Chapter 1970 – 1970. God’S Atlantis
I paused as I was about to sign the contract with the fountain pen I received from Norris.
I sensed an ominous aura from the contract.
“This isn’t an ordinary contract.”
“It’s a contract with the Grim Reaper. If you break the contract, you’ll be cursed and hunted by the Grim Reaper.”
“Do mercenaries usually work with Grim Reaper contracts?”
Norris shook his head.
A Grim Reaper contract. It was one of the contracts used for truly important deals. The contract itself was worth over 100 million pennies.
“I presented this contract. I happened to obtain it a long time ago. I found out that this is your first time hiring mercenaries. I needed a safety net of sorts.”
“Is this your safety net?”
“Yes. If you keep the terms of the contract, nothing will happen. In return, I won’t take any advance payment.”
I read the contract again. There weren’t any particularly unfavorable clauses for me. I wrote my name at the end of the contract. Then, Omikos signed, followed by the broker, Norris.
The contract turned black. An ominous aura spread from the contract, then began to gather in the air. The ominous aura then transformed into the Grim Reaper.
The Grim Reaper, cloaked in black and holding a large scythe, looked at the three of us and chuckled. Then, it disappeared without a trace.
「The Grim Reaper contract has been completed.」
「If the contract is broken, you will be cursed and hunted by the Grim Reaper until death.」
The system displayed a confirmation notification.
Norris sighed and relaxed his body. Omikos slowly got up from his seat.
“We need to move out tomorrow, so there’s a lot to prepare as a mercenary group. I’ll see you tomorrow at 1 PM.”
“Understood.”
Omikos left.
As soon as he left, Norris took a sip of his coffee.
“As you can see, Omikos isn’t flexible. He’s not the type to be friendly with people.”
“It seems so.”
“But his skills are genuine. I won’t ask you to trust my words. Trust the career Omikos has built.”
“I trust him.”
I said briefly and got up from my seat.
Whether I truly trusted the Omikos Mercenary Group or not didn’t matter. What mattered was whether I could achieve my goal.
• • •
The Omikos Mercenary Group gathered at the north exit of the mercenary city. Over 50 people, fully armed, were ready to depart. Like soldiers heading to the battlefield, they exuded a sense of determination.
Though they were tense, none of them were afraid. They were all veterans. And they all genuinely trusted and followed Omikos.
I looked at them and took out space-movement scrolls, handing them out to the mercenaries.
“We’ll move using the space-movement scrolls. It’s too far otherwise. Aside from the time, there’s no need to waste stamina on the move.”
“You seem to have prepared a lot.”
“Did you think I hired you to waste money? Go ahead and wait.”
I tore the scroll.
「You have entered Area 1,358, the River of Serenity.」
The River of Serenity was a peaceful and quiet place. With a wide plain and a flowing river, it was a popular spot for anglers.
A few seconds later, the mercenaries appeared, led by Omikos.
“The River of Serenity?”
“Isn’t this an area without monsters?”
“Is Fafnir here?”
All the mercenaries looked bewildered.
The River of Serenity was open to everyone. The one who controlled the River of Serenity was a nobleman of the Ustia Empire, a nobody. But no one coveted this River of Serenity. There was nothing to gain from acquiring it.
“It seems there’s a secret hidden that we don’t know about.”
Unlike the other mercenaries, Omikos was calm. I nodded and moved. I walked upstream, against the river’s current. Omikos led the mercenaries, following behind me.
Upstream, the river split into three branches. I walked along the rightmost branch. After about 30 minutes, I arrived at my destination.
“Why did you stop?”
“Is there something?”
“There’s nothing.”
Omikos stared at me. I ignored his silent gaze and approached the river.
‘Some areas are openly revealed, but some are hidden.’
Items hinting at hidden areas occasionally appear in the world. If you solve the secrets of those items, you can enter the hidden areas.
‘But Kang Myungjin and I are a bit different.’
Because I already know.
I took out a prepared bag from my inventory. Inside the bag were 20 gold bars, each weighing 1kg. A total of 20kg of gold bars.
The sight of the glittering gold drew greedy gazes from the mercenaries. Some even swallowed their saliva.
I threw all 20kg of gold bars into the flowing river.
“Ah!”
“Throwing gold into the river!”
“Gold sinks in water. Can’t we just pick it up later?”
I chuckled.
Did they think I was stupid enough to throw 20kg of gold into the river? I looked at the river. The water was so clear that I could see inside. The 20kg of gold I threw in had already disappeared without a trace.
At this place, throwing 20kg of gold into this river. That was the condition.
Actually, this wasn’t in the original story. I found out about it by reading a few lines in the author’s setting notes. The reason I hired mercenaries while taking a loss was because I lacked information about Fafnir.
「You have entered Area 1,399, the Rhine River.」
「This is a hidden area.」
「You can leave at any time. However, to re-enter, you must offer 20kg of gold.」
The quiet little river branch had turned into a large river. Other than that, the scenery hadn’t changed much.
I led them forward.
「The Golden Collector smiles.」
The Golden Collector.
One of the gods who had been watching me since the beginning. But recently, I realized his true identity. The reason he’s been paying so much attention to me lately.
It’s because it’s his own business. The Golden Collector is the real Fafnir.
「The Golden Collector uses his power.」
「The power of the Golden Collector (Pseudo) becomes stronger.」
“This son of a bitch?”
「The Golden Collector chuckles.」
As expected of an evil dragon. He didn’t seem to have any intention of making it easy.
He’s been watching me for a long time, so you’d think he’d have some affection for me, but instead of helping me, he was just making things harder.
「The Golden Collector sponsors 1,000 AP.
“A mortal is being presumptuous.”」
Despite saying I was being presumptuous, his voice was filled with laughter instead of anger.
“Even so, the result won’t change. Lizard.”
「The Golden Collector uses his power.」
「The power of the Golden Collector (Pseudo) becomes stronger.」
“……”
Should I kneel down and apologize right now? A strong temptation came over me. Since he has some affection for me, if I kneel and apologize here, wouldn’t he help me out a bit?
‘No way. That bastard is an evil dragon. He’d probably just get mad and say he’s disappointed. And the other gods are watching, so I can’t kneel.’
I had my pride too.
I raised both middle fingers to the sky.
“Eat a f*ck you! Eat two!”
「The Golden Collector is enraged!」
「The Golden Collector uses his power.」
「The power of the Golden Collector (Pseudo) becomes stronger.」
He would have used his power even if he wasn’t angry. I had a feeling. So it was a good thing I flipped him off.
“Yujin-nim? What are you suddenly doing?”
Omikos was puzzled. He couldn’t see the messages I was seeing.
“Some annoying guy is messing with my work.”
That’s when it happened.
Something huge was flying from the other side of the sky.
Its heavy presence overwhelmed not only me but all the mercenaries in an instant. The pitch-black thing was a dragon. A black dragon with a spiky appearance that seemed to be covered in evil.
「The Golden Collector (Pseudo) realizes the intruder’s intention and is enraged!」
-Mortal, how dare you invade my territory!
The dragon’s voice echoed loudly.
The power and momentum I felt from Fafnir far exceeded my expectations. The original was using an immense amount of power.
I immediately knelt down. Omikos, having experience, immediately knelt down with the mercenaries, following my lead.
I shouted towards the approaching Fafnir and took out gold from my inventory.
“Great dragon! I offer 100kg of gold! Please allow us to stay in this area!”
The momentum of the gold-crazed black dragon decreased. He drooled as he looked at the gold in front of him.
-A somewhat clever one has come. But the gold seems a bit light.
“Here’s another 10kg!”
-Still light!
“…Here’s another 10kg.”
-It seems like you have more?
“I don’t! I really don’t! This is the last of it!”
-Hmm. It seems better to kill you and take the gold.
“Before that, I’ll put all this gold into my subspace!”
-Tsk.
A sound of displeasure.
After that, the evil dragon was silent for a moment. He was deciding what to do.
‘This guy isn’t the Golden Collector. He doesn’t have any information about me. He’ll accept it.’
His eyes were overflowing with greed for gold.
‘It’s balanced to match Atlantis. There’s no way the system would allow Fafnir to just get stronger.’
I needed to buy time. Time to find a way to attack this guy.
‘The gold I’m offering now, I can get it back later after killing that bastard.’
-Fine. Hand over the gold. I will allow you to stay in my territory for three days. No longer than that.
“Here’s the gold.”
Fafnir grabbed the gold with his rather short front paws and spread his large wings, flying into the sky.
-Three days. Don’t forget.
Even though he was an evil dragon, he was still a dragon, so he tried to keep his word. Though that might not be the case if things went wrong.
“……Do you really have a way to kill Fafnir? No matter how I think about it, it seems difficult.”
“There is a way. There’s no way Fafnir is the only one in this vast area.”
I believed in the fairness of the system.
Just as Fafnir had suddenly become stronger than before, they must have prepared other ways to weaken or kill him.
“Let’s move. There’s no time.”
