I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 76

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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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Inherited the Basement 1 of the Tower – Episode 76

“Divinity.”

A faint luminescence rippled across my entire body. Yet it was nothing like Ahn Jae-jun’s ‘Radiance’—that vulgar light which blazed fiercely around him, searing the eyes of those who gazed upon it.
Rather, it was an alien sensation, as though my very presence had grown denser and more substantial.

Ding!
【The special stat ‘Divinity’ does not increase upon leveling up.】
【It can be obtained by clearing Nix’s divine tasks.】
-Cannot grow independently.

I didn’t know what effect it possessed, but from the description alone, I could instantly discern that something about it was extraordinary and far from ordinary.
Darkness, Radiance, Overwhelming Strength, Precision, and so forth.
Most of the special stats I’d encountered thus far either rose automatically upon leveling up, or their values could be increased by investing distributable stat points. Yet this Divinity could not be cultivated through my own will.

‘And the name itself is no joke.’

Divinity.
Literally, the essence of godhood.
I couldn’t determine its exact effect, but if it truly possessed some divine authority befitting its name…

‘…It’s too early to jump to conclusions.’

In any case, I would soon encounter James, America’s top-ranked Apostle of Heracles.
If he, too, had experienced similar things as an Apostle and possessed information about this power.
There would be much to learn from him. Or perhaps I could compare our respective conditions.

“Either way, I’ll only know once I meet him in person.”

This could wait. It wasn’t as though I could wield it like some active skill at a moment’s notice.
What truly captivated my attention right now was something else entirely.
A reward gleaming brilliantly in the corner of my vision, tempting me fiercely.
The very item I’d obtained by exceeding the fourth task.

* * *

Whoosh—!

“I’m back.”

As I emerged from the Trial Space and returned to the Underground Temple, the first to greet me were Min-hee and Lowell.

“Oh, the boss is here!”
“You made it back. Glad you’re safe. So, what’s this gift you mentioned?”

Watching the two of them rush over with sparkling eyes, it seemed they’d interpreted my promise of “wonderful materials as a gift” as acquiring new materials.
Alchemists truly were something.

“We’ll examine it together now. I hope I can present you with the finest gift I’m able to offer.”

I was planning to build separate workshops for them regardless of who else might arrive.
But truthfully, what I needed most right now was a miner who could extract moonstone in abundance.

“…Are you listening, Goddess Nix? I humbly request that this time as well, you grant us someone truly essential to our temple.”

I finished my brief prayer with hands clasped before the Goddess Statue of Nix and rose to my feet.
It had become a completely automatic ritual—my own routine before each draw.
I rubbed my palms together and carefully opened my mouth.

“Use the recruitment ticket!”

Ding!
【Using Temple Resident Recruitment Ticket (Rare ~ Legendary)!】
【The great essence of night seeks a new connection.】

A massive roulette appeared in the air and began spinning furiously.
Min-hee and Lowell, watching from a distance, widened their eyes in astonishment.

“Wow…? Boss, what is that?”
“Unusual and creative. Impressive. Though I still can’t tell what skill it is. It’s that complex.”

While the two alchemists marveled with scholarly enthusiasm, I smirked and pointed at the air.

“You’ll understand faster by watching it directly.”

Whirrrrrr-!

The spinning wheel gradually slowed, and finally the needle came to rest on a single section.
In that instant, a brilliant and weighty golden light so radiant it seemed to blind swept across the entire Underground Temple.

Ding!
【Congratulations!】
【Resident grade is Legendary!】

“Yes!”

I clenched my fists, which I’d thrust upward in triumph. Legendary grade, no less.
The highest rank I’d ever drawn for the first time.
But while I was overwhelmed with joy, a pitiful scream erupted from Yahwi, who stood behind me.

“Nooooo! This can’t be happening-!”
“…?”

I turned around with a puzzled expression.
Yahwi, who had been terrified that a powerful combat resident might threaten his position alongside me, flinched at my gaze and hastily twisted his facial muscles into a grotesque shape.

“…Happening! Yes! Hooray! It’s, it’s legendary, Master! Sob, I’m so happy I’m crying!”

The sight of him forcing cheers while tears of despair glistened at the corners of his eyes was quite the spectacle.
Of course, Legendary grade wasn’t the end.
The most important thing—the job—remained.

“Well?”

Yahwi and I swallowed hard and stared intently at the message floating in the air.
The sound effect ceased entirely, and a golden message shone brilliantly.

Ding!
【You have acquired a Miner!】
【Legendary Miner, ‘Garet,’ is being summoned.】
【Please be prepared for the shock that will arrive shortly.】

“Excellent!”

An exclamation burst from my lips before I could help it.

“Woohoo! A miner! Not a combatant! Hurrah!”

This time, Yahwi embraced me alongside him, genuinely delighted as we both bounced up and down with joy.
It seemed he had been terrified that a legendary-rank swordmaster or knight might appear instead.
I was genuinely pleased that the profession I desperately needed had finally manifested—one essential for seriously mining the moonstone vein that Elder Barkalor had discovered.

‘…It was certainly necessary, but now that a legendary-rank miner has appeared, the feeling is somehow… peculiar.’

Typically, legendary-rank meant something like an Archmage, Dragon Slayer, or Undefeated Swordmaster—the standard expectation, wasn’t it?
Was this legendary-rank pickaxe wielding?
Perhaps I was being ungrateful.

Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!

Then, just as always happened when a new resident was summoned, the entire temple began to shake violently.
I belatedly added a warning to Min-hee and Lowell.

“Ah, right. Both of you, be careful. The ground will shake a bit.”
“Hm? Shake? What do you mean—”

Lowell’s mouth snapped shut. Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!
An enormous tremor shook the temple as if the very foundation were twisting.
I turned my gaze, anticipating a massive structure to emerge from the ground—something like Yahwi’s Swordsmanship Hall, Barkalor’s Office, or Eltos’s Smithy breaking through the earth—

“…It should be coming, so why isn’t it appearing?”

The tremor had ceased, but no building stood before us.

“Is it broken?”
Everyone stood bewildered, glancing around in confusion.

“Master! Look over there!”

Eltos pointed to a corner of the Underground Temple with his massive finger.
When I turned my head, instead of a structure rising upward, there was a ‘Cave’ opening downward.
To be precise, it was that hole Eltos had roughly gouged out with his bare hands before, claiming he would find the Moonstone vein.
The roughly excavated hole had somehow transformed into a remarkably artificial and professional mining tunnel.
At the entrance, massive logs were firmly installed to prevent collapse.
Most notably, the floor was laid with railroad tracks for mineral carts to travel, stretching deep into the darkness.
And shortly after.

Screeeeeech—.

The grinding sound of the rails being scraped roughly grew louder and louder from within the cave.
Soon, piercing through the darkness, a heavy mineral cart came rushing out at high speed.
And beyond that cart, I could see a face covered in black coal dust floating in mid-air.

“Kyaaaaaaah! W-wait! A face! A severed head is rolling toward us!”

At that grotesque sight, Min-hee let out a piercing scream in shock. But the next moment.
Boing! That ‘head’ sprang up like a spring and leaped right out of the cart.
From the way it landed, it wasn’t a severed head at all—just a ‘Dwarf’ of extremely short stature.
It had been an optical illusion, with only the head visible above the cart’s height.

“A, a Dwarf…?”

Min-hee, seeing a fantasy race for the first time in her life, stood dazed and rubbed her eyes.
Meanwhile, Yahwi, Barkalor, Eltos, and I remained quite composed.
Of course we did. We had just spent the Fourth Trial dealing with lava while rubbing shoulders with dozens of Dwarves.
Dwarves were more familiar to us than any neighborhood elder.
The miner Dwarf thrust his stubby hand into the cart and, grunting, dragged out an enormous sack as large as his own body.

Crash!

“On the way back, I saw shiny stones scattered all over the floor, so I dug up some.”

As the sack opened, an enormous quantity of Moonstones—easily thousands of them—poured out.
“Are you insane?”

I never thought the phrase “found it” could be this thrilling.
So this is the mining speed of a legendary-tier miner.
I barely managed to keep my jaw from dropping at the massive wealth pouring down like a waterfall.
The dwarf miner made a heavy thudding sound as he brushed the black coal dust from his hands.
Then, with his small stature, he lifted his chin and swept his gaze across the surroundings.

“Say, who’s the squad leader here?”

Another new title—squad leader. After lord, master, and customer, the variety really was impressive.

“That would be me, it seems.”

As I stepped forward, the dwarf miner let out a deliberate cough, straightened his clothes, and bowed his head with a show of courtesy.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Garet. As you can see, I’m a miner.”
“Garet. Pleased to meet you. I’m Kang Ha-jin.”

A flash of realization crossed Jeong Min-hee’s eyes as she watched in silence.

“Ah! Then could it be that Barkalor, Eltos, and Yahwi are all…!”

I smiled at her expression, as if the puzzle of this temple’s system and residents had finally clicked into place.

“That’s right. They’re all my residents. Please welcome the new family members.”
“Much obliged for the welcome. But I’d prefer a cold beer to the welcoming.”

After exchanging a light handshake with me, Garet glanced at Yahwi and Elder Barkalor standing behind me.

“Tsk tsk. All skin and bones, the lot of you. How are you supposed to properly swing a pickaxe like that? Pathetic weaklings.”

Was this the legendary-tier resident’s way of establishing discipline?
It was just as Garet was dismissing Yahwi and the elder with arrogant disdain that his gaze fell upon the massive figure standing awkwardly in the distance—Eltos.
Garrett’s gaze fell upon Eltos, a massive figure standing awkwardly in the distance.

“Oh? That one looks pretty appealing. Very dependable.”

Garrett strode toward Eltos with his short legs.

“In our homeland, we revered a giant who looked just like you as a great hero for generations. Long ago, when a terrible volcano erupted in our homeland’s mountain range, he blocked the lava with his broad back and saved our dwarf race! Just like you, he was bald, and his back was covered in burn scars from blocking the lava…”

Garet laughed heartily, gazing up at Eltos’s broad back.
And there, behind Eltos’s back, he discovered terrible burn scars.

“Ah, yes. The scars are exactly like… huh?”

Garet’s words came to an abrupt halt.
His pupils trembled as if struck by an earthquake, and he began alternating his gaze between the legendary hero and the Eltos standing before him.
Eltos blinked in confusion at Garet’s words, his eyes fluttering.
He burst into laughter at the astonishing inevitability of how history had woven itself together.
It seemed this high-ranking newcomer would have a difficult time keeping his composure.

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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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