Chapter 1911 – 1911. Dark Moon
“That’s right. Like you said, Miskatonic University is famous. It’s one of the most prestigious schools in Neo London. That’s why it’s even stranger.”
“Strange?”
“The sponsor of the Hemmington Expedition is Miskatonic University. You can think of it as Miskatonic’s expedition. Such a huge force is trying to hire outside mercenaries? That’s not normal. Big companies or universities can usually handle their personnel needs through their own connections. It’d be different if they wanted a different caliber of mercenary… but you’re still only a Grade 5.”
It was Rose, as expected. Even though the exact information hadn’t been released yet, she sensed the strangeness of the expedition. Her intuition was excellent.
“What if Miskatonic University is no longer sponsoring the Hemmington Expedition?”
“……Miskatonic University abandoned the expedition?”
“It could be the opposite. Professor Hemmington might have left Miskatonic University.”
“Indeed. That would explain why they’re hiring mercenaries. But that’s even more problematic. An ancient ruins expedition without university backing… it reeks.”
It did reek. They weren’t hiring mercenaries with good intentions.
Professor Hemmington was planning to retire after this job. He had already finished preparing to leave Neo London and defect to Hamburg Innovation.
“Are you going to take the job? They said they prefer mages… someone like you would get hired right away.”
“You don’t seem too keen on it.”
“It’s standard to avoid these kinds of fishy requests. But if the reward is good enough to make you hesitate, you investigate thoroughly… but this time, there’s no time to investigate. The expedition schedule is tight, so there are only three days to spare. I don’t know if it’s really that urgent.”
“I see. Anyway, I’m doing it. I’ve been interested in the ancient ruins of Edinburgh for a while now. I can’t miss this opportunity.”
“…The pay is only 30 million credits. All the artifacts found in the ancient ruins belong to the expedition. Compared to other similar requests, the pay is cheap. At least you’ll gain some reputation. And you’re still going to take this job?”
“I’m a man of action, Eugene Meyer. Or Han-nam Eugene for short.”
“That doesn’t sound good. Whatever. I’ll apply for you, so wait. They seem to be in a hurry, so you’ll get an answer soon.”
I waited for about 15 minutes. Rose handed me a document.
“Here, it’s the request confirmation. Take this and go to the Hemmington Expedition by the day after tomorrow.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s not like I’m doing it for free. Come back safe. That’s how I get my commission.”
I said goodbye to Rose and went outside.
I knew Professor Hemmington’s goal and the gimmicks of the Edinburgh ancient ruins through the original game quests.
The events of the original game seemed jumbled, but the things that were supposed to happen were still happening. So, it wouldn’t be difficult to take advantage of it.
‘Even when I was playing the game, I didn’t like Professor Hemmington. Even though it was a quest, he used the player for petty errands and then backstabbed them.’
Even if I knew it in the game, I couldn’t help but get tricked. But now that it’s reality, it’s different. I can control the situation as I want.
‘I’ll take everything I get from the ancient ruins.’
To do that, everyone in the expedition except me had to die.
• • •
“I have to leave the mansion due to some business.”
I gathered the employees after dinner and told them.
“Will you be gone from the mansion for long?”
“About a week? It might take longer.”
“What should we do?”
“Do as usual. Don’t forget to water the cherry tree and give it meat.”
I didn’t trust the employees. It hadn’t even been a month since I hired them. How could I trust them when I hadn’t even figured out their personalities yet? What I trusted was the contract they signed. And the security of this G District where the mansion was located.
Before leaving the mansion, I looked at the cherry tree in the center of the garden. A spirit-beast cherry tree. The most valuable treasure in the mansion was probably this one.
I reached out to the cherry tree and started mental communication. The cherry tree’s mind awakened. The cherry tree was basically asleep. Its weak mind rarely awakened except when I mentally communicated with it.
Why did you wake up?
The cherry tree grumbled as if it was annoyed. It had a terrible personality. If it wasn’t a spirit-beast tree, I might have burned it to ashes.
“I have to leave for a while. Behave yourself.”
I received a message that it understood. It told me to go quickly because it was annoying.
“I’m your master. Don’t forget that.”
After reminding it a few more times, I left the mansion. I took the train straight to Edinburgh. Unfortunately, there was no direct train to Edinburgh.
It was understandable. Edinburgh was a city comparable to Neo London, but it was a city that had been destroyed 1,100 years ago. In this place, Edinburgh felt like a boring old civilization, similar to the destroyed Great Korea or Unbelievable Japan.
‘The important thing is that it was a city comparable to Neo London. Neo London is one of the leading cities in the world right now.’
In other words, the legacy of a brilliant civilization was sleeping in Edinburgh. That was also my goal.
After getting off the train, I walked to Edinburgh.
“Krrr…”
Beasts and monsters attacked me as if they had been waiting. It was a common occurrence in the outskirts, especially in deserted areas.
“Thunder Bolt.”
With a single bolt of lightning falling from the sky, the beasts and monsters died, emitting smoke from their bodies.
And finally, I arrived in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh, once a city of brilliant civilization, was now a ruin with only traces of its past. A brilliant civilization? You couldn’t find it even if you looked with a magnifying glass. Instead, there was hard, black earth and walls that looked like they would crumble at any moment.
‘I’m familiar with this.’
It was my first time here, but I felt familiar with it, probably because I had been here several times in the game.
‘There’s the camp.’
A temporary camp made with tents. It was the Hemmington Expedition’s camp.
I didn’t go straight to the camp and wandered around. I saw a place where broken bricks were piled up. I approached it and removed the bricks with telekinesis. I knelt on one knee on the ground and placed my hand on the ground. When I flowed mana, there was a reaction.
Runes faintly glowed and appeared on the ground.
Click.
The ground opened, revealing a small space. Inside the space were a water bottle and a gold bracelet.
‘It’s protected by space magic, so it’s in perfect condition even after 1,100 years.’
It wasn’t a vault. It was too flimsy to be a vault. It was just a special storage place where the middle class would put their valuables.
Crack!
The rune magic was dismantled and disappeared. It was old. It was natural since it had lasted for 1,100 years even though it wasn’t of good quality.
I put on the gold bracelet. My body felt a little better. It was because of the effect of adjusting the wearer’s condition.
‘That’s not the real effect.’
The gold bracelet was a Grade 5 artifact that allowed the user to use the Grade 7 recovery magic [Recovery] once. If it wasn’t a one-time use artifact, it would have been worth at least 1 billion credits as a Grade 7 artifact.
‘Recovery is a powerful recovery magic that can even heal fatal wounds. This bracelet itself is an extra life.’
Recovery magic was rare and difficult. It was a magic that you couldn’t even attempt without special talent. It was a magic directly managed by the state, so it was much more difficult to figure out the formula than other magics.
I picked up the water bottle. It was a kind of doping potion.
Its name was Golden Gift. It was a doping potion that increased all stats by 50% for 3 minutes. It was a common item in ancient times, but in this era, it was a rare item that was only occasionally found in ancient ruins.
‘The effect is decent, but the biggest advantage is that there are no side effects after doping.’
Having taken both items, I chuckled as I looked at the Hemmington Expedition camp.
Even though there was an ancient relic so close, they couldn’t find it. The reason was simple. They couldn’t even imagine that something like this would be in a pile of stones on the street.
‘Well, I’m not in a position to talk. I also found out about this on a community site.’
I headed to the temporary camp. I could sense the presence of about 20 people in various parts of the camp.
“Are you Mr. Eugene Meyer, who was supposed to arrive today?”
A man in work clothes approached me and asked. I took out the request confirmation from my pocket and showed it to him.
“Yes. I’m Eugene Meyer.”
“You’re an electric-type mage, right? We’ve been waiting for you. I’m Clive Garner, the vice-captain of the Hemmington Expedition. I’m a graduate student assisting the professor…”
I was startled even though I already knew his name and identity.
Graduate students were known to be treated poorly even in this world. But Clive looked to be in his mid-30s and was still a graduate student. What did that mean? It meant that Professor Hemmington was deliberately not letting him graduate and was using him.
But that didn’t mean I felt sorry for him. He and Professor Hemmington were in cahoots.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“Haha… yeah, well. Before explaining the work, I’d like to know what your specialty magic is.”
“Didn’t you already check when you hired me?”
“I mean besides electric-type magic. Can’t you use any other magic?”
It was common for mages to not be able to use other types of magic well, except for their innate attribute magic. I was an exception. I had talent in all types of magic. There was no reason to reveal that to this guy.
“I can also use ice-type magic.”
I had recently confirmed the superconductivity phenomenon and was also using ice-type magic.
“Electric and ice… those are attributes that require a lot of talent. You’re amazing. Please follow me. I’ll guide you to the professor.”
We headed to the largest tent in the camp. He didn’t open the door of the tent but raised his voice.
“Professor Hemmington! The mercenary mage, Mr. Meyer, has arrived! He’s a Thunder-Cold!”
‘……Thunder-Cold.’
I felt strange at the familiar word.
“You’ve finally arrived. Come in!”
A confident woman’s voice echoed from inside the tent.
