‘Among the job choices for the job change, there was a skill called [Annihilation]. The potential of stealth is limitless, capable of erasing an existence entirely…’
So, I decided to trust my enhanced stealth and venture out for some adventure.
‘Whew… if I mess with this and trigger an alarm, it’ll be a real hassle.’
As I brought my hand closer to the Red Barrier Line, scenes of dozens of Sorcerers and Barrier Mages searching through the building flashed in my mind.
But boldly, I thrust my hand into the barrier.
…
‘…… Did it… work?’
Fortunately, the enhanced [Stealth] obscured even the eyes of the detection barriers.
‘Hah— this is the stuff!’
Having confirmed that no standard detection barrier set up in the artifacts could sense me, I silently celebrated.
I had heard that the most heavily guarded places were the Association and a few major guilds, and I was dying to test if I could breach the barriers set up there.
‘Still, it’s a bit excessive for just a simple vendor, isn’t it? Way too much for stalling for time.’
It was clear how meticulous the person managing this place was.
Upon reaching the 15th floor, there were no stairs to go up, and a space completely enclosed welcomed us.
‘Hmm— maybe here and here.’
But my senses detected two levers hidden by perception interference in the ceiling.
Clonk—
Carefully pulling one lever, a staircase quietly descended, and when I pulled the other, another staircase appeared from a different direction.
‘These idiots really know how to spend money in interesting ways.’
As the passage opened, I used my senses to scope out the inside space.
‘Close this one.’
I pulled back one lever to shut it off and stepped into the more suspicious area.
Once I ascended the stairs quite a bit, a completely empty white corridor unfolded.
‘This is the 17th floor, though.’
I had felt no particular energy on the 16th floor, so I came this way.
Click—
As I stepped into the corridor, the door closed behind me automatically.
Given that it was a spacious office building, there should be at least ten offices per floor, yet all there was was a straightforward corridor leading to a massive space at the end.
‘Hmm…’
I decided to probe the space at the end from where I stood.
The vast room divided into dozens of office-sized sections.
‘Seven Hunters in the first room alone… it’s getting crowded if I go further in.’
In fact, the number of Hunters in the first room was less of a concern than their quality.
‘Five A-rank Hunters and two B-rank. If I go in there, it’ll be a swarm of B and C ranks.’
The five in the first room were the strongest Hunters.
Thinking of five ‘Residues of Chaos’ huddled together in that room made it easier to understand.
Of course, they weren’t nearly as insane as those monsters, but in terms of rank, it was comparable.
The interior of the room was actually quite ordinary, except for two individuals cautiously pouring liquid into bottles.
Considering the densely packed detection barriers within the building, there didn’t seem to be anyone in the office possessing items capable of stealth detection. Of course, their inventory was likely brimming with items.
Two Sorcerers, the rest appeared to be Alchemists. Where did they gather so many Alchemists?
The moment was puzzling.
‘Should I just dive in or not?’
While my reason debated, my body was already walking toward the room.
First of all, I was curious whether the stealth that didn’t work on the Residues of Chaos would work on these guys too.
‘If I get caught again, then for sure I won’t use it against A-rank contenders.’
Additionally, it was crucial to consider how to respond if they caught on.
Straightforward combat was guaranteed failure.
Even if the Alchemists were non-combat type, their leveling would necessarily split three stats.
Basic physical abilities would at least equate to a B-rank Hunter.
Facing seven such Hunters at once? That’s a group fight.
Even just brawling based on raw stats would lead to a tough battle.
Moreover, as Alchemists advance to higher levels, they stockpile all sorts of items in their inventory, making them tough opponents to subdue.
A steroid-type Alchemist can enhance physical abilities to the extent that they can overpower even seasoned physical enhancement Hunters.
‘If things get tight, should I just blow myself up? Seems a bit too extreme…’
It would be way too unfair to blow myself up only after being resurrected, and I’d feel terrible for Yeon-hee. However, I didn’t want to leave empty-handed after coming this far.
At least, I needed to give them a significant blow by wiping out everything here.
I equipped the ‘Rune of Floating’ and slowly glided like a feather toward the room where they all were.
Before long, I was close enough to hear their conversation clearly.
‘They left the door wide open. They must be confident?’
Half-opened, I slid my body through the gap fixed to the ground and entered the room, looking at them with trembling anticipation.
“Be careful with that. Make the passage with magic and connect it precisely to the injection point.”
“I’ve asked you over a hundred times already, Manager.”
“I just don’t trust you.”
“Keep such comments to yourself.”
“Oh, sorry. Did you hear that?”
“Ugh… jokes like that don’t work on my generation…”
Five of the seven were each seated and diligently working on alchemy, while two Sorcerers were putting different liquids into a small brown jar at the central table.
“Ugh, seriously. How long are we going to keep doing this tedious work? We’re in the modern age; can’t we automate this?”
“Hey, if it’s exposed to air, the liquid evaporates.”
“It won’t all fly away, right?!”
“What did you think it was made of? You think it will just float away? Plus, is there any other way to earn this income without fighting in dungeons?”
“That’s true.”
“Then get back to work.”
‘…… They haven’t noticed me?’
Looking quite familiar with each other, they continued their banter, seemingly oblivious to my presence.
‘That creature was indeed insane.’
Once again reassessing the Residues of Chaos, I decided to step forward more boldly.
Swoosh—
I floated slowly, circling the working Alchemists, observing their tasks.
‘Hmm……’
What they were doing was simple.
Small tubes inserted into ostrich egg-sized stones were filled with various liquids, and they were repeatedly creating them into a single concoction.
The Alchemists grabbed such stones one at a time, injecting materials through the tubes as they worked.
‘I can’t tell what it is just by looking. Must be because it’s in progress; the energy feels weak.’
“Hey, Sang-sik, ‘Mistveil’ doesn’t seem to be reacting well. Did we assign the attributes correctly?”
‘Mistveil… that’s an herb, isn’t it?’
A name easily found in low-level dungeons.
“Manager! Manager Kim is doubting the attribute assignment!”
“The attribute assignment is perfect; just shut up and finish it quickly! We need to wrap up the combination test for the Rune of Giants by the end of this week!”
“Yes, yes—”
‘So the Sorcerers are participating in the attribute assignment and conducting combination tests… this isn’t just a simple sales operation.’
It was a research and development building, which explained the intense security.
‘Runes, Mana Stones, Children, along with herbs found in dungeons and attribute assignments. Quite complex.’
“Hey, Manager. A guest on the lower floor is asking if there are any evolved creatures that can use the floating ability.”
‘Floating ability… can they extract specific abilities?’
“Tell them there aren’t any! Do I really need to decide everything for you?”
“They say she’s the secretary of the Executive Director at the Jahan Group, claiming the Executive Director wants to give it to his only daughter as a gift?”
“…… What? Isn’t that for Non-Awakened Ones? Connect them to Branch 13.”
“Yes!”
‘What… what does that mean?’
Is there an evolved creature meant for Non-Awakened Ones?
‘This is insane… what the hell are these guys making?’
After about thirty minutes in the office, I managed to gather several pieces of information.
1. They are distinguishing between evolved creatures for Awakened and Non-Awakened Ones for development.
2. They have already completed several formulations meant for Non-Awakened Ones.
3. Drinking that evolved creature enables them to exhibit specific powers similar to those of Awakened Ones for a short time.
The most startling thing was that the sales were already expanding into the mainstream.
‘The world is going crazy.’
It was surprising that someone would give such a crazy gift to a daughter, but more astonishing was that the seven Hunters here were working with a sense of mission.
“Manager… We’re doing the right thing, aren’t we?”
“Don’t doubt the Chairman’s words. We will definitely be the cornerstone to prevent the world’s destruction.”
“··· We don’t even know what the Chairman looks like; we’re only trusting you, Manager.”
“Yes! Trust me!”
“And speaking of which, could you raise our salaries a bit? After all, we’re A-rank and B-rank, but our pay is embarrassing to mention anywhere. No matter how much we stand together with loyalty…”
“Ugh! Again with the money talk? I clearly told you─”
‘The cornerstone to prevent the world’s destruction…’
For some reason, those words kept echoing in my mind.
“Manager?”
“What is it now!”
“A Director is coming in thirty minutes.”
“What? Why is he coming here? Ugh…”
I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard that someone of higher authority was coming.
The Manager completed the task he was working on before getting up from his seat.
“Everyone, let’s pause for a moment and head down.”
“Understood.”
Before the Director arrived, I was planning to slip out first, but they instead cleared the path for me.
Nearly a hundred Hunters from the 17th floor flocked down to the lower level.
‘These guys. There’s something going on here. They didn’t just want money or power, did they?’
‘The cornerstone to prevent the world’s destruction’
If it weren’t for that single phrase, I wouldn’t have had to think too deeply.
‘… Still, using the kids like that is unforgivable.’
Even if my assumptions were correct, what they were doing was wrong.
‘Let’s see. Guess I should gather some things.’
I quickly raided the other rooms besides the first one, collecting items.
For starters, I stuffed around a hundred stones presumed to represent the children’s sacrifices and more than a thousand ‘Evolved Creatures’ neatly organized in the showcases into my inventory.
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