Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 99

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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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Episode 99

[Entering Olya.]

The moment I arrived in Olya, I felt countless eyes converge on me.
‘Damn, did I miscalculate?’
I should have separated from Baek Jin-seong and linked up with him later.
Because his face was far too recognizable.
My identity got exposed along with his.
I should have staggered our entry at least.
But what’s done is done.
I’ve already stepped in it.
Time to clean up the mess.
“Open the Gate.”
I opened a Gate and had Ar and Crail secure the perimeter, then turned to Baek Jin-seong.
“What time is it?”
I’d asked Baek Jin-seong, but the viewers answered instead.
They’re quick.

– It’s 9:20, Your Majesty.

“About an hour passed?”
Factoring in Baek Jin-seong’s lateness and the time to descend.
That’s roughly how long it took.
To climb five floors in that span.
Without the queue, I could have cleared five floors in under fifteen minutes.
But arriving earlier than expected had spawned a new problem at this juncture.
My meeting with Kang Se-hyeon was at noon.
That left me with over two hours hanging idle.
“Would you care to dine? I’ve scouted some decent establishments.”
This morning, Tudul had been unusually attentive.
She’d prepared breakfast with extra portions, encouraging me to eat well.
It had only been about two hours since I’d eaten…
So I wasn’t particularly hungry.
“Are you hungry?”
“Not especially. And it’s still early.”
“Then let’s just have some tea.”
“Understood. I’ve found a tea house with a fine view. Shall we head there?”
I matched Baek Jin-seong’s pace as we moved.
The tea house sat at a higher elevation than I’d anticipated.
But from there, Olya spread out before us in its entirety.
Sitting on the terrace and taking in the cityscape, even the viewers expressed awe.

– Look at this view.
– It’s like Santorini.
– No wonder they call it top-tier.

And then came a cup of herbal tea that stirred the soul.
This was sublime.
The kind of moment you wish to share with someone.
My family came to mind immediately.
But the problem was, my true identity as Neia was still secret.
‘But shouldn’t I reveal it soon?’
The only reason I hadn’t till now was my earlier judgment.
That my existence would disrupt their normal lives.
And that hadn’t changed.
‘I’ll visit them again before long.’
When the time is right, I’ll share what I can.
Anyway, back to the main point.
The next person worth mentioning is Neia.
She works tirelessly for Nemesis without rest.
There’s no real compensation for it, but offering her a moment of respite wouldn’t be amiss.
Beyond that, it’s also good from the perspective of finding hobbies, as we discussed before.
She keeps taking an interest in cooking, which worries me—it’s a silent request that she abandon such dangerous, precarious pursuits.
“Gate open.”
In the end, I opened the Gate again since I thought it’d be good to show Neia as well.
“Neia.”

『Yes, Commander.』

“Care for some tea?”
We’d started earlier than usual this morning, so we’d missed our usual tea time together.
I’d naturally assumed she’d accept the invitation, but her response caught me off guard.

『Thank you for the offer, but might I decline? I have something I must attend to.』
“Oh…? Well… very well then.”

I felt oddly flustered and embarrassed.
The viewers were absolutely delighted.

– Ooh, she turned you down.
– Sweet young lady…
– I shed tears sometimes…

[… has been forcibly removed.]
[… has been forcibly removed.]
[… has been forcibly removed.]

A blood purge through forced removals.

– Kamui!
– Moving!

Tsk—a few of them slipped through.
To think they managed to evade Baek Jin-seong’s practiced forced removal technique.
Incidentally, the tea tastes rather bitter.
“Is it good?”
I pointlessly snatched a spoonful of Ar’s parfait and tasted it.
The sweetness seemed to calm my nerves a little.
While doing so, I spoke to Crail, who stood nearby keeping watch.
“Why don’t you switch out with Ar?”
“That’s kind of you, but if I leave it to someone else, I get anxious.”
You hear that?
He’s saying he doesn’t trust you.
Is this really the time to be eating parfait?
Swish—
Ar averts his gaze.
In that moment, he’d chosen to cast aside all pretense of dignity and become a child again.
Chomp-chomp—
Fine, if that’s your choice, I’ll respect it.
I ignored the sparks flying in Sermin’s eyes.
“Jin-seong.”
“Yes, sir.”
Finally, I looked across at Baek Jin-seong.
He wore a satisfied expression, having just finished processing the blacklisted viewers who’d fled.
“Which one did you pick earlier?”
“Pardon?”
“For the skill enhancement.”
I hadn’t asked at the time.
But now that I had nothing else to do anyway, why not.
“I’ve uploaded the cumulative tally.”
The reasons were as follows.
One was that it ranked among the skills I’d selected myself.
The other was that it looked better than the live broadcast footage.

– Human buffer haha
– Second awakening lol
– Finally found your calling.
– It’s good to see everyone doing their best in their own position.

“Promoted from human camera? Much appreciated, everyone.”
I checked the time while watching Baek Jin-seong chat with the viewers.
Still about an hour and a half left…
With things as they were, I decided it’d be better to do something at least somewhat productive rather than just waste time.
Like, broadcast content, for instance.
“Should I crack open some boxes?”

* * *

Mizuki steadied his wildly beating heart.
‘Whew… thought I was caught there for a moment.’
He recalled the situation from just before.
When he’d slipped past the Drones’ surveillance and entered the Gate cautiously.
The Drones had suddenly followed him inside.
‘Was it just a temporary return?’
He’d been holding his breath in terror, when mercifully—
Another Gate suddenly opened, and troops poured out in a rush.
Thanks to that, he’d only just managed to calm his pounding heart now, alone in that place.
‘Remarkable….’
He took in the vista of the City sprawling beneath his feet.
‘This existed inside a Gate?’
Mizuki stood mesmerized, watching the sight unfold—
Until, a moment later, his wits snapped back.
‘This is no time to stand idle.’
He needed to achieve his objective with urgency.
Now that external forces had withdrawn to conquer the Tower, this was the perfect moment to extract information.
‘But which direction should I choose?’
Mizuki had three options.
First, to descend the mountain and investigate the City before him thoroughly.
Second, to examine the other Gate beside him.
Third, to enter the third Gate that existed behind him.
And his deliberation didn’t last long.
He’d start with this one.
He walked into the Gate to his side.
Whoosh—
Mizuki likely didn’t know.
That the Swift Hawk perched in the tree above was tracking him precisely.

* * *

– Ooooh…!
– CEO, what’d you eat today to be in such a good mood!
– He’s finally learning how to do broadcasts!

Was it really reason for celebration just to follow through on what I’d promised earlier?
The viewers seemed delighted by the announcement of the box opening.
Fair enough—I’d always kept them waiting a long time before this.
“Eight S+ reward boxes and four S+ material boxes, was it?”
We didn’t get S+ reward boxes and material boxes from every single floor.
On floors 29 and 30, I even failed to achieve SSS+ clear.
Sometimes the material boxes didn’t appear at all.
The Flame Rookery was one thing, but the fact that I wasted time hunting for Lava Hounds and missed SSS+ tells me something.
I’m fairly certain now.
My current clearing speed is definitely sitting right on the border between SSS+ and SSS.
It was oddly motivating for dungeon crawling.
After all, there’s supposedly an undiscovered new world of clearing strategies out there.
Anyway, I came back to business and divided the boxes in half.
“Lucky — the count works out perfectly.”
I slid half the boxes across to Baek Jin-seong.
“Is this another match? I won’t lose this time.”
“Don’t mistake it. You’re the challenger.”
Opening them alone was fine, but this was more fun either way.
“Whoever gets the worse haul pays for everyone here.”
“Works for me.”
“Ar, go hand out drinks and a dessert to the spectators inside, will you?”
Baek Jin-seong said, grabbing hold of his boxes.
“Should I open mine first?”
“Go ahead.”
Baek Jin-seong wet his lips with his tongue and opened the box.
Crreeeak—
The moment the box opened, a high-grade Mana Stone tumbled out.
“This can’t be right?”

– This can’t be right? lmao
– What are Mana Stones doing in S+? lol
– This makes no sense.

Essentially a dud.
So I opened mine without hesitation.
A gray luminescence burst forth.
Gray meant what rank again…?

【Crude Heat-Resistant Vest】
-《Grade: D-Rank》

D-rank equipment…
This was a dud too.

– 300,000 won…?
– That’s cheaper than a Mana Stone zzz
– How did it come to this?

If even Lucid says so, I can’t argue.
“One to nothing.”
A voice beside my ear made me jump and look over — Baek Jin-seong was grinning triumphantly.
Ha… he’s pulling my competitive instinct out.

– Haha, this guy’s no better — also lousy luck
– Is this really how the match is going? My heart’s pounding.
– Just hand it over to Ar instead!

“My turn this time.”
“By all means.”
Crreeeak—

【Crude Heat-Resistant Vest】
– Another heat-resistant vest? Seriously?
– You guys planted these, didn’t you?
– This is seriously getting out of hand…

“Two to zero.”
Baek Jin-seong drew another high-grade Mana Stone.
“Your turn this time.”
“Understood.”

【Crude Heat-Resistant Vest】
– Wait, how does that even make sense?
– It’s rigged…

I opened the box with ease.
Nothing worse than a heat-resistant vest could possibly appear.
“One to two.”

– Wow, a Mana Stone…
– I’m about ready to throw up just watching this.

“Two to two.”
“Three to two.”
“Three to three.”
“Four to three.”
“Four to four.”

With each shift in momentum, the viewers gasped in astonishment.

– How is the most expensive one a Resonance Stone?
– These absolute fools with no sense… just pure unfiltered box-opening addicts…
– I still can’t forget that third-tier vest.

“You have quite the skill.”
“So do you.”
Now for the material boxes.
“We should settle this, shouldn’t we?”
“Yes.”
“You first.”
Baek Jin-seong opened his box, and emerald light burst forth.

【Fire Crystal】
Grade B acquisition rank.

– Still, this one’s pretty pricey.
– Searched it on Lucid and it’s around a billion.

“Can you manage that?”

【Fire Crystal】
– Are you kidding me? Again?
– It’d be hard enough to pull the same thing twice.
– Come on, give it a rest…

“Then I’ll go first.”

【Fire Crystal】
The thought struck me then.
Like when I cleared the Floating Garden and kept getting nothing but Crail’s scissors over and over.
Maybe this was the only item in the entire S+ box inventory.
Screeeeeech—
As I was thinking that, I opened my box.
Blue light surged forward, and something emerged.
“This is….”

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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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