Chapter 339

CHAPTER 339

SIDE STORY 12

Kalzenia was a place frequently visited by dimensional travelers.
He had already considered the possibility.
If he stayed here long enough, he might run into them.

And that possibility became reality.

Ralph, a dimensional traveler from Silvaren.
Judging by his gear, he seemed to specialize in long-range combat—a bow and quiver slung across his back.

What kind of person was he?
A good man?

From Juhyeok’s experience so far, it was often the opposite.

Take the dimensional travelers of the main-base Earth, for example.
Weren’t they the very culprits behind the destruction of parallel Earths?

Still, you could tell with just a bit of conversation.
He himself could afford a small lie, but his conversation partner could not.

With the Judge’s Hammer, he could tell whether someone was speaking the truth or lying.

“Do you come here often, Mr. Ralph?”
“Hahaha, so often I’ve worn down the doorstep. What about you, Mr. Kossak?”
“This is my first time.”
“Ah, your first visit. If there’s anything you’re curious about, feel free to ask anytime.”

Since he’d offered—

“How many travelers are currently active in Mezpol?”
“Well, that I don’t really—”

You don’t know?

“Dimensional travelers don’t really meet each other much. We avoid crowded places too.”

Why?

“As I mentioned, we’re afraid of running into someone who shares the same soul. I came to the trading company headquarters after a lot of deliberation.”

That cautious?
Enough to avoid people altogether?

“There’s a hypothesis that similar souls across dimensions are highly likely to possess the same abilities.”

“So if you’re a dimensional traveler, Mr. Kossak, then the soul of another Kossak in a different dimension is very likely also a dimensional traveler.”

That made sense.
Jeon Gwang-il and Jeon Seong-il, high-ranking government officials.
Their direct subordinates, Lee Min-ah and Lee Min-seon.

“If it weren’t for recruiting workers, I wouldn’t have come here. There’s even a rumor that the head of this trading company is a dimensional traveler.”
“Ah.”
“If you ever run into another dimensional traveler, keep your distance like earlier.”

Of course I would.

“Who told you that meeting someone with the same soul makes you explode?”
“That rumor came from a legendary trio.”
“A trio?”
“You must not know since you’re new. They’re legendary travelers of Kalzenia.”

How impressive must they be?

“It’s said that just three of them broke through the so-called Devil’s Wall, the 100th floor of the labyrinth, and even cleared up to the 120th floor.”
“And all in a single night.”

Wow.

That really is impressive.

“Do those people come here often?”
“No. They haven’t been around for a long time.”
“Do you know their names?”
“Hmm, not really. Oh! I heard one of them was the chairman of a pharmaceutical company.”

A conglomerate tycoon, huh.
Could it be a parallel Earth?

“Anyway, have you experienced the labyrinth yourself, Mr. Kossak?”
“Ah! I went in once. I’ll go again when I get the chance.”
“That’s a relief. I also need to recruit workers and get back in.”
“You could just match with a party today.”

But Ralph’s expression turned bitter.

“That’s not easy. The head of the broker office seems extremely strict.”

Strictest in all dimensions.

“Before, it was easy to get workers. You could recruit them just by entering any trading company.”

That was because they were being exploited.

“You need workers to gather enough resources to make paying taxes worthwhile.”
“Taxes?”

I haven’t paid any yet.

“Ten percent is deducted automatically. If you mine ten chunks of top-grade magic stones and put them in a subspace ticket or a normal bag, one chunk just disappears on its own.”

That was news to him.
He hadn’t paid attention to that at all.
Ten percent—he didn’t really care either way.

“The real value of workers is exploration. They can sniff out resources unbelievably well. The difference between having workers and not having them is enormous.”

That was true.
No one could match the beastfolk’s treasure-finding ability.

“But, Mr. Ralph, do you happen to know why this situation came about?”
“Yes. I only found out recently myself. To think the beastfolk were being treated so horribly.”

Ralph’s eyes glinted with restrained anger.

“I’m an outsider anyway, aren’t I? I usually enter the labyrinth with just one worker, no party members. So there was no one to tell me the inside story.”

“They were always so spirited and hardworking that I never even suspected it. If I’d known earlier, I never would’ve let it slide. I would’ve helped the beastfolk no matter what.”

Truth.
That’s what the Judge’s Hammer told him.

Passed the compassion check.
A good traveler.

“The Rabong Trading Company did the right thing. You think so too, right, Mr. Kossak?”
“Yes.”
“The head of the Rabong Trading Company—whoever he is—must be an incredible person.”
“…You think so?”
“A righteous sense of values, meticulous planning, bold execution, and enough power to clear the 125th floor. There’s nothing lacking.”

You flatter me.
He’s got a good eye for people—accurate judgment, approved.

“Anyway, Mr. Kossak, you should be careful when consulting the worker brokerage. Their standards are extremely strict. Just earlier, an adventurer got kicked out for being ugly.”

What did he look like?

“She shouted, ‘Physiognomy is science!’ and yelled at him—gave me chills.”

No, no.
If you know her, she’s actually very soft-hearted.

Just then—

Slide.

“Hm?”

Someone approached Juhyeok.

“Chairman Bong!”
“…Yes?”
“Who’s this guy? Did you make a new friend?”

It was Kossak.

Crap.
At this rate, I’ll get exposed.

Juhyeok frantically signaled with his eyes.

“Someone I just met… right now I’m Kossak—”
“Oh! Is that so? You two look pretty close.”
“No, I’m Koss—”

Kossak bounced over and offered Ralph a handshake.

“Hehe, nice to meet you. I’m Chairman Bong’s eternal right-hand man, loyal retainer, head of sales, Executive Director Kossak.”

Oh dear…

“…Ralph. Nice to—nice to meet you, Mr. Kossak.”

And just like that, the protagonist’s name-hiding mode was forcibly canceled.

“Our Chairman Bong doesn’t have many friends, so he gets lonely. Since you’re both dimensional travelers, don’t cross any lines and get along nicely.”
“Uh, yes.”
“Well then, I’ll be off!”

Lonely because I don’t have friends?
That’s technically true, but was that a dig?

It wasn’t just Kossak.

Dr. El also showed up.

“Chairman, there you are. I have something to report.”
“…Go ahead.”
“Wiz has reported that the low-orbit reconnaissance satellites over the continent have detected anomalies.”
“Anomalies?”
“Large-scale troop movements at five locations. Their direction suggests Mezpol.”

Really?

Likely the armies of the nations backing Mezpol’s five major trading companies.
He’d expected this sooner or later.

No big deal.
It’s not like they’re bringing tanks or fighter jets.
At most, knight orders and mage units.

“Estimated time of arrival?”
“Well, given the scale, their advance is fairly slow—”

So they’re still far away.
Knights might ride horses, but ordinary soldiers would have to march on foot.

“Keep monitoring them. Respond once they get closer.”
“How should we respond?”
“Start with negotiations.”
“Understood.”

We have a master negotiator on our side.
If negotiations fail?

They can be cut down at the level of giants and splinter golems.

Or we could send Greenie or Crackersus and have them fire off a breath attack.
People in fantasy worlds are basically hardwired to fear dragons.

Anyway, after Kossak and El left—

An awkward silence settled between Juhyeok and Ralph.

“So… you’re the trading company chairman.”
“I’m Bong Juhyeok.”

Silence again.
Cold. Very cold.

Should I change the subject?

“If you want to earn top-grade magic stones, wouldn’t listing items at the auction be faster than mining directly? Don’t you put anything up for auction, Mr. Ralph?”

Ralph scratched his head.

“I don’t really have anything suitable to list.”
“I see.”

You can’t even list items?

A poor dimensional traveler.
How unfortunate.

“Hmm, I don’t know why you’re looking at me like I’m pitiful, but back in my world, I’m at a level comparable to state power.”

Yes, yes, of course you are.

“My profession is Enhancer. I started as an enhancement technician, then industrial engineer, enhancement knight, enhancement master technician—and now I’m at the highest tier: Enhancer.”

Ralph smiled proudly and took the bow from his back to show Juhyeok.

“A +10 bow. All my arrows are +10 as well. Gloves, boots, armor, belt—everything I use is +10 gear.”

Like a game-style enhancement system?

“How strong is +10?”
“Each enhancement level increases the equipment’s base performance by 20%. You also get additional options.”

+5 would be a 100% increase.
+10 would be 200%.

That’s pretty good.

“Can you enhance everything?”
“No. Not everything. You can’t enhance the body, skills, or abilities. Accessories are excluded, and divine-grade equipment can’t be enhanced either.”

So the Judge’s Hammer was excluded.
Traits couldn’t be enhanced either.

“And enhanced items become bound to the user. Others can’t use them.”
“…What?”

Seriously?
Then what can you do?

Enhanced items are soulbound—only the enhancer can use them.

With such an ability, how are you state-power level?

But—

“The enhancer’s greatest ability lies elsewhere.”
“What is it?”
“The ability to manufacture enhancement stones.”

Enhancement stones?

“I’m the only person in Silvaren who can produce top-grade enhancement stones.”

Ralph continued, clearly pleased.

“The enhancement stones I make can be traded. As long as someone has the stone, they can enhance their own equipment. Of course, even then, the enhanced item becomes bound to the user.”

Interesting.
Juhyeok’s ears perked up.

Enhancement stones can be traded.
If they could be mass-produced—

“Now I see—you really are impressive.”
“Hahaha! Right?”

He buttered him up a little.

“But if you have enhancement stones, you could just list them at the auction. They’d sell well.”

Ralph let out a deep sigh.

“Enhancement stones can’t be listed.”
“What?”
“Just like magic stones can’t be registered.”
“Ah!”
“Not just enhancement stones—similar stones like spirit stones, awakening stones, and mana stones are the same. None of them can be listed.”

Right.
Juhyeok had tried to list top-grade magic stones too, but failed.
They counted as auction currency, so it was prohibited.

“Can enhancement stones be used as currency?”
“If they could, I’d be the richest man in the auction house.”

Juhyeok clicked his tongue inwardly.
So he came here to mine top-grade magic stones because he couldn’t sell anything at the auction house.
He’s a dimensional traveler in name, but why does he seem so pitiful?

Meanwhile, Ralph was sneaking glances at Juhyeok.
That pitying look again.

Does it bother him?
Not at all!
This was an opportunity—
an opportunity to evoke sympathy.

The chairman of the Rabong Trading Company.
The rising tycoon of Mezpol.
The man who monopolized workers and swept clean the warehouses of the five major trading companies.

Even if enhancement stones couldn’t be listed at the auction house,
couldn’t they be traded directly?

Of course, he’d have to get the price right.

“So, about that… if you happen to need enhancement stones, how about buying some?”
“Ah…”
“I’ll set you up with a good price.”
“As long as the performance is guaranteed.”
“Silvaren’s greatest Enhancer, Ralph—I guarantee it.”

With that, Ralph took three enhancement stones out of his pocket.

“Try enhancing up to +3. It won’t fail.”

Juhyeok casually accepted the stones.

“+3 is too low. At least try going up to +10.”
“Hahaha, to reach +10, even a thousand enhancement stones wouldn’t be enough.”

Why?

“There’s a failure chance past +3. Even +7 is extremely difficult.”
“Come on, three is way too stingy. You need at least ten to really get a feel for it.”
“Uh, f-fine. I’ll give you ten.”
“For free?”
“…Yes. A free trial.”

Should we try enhancing?
Not me—someone else.

So they headed to the headquarters construction site.

“Mr. Rajiks!!!”

He shouted loudly.

“Hwoeeng!!!”

Taeng! Penga-rururu!
Rajiks came flying in with a somersault.

“Let’s enhance your pickaxe. Enhancement!”
“Hoe?”
“Listen to this gentleman for the details.”

Ralph tilted his head.

“Enhancing a worker’s pickaxe? Seriously?”
“Yes!”
“And not a weapon?”
“Yes.”
“…?”

Thus came the explanation of how to use enhancement stones.
Attach the stone to the desired equipment and press the engraved text with your finger—that’s it.

The light emitted as the stone vanished determined success.

+1 white, +2 sky-blue, +3 green, +4 blue, +5 teal, +6 purple, +7 vermilion, +8 pink, +9 red,
and the final +10—
all colors exploding at once.

“What about failure?”
“Black. A gloomy color.”
“Any penalties?”
“These are top-grade enhancement stones with side effects removed. Enhancement simply fails—no loss of existing enhancement, no equipment destruction.”

Nice.

“Rajiks, dimensional farmhand!”
“Hoe!”
“A pure soul that jumped two ranks at once with the Rune of Summoned Being Rank Up!”
“Hoek!”
“Let’s go straight to +10!”
“Hoe-eek!”

Ralph let out a small chuckle.

His responses are kind of cute, but…

Will it really reach +10?
Even +4 would be lucky.
+5 would already be a jackpot.

Rajiks slapped an enhancement stone onto the pickaxe.

Swak!
A white light rose. Success.

Swak! Swak!
Green light—up to +3.

Up to here, failure was nearly impossible.
Almost everyone succeeded to +3.

But then—

Swak! Swak!

“Huh?”

A teal light.
Straight to +5.

At a glance, the golden pickaxe looked sturdier, sleeker, its glow more refined.

And it didn’t stop there.

Rajiks continued without hesitation, applying another stone.

Swak!
Purple—+6 success.

“W-wait?”

As the multicolored lights kept bursting out, Kossak came running over.

After hearing what Rajiks was doing—

“Dimensional farmhand! We’re going all the way to +10! Failure is not allowed!”
“Huek!”
“I’ll cheer for you! Heave-ho!”
“Hueek!”

Rajiks calmly picked up another stone.

Tap!
Applied to the pickaxe.

“Heave-ho!!!”

Swak!

Vermilion—+7.

“W-w-wait?!”

This was insane.

Past +7, the success rate plummeted.
Even with 500 stones, success wasn’t guaranteed.

“Huek!”

Rajiks didn’t hesitate.

Tap!

Swak!
Pink—+8.

“W-w-w-wait?!”

Another tap!

Swak!
Red—+9.

“……”
“……”

Ralph could only stare in silence.

Does this make sense?

“Almost there! Dimensional farmhand, clench with all your might!”
“Huek!”
“Let’s go +10!!!”
“Hueeeek!”

Tap!
 Swaaaaaat!
A brilliant explosion of ten colors.

“M-my god…”

+10 success.

Rajiks’s pickaxe was now a +10 golden pickaxe.

Its form had changed.
The aura it emitted was anything but ordinary.

Rajiks lightly poked the ground with it.

Thoomp!
A massive pit formed instantly.

“Kyah! The effect is solid! With one swing, I could crack a high-grade monster’s skull. Let’s go smash some later!”

Ralph was in complete disarray.

Was this even possible?
+10 with just ten enhancement stones?

“I—I can’t accept this. This is fraud.”

What are you talking about?
They’re the stones you gave us.

“I cannot accept these results.”

So what?

“I’ll give you ten more enhancement stones. Try them on another piece of equipment.”

Oh my!
How generous.
I won’t refuse.

Rajiks took the next ten stones—
this time applying them to his golden safety helmet.

Swak! Swak! Swak! Swak!
He raced to +9 at lightning speed, then—

Swaaaaaat!
+10 success.

“Ugh!”

Ralph looked like he was about to pass out.

Two times in a row.
+10 with ten stones.

Meanwhile, Juhyeok couldn’t hide his grin.
His dimensional farmhand had just upgraded his gear.

How could he not be happy?

So—

“Traveler Ralph.”
“…Y-yes?”
“I’d like to buy enhancement stones in bulk.”
“B-bulk?”
“The more, the better.”
“They’re expensive… they require top-grade magic stones to make.”
“How much? Can we trade in goods?”

Trade… in goods?
Do you even know how valuable these are?

“Ordinary items won’t even come close—”
“What about this?”

Juhyeok pulled out the latest hologram phone from Earth.

“Ghk!”

Ralph’s eyes went wide.

“A hologram phone. Worth one million top-grade magic stones at the auction house.”
“Ugh… this is…”

At Juhyeok’s signal, Rajiks opened the subspace.

Shhk, shhk, shhk.
Tablets, game consoles, smartwatches poured out.

“It even works for communication. Here in Kalzenia.”

Gulp.

The sound of a dry swallow.

Ralph’s eyes gleamed with barely concealed greed.
His hands and feet trembled.

“And we also have small magic-stone-powered generators. No need to worry about charging.”

At that moment, Ralph realized Bong Juhyeok’s other identity.

A big spender at the auction house.
The richest of dimensional travelers, casually buying even divine artifacts outright.

“Brother!!!”
“…Excuse me? I’m not that old.”
“If you’re superior to me, you’re my older brother.”
“Ah, just speak casually. Haha, you’re making me uncomfortable.”
“Hehehe, I’ll give you a great price. One item for 100 enhancement stones—”

Right then!

“Hold on a moment.”

Kossak suddenly cut in.

“Chairman Bong is extremely busy right now.”

I’m not busy.

“Purchasing company goods is the responsibility of me, Executive Director Kossak, head of finance.”
“…Weren’t you head of sales earlier?”
“I hold multiple positions.”

With a sly look, Kossak continued.

“Any constructive negotiations should be conducted with me.”

Inside, Kossak snorted.

Only 100 enhancement stones per item?
How dare he try to lowball us like that.