The Final Boss Has Returned – Episode 38
The level-up notification that feels good just to hear!
Along with it, I dismissed the notification window explaining Aqua Haven and, guided by Nereus, headed deeper into the city.
Thanks to the semi-transparent defensive barrier surrounding the entire city, the interior was more or less similar to the surface environment, aside from the uniquely styled buildings constructed using seashells, stones, and byproducts of marine monsters.
I followed behind Nereus and entered the gigantic conch-shaped building at the center of the city.
[You have entered the Kraken's Sanctuary.]
The Kraken's Sanctuary!
Having engraved that name in my mind, I finally sat facing Nereus in the reception room inside the building.
Nereus spoke to me as I sat in a chair made of coral.
“There is one thing you must do.”
At his words, I instinctively caught the scent of a quest.
The Revival of the Merfolk Kingdom!
It was a quest of tremendous scale, and since it had multiple objectives, there were bound to be sub-quests.
Besides, hadn’t the notification that popped up when I entered the city told me to receive a Kraken-related quest from Nereus?
I replied with an inward smile.
“What is it?”
When I said that, as expected, Nereus answered with a grave expression.
“It is to restore the Kraken.”
“How?”
“As you know, the Kraken has suffered grave wounds and fallen into a moribund state. At present, it is uncertain whether it is even alive or dead. To revive the Kraken, a Legendary-grade mana stone or an item possessing comparable power is needed.”
Upon hearing Nereus’s words, the outline of the quest began to take shape to some extent.
Be that as it may, Nereus continued his explanation.
“Fortunately, the Abyssal Pearl, a treasure comparable to a Legendary-grade mana stone, is sealed in the underground of the palace located in our old capital, Daehwacho. It is currently in the clutches of the mermaids, but the seal on the Abyssal Pearl is not something the mermaids can easily touch. It would be troublesome, but I would like you to go there and recover the Abyssal Pearl.”
[A quest has been generated.]
[Retrieve the Abyssal Pearl!]
[Rank: Heroic]
[For a long time, the merfolk received the blessing of the guardian beast, the Kraken. However, in the war nine years ago, the Kraken was gravely wounded by the mermaids’ guardian divine beast, Scylla, and fell into a moribund state, and the Merfolk Kingdom lost its capital and was scattered to the winds.]
[The Kraken slumbers in Aqua Haven, the newly established city of the Golden Scale Tribe. To revive the Kraken, who has fallen into a moribund state, the power of a Legendary-grade mana stone or an item with comparable magical power is required.]
[In the underground of Mano’s Palace, located in the merfolk’s old capital under the dominion of the mermaid race, the Abyssal Pearl, a treasure of the Merfolk Kingdom with magical power comparable to a Legendary-grade mana stone, is sealed.]
[Infiltrate the underground of Mano’s Palace and recover the Abyssal Pearl.]
[Will you accept the quest?]
The quest window appeared as if it had been waiting for Nereus’s words to finish!
Looking at the flashing notification window before my eyes, I slowly spoke to Nereus.
“If it’s a Legendary-grade mana stone or an item of equivalent value, does it not matter what it is, even if it isn’t the Abyssal Pearl?”
“That is true. However, the Abyssal Pearl is the only item obtainable in these parts. I imagine you are well aware of how rare a Legendary-grade mana stone is.”
I smiled at Nereus’s answer.
A Legendary-grade mana stone is a rare item!
I knew that fact very well myself.
Among the six grades—Normal, Rare, Mystic, Heroic, Legendary, and Myth—it wasn’t quite at the level of the Myth grade, which had almost never appeared, but Legendary was the grade that was difficult to obtain through ordinary means.
It wasn’t called Legend for nothing.
Why else would the Heroic grade be called the practical end-game grade?
But as far as I was concerned right now, that wasn’t a very important fact.
‘So as long as I have a Legendary-grade mana stone or an equivalent item, I can just skip this quest!’
Even if it wasn’t specifically the ‘Abyssal Pearl,’ as long as I had an item of a similar type, I could skip this quest!
This fact was important to me.
Of course, a Legendary-grade mana stone wasn’t something easily obtained, and its price was on the level of a house in real life.
It was no wonder that the nickname for Legendary-grade items was “house-selling items.”
It was because they were priced at a level where you truly had to sell your house to acquire one.
To be sure, since mana stones were material items, they were lower in price compared to equipment items like weapons, accessories, and armor of the same grade, but Legendary-grade materials were the foundation for Legendary-grade equipment, so from an absolute standpoint, they were indeed priced high enough to be called “house-selling items.”
The ultimate purpose of this sub-quest was clearly to present a solution to ordinary users who could not possibly possess such house-selling items.
Of course, since it was a quest to obtain an item comparable to a Legendary-grade mana stone, the quest difficulty was none other than Heroic grade!
It was asking me to sneak into the underground of the most heavily guarded palace in the center of an enemy city—the old capital that had been seized and was obviously now enemy territory—and steal the Abyssal Pearl!
The quest contents clearly looked like no joke at a glance.
But what mattered to me now wasn’t the quest difficulty or contents.
It was that I might be able to skip the quest depending on the conditions!
Only that fact was important.
And for good reason—I had a self-imposed time limit of 23 days, and in order to finish the quest within that time, I couldn’t afford to be picky about means and methods.
I had no leisure to leisurely infiltrate an enemy city and commit thievery like I was filming some stealth action movie.
All roads lead to Seoul!
Thinking so, I sent a whisper to Sin Hayeon.
[Executive Sin.]
[What is it, Lord Drakan?]
[I need a Legendary-grade mana stone, or an item with power equivalent to it.]
[You mean right now?]
Sin Hayeon’s voice came through the whisper.
A Legendary-grade mana stone!
Even though I was asking for an item costing hundreds of millions in real money, not a trace of hesitation could be felt in her voice.
[Yes.]
[Please wait a moment.]
Executive Sin’s whisper cut off.
I gazed at Nereus in silence, still staring at the quest window floating before me.
As time began to pass,
“Will you not help, Contractor?”
“A request to retrieve the Abyssal Pearl from the palace underground is impossible for me.”
[You have rejected the quest.]
[Nereus’s favorability decreases.]
[The Demon King of the Sea makes a sullen expression.]
[The Demon King of Destruction mocks you.]
[The Demon King of Destruction sponsors 10 points.]
[The Demon King of Hatred watches you with an intrigued expression.]
“You said you would aid us on the surface, yet you refuse my request; I am disappointed, Contractor.”
“Instead, I shall prepare another item of equivalent value.”
At my words, Nereus’s expression soured, and the Demon Kings’ messages began flashing and rising ceaselessly.
“I do not know what nonsense that is. Is ‘Legendary’ the name of some turtle? Why don’t you go find the Abyssal Pearl even now?”
[Nereus proposes the quest ‘Retrieve the Abyssal Pearl!’ once more.]
[The Demon King of the Sea tells you that this is your last chance.]
[The Demon King of Destruction bursts into laughter.]
[The Demon God of Darkness begins watching you.]
[Will you accept the quest?]
Perhaps because his favorability had dropped, Nereus did not trust my words, and the moment I tried to reject the quest again—
[I’ve acquired it.]
Sin Hayeon’s whisper arrived at the perfect timing.
[Please use a Friend Summon Crystal. I’ll bring it to you personally.]
At Sin Hayeon’s following words, I opened the Points Shop.
[Friend Summon Crystal]
[Price: 20,000 Points]
[A magic crystal that can summon one friend from your friend list to your current location.]
[Summoning requires the consent of the other party, but the crystal is consumed immediately upon use regardless of whether they agree.]
[It cannot be used during combat, and likewise, if the summoned party is in combat, they cannot be summoned.]
The price of the Friend Summon Crystal was a whopping 20,000 points!
It was nearly half of the points I currently possessed, a price so expensive that ordinary users would tremble just to buy it, but I purchased it without hesitation.
[You have purchased the Friend Summon Crystal.]
[The Friend Summon Crystal has been sent to your inventory.]
Upon seeing the notification, I took out the Friend Summon Crystal from my inventory.
The moment I held the transparent crystal suffused with a brilliant green light in my hand, a semi-transparent window appeared before my eyes.
[Please select a friend to summon.]
“Hayeon.”
[Will you summon friend ‘Hayeon’?]
“Yes.”
Before my words even ended, a brilliant green light burst from the crystal.
[‘Hayeon’ has agreed to the friend summon.]
A brief notification window appeared in its wake.
Along with it, the Friend Summon Crystal held in my right hand transformed into green light and vanished, and at the same time, green light filled the reception room.
“What in the world is this—?!”
At that very moment when bewilderment was fading from Nereus’s voice—
“I have arrived.”
Sin Hayeon’s clear voice echoed throughout the reception room.
Wearing a dark blue robe and leaning on a magic staff adorned with a glowing blue crystal, she showed me a faint smile as usual the moment she appeared.
“Lord Drakan.”
“The item?”
“It’s right here.”
Sin Hayeon took the item out from her inventory and placed it on the table.
It was a horn enveloped in blue sparks.
“It is the Thunderbird’s Horn.”
I checked the information of the Thunderbird’s Horn that Sin Hayeon had placed on the table.