Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
Everyone turned to look at the small door that had just appeared.
“That’s right…we’re supposed to get a reward of Rank 8 or higher.”
The shock of the 5,000 Stat points made people forget about the quest reward for a moment, but the message quickly reminded them of why they were here in the first place. However, there were a few who weren’t happy about that, either, especially from the Cheng Long Guild side.
“Didn’t someone already just get a reward that’s basically a Rank 8 item?”
“Yeah. Hell, it’s about as good as a Rank 9 item.”
“Wouldn’t he be overdoing it if he’s one of the seven?”
They were talking loudly enough for me to hear, that much was obvious, but I wasn’t going to just stand there and take it. I had no reason to.
I stuck my spear into the ground. I didn’t really slam it, but the spear tip was buried completely into the ground and the sound of it echoed across the room, silencing everyone.
They all turned to look at me. I ignored their stares and walked over to the Cheng Long Guild and Wai Chung. I came up to him and opened my mouth to speak.
“Don’t you think I’ve done enough against the Fallen King-Emperor to be one of the seven to enter the treasure room?”
“…” Wai Chung didn’t say anything and glared at me, but I held his gaze.
For a few minutes, we stood there, glaring at each other. The Cheng Long Guild stayed silent during the whole time.
“I believe Jiwon should be one of the seven.” Song Myungsoo finally broke the silence. “He did the most damage against the dungeon boss on his own. If we refuse him, then won’t we be breaking our initial promise? It was your offer to begin with, wasn’t it? To split the reward according to battle contributions?”
Wai Chung still held his glare, though. Another ten seconds passed before a huge smile formed on his face. “Hahaha. Why are you saying something so obvious? Of course Lee Jiwon should be one of the seven; he’s more than deserved it. Don’t you all think so?”
“Yes, sir!” The Cheng Long Guild that had been whining a few minutes ago all shouted in unison.
“Very well.” Wai Chung and the Cheng Long Guild didn’t need a word of thanks from me. One spot already belonged to me in the first place and I wasn’t going to let anyone else have it.
I did give Song Myungsoo a small nod for interfering. If he hadn’t, I might have had to resort to drastic measures.
The other six to enter the treasure room were chosen quickly. Song Myungsoo, Haein, and Dogun were chosen from the Sunbin Guild and Wai Chung, Weiban and Xia Fang were chosen from the Cheng Long Guild.
We left the remaining 18 devas and headed for the small door.
[You have entered the King-Emperor’s Hidden Treasure Room.]
The treasure room was simpler than I had expected. In the center of the room was a small set of stairs that led to a stage-like structure. Up on the stage were six random chests that were emitting a light alternating between orange, red, and purple.
The message clearly said seven people but there were only six chests.
“What is this?”
“Why are there only six?”
Everyone else was confused at the situation, but I knew why there were only six. In the past, the Cheng Long Guild had prevented any information about the boss room from leaking but somehow, rumors about the treasure managed to get out.
The reason I had to get into the treasure room was because of an item I heard about in my past life, an item called the King-Emperor’s Commitment. This item was obtained by one of the Cheng Long Guild’s healers who followed Wai Chung into the treasure room after they defeated the King-Emperor.
-Those were some…unbelievable effects.-
Most items could only have certain effects on them. For example, Penetration is an effect that could only show up on weapons. Armor and accessories could have Penetration Resistance, but not Penetration.
The bracelet the healer had revealed didn’t have Penetration, but the effects it had were unbelievable.
-What were the effects again…increase Heal magic effectiveness, raise Mega Heal by one level, and Heal spell cooldown reduction?-
The bracelet didn’t have the normal stat boosts or even CRIT boosts and only boosted Heal magic-related spells. It was basically an accessory made for healers.
According to the rumors, the healer was given offer by the treasure room since she hadn’t chosen a chest. Of course, she couldn’t, as Wai Chung had ordered her to be excluded, but that was a blessing in disguise.
She was given the chance to create the King-Emperor’s Commitment with whatever effects she desired. She did have to fulfill certain requirements before she could add on whatever effect she wanted and each time she failed, she would lose an effect. She had failed four times and could only add on three effects.
Still, the bracelet she created was Rank 10. It was the ultimate accessory for a healer!
Now, it was mine to make. I knew exactly what effects to put on to create the most overpowered piece of equipment ever!
—
“Hmm, I can’t seem to get over this middle part,” Xia Fang said as she tried to go up the set of stairs, but was stopped by some invisible force.
“Mm…it’s not some sort of breakable shield, either.” Wai Chung said as he knocked on the invisible wall with his fist.
“It seems so,” replied Song Myungsoo.
At that moment, a message appeared for all to see.
=[In order to access the six random chests, one person must be offered as a sacrifice. Once one person has been chosen as the sacrifice, the wall blocking the way to the chests will be removed.
The King-Emperor’s Hidden Treasure Room has now become the Fallen King-Emperor’s Room of Conflict. Entrance to this room has now been cordoned off.
Time limit: ten minutes (should no one open the random chests in ten minutes, the quest Find the King-Emperor’s Treasure will end.) A safe zone will be formed for ten minutes to prevent team-kill.
Offering: The person chosen as the offering will take on 70 irreversible death penalties. (10 death penalties for everyone in the room, including the offering.)
The offering must stand on the pedestal and must willingly choose to be the offering.]==
===[Time left: 09:57]===
Soon, the door connecting the hidden room and the boss room was covered in mud. The timer began to tick down per second.
“Huh?”
“An offering?”
“They make us come all the way here and now we’ve got to sacrifice someone?”
“What the hell is up with the irreversible 70 death penalties?”
“Whoever it is will lose 700 stat points.”
It really became the Room of Conflict, figuring out who to sacrifice. Had all of us been part of a single team, it would be easier to choose. We would probably just choose whoever was the weakest, or whoever was the strongest. Whoever was chosen would walk up to the pedestal, crying all the way, just like the healer from the Cheng Long Guild.
However, this wasn’t the case now. Technically, there were three different teams in the room; three people from the Sunbin Guild, three from the Cheng Long Guild, and me. A fierce battle of wits had already started. No one, besides me, was willing to give up on a potential Rank 10 item that easily.
I was definitely going to be the sacrifice ,but I couldn’t just step in like an idiot right now. It was such a huge penalty; the sacrifice stood to lose 70 whole levels, just like that.
Furthermore, everyone in this room stood in the top 0.1% of the world. They all knew what was at stake, and if I just stepped up and said that I would take the penalty for them? Ugh, I shivered at the thought. If they were stupid, they would be happy if I would do that for them, but they were not. They were all leaders of powerful guilds. They could easily catch on that I knew something about the sacrifice that they didn’t. I had to be careful if this was going to work.
-Besides, only I know that the penalty is a fake.-
The so-called ‘penalty’ was only there to cause conflict between everyone in the room. It was pretty much the Fallen King-Emperor’s last chance at revenge towards whoever defeated him.
Suddenly, Wai Chung burst out laughing. “Should we be grateful that there isn’t a deity among us? What a show this would become were that the case.”
That came out of nowhere. To be honest, I half-expected Wai Chung to be the first to show his dark side and try to force me, who was alone.
“Now then! We’ve still have time; there’s no need to have our hackles raised, is there?”
“That’s quite true.”
“I suppose you’re right. We still have a chance to discuss among ourselves first, don’t we?” the three from the Sunbin Guild replied with steel in their voices. I had to give them props. They had some nerves to be able to keep their cool in this situation.
“Look at those random chests. If at least one of them has the chance to be higher than Rank 8…then that means there’s a chance that two could be Rank 10.”
The others looked over at the chests and swallowed. However, Haein was looking at me instead. I turned to look back.
-Hm? Is she worried?-
Haein probably knew by now, too. I had no affiliation with either guild in this room. If anyone were to be chosen as the sacrifice, it would be me. It’s what I wanted, but I did feel grateful. At least one person was looking out for me.
There was no way Haein didn’t want to open a chest. There was no way she would be chosen by her guild, either. I know she didn’t mean to, but her true feelings were showing.
“No one here is willing to give it up, is there? If only…someone would make the noble sacrifice.”
All I could hear, though, was Wai Chung talking some bullshit about sacrifice.
