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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 33
"What happened here that made it like this? No, forget it. Let's get into the shade first."
Ryu Haneul helped Baekya up and led him to the shade of a sand dune.
Ryu Haneul tried to sit Baekya down, but...
Thud.
"..."
Baekya collapsed onto the sand, lying flat on his back.
His unfocused black eyes looked hazy and decadent.
Objectively, Ryu Haneul had every reason to resent Baekya.
He had followed him into the Tower to help, but Baekya, who was supposed to lead the clearing, had collapsed.
However, Ryu Haneul smiled mischievously.
'This is the first time I've seen Senior so listless.'
It was a sight that even Cheong Siyeol hadn't witnessed.
'Whether Senior saves the world or destroys it, I want to be by your side. I wish I could be with you from the beginning, through the middle, and to the end.'
It was as if he had found another kind of heaven.
Whether aware of these feelings or not, Baekya mumbled softly.
"...Find it."
"What?"
"Finding a needle in a desert."
"What do you mean?"
"That's the Epilogue Story here."
Ryu Haneul checked his status window.
'There wasn't even a notification.'
An Aitel quest had appeared at some point.
【Epilogue Story: Finding a Needle in a Desert】
Just reading the contents made him gasp.
【The wealthy merchant Al Chiron of the Comet Merchant Group wants to go to heaven. But it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. After years of careful breeding, Al Chiron has created a small camel that can pass through the eye of a needle. Now, all that's left is to find the right needle and have the camel pass through it.】
【Al Chiron has reached the tombs of the pagan kings, where countless treasure needles are said to be hidden according to legend. However, Al Chiron, a devout believer, cannot enter the tombs of the pagan kings. If you find the needle for Al Chiron, he will reward you greatly.】
【Scenario Reward: Genie's Lamp (Mythical)】
Ryu Haneul reread it several times, wondering if he had misunderstood something.
'But it's not wrong?'
After repeating it three times, Ryu Haneul accepted that this was indeed an Epilogue Story about finding a needle in a desert.
"How did you progress through this story?"
Ryu Haneul asked.
Baekya weakly raised his hand and pointed in one direction.
Between two massive sand dunes, something like the roar of a beast could be heard.
"Go and see. Wait... put me down..."
Ryu Haneul carried Baekya and walked between the dunes.
'Wow.'
Beyond the dunes, there was a procession that seemed straight out of Arabian Nights.
"Pay your respects to Lord Al Chiron!"
A procession of elephants and camels, much larger than those on Earth, stretched to the horizon.
Countless handsome men and beautiful women, along with guards armed with fine weapons, bustled about.
The merchant leader, Al Chiron, was at the head of the procession.
He was riding on the back of an elephant adorned with gold and purple silk armor, and slowly descended as if to meet someone.
Ryu Haneul checked who Al Chiron was going to meet.
'Lee Baejeong?'
A handsome man with a stylish bob of yellow and mint-colored hair, wearing a well-tailored black suit.
It was Lee Baejeong.
He was translucent like a ghost, but he didn't seem to notice anything amiss.
Ryu Haneul ducked his head below the sand dune and then carefully peeked back up.
They weren't too far away.
With an Awakened's senses, it was easy to notice them.
But Lee Baejeong didn't seem to be aware of their presence at all.
Ryu Haneul thought that they couldn't actually be in the same place.
'Originally, each of us should have been dropped into a different space.'
Lee Baejeong looked dismayed, as if he had just received a quest.
He looked back at the desert and shrugged his shoulders.
Ryu Haneul spoke to Baekya, who was still lying on the sand.
"Senior, Lee Baejeong also received the quest."
"I see."
"Shouldn't we complete it first?"
"Let him be. Let him suffer a bit like I did."
"What?"
"The size of the tomb is no joke."
Ryu Haneul didn't understand what Baekya meant.
Lee Baejeong used some kind of skill and walked away.
* * *
The tomb was an enormous underground structure.
They had to dig through the sandy desert to find the entrance and then explore the interior.
Lee Baejeong managed to do that without much difficulty.
He was originally an Awakened specialized in sealing and searching.
Since Baekya was still out of it, Ryu Haneul followed Lee Baejeong inside alone.
The tomb became wider and wider as they descended.
The walls were covered in all sorts of hieroglyphs, which even Ryu Haneul, who had the 'Decryption' skill, couldn't read.
[TL/N: Hieroglyphs — a system of pictorial writing used by the ancient Egyptians, and the word means "sacred carving".]
Ryu Haneul would occasionally come back out and tell Baekya what he saw.
'Senior is only holding on because he has stronger mental fortitude than me, but he must be in a very confused state right now. I need to keep talking to him and make him realize that this isn't that time.'
"Senior, there are hieroglyphs inside, but I can't decrypt them. How was it back then?"
"Same here. I couldn't read them either. None of us could. We just wasted time."
While searching for the path, they often entered the wrong rooms.
Inside were large and small mummies and swarms of flesh-eating scarab beetles that attacked them.
"Damn it!"
Every time Lee Baejeong threw a tantrum, Ryu Haneul laughed triumphantly.
Mummies were nothing in front of the Black Heavenly Sword Aura and Samadhi Evolution, and the flesh-eating scarab beetles couldn't penetrate Ryu Haneul's body, which had mastered the Black Maitreya Divine Art.
"How did you deal with them, Senior?"
"I burned them all. Surprisingly, the ventilation system worked well, so I didn't suffocate."
There were also traps like spikes, maces, or spiked maces that shot out from the floor or walls.
Beyond those traps were treasure rooms.
As soon as Lee Baejeong opened one of the doors, he collapsed on the spot.
"Oh my god."
Even Ryu Haneul agreed with Lee Baejeong at that moment.
"Whoa."
The treasure room was larger than six regulation-size soccer fields combined and filled with all sorts of jewels.
A significant portion of it was occupied by treasure needles.
Large and small needles carved from various jewels like gold, silver, crystal, and turquoise were piled up, reaching the high ceiling.
Lee Baejeong tried to use countless skills like 'Search,' 'Appraisal,' and 'Tracking,' but within the tomb, protected by the aura of the dead king, he couldn't identify which needle was the story artifact.
"So in the end, you just grabbed a bunch and came out."
"There's no other way but to check them one by one."
"Even carrying them out wasn't easy. The mummies followed us all the way to the desert."
"Yeah, they're relentless."
At first, Lee Baejeong took a large number of needles.
But the way back from the tomb to Al Chiron wasn't easy either.
["You dare steal the king's treasure!"]
A crocodile giant mummy and a jackal giant mummy, probably around B+ Rank, attacked.
Lee Baejeong eventually subdued them, but he lost a considerable number of needles during the fight.
In a situation where he couldn't tell which needle was the story artifact, it was a fatal mistake.
He managed to bring back 315 needles.
"No."
"That's not it either."
"This one isn't it either."
Al Chiron shook his head at all of them.
Lee Baejeong shrugged as if he had expected this.
Ryu Haneul and Baekya watched as Lee Baejeong entered the tomb once again.
"It seems like around 200 is the safe limit if you don't want to drop any."
"Yeah, I could manage up to 250."
"And one round trip takes about 40 minutes."
Suddenly, Baekya's eyes regained focus.
"It took me nine years and seven months to empty that entire pyramid."
It wasn't a mumble like before; it was his usual powerful voice.
"Senior?!"
Ryu Haneul was shocked by both the tone and the content of his words.
The sun was setting over the desert.
Baekya sneered.
"Let's see how long it takes Lee Baejeong."
* * *
The time Baekya spent regaining his senses grew longer each day.
From then on, instead of following Lee Baejeong, Ryu Haneul would go into the tomb and bring out useful items.
Good artifacts often appeared inside the coffins.
Of course, there were guardian mummies, killer scarab beetles, and giant scorpions.
"Heavenly Demon's Reign!"
But nothing could stop 'Heavenly Demon' Ryu Haneul.
"Senior, I'm back."
"You're back?"
Under the blue sky, in the shade of a sand dune.
Baekya, who had been lying with his eyes closed as if dead, opened them at the sound of Ryu Haneul's voice.
Ryu Haneul had crossed the desert sand without leaving a single footprint, using a special movement technique.
"You're good now?"
"I don't think so. My head feels like it's splitting. I heard medicine made from mummies is good for you, do you have any?"
"The mummies I saw here didn't seem like they'd be good for that. But I did find this medicine."
"The name of the elixir is... 3,000-Year-Old Honey? Is it safe to eat? Wait, it's B-Rank?!"
Ryu Haneul rummaged through his Eastern-style robe adorned with the sun and moon, pulling out various artifacts.
"This is a mummy's bandage, a healing item."
"Not bad."
"This is the Eye of Thoth amulet, mages would love it."
[TL/N: Thoth — The God of Moon, of reckoning, of learning, and of writing— in Egyptian religion.]
"I love it too. It's a mana item. It would be great to attach it to the Winter Duke's Standard. Can I borrow it?"
"I'll just give it to you. It's not really my style. Oh, and this is a fragment of the Emerald Tablet. It's just a fragment, but it's listed as Legendary?"
"Keep it safe. I have a few too. They say if you collect all 81, it becomes Mythical."
"Wow?!"
"Why do you look so surprised?"
"You know me well now, Senior. This is what I found today."
He handed Baekya a scarab amulet made of gold and lapis lazuli.
【Solar Scarab (Hero)】
【Effect: Battle Continuation. Nullifies fatal wounds once.】
Baekya stared at it for a moment, then returned it to Ryu Haneul.
"Shouldn't you keep it?"
But Ryu Haneul forcefully pushed it into Baekya's pocket.
"I haven't died yet. You've already died once, Senior, so you're more likely to die again. You should have it."
Baekya accepted it, feigning reluctance.
"I feel a bit annoyed, but I can't really argue. Thanks."
"And I already have a similar skill. Have you heard of Returning Light?"
"As far as I know, that's not similar to this one, is it?"
"The effect is similar."
"Alright then. What about Lee Baejeong?"
Ryu Haneul grinned at Baekya's question.
"He's currently grabbing the merchant by the collar."
"How much time has passed?"
"Three weeks. It's almost four weeks now."
"He's slower than us. We endured for three months without complaining."
Then, his expression turned 180 degrees, and he asked seriously.
"Senior, how long did it take you to get out of here?"
How long did it take to get out?
It was a question that reminded him that he had indeed escaped this place before.
Baekya was gradually regaining his senses throughout the day.
Maybe he could overcome the nightmare now.
As if lost in memories, Baekya's eyes grew distant.
Finally, he spoke.
"It varied for each person. The shortest was 10 years, and the one who endured with me until the end lasted 400 years."
It was a time span Ryu Haneul couldn't even imagine.
"What?! 400 years?!"
Baekya nodded.
"It was that kind of time."
"What kind of time?"
"A time when we were busy, but could finally catch our breath?"
"Ah."
"Up until the 9th floor, there weren't enough Hunters outside to block the Gates... and I needed some time alone. You might have seen it, but my real family..."
"Yes, I saw. You don't have to say anything."
"Right. But around that time, I had come to terms with things, and the country had stabilized a bit. So, for the 10th-floor raid, I entered with teammates for the first time."
Distant memories flashed before his eyes.
Baekya slowly recounted the events of the past.
'It's safe near the merchants. Leave if you can't handle it.'
'You should be the one to leave. You'll go crazy at this rate.'
'I'm already crazy.'
'Don't be so self-deprecating.'
'It's okay. I'm really okay. I can leave anytime, so I just have to fight myself.'
'Do you know how many years have passed?'
'Do I need to know?'
'...'
'They say time is just a way to divide change into regular units.'
'You're talking in riddles.'
'Since we're doing the same thing every day, not a single day has passed.'
'Which pyramid was this?'
'The 43rd, or maybe the 44th.'
Baekya finished his long recollection and words.
"...It took a long time."
The night sky was filled with stars, the sunset long gone.
Ryu Haneul, filled with a mix of emotions from pity to shock, asked.
"So, Senior, how many years did it take you to clear this place?"
Baekya looked into the distance and answered.
"3,000 years."
Ryu Haneul squeezed his eyes shut.
It was an unimaginable amount of time.
Baekya replied, slightly embarrassed.
"And I didn't even clear it properly. I erased the entire desert with Law of Light."
His voice had regained its usual confidence.
"What do you mean...?"
"I'm back to my senses now. Let's go finish this."
"What?"
"I found the needle."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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