Chapter 118: Startup

Featherback’s promotion perk gift.

It was a golden brooch in the shape of a blazing sun.

Flutter—

<Hero King’s Brooch>

– Storage Number: MRG-3142

– Storage Grade: Observation

About 2,200 years ago, the Lokpia continent was divided into three nations.

Horun, which worshiped the sun; Yorab, which worshiped the earth; Manyuks, which worshiped the darkness.

The one who put an end to the Three Kingdoms era, later recorded as the ‘Age of Glory,’ was Horun’s Hero King ‘Karus.’

After ascending to the throne, Karus offered a 64-day thanksgiving ritual to the sun, and in return, the sun bestowed a blessing on the brooch that Hero King ‘Karus’ always carried.

As a result, Karus’s commands gained absolute authority, and the soldiers who followed his orders reportedly no longer felt the fear of death.

“When Hero King Karus gave an order, the soldiers fought without hesitation. And the more they fought, the stronger they became. A green recruit reeking of mother’s milk became a master swordsman in just one month. Even I, an enemy, felt the urge to follow Karus’s commands……” — A wandering defeated soldier of Manyuks —

“Hero King’s Brooch……?”

Even the name alone gives off an extraordinary vibe.

Soon after, notification messages appeared one after another.

—Ding-dong!

<‘Hero King’s Brooch’ is bound to Warehouse Keeper ‘Cha Hasang.’>

<Shadow knights now gain experience through combat.>

<Mental strength consumed when summoning shadow knights is reduced by 50%.>

“They can gain experience through combat……”

Up until now, even though I’d deployed shadow knights to exterminate Zoms, there hadn’t been any notable changes.

The combat power set at the first summon was essentially the shadow knight’s limit.

But now, shadow knights can grow as much as they want.

In other words, growth-type summons.

……Right now they’re at A+-rank hunter level, but depending on growth, they could even reach S-rank.

Moreover, the second effect is no slouch either.

The mental strength value required for summoning shadow knights has been halved.

The risk of shadow knights being unsummoned due to insufficient mental strength has significantly decreased.

At that moment, a new notification window appeared.

—Ding-dong!

<Morgue’s Spear, 3rd Floor Anxiety Zone has been opened.>

<Would you like to move to the Anxiety Zone? …… (Y/N)>

The third zone of the spear, unlocked by passing the promotion exam.

“For now, YES.”

Let’s at least experience how much of a level difference there is.

And then, the spear began vibrating.

Creak— rumble-rumble-rumble~!

The sound of a heavy iron door opening faintly echoed.

Before I knew it, a grotesquely distorted iron door had appeared at the end of the tunnel passage.

Black energy seeped out from beyond the wide-open iron door.

A pressure like poking at nerve bundles.

But something felt off.

It was silent.

……

When the Observation Zone was first opened, there had been a mana storm along with all sorts of screams and roars.

But now, not even a breath leaked out.

I swallowed dryly.

The silence was instead stirring up tension.

General Zom let out a growling sound.

[Que…… Que…… Queen’s aura. Detected.]

General Zom’s antennae moved busily.

Its whole exoskeleton heaved, and red glow rose from its two eyes.

But that was brief.

General Zom’s state stabilized again.

[Queen’s command…… blocked completely…… Sole command system established, fixed to Lord Cha Hasang.]

At that moment.

Smack!

Jan’s joint lock kick exploded.

“That’s Lord Cha Hasang ‘nim.’ And I clearly told you not to use informal speech. Bug.”

[Sole command system established…… Lord Cha Hasang nim…… and ‘Jan’ nim.]

“Quite the endearing words. But.”

Smack!

Jan said while kicking the joint.

“Master is far above me. The only one who gives us commands is Master. Remember that.”

[Correction…… Sole command system…… Lord Cha Hasang nim……]

“Good bug. So, is your queen down there?”

General Zom stared at me blankly.

It seemed to be waiting for my command.

When I nodded, General Zom opened its mouth.

[Queen’s pheromone…… faintly detected……nida.]

Somewhere in the Anxiety Zone, the Zoms’ queen exists.

If I eliminate the queen entity during exploration…… I might be able to solve the spear’s Zom problem.

Soon after, Jan said,

“Bug. I have a question for you.”

Jan continued with a serious expression.

“Have you ever discovered humans inside the spear?”

General Zom nodded.

[Yes……nida.]

“Was it a human with black hair and eyes, and pale white skin?”

[Yes……nida.]

Jan quietly closed his mouth.

The traces of civilization discovered in the Observation Zone.

According to Jan, they were items from ancient Lavianrilly.

And then, Jan continued,

“Master, will you permit me to take this bug and explore the Anxiety area?”

“Sure. While you’re at it, teach him how to speak properly too.”

Jan smiled and said,

“Leave it to me. Back when I was a princess, I handled the education of knights.”

“Oh!”

That’s why he gave off a drill instructor vibe.

And then, Jan took General Zom and set off.

The spear tasks that needed immediate handling were wrapped up for now.

Then, should I head out too?

With the warehouse keeper work done, it’s time to handle real-world tasks.

—Ding-dong!

<‘Close’ command received.>

<Closing Morgue’s Spear.>

Upon returning to my studio apartment, fatigue washed over me once again.

The scenery outside the window, darkened completely.

The old clock’s second hand pointed to 1:37.

“Time flew by like that already.”

Inside the spear, the sense of time fades.

It felt like about 30 minutes had passed, but in reality, half a day had often flown by.

At that moment.

Beep!

A notification message was sent to my smartwatch.

[TAMU: Delivery of ordered items completed. Pickup location: Front door]

Overseas online direct trading site, TAMU.

You can buy all sorts of items not available domestically or overseas, including various junk.

“Delivery timing is spot on.”

Creak—

At the door, various sizes of packages were piled up.

I brought them all inside the house.

Rip!

Tearing off the box tape revealed all sorts of junk.

A wooden circular needle case, a cracked inkstone, a holey bamboo hat, and so on.

“Okay. All genuine.”

The reason I could pick out only genuine items in online shopping was simple.

—Ding-dong!

—<Phantom Thief Gentleman’s Monocle>/Accessory / A

An accessory used by the phantom thief gentleman who shook the Lokpia continent hundreds of years ago.

It’s said that wearing this allows one to see the true nature of objects.

– Skill ‘Eye of Truth’ usable

└Eye of Truth(A): Can confirm an object’s information and true value. (Always active)

Thanks to this monocle obtained from the Congested Castle of Blood.

When equipped with this artifact and looking at items, genuine ones have a blue border, fakes a red one.

If the shadow knights created this time were all close-combat specialized, the next batch would be selected for magic and support specialization.

The so-called ‘intelligence characters.’

Having gone through warehouse keeper promotion, the utility value of shadow knights has risen considerably.

1. Mental strength increase: Can now summon up to 15 shadow knights simultaneously.

2. Hero King’s Brooch: Shadow knight growth & reduced cost for summoning.

This allows me to handle numerous shadow knights simultaneously and effectively.

Depending on how I compose the summonable shadow knights, I can form parties with various concepts.

At this rate, fostering a shadow knight legion isn’t just a pipe dream.

At that moment.

—Beep!

The smartwatch’s message receipt sound rang.

<Hunter Association: Notice to E-rank Hunter Cha Hasang.> (1)

<Ad) Authentic Wuxia RPG ‘Spear Ghost Unrivaled’ Grand Open!> (1)

<Ad) If you made a promise, keep it! You promised, I San-ha-ssi, free every 11 PM!> (1)

<Kim Yerim: Sunbae! By any chance, didn’t you go to the Ilsan Expo?> (15)

The message box was piled with missed messages like a truckload.

The one just received was from the Hunter Association.

I checked the association message.

Hunter Association: Notice to E-rank Hunter Cha Hasang.

Hello, Hunter Cha Hasang.

Your monthly quest quota for the previous month has not yet been met.

Hunters C-rank and below must achieve the minimum quest quota designated by the association each month to maintain their rank, and we inform you in advance that hunters who fail to meet the quest quota may undergo rank demotion or hunter license revocation procedures.

—Hunter Association Secretariat—

Oh.

……Lately, I haven’t had time for association quests.

After the Maslow’s Tower incident, there were all sorts of things to handle.

I checked the Hunter Association’s missions on my smartwatch.

<Available Mission List>

[1. Hunting Mission – E-rank]

— Hunt 30 E-rank monsters Silk Worms in the ‘Shadowed Cave’ dungeon in Ulsan area.

[2. Hunting Mission – E-rank]

— Hunt 50 E-rank monsters Vampire Goblins in the ‘Fallen Goblin Encampment’ dungeon in Uijeongbu area.

[3. Delivery Mission – E-rank]

— Deliver 50 Slime Cores. Slime type doesn’t matter.

[4. Delivery Mission – F-rank]

— Deliver 300 lowest-grade mana stones.

[5. Miscellaneous Mission – F-rank]

— Support the disaster victims in the Sokri Mountain area.

The mission list was packed with E-rank and F-rank missions.

This much, I can handle alone just fine.

Mostly defeating trash mobs, or collecting low-grade mana stones, or missions close to volunteer work.

I just happen to need to test how far my base specs have risen.

While at it, to accumulate experience for the shadow knights too.

I accepted all the E-rank and F-rank missions.

“Well then…… Shall I loosen up a bit?”