Chapter 26: Krong, Sniff

 Since dungeon difficulty was graded, the reward chests followed a similar pattern.  

F-grade was wood, E-grade was bronze, D-grade was iron.  

Usually, the difference was obvious just from their appearance.  

[You have acquired a Treasure Chest.]  

For clearing a D-grade dungeon, we should have gotten an iron chest, but the treasure chest before us seemed to contain more silver than iron.  

This was the kind of chest you’d normally find in a C-grade dungeon, one tier higher.  

A small but pleasant surprise.  

Surely, it’s just silver, not gold—no way they’d paint it to fake that, right?  

“Anyone want to open the chest?”  

Having opened countless treasure chests in labyrinths as part of a hero party, I didn’t feel the need to insist on doing it myself, so I asked around.  

“M-me! I’m super lucky!”  

Maho seemed very interested in treasure.  

The moment I asked, her hand shot up, and she rushed forward eagerly.

I shook my head.  

Anyone watching would think she’d been waiting all day just to open chests.  

‘Huh, maybe she really was?’  

Well, aside from experience, plenty of people dive into dungeons just for rewards, so it wasn’t that strange.  

“Yes! Come on, give me something good—dugudugudugu!”  

Though, I doubted many got as excited as her.  

I subtly stepped back, shrugging as I watched Maho approach the chest, keeping a close eye on her in case she tried anything sneaky.  

—There’s always a price for life.  

Back in my hero party days, many “treasure chests” were actually traps or monsters in disguise.  

Whenever things felt off, the King of Thieves—Dohwang—would personally dismantle the chest.  

In those cases, he’d take the treasure inside first, but this was an exception.  

‘Well, whatever comes out won’t be anything special anyway.’  

Maybe I didn’t need to be so strict—this was like a college club activity, after all.  

Hmm, then again, maybe it was important to set discipline early with newcomers.  

Honestly, I already knew what I’d be taking, but compared to Maho, the others had put in more effort.  

‘Huh? Why so nervous?’  

Sephine stumbled over her words the moment I glanced at her.  

She’d seemed fine earlier, but now she was acting oddly timid.  

Still, today, she’d quickly cast spells and controlled her steel puppet.  

It might not have been obvious with me around, but her puppet had actively helped in defense, and her sword skills weren’t bad either.  

With those ingots, she could probably hunt trolls alone.  

‘An ogre… might be a fair match.’  

Either way, seeing a hardworking newbie grow was always satisfying.  

Given time, she’d keep improving—maybe even slay dragons someday.  

[The goddess frowns and clarifies that not just anyone can do that.]  

‘Our hero party did it, though?’  

[She repeats that not just anyone can become like them.]  

Fair enough.  

Even among the academy’s top faculty, only a few could hold their own against dragons.  

Then again, they were all veterans, so reaching that level was no easy feat.  

As I pondered this, Maho—who’d been muttering what sounded like a luck-boosting chant—suddenly widened her eyes and flung the chest open.  

KWAANG!  

WHOOSH—  

Inside the opened silver-iron chest, a golden glimmer shone.  

“…Huh?”  

“See? I told you I was lucky!”  

It wasn’t just a glimmer—the treasures inside were actual gold.  

‘Wait, why is this here?’  

Unless it was gold-plated, even I—who didn’t know much about dungeons—could tell this was way too much for a D-grade dungeon.  

Was this some cave orc chieftain’s secret stash or something?  

As baffled as I was, I also felt a little happy.  

Even though I was already rich enough to not worry about money, winning the lottery out of nowhere would make anyone happy.  

And it wasn’t just gold—there were also harvested plants inside.  

Bright yellow leaves, green stems, and roots with a human-like face.  

A mandrake.  

A notoriously finicky plant that only grew in places with little sunlight.  

For some reason, you could find them in cave orc habitats about 20-30% of the time.  

‘Still, didn’t expect to get one right away.’  

Getting the plant I wanted so quickly left me both stunned and delighted.  

I felt one corner of my mouth curl up as I clenched my fist.  

Since this weird herb had a screaming face on its roots, its shrieks could stun everyone nearby. And right now, it looked like it was about to open its mouth—  

“…KREEE—!”  

THUD.  

I covered its mouth and immediately punched the root-face.  

“…Ggk.”  

It passed out instantly.  

[The goddess cautiously asks if it’s dead, not asleep.]  

‘Plants die when uprooted, so… whatever.’  

Either way, loot acquired.  

Afterward, our party left the dungeon and fairly divided the gold treasures.  

Since things went so well, the opener deserved credit—so Maho took a large golden helmet and earrings, Sephine took a golden ring and bracelet, and Imir, who kept refusing at first, eventually took a piece of jewelry too.  

The mandrake was enough for me, but the others insisted, so I took a golden belt as a keepsake.  

‘Just the gold in this belt is worth tens of millions… no, considering it’s dungeon treasure, maybe hundreds of millions.’  

If every D-grade dungeon dropped rewards like this, everyone would go insane trying to become hunters.  

This was just a beginner’s luck jackpot.  

Honestly, I was excited, but I tried to temper my enthusiasm.  

[The goddess strokes her chin and asks if you really count as a beginner.]  

Sure, I was a fossilized veteran, but here, I was a rookie.  

A fresh-faced college newbie.  

A true freshman.  

‘Heh, keep nitpicking, and I won’t give you a present.’  

[The goddess gasps and asks if you had a present prepared.]  

The belt I just got, obviously.  

After inspecting it more closely at home, it definitely wasn’t gold-plated.  

I could sell it for good money, but I already had a big apartment and no real needs.  

Since I’d gotten such a nicely crafted treasure, offering it as tribute seemed fitting.  

‘Not many could pull off wearing this belt, but a goddess is different, right?’  

It wasn’t just some random dungeon loot—it suited her.  

Once home, I quickly set up a makeshift altar and placed the golden belt on it.  

Clasping my hands in prayer, I offered the tribute.  

“May your divine blessings remain with us.”  

Sure, she’d complained about the harem party in the other world, but putting together a party as good as the musclehead squad wasn’t easy.  

The North’s strongest barbarian warrior, an all-around dwarf craftsman, an elf prince with sturdy bowstrings and forearms, a cardinal-tier priest, and even the King of Thieves, Dohwang—the so-called God of Scouting and Assassination.  

‘Though, what if the elf prince had been a princess? Or if the white-haired cardinal had been a silver-haired saintess instead…’  

‘Still, I’m truly grateful.’  

As I sincerely expressed my thanks, the belt was engulfed in light and vanished—sent to the goddess’s heavenly realm.  

Being a different dimension, there was some lag, but the dimensional barrier couldn’t completely block the connection between goddess and hero.  

Figuring it should’ve arrived by now, I quietly listened for her reaction—but strangely, she was silent.  

Just as I strained my ears—  

[…Sniff… hic.]  

Hearing sniffling and nose-wiping, I decided not to say anything.  

If she didn’t like it, she’d have said so.  

I wasn’t that oblivious.  

***

Tap. Tap.  

A boy with deep blue hair, passing through an alleyway, let a slip of paper fall before moving on.  

As if in a hurry.  

The moment he knocked on the wall, a pitch-black fissure split open, and a report was retrieved.  

—If it seems harmful to the Church, erase it.  

Recalling the previous order, the boy—no, the one disguised as a boy—stroked his chin expressionlessly and exhaled.  

No matter how he thought about it, that thing wasn’t something to be carelessly erased.  

“At this point, there’s a limit to hiding its abilities.”  

Since he’d written everything in the report, maybe he’d get a proper response this time.  

With that thought, Imir finally began tending to his body, which had gone unnourished all day.  

As energy finally flowed through his stagnant, ordinary-seeming body, a misty aura naturally swirled around him like clouds.  

“…Haah.”  

In that moment, he resembled a Taoist immortal.  

***
Translator’s Notes:

Imir is actually a girl disguised as a guy to get close to Shin Yuseong. Hahaha!!