Chapter 82
Translator: MagicFishCat
Proof-reader: Girondono
[You have defeated the Leader of the Hetaro Bandits, Hetaro . ]
“Hoo, I’m finally done . ”
Soo Hyuk looked at the notification as he collected the drops, then opened his quest window .
[Bandits on the Kerin Plains]
On the Kerin Plains, where many merchants crossed, bandits had appeared . Currently, the bandits are causing the merchants considerable damage . Go to the Kerin Plains and eliminate the bandits .
[Hetaro Bandits: 20 / 20 ]
[Hetaro: 1 / 1 ]
[Quest Reward: 500 Gold]
Looking at the completed quest, a satisfied smile crept upon his face .
“Archmage’s Subspace . ”
[Warping to the Archmage’s Subspace . ]
The moment he arrived in the chamber, he headed straight for the magic circle and teleported to Hadrac . As he walked out of the warp gate, Soo Hyuk checked the time .
‘He should’ve arrived there by now . ’
The time now was just past 2 o’clock . By now, Romian should’ve made his way to his hideout in Hadrac .
‘Let’s visit him first . ’
Soo Hyuk opened his inventory as he started walking towards the suburb regions, which was located in the northern section of Hadrac . He then took out the map .
‘It’s complicated . ’
Soo Hyuk couldn’t help but frown when he opened the map . It was way too complicated .
‘Well, that’s probably why he chose that place . ’
Romian’s hideout looked difficult to get to even with the map . At the same time, it was an ideal location for a hideout . And so, Soo Hyuk managed to arrive at the suburban area with the map and started making his way to the hideout slowly .
‘Is it here?’
Soo Hyuk, who had been walking for a while, stopped in place . He checked the red dot on the map, then the buildings in front of and around him .
‘I think it’s here . ’
He had probably arrived at his destination .
Tock . Tock .
Soo Hyuk knocked after storing the map back in his inventory . However, there was no answer as time passed by .
No reaction at all .
“Is he still not here yet?”
It was at that moment .
Creak…
The door opened, then Soo Hyuk could see Romian, who was wearing a worried expression .
“Soo Hyuk-nim? You’re already here…”
Romian greeted Soo Hyuk with the same worried expression .
“Ah, please come in first . ”
With the sudden thought, Romian hurriedly guided Soo Hyuk into his hideout .
“Henkins had something to do so he’s went out for a bit . But why are you here… Did something happen?”
Romian asked as he sat down . At Romian’s question, Soo Hyuk opened his inventory and replied to his question .
“I have the key . ”
Soo Hyuk said as he held out the key .
“The key?”
Romain stared at the key in his palm as he exclaimed disbelievingly . However, he the cocked his head in confusion and stare back at Soo Hyuk .
‘Ah, right . ’
Soo Hyuk hurriedly continued at Romian’s confused gaze .
“This is the key that came out of the red marble . This should be the real key . ”
Now that he thought about it, Romian only knew about the red marble, and not the true form of the key . No, he would think that the red marble itself was the key .
“Ah, really?”
At Soo Hyuk’s explanation, Romian looked back at the key as he exclaimed in realisation this time . He then looked up at Soo Hyuk with a doubtful face .
[You have completed the quest ‘The Secret Cave’ . ]
The quest notification appeared at that moment .
“…”
But, Soo Hyuk couldn’t help but be confused even though he had completed the quest . The reason was because of Romian’s suspicion in his expression . Why was he wearing that face even though he had brought him the key?
“…This is truly difficult . ”
Romian opened his mouth, seemingly noticing Soo Hyuk’s confusion . Meanwhile, Soo Hyuk got a bad feeling from the first word he spoke .
“First, I have to apologise . ”
Romian apologised with a slight bow .
“I have underestimated Soo Hyuk-nim’s ability . I didn’t expect that you would be able to bring the key this fast . ”
Truthfully, Romian hadn’t expected that Soo Hyuk would be able to bring the key this soon .
“As I mentioned before, Celta’s cave contains many traps . ”
Phantom Thief Celta’s Secret Cave had countless traps, and this fact didn’t change even if one possessed the key .
“The problem is that my leg hasn’t healed properly yet…”
Romian wasn’t capable of walking normally yet, and to head to the secret cave while injured was equivalent to suicide .
“And I also have other things to prepare . ”
Romian added .
“That means…”
Soo Hyuk stared at Romian as his voice faded away . At Soo Hyuk’s gaze, Romian quickly continued,
“So our departure will take some time . One week at least…”
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[Preparation Time]
Romian hadn’t expected that you would bring back the key so quickly . He thought that you would’ve taken at least one week . Also, Romian himself needs one week, as his body is still injured and he needs to prepare for the exploration . Find Romian again after one week!
[Key to Phantom Thief Celta’s Secret Cave: 1 / 1 ]
[Time Left: 7 days ]
[Quest Reward: Quest – Cave Exploration]
As Romian’s voice trailed away and disappeared, a quest appeared in front of Soo Hyuk . Looking at the quest, Soo Hyuk wore a regretful expression .
“I understand . ”
Soo Hyuk replied as he stored the key in his inventory .
“Then I’ll come again after one week . ”
He then stood up from his seat .
“I’m sorry . ”
“No, it’s fine . ”
With a goodbye, Soo Hyuk left Romian’s hideout . Then with a deep sigh, he retraced his steps back to the Mercenary Agency . The reason he was going back to the agency was because he had to complete his ‘Bandits on the Kerin Plains’ .
‘When will the promotion appear again?’
After achieving C-rank, he had completed many missions, but the promotion notifications hadn’t appeared once . Exactly how much more missions did he have to do to be promoted?
‘I wish that this quest is the last one . ’
While thinking about his promotion to B-rank, Soo Hyuk was able to arrive at the Mercenary Agency after 20 minutes of walking .
“Here!”
Soo Hyuk climbed up to the 2nd floor and handed his token to the NPC on the counter . After the NPC received his token, a notification appeared in his eyes .
[You have completed the quest ‘Bandits on the Kerin Plains’ . ]
[You now have the qualifications to be promoted . ]
[You can now attempt a promotion quest . ]
“…!”
Soo Hyuk’s widened to their limit as he read the notification .
‘It’s here!’
He could now be promoted .
‘Huh . ’
Who would think his fantasies would come true?
“Here is your token . ”
While Soo Hyuk was staring absentmindedly at the notice, the NPC had brought back his token with the rewards for the mission .
“Ah, yes . ”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Soo Hyuk hastily grabbed his token and rewards, then raced down the stairs to line up at a line on the 1st floor .
“Next please!”
His turn came a few minutes later, and as Soo Hyuk sat down in front of the counter, the NPC asked,
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“What can I do for you?”
“I want to see the promotion missions . ”
Soo Hyuk replied as he held out his Mercenary Token .
“Hmm?”
The NPC let out a flustered sound as he received the token . Noticing the NPC’s reaction, Soo Hyuk stared curiously at the NPC .
‘What’s going on?’
Why was the NPC so agitated?
“H-here it is…”
Noticing Soo Hyuk’s gaze, the NPC held out the mission list while still exuding agitation . Soo Hyuk looked at the NPC suspiciously, before looking down to check the list .
‘A linked quest that isn’t tedious . ’
For B-rank promotion missions, they were always 100% guaranteed to be linked quests . Right now, Soo Hyuk wanted a quest that wasn’t tedious and didn’t take long, even at the cost of higher difficulty .
‘Oh!’
A few moments later, Soo Hyuk discovered a decent mission on thelist .
-Unusual Ogres Conditions – Ogres: 30, Twin Head Ogres: 2
‘There’s a hunting quest?’
The previous pages he had looked through were dominated by item and request missions, but the ‘Unusual Orcs’ mission required only hunting .
‘That was lucky . ’
Through the posts on the official Pangea homepage, Soo Hyuk had found out that pure hunting promotions quests were almost non-existent on the lists . In other words, he had been really lucky this time .
‘Let’s go with this . ’
Soo Hyuk also knew one more piece of information . That a linked pure hunting quest was always followed by another hunting quest . It wasn’t false . Not one or two, but tens of lucky people had posted about this . Having made his decision, Soo Hyuk said to the NPC while handing back the mission catalogue .
“I will do this mission . ”
[You have selected the ‘Unusual Ogres’ quest . ]
Lactone hurriedly moved his feet, one by one .
‘I have to report quickly . ’
He had to report to his superiors .
‘The Drak Faction could snatch him first . ’
Tock . Tock .
“It’s Lactone!”
Arrving at his destination, Lactone banged on the door while shouting breathlessly .
“Come in . ”
When the voice inside called out, Lactone immediately opened the door and walked inside . Then Lactone could see the room’s owner, Jackal, rising from his bed .
“What is it?”
Jackal asked Lactone with a yawn .
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“I have something to report . ”
“Report?”
“Report? Yes, there’s a mercenary about to be a B-rank . He doesn’t have a guild . ”
Jackal frowned heavily at Lactone’s words .
“Did you just wake me from my sleep just because of that?”
Maybe for S-rank, but making such a ruckus because of a future B-rank? Even if that person wasn’t in a guild, Jackal still couldn’t understand .
“Well, it’s 3 days . ”
But expecting Jackal’s reaction, Lactone continued with his report .
“3 days?”
Jackal couldn’t help but ask back .
“What 3 days?”
“It’s only been 3 days since he registered as a mercenary . ”
Jackal widened his eyes at Lactone report .
“What? 3 days? 3 days today? Since he registered?”
Jackal continuously fired question mark after question mark at Lactone with widened eyes .
“But B-rank today?”
“…Yes . ”
Lactone replied with a nod at Jackal’s question .
Jackal fell in thought . Of course, his state didn’t last long .
“Is it real?”
Jackal asked Lactone, snapping out of his thoughts . B-rank in three days? No guild? He couldn’t believe it .
“Yes, I personally gave him the mission list . ”
Lactone replied confidently in response . If others had told him, he wouldn’t have believed it either, but he had personally given him the mission list .
“Are you sure he has no guild?”
“Yes, I’m sure . ”
At Lactone’s reply, Jackal climbed down from his bed, then asked Lactone again .
“Which mission?”
“Ogre hunting . ”
“Prepare . I will see the master . ”
“Yes . ”
Jackal exited the room together with Lactone . Then Lactone walked down the right passage while Jackal took the right,
‘B-rank in 3 days…’
Jackal thought,
‘A fine ware . It’s been a while . ’