The Novel's Extra

Chapter 393: Side Story, Dream Flower (16)

"What should I do..."

Looking at the Spirit Stone, I contemplated.

Why the hell was this stone so big? This couldn't even pass off as a joke. It was literally the size of a moon, making its weight overwhelming and difficult to deal with.

I couldn't throw it away, either.

"What's wrong with my current luck?"

Luck was an element that always gave 'unconditional gains.' It was called luck only when there was no cost.

Of course, thanks to this, the Spirit Stone's specs itself had improved considerably, but its portability suffered far too much in return.

I definitely triggered the 'accumulation of fortune.'

Mmp- Mmb-

A strange noise kept interrupting me while I was thinking.

MMMB—

"Gosh, so noisy."

I looked behind me.

Like caterpillars, the battle's survivors wriggled, their limbs tied and their eyes and mouths covered. There were nine of them.

Mmb-Mmmp-!

I didn't really want to make a confirmation kill.

To be honest, the old man's tears touched my heart a little bit. If possible, I wanted to detain him here and summon the Hero Association to bring him to justice.

"If you don't want to die, stay still."

They grew quiet.

The old man who had just cried out, 'Even if I die, I won't tell you anything about our Lord, so just kill me—!' just lay quietly.

In the end, no human wasn't afraid of death.

I shifted my gaze to the Spirit Stone again.

[Spirit Stone] [Legendary] [Special]

— A stone that has accumulated the power of spirits. Over the course of 24 hours, its spirit power that has been consumed will be fully recharged.

「Charge: 10,000/10,000」

"... Hmm."

While looking at the item information, an idea suddenly came to mind.

I gazed down at my hand infused with [Young Dwarf's Dexterity],

What would happen if I cut the Spirit Stone? Wouldn't sculpting it with the mana of Stigma and Dexterity bring good results? Perhaps that was why luck made it this big in the first place...

"Will it work?"

However, its spirit bothered me. Even if I were to improve its transferability, I would be back at square one if that meant reducing its volume.

"Then, just a bit..."

I radiated the mana of the Stigma like a carving knife.

After cutting a tiny piece of the Spirit Stone, I checked the item information.

[Spirit Stone Fragment] [Artifact] [Special]

—A stone fragment that has accumulated the power of spirits. Over the course of 36 hours, its spirit power that has been consumed will be fully recharged.

「Charge: 50/50」

Fifty wasn't bad.

I started sculpting the Spirit Stone.

Scratch, scratch, scratch... As I chiseled slowly from the edges, the fragments of the Spirit Stone fluttered onto the ground until a beautiful peak appeared above the long stem I had created.

The Spirit Stone, now the size of my palm, had been transformed into a blue rose.

[Spirit Stone Flower] [Legendary] [Special]

— A stone that has accumulated the power of spirits. Manufactured by a dwarf, its power has been amplified, and it has been imbued with the mana of Stigma. Over the course of 18 hours, its spirit power that has been consumed will be fully recharged.

「Charge: 100/100」

「Lower Attribute Harmony」

The result was a jackpot.

* * *

[First Hall — 'Theory Learning']

The room buzzed. That was a bit difficult to understand.

Did they come here by force and wits, only to learn about theories?

"What? What is that? Learning? What kind of bullshit is that?"

Ignoring Chae Nayun chattering beside her, Yoo Yeonha thought calmly.

"Shit, wait a minute. There's no way it ordered us to come all the way here to study, right?"

The Hall hadn't yet released a detailed explanation. But whatever the exam was, it wouldn't go against the meaning of the words Theory Learning.

"Are you kidding me? What is this? Did it go nuts?"

Yoo Yeonha wasn't worried. The Essence of the Strait had two brains functioning for them anyway, both of which competed for first and second place in the theory at Cube. She didn't anticipate this situation, but she chose them to plan the meeting strategy.

"Sigh... there's nothing we can do."

Chae Nayun began to think, her calmness touching Yoo Yeonha's nerves.

Normally, she would stop talking after screaming and blabbering dozens and hundreds of times, but now she was even taking notes with the smartwatch.

"First, Hall Theory Learning."

She tapped on the holographic keyboard while reading aloud.

Yoo Yeonha looked at her, clearly startled.

It was the most shocking scene she had witnessed in the past three years...

"... Since this is based on theories, I might have a chance."

Meanwhile, Rachel, despite being alone, was burning with confidence. She was ranked number one in Cube theory, making Fermin look savage compared to her.

Hall added an ambiguous explanation.

[From now on, we will give you questions to explore the Hall, which you'll have to solve. The search for truth is part of a hero's calling.]

[We will also assign a dedicated laboratory to each guild, the size and facilities of which will vary according to shared values. Fret not, for it can be upgraded by consuming public values.]

[And here, cooperation is free. However, please make a 'party' through the smartwatch first.]

Beep- Beep- Beep-

Simultaneously, the smartwatch alarms rang.

「Welcome, Rachel. 」

「Status of the British Royal Guild」

「Public ranking — 19th place」

「Party - X」

「Accommodation level — 9」

「Laboratory level - 9」

What was this now?

She tried to take a closer look, but the Hall presented a problem before she could.

[This is the first question.]

[Q.l]

— 'British Dungeon' in London, 'Ruby Dungeon' in Seoul, and 'Perishmare' in America. A dungeon in the Hall is very closely related to those three mentioned above. Calculate its internal structure, mana concentration, and spawnable monsters.

[Through this, you'll discover if the dungeon's occurrence is truly random or if it is a measurable phenomenon.]

Rachel's expression hardened.

This problem required the four dungeons to be a part of the formula. It was almost impossible to solve alone.

[Then, please enjoy the rest of your time. Our next meeting will start in 96 hours.]

The texts disappeared.

One by one, people got up and started talking to each other.

The Essence of the Strait and the Creator's Sacred Grace being popular was as expected, but France's La guild-Lumiere and China's "Chinese Empire" also promoted friendship.

France and England were on bad terms, which concerned her.

“…”

Rachel was alone on an isolated island. No one spoke to her or even glanced at her. The title of first place in Cube theory was useless.

Eventually, she got up and approached another guild.

But meeting her eyes was enough to make them avoid her. No, many of them pretended they didn't even see her at all.

The members of the royal family held back tears as they watched her.

"Vice-captain Rachel?"

Fortunately, Sehit of Reisleufer approached her. Rachel greeted him warmly.

"Yes. Nice to see you again."

"Haha, yes. Do you have any idea how to solve this problem, Vice-captain? I can't figure it out at all."

"Questions revolving around 'dungeon similarities' like this are popular in academia these days. A new dungeon with a structure reminiscent of an existing dungeon appears a few times a year, and many attempts to identify the relationships between them have been made."

"Whoa... as expected, you're impressive."

"Not at all. I still don't know anything. I didn't even think the Ruby and British dungeons were remotely related to each other..."

Amid their conversation, Geum Soon Yeohoon walked over to them. Rachel could already tell he was from the Chinese guild, judging by his outfit. They had matching uniforms, after all.

"Hello, Vice-captain Rachel."

His face resembled that of a rat. Giving her a once-over, he displayed a sly smile. Despite his undermining gaze, however, she treated him with courtesy.

"Hello. How are you?"

"Huhu. That's right, our Geum Soon Yeohoon is also—"

"We need to leave now, Vice-captain."

Unable to stand it any longer, Fermin and the other British Royal Guild members came running. Pulling her hand, Fermin spoke to Sehit.

"Let's go to the lab the Hall assigned to us. You two can talk there."

* * *

Rachel and her subordinates entered the British Royal Guild Lab with Sehit and Reisleufer.

"Um... Why don't we first... sit down...?"

She guided her guests awkwardly.

Their lab's interior was too shabby. It had creaking wooden tiles, a broken chair, a dusty desk, and cobwebs all over.

But they couldn't do anything about it since all guilds were assigned a lab according to their public rank. They were clearly at the bottom of the list without Xtra's points.

"I'm sorry. It's too run down. We weren't aware our lab would be like this..."

"No, it's fine."

Sehit sat down expressionlessly, but the other Reisleufer members seemed quite disappointed.

Fermin stepped forward.

"I've gathered information about the British, Ruby, and Perishmare Dungeons here."

Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!

There were a total of 900 pages. Rachel's shoulders trembled as the pile of papers landed.

Feeling the same way, the royal family and members of the Reisleufers muttered among themselves blankly.

"How are we supposed to present this...?"

"What? Do we have to make a presentation too?"

"This is too much. Even Cube wasn't like this."

"I mean, why are we doing this..."

However, this was a necessary skill for a hero.

Analysts made most of the predictions and hypotheses regarding modern dungeons, but what they could determine externally wouldn't always be accurate. Paired with the dungeons' constantly changing situations, recalculating and readjusting from within them had become a common necessity.

Cautiously, Rachel asked, "Are you planning on creating a party with us, Sir Sehit?"

"Of course. You're one of the greatest theory geniuses in Cube. On the contrary, we should be asking you for that honor."

It seemed like he was the only one who thought that way, but she nodded and held out her hand anyway. Smiling, he shook it gently.

[A party between 'British Royal Guild' and 'Reisleufer' has been formed.]

An alliance between Rachel and Sehit.

British Royal Guild members grinned. Reisleufer as a whole seemed dissatisfied, but they followed their leader's will.

"I'll go look for other useful intel, then." Fermin nodded and walked out of the lab.

"... I'm glad we have Reisleufer, at least. I thought we would be bullied."

She walked down the corridor humming. Heading to the Store, which also sold information, she remembered what happened last night.

— I mean, Rachel is suffering enough. She probably remembers your face, who you are, and the precious people you lost here.

— Still, Rachel's been suffering for 20 years. She's lived her whole life in despair and solitude. That should be enough to warrant your forgiveness.

— I want the princess to live happily ever after. So I can't leave you like this.

Who the hell was Xtra to say that? Did he really have that deep of a connection with the princess?

Or was he just a fan who stalked her and read everything about her on the Internet?

Rachel told herself to forget that day's conversation, but her curiosity made that difficult.

"... I guess he's a stalker and a fan?" She mumbled, then stopped in her tracks with a hardened expression. It was faint but ominous, gloomy, and resentful mana gripped around her ankles.

With a gulp, Fermin looked around the hallway. She couldn't feel any movement, but she had felt this faint yet evident reverberation against her skin before.

Lancaster was here.

* * *

[Spirit Stone Necklace]

— A stone that has accumulated the power of spirits. Manufactured by a dwarf, its power has been amplified, and it has been imbued with the mana of Stigma. Over the course of 12 hours, its spirit power that has been consumed will be fully recharged.

「Charge: 1,000/1,000」

「Intermediate Attribute Amplification」

「Intermediate Attribute Protection」

[Spirit Stone Protection Band]

「Charge: 1,200/1,200」

「Intermediate and Advanced Attribute Harmony」

「Intermediate Spirit Fighter」

"Finally."

I consumed all of Stigma's mana, but I successfully created accessories and equipment out of the Spirit Stone. Nevertheless, it still had more than 80% of it.

"Gosh, I'm so tired..."

I could cover my entire body with Spirit Stones, but I was certain I wouldn't be able to use it all.

Still, if I held on for a week or so, I might be able to get rid of it.

"Ugh."

Beep— Be-beep— Beeeep— Beep-

While massaging my throbbing temples, my smartwatch started ringing. It was almost as if it transmitted Morse code.

[Marcus: What the hell is up with this? This theory hurts my head. I can't even interpret three pages of it.]

[Kyle: You still can't do that despite going to Cube?]

[Marcus: Ahem. I used more brawn than brain in there. I'll just go out and accumulate public points, Vice-captain.]

[Rachel: That wouldn't be a bad move either. Thank you.]

[Marcus: You heard the lady! Everyone with a weak brain like me, get out.]

I was invited to the guild group chat room without realizing it.

"What is this?"

Besides this, I also noticed a message sent to me by the Hall. I was so focused on the Spirit Stone fragment that I didn't even notice the watch's notification.

[First Hall — 'Theory Learning']

[Q.l]

"Theory Learning?"

I hadn't entered the Hall, so I didn't know what was happening in it. Regardless, I was confident about this topic.

"Hmm."

I searched 'British Dungeon,' 'Ruby Dungeon', and 'Perishmare' through the settings, reading all information relevant to them.

"Is it really that hard of a question?"

I just had to identify the connection between those three to calculate the unknown dungeon's structure, mana concentration, and monsters.

Borrowing the power of Authority, I began working on it.

... After a while, I was left astonished.

It took me three minutes to answer just this one question.

It was the first time I dealt with such a hard question in nearly five years.