Chapter 777: The Last (10)

“Junior Lee Kiyoung… Aren’t we going to do other updates for the time being?”

“Yes. It would be a good idea to make it a priority to prevent cracks. It makes more sense to start dealing with an unstable system first, after all.”

“But aren’t the adventurers waiting for new dungeons? I brought some dungeons and easter eggs hidden in the continent. Would you like to check it out? First, look at this. It’s one of the legends that have been buried for a long time… The story begins on the land where ancient warriors slept and where the sounds of their swords clashing could be heard every night. The clear reward seems to be helpful to humans… I think it can be activated immediately with a small investment of divinity. It’s a total bargain!”

“…”

“…”

“We don’t need that.”

“It’s important to fill in the narrative page, junior Lee Kiyoung. I don’t know if we’ll get a huge immediate gain, but… the continent where these legends live and breathe… basically, in the faith of humans…”

“Where is the dungeon located?”

“It’s… It’s in an area that humans call Castle Rock.”

“It’s at the State.”

“Yes…”

“The adventurer who will clear it will most likely be a believer of Benignore.”

“No, that may not… be the case. We don’t know that. It’s not because I want to see my believers etch their names in history… It’s definitely not that, you know. We’re already running out of content, and there’s nothing left to do… it won’t be good if this scarcity lasts too long. This won’t help with the continent’s development. At this rate, humans will become increasingly helpless, and soon…”

“Still, no.”

“I’m not saying this for no reason. Do you think I brought this up just to joke around? I seriously think we can get a legendary stone or ore from the rewards… There may even be gems. At the moment, all of the legendary ores have been reduced to ashes…”

‘I have nothing to say.’

I saw Benignore’s face looking at me as if she was saying that it was all my fault. Honestly, I had no reply to that.

“It’s not such a good situation. Humans are developing and healing, but the continent’s resources are being rapidly depleted… Did you know that basically anything that’s rated as a legendary grade is supposed to affect your surroundings? If you consume it randomly like this, the balance of the continent will collapse in an instant. Let me give an extreme example. Imagine that the world tree disappears.”

“…”

“Ah! Isn’t there an extreme example already? A fairy lake pebble was used to build your temple. How much was the divinity that was used to prevent the fairy lake from being contaminated? Come to think of it, the jewel of the sun was also used. The temperature in the whole area went down a little, right?”

“…”

“Dwarves are having a hard time because Orichalcum is scarce. Have you not heard the news, Junior Lee Kiyoung? After recklessly mining in certain areas, the ground was weakened a lot. The surrounding monster ecosystem has also completely collapsed… They’re too much… really, too much.”

“A few… won’t be too bad. If you bring a proposal, I will review it.”

A winner’s smile was on her face. She nodded vigorously. “I knew you’d say that, so I already brought it, Junior Lee Kiyoung.”

She even had a plan already. I quietly took the proposal and read it, and I thought it wouldn’t be bad. If I could get things like stone or ore, I could probably cope with what was happening on the continent at the moment.

If I looked a little more broadly, Benignore’s words weren’t wrong either. One problem was that there were some tricks in this proposal.

Among the proposals that were handed over together in clusters, some of them were noticeably unnecessary. It had to be because Benignore would be getting separate divinity aside from the payment she was already going to receive.

[Gradeless Dungeon: Cozy Haven of St. Mole]

It didn’t seem to mean that it hosted the saint of the moles.

Rather, it was about someone who had never escaped from the underground hall. The entire dungeon itself was based on the myth of a person promoted to sainthood by fighting in underground battles.

The location was…

‘Benignore temple basement.’

The cost of divinity to activate the dungeon was also rather insignificant. Rather, I wondered if the land where ancient warriors slept would work more efficiently. The compensation wasn’t accurate, and the plan itself was poorly made.

It felt like she was slightly more desperately avoiding my eyes.

I didn’t know what she was thinking, what the mole saint was, and her purpose, but it seemed like I had no choice but to accept it. I had done something wrong, after all.

No, technically, it wasn’t my fault, but it somehow still was.

‘Kim Hyunsung, fuck.’

As Benignore described earlier, the problem was was invested in building Lee Kiyoung’s temple.

I knew that the Blue Guild and Kim Hyunsung would experience funding problems, but I didn’t expect their actions to affect the ones from above.

Who knew that the construction of the Saint of Light’s temple, who sacrificed himself for the continent, would cause problems with the continental balance?

Of course, it wasn’t enough to say that a fatal error occurred, but it was undeniable that there was a problem.

When he pulled out the pebble from the fairy lake, my jaw dropped in perplexity. The guardian guarding the lake didn’t activate. Even if it did, Kim Hyunsung’s sword would have broken it in one swing anyway.

It wasn’t just that. When he crawled to the end of the mine to get the ore, he woke up the inactive spirit of the earth and destroyed it.

Not only did he collect all kinds of funds, but he also had to look around because the resources weren’t enough.

The issue was that every time that bastard moved, more work had to be done on our part.

I thought it wouldn’t be bad to construct it splendidly since they were already building it anyway, but my face crumpled when I realized there were so many things I had to deal with.

‘Yes, fuck, I understand.’

He would have wondered exactly how to complete the temple and how to make it possible for me to dwell in the statue. It was a place for the continent’s light to stay, and it was the only communication channel between humans and a god.

There was no guarantee that the system would register a building as a temple even if it were roughly built, so it wasn’t unreasonable for Kim Hyunsung to fidget as well.

‘He must have been worried about where I can enter the statue…’

It would’ve been nice if I could enter anywhere, but it wasn’t that simple.

It was like making a business application to a system.

Just as Yoo Ahyoung was graded whenever she was making an item, the temple was also graded. Depending on the grade it earned, there were many things one could do in the temple, and there were cases where it wouldn’t even be graded, such as when something went wrong.

I didn’t think Kim Hyunsung would be aware of this complicated situation, but he probably knew it instinctively.

If he made it in the wrong way, communication could become impossible.

Of course, I didn’t know if money and legendary-grade objects would increase its class, but I thought the odds would go up.

I noticed Benignore running in joy after receiving the payment.

Manager Lu of the finance team looked at Benignore and sighed, and I, too, turned my head down. It was because I could see the Blue Guild members moving.

‘Is it going to be finished today?’

It had been nearly six months since they began the construction. The Blue Guild’s temple-building operation was nearing completion.

When I looked back again, I noticed an overly splendid infrastructure.

‘Aren’t the people going to say something about it being too luxurious?’

It was more splendid than Benignore’s temple. Brilliant jewels filled the corridor, and anyone could tell that it was made of expensive materials.

Some might mistake it for a space created by a wealthy person for luxury, not for worship.

One thing that made it feel like a temple was the entire ceiling made of stained glass.

It seemed to have some magical design, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what the principle of it was. I could only be sure that a large sum of money went into it.

‘The Blue Guild fund situation is okay, right?’

Looking at manager Kim Mi-young’s dark face, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Even though they requested support from the State and other countries to build the temple of the Saint of Light, the financial situation seemed bad.

The Blue Guild had no choice but to sell the real estate managed by the guild, so I could fully understand her feelings. Han Sora was carving down a statue on one corner.

‘She could really change her class.’

I remembered her getting a message asking if she would change her class. She refused for her own future, but she wouldn’t need to worry about living if she had changed her job.

“How could she make it so similar to mine?”

“It looks a lot more beautified.”

“You mean just a bit.”

“No. A lot.”

Wings were spread wide behind its back. The pose with its crossed arms placed lightly on its chest stood out as well.

The fairy’s pebble and the sun’s jewels embedded in the softly open eyes gave it the impression of being truly alive. Its outfit was the one worn during the memorial service. The details carved by master sculptors were impressive.

Its skin seemed to be really soft, and the clothes it was wearing looked like the wind was blowing past it.

Didn’t it seem like a sweet voice would come out from its slightly open mouth?

Han Sora, who was focused despite her sweat, looked unexpectedly amazing.

‘You seem to be sculpting with full vitality…’

Jung Hayan was watching her quietly.

Since I had been away for several months, she didn’t look so good.

Han Sora would have taken care of her, but even she couldn’t care about Hayan while making the sculpture.

-A-A-Are you almost finished, Sora?

-Yes, for now… but I don’t know if I can say it’s finished. Actually, I don’t know how to finish it… I don’t know if there’s even an end to this…

-S-Should we take a break?

-Ah… yes… It would be better to take a break. Have you eaten?

-N-No. Not yet. I-I don’t feel like eating.

-I brought something. We can eat it together.

-L-let’s do that. B-By the way… do you think oppa will come in there?

-Probably not. It hasn’t been completed yet, but what the Guild Master is concerned about will not happen. I’m a little worried about the statue, but…

-H-He will definitely possess it, right?

-Yes.

After a brief silence, I could see Jung Hayan suddenly crying.

-Sniff… Ugh… Snigg… He will, r-right?

It looked like she suddenly was missing me.

-Ugh… Ugh… Hic… Hic…

Sora started wiping away her tears, but humans tended to cry even more when comforted in these cases. Her tears kept dripping, and it was a bit heartbreaking to watch.

-He will definitely come back, so don’t cry, Jung Hayan. If he doesn’t come, then… yes… we can just go up to him together, can’t we?

-Yes… Ugh…

-Long-distance… Yes. You can think of it as a long-distance relationship. Once it’s done, you can talk to him whenever you want… It’s no different than a long-distance relationship.

-Hic… yeah…

‘Why are you crying so sadly…’

Her shoulders and chin were shaking. She started with a bit of hope, but I thought she couldn’t help but become more sorrowful as our time apart became longer.

I was in a difficult situation too, so how bad would it be for her? Honestly, it made me proud looking at her holding on like that.

-Do not cry, Jung Hayan.

“Yes, Hayan, don’t cry.”

-Yes. Don’t cry… The Vice Guild Master also…

-?

-?

Jung Hayan and Han Sora looked at the statue with a blank face.

-O-Oppa?

[Player Han Sora has completed a masterpiece of the century.]

[You have not registered any rewards.]

[Han Sora will not be compensated.]

[Mythic-grade statue has been activated.]