Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 86

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 86

The moment my decision was made, Neia mobilized the humanoids.
Krail arrived at the Gate first.
Then came Sermin.
Followed shortly by Tia.
Pluto was already there, though I hadn’t noticed when he’d arrived.
“Where’s Ar?”

‘Second Lieutenant Ar has been excluded from this operation.’

“Right, I see.”
Ar’s strength was over ninety percent drone form.
Even in a Mine Tunnel as wide as this, operating in drone form would be impractical.
Overall, it didn’t suit this operation.
I picked up the microphone from the command post and addressed the humanoids assembled on site.
“This operation is a crucial mission for the City’s development, but the foremost priority for all of you must be survival. Keep that firmly in mind as you move forward.”
Before my words had even finished, Neia spoke.

‘Opening the Gate.’

Rumble-rumble-rumble.
The massive gate swung open, and the vibration that rippled through felt
like the beat of a war drum signaling the start of battle.
“The expedition commander is Krail. Cooperate with him fully, regardless of rank.”

‘Understood, Commander.’

After my orders, Krail
performed various checks and then led the drones in as the advance guard, beginning the descent.
Various drones and work robots as well.
Watching the large-scale contingent enter without incident through the monitors for some time gave me a measure of relief.
‘Seems less dramatic than I expected.’
Perhaps I’d been too frightened by Neia’s warnings.
The unexpectedly peaceful interior lent itself to reassurance.
‘Is this the first tunnel split?’
The first junction they encountered after entry.
The Mine Tunnel connected to ore veins lay in ruins from long abandonment.
Krail confirmed the area using drones before deploying robots.
“Seems less dramatic than I thought.”
The restoration work on the tunnel was proceeding smoothly.
No sign of the Void Leech anywhere.

‘Seon-woo, overconfidence is dangerous.’

“Even if I do get careless, it won’t change much. Krail’s handling most of it anyway.”
Once the tunnel had been restored and Krail had sent a few drones to survey the depths, he reported.

‘This tunnel appears to connect to a Clearlight Stone vein. Shall we begin mining?’

This sortie wasn’t solely aimed at Raza Night.
Mass production of troops for Trial preparations.
To accomplish this, we needed various minerals buried underground.
‘Should I defer to Krail’s judgment for now?’
If my hasty decision influenced the operation adversely, that would be a problem.
After all, Krail on-site can assess the situation far better than I can behind this monitor.
“I’ll defer to your judgment, Krail. If you have sufficient resources, proceed.”

“Understood.”

Krail deployed the mining robot first.
Then he positioned several additional drones around the perimeter and began the survey without delay.
Not long after, he encountered the second and third mine tunnels.
The situation was much the same as before.
Each could be opened whenever needed with only minor repairs.
Krail’s technical skill was indeed considerable.
Working in sync with the robots, everything was operational within a dozen minutes or so.
“Growth Stone and Mana Metal this time?”
Subsequent operations proceeded similarly.
The work took longer depending on how badly each tunnel was damaged.
But every restoration was completed without serious combat.
I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever had a day this fortunate before.
Mithril.
Black Iron.
Dark Stone.
Inertia Stone, and so on.
The more work we completed, the richer the yields became.
“It would be nice to see a Resonance Stone turn up somewhere.”
When I’d reviewed the deposit report earlier, I could have sworn I glimpsed it listed there.
I turned to Neia and asked,
“There was Resonance Stone in the recorded deposits, wasn’t there?”

“Yes, that is correct. We estimate approximately two thousand tons of Resonance Stone are deposited within Zone 3.”

It was immediately after that confirmation.
Just as my eyes shifted to the monitor.
A sudden alert sounded.
Krail signaled his unit to stand ready.
Six hours into the survey.
This was the first time anything like this had happened, so I found it strange—but sure enough.
A low rumble echoed from deep within.
The first Void Leech burst abruptly from beyond the rubble that had been blocking the tunnel.
It appeared, devouring multiple robots that had been repairing the collapsed passage in a single bite, and then.
It immediately turned its voracious hunger toward Krail and the main force.
Whip—whip—
Concentrated fire from the drones under Krail’s command.
The Void Leech’s flesh burst, spraying purple blood across the tunnel.
But to the ten-meter-wide creature, it was not a mortal wound.
Gulp—
It simply swallowed a nearby drone whole.
A sharp hum filled the air—
Fortunately, Sermin’s Protective Barrier prevented it from accomplishing that aim.
‘This is going to be a real problem.’
I was thinking the battle would drag on considerably.
Snap—
A round of golden brilliance tore fractures across the Void Leech’s skin.
The creature’s outer shell cracked and fell away like stone.
‘So Tia has decided to step in after all….’
Tia was an electricity devourer.
That’s why I’d instructed her to take a passive role whenever possible.
But it seemed she’d judged this was the moment to intervene.
And indeed, Tia’s Form Transformation was overwhelming.
As Krail’s drones hammered relentlessly at the target, the entire situation reversed in an instant.
‘Every time I see it, I feel the same thing—that’s genuinely broken.’
Once the battle ended, Tia was dozing again, nodding off.
Krail’s voice came through a moment later.

“Combat concluded. Organizing the situation now.”

* * *

The underground expedition continued without rest for two full days.
Zone 3 itself was quite expansive, after all.
The schedule had been tight.
“Everyone, return to base now that the mission is complete.”
The Underground Mining Site activation operation.
It ended without incident, contrary to expectations.
Of course, we encountered and fought the Void Leech roughly three more times after that.
Given that we’d explored continuously for two days, the frequency of encounters was low enough that there were no major problems.
Though we did lose several work robots in the process.

『Mining robot deployment is being substantially reorganized. Operating only the low-risk adjacent mine tunnels on a temporary basis. Directives being transmitted now….』

That’s not to say the losses were trivial, of course.
But the enormous gains more than compensated for them.
Various minerals essential for drone manufacturing, for one thing.
And we managed to obtain even a modest quantity of Resonance Stones as well.
The real shame, though….
…was that the Resonance Stones in the mine tunnels we discovered had already been largely depleted.
The remaining quantity was substantial at roughly ten tons, certainly.
Yet compared to the amount originally buried there, it was disappointingly small.
“By the way, Neia.”

『Yes.』

“What’s your read on things?”
Neia grasped my meaning immediately and responded.

『Further exploration will be needed for certainty, but my current assessment is that Zone 3 appears to be safe.』

“That’s what I figured.”
The Void Leech is definitely a threat, certainly.
But at this density, it doesn’t constitute a serious danger.
That’s significant progress on its own.
The mining site can be normalized sooner, and moreover, the Raza Night we’d originally targeted was discovered in large quantities near where the Void Leech appeared.
It’s still insufficient for long-term use, to be honest.
But knowing we won’t have to worry about energy shortages for a while allowed us to call this a win.
“Luck’s on our side.”

『Indeed.』

I pulled myself up from where I lay, exhausted after two days without sleep.
“Should we head somewhere to rest?”

『Yes.』

As I left the command center and entered the common area, I spotted Dulduli.
“For dinner, skip the rice balls — something special, please.”
For the past two days.
Dulduli had delivered rice balls every mealtime.
But now it was time to escape that rice ball nightmare.
The operation was over, after all.
“Understood, sir. Would spicy seafood noodles work?”
“Sounds good. Chinese cuisine.”
I settled onto the sofa and enjoyed a cool drink while waiting for the meal to be prepared.
“Ahhh….”
Late night.
The City gleamed with the light of factories.
I was taking a sip of my drink when I caught sight of that glimmer.

[Line Expansion has activated.]

The activation message for Line Expansion.
But I felt no particular thrill at it.
And for good reason—this was already the fourth time I’d seen it today.
With the drones entering mass production, Line Expansion activating was hardly noteworthy anymore.
“I’ll rest properly like this, finish the additional exploration, and then wrap up the trial.”
Things were proceeding smoothly.
“Oh, that smells wonderful.”
Fresh seafood jjamppong.
The broth had just the right bite to it—a flavor that suited my tastes perfectly.
The owner’s son isn’t easy to satisfy, but there it is.
I wrapped another mouthful of noodles in pickled radish and swallowed, then switched on MiTube to fill the void.
You have to know what’s happening in the world.
“Hmm?”
The moment I opened MiTube, Cha Seong-hun and Yu Se-ra appeared on the screen.
By the looks of it, they’d made decent progress today as well.
“An interview too?”
An interview with Yu Se-ra, the representative of the Nakwha Guild.
As I was watching the interview,
Neia spoke up.

‘She seems quite conscious of you, sir.’

“Really?”

‘Yes. In the interview she claimed not to be concerned, but that’s precisely what people say when they’re worried—very textbook, actually.’

I checked the comments.

└ Cleared 3% of the quest in a single day.
└ 30-day pace, haha
└ Guess Neia won’t get much of a chance to shine.

Is that so?
Though they struggled a bit on the first day, at the current pace—
there’s room for them to finish without me needing to step in at all.
“Did I do something unnecessary?”
It was always going to happen eventually, but still.
I made the decision to normalize the mining site ahead of schedule because of the trial.
Now I’m wondering if I rushed things for nothing.

‘It was always going to happen eventually, sir.’

“I know, but that’s just how I feel about it.”
I slurped down the last of the broth and spoke to Dulduli.
“That was delicious. Thank you, Dulduli.”

‘I’m pleased you enjoyed it so much.’

I patted Dulduli’s round head and settled into the sofa.
What’s this? Some kind of pudding?
The expiration date’s long past.
Looks like it belongs to Pluto.
No idea why it was wedged between the cushions….
I flicked it into the trash and spoke.
“Neia.”
‘Yes.’
“He’ll be asleep for a while, so wake him when Krail and the others get back.”
They’ve worked hard—I should have something delicious ready for them.

* * *

Darkness had fallen over the Trial Forest.
In a remote cavern on a cliff’s edge.
A massive creature there opened its eyes.
Flash—
The sharp, piercing gaze of a feline predator laid bare its displeasure.
Its gaze fixed on the outpost spot where the Crystal Tower stood.
“Krrr…”
The creature stared at it steadily before finally rising to its feet.
It stretched its body languidly, arching its spine, and then—
In the next breath, it crouched low like a coiled spring about to launch.
Whoosh—
It burst forward with the speed of an arrow.
Though massive in frame, its movements were as discreet and swift as falling leaves.
The moment it arrived at its destination, the players’ magic and arrows greeted it.
Fwish-fwish-fwish—
Boom-bang—
“Did… did we get it?”
But when the smoke cleared, what lay revealed was—
A creature utterly unmoved.

Meoooowww—

With a piercing cry, it swung its forepaw, and three players were torn apart in an instant.
“Aahhh!!”
“Monster!”
Their magic and arrows proved useless.
Instead, moving so fast it was barely visible, this time it simply slashed through empty air—
And the creature, vanishing like a mirage—
Crash—
Plummeted from the sky the next instant, crushing the players beneath it.
“Arrrgh!”
“Flee…”
Even those who turned and ran were slaughtered, and the creature moved lightly across the blood-soaked ground toward the Crystal Tower, raising its foreleg.
Crackle—

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