Became the Transcendent Monarch of the Corner of the Room - Chapter 78

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 78

 

The necklace!

 

‘Why is this here…!’

 

Choi Hyun-min hastily got up.

 

Then he picked up a mirror placed in one corner of the room and looked at his neck.

 

Clink!

 

The necklace swayed lightly as he moved.

 

It was definitely something that hadn’t been there before.

 

No, he had never worn a necklace even once in his life.

 

But what was hanging around his neck now…

 

‘Is this the necklace that man gave me?’

 

The necklace itself wasn’t anything special.

 

A thin gold chain.

 

And a ruby the size of a pinky nail hanging down to his chest.

 

The deep red gem that reminded him of a heart was all there was.

 

‘Why does that person keep appearing?’

 

It was the same before and this time too.

 

The man appeared wearing the same clothes, said incomprehensible words, and then disappeared.

 

Was he an enemy?

 

To consider him an enemy, he hadn’t attacked.

 

But to say he was an ally or someone with good intentions…

 

‘He couldn’t be more suspicious.’

 

How could he call someone who wouldn’t even reveal their name an ally?

 

Choi Hyun-min stared at the mirror with vacant eyes.

 

He instinctively tried to take off the necklace.

 

However.

 

Tug-!

 

It wouldn’t come off as if it was caught on something.

 

“Why won’t it come off?”

 

Twice, three times.

 

No matter how many times he tried, it wouldn’t budge as if it was stuck somewhere on his neck.

 

On the surface, it looked like just an ordinary necklace.

 

“Did they put some kind of magic on it?”

 

He carefully reached out and used his appraisal skill on the necklace.

 

Then unbelievable information was revealed.

 

[???’s Ruby Necklace]

 

[Grade: EX]

 

[Protects the wearer once from any form of death.]

 

[Cannot be removed]

 

EX grade?

 

Could this be what they meant by the EX grade reward?

 

Since even the 5000 points were worth their value, he naturally thought that would be the reward.

 

But what was truly surprising was the line right below it.

 

‘It protects from death?’

 

Just one line.

 

The higher an item’s grade.

 

Generally, the more abilities that help the user increase.

 

Naturally, what could be confirmed with appraisal skills also increased.

 

It was typical for various abilities to hang like clusters of fruit.

 

But for an item that was supposedly EX grade to have only one line.

 

Nevertheless.

 

That single line ability was far more valuable than ten other lines of abilities.

 

‘If this is really true… it’s like having an extra life.’

 

If he converted this to money, how much would it be worth?

 

10 billion?

 

100 billion?

 

He didn’t know how much it would be.

 

But it definitely wouldn’t be cheap.

 

No amount of money would be enough to pay for a life.

 

Just as he was fingering the necklace for a while.

 

Knock knock.

 

Someone knocked on the door from outside the room.

 

“Young master?”

 

Secretary Kim’s familiar voice.

 

Only then did Choi Hyun-min let out a sigh of relief and opened the door.

 

“Ah, yes. Please come in.”

 

Step.

 

Secretary Kim glanced at him briefly, then bowed his head first.

 

“I’m sorry for the late hour.”

 

“No, it’s fine. Is there something urgent?”

 

The time was around 4 AM.

 

The sun hadn’t even risen yet.

 

But for Secretary Kim of all people.

 

To suddenly barge in like this…

 

Something must have happened.

 

“The Chairman is urgently looking for you.”

 

“For me?”

 

What could have happened?

 

At such an early hour.

 

And for Chairman Choi to personally summon him – it definitely wasn’t an ordinary matter.

 

“That’s right. He specifically mentioned you, young master.”

 

“…What about the others?”

 

“I haven’t heard anything about that…”

 

Either there was a problem with Manwol.

 

Or something big had happened to the family.

 

Choi Hyun-min hastily threw on an outer garment.

 

He immediately rushed to Chairman Choi’s office.

 

“You’re here.”

 

Despite the late hour, the office was brightly lit.

 

Chairman Choi sat in his chair, greeting him.

 

Unlike usual, his face was filled with strange worry.

 

“You called for me, Chairman.”

 

“Sorry for the late hour.”

 

“Not at all. Is there something I need to do?”

 

Being summoned at this hour naturally meant there was something going on.

 

Thinking that, he turned his head.

 

“Ah, hello…”

 

He saw an unfamiliar face.

 

He definitely felt like he’d seen them somewhere…

 

Ah!

 

“That… you’re from the Awakening Management Bureau… right?”

 

Ji Min-gi, the supervisor who had previously visited Manwol to measure Choi Hyun-min’s grade.

 

It was him.

 

Ji Min-gi half-rose from his chair, awkwardly bowing halfway at the waist.

 

Choi Hyun-min also returned the greeting in a similar awkward posture.

 

“Y-Yes, that’s right… I’m Ji Min-gi.”

 

“Ah, ah… Nice to meet you.”

 

He still wasn’t used to meeting outsiders.

 

But perhaps because he’d seen this person once or twice before.

 

It wasn’t extremely uncomfortable.

 

‘Why is this person here?’

 

Ji Min-gi was clearly a government official.

 

For him to come all the way here…

 

Glance.

 

Choi Hyun-min looked away from him and turned to Chairman Choi.

 

“There’s an urgent matter at Manwol.”

 

“An urgent matter… you mean…”

 

“Hunters have been isolated.”

 

Isolated.

 

It was hard to understand just from hearing it briefly.

 

Ji Min-gi, who had been listening quietly, urgently interjected.

 

“A situation has occurred where many of the Hunters managing the Labyrinth Outskirts have become trapped inside.”

 

Labyrinth Outskirts.

 

Generally, labyrinths could be entered through a few designated entrances.

 

Naturally, the interior was also structured in a predetermined form.

 

But occasionally, monsters would appear outside the labyrinth.

 

A phenomenon where they appeared in locations unrelated to the labyrinth and created Gates.

 

This was called the ‘Labyrinth Outskirts.’

 

‘Labyrinth Outskirts…’

 

If it were simply Gates appearing randomly in locations, it wouldn’t be a problem.

 

The issue was that a time limit was created.

 

If the labyrinth wasn’t cleared within that time, the Gate would collapse and the monsters inside would pour out.

 

“At least 40 people.”

 

“40 people…!”

 

Twenty people trapped in a single outskirt area.

 

Just how serious was this?

 

“That’s just from Manwol.”

 

“Then…”

 

“Besides Manwol Guild, Hunters from various guilds like Heukpung and Phoenix have been trapped. We estimate it’s around 500 people…”

 

500 people.

 

It was a number that made him laugh bitterly.

 

To think such a situation arose from failing to handle just one outskirt area.

 

“Then shouldn’t we move right now to rescue the trapped people?”

 

Chairman Choi himself was a ranker Hunter.

 

Plus, Manwol had many other Hunters besides those who were trapped.

 

Couldn’t they form an alliance with other guilds and send additional personnel to rescue them?

 

“If that were possible, we would have done it already.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Well… the 500 people I mentioned earlier are all people who got trapped while trying to rescue others.”

 

Ji Min-gi spoke with an embarrassed expression.

 

At his words, Chairman Choi squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead.

 

So…

 

All the people who went to rescue others got captured?

 

“That’s…”

 

“Moreover, the problem is that the Gate leading into the outskirts has disappeared entirely.”

 

“What? Then we can’t enter at all?!”

 

Nod.

 

At Choi Hyun-min’s words, Ji Min-gi nodded grimly.

 

“That’s right. After the current personnel got trapped, the Gate itself disappeared, making even additional support impossible.”

 

“That’s why I called you.”

 

“Me? Not the rankers?”

 

At Chairman Choi’s words, Choi Hyun-min blinked.

 

Why?

 

In such a difficult and troublesome situation.

 

Wouldn’t experienced and skilled rankers be better than Choi Hyun-min, who had little experience and a low level?

 

At those words, Chairman Choi pointed at Ji Min-gi with his chin.

 

“The Awakening Management Bureau specifically designated you.”

 

“I-I’m sorry. Since many sub-rankers are trapped, and Mr. Choi Hyun-min’s grade is high…”

 

So that was it.

 

Whatever others might think, Ji Min-gi was the person who had directly measured Choi Hyun-min’s potential.

 

Therefore, while it wasn’t confirmed, he was treating Choi Hyun-min as an EX-grade Hunter.

 

“…Who?”

 

However, Chairman Choi was different.

 

He slightly furrowed his brow and asked as if hearing this for the first time.

 

“Ah, you didn’t know that your son had awakened…?”

 

“I already knew that… but what do you mean his grade is high?”

 

Glance.

 

At those words, Ji Min-gi looked in this direction cautiously.

 

Then he carefully opened his mouth.

 

“Well… when someone first awakens, don’t they measure their awakening potential?”

 

“Of course. I did it too.”

 

“There, he recorded an extremely… high score…”

 

He stopped mid-sentence and glanced again.

 

His cautious behavior was obvious.

 

“Please speak comfortably. Father… Chairman already knows about my awakening.”

 

“But?”

 

“Well… his potential was measured at 1001 points.”

 

“1001?!”

 

At those words, Chairman Choi’s eyebrows trembled dramatically.

 

What was his own potential again?

 

It was so long ago that his memory was hazy.

 

But even as a ranker, he thought he was in the early 400s…

 

“Eun Ji-hun, who’s currently ranked 1st, scored just slightly over 500 points.”

 

“Huh…”

 

Eun Ji-hun, the 1st ranker, had 500 points, but Choi Hyun-min—

 

His youngest son had exceeded that by twice as much.

 

Chairman Choi’s face contorted strangely.

 

Should he be happy about hearing this right now?

 

Chairman Choi’s face contorted strangely.

 

Whether I should be happy to hear this right now.

 

Whether he should frown at something more urgent than that.

 

It was because two emotions were wildly mixed together.

 

“So our team has… judged that it would be better to request help from Mr. Choi Hyun-min. After all, he’s an EX… ranked player, and… we haven’t been able to grasp the full extent of his abilities yet…”

 

So.

 

Ji Min-gi’s words were like an unscratched lottery ticket—

 

And one that belonged to the category with extremely high winning odds at that.

 

It seemed like he was saying he’d rather place his hopes on this side than on rankers whose abilities had already been publicly revealed.

 

Glancing back and forth again.

 

“No way… you’re… EX…”

 

The moment he heard those words.

 

Chairman Choi just gaped his mouth open and closed like a carp.

 

If others who knew him had seen this.

 

They would have been shocked, wondering if Choi Seung-hyun could even make such an expression.

 

That’s how shocking the content Chairman Choi had heard was.

 

‘The EX ranked Hunter we’ve been searching for so desperately… was right here under the same roof, not somewhere else…’

 

Two people—

 

Chairman Choi and Ji Min-gi’s gazes turned toward this direction all at once.

 

What should he say?

 

Should he deny it even now?

 

But Choi Hyun-min didn’t do that.

 

‘It’s a fact they already know anyway… Even if I deny it here, it would be obvious that I’m lying.’

 

Chairman Choi might not know, but Ji Min-gi was someone who already knew as much as he needed to know.

 

Essentially, he just hadn’t stamped the confirmation seal yet.

 

And right now, rather than the EX rank and all that.

 

The lives of dozens of guild members from Manwol were at stake.

 

So Choi Hyun-min didn’t bother to deny it.

 

“More importantly, there seems to be something else that’s important right now.”

 

“Ah, right. That’s true… I apologize.”

 

“So what can I help you with?”

 

At those words, Ji Min-gi’s eyes sparkled.

 

As if he had been waiting for this, he pulled out a tablet and held it out in front of Choi Hyun-min.

 

“Here. Can you see the map?”

 

On the LCD screen he held out, a map of the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province was displayed.

 

The boundary point where Gyeonggi Province and Gangwon Province met.

 

Ji Min-gi pointed to one particular area with his finger.

 

“Here. A Gate appeared and disappeared somewhere around this area.”

 

“The Hunters too?”

 

“That’s right. The area where the Hunters went missing is also around here. We’re conducting searches using police forces and the military, but we haven’t been able to find the Gate.”

 

So…

 

They needed to find a Gate in a place where absolutely nothing remained, and then clear it?

 

Now he could understand why this person had come looking for him.

 

There probably wasn’t anyone among the rankers who had such an extraordinary ability.

 

He must have come to find Choi Hyun-min with a “what the hell, let’s try anything” mentality.

 

But this was impossible even for Choi Hyun-min.

 

“I understand what you’re saying, but… even I don’t have the ability to find a Gate in a place where there’s nothing.”

 

“Is… that so?”

 

“Besides, this is just a map, isn’t it? To discover something on a map… huh?”

 

That’s what he thought, but.

 

Above the map—

 

That is, something began to sparkle over the tablet that Ji Min-gi had held out.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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