Chapter 24

“That number is gradually increasing, and their movements are said to be unusual. That is why I came all this way.”

The Main Quest I had received earlier had only been about the ring that dropped from the Act 1 boss, but as the explanation continued, a new Main Quest appeared.

[Main Quest]
[Undead Invasion]
● Grade: Heroic
● The undead are increasing in number due to Magi. Their unusual movements suggest an invasion of human lands could happen at any moment. Prepare for the undead invasion, defeat as many undead as possible, and prevent the fall of Hanimo City.
● Top Contribution Reward: 100 Gold, 1,000 Temple Contribution Level, Title ‘He Who Blocked Death (Legendary)’, Bracelet ‘Sacred Laurel (Legendary)’
※ Rewards for invasion quests are determined by contribution.

“I and the temple knights will prepare thoroughly, but that alone is not enough. We need the strength of the Heroes. Please call for more Heroes. Please help us gather our strength.”

The Saintess pleaded once more, taking my hand again with sorrowful eyes.

“I will do my best.”

I accepted the Saintess’s wish with a determined expression.

===

That was what I said, but I had no intention of calling more players.

“Everyone’s busy enjoying the experience event, so there’s no reason to call them over for nothing.”

Differential rewards based on contribution.

If I achieved the highest contribution, I would receive a staggering 100 Gold.

And on top of that, the 1,000 Temple Contribution Level, the Title, and the Legendary item would surely all be worth a fortune.

I had already come all the way to Hanimo first, without even getting to enjoy the experience event, while working my butt off as a Hero. Shouldn’t I at least be allowed this much of a lead?

Besides, it wasn’t like there was nothing Han Youngwoong could do.

“Before that, Hero, I would like you to clear the path to Hanimo.”

“Clear it?”

“We have been receiving reports of hunters in the swamp on the way to Hanimo luring and murdering adventurers and mercenaries. If they are not dealt with, adventurers will have a difficult time making their way here.”

“Ah!”

The Saintess made the request with a worried expression.

[Bounty Quest]
[Hanimo Swamp Hunters]
● Grade: High
● Reports continue to come in of hunters preying on people in the swamp connecting Hanimo and Moina. To prepare for the undead invasion, let us defeat the hunters with bounties on their heads.
● Reward: 1 Gold, 50 Temple Contribution Level

I had just been wondering where I was supposed to report this, so it was a relief.

“I ran into them on my way here and took care of them.”

“Do you have proof?”

“This?”

“As expected of a Hero!”

When I showed her the three small emblems engraved with two crossed red daggers, the Saintess’s face brightened.

[Quest Complete!]

[Quest Complete!]

Two bounty quests were completed at the same time.

“The temple will pay the bounty. It was difficult to dispatch knights ourselves, but thanks to you, Hero, we can rest a little easier.”

“Just leave it to me.”

3 Gold extorted from the hunters.

1 Gold looted from the corpses.

2 Gold and 1 Gold from the bounties.

I already felt like I had been compensated for coming here early instead of staying longer in Moina to level up.

But I couldn’t stop there.

The Saintess left with the knights to patrol the area, and Han Youngwoong, like a starving hyena, began looking for work inside the temple.

Fortunately, there was plenty.

[Temple Request Board]
● Current Contribution Level: 3
● Available Requests: 0 / 2

* Undead Hunt (Common)
* Elite Undead Hunt (High)
* Reconnaissance of an Unidentified Area in the Land of Death (Rare)
…
…

The number of choices had grown considerably, and the number of requests I could accept had increased as well.

I could clear up to two a day, and it seemed the odds of higher-grade quests appearing had gone up too.

“Hmm. Something like Magi Purification Water would be nice.”

The Land of Death.

The land of the undead.

Given the Corrupted Moina Forest and Magi Purification Water, it felt natural to assume there would be some kind of local specialty here that could be used in a special way.

When it comes to undead, the first thing that comes to mind is Holy Water.

I needed to find a way to kill the undead more easily and raise my contribution.

I planned to use any method I could.

“Priest, is there an easy way to kill undead?”

I asked the experienced-looking priest who had guided me from the entrance.

“The undead are weak to Divine Power. However, you must be cautious, for the Land of Death is steeped in vile Magi. An ordinary amount of Divine Power will not do much harm to them.”

“Then?”

“A sacred weapon… or perhaps a holy relic that emits Divine Power on its own might be effective.”

“Ooh! Where can I get one?”

“You can rent one here by spending the contribution you earn from hunting many undead.”

Undead suppression.

Just as they were telling users to go out and manually kill 100,000 undead without any clear plan, they had also prepared proper means to deal with them.

[Undead Suppression Contribution]
● Total Contribution: 0
● Held Contribution: 0

The accumulated contribution turned into points that could be used at the temple to buy various items needed for growth.

From small things like Holy Water and potions, to renting high-performance Equipment, and if you gathered an enormous amount of contribution, the system even allowed you to purchase powerful Equipment from the temple permanently.

For the Healer Class, it even included healing Skills, enough to make your eyes spin.

And since it was managed separately from the total contribution reflected in the Quest, there was no burden.

● Sword of Sacred Light (Legendary): 140,000

The problem was the price of that Equipment, the holy relic the old priest had mentioned.

“140,000 is a lot, right?”

“Ho ho, of course. But I believe a Hero like you is more than capable of such a feat.”

“……”

I was trying to get a holy relic so I could earn contribution faster, and he was telling me to earn contribution first so I could buy it.

As I stood there looking deflated, the priest subtly gave me a hint.

“There is another way.”

“Oh!”

“It may be dangerous. And there is no certainty.”

It smelled like a Quest.

Possibly a Hidden Quest.

“It doesn’t matter. That is the path of the Lucky Hero, the one who carries out the Goddess’s will.”

“…I have been rude before you, Hero. That too is your legacy. The Land of Death holds the legacies of countless people buried within it.”

The priest bowed his head reverently and began to explain.

“They all belonged to those who tried to purify the Land of Death. Among them are the belongings of a former Hero, as well as those who perished while fighting demons with holy relics in their possession.”

“You don’t mean they died in there with the holy relics?”

“Yes. According to the stories, they were sealed somewhere within the Land of Death by the demons. If you were to retrieve them, they would be a great help in suppressing the undead.”

My eyes gleamed.

To think an item on the level of a holy relic, one that required 140,000 contribution to obtain, was just rolling around somewhere in there.

The word ‘sealed’ suggested it probably wasn’t simply buried in the dirt. I also worried about how I was supposed to find it in that vast land full of more than 100,000 undead, but still.

“Should I try finding it?”

“…It is only a legend. A recorded legend, and its existence is certain. But if it is the new Lucky Hero… if the Goddess’s blessing is truly with you, then I feel you may really be able to find it. Ho ho.”

[Sub Quest]
[The Sealed Holy Relic]
● Grade: Legendary (Hidden)
● The people who once tried to purify the Land of Death. Among them, a holy relic was sealed somewhere within the Land of Death after a fierce battle against the demons. Let us find the holy relic hidden somewhere in the Land of Death, one that would greatly aid in defeating the undead and demons.
● Reward: 500 Temple Contribution Level, Holy Relic Engraving

Han Youngwoong had the game system.

It wasn’t certain, but I had hope.

After accepting the Quest, I looked around.

Especially at the ground.

As the Quest settled in, a Golden Light arrow appeared.

“That’s it!”

“……?”

“I will find it for sure. My holy relic, no, the Goddess’s holy relic!”

Just as expected, in a game, you really do have to search every last nook and cranny.

I left only after also collecting the daily supplies provided by Hanimo Temple.

===

The auction deadline for the Heroic-grade Class-exclusive Weapon Box was approaching.

A very generous 72 hours.

The price had stayed at 20 Gold until the final day, so there hadn’t been much tension.

But once again, on the last day, with only one hour left, things started to change.

》It went up to 25 Gold.
》EasyLife, it’s an emeerrrrgency!
》He raised it by 5 million won all at once?
》Is a Heroic-grade weapon really worth that much?
》It’s insanely hard to get, lol.

In other games, if there were still three grades above Heroic, people would usually treat it as nothing more than a passing grade.

But Fantasia was a little different.

It had only been a little over two weeks since the game opened, yet no one had seen even a glimpse of Legendary-grade or Mythical-grade items.

》You can use a Heroic-grade one for at least another month.
》Going by the game’s lore, you need to be famous across the continent to even get a Legendary-grade item, and Mythical is for people recorded in history. Heroic already feels like endgame.

Just by looking at the Exchange, plenty of users were listing items, but even Rare-grade Items for Sale were scarce, let alone Heroic-grade ones.

A selection box that let you choose a weapon suited to your Class?

For a Class with no Items for Sale, you could practically name your price.

That was why he couldn’t help but feel furious as the price climbed.

“I’m definitely not losing it this time.”

EasyLife’s resolve and his bid.

He concealed how much Gold he was holding and kept raising it by 1 Gold at a time.

But his opponent seemed intent on showing off and immediately pushed it up to 30 Gold.

》Whoa!
》As expected of EasyLife. He cuts it off in clean 5 Gold chunks so the small fry can’t even think about jumping in.
》This is how you spend money.
》Guys, get a grip. EasyLife is the one nickel-and-diming it with 1 Gold.

“……”

The anonymous opponent was copying the exact behavior EasyLife had always shown, spending money boldly.

His brow furrowed.

It wasn’t because increasing it by 10 million won burdened him, or because he lacked the money.

It was because splurging money like that was not a wise thing to do.

He simply felt resistance to the price soaring higher than what he had been willing to pay.

But by now, he was already too deep to back out.

“So you really want to do this?”

He already had a picture in mind.

An Item for Sale that had steadied his wavering resolve.

He raised the bid to 35 Gold, then immediately moved to the currency exchange tab and swept up every bit of Gold listed there.

》?
》Wow!
》lolol what’s with that control over the currency exchange?
》Hey, did the price of Gold just shoot past 2 million won?
》Huh? Last time I checked, it had dropped to 1.95.
》Yesterday and today, some anonymous person kept sweeping it all up lol. That invisible hand is sweeping it up again right now too.

This kind of bidding war was fun to watch, but it never lasted long.

When the competition got excessive and the gap in price kept growing, one side was bound to come to its senses.

“Ha!”

Usually, EasyLife’s opponent was the one who did.

A Gold millionaire.

It was not easy to match EasyLife in terms of money, considering he had achieved financial freedom at a young age.

But in Fantasia, the situation was a little different.

“I don’t have any Gold.”

He had no Gold in his possession.

Even if he bought up every bit of Gold available for exchange right now, he still couldn’t match the current bid of over 50 Gold.

[This item has been sold.]

In the end, the auction closed, and all EasyLife could do was stare blankly at the now-vanished Heroic-grade Class-exclusive Weapon Box as his 50 Gold was returned to him for nothing.

》You saved 50 Gold.
》Who’s the winner that bought the Weapon Box?
》What winner? The real winner is the one who sold it for 50 Gold.
》Ah! I’m so jealous of that 100 million won.

The chat messages did not register in his eyes at all.

“Buying a Heroic-grade greatsword for 50 Gold. Please list it immediately.”

All he could do was make a desperate plea.