Chapter 538: Hidden Piece (5) |
‘What’s this?’
The situation was so ridiculous that I had no idea what to say. I was expecting a quest that would tell us to fight an extremely powerful being or ask us to solve an unsolvable puzzle. I didn’t expect that it would give us such an easy quest.
Unlike me, the majority of the guild members were overjoyed. Han Sora was particularly relieved and happy. I even saw her chuckling to herself.
Who wouldn’t like free stuff? It was often said that the fruit of hard work tasted the best, but in my opinion, the best-tasting fruits were free fruits.
‘How sweet.’
I liked free things more than anyone here.
“I-I’m glad.”
The lovely regressor seemed like he didn’t expect it at all because he looked half surprised and half in doubt. His reaction wasn’t strange. Who would believe it when they were told that they could leave with an item without any conditions? It was natural to think that there was a trap, but the system wouldn’t lie. We simply had to follow the system. There was no reason nor need to do anything else.
‘This can really be considered a hidden piece.’
“D-do we really just have to go fishing? Is that really all we have to do?” Park Deok-Gu asked.
“Yes. I think we can continue with the quest until there’s a change. We’ll either take turns standing guard or be prepared for unknown situations… Yeah, let’s do that…” Kim Hyun-Sung replied.
“Are you saying that the system may have lied to us?” he asked.
“No, but…”
“But we still have to be wary about fishing here. Mr. Hyun-Sung is right. Anyway, let’s start moving. I don’t know how much time we have left, so we should go ahead and find as many items as we can,” I suggested.
“Okay, Sub Guild Master.”
“If the outer god that Miss Hee-Young had seen is a threat to the continent, it is all the more important for us to get as many items as we can. Of course, we can’t say for sure, but there’s no harm in being prepared,” I explained.
“Yeah, I’m not sure why, but I just got this gut feeling. There were too many red flags to say that our arrival here was a coincidence,” he added.
‘You’re the most suspicious one here, man.’
I had no idea how we ended up here, but I knew what to do.
‘I need to get the most valuable item here.’
We had to ignore the Semi-Mythic and Legendary items to fish as many Mythic-rank items as we could possibly fish out of the dimensional sea. Growth items and items with no clear usage conditions would be ignored, and we were planning on deciding who would own what item before we started fishing for items.
I felt bad for saying this, but giving Park Deok-Gu a Mythic-rank armor or shield would be the dumbest decision possible.
The items had to land in the hands of someone who could use them more efficiently than the others so that we wouldn’t end up throwing pearls to swine.
Jung Ha-Yan and Kim Hyun-Sung were the only ones who could unleash Semi-Mythic level powers.
I also thought about giving Cha Hee-Ra a Mythic-rank item. An armor that could nullify her penalty and increase her stats at the same time would be the best item for her, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to secure that for her.
Ah, it wasn’t a bad idea to give Elena an item as well because she was the most well-rounded individual here. Her skills also allowed her to exert influence over an entire army for an extended period of time.
‘I wonder if a buff-type item is okay…’
I was a bit sad because there was a high chance that there wouldn’t be any suitable items for me here. After all, the Dark Plaguelord or the Alchemist of Light didn’t have many options when it came to items.
My role in battles had already been decided as well, so even if we managed to secure the Sage’s Stone, I would still be hesitant about using it.
I looked around while having many happy thoughts and saw that they were ready to go fishing. Each and every member had their own fishing pole, which made me think that Park Deok-Gu had definitely prepared them before we went to Mirror Lake.
“I brought these fishing poles to go fishing for salmon. I know we’re not about to fish for salmon, but at least we’re going to fish for something! People once called me Gangwon Province’s Fishing King, River Deok-Gu. I don’t know what we’ll get, but trust me. We’ll get items that we have never seen before,” Park Deok-Gu said.
‘Does this pig even know how to feel bad?’
He actually looked proud.
“It’s my first time, so I’m not sure if I’ll do well. Wait, do items even bite the bait?”
‘I’m sure they’ll take care of that, Jo Hye-Jin. She sure is curious about the most random things.’
“S-Should I prepare some food? We haven’t eaten anything since we ate Mirror Salmon…”
Elena and Han Sora decided to start cooking.
“I’ll go ahead and stand guard, Sub Guild Master.”
It seemed that Lee Chang-Ryeol was the only reliable person. The slightly depressing and quiet atmosphere instantly changed, and I thought that we could consider this dungeon conquest a part of our vacation.
Park Deok-Gu handed me a large fishing pole, and I handed that to Kim Hyun-Sung.
Kim Hyun-Sung awkwardly accepted the fishing pole.
He looked like he had never gone fishing before, so I had to confirm it.
“Have you done this before?” I asked.
“No, it’s my first time. I actually don’t know how to—I think it’s best if I stand guard as well,” Kim Hyun-Sung replied.
“No, you don’t have to. Mr. Chang-Ryeol is good enough. Well, you don’t need experience to start fishing. You just need to throw it in,” I told him.
“Is that so?” he asked.
“I think there’s a variety of items on the seafloor of the Sea of the Abandoned Dimension. We just have to pray that an item will get hooked. We don’t have to worry about changing the bait or moving the pole up and down to entice prey. You don’t need to be worried. Just have fun,” I explained.
“Then…”
With a swish, I heard a ploop.
Kim Hyun-Sung swung his fishing pole so seriously, but he ended up looking awkward.
His confidence as a swordsman couldn’t be seen at all.
He glanced at River Deok-Gu to copy the latter’s posture, but I didn’t think that it was that helpful.
Meanwhile, Ahn Ki-Mo was still vomiting out of motion sickness.
Jung Ha-Yan was happy because she was next to me.
The overall atmosphere was pretty fun, and I started smiling.
“I got one!” someone shouted behind me. “I got it! This one feels like a big one! It’s a big catch! A big one! I’m sure of it!”
I saw Park Deok-Gu trying to reel in an item while making a fool of himself. He was crying out so loudly that he seemed to be genuinely enjoying this situation and was relaxing amidst the tense atmosphere.
I couldn’t help but laugh because he was just reeling in an item, but he looked as if he was really having a power struggle with a fish, which was such an absurd sight.
“I’m not doing this on purpose. It really feels like it’s fighting me! This one feels like a big one,” he said.
“M-Maybe the item doesn’t want to come up.”
I smiled at Jung Ha-Yan’s boring joke, but I suddenly leaned forward. I leaned forward to the extent that Kim Hyun-Sung had to catch me so that I wouldn’t fall into the water.
‘What’s going on? Damn it...’
It seemed that Park Deok-Gu wasn’t overreacting. I leaned back as far as I could while holding the fishing pole, and my hands were trembling along with the fishing pole.
‘What the? What is this?’
“Looks like you got something as well, hyung-nim! Kgh…”
‘Don’t talk to me, man. I don’t have the luxury for that…’
I mustered my mana to pull the item up, but it was resisting with all its might. It was ridiculous that an item was resisting, but I was definitely having fun. The strong vibration that was transmitted to me through the fishing pole was telling me that the item was at least Semi-Mythic.
‘I understand why people go fishing.’
I kept on reeling it in, but the item just wouldn’t come out.
Meanwhile, it seemed that Park Deok-Gu finally succeeded because he started screaming, “It’s a Semi-Mythic item! Hyung-nim! It’s a semi-mythic iteeeeeeeem!”
I wanted to turn and look at it, but I couldn’t do that because I was currently fighting my own item.
Time passed, and I heard the others shouting that they had gotten something.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of looking at what the others managed to obtain. Elena and Sun Hee-Young took turns giving buffs, while Jung Ha-Yan also provided the others with light enhancement magic.
It had been around fifteen minutes since I started reeling in the item, so I decided to just give up. However, the vibration suddenly stopped, and the item stopped resisting for some reason.
I immediately took advantage of that opening and leaned backward as far as I could.
There was a splash, and a lance giving off an ominous crimson light emerged from the sea.
[Longinus’ Lance - Mythic]
[A mythical weapon called ‘The Lance That Pierced the Side of a God.’ The item’s origin is unknown, but the faint traces in the weapon is enough to extrapolate further information about the lance. It is impossible to block this lance. It has no other functions.]
‘Shiiit…’
“Oppa! Oppa! Oppaaa! Mythic! Mythic!”
“Mr. Ki-Young! Mr. Ki-Young!”
Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung Ha-Yan were so thrilled at the sight that they started jumping around.
“What the?! What is that, hyung-nim? I can’t believe you got that!”
‘Yeah, I’m just that good.’
I felt proud, and I started feeling more arrogant. I really liked the fact that I ended up getting a Mythic-rank lance after fifteen minutes of hard work, but I also couldn’t quite believe that I actually obtained such a great weapon.
I wanted to take a picture of it as proof.
“Hey, let’s take a picture as proof. Man, all I got was a Semi-Mythic shield, but you actually managed to get a Mythic-rank item on your first try. Nice! I’d expected nothing less from you!” Park Deok-Gu complimented.
I was puzzled, but I started grinning after reading the item description.
‘This lance cannot be blocked.’
It was a simple yet domineering description. It was basically saying that it didn’t need any other functions because nothing could stop it.
Under the assumption that the outer gods’ defenses were powerful, we could use this lance to pierce through any of their defenses.
‘That’s right, damn it. That’s what I’m talking about!’
This weapon definitely wouldn’t need any other functions.
“Wow… This item… You can just take this with you, right? It says that it can’t be blocked. This is crazy. I think this is—”
“We’re just getting started, so I should try and fish more items,” I interrupted.
‘And I can’t take this with me… Jo Hye-Jin is the only one who can wield a lance here.’
Of course, it wouldn’t be bad if Jo Hye-Jin used a Mythic-rank lance, but the stats were too great to make her the main wielder of this lance.
If I could take one more item with me, I would consider taking it with me, but we were only allowed to take one item with us.
‘I’ll take this if I don’t get anything else…’
I got off to a good start, so I couldn’t help but think that we would remain lucky until the end. Soon, I could hear the others cheering once more. We got another Mythic-rank item, but the others were getting Semi-Mythic and Legendary-rank items left and right.
I even saw them throwing the Legendary-rank items back into the sea, and I couldn’t really get used to seeing them throwing away Legendary-rank items as if they were mere minnows.
“Another legendary. I. Want. A big one, too.” Kim Ye-Ri casually threw the item that she had fished out back into the sea.
Overall, the atmosphere was intense.
“Man… this feels great! My pole is shaking!”
“I think it’s fun. It’s better than fishing for fish.”
“I got one! I! I! Got one! Oppa!” shouted Kim Ye-Ri.
Everyone started screaming in joy, aside from the sad Kim Hyun-Sung, who still hadn’t gotten even a single item. It had been about six hours since the quest started, but our lovely regressor’s fishing pole was still quiet.
‘Oh man…’
Kim Hyun-Sung’s calm eyes started quivering ever so slightly.
‘Hyun-Sung…’