With a flash.
Vroom.
The altar trembles.
The magic stone liquefies like water and seeps into the altar.
Soon, the pipes connected to the altar start wriggling, and with a hissing sound, the coffin door buried in the wall opens.
The trembling stops.
“I can’t believe we have to go in there, that’s horrific.”
It looks just like a torture device.
Swallowing my words, I walk towards the coffin.
“Hey.”
Olivia calls out to me.
“What’s up?”
“Don’t get hurt like earlier. If you get hurt for no reason, it’s going to be a hassle for me!”
She snorts and turns her head away.
Consistently irritating character.
“Fine.”
I nod without enthusiasm and lean into the coffin.
Whoosh.
With a whooshing sound, the coffin door closes.
Zing.
A sharp syringe needle shoots out from inside and pierces my shoulders and spine.
“Ouch!”
It stings.
As I think it’s still bearable.
Sparks fly as an unknown power flows through the needles into my body.
“Gaaah!”
It hurts.
It hurts to the point of tears.
It hurts like I’m dying.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart races like it’s about to burst. The Magic Core heats up and starts rampaging.
Vroooom!
The magic energy bursting from the Magic Core wreaks havoc in my body.
“Ugh! Damn······.”
I never expected it to hurt this much.
In the original, the Mad Hatter just went in and came back out.
“Damn this no-mother author······. Ugh!”
My vision spins in a dizzying whirl.
As I curse the author, I endure the pain.
Surely 5,700 characters is a too lenient punishment for the author’s misdeeds.
Just as I was unleashing a torrent of unmentionable curses at the author.
My back feels like it’s been stuffed with a hot poker.
The pain is so intense that I can’t scream or curse.
“Ugh.”
I gasp for air.
Just when my fingers and toes start to tremble.
Flash.
As if I’ve been struck by lightning, my head clears up.
“Hah.”
I can feel the abnormal power injected into my body heading towards the Magic Core.
Whoosh.
The needles from my shoulders and spine retract and disappear.
The pain gradually fades away.
The emptiness left by the agony is filled with an indescribable sense of euphoria.
Filling it up.
I close my eyes and open them.
It feels like I have an invisible arm attached? My senses are expanding.
“Gift, huh.”
I summon the power of the Gift that’s settled in my body.
Woong.
The Magic Core activates.
A tiny black sphere appears and then scatters across my fingers.
Darkness ability.
The power of the final boss resides within me.
“I like it.”
The process might suck, but the result is satisfying.
A smirk creeps onto my lips.
Pusshh.
With a sound of steam escaping, the coffin lid opens.
I spot Olivia coming this way from a distance.
“Are you okay…? Kyaah!! Pervert!”
Her previously worried expression turns red as she covers her face with both hands and sits down.
“W-Why are you naked?!”
Because I’m naked.
I look around my body.
Even as a C-rank, a hero is still a hero, it seems; my body is far better than that of my counterpart in that world.
It’s the kind of muscular body that would get called ripped if only my face was cropped for social media.
“Blame the artifact.”
I answer shamelessly, with a straight face.
It’s not unexpected, considering Mad Hatter was also naked when he appeared in the original.
“P-Please get dressed quickly!!”
She shouts while sitting, eyes tightly shut.
“I’ll put some on, so if you’re embarrassed, turn around.”
“You’re so shameless…”
Olivia grumbles.
But whatever her complaints might be, I pull spare clothes out of my inventory and get dressed.
“All done.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“G-Good.”
I don’t really get what’s good about it, but Olivia seems satisfied with my confirmation and stands up.
She looks at me and says,
“You really are fully clothed. Thank goodness.”
What does she think I am, a naked mannequin?
My eyebrows twitch.
“What about the Gift? Have you awakened it?”
She asks again.
Without saying a word, I activate the Gift.
The shadow at my feet wriggles and rises to form a barrier.
“Darkness ability…”
Olivia stares at the shadow shield blankly.
It must be because of the Black Prince’s Gift.
When I deactivate the Gift, the shield collapses and returns to shadow form.
“I hope that answers your question.”
“…”
No response comes back.
She seems lost in thought, keeping her mouth shut.
Well, I didn’t really expect a reply anyway.
I pull out the Hunter watch from my inventory and put it on.
When I turn it on, the lights come on properly this time.
That’s because the antique’s protective barrier has been lifted.
‘I’ve got some cleanup to do.’
My business at the ruins is done.
However, I can’t just leave the ruins like this.
Unless it’s some hidden ruins in a deep mountain, hiding the existence of ruins in Ground Zero is impossible.
I’ve got to tidy things up somehow.
I can’t just hand it over to those New World League jerks like in the original.
Handing dangerous weapons to insane people who think the apocalypse is salvation is just as crazy.
But I can’t just give the ruins I found to the Japanese Hero Association without any compensation either.
That pathetic protagonist might have done that, but greedy little me can’t stomach it.
I can’t do that because I’m in pain.
“I really need to call the National Intelligence Service.”
My identity is the only hero candidate in South Korea.
Naturally, there’s a National Intelligence Service organization stationed in Japan to take care of my mess.
An extra among extras not even mentioned in the original work, I’ve never used the number I was given, but it was directly mentioned that if the president’s secretary had a dilemma, they would handle everything if contacted, so they should manage something like recovering ruins.
I turn on the communication function of the Hunter Watch.
“Who are you trying to contact right now?”
At that moment, Olivia pops up and asks.
“The National Intelligence Service.”
“You mean the intelligence agency of Korea? But considering the value of the relic that grants gifts… Due to external pressure, you and your homeland might not receive proper compensation.”
Olivia replies in quite a serious tone.
She does have a point.
Granting a gift means overturning the common sense that has dominated the hunter and hero worlds until now.
The value is certainly astronomical, hard to quantify in money.
Japan, the country where the ruins are located, would definitely be drooling over it.
Typically, ownership of ruins and artifacts is given to the hero or clan that conquers them, but there’s no guarantee that Japan would play by the rules when it comes to the ownership of an artifact that defies common sense, like the Crown of Baptism.
“So?”
“Then, this time, I’ll specially lend you my support under the name of the Bonaparte royal family!”
She places her hand on her chest confidently, wearing a lady-like smile.
If France, another hero power country, steps in, it could quell Japan’s pressure.
Given that Japan loves France the most, this world’s France is considered one of the great powers.
“Perfect, I was going to ask you to step in first. Thanks.”
“Y-You always have to add useless commentary, don’t you?!”
Ignoring Olivia’s voice, I input the National Intelligence Service’s contact details into the Hunter Watch.
It’s time to turn a lie into truth.
I suspiciously sent a message to the National Intelligence Service explaining everything.
I discovered the ruins at Ground Zero, conquered them with Olivia, and I pretended that the National Intelligence Service had previously given me the ruins’ information for the French princess.
I expressed that I would like to handle the discovered relics in conjunction with the French side.
It was quite a long message, but an immediate reply came back in less than 10 seconds.
[Yes, understood. Candidate Kim Deok-Sung.]
[We will set off to your location. Please send the coordinates.]
A polite response.
I mark the coordinates and send the message.
[Thank you. Please wait a moment.]
I close the Hunter Watch.
Looking beside me, I see Olivia also manipulating her Hunter Watch to send a message.
Well, I don’t need to snoop.
I can guess who she’s messaging.
‘It must be Bella.’
Bella.
Olivia’s personal maid and shadow.
She’s been taking care of her since childhood and is like an older sister to Olivia.
And a B-rank hero of France, known by the alias “The Phantom.”
As a representative of the Bonaparte royal family, she should be able to handle things properly, just as Olivia boldly declared.
“Well, I don’t have to worry much anymore.”
Thanks to that, I won’t have to worry about getting my nose sliced off while awake.
Olivia turns off the hologram of the Hunter Watch and says, “The call’s over. What about you?”
“I finished ages ago.”
I shake my right arm, wearing the now-off hologram Hunter Watch. “Now all that’s left is to wait.”
Olivia gives a strange smile, her princess charm shining through.
What’s with her?
“Hehe, it’s obvious Bella will get here faster since she’s so competent.”
“Oh really?” I shrug.
I don’t really care who arrives first.
“What’s with that lukewarm response?!”
“I just don’t want to argue over something so childish.”
“Who are you calling childish?!”
Olivia bristles.
She places her hands on her hips and points at me. “Alright then, let’s have a competition on who arrives first! The loser treats the winner to dinner!”
I have no intention of genuinely engaging in this childish bet.
As she said, Bella is a competent hero and probably will arrive sooner than the nameless National Intelligence Service agent.
But hey, I’m the one armed with an unlimited black card covered by the state.
The dinner bill won’t even put a dent in my finances, no matter how extravagant the meal.
Plus, to ensure I can keep bossing Olivia around in the future, I need to humor her whims once in a while.
Not too often, though, or she’ll get spoiled.
So I decided to play along with her childish bet this one time.
Only to boost the morale of my long-term pawn.
“Fine. Do what you like.”
“Are we betting then? Hehe, just you wait.”
What’s got her so happy? I can’t help but chuckle.
“Why are you laughing?! Are you feeling confident?”
“No, just because.”
“Sounds suspicious…”
She narrows her eyes at me.
I just whistle and sit on the altar.
I don’t like standing for too long.
“Suspicious…”
I ignore Olivia’s voice.
Now that I’ve acquired the Gift, I have about half the power needed to deal with Shinozaki Rin.
The only remaining task is to extract the White Flame Sword from Olivia, which shouldn’t be hard.
‘The black stone is shimmering before my eyes.’
I’m almost there.
“Hehe, hum♪”
Olivia’s humming tickles my ears.
Is winning this childish bet that appealing?
I just can’t understand the tsundere mindset.
An awkward silence hangs in the air.
After a while, someone appears at the entrance of the deepest ruins in the distance.
“You’re here!”
Olivia, leaning against the wall, suddenly springs up.
I thought to myself that Bella must have arrived, but then—
“Oh…”
A sound like air escaping escapes Olivia’s lips.
What’s going on?
I lift my head.
There’s someone I’ve never seen before.
A beauty in a pristine black suit, with ash-gray bobbed hair and gray eyes comes into view.
An original character not found in the story.
A National Intelligence Service agent.
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