* * *
Lee Sungmin looked down at the key in his palm.
It was uncanny. In the first place, the stone of past lives was something that made zero sense, but this completely transcended common sense for Lee Sungmin. He wanted to find out immediately what it was exactly.
In order to get it appraised, he would have to visit a city and find someone with a master appraisal skill to find out the details of the key.
First of all, I should call Neville.’
Of course, Lee Sungmin, a member of Erebrisa, didn’t have to bother going into a city to look for someone to appraise it, and could simply get it appraised himself through Neville at any time or place.
Lee Sungmin was about to call for Neville at that moment, but at that moment, some people emerged from the forestry and came down from the hill toward Lee Sungmin.
Lee Sungmin put on his mask and put off calling Neville for now. First of all, it was important to get out of his current position.
Coming up towards him, they looked like mercenaries with high grades, but they were still a little below the Peak Realm.
After glancing at them, Lee Sungmin closed his eyes and left in a blur with the Dark Storm Arts. For them, they were lucky enough to find the whereabouts of a dungeon, but had it taken and even cleared in the brief span of an hour or so.
Lee Sungmin, who left the hill, confirmed that no one was around and called on Neville. As always, Neville, who rose from Lee Sungmin’s shadow, bowed his head toward Lee Sungmin in a respectful manner.
[What’s the matter?]
“I’d like to ask for a request.”
Lee Sungmin lifted the key in his hand. Neville tilted his head at the golden key, glimmering in Lee Sungmin’s hands.
“The key…Where did you get it from?”
“I got it from a dungeon.”
“Is that so? Can I take a look at it first?”
Neville asked politely. Since Lee Sungmin could not split apart and crack space like Neville and the other mysterious brokers of Erebrisa, he had to go through Neville when delivering goods in this way.
Neville slowly reached out and tried to grab the key in Lee Sungmin’s hand. The moment his fingertips were about to pick up the key in Lee Sungmin’s hands, a large series of sparks suddenly thundered about in Lee Sungmin’s palms.
Crackle-
As the current of sparks and energy splashed about and thrashed violently from the key, Neville’s hand was pushed back in surprise.
[Huh?!]
Neville uttered a perplexed sound. Unable to touch the key, he alternated his gaze between his hand and the key that bounced off.
Lee Sungmin also hadn’t expected this sudden reaction and his eyes had widened as he stared at Neville and the key.
[……Wait a minute.]
Neville reached for the key again. However, the results did not change in the slightest.
As soon as he reached forward for the key, the sparks flew up in the air around him once more, and he was forced to step back in surprise.
[Maybe…… I think this key is bound to you.]
“Like an inheritance of sorts…?”
[Yes, something like it, but it’s a bit different. There are items like this. No wait, it’s basically an item bound with powerful magic, so it’s called an artifact. Most of these kinds of items are under a curse. It’s impossible for me to take it as long as it’s bound to Lee Sungmin.]
“Well….”
Lee Sungmin was also lost in thought, frowning at Neville’s words. He didn’t even know what the key was, but he felt a bit nervous about it, knowing it was a cursed artifact and that it was only bound to him.
“Is there no way to appraise it?”
[Go to the appraisal center of a nearby city and ask for the appraisal of the artifact. Either that, or we can introduce you to a competent one.]
“Please introduce me to one.”
[Okay.]
Neville answered briefly and immediately disappeared. And in less than an hour, Neville reappeared.
[There is an appraiser named Prod in Behenger, the nearest city here. He’s not a member of our team, but when I asked him about the information, he said he’s the best among the closest appraisers nearby.]
Behenger was not far from his location. At the speed of Lee Sungmin’s movements, he would arrive before the night was over.
It wasn’t too late yet, so he thought he might be able to ask for an appraisal appointment before the night was over if he hurried.
Hearing from Neville about the location of the appraiser named, ‘Prod’, Lee Sungmin distorted the space and created a slip in the air as he shot through the space with tendrils of black lightning surrounding himself.
Thanks to his speed, Lee Sungmin was able to travel to Behenger before nightfall.
Bechenger, which he had not been to in almost 10 years, had many changes compared to when he had left, but Lee Sungmin, who lived in the city until he was this age in his previous life, was rather pleased with Behenger now.
It wasn’t too late yet. Lee Sungmin headed to Prod’s location as he had heard from Neville.
The location was not too far from Behenger’s square, and fortunately the door was not closed.
“Welcome….”
Lee Sungmin opened the door and went in. Prod was a middle-aged man with thick glasses and thin wrinkles.
He couldn’t finish his greeting because he was startled by Lee Sungmin’s appearance, which had entered his shop wearing a big straw hat and a hideous ghost mask.
Prod soon cleared his expression and asked a question.
“Are you a customer?”
“Yes.”
Prod appeared relieved at Lee Sungmin’s answer. Lee Sungmin didn’t say much and approached Prod. He put a heavy key on the table in front of Prod.
“A…Key…?”
“It’s a key from a dungeon, but I don’t know what it’s for.”
“A dungeon…… I see.”
Even with Lee Sungmin’s brusque and shocking words of the item being from a dungeon, Prod was not flustered or shocked. This is because most of the guests who visited his shop for his services in the first place were those who got artifacts from old ruins, dungeons, adventures and expeditions into the unknown.
“It was said to be cursed and bound to me.”
“It’s a bound artifact…?”
When Prod heard Lee Sungmin’s intriguing words, he carefully reached for the key.
Crackle-
As soon as the key touched Prod’s hand, the current of sparks materialized again and bounced Prod’s hand back.
“Hm… it seems magic is blocking the contact itself with anyone other than yourself, the bound owner.”
“Can you appraise it still?”
“I’ll give it a shot.”
With that being said, Prod began to prepare his tools. Lee Sungmin thought it would be simply simple magic, but Prod started to take out various tools, listed items from drawers, and lifted them up and piled them next to him in turn to start looking at the key.
In the process, he clapped his lips and recited a spell in a small voice.
Gasp-
While continuing his spell, Prod gasped suddenly. He hurriedly stopped reciting his spell and took a few steps back. Lee Sungmin, who was watching Prod, tilted his head and asked a question.
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s…… impossible to appraise.”
Prod turned pale and wiped the cold sweat, trickling down his forehead with his hand. He gulped down and continued with a trembling voice.
“If you go to another appraiser, they’ll say the same thing as me. This key is… appraising it is impossible.”
“What the hell do you mean?”
“The key itself has an exceedingly complicated magic. If anybody tries to force themself to appraise it, they’ll die of the powerful magic bound to the key.”Lee Sungmin’s eyebrows wriggled at the words. He asked again while looking at the key on the table.
“Then why don’t we release the magic itself?”
“I don’t think that’s going to be easy either. I’m a wizard, too, but the magic on that key…… regardless of the standards of Arch-Mages or Grand Wizards or Sorcerers even, it’s a very difficult and ancient magic. The magic itself is completely different from modern magic. Unless the person, you know, is an expert in ancient magic, they won’t even be able to begin to comprehend the magic bound to that key.”
“Ancient Magic?”
“It’s an old magic that is long gone from this world. I’m sorry, sir. I’m not going to accept the money because I’ve failed my appraisal, so please ask another appraiser or wizard that might be able to somehow appraise this key.”
In the end, Lee Sungmin had no choice but to pick up the key again and leave the shop.
Lee Sungmin glanced down suspiciously at the key on his palm.
The stone of the previous lives had transformed into the key, and this key was bound to him.
In addition, it was protected by an ancient magic that had been long lost from the continent, making it impossible to even attempt and appraise it. There were more than just one or two suspicious things.
[Ancient magic…….]
Neville, who repeated the words again, was lost in thought for a moment about Lee Sungmin’s findings.
He did not hide his appearance, though Lee Sungmin called him out in a city, but answered Lee Sungmin’s question after a little thought.
[The most knowledgeable person about ancient magic is Xaos, the owner of the Blue Magic Tower.]
The Blue Tower Master. Lee Sungmin had, funnily enough, had some interest in this person for a bit, as the last time Lee Sungmin had asked Neville for help from a Wizard to process the Dragon’s Heart, Xaos, the Blue Tower Master, had asked to purchase the heart.
“Where is he located?”
[Xaos is located in Audun, where the Blue Magic Tower is located. Unless it’s a special case, the owners of the towers don’t leave their respective towers.]
Audun was a long distance from Behenger. Fortunately, however, the place where Lee Sungmin had to go was in the direction of Audun.
It was because Hadras, the city where the Sama Order Headquarters was located, was in the direction of Audun.
[You’re getting tangled up in something you didn’t even care about in the first place.]
There was a murmur from Heoju in Lee Sungmin’s shared conscience. Lee Sungmin had not cared too much about the stone of past lives in the first place, since he didn’t expect it to have anything of interest to him right now, since he didn’t believe it could be used again.Lee Sungmin tried to put the key into his spatial pocket, but the key refused to go in, as the sparks, seemingly from the ancient magic, forbid it from being stored in the spatial pocket.
In the end, Lee Sungmin was forced to grumble and put the key on his person.
[Don’t lose it though.]
‘I don’t even know what it’s for.’
[Keys are obviously used to open things though.]
‘I know that. It’s just I don’t know what it’s supposed to open.’
[It must be a door.]
Heoju answered with a flimsy response.
[Though yes, I don’t know what sort of door it would be used to open.]
Thinking about it didn’t make things any better since he couldn’t come up with any answers in the meantime. It was better now, though, since he had a sense of direction once more. He would head towards Haras, where the Sama Order was located, and stop by Audun along the way.
‘I’ve come all the way back here.….’
Behenger and Genavis were not too far apart by distance. He thought he may come back here someday, but he never knew when that would be.
Lee Sungmin turned his head and stared beyond the outskirts of Behenger and saw the City of Genavis in the distance.
Genavis.
The city where all transmigrators were summoned to, regardless of their world, timelines and dimensions.
He had met Wijihoyeon in that city, and had met many others in that city who had helped him.
‘I remember I promised to repay their favor one day.’
Lee Sungmin recalled Jack, the owner of the inn, and Hans, a street vendor, who treated him favorably at Genavis.
Lula, Jack’s daughter. They had all shown him great favor, though it was likely due to the aura of favorability he had gained from his reincarnation that a mysterious God had bestowed on him randomly.
However, it wasn’t like that goodwill wasn’t repaid in favor from Lee Sungmin. He had hunted, done requests for them, chatted, got to know them, and they had even looked out for him despite being a no-class in a city where it was dangerous to be known as one.
Of course, not that being a no-class would have killed him on the spot, but they had hidden his identity as one when there was a hunter aiming for no-classes.
‘Let’s say just say hello and leave after.’
He didn’t mean to go to Genavis unannounced in the middle of the night and say hello to them.
After a night at an inn in Behenger, early in the morning. Lee Sungmin left the inn to head toward Genavis.
Ten years ago, it would have taken two days to traverse the distance from Genavis to Behenger, but for Lee Sungmin now, it barely took about thirty minutes at most.
Arriving at Genavis, Lee Sungmin was the first to enter the square in the morning where street vendors regularly gathered. It was to find Hans. Lee Sungmin relied on his memory to go to the place where Hans always set up his stall.
‘Ah, there.’
It really had been more than ten years. Hans was now a middle-aged man with some gray hair now.
Hans spread out his mat and sat quietly, lining it up with miscellaneous items.
Lee Sungmin grinned as he stood behind Hans’ back. He took off his straw hat and mask, and stood behind Hans.
“How’s the business going?”
“Huh?”
Hans lifted his head to the voice he had heard behind his back.
There were more white hairs than Lee Sungmin thought, but there were even more wrinkles on Hans’ face. He looked up at Lee Sungmin and blinked repeatedly, tilting his head.
“……Who are you?”
Hans did not recognize Lee Sungmin. It was understandable. More than a decade had passed, and Lee Sungmin, who had been barely a teenager at fourteen years old, had become a young man.
After going through several hardships and life-or-death battles, there were rarely any signs of the childish Lee Sungmin to be seen.
Lee Sungmin smirked and put his hand into his current spatial pocket. What Lee Sungmin took out from the spatial pocket was the first subspace pocket he received from Hans.
“Do you remember this?”
“…… uh….”
Hans’ eyes narrowed. He didn’t seem to recognize it. It was inevitable. He had sold plenty of things to plenty of people while he was a street vendor, and he had sold multiple items that he had gradually forgotten over the years. Lee Sungmin spoke while handing out the spatial pocket.
“I was summoned here 13 years ago, and I got a lot of help from you.”
“…… ah.”
At the mention of 13 years ago, Hans’ eyes opened wide. He leapt up with his mouth half open.
“Are you Lee Sungmin?!”
Hans asked in a pleased and excited voice.