Ch.384Starlight-Laden Past. Meteor Crater (1)

“Welcome to the Meteor Crater.”

With those words, all the humans standing before the Sun bowed their heads and knelt down.

“Praise the existence of the Sun. We all shall walk upon His world…”

Reverence.

A feeling that combines fear and worship.

That emotion flowed into Viktor without any filter.

The response was much more… religious than in other countries, which momentarily confused Viktor, but soon recognizing the unique characteristics of this region, he simply nodded silently.

Cold and dark.

In that deep, deep crater where even small torches become target markers, if one were buried there for years, even an atheist would become a sun fanatic after about a year. It was a kind of faith born of necessity.

“I have come to this land. To the land of those who seek light in darkness. To the pit of scholars who dig the past from the present. Speak, my subjects. Have you found your light in this crater?”

“Some have found it, some are still searching, and some have been forgotten forever.”

“Why does my light not reach inside? The light of noon should penetrate even the deepest shadows.”

“That is… because underground gases and vapors have formed a massive toxic cloud. Despite deploying numerous ventilation fans, it’s an… impenetrable cloud that cannot be dispersed.”

“A cloud, you say. Then it cannot be helped.”

Despite his grand title as the master of light and heat, ironically, Viktor’s power was blocked by something as simple as a cloud.

This was because he was subject to the grand cycle—warming the earth and sea, causing water to evaporate and form clouds, which in turn created storms and typhoons that swept through villages.

In this respect, the Four Great Gods were actually superior. They could exercise supernatural powers to split clouds and crush typhoons.

Though most powerful, the Sun, whose power was bound by the world’s interconnectedness, could not penetrate the darkness of this pit.

“I shall descend below with my companions. My loyal honor guard will stand by. I give you one week’s time. Order all explorers to return. None shall interfere with my party.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I will send messengers immediately.”

They called it a pit, but in truth, this crater was large enough to contain an entire city, and it would actually take slightly more than a week for messengers to deliver orders to all parties.

But since this wasn’t some arbitrary power play by those with ulterior motives, nothing serious would happen if people didn’t strictly follow the order.

After all, they were being asked to leave for their own safety. Whatever happened inside would be their own responsibility. That’s what being an adventurer means.

Archaeologists might not be adventurers, but if adventurers were nearby, they would drag them out forcibly, and those who refused would be prepared to die, so there was no need for sympathy. Solo archaeologists who came down alone were crazy anyway, so they were exceptions. And those who refused the evacuation order could be treated as potential traitors, so there wouldn’t be any problems.

*

Click. Swoosh…

“How is it?”

“Hmm… tight and constricting. Is this really the best protective suit available?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Then I suppose there’s no choice.”

The quality of the “best” protective suit was, to put it kindly, crude, and to put it unkindly, absolute shit.

This cheap-looking protective suit, which seemed like a diving suit with all sorts of mechanical devices and armor plates haphazardly attached to it, was supposedly the highest quality available?

What kind of battles have the adventurers and archaeologists of Meteor Crater been fighting…

“Then can you show me the cheapest one as well?”

“Ah. Just a moment, please.”

The merchant who brought the protective suit returned after about two minutes with what looked like a human-shaped piece of aluminum foil.

“That’s just aluminum foil.”

“Oh no, it’s not. It has similar durability to aluminum foil, but it’s not aluminum foil. It’s a fabric called wearable foil.”

“Isn’t that just aluminum foil?”

“Anyway, it shields you from the external environment, so it is indeed a protective suit.”

“Huh…”

That was technically true.

The concept of a protective suit was clothing designed to help you withstand the environment, not clothing designed to withstand attacks from enemies.

“…Then bring me the most commonly used protective suit.”

“Understood.”

After another three minutes or so, this time a somewhat decent-looking protective suit appeared.

It had supports for attaching additional armor plates, full-body clothing made of seemingly tough fabric, and air filtration and breathing recycling machines split between the abdomen and back—heavy and crude, but their operation seemed reliably guaranteed.

“Is this the best-selling protective suit?”

“Yes. The price is just 140 silver coins.”

“140 silver coins, huh.”

While this would be an exorbitant price for an ordinary person, it was an amount that adventurers—a high-income profession that didn’t even pay taxes—could afford to invest in. Besides, there was always the option to rent rather than buy a protective suit, so the price wasn’t too burdensome.

Viktor briefly reflected on the sensation of the protective suit constricting his joints, then asked how much the suit he was wearing cost.

“The item you’re wearing costs 3 gold coins. Naturally, it’s the highest performance item.”

“3 gold coins.”

One hundred copper coins make one silver coin. One thousand silver coins make one gold coin.

That means this protective suit is worth at least 3,000 silver coins.

Either business was slow, or protective suits had clear performance limitations. He explained that within the realm of protective suits, this was almost the highest quality available.

Going any further would require applying a power-assist structure to the protective suit, making it more of an “enhancement” suit than a “protective” suit.

For Viktor and the Lyshas who had reached divine levels, and for the dwarves who were Aura users, enhancement suits were unnecessary. So for now, they would make do with these uncomfortable protective suits.

Common folk might not like hearing this, but isn’t it good to directly experience the perspective of the subjects who crawl on the ground?

“Damn it! The crotch is too tight!”

“Don’t complain too much, brother. If they made it loose, you’d complain it feels like your balls are sagging.”

“Argh…! This is why things made by humans are never quite right!”

There were protective suits for dwarves, but since they were actually made by humans, they ended up being oddly proportioned—just human male suits with shortened lengths.

Given that protective suits lose performance once damaged, they couldn’t be casually altered, and above all, the dwarf brothers were mechanical engineering experts, not professional tailors, so they had no choice but to endure the tight crotch with their Aura.

“Berkman. Haukman. How is it? Can you manage with those?”

“Well… it hurts with every step, but we’ll tough it out. That’s what Aura is for, right?”

It didn’t seem like Aura existed specifically to make tight crotches comfortable, but considering humans would eat starch toothpicks by boiling them into jajangmyeon or frying them into tempura, Viktor wasn’t one to judge, so he simply nodded silently.

“Alright. Now let’s wait. It’ll take some time for everyone to evacuate.”

*

Ten days (a week in this world is ten days) passed quickly.

Perhaps because their taste buds had normalized after the previous banquet, the restaurants in this Meteor Crater boasted excellent flavors, especially the local specialty of stir-fried vegetables and meat marinated in sweet and spicy sauce.

According to the explanation, moving vigorously in the confining protective suits inevitably consumed a lot of energy, and after eating convenient, quick meals for long periods, adventurers naturally came to prefer strongly flavored foods, which is why the overall cuisine had evolved to be salty and spicy.

Thanks to this, the Iron Walker party had the valuable experience of feeling bloated despite eating vegetables, and they downed a special cola said to clear blocked digestive systems. The carbonation was so strong that even Viktor, a god, couldn’t handle the first sip and spat it out.

In the end, he only managed two sips on the first day. Nevertheless, it showed the strange effect of clearing his previously blocked system, and later he learned that it was made using magic to maximize the carbonation content.

And on the momentous tenth day.

The last party came up on the elevator, and the final search team also reported that there were no more traces of humans to be found.

All that remained was to descend.

“Well then, let’s go down.”

“Sounds good.”

And so, Iron Walker set out on an adventure for the first time in a very long while.