[The dungeon has been destroyed.]
The operatives continued to stare at me even as the dungeon fell, the stairway into the earth collapsing. They all looked frozen. I did not want to say anything as I had just finished the boss fight and waved at them to stay back. Mick started to say something but checked himself when our eyes met.
“We…will be at the lodge. Please call us when necessary.”
He placed the walkie talkie on the ground with care and slowly stepped back. The other agents followed, and after a certain distance, they all moved quickly away. The Man Who Overcame Adversity was going to wear off in two minutes, and I did not have anyone to take care of my wounds for me this time. I wondered whether Yeonhee got over the side effects of increasing her Perception to E rank. Since ten days had passed, she may be looking for me. Anyway, now was time for me to rest. The camping tent at least had a first-aid kit.
I washed the blood and wrapped bandages on where the flesh had been ripped out. I also changed clothes, and it was then that I laughed. I laughed for a while, glad to be alive and reveling in what I just did. I managed to conquer a dungeon, one I was unfamiliar with, by myself. I would not have attempted this if I had not gotten the Deva King’s Gloves. They had absorbed most of the damage from the boss monster’s magic.
I now had two seconds before the Man Who Overcame Adversity ended, and that meant the pain would start. However, I was satisfied even though an item had broken during the boss fight.
**
I had 96 hours to go before I could use the Man Who Overcame Adversity again. The dungeon boss had an ability to break items, and it was able to break the Ring of Flames. However, I had gotten two Silver Boxes and two Gold Boxes for conquering the dungeon. A Gold Box had given me the Ring of Shadows, which enabled me to use stealth.
I got 61 points for Strongman from the other Gold Box and 20 Stamina points, and 32 Earthquake points from the Silver Boxes. All in all, I was unlucky in my rewards as the points could have been added to better skills and attributes, and not a skill I plan to discard when it was no longer useful, like Earthquake.
**
I could hear the sounds coming from a waterfall somewhere beyond the lush forest I could see in front of me, and I could see the little birds sunning themselves in front of my tent. It was peaceful enough to make me want to bring my parents here, and I could see why the owner said that this mountain was pleasant year round.
I took another glance before calculating the points I had gotten from the dungeon. Adding the 5122 points I got from this dungeon, the total was 8380 now, and I could open 9 Silver Boxes or 3 Gold Boxes. A Platinum Box cost 13,500 points, so I could not open that. Since five of my stats were at E class now, I could not open Bronze boxes anymore since I would be just wasting points.
I decided to open 9 Silver Boxes and hoped that my luck was good.
[You have opened a Silver Box.]
[You have gained 8 Perception points.]
[Perception: E(8)]
It was a good start.
[You have gotten an insignia (Teleportation).]
I remembered that First Evil had used an F class Teleportation Insignia to get away. While his insignia had worked at a twenty-meter radius, mine was a hundred meter radius since it was an E class. I was just disappointed I could use it only once since the maximum was three.
However, I remembered that there had been a teleportation skill that not only moved the user but other things and people in my past life. I wanted that skill, and maybe if I opened another Challenger Box again…
[You have gotten 28 points for Opened Eyes.]
[Opened Eyes: F(28)]
This skill was necessary for every Awakened, as it helped one see through an enemy’s tricks or avoid traps. It was not bad, but I would have wanted other skill points first at my current level.
[You have gained 9 Perception points.]
[Perception: E(17)]
[You have gained 3 Perception points.]
[Perception: E(20)]
I fell deep into thought after getting Perception points from two boxes in a row. It would be advantageous for me to get a stat to a D class, and Perception would be best since that had been my priority stat in my past life. I wondered whether I should open a Gold Box to get Perception points. The max from a gold box was 40, and while the possibility of getting Perception points from four boxes was astronomical, I knew that previous results did not affect what came out of a box. An Awakener saying was that “boxes have no memories.”
I had a good feeling about this, and I thought that with my luck in this life, I could hope for the best. I opened the Gold Box and prayed. The message window opened.
[You have gained 40 Perception points]
[Perception: E(60)]
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
**
[Accumulated Points: 1180]
While I could open another Silver Box, I stopped there as I felt like I had used all my luck. Instead, I walked back to the lodge where the agents were bivouacked. The laughter stopped immediately when they saw me, and I did not need to ask whether they had already reported what they had seen to John Clarke. He would then send me an organized report of what the men saw.
They started to come to me, but I waved them all back except for Mick. He seemed to have learned something from encountering the First Evil, as he was the only one who looked with fear at the dungeon. Even now, Mick seemed scared despite his rugged countenance. I opened my mouth.
“I want a good meal. Can you help me with that?”
I sat on the bench with a slight smile.
“Do you have any preferences?”
“Steak, and a cold Coca-Cola if you have one.”
“Right.”
I looked at the agents’ training as I waited for the food. They had taken their shirts off for PT (Physical Training), and I could see their muscles glisten with sweat while their firearms lay organized in a corner.
I went into the lodge after watching them when the meal was ready. Whether it was mercenaries, or the ROK (Republic of Korea) army, PT was PT. The lodge had electricity and was air-conditioned. The table was far away from the air conditioner, and I motioned Mick to sit across from me. He did so like a military officer who was reporting to his superior.
I spoke indifferently as I cut up the steak.
“I want to appoint you as a board member, Mick. I have the authority to do so.” (EN: Sun is referring to John Clarke’s personal organization tasked with hunting down the First Evil that Sun is funding.)
Mick looked at me with surprise, but he seemed to be trying to understand what was going on. He spoke when I had eaten half of the meal.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Report to me, personally, what John Clarke and other board members are doing. I don’t have a reason to suspect them, as they have done well so far.” Mick could read between the lines…
While John Clarke’s organization was small for now, I could see how it may grow, especially as he had bought that private military firm. Therefore, I wanted Mick to develop this organization to what would be the Awakened Association in the future. As a precaution, I would need to continue to oversee the organization, and it seemed that Mick was a good person to do so on my behalf.