Chapter 114: Next Level

The studio apartment door closed with a loud noise.

Creak— Bang!

A sticky smell that tickled the nose.

Yellowish wallpaper and flooring that gave a sense of stability.

Those things actually made the mind feel at ease.

As expected, home is the best.

I roughly kicked off my shoes and flopped onto the bed.

At the same time.

-Plop!

Something the size of a bean jumped up from my shoulder.

It was Jean using the miniaturization skill.

Soon.

“You worked hard, Master.”

Jean, returned to original size, set down the object she had been carrying on her shoulder.

Thud—!

A rectangular black coffin.

Screaming human figures and bizarre hieroglyphs were densely engraved on the surface.

Soon Featherback’s logbook opened.

Flip—

<Coffin of the Dead>

– Storage Number: MRG-2368

– Storage Grade: Safe

Coffin of the Dead.

An artifact that can reconstruct the bodies of the dead.

With the mental stat increased and the number of summonable Shadow Knights now up to nine.

Currently I only had three Shadow Knights: Yi Seonggye, Cheok Jungyeong, and Yi I.

After the Maslow battle, I had painfully realized.

To face S-rank, I needed stronger and more allies.

Perhaps thanks to experiencing two S-rank dungeons.

Before starting work, I now felt at ease only after preparing 100% perfectly.

No, even that is still not enough.

To deal with variables, I had to prepare one or two steps more thoroughly than what felt perfect.

Maslow’s Tower, overflowing with all kinds of variables.

The only reason I was able to return alive from there was one thing.

Luck.

If the Demon Emperor’s power hadn’t intervened, the Maslow boss fight would have been a tragic failure.

……I’ll pass on that kind of thing now.

Anyway.

Just don’t repeat the same mistake.

I opened the coffin lid and looked inside.

Woooong— Woooong— Woooong— Woooong—

Inside the coffin were white lumps that looked like sea urchins.

Essences to form the bodies of Shadow Knights.

In simple terms, fragments of souls extracted from relics.

The usage method of the ‘Coffin of the Dead’ was as follows.

1. Bring a relic related to the body to be summoned close to the Coffin of the Dead.

2. The essence extracted from the relic is absorbed into the Coffin of the Dead.

3. After a certain time, the essence is reconstructed into a body.

The key here was how closely the ‘relic’ was related to the deceased.

The more frequently the deceased used it in life, the more complete the essence that could be extracted.

……And the more complete the essence, the higher the quality of the body created.

I counted the essences inside the coffin.

“One, two, three…… six in total.”

Pretty good yield?

At the last National History Museum exhibition, I had only managed to obtain three proper essences.

Each one was a legendary-grade item, though.

Including the essences harvested this time, the maximum summonable number of nine was now exactly filled.

I examined the rippling of the essences.

Woooong— Woooong— Woooong— Woooong—

The center of the spheres was swirling like a vortex.

They were essences as complete as those of Yi Seonggye, Cheok Jungyeong, and Yi I.

From the look of it, the bodies would be completed in 30 minutes.

Finally, insert the soul summoned with the Archlich’s finger into the body to complete the Shadow Knight.

Then Jean looked at me and said.

“This may be presumptuous, but…… may this unworthy disciple offer a word of advice, Master?”

“What is it?”

“Please be careful of the woman you met at the exhibition hall, Master. Something about her felt off.”

The two women who had been about to fight at the exhibition hall came to mind.

“Investigator Bae Minji from the Hunter Surveillance Bureau and Red Mage Tower Lord Shin Sodam. Both are indeed not ordinary.”

But why were those two growling at each other?

Were they fighting over some authority?

Well, not my business.

As I thought that, Jean shook her head.

“The one I mentioned is not those two.”

“?”

Jean continued with a serious expression.

“Please be especially careful of the woman named Park Ahjeong.”

“Professor Park Ahjeong? Why, was there something?”

“It’s only my intuition, but.”

Jean kept speaking.

“During my princess days, I saw many people with eyes similar to hers. Every one of them intensely desired something.”

“Hmm, that makes sense.”

A very sharp point, very much like Jean.

When recommending graduate school, Professor Park Ahjeong had given off a feeling of intense desire.

……Well, that’s not important right now.

I opened Featherback’s logbook.

Flip—

[Promotion Quest]

– Completely eradicate the termites in the Observation Zone of the 2nd Floor.

· Worker Termite subjugated …… (0/500)

· Soldier Termite subjugated ….. (0/300)

· Elite Soldier Termite subjugated …… (0/30)

· Top Elite Soldier Termite subjugated (0/6)

· General Termite subjugated (0/1)

· Destroy Foul Breeding Pit……. (0/6)

· Destroy Disgusting Breeding Pit…… (0/1)

Warehouse Keeper promotion quest.

I had reinforced my forces exactly for this.

I checked the quest objectives once more.

“Let’s see……”

Overall similar to the previous promotion test.

Except for a few newly added items.

“General Termite? And Disgusting Breeding Pit?”

The words themselves gave off a very ominous feeling.

Just the fact that only one of each needed to be dealt with, unlike the other targets, said everything.

Soon a system window appeared.

Ding-dong!

<Will you proceed with the promotion quest?>

・[Yes/No]

<※Caution : Items borrowed from Morgue’s Magical Warehouse will be temporarily restricted.>

Right, there was this penalty.

During the promotion quest, items from the Magical Warehouse could not be used.

It meant to pass the test with the Warehouse Keeper’s own power.

Of course, items and skills unrelated to the warehouse could be used freely.

I touched the YES button.

Then.

Ding-dong!

<A gate leading to the promotion quest area has opened!>

<The promotion quest will begin shortly!>

A gate emitting dark blue light formed on the studio wall.

“……Alright, shall we go sweep away those naked bugs?”

***

[Krrk— Kiiik—]

[Kyaaaah!] 

[Kkigigigik—!]

A noise like nails scratching a chalkboard struck the eardrums.

Hundreds of termites let out screams all at once.

Toward the uninvited guest who had invaded their habitat—me.

“Yeah, nice to see you too.”

When I gave a dry greeting, the termites reacted violently.

[Kieeeeeeek~!]

Soon the termite legion began charging with screams.

Rumble rumble rumble—

Termites sprinting on two legs. Termites running on walls with quadrupedal movement. Termites flying at high speed with two wings.

The termites filled the wide tunnel passage and surged forward like a white wave.

Soon the termite at the very front charged.

I immediately activated a skill.

Ding-dong!

<Skill ‘Super Strength’ has been activated.>

Muscles began to swell.

In an instant, a massive arm covered in red muscle fibers was completed.

“First one.”

Crunch—!

The head of the leading termite was crushed by the swung fist.

“Second one.”

Crack!

The waist of the second termite bent the other way.

Termites began to be pulverized by the massive fist covered in muscle fibers.

Faces caved in, large holes pierced through upper bodies, limbs torn off.

Boom! Crack! Crunch! Crack!

Like fallen leaves in the wind.

Dozens of charging termites were ripped to shreds and scattered.

Strength. Stamina. Agility.

Perhaps thanks to the explosive rise in basic stats.

The ogre-level Super Strength that used to be exhausting even once before could now be used continuously without any recoil.

……I could probably clear up to B-rank dungeons alone now?

As I thought that.

[Kigigigigik—!]

A soldier termite ambushed from behind.

But.

Swoosh— Thwack~!

Two black arrows shot like lightning pierced both eyes of the soldier termite.

[Warehouse Keeper! You need to widen your field of vision a bit more!]

Yi Seonggye laughed heartily while drawing his bowstring.

Swoosh! Thwack thwack thwack!

A rain of shadow arrows began shooting down the flying termites.

Meanwhile below.

Slash— Slash— Slash— Slash— Slash— Slash—

Termite heads flew into the air one after another.

Cheok Jungyeong’s sword strikes were bisecting the termites.

『Goksan Cheok Clan First Form : Iron-Severing Flash』

A rippling shadow followed the straight sword trajectory.

Slash slash slash slash slash slash!

Deep sword marks were carved along the tunnel walls.

At the same time, the charging termites slowly toppled forward.

Upper and lower bodies split in two.

With a single strike, the waists of 100 termites had been cleanly severed.

Not only that.

[Grrrrr—!]

A tiger that seemed to jump out of an ink painting tore termites to shreds.

Following Yi I’s swinging brush, ink-drawn figures came to life and moved.

Soon ink soldiers charged while swinging their clubs.

The hundreds of termites swarming the tunnel began to roll around as corpses.

Then.

[Krooooooo—!]

A thunderous roar echoed from the opposite tunnel.

Horns rising massively like a helmet. Thick exoskeleton shining like white armor.

Six top elite soldier termites were charging while leading soldier termites.

Among them were some rolling forward with bodies bloated like water balloons.

<Poison Sac Soldier Termite>

– Danger Rank: B+

– Discovery Location: Morgue’s Magical Warehouse ‘Observation Zone’

Mutant soldier termites with bumpy lumps all over their bodies.

The yellowish lumps were filled with corrosive poison liquid, and they would approach enemies and self-destruct to spray the poison.

Their movement was slow and durability noticeably low, but the power of the corrosive poison liquid was threatening enough to inflict fatal wounds even on A+ rank monsters.

Clearly a type that must not be allowed to approach.

I put my fingers to my mouth and whistled.

Then.

『Seven Demon First Strike : Gluttony Slash, Beelzebub』

A black flash exploded.

At the same time, a black storm began to whirl toward the termites.

Rumble rumble rumble—!

Gluttony Slash’s sword energy that flickered like flames and greedily devoured the termites.

The poison sac soldier termites burst like water balloons pricked by needles.

Splaaash— Splaaaaash—!

Yellowish acidic poison liquid scattered in all directions.

At the same time.

[Kieeeeek~!]

[Kkigigigik—!]

[Kyaaaaaaaak!]

Screams erupted from all sides.

The nearby soldier termites had been splashed with the deadly poison.

Their bodies began to swell, turning a bluish color.

Bodies inflated like huge blueberries exploded all at once.

Boom! Boom boom! Boom boom boom boom—!

Yet the charge of the elite soldier termites did not stop.

But at that moment.

Sliiiiiiide—

The elite soldier termites at the front began slipping one by one.

[Kigik—!?]

They were on top of black oily mucus that covered the ground.

Checkmate.

Ding-dong!

<Skill ‘Residual Flame’ has been activated.>

Red sparks spread out simultaneously.

Soon.

Rumble rumble rumble— Boom!

With a fierce explosion, flames rose.

Not only the elite soldier termites but even the following soldier termites turned into black ash and scattered.

Ding-dong!

<‘Minor damage’ detected in the Observation Zone!>

<‘Minor damage’ detected in the Observation Zone!> 

<‘Minor damage’ detected in the Observation Zone!>

<‘Minor damage’ detected in the Observation Zone!>

<‘Minor damage’ detected in the Observation Zone!>

The system windows updated like crazy.

It almost felt like the Magical Warehouse was complaining and throwing a tantrum at the same time.

“Just endure a little. Good medicine always tastes bitter.”

At that moment.

-Ding-dong!

[Promotion Quest]

– Completely eradicate the termites in the Observation Zone of the 2nd Floor.

……

· Worker Termite subjugated (500/500) [Completed(✓)]

· Soldier Termite subjugated (300/300) [Completed(✓)]

· Elite Soldier Termite subjugated …… (30/30) [Completed(✓)]

· Top Elite Soldier Termite subjugated …….

· General Termite subjugated (0/1)

……

(6/6) [Completed(✓)]

· Foul Breeding Pit destroyed……. (6/6) [Completed(✓)]

· Disgusting Breeding Pit destroyed…… (0/1)

……With this, the sixth habitat is cleared.

Thirty minutes since starting the promotion test.

I had almost completed the promotion quest objectives.

Now the only thing left is……!

Then.

Fwoosh— Fwoooooosh—

A giant figure began walking through the blazing flames.

Silver exoskeleton shining like plate armor.

Horns rising in three prongs like a trident.

Thick wings fluttering like a cloak.

It was a termite emitting an aura on a completely different level from ordinary ones.

Flip—

<General Termite>

– Danger Rank: A+

– Discovery Location: Morgue’s Magical Warehouse ‘Observation Zone’