I Became an Almighty All-Master with EX-Rank Spirits - Chapter 12

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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 12
Episode 12
CCTV footage of the construction site played in fast-forward.
No one entered for a long stretch, then a man slipped inside.
“Wait! Pause!”
“Oh, yes.”
“Rewind and get his face on screen for me, please.”
I usually didn’t get into this level of detail work.
It was a job that required reviewing CCTV footage from across the entire country.
Normally I’d just let people handle it themselves.
‘But when the person asking is the youngest daughter of Ain Group, you can’t refuse.’
I was just an ordinary office worker—what choice did I have?
It wasn’t difficult work anyway.
I went back to where the man entered and found the part where his face was visible.
I rewound and forwarded repeatedly, stopping at the clearest angle.
Zooming in on the footage was all it took.
“Is this the person you’re looking for? Though I have to say, his face isn’t very clear to me. Same in the CCTV footage.”
It was blurry, like something had been pixelated in black.
So vague that if you didn’t actively think about it, you’d forget it instantly.
“May I take a look?”
“Oh, of course. I should have been more thoughtful.”
Before it could become awkward, the employee hurriedly left the room.
The room fell silent with only me left.
Jin Arin’s eyes narrowed.
“This person… all this trouble just to get one recording. What a hassle.”
She decided to look on the bright side.
At least she’d confirmed who it was.
“Now that I think about it, he looks familiar. What was it… Ah! That man I saw before!”
The memory came back to her in fragments.
And that made her all the more certain.
‘Some kind of concealment skill, then?’
It had to be.
Otherwise, a skilled person like her would never have failed to recognize him.
“But what was his name again?”
Damn this concealment skill.
It even prevented her from remembering his name.
There was no need to dwell on it.
She hurried toward the Association headquarters.
All she needed was the candidate assessment roster.
‘This is a talent discovery!’
Her steps were lighter than they’d been in a long time.
* * *
“Home!”
-Squeak!
[Fire (EX) is delighted to finally be home!]
I headed straight for the shower as soon as I arrived.
I tossed my clothes into the laundry basket and turned on the cold water.
The heat and fatigue that had wrapped around my entire body vanished all at once.
Fire climbed right up onto my head and reveled in the spray.
He had his mouth wide open, gargling with the water from the showerhead.
It felt good to cool off.
-Ptooey.
“… But why are you spitting on me?”
-Squeak!
[Fire (EX) says it’s just because!]
I decided to let it slide this once—he’d worked hard today.
-Ptooey.
“…”
A commotion erupted in the cramped shower stall.
Fire was the fugitive; I was the pursuer.
I thought it would be easy to catch once I’d leveled up and grown larger.
Whoosh!
It didn’t even brush me.
Using obstacles made it even harder.
After ten minutes with no progress, I decided to use a cheat key cleanly.
“No food for you.”
-Squeak?! Squeak!
[Fire (EX) receives a severe shock!]
[Fire (EX) apologizes, saying it was just playing!]
That did the trick.
In the end, it landed in my hands and met its end as a water-soaked creature.
After that, the two of us made peace and lay on the ground.
“That was seriously the hardest one yet.”
-Squeak.
[Fire (EX) replies, saying “me too”!]
After clearing the Trial of the Forgotten Absolute, I didn’t head straight home.
I checked to see if there were any more trials like that, and gathered materials while I was at it.
By the time I’d swept through the entire Gwanak Mountain that way, evening had already rolled around to seven o’clock.
By the time I got home, it was well past nine.
It was filthy exhausting, but I had no regrets.
Though I didn’t find any more trials.
Burning Stone Tree × 235
Scorched Cotton × 54
I gathered a lot thanks to the hard work.
Plus Magic Stones on top of that.
There’s still more to check, though.
“I’m too exhausted today. I can’t take any more.”
-Squeak!
[Fire (EX) agrees vehemently!]
And so I fell into sleep, waking the next day.
Thanks to a good rest on the warm bed at the Spirit Shelter, my condition was at its peak.
After several rounds of pleading, I managed to get in and sleep.
The recovery is incredible, so I should try to sleep at the Spirit Shelter as much as possible.
-Squeak! Squeak!
[Fire (EX) says your condition is at its peak!]
[Fire (EX) says the bed it made is quite good!]
“Well, I mean, who made it?”
Fire threw up a thumbs up and was completely satisfied.
I prepared a simple breakfast.
Spam, steak—there was plenty to eat.
“Let’s keep it simple today.”
When I can’t be bothered, it’s ramen.
Five packs total.
Plus three eggs on top of that.
-Squeak.
[Fire (EX) asks if the smell is nice, but is this processed food again?!]
The grumbling didn’t last long.
The moment it took a bite, all that talk about processed food vanished.
-Squeak!
[Fire (EX) says the flavor is stimulating, and the more you eat, the tastier it gets!]
“As they say about ramen—there’s no one who’s never eaten it, but no one who’s eaten it just once.”
After filling my belly to satisfaction, it was time to check what I’d put off yesterday.
Starting with items.
“Nothing less than SSS-grade!”
My eyes widened at the golden treasure chest that emerged from my inventory.
A world-class item worthy of the news lay in my two hands.
If I sold it, it’d be worth at least hundreds of billions.
I’d gain money that couldn’t even compare to luck items.
Of course, I had no intention of doing that.
I’m the one who should use it—why would I give it to anyone else?
Let me check right away.
<Random Treasure Box (SSS)>
Description: Once a week, it produces something you need at random.
A simple ability.
The cooldown of a week was unfortunate.
I wished it could be daily.
Still, since it’s an SSS-grade item, something decent should turn up even at random.
There’s also a luck item in the mix, so no hesitation—use it!
[You use the Random Treasure Box (SSS)!]
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
The Random Treasure Box, trembling incessantly, burst forth with brilliant white light and swung wide open.
As the glow faded, a gleaming pickaxe lay nestled inside the opened box.
An elegant, solid handle paired with a blade tracing a deep gray arc of perfect geometry.
One glance was enough to recognize it as an exceptional pickaxe.
As expected.
[You obtain the Pickaxe of Efficiency and Fortune (S+) from the Random Treasure Box (SSS)!]
[You can use the Random Treasure Box (SSS) again in 168 hours.]
<Pickaxe of Efficiency and Fortune (S+)>
Description: Each time you mine materials, luck surges and you can harvest double the yield. It can mine any material at remarkable speed and possesses remarkable durability and strength.
“Oh! S+!”
It lived up to being an SSS-grade item.
An S+ on the very first draw.
But the item itself caught me off guard.
“A pickaxe? Are they telling me to become a miner?”
It wouldn’t have appeared without reason.
Since it says something needed appears at random, I’ll find a use for it soon enough.
Next: the Spirit Shelter.
After crafting the bed, new furniture options had unlocked.
<Fire’s Spirit Shelter (EX)>
❰Active Buff: Outstanding Regeneration (D+) Lv. 1❱
❰Furniture: Warm Bed (E)❱
❰Floor Space: 5 pyeong❱
……Outstanding Regeneration (D+) Lv. 1; can level up upon reaching 10,000 Hunger
……Can acquire new buff upon defeating hidden monsters
……Upon obtaining Burning Stone Tree (0/45) and Purification Stone (0/20), can craft Buff Purifier (E+) and five other furniture pieces
……Upon obtaining Burning Stone Tree (0/50), can add +1 pyeong
“Purification Stone? So there are other materials. Could that be why they gave me the pickaxe?”
There are plenty of places like Gwanak Mountain where I can gather materials.
But unlike Gwanak Mountain, those places are always packed with people.
Everything’s stripped clean in ten minutes—it’s cheaper just to buy.
“Let me put that aside for now and think carefully. First priority: expand the floor space.”
A total of 9 pyeong.
The 235 Burning Stone Trees I’d collected vanished in an instant, leaving only five.
Gathering is so difficult, yet spending is so easy.
Since five new furniture pieces became available to craft, I decided to be satisfied with that.
Finally, Fire’s Hunger was nearly full.
The remaining Spirit Stones I’d consumed helped, but the A-grade Magic Stones made the biggest difference.
They’d filled fifty thousand points alone.
With so little remaining, I could wait and enter the tower later.
“Let’s just dispatch the tower first. It won’t be that tough.”
Once I entered.
[Fire’s possessed skill, ‘Meteor (EX)’, activates.]
That’s all it took.
[You have cleared Trial Tower, Level 5!]
[Objective: 1/1]
[All traps in Trial Tower, Level 5 have been eliminated!]
[You have achieved a world record!]
[Trial Tower, Level 5 world ranking 1st place has been updated!]
[Clear Time: 11 seconds]
[You have overwhelmingly cleared Trial Tower, Level 5!]
[Obtain Lowest-Tier Magic Stone (F) × 316!]
[Obtain Lower-Tier Magic Stone (E) × 231!]
[Obtain Lower-Middle-Tier Magic Stone (D) × 53!]
[Obtain Middle-Tier Magic Stone (C) × 32!]
[Obtain Upper-Middle-Tier Magic Stone (B) × 11!]
[Obtain Upper-Tier Magic Stone (A) × 1!]
The tower had been generous.
Even from the Trial of the Forgotten Absolute, only three A-Tier Magic Stones had dropped.
And this was only the fifth floor, yet an A-Tier had appeared.
The joy didn’t last long.
[Hunger has reached 64,000!]
[Fire (EX) has leveled up by 1!]
❰Fire (EX) Lv. 8❱
❰Possessed Skills: Hellfire (EX), Meteor (EX)❱
❰Hunger: (0/200,000)❱
……New skill unlocks at Lv. 10
……Lee Chanyoung unlocks new skill at Hunger 200,000
“……Wasn’t it supposed to only go up twofold?”
A few A-Tier Magic Stones?
That wasn’t the issue.
How much higher would it climb next time?
Everything I earn goes straight into Magic Stones and Spirit Stones—when would I ever have spare cash?
‘Sitting on a fortune seems a long way off.’
The skill that did come through was decent enough, though.
[Successfully achieved Hunger 64,000.]
[Acquire skill ‘Attractive Light (C-)’!]
<Attractive Light (C-)>
Description: A spirit of light has made you appear attractive to anyone who looks upon you.
Even if it didn’t help much in a fight, appearance skills like this lasted forever.
It was the age-old wisdom—throw another prize at someone already handsome.
-Chirp! Chirp?
[Fire (EX) has finished all the ramen!]
[Fire (EX) is asking where you’re going today!]
I didn’t think long.
These past few days had been nothing but running around to feed this creature.
We deserved a break.
“Let’s just sell the byproducts and head to the park for a walk. You know—what people call a picnic.”
-Chirp!
[Fire (EX) says nature is always wonderful!]
Yesterday we’d had gimbap and instant ramen.
Today it was fried chicken and beer.
There was nothing quite like drinking in the Han River Park in broad daylight.
* * *
We arrived at the Han River Park.
The moment we spread out the blanket, the plan fell apart spectacularly.
Animals kept flocking to us without pause.
-Woof! Woof!
“Oh my! I’m so sorry!”
The Attractive Light was working especially strong on animals.
Dogs trying to mount us came standard; crows, pigeons, cats—every creature imaginable swarmed in.
The moment I turned off the skill, they finally settled down.
I thought the fried chicken and beer were done for.
But it wasn’t all bad.
“Squeak!”
“You want me to follow you?”
During our walk, some strange rabbit appeared and called to me.
I followed it to a secluded, brush-filled clearing.
The closer I came, the stronger the magical presence felt.
Even Fire sensed it—its eyes began to gleam.
At our destination stood the entrance to a deep cave.
Stepping carefully inside, I found the floor carpeted with blue stones of various hues.
And there, among them, stood a Burning Stone Tree.
[Purification Stone]
[Burning Stone Tree]
[Low-Grade Magic Stone (E)]
This is completely—
“I’ve hit the jackpot.”

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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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