Chapter 347. Bunker
Chapter 347. Bunker
I’d already saved nearly a hundred times more than if I had used [Justitia]. Now, all that’s left is to have an honest conversation.
“Alright, continuing from what I mentioned earlier—let me be clear, I already know that you hired Enzo to do something. That’s why I came all this way.”
“…!”
“So while we’re at it, I want to hear a detailed explanation of why you specifically sent beasts like Enzo to Korea.”
I asked the PIXY shareholder. By the way, in my right hand was the equipment I’d long favored—the [Screaming Stake]. It meant the very device that forced him to utter contract terms against his will was still intact. Teleportation items were useless, the bodyguards all knocked out. So, what options did this man really have?
“Ugh.”
Andy Oliver answered faster than expected.
“Hmm?”
Thud.
Precisely about 14 seconds later, this item emerged from his grasp: a cylindrical scroll, completely pitch-black on the outside.
‘What is this?’
The item must have been stored in an inventory box, as it had remained relatively intact despite the flooding. But once I received the scroll directly from Andy Oliver, I understood—even if it had been caught in the earlier tsunami, this thing probably would’ve come out just fine.
‘The surface is smooth and soft.’
It felt like a material similar to silicone—smooth and pliable. And yet, despite being an old-fashioned relic mostly used in past eras, this scroll seemed to contain an immense amount of information.
“Th, that… that’s the reason I took those actions.”
“You mean the actions—like the invasion of Seoul, right?”
“Yes, yes.”
The man went on to explain further. Most of the text written on this scroll artifact was in Hindi, so even a basic commercial translator could give a rough idea of its meaning.
[41.40338-2.17403]
[78.45222-57.68550]
The only real obstacle was the strings of numbers attached before and after the Hindi sentences. When Andy Oliver first happened upon this particular scroll, he said he couldn’t make any sense of those cryptic numbers attached to the text—no matter how hard he tried.
‘Science isn’t a bad field of tech. Especially the internet—now that’s an excellent piece of civilization!’
When I pressed him to explain, he admitted that—using the vast array of technologies humanity had developed—he eventually managed to fully decipher even the numeric sections of the scroll.
“Th, the numbers at the beginning are coordinates. And the ones at the end—they’re timestamps.”
“Coordinates?”
“They’re completely different from the directional notations we usually use, but…”
“When I compared the gates that had already appeared over the past few months with the rare creatures indicated by the artifact, the pattern became clear without much difficulty.”
“Hmm.”
“By the way, the information written on the first line can be summarized as, ‘On January 1st, year XX, a winged reptile appears inside Iguazu Falls.’ In other words, it was a prediction that a dragon’s nest would appear.”
Doesn’t that mean this scroll is truly something extraordinary?
To summarize, the artifact in Andy Oliver’s possession was a medium that conveyed three types of information.
First: The location where a gate will appear.
Second: A description of the monster or item that will emerge there.
Third: The exact time when the dungeon will be generated.
In other words, this artifact could ultimately be interpreted like this:
“You probably already knew that the company I work with used to be a game developer, right?”
The man, having lost his glasses in the flood, squinted his blurry eyes and continued his sentence with effort.
“So, to be honest, I’m pretty familiar with this kind of terminology. I regarded that scroll as a sort of scheduled update list…”
“What did you say?”
“Or maybe even a leaked version of patch notes.”
Oh my goodness. A scheduled update list!
I understood the meaning of it all. However, as a magician who has lived for a very long time, I more strongly recalled a less refined and rather crude expression instead.
‘Simply put, it’s a book of prophecy!”
Even if it was a prophecy limited strictly to gate appearances—it was still an item that could reveal what would happen tomorrow or the day after. So of course, I couldn’t help but be astonished.
“This is being confiscated.”
“Yes?”
“It’s confiscated. And from the way you’re talking, it’s clear you’ve already decoded the entire scroll. So do yourself a favor—while I’m still asking nicely—and hand over that full translation, too.”
“That, no, I mean… it’s just that…”
“Are those strange lumps of metal in your pocket a storage device?”
“Gasp! No. That’s not it.”
Artifacts like this have never been discovered on Alphauri. It’s likely a new method devised by the machine-minded species. As such, I took great interest in the scroll the man had revealed—and ultimately came to claim it for myself.
‘If I have the information, at the very least I can predict where disasters are going to happen.’
But come to think of it, the name Gate Update Schedule isn’t so bad after all.
“K, keugh.”
Given the nature of digital media, there was a high probability—almost a certainty—that a copy of the scroll’s data existed somewhere. Perhaps that’s why, despite his reluctance, Andy Oliver handed over the information fairly easily. And surprisingly, what appeared next was once again a primitive tool.
“Paper?”
“This is special paper made from dungeon materials.”
This was the content of the scroll—finally readable after going through all sorts of processes.
【Scheduled Gate Appearance】
[...Month ...Day — Japan — Nest of the Venomous Dragon (Completed)]
[...Month ...Day — Republic of Korea — Boss with an item table including an anti-aging drug (Completed)]
[...Month ...Day — Northern Mariana Islands — Perfect Elixir]
I briefly skimmed through a few lines that stood out. But by this point, an issue began to emerge.
“Wait a second… uh, as far as I know, Spectrum and you were supposed to be on the same side. So how did the world’s wealthy elites manage to band together around something like this?”
If someone got their hands on information this valuable, wouldn’t it be common sense to try and monopolize it for themselves?
“And just so you know, I already came here knowing that the gate which appeared in Seoul was related to the elixir of immortality. So if you waste time trying to hide that little fact, you might really get stabbed—not by the Screaming Stake, but by S-rank strength.”
“…!”
As I stared at him with wide, piercing eyes and asked the question, Andy began to sweat cold bullets and spilled everything immediately. It seemed the shock of having all his subordinates wiped out by a single flood had really shaken him.
“…I knew you were a talented appraiser, but I never imagined you were a powerful enough psychic, KIM, to have figured out the true identity of [Soldeus]…”
Come to think of it, from the context, Soldeus must refer to that flower that appeared in the Korean dungeon. Compared to the name I casually came up with—Sunflower—the actual designation has a far more classical, almost regal tone. But that’s not the issue right now.
“As you pointed out, it’s only natural that I was already aware of the elixir of immortality’s appearance—thanks to that scroll-type loot.”
“Yeah.”
“There are about four separate forecasts of [Soldeus] appearances recorded on that scroll…”
“…!”
“Moreover, there were even specific tips written on how to ensure the dungeon boss blooms safely.”
He shifted his position, arms crossed.
“Do you understand what I’ve said so far?”
By the time the other person’s translator said this, their gazes shifted for a moment.
“The gate system is actually more straightforward than you’d expect, and at least so far, it hasn’t intentionally deceived humanity.”
“Go on. I’m listening.”
“…so I fully trusted the artifact’s instruction that to obtain the anti-aging potion, I had to trigger the dungeon and alter the boss’s item table…”
“Yeah.”
“From the very beginning, I organized the group with the goal of acquiring all four of those potions. When it comes to information that valuable—something even money can’t easily buy—you can even bring a nation’s leader under your command temporarily. That’s all there is to it.”
At last, the truth comes out. Even just hearing this much, the entire outline of events begins to fall neatly into place in my mind.
‘It was one thing to learn about the appearance forecast of an anti-aging drug. But if something like that were to show up in a densely populated area like Seoul, of course it would’ve been nearly impossible to control or suppress at will.’
So this was the context of the Beast incident?
‘Even with a high-value item on the line, no normal country would cooperate if mass casualties were expected… But if he had openly revealed it was an anti-aging item, he’d only be creating more competition. Makes sense.’
Alright. Now I get it. I fully understand just how much of a scumbag Andy Oliver really is.
“Ugh!”
Right after that, the sound of sobbing echoed through the damp bunker room.
“Thanks for explaining everything so obediently—more than I expected, really. You’ve got decent instincts and intelligence. But there’s one thing we absolutely need to address.”
“W, wait—!”
“Because of that bullshit you orchestrated, the hunters in Seoul went through quite a lot.”
I continued the conversation while stabbing him with the [Screaming Stake]. Oh, and as I mentioned earlier, the guy was already restrained by telekinesis. With my droopy-eyed Western-looking face—thanks to ptosis—I carried on the violence without pause. Andy Oliver, caught and unable to do anything, had no choice but to silently endure all the scolding that followed.
“Sure, you can say it’s fine for top-tier folks like Jung Haseong or Seo Esther, but what were you thinking about all those civilians getting hurt? Huh?”
“U, ugh, aaaaaagh! W-wait. Just—just a moment…!”
Immortality. I, too, once pursued such a thing. And with years of research, I even managed to achieve it… As an Alphauri who has forgotten the fear of aging, I’m in no place to dismiss that kind of desire outright. To be honest, I’m not really in a position to recklessly criticize their plan.
“Phew, seriously.”
But when it comes to putting my fist down on the matter, that’s something I can do.
“Go die. You b*stard.”
I had achieved my goal through pure research alone, but that man—driven solely by his own desire—had nearly gotten countless fellow Homo sapiens killed. So, unable to forgive him, I broke his collarbone. It was a mammalian bone that had annoyed me for a long time, always protruding awkwardly.
Can one person’s youth ever be worth as many lives? Of course, the only acceptable answer to that question is “no.” At least, that’s what this archmage believes.
Therefore, I punished the mammal without hesitation.
-Bang!
But just because someone is detestable doesn’t mean I can go around ending lives—especially now that I’ve shelved my grand plan to purge humanity.
‘I suddenly miss my notebook.’
Why would an extraterrestrial lifeform go so far as to infiltrate this deep bunker in person? Killing that man—Oliver, or whatever his name is—could’ve easily been done from a distance. Naturally, then, I came here with a different purpose in mind, which is why I tried talking first. And now, in accordance with that initial plan, it’s time to stop wasting any more time.
‘As you just revealed, it seems there was quite a faction in this world that feared getting old. And to think they all held their discussions online, of all places.’
I needed to get his definite answer in advance—through a genuine cursed item known as the [Knight’s Oath].
“Listen carefully from now on.”
I quickly made a suggestion to the shareholders of Pixy Corporation.
“What?”
He must never use the information from this scroll for any evil deeds. Moreover, he must ensure that everyone else who meddled in the beast incident abides by this condition as well.
“The fairy’s promise was just a preview. The truly important contracts are written on this parchment I’ve taken out now. Just in case, I’ve also written it in English below, so you can check it with your own eyes.”
The proposal written in the second line of the contract artifact, when unpacked, went like this. Andy Oliver was now required to personally keep each of the upper members of the group chat he knew in check—I’ll refer to them as the leadership circle for convenience.
If any of those who had received the scroll’s information attempted to commit crimes like the ones in Seoul, he would have to use every bit of his own wealth and manpower to stop them. He was to monitor all the gates mentioned in the prophecy scroll with utmost caution. And if possible, just like I did, he should personally seek out his associates and give them a rough, hands-on kind of persuasion.
“That’s the [Knight’s Oath], isn’t it? So you’re saying that if I fail to carry out those orders, I’m dead right away?”
What followed were statements made without regard for ethics.
“Make your friends sign the [Knight’s Oath] with the peace treaty written on it too. That way, the penalty won’t be triggered.”
Times have changed now. Is there really any need to stubbornly stick to manual hunting?