Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 2

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

Chapter 2

A Mission completed in the span of a heartbeat.
I checked the timer.

[00 : 00 : 37]

Thirty-seven seconds. That’s all it had taken.
“This can’t be real…?”
Status windows cascaded across my vision in succession.

[Mission Complete!]
[New Record Achieved!]
[Fastest Mission Completion Time Updated. 00:06:23 → 00:00:37]

A new record—and I’d shattered the previous one by an astronomical margin.
That was when it happened.
Crack… crack-crack.

[Eliminate 30 Goblins. 36/30]

“The Kill Count is still… climbing?”
Every flash of light that rippled across the field added to the tally.
I’d heard about this before.
Overkill!
The wide field didn’t contain exactly the number of monsters required by the Mission.
When you clear with a party, you sometimes end up disposing of more monsters than necessary, or so I’d been told.
Overkill naturally affected your rewards.

[Mission: Eliminate Monsters – Goblins 39/30]
…
[Mission: Eliminate Monsters – Goblins 41/30]
…
[Mission: Eliminate Monsters – Goblins 43/30]

Ding—
I snapped back to attention at the new alert, jerking out of my daze.

[Transferring to 1st Floor Waiting Room momentarily.]

“Transfer to the Waiting Room?”
I realized I didn’t have time to stand here gawking.
Somewhere out there, my drone was still merrily slaughtering goblins.
I had to call it back and get it into the gate immediately.
If I failed to retrieve it and left it behind…
“It’ll be lost for good…!”
I couldn’t afford to lose such a valuable piece of combat equipment from the 1st Floor onward.
I shouted urgently.
“Regroup!”
I was fidgeting, worried my voice might not carry far enough.
But to my relief, the explosive sounds cut out abruptly.
I’d worried the distance was too great for voice commands to work.
Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Whoooosh.
The drone came streaking back at tremendous speed, circling the area as I issued my next order.
“Enter the City District and stand by.”
Buzz, buzz.
One by one, the drones vanished through the gate.
Once everyone had passed through the gate, it sealed shut behind them.
“Gate closing!”
And in that same breath—
In the blink of an eye, the landscape before him shifted to the drab tower from moments before.
He had moved to the Waiting Room.
“Phew… that was close.”
He made a mental note: next time, don’t summon them so far ahead.
“Anyway, what’s the record?”
Thirty-seven seconds—that was how long the entire Mission had taken.
He checked the final time once more.

[00: 00: 52]

Fifty-two seconds in total.

[Mission: Monster Elimination – Goblins 61/30]

More than double the target number of goblins eliminated.
He let out an incredulous laugh.
“This is ridiculous. Is a record like this even possible?”
Yes. It was.
Otherwise, the numbers wouldn’t be staring at him right now.

No amount of pinching his cheeks or shaking his head changed what the Mission log displayed.

[Exceeded Mission Objective!]
[Extraordinary Achievement Unlocked!]
[Calculating Achievement Rewards……]

[SSS Clear Grade Achieved!]
[An Unprecedented Record!!]
…
[This record will be inscribed in the Hall of Honor.]
[Rewards have been increased.]
[Rewards have been increased.]
[Experience points awarded.]
[Level increased.]
[Level increased.]
[Level increased.]
[(1st-5th Floor) S-Rank Reward Box added to Inventory.]
[(1st-5th Floor) S-Rank Material Box added to Inventory.]
…

The messages kept flowing endlessly.
It was dizzying.
Before he could even examine the rewards, one thought took priority.
“Right… I need to see Neia….”
There was more he needed to understand about this Tower….

* * *

He exited the Tower and immediately entered the Subspace.
Moving swiftly, he arrived at the Core Center, where Neia greeted him.

『Congratulations on your victory, Successor.』

“Neia, what options do I have available right now?”

『The currently available modules are as follows.』
– Core Reactor Status Monitoring
– Annihilation Combat Drone, 1 unit activated
– City map accessed
– Combat record module
– Engagement data retrieved
– Emergency response system summoned (alert level restricted)

I’d reviewed the list, but nothing stood out as particularly remarkable—until something caught my eye.
I pointed out the discrepancy to Neia.
“Wait, Neia—why is the Annihilation Combat Drone down to just one unit?”
I’d clearly sent all three back through the gate intact just moments ago.
So where had the other two gone? Why could only one be activated now?
Neia answered matter-of-factly.

『The preceding engagement caused a sharp decline in the city’s residual energy reserves. Consequently, the number of operationally available drones is now restricted.』

“A Power Shortage, you mean?”

『Indeed.』

“Give me a detailed breakdown of our current energy status.”

『Energy reserves are at critical levels. The entire city faces severe Power Shortage conditions.』

“So spell it out for me—what exactly does ‘critically low’ translate to?”

『If energy expenditure continues at present rates, the City District purification module will shut down in approximately two hours. The patrol drones will become completely inoperable after three hours. After five hours, the limited communications network will be severed, at which point I myself will cease all functions.』

“So we’ve only got five hours’ worth of power left, is that what you’re saying?”

『Summarized, yes.』

Neia falls silent.
If she stops, it means the city’s functionality itself ceases to exist.
I have no idea how to restore power to this place on my own.
“How do we resupply the energy?”

『Energy resupply can be achieved through the following methods, for instance….』

“Just give me the most practical and reliable method. Keep it simple.”
I cut her off and asked firmly.
Neia’s eyes glowed red as she calculated, then laid out the power solutions.

『Energy resupply is possible through the following practical resource acquisition methods.』

– Razanite Crystal deposit mining
[Volatile energy ore deposited in Subspace depths. Danger level: Moderate. Efficiency: Extremely High]

– Abandoned sector energy residue recovery
[Recovery of distribution cores and condensed power devices from defunct mechanical sectors. Radiation exposure risk present]

– Central reactor residual fuel rod extraction and recycling
[Emergency high-density plasma fuel. Note: City district power network damage anticipated during use.]

– Magic Stone fuel injection
[High-density energy crystal. Immediately deployable. Efficiency: High]

“Hold on—Magic Stones? That works too?”

『Precisely correct. Magic Stones are an extremely efficient energy source—one of the resources capable of resolving the city’s power crisis within a short timeframe.』

“Why didn’t I think of that before?”
The reason Players held such value in this age, in fact, was quite straightforward.
It was because Magic Stones obtained from the Tower were high-density energy resources.
Not just the top-tier Players, but even lower-ranked ones were treated with respect for precisely this reason.
What struck me as remarkable was that even this transcendent civilization developed by consuming Magic Stones as a resource.
“Hold on.”
As it happened, there was a quick way to procure Magic Stones.
The reward box I’d obtained after clearing the 1st Floor. These boxes typically yielded Magic Stones.

[S-Rank Reward Box has been opened.]

The box vanished in a bright flash, and a neat heap of Magic Stones appeared in its place.
I counted them.
The number was….

“…Twenty?!”
Though they were the lowest grade, the S-Rank Reward Box had yielded far more Magic Stones than usual.
From standard C-Rank boxes, I’d understood that the lowest-grade Magic Stones numbered around five per haul.
Yet now I’d received four times that amount in my Inventory.
In a situation where Magic Stones were desperately needed, it was an extraordinary windfall.
“Lowest-grade Magic Stones go for around a hundred thousand won each.”
While others earned half a million, I’d just earned two million.
“Phew…”
I wondered how effective they’d actually prove to be.
I emptied the Magic Stones from my Inventory onto the floor.
“How much will this help?”
Neia scanned them and replied.

『The current quantity is woefully insufficient to resolve the Power Shortage.』

“Tch…”

My face had twisted into something bitter when she continued.
Neia went on.

『However, recovery to the power state prior to the previous battle is possible.』

Relief washed over me like an incoming tide.
I reproached Neia.
“Next time, tell me everything at once.”

『Command acknowledged. I shall bear this in mind.』

“Charge it up quickly with these. Or do I need to do it myself?”

『Your intervention is unnecessary, Successor. The automatic refinement module for power conversion is among the city’s most prized technologies.』

After Neia finished speaking, a moment passed.
Clank-clank-clank-clank-clank.
A rusted mechanical robot approached and then,
collected the Magic Stones and disappeared.
Then, shortly after.
『Power charging complete. At current capacity, the city can be sustained for approximately forty-eight hours. Thank you for your assistance, Successor.』

I let out a breath and sank into thought.
Should I use my savings to buy more Magic Stones?
Of course, that would mean living on instant noodles for a while.
But when one was walking a tightrope with the city on the verge of shutdown, there was no room for such quibbles about comfort.
“I’m going out for a bit, so keep power consumption to a minimum.”
『Command confirmed. I shall maintain system stability in accordance with your instructions until your next return.』
“Seon-u. Kang Seon-u—that’s my name.”
‘Understood, Seon-u.’

* * *

I’d originally entered the Subspace to gather information about the civilization there.
But when I came back out, I found myself saddled with an even more pressing problem.
“I could’ve kept Neia’s power running a while longer and extracted whatever information I needed, but…”
Right now, this was clearly not the moment to prioritize intelligence.
Since I didn’t even know how to recharge Neia’s energy, if her power cut out completely, I’d be finished.
I might have to go back to that convenience store and live through those bleak days all over again.
A long sigh escaped me.
I pulled up the banking app on my phone and checked my balance.
[3,032,433]
“God, do I really have to use this? If I do, it’s instant ramen from tomorrow onward…”
Just over three million won left.
If I bought all the Magic Stones and supplied them to her, a rough calculation said I could hold out for five days.
But while the city’s resources would be secure, my own survival fund would dry up.
“Should I just go back to climbing the tower?”
If I ran the numbers based on getting similar rewards from the tower as I just did—
I could theoretically keep Neia’s power barely sustained through the Magic Stones from the reward boxes and make my way up.
“No, wait. What if something goes wrong?”
The reward boxes didn’t always give Magic Stones.
Sometimes equipment or accessories would pop out instead.
If an item dropped and was worth more than a Magic Stone, it’d be a total reversal of fortune.
But if it went the other way…
“That’s too risky.”
Was there another option?
While I was thinking it over, I remembered the item I’d just received as a reward.

【S-Rank Material Box (Floors 1-5)】

“Right, I had this.”
It was in my Inventory.
I’d gotten lucky.
The base chance of getting a material box was ten percent.
But I’d just pulled one from a Triple-S Grade reward—a fortunate draw.
“Hope something good comes out of it.”
Material boxes were different from reward boxes.
They were pure, extreme luck-based RNG.
Some materials inside were completely worthless—duds.
So even getting an S-Rank box, there was still a real chance of pulling nothing.
“Especially from floors one through five—mostly goblins.”
Those materials had the highest dud rate.
“…Please, just this once!”
I opened it with desperate hope.
And in the next instant—
A burst of emerald light flashed, and the sound of celebration echoed out.

【Kinol’s Lightning Flute】

“Wait—hold on, is this—!?”
I rushed to check the internet.
“I hit the jackpot…?”

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