Chapter 176

In Delos, the Odria City-State Alliance.

The group was on their way out of the golden tower.

“Um… Is this really okay?” Choi Hyun-seok wore a bitter expression.

“What is?”

“Lich and that warrior Liam. The two most crucial ones survived, didn’t they?”

“And?”

“Taking all the money feels a bit…”

Park Hyun-a’s face crumpled.

“Are you a pushover? The information was wrong from the start, the information! We did enough considering that. The Odria City-State Alliance is safe too. Isn’t that enough?”

“Well, yes, but…”

Choi Hyun-seok still had an unsatisfied look on his face.

“Ah! Could it be that our noble hero’s conscience is bothering him?”

Park Hyun-a clicked her tongue and shook her head.

“Well, if that’s the case, we have no choice. I’ll have to put this money back.”

As Park Hyun-a moved to tuck the heavy money pouch into her clothes, Choi Hyun-seok quickly grabbed her wrist.

“What’s wrong? Our hero can’t accept such dirty money, right?”

“Older sister, money itself has no sin.”

“That’s more like it.”

Park Hyun-a smirked and held out the money pouch.

When Choi Hyun-seok received the pouch, he was surprised by how light it was.

“What is this? Is it fake!?”

“What do you take me for, kid? It’s a magic pouch with space expansion and weight reduction enchantments. It’s a service bonus, so keep it safe.”

“Ah… But this. How much is in here?”

“Three thousand gold.”

“Th-three thousand gold!?”

“Don’t use it alone, share it with the party.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Choi Hyun-seok gave a salute while grinning.

Three thousand gold.

Just looking at the pouch made him feel full.

“But older sister, how much money is three thousand gold exactly?”

“What do you mean?”

“I still don’t have a good grasp of this world’s economy…”

He knew three thousand gold was a lot of money.

Gold coins – he already knew how precious each one was from experience.

But he was curious about exactly what he could do with three thousand gold.

“A mansion! Can we buy a mansion?”

“Mansion? With three thousand gold you could build a small castle.”

“A c-castle!?”

“Yeah. If you insist on a mansion…”

Park Hyun-a paused briefly to think about the local prices.

“Five hundred gold would be enough for a mansion in any major city.”

“Three thousand gold… Even after buying a mansion, two thousand five hundred remains…”

Suddenly Choi Hyun-seok hung his head.

“A grand mansion… No worries about retirement… Does the wife have to be just one? Originally these medieval rich men had multiple wi- no… A man must have principles…”

After muttering to himself for a while, Choi Hyun-seok finally raised his head.

“Older sister, let’s quit everything.”

“What nonsense are you suddenly spouting?”

“Can’t we just settle down in some tourist city and spend the rest of our lives there?”

Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes were gleaming wildly.

“I think it’s time for me to enjoy life. I’ve worked hard as a hero for a year like a dog! I think I’ve done enough as a hero! Let’s just take it easy!”

At that moment, Rachel, who had been listening beside him, slapped Choi Hyun-seok’s cheek with magic-enhanced force.

*Slap-!*

Finally, focus returned to Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes.

“Ah, thanks.”

“It’s fine! It’s not the first time the hero’s been like this!”

Park Hyun-a watched with a disgusted expression.

‘These idiots. They’re irritating…’

Somehow, they were a hero and a dedicated fairy she didn’t want to get too close to.

“Ahem! Anyway, I understand it’s a huge amount of money. Thank you!”

“Don’t do anything stupid and put it in your inventory right now. If you lose it by accident, I’m scared of what crazy things you might do.”

At the mention of inventory, Choi Hyun-seok made a troubled face.

“About that… I still don’t have an inventory.”

“You still don’t have an inventory? How many hero points do you have right now?”

“Probably around five thousand five hundred…”

Choi Hyun-seok opened his status window to check his hero points.

▫Name: Choi Hyun-seok

▫Title: Regular Hero

▫Level: 998

* Strength: 300

* Agility: 296

* Stamina: 309

* Magic: 330

* Demonic Energy: 329

* Charisma: 107

* Fighting Spirit: 89

* Bonus Points: 10

▫Hero Points: 7500

Choi Hyun-seok blinked.

“Why is it so much…?”

He had a whopping 7,500 hero points.

Not only that, but his level had increased too.

The last time he checked his level after defeating the undead it was 988, but it had increased by 10 more levels.

The 10 bonus points confirmed it.

“Could it be…”

Choi Hyun-seok manipulated his status window further to view the records.

‘As I thought. There was a hero quest.’

Come to think of it, something did pop up as an alert during the battle.

I was too rushed to read it, but it seems there was a hero quest among them.

Choi Hyun-seok clicked on the hero quest marked ‘Completed’.

★☆★☆ Hero Quest! ★☆★☆

Oh no! The spirits of the long-destroyed Vallington Kingdom have awakened!

If they’re left alone, humanity will suffer great damage.

As a regular hero, you can’t just stand by!?

Defeat those who have returned from death and save the poor souls!

* Objective: Repel the Undead Legion

* Additional Objective: Eliminate Sarah Dunphy

* Additional Objective: Eliminate Liam

* Additional Objective: Annihilate the First Warrior Division

* Reward: A large amount of experience points and 1,000 Hero Points

While the content was incredibly long, it basically came down to defeating the undead legion.

Choi Hyun-seok checked the message history.

[The Undead Legion has been repelled!]

[Hero Quest completed]

[Obtained 1,000 Hero Points]

[Obtained large amount of experience points!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

….

[Additional objective ‘Annihilate the First Knight Division’ completed!]

[Obtained additional 1,000 Hero Points]

[Obtained large amount of experience points]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

….

‘To think I didn’t even realize I received and completed a hero quest. I must have been really caught up in the moment.’

He could tell just how intense that battle had been.

“Why are you spacing out? How many points do you have?”

Snapping back to reality at Park Hyun-a’s question, Choi Hyun-seok answered.

“I have 7,500 points now.”

“You have the advanced hero shop, right?”

“Still intermediate.”

“Really? Then upgrade to advanced and buy inventory too. 7,500 points should be enough.”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded and immediately checked the shop upgrade.

‘T-two thousand points…’

His eyelids trembled.

Just upgrading the shop cost 2,000 points.

It makes you wonder why they even give quest points if they’re going to take them back like this.

Choi Hyun-seok pressed the upgrade button with trembling hands.

*Ta-da!*

A familiar fanfare played as a message appeared.

[Intermediate Hero Shop upgraded to Advanced Hero Shop!]

Choi Hyun-seok checked the upgraded shop.

[Advanced Hero Shop]

– Abilities

– Items

Nothing seemed different.

The interface still felt as minimal as ever.

“Did you upgrade?”

“Yes.”

“Then go into abilities and click on ability purchase in the details. Inventory should be there.”

Choi Hyun-seok checked the ability details as Park Hyun-a said.

– Purchase Ability

– Purchase Skill

– Create Fighting Spirit

– Create Magic

He clicked the Purchase Ability button at the front to find inventory.

‘Here it is.’

– Inventory(F): Grants inventory space of 100x100x100.

A modest description.

The unit for 100 is centimeters.

So ultimately, it means a small space of 1m in length, width, and height.

5,000 points seemed expensive for the size, but considering its utility, it was a necessary ability.

[Would you like to purchase Inventory(F)?]

“Yes.”

Checking his remaining hero points after buying inventory, only 500 remained.

Choi Hyun-seok let out a deep sigh.

“Feels kind of empty. After saving up so hard…”

“There’s not much to use them on anyway except a few things. Later you’ll have points just lying around.”

“Is that so?”

“Even I have tens of thousands of points piled up. I’ve already upgraded my inventory to Grade A, so there’s nothing else to use them on.”

Park Hyun-a’s words were somewhat comforting.

“By the way, how do I use this?”

“When you want to open inventory, you’ll see something like a box in mid-air. Just put whatever you want to store inside. To take things out, do the opposite.”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded and thought about inventory.

A translucent box appeared in mid-air.

‘So I just put things in here.’

He put the pouch in the box and closed the inventory.

“Oh? It disappeared?”

“It’s stored.”

“It’s nothing special but still amazing.”

“You don’t feel the weight, and things stay in the same condition they went in, so even food or corpses won’t rot. Very convenient.”

“Why would you put corpses in…”

“There will come a time when you need to as a hero.”

Park Hyun-a grinned as she continued her explanation.

“For example, when dealing with a noble who’s like a dog…”

Put them in inventory after strangling them. No evidence! How convenient is that?”

“That sounds more like what a villain would do, not a hero.”

“Kid, there’s only a hair’s difference between heroes and villains.”

Park Hyun-a patted Choi Hyun-seok’s back repeatedly.

“Anyway, if we’re done here, let’s get moving.”

“Where are we going now?”

“We solved the case, so we need to report back.”

***

The group returned to Ultimoon Fes village using the spatial gate in Delos.

Park Hyun-a went to find Sullivan, who had given them the mission.

“So that’s what happened…”

Sullivan’s expression darkened at hearing that Sarah Dunphy and Liam had escaped.

“I’m sorry. We should have gathered better information… I ended up asking you to do something unreasonable.”

“Well, we survived in the end, so it’s fine.”

“We’ll keep tracking this lich called Sarah Dunphy on our end. I’ll let you know if we find any information.”

“Alright.”

“Are you heading back to Inessimot right away?”

Park Hyun-a shook her head at Sullivan’s question.

“No, I have one favor to ask this time.”

“What is it?”

Sullivan tilted his head.

It was rare for Park Hyun-a to ask for favors.

“Take a look at this kid.”

Park Hyun-a pushed Choi Hyun-seok forward.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“Your body. We agreed to examine it properly, remember? Sullivan here is an expert in that field, so I’m leaving it to her.”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded with a reluctant expression and walked forward.

“Ah… This is our second meeting. I’m Choi Hyun-seok.”

“I’m Sullivan. Thank you so much for your help this time.”

Sullivan smiled gently.

“So what should I look at? Did you get injured in this battle?”

“No. That’s not the issue.”

Park Hyun-a scratched her head irritably after pondering something briefly.

“Never mind! Just examine Choi Hyun-seok’s body thoroughly. Then you’ll understand what I mean.”

“Hmm? Alright.”

Sullivan grabbed Choi Hyun-seok’s wrist.

Then she slowly began to channel magical power.

“Don’t resist. I’m just examining you.”

“Yes.”

As Sullivan examined every corner of Choi Hyun-seok’s body with magic, her expression gradually twisted.

“What is this…?”

“Strange, right?”

“Yes… This is like…”

Sullivan opened her mouth.

“It’s like he’s a mineral, not a person.”

“What?”

***

At the same time.

Sara Dunphy was walking through an unnamed forest.

Liam followed behind her, limping from his unhealed wounds.

“What an interesting era this is.”

“…I’m sorry. I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

Sara smiled brightly.

“I thought I knew everything. Looking back now, how arrogant I was.”

Sara Dunphy had reached the pinnacle in an era where magical power was everything.

No one in the continent knew magic better than her.

Back then, Sara thought: That she had reached the end of magic.

That what lay ahead was the realm of gods, not humans.

But that was an arrogant delusion.

“Holy power and demonic energy. These are clearly powers both different from and similar to magic.”

Strange powers like demonic energy and holy power.

Moreover, she had returned from death through the unfamiliar magic called necromancy.

“In this era, there exist things unknown to me.”

Sara Dunphy realized.

She still had far to go.

There were still many paths left to learn and advance on.

“First, I need to completely control this thing called necromancy. To dare interfere with my mind… I don’t like it.”

Undead raised through necromancy harbor unconditional hatred toward the living.

Controlling this was quite troublesome.

It actually interfered significantly with combat too.

She planned to perfect her control over this first.

“Now then… Shall we see what principles it works on?”

A deep smile spread across Sara Dunphy’s face as she delved into necromancy.

‘I can learn more and become stronger.’

A life is given again.

How far could she see into magic in this life?

Though her heart didn’t beat as an undead, she felt it pounding in her chest.

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