was happening here.
Step.
Ilha continued walking.
He also looked around as if searching for someone.
Executive Hwang, the longest-serving executive at the company and a C-Rank Awakened, called out to Ilha.
"Stop right there."
"What?"
A disrespectful, informal reply came back.
Ilha didn't even turn his body, just glanced over his shoulder at them.
His eyes held a sense of emptiness and mockery that didn't seem to fit him.
Executive Hwang, feeling a subtle displeasure, pointed and said.
"And why are you acting so awkwardly? Why are you here looking for your hyungs? You know no one comes this way because there are still Golems left here."
"Oh, really? I didn't know that."
"And this kid's been using informal speech since earlier. Hey, how old are you?"
"Age doesn't really matter. Time flows differently in here."
"Stop talking nonsense and come here quickly, you brat. It's okay! We won't kill you! Just answer a few questions, and you can come back to work tomorrow."
The executives all laughed at the same time.
Clang.
Executive Hwang drew a long sword from his waist.
Ilha raised an eyebrow, as if he was surprised.
"You're going with such a cliche?"
At that moment, Executive Hwang suddenly thought that Ilha was taller than he remembered.
'What's this?'
Come to think of it, his features had become much more defined, and his deep eyes held an indescribable charisma.
It reminded him of high-ranking Awakened who had been chosen by the stars.
Ilha reached for the scabbard at his waist.
His slow movements made Executive Hwang anxious.
"...Kid, put that sword down. You'll get hurt badly."
The other executives chuckled.
"Hey! Come here and beg quickly. Executive Hwang is scary when he's angry."
"You're F-Rank! Idiot. What are you even going to do to a C-Rank?"
"Do you think you suddenly have some hidden power? Did buying an artifact make you think the world is yours? We have artifacts too! Much better ones than yours."
Executive Hwang couldn't laugh.
'Is it that sword and shield set? It's definitely a fake, just for show. Even if it were real, he’s F-Rank and I'm C-Rank, we're not in the same league. But why…?'
Looking at the blade tinged with a gray aura, his lips suddenly felt dry for some reason.
Hum. Hum. Hum. Hum.
And as the blade began to glow red like molten iron in a furnace, Executive Hwang thought.
'Huh?'
Something was going very, very wrong.
* * *
【Radiant Light Sword】
Baekya gripped the glowing red sword and accelerated.
Tap.
The first step was a brisk walk, but from the second step, his speed increased noticeably, and from the third, he left long afterimages.
【Skills... are being activated.】
【Titles... are being activated.】
Battle Maniac, Battle Healing, Human Slayer, Sword-Body Unity...
Countless passive skills and titles activated, amplifying all of the Awakened's stats by tens or even hundreds of times.
"This bastard really wants to fight!"
Executive Hwang shouted, as if trying to suppress his fear with anger, and swung his sword.
Even the abundant vitality of an Awakened couldn't completely overcome years of indulgence, leaving him with a protruding belly and a double chin, but his swordsmanship still retained some of its former sharpness.
Slash!
The sword strike, swung in the shape of the number 4, aimed to tear Baekya's body apart.
In response, Baekya swung the Champion's Sword off-beat, disrupting Executive Hwang's combo.
Clang!
With a dull metallic sound, Executive Hwang stumbled back.
"What?"
His eyes trembled as if he was having a nightmare.
There was a significant difference in stats between F-Rank and C-Rank that couldn't be overcome by any technique.
'Did he reawaken or something?'
Executive Hwang gritted his teeth at the inexplicable phenomenon.
The image of Ilha, bowing and scraping before him for his daily wage, resurfaced.
"How dare you!"
Executive Hwang shouted in rage and raised his sword once more.
Clang, clang! Clatter!
'Not bad.'
Baekya thought as he parried Executive Hwang's sword.
The mining company's boss he had killed recently was a retired C+ Rank Awakened Mage, but his reaction speed was incredibly slow due to the aftereffects of his injury.
'He's much better in one-on-one combat.'
Executive Hwang parried the sword Baekya thrust at his shoulder and dodged the kick aimed at the side of his knee.
Swoosh!
An upward slash adapted from a Brazilian kick, changing its trajectory mid-swing...
Thud, Thud!
He skillfully blocked the attacks, utilizing both the ring, which seemed to have a Body Hardening option, and his sword.
He parried the Champion's Sword with his ring-clad hand while simultaneously thrusting his own sword forward, showing considerable skill.
It was a counterattack technique that required not only skill but also guts and good equipment.
'If the ring is this good, the other artifacts the Golem drops must be great too. Let's quickly subdue him, hunt the Golem, and get out of here.'
Baekya let out a mocking laugh.
"So you dare!"
【Trait 'Invincible Laughter'】
[TL/N: Sun-like Laughter → Invincible Laughter]
"Ugh!"
The trait activated, and Executive Hwang's body froze.
【Ghost Princess's Handkerchief】
It was time to test the artifact's function.
【Distortion Barrier】
Swoosh!
An eerie aura rose from the glowing red sword.
The Champion's Sword blurred.
It was as if he had used 'Invisibility.'
"What the...?"
Executive Hwang's pupils trembled.
Slash!
Baekya strode forward like a gust of wind and swung his sword.
'What?!'
Executive Hwang saw his left arm fly into the air, severed below the elbow.
"Executive Hwang!"
"You bastard!"
The other executives shouted in anger, drawing their weapons.
At that moment, Executive Hwang caught a glimpse of Baekya's white ring-shaped halo flickering.
Like a screen with static, a red light flickered between the frames.
He didn't know it, but it was because the resources used to camouflage the halo with 'Distortion' were being disrupted.
'Reawakening?'
Executive Hwang tried to shout a denial.
The opponent was not the Ilha they knew.
The monster disguised as Ilha pulled off the Hardening ring and put it on his own finger, then raised his sword.
“Finally, I have something to back me up.”
He muttered.
With a smile as if he had regained something precious he had forgotten.
"Get him!"
The four executives charged at him simultaneously.
The man who was once Ilha grinned, a chilling smile spreading across his face.
The still-invisible blade swung in a blur of deadly arcs, swift as lightning and thunder.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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