The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 45

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

#045. Dungeon Entry (1)

“First, let’s settle the accounts.”

The first place Sung-jun visited after finishing the meeting was the appraisal counter that exchanged magic stones obtained from dungeons for money.

The area set up inside the Adventurer’s Guild was packed with adventurers gathered to exchange magic stones.

And finally, when his turn came, Sung-jun placed a hemp sack he had taken out from his subspace onto the reception desk.

-Thud!-

The sound that could be heard from far away immediately drew the adventurers’ attention, but Sung-jun, wearing the hood attached to his robe, paid no mind and spoke to the receptionist.

“I’d like to exchange magic stones.”

The magic stones Sung-jun took out from his subspace were mid-grade Corrosion Entity magic stones recovered from the battle with Yejigwi in China.

Of course, Sung-jun had much higher grade magic stones in his possession, but he judged that stones of too high a grade would not be suitable for processing at Nagano’s Adventurer’s Guild, which hadn’t yet conquered the deep layers.

However, there was something Sung-jun, who thought he had chosen an appropriately moderate grade, hadn’t considered: the types of Corrosion Entities that appeared in China were completely different from those that appeared in Japan.

“Th-this is?”

The receptionist who had brought what appeared to be an appraisal tool, a magnifying glass, to the magic stone immediately called for a superior.

Then a woman who appeared to be the receptionist’s supervisor re-appraised the magic stone and spoke to Sung-jun.

“This is an item that’s difficult for us to formally appraise. It seems to be a magic stone from a Corrosion Entity that doesn’t appear in Nagano Dungeon…”

“Does that mean settlement is impossible?”

“No, basically settlement prices are determined according to the type of monster that dropped the magic stone. But for unfamiliar types of magic stones like this, we settle according to two other methods. One is to measure only the amount of mana contained in the magic stone and settle the price accordingly, the other is to formally request an appraisal and receive settlement at the appropriate price for the magic stone.”

“When you mention formal appraisal, I get the feeling it will take quite a while…”

“We have to deliver the magic stone all the way to Tokyo where the Stone Research Institute is located, so it takes over 2 weeks. Normally it should be faster, but as you know, given the current situation…”

“I’ll go with mana settlement.”

The woman’s face brightened considerably upon hearing Sung-jun’s words.

The difference between the price of magic stones supplied for fuel and the value of magic stones supplied for research or materials was like heaven and earth.

If they purchased the magic stone from Sung-jun at fuel prices as he suggested and later sold it for research or material purposes, the guild could make enormous profits.

“Then considering this is an unfamiliar type of magic stone, we’ll pay an additional 50% of the settlement amount. Do you happen to have other types of magic stones as well?”

Of course, Sung-jun had more than enough other types of magic stones, but he didn’t bother to reveal this.

If he needed money urgently, it seemed more profitable to additionally sell the same type of magic stone he’d already sold rather than selling new magic stones at a loss.

Right now he was disposing of them urgently because he needed quick cash, but if possible, he wanted to sell them at proper prices or use them as materials.

The receptionist showed a slightly disappointed expression at Sung-jun’s response and immediately brought mana measurement equipment.

Then she applied it to each magic stone Sung-jun had brought out, tapped on a calculator, and said.

“I won’t ask about the source, but these are incredibly high-grade magic stones. Instead of the 50% I mentioned earlier, I’ll proceed with 100% additional payment. In return, if you ever acquire rare magic stones, please consider supplying them to us.”

Having said that, she requested Sung-jun to take out his adventurer card.

Explaining that adventurer cards had a function to store currency like a debit card, she charged 28 million credits to Sung-jun’s card.

“In terms of yen, this would be…”

“About 280 million yen. Of course, since prices have risen tremendously after D-day, it’s difficult to calculate simply.”

‘280 million…’

Imagining how wealthy he could become if he disposed of all the remaining magic stones in his subspace, Sung-jun came out of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Then he took Seoa’s group who had been waiting outside and moved to an equipment shop that dealt with Awakened-exclusive gear.

Inside the shop with a fantasy-style wooden sign reading ‘Sasaki’s Armory’, various armor, weapons, and accessories that might appear in games were impressively displayed.

“It feels like I’m cosplaying somehow…”

Unlike Sung-jun who wore the Previous Demon Lord’s robe inherited from his Teacher, Seoa, who was trying on this type of outfit for the first time, came out wearing the equipment she had chosen with her face flushed in embarrassment.

Unlike Sung-jun’s mage outfit in the form of robes that might appear in orthodox fantasy, it was an outfit reminiscent of a magic school uniform.

“Despite its strange appearance, the performance is good. Is this also a drop item from dungeons?”

When Sung-jun showed curiosity, the server’s eyes sparkled as he spoke to Sung-jun.

“Some are and some aren’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dungeon drop items are largely divided into two types. First, there are ‘finished product drops’ where completely completed equipment drops, and ‘material drops’ where materials drop. The cloth parts of the outfit this lady is wearing were made by processing cloth materials dropped from dungeons. The hat is a finished product.”

“If the cloth parts are processed goods, does that mean this design is purely the developer’s preference?”

Sung-jun, who couldn’t understand Seoa’s outfit that seemed to prioritize design over practicality, looked at the staff with eyes asking ‘why make equipment this way?’

Then the staff member, understanding Sung-jun’s gaze, smiled and said to him.

“It’s a trend. A trend. As you know, finding good party members is about 90% of dungeon conquest. If the equipment you’re wearing is attractive, that also helps in finding good party members. If I had to express it…”

“A honey trap?”

“Well, that expression wouldn’t be unreasonable. Actually, female adventurers who wear them also prefer this type of equipment. Before D-day, this was clothing you could only wear at cosplay events, wasn’t it? But now it’s normal to dress like this, so everyone accepts the atmosphere. And the outfit your companion chose is quite modest.”

“You call that modest?”

“I heard this type of equipment is also popular in Tokyo.”

Seeing the equipment the staff brought out from inside, Sung-jun pressed his forehead with his finger and let out a deep sigh.

Then he took out his adventurer card containing credits and said.

“That one will do.”

Having equipped themselves this way, Sung-jun’s group had become quite a unique-looking party.

A party with no close-combat classes, composed only of 3 mages.

To appear like Japanese Awakened who used abilities through magical artifacts, Sung-jun held a gem-studded wooden staff said to help with mana circulation.

If anyone asked, he planned to make up a story about obtaining that wooden staff from Pandora’s box and being able to use magic because of it.

Shirasaki Miyu, who was already famous as a grimoire user, only changed her outfit to dungeon-produced equipment, and Seoa additionally purchased a wand-like stick and dungeon-produced clothing.

When the three people equipped with ‘mage’ class gear, which was already rare to see, returned to the Adventurer’s Guild, all of Nagano’s adventurers began staring intently at the three.

“The attention is really burdensome.”

“There were already few support class Awakened among Japan’s Awakened. Plus our party has 3 people now. Since there appears to be an opening for close-combat classes, they can’t help but show interest. Moreover…”

Before Shirasaki Miyu could finish her explanation, a man in armor approached her.

Then he spoke to Sung-jun.

“Excuse me, but all three of you don’t look like close-combat Awakened. Are you here to apply for dungeon conquest by any chance?”

“That’s right.”

“Then do you happen to have openings in your party? It’s not bragging, but I’m quite confident as a vanguard.”

The man introduced his profession as ‘Boxer’.

He received gauntlets with combat-type skills during his awakening ceremony, and had now achieved level 15.

‘Level… Come to think of it, there was something called level written on the adventurer card too.’

Since Sung-jun’s ‘magic’ wasn’t a skill from artifacts, when he first copied the adventurer card, Sung-jun and Seoa’s levels were displayed as ‘Unknown’.

Sung-jun forcibly changed those displays to ‘1’ to avoid unnecessary suspicion, so Sung-jun and Seoa’s adventurer cards showed their status as level 1 mages.

‘Is 15 high? Or low?’

When Sung-jun looked at Shirasaki Miyu, who knew the most about Japan’s Awakened system, she said.

“15 isn’t particularly high, but joining would be difficult.”

“But you’re support classes, right? With assistance, you should manage somehow. All the really skilled vanguard classes are already in parties anyway.”

After thinking for a moment, Sung-jun shook his head and said to the man.

“Sorry, but we don’t need a vanguard.”

“Pardon? Then are you saying you’ll conquer the dungeon with just three support members?”

“We’re not support. We’re ‘battle mages’. For reference, these two people with me are mages.”

“Mages, that’s ridiculous… More than that, battle mage? Are you by any chance that battle mage Shirasaki Miyu?”

Looking at the man shouting with an extremely surprised expression, Miyu showed an annoyed expression.

However, despite the man’s shouting, the people around them showed no particular reaction.

“Huh?”

“I just blocked the sound in advance since it seemed like troublesome things would happen. And you. Sorry, but we’re not recruiting party members separately, so I’d appreciate it if you’d leave.”

Despite Sung-jun’s request, the man persistently spoke to Shirasaki Miyu, and eventually Sung-jun had no choice but to use his secret weapon.

“You.”

“I’m sorry, I’m currently speaking to Shirasaki-san.”

“Quietly return to your place and forget everything you discussed here.”

“What on earth is that supposed to?”

When Sung-jun waved his finger and spoke to the man, the man’s eyes instantly became cloudy.

Then he quietly turned around and returned to where he had originally been.

“Mind control magic?”

“It’s closer to a suggestion with compulsive force than that, but you could consider it mind control.”

While he was at it, Sung-jun additionally cast a weak-level perception inhibition magic.

He adjusted it so that even if someone deliberately looked in the direction of the three people, they would have a blurry impression as if looking at distant scenery.

And the moment Sung-jun cast the magic, all the gazes that had been focused on the three people swept away to other places at once.

“If there was something this good, I should have put it on much earlier.”

“Everyone was wearing cosplay-like outfits, so I thought it wouldn’t particularly draw attention. Until I heard that man’s words earlier, I never even imagined there would be talk about vanguards and support.”

After finishing his words, Sung-jun quickly completed the dungeon conquest application with the receptionist’s help.

There was a minor incident where the receptionist called for the next person even though Sung-jun was speaking right in front of her, because he forgot to dispel the recognition inhibition magic.

Thinking he needed to become more familiar with Japan’s Awakened system, Sung-jun took the two with him and headed to Nagano Dungeon according to the map the receptionist had given him.

“F-rank can only enter up to the 1st Layer. Should we aim for a rank up by going around the 1st Layer first?”

Looking at the stairway entrance leading from the 1st Layer to the 2nd Layer, Shirasaki Miyu asked.

After pondering for a moment, Sung-jun said to her.

“No. Let’s go to the next layer as we are.”

“But there’s a barrier at the layer entrance that checks adventurer ranks?”

“There would be. A barrier. It’s probably a barrier that determines entry eligibility based on the rank written on the adventurer card.”

“The ranking on adventurer cards can only be updated with magic artifacts owned by the Adventurer’s Guild… Don’t tell me?”

“That’s right, whether it’s magic artifacts or adventurer cards, they’re all items made with magic in the end.”

Saying this, Sung-jun floated his copied adventurer card on his palm.

Then the adventurer rank written on Sung-jun’s card changed from ‘F’ to ‘S’.

“Let’s go, for a fun dungeon exploration.”

Japan’s Awakened system that had no mages yet depended on magic artifacts for everything.

For Sung-jun, who was a real mage, it was an infinitely convenient system that only he in the world could hack.

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