[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 72: Soul Smuggling
As soon as the call connected, Loki's face appeared.
Unlike his usual confident deanor, he seed flustered.
[I can’t find Kim Sejun anywhere. If he’s already dead, there should at least be a trace of his soul, but there’s nothing. It’s strange.]
"Is it because Heimdall’s authority isn’t sufficient...?"
[Loki: "What are you talking about? If that idiot’s authority wasn’t enough, I’d have been caught every single ti. I’ve already searched multiple tis."]
Loki firmly denied it, looking as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
[Your father isn’t even at the level of a deity, so there’s no way he’d escape Heimdall’s sight. I’ve thought of three possibilities.]
"What are they?"
[First, his soul has been completely destroyed. That ans his existence is completely erased, so he wouldn’t show up in any search. But there’s no one on Earth capable of doing that—except maybe you, with your soul energy emission.]
"That’s not sothing I’d do... so what’s the next possibility?"
[Second, he might be on another planet. Third, if a deity used an SSS-level concealnt skill on him, Heimdall wouldn’t be able to find him. But why would anyone bother concealing a single human soul?]
Seriously, where did he go?
This was so absurd that I even started wondering if Loki was lying to .
Isn’t he the god of trickery?
"Hey, you’re not scamming
or holding my dad’s soul hostage, are you?"
[Wow. I’m a deity, okay? Sure, I’m the god of trickery, but why would I scam soone over a single human soul? I swear I’m not lying.]
Loki jumped in protest.
He seed sincere.
"Hmm…"
[If we were holding him, we’d have given you his soul already and taken all 12 seats as paynt. Why would we bother with just one human soul?]
"Aphrodite and others keep trying to get offspring from . Isn’t it possible that soone would target my father for soul-related research?"
[That might work for offspring, but it doesn’t apply to parents. We’ve experinted on that multiple tis to confirm it.]
It didn’t seem like a lie.
What the heck.
Where did he go?
"Could it be that my father’s na was a pseudonym all along?"
[Nope. Heimdall reads genetic and soul wavelengths to search. Even if the na were fake, he’d still be found. For now, Heimdall says he’ll expand the search range to the solar system.]
"Alright. Thanks... I’ll give you three seats as a diator fee. Decide who’ll take them and let
know."
Those three seats were ones I had already considered neutral, so I handed them over as a gesture to encourage a more thorough search.
[Alright. I’ll bring good news.]
With that, Loki ended the call.
Sigh.
Frustrated, I pulled out the strategy guide.
Was there any new content after clearing the Kevrian challenge?
To my surprise, the guide’s contents had updated.
[Did I actually beat Kevrian? Or am I facing another end of the world? Did I get the fragnt of Chronos? I’m curious... From here on, I don’t know either. The five Lords that descended on Earth are too strong for
to gather any information. But the note I left behind... Check it again at level 200.]
That was the end of the strategy guide.
It seed there would be no more updates.
Hmm.
A note?
When I pulled it out, it was still covered in unreadable characters, just like before.
I also took out the mysterious black rod that I couldn’t figure out before.
It didn’t react either.
Should I have asked Loki about this, too?
Hmm... No, better not trust him too much.
For now, I decided to hold onto it until I reached A-rank.
"Hey, I’m heading out now."
Lee Jinseong, who had been treating my house like his own for the past week, drinking endlessly, stood there in a dress shirt.
He even brought clothes from his place to hang out here.
"Ah. Alright."
"Looks like my vacation is over. The guild’s calling
back for a discussion on clearing a C-rank dungeon."
"Hmm… Alright. Before you go, take this."
I took out the Orb of Replication that Loki had given
and used it.
A bracelet with a blue gemstone embedded in it materialized in my hand.
[Temporary B-Rank Weapon Summoning Bracelet]
[A bracelet that can summon a B-rank weapon. The weapon type is automatically selected based on the user’s most desired lee weapon.]
I also had an A-rank item from Hers that was similar to Loki’s.
[Orb of Replication – Leonidas’s Armor]
[Rank: A]
[Replicates the armor of Leonidas, King of Sparta, at one rank lower. The replicated armor disappears after one month. The number of replications depends on the user’s mana, with a maximum of 100.]
I thought Leonidas fought in just a loincloth, but it turned out he wore full armor.
I an, if it were just a loincloth, how would he survive arrows?
Replicating this also created a bracelet with a blue gemstone.
"Whoa, what’s this?"
"It’s a special gift from . A B-rank weapon and armor."
"Whoa! I’ll serve you as my master!"
"Ah. But they’ll disappear in a month."
"Eh, still, thanks! Let
try it out."
Jinseong took the bracelet and summoned a weapon.
With a flash of light, his appearance changed.
He now stood in golden armor, holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade.
He jumped in front of a mirror, ecstatic.
"Wow. This is amazing! Are you sure I can have this?"
"Yeah. I can replicate up to 100, so I gave you one. Take good care of it."
"Yay~"
Jinseong exaggeratedly bowed to , speaking in a courtier-like tone.
Then, after removing the gear, his eyes lit up.
"Hey, what if we start a weapon rental business with this?"
"A weapon rental business?"
"Yeah. I’ve never even heard of B-rank gear. High-ranking guilds would probably rent it no matter the cost."
"That's not bad. I’ll have to think about it."
Sounds just like Loki.
I really need to do this.
Leveling up the top guilds quickly and earning money at the sa ti—two birds with one stone.
If they rent weapons, they'll hunt hard just to make the most of it.
Hmm, but managing it myself sounds like a hassle...
I should call our secretary.
[Oh my, Jiho. I saw the news. You looked great in that suit!]
“Thank you. Everything’s been moving so fast, I hardly had ti to catch my breath.”
As soon as I called, Kang Shia hit
with a complint.
When I brought up weapon rentals, she got excited and imdiately suggested we et.
[Have you had lunch? Let’s talk over a al. I’ll send a car.]
“Oh. Sure.”
I lazed around for about 30 minutes, chuckling while watching the news featuring .
Even after a week, the Kim Jiho news kept rolling in.
They kept showing shots of presidents bowing their heads to .
When that segnt ended, they brought in experts for interviews.
[Just how significant is Hunter Kim Jiho’s influence?]
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
[Now that the elves have retreated, the only one capable of handling B-rank dungeons is Hunter Kim Jiho. Thanks to him, many hunters have leveled up, but the highest level is still only 64. Without Hunter Kim Jiho, B-rank dungeons simply cannot be cleared.]
[So, without Hunter Kim Jiho, it’s impossible? He’s the only one in the world?]
[Yes. Monsters from lower-rank dungeons can be subdued with modern weapons, but monsters from higher-rank dungeons can turn ethereal. At that point, modern weapons are useless. Also, as you can see from the expedition footage, attacks don’t land effectively if there’s a level disparity. If the B-rank dungeon portals remain open, B-rank monsters will spill out, and there’ll be no one to stop them.]
The hunter industry expert passionately explained the potential damage B-rank monsters could cause.
A charming anchor added exclamations, visibly impressed.
It was both cringy and amusing.
[The Kim Jiho phenonon around the globe?]
Kids were running around cosplaying as
in Hephaestus armor from Olympus.
In one country, they were even worshiping
as a god and placing my figure at a shrine ant for the Olympian gods.
Oh, co on... why there, of all places?
Anyway, since it’s all about , watching the news has beco pretty entertaining.
Still, I guess I’ll need to use polymorph magic when I go outside.
I was so engrossed in my news segnts that I lost track of ti.
When the call ca saying the car had arrived, I hurriedly got dressed, polymorphed, and headed to the parking lot to get in.
And then we arrived at the restaurant.
The restaurant was a fancy one with private rooms, but unlike last ti, I didn’t feel nervous.
I’ve been treated like royalty enough tis now to get used to it.
“You’re here?”
Kang Shia greeted , dressed in a figure-hugging gown.
We shared a al before diving into the topic of weapon rentals.
“Renting out B-rank weapons and armor? That’s a great idea. Jiho, are you looking to profit from this, or...?”
“Money? I get plenty through sponsorships.”
“I see. But we’re getting swamped with inquiries. People are desperate to find out how to support you. So even deposit money into my account, begging
to pass it on to you.”
She handed
a neatly organized list.
From famous Arican corporations to Korea’s conglorates, everyone was scrambling to get close to .
“Wow. I’ve been away from Earth so much, I had no idea this was happening.”
“What should we do?”
“If they’re offering, we might as well take it.”
“Should I handle it or tell them to send it directly?”
“Hmm. Just organize it and send it to .”
Managing money isn’t as important as managing SP.
“Well, since money isn’t an issue, I’d like to focus weapon rentals on areas with many high-level hunters.”
“High-level hunters?”
“Yes. I’m curious to see if, at a certain level, they can clear C-rank dungeons without fatalities, even without B-rank weapons. Let’s charge a reasonable fee and help them level up.”
“If I were in your position, I’d hesitate to do that. It’s not ideal to help competitors rise. You have such a generous heart.”
Generous?
Not really.
The faster hunters level up, the more experience points they’ll offer .
I kept my thoughts to myself and leisurely sipped my coffee.
“So, we’ll limit rentals to high levels and distribute them fairly among the guilds. We’ll charge a reasonable price...”
Kang Shia pulled out her phone and started calculating.
“Let’s set the minimum monthly rental fee for high-level hunters at 5 billion won. Including armor, that’d be 10 billion.”
“Five billion?”
“Yes. It’s cheap, but it’s ant to increase accessibility.”
So, with 100 sets, that’s 1 trillion won a month?
It sounded like a lot, but I felt strangely indifferent.
It’s like money doesn’t an much anymore.
I don’t even know how much is in my account; I just care about my SP count.
“Hmm. Should we set up a company for distribution?”
“Ugh. Too much hassle. I’d prefer to handle it through the Hunter Association and pay them a commission.”
“Oh, co on. Who would dare charge Jiho a commission? They should be paying you! I’ll contact the association.”
She sipped her coffee, and I started to feel a bit guilty for making her handle everything.
“I feel bad dumping all this work on you. Should I offer you an incentive?”
“Haha. Jiho, being your representative is an honor—I should be paying you. If you really feel guilty, then maybe lend
so gear?”
“Planning to challenge a C-rank dungeon? You know death there is permanent, right?”
“Yes. Even though peace has supposedly returned, I feel the need to get stronger. I can’t shake the mories of being helpless against regular monsters in the shattered world.”
Her fiery determination made
reflect on myself.
Hearing people call
the strongest on Earth had made
complacent lately.
Even if I can’t be overtaken, given how much experience points others feed
as they grow, I shouldn’t slack off.
Plus, I still don’t fully understand what the gods are plotting.
Back ho, I checked my status screen.
It’s been a week since I returned to Earth.
With Hers sending
100,000 SP daily and the SP earned through soul diation, I now had 720,000 SP.
I was earning so much more through diation than reaping.
I should upgrade my soul diation skill.
[Would you like to upgrade the Soul diation skill? 100,000 SP will be used.]
Yes.
[Would you like to upgrade the Soul diation skill? 500,000 SP will be used.]
Yes.
I imdiately confird both upgrades, raising Soul diation to Level 5.
At Level 1, I could manage 3 souls, Level 2 allowed 6, and Level 3 handled 12.
I expected it to jump to 24 or 48, but the results were disappointing.
[Soul diation Skill has been upgraded to Level 4. One additional soul slot has been unlocked. The range of soul diation has increased.]
[Soul diation Skill has been upgraded to Level 5. One additional soul slot has been unlocked. The range of soul diation has increased.]
Seriously?
Only one extra slot per level?
I just dumped 650,000 SP into this!
But my anger disappeared when I saw the next ssage.
[Soul diation Skill has reached Level 5. You can now diate souls with gods from other planets.]
[At Level 7, the skill ‘Smuggling’ will beco available.]
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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