“You arrived quickly.”
As we waited outside the dungeon, my father and Seon-ah arrived.
However, my father seemed unusually serious.
“Father?”
“Yes?”
“Why did you bring fishing gear?”
“I’m just taking care of two things at once.”
Every time he visits, he enjoys fishing, and it seems to me that the real reason for his visits is more than just about the mine.
“By the way, Father, did you hear why Seon-ah called you?”
“Yes, I heard. Let’s go and see first.”
“Oh, could you take Ara and Seon-ah to check it out first?”
“Got it.”
My father nodded calmly, picked up his fishing bag, and headed towards the dungeon.
“Why are we going first? What about Brother?”
“An acquaintance is coming. He’s not an expert in this field, but he’s quite impressive.”
“Impressive?”
“The head of research at Ara Hongryeon.”
“What?!”
Seon-ah, who is well-versed in awakened knowledge, understood the significance of the title “head of research at Ara Hongryeon.”
Her wide-eyed expression was amusing, little sister.
“That’s how amazing I am. Remember to treat me well from now on.”
“What are you talking about?”
She tried to compose herself, holding Ara, but I could see the anticipation in her eyes about meeting the head of research.
I entered the dungeon of gluttony with the three of them and then returned alone.
As I was leaving, Ara shouted.
“See you later! Kyu-seong Kyu-seong!”
“Yes, yes.”
Seeing Ara wave from Seon-ah’s arms, I stepped outside again. Since Young-seong was coming soon, I decided to wait for him.
As I descended the mountain, I wondered how much it would cost to buy the entire mountain with my dungeon. Maybe I should find out the price, though it might not be for sale.
The original owner of the dungeon would be the owner of this mountain. Contacting them wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Lost in these thoughts, I reached the bottom and soon Young-seong arrived. Beside him was his wife.
“Hi, Brother.”
“Long time no see, Kyu-seong.”
I greeted Si-young, Young-seong and watched as Young-seong struggled to take something out of the trunk.
“What’s that, Brother?”
“You said you might have found a mine, so I brought some equipment.”
“If that was the case, I would have brought Bokkeum…”
Isn’t there a spatial expansion artifact? Why carry it all by hand when he has the money?
“That’s not possible. This equipment is quite sensitive and needs to be carried directly.”
“Oh.”
Since I don’t know much about it, I trusted Young-seong. I didn’t expect his wife to come too, and I could imagine Seon-ah’s surprised reaction.
“I heard from the guild master that you’ve been getting a lot of requests?”
“It’s not much, just business as usual. I was going to ask you for advice on that too.”
“Really? Let’s go inside first.”
His wife, who had been watching playfully, ended up carrying the equipment. Unlike Brother who struggled, she lifted it easily, as expected from an Level 8 awakener.
“It’s been a while!”
“Come visit anytime.”
“Really? You heard that, right? We can visit anytime.”
“He’s just being polite, honey.”
“What? It was just a polite invitation?”
They still made a good couple.
Listening to their banter, we entered the dungeon. The couple greeted the slimes as we headed to the gluttony dungeon.
“…It’s an unfamiliar sight.”
“Ah, this is so refreshing.”
Since it had been a while since their last visit, they both stopped to enjoy the air. Just then, I saw something running towards us in the distance.
“Oh, oh?”
“Flame wolf!”
“Oh, they are also my familiars.”
“What?!”
Leaving the surprised couple behind, I petted the mane of the approaching woofy. Then, Purr, who had been hiding in the air, suddenly appeared.
“There, there.”
“A Phantom horse too?”
“You must have tempted them with food.”
I didn’t bother correcting their misunderstanding since it was partly true. These creatures loved my crops.
‘Woffy had to go vegetarian, though.’
Anyway, I had them ride Purr while I mounted Woffy. Then we headed straight towards the mine.
“Yay!”
“Ugh.”
The scenery whizzed past quickly.
Si-young seemed to be enjoying herself, while Young-seong clung to Purr, barely holding on.
Thanks to our quick pace, we reached the rocky mountain where the mine was discovered in less than an hour. Young-seong looked exhausted, though.
“Kyu-seong, Lee Kyu-seong is here! Kyu-seong is here!”
When we arrived, our group was already waiting for us. Ara waved excitedly and then spotted Young-seong, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.
“Hehe. You came, huh?”
“Ah, Ara, long time no see? Ha, haha.”
While Young-seong greeted her awkwardly, Si-young rushed over and hugged Ara. Then she greeted my father and Seon-ah.
“Hello! It’s nice to finally meet you, Kyu-seong’s father and sister! I’m Kim Si-young.”
“Kim, Kim Si-young? Could it be the Empress Kim Si-young?!”
Seon-ah’s jaw practically dropped.
Hearing this, my father’s eyes widened in disbelief, unable to respond.
“Kim Si-young? The one who appeared on TV?”
It seemed my father recognized her as she was a famous awakener known to many.
“Yes, Father. This is Choi Young-seong, the former head of research at Ara Hongryeon, and his wife, Kim Si-young.”
“Oh, uh, hello.”
Seon-ah bowed deeply while glancing at me with a betrayed look, as if asking why I hadn’t told her earlier.
I didn’t know Si-young would come either.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Lee Hyun-woo, Kyu-seong’s father.”
“I’m Choi Young-seong. Your son has helped us a lot.”
“Helped?”
“My wife was very ill, but your son treated her.”
Young-seong looked at me as if asking, ‘Didn’t you tell them?’ Of course, I didn’t go around boasting about what I did, so I just shrugged.
“He’s an amazing son! I suffered for ten years, on the verge of death, but now I’m like this…”
Si-young twirled around holding Ara. Ara just quietly let herself be held.
“I’m completely healed!”
“Did my brother really do such a great thing? I heard you recently recovered, but I didn’t know it was thanks to my brother…”
At Seon-ah’s astonished question, I cleared my throat.
“Ahem. Now you understand, little sister, the greatness of your brother.”
“…”
Even though I tried to joke, Seon-ah’s face still showed her shock. To emphasize it further, Si-young added,
“Not only me, but he also treated Baek Seung-hyun from the Iron Blood Guild recently. Isn’t he amazing?”
“Iron Blood…”
Seon-ah still looked incredulous, but my father, who had been listening quietly, patted my shoulder.
“Well done.”
“Yes.”
Just one word, but it felt strange.
Even though I had been busy lately, I never thought of myself as remarkable. But hearing it from my father made it feel real.
‘I’ve been doing well.’
Recognition from my father stirred a unique feeling in me, something I hadn’t felt even when other great awakeners praised me or expressed their gratitude.
“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong is amazing! Helping many good people!”
“Yes, you’re right. Our Ara knows her dad the best. Kyu-seong, you’re lucky to have such a cute daughter.”
“Dad? Lee Kyu-seong? Dad!”
Smiling brightly, Ara stretched her arms towards me. Naturally, I approached and took Ara from Si-young’s arms.
“Let’s keep helping people, Ara.”
“Okay.”
I patted Ara’s head and then refocused on our purpose for being here. There were too many important tasks at hand to get lost in emotions.
Tasks that were crucial for the lives of those dear to me.
“This is the place we suspect to be the mine. Seon-ah, you’ve shown it to Father already, right?”
“Yes.”
At my words, Young-seong took out the device his wife had brought and began checking something. With a puzzled expression, he spoke to me.
“This is unusual.”
“What is it?”
“This equipment detects minerals in the surrounding area. It shows the composition. I can usually identify the mineral from the composition, but this one is new to me.”
It was surprising that even an expert like Young-seong hadn’t seen it before. But given that this place continually revealed unknown plants and monsters, it made sense.
“So, this mineral might be newly discovered?”
“That’s quite likely.”
“By the way, I brought a small piece that looks like a gemstone. Here it is.”
I handed over a small fragment that Poispois and Frey had retrieved. The unprocessed gem sparkled with a mysterious color, beautiful even in its raw form.
“Ohh.”
Si-young, watching from the side, let out an admiring sound, and my father, seeing it for the first time, looked at it with curiosity.
“Indeed, I’ve never seen a mineral like this before. With this color and features…”
“I can sense a faint magic aura from it.”
Si-young reached out and snatched the gem, commenting as she examined it.
“Magic?”
“Yes. Honey, don’t we have an item that detects magic?”
“Yes, we do. Hold on a moment!”
Young-seong, suddenly excited, rummaged through the box containing his equipment. I tilted my head, wondering if this was such a big deal, when Seon-ah mumbled in a stunned voice.
“Oh my… A mineral containing magic? Is that even possible?”
“Why? Is that so surprising?”
“Of course!!”
Whoa, why are you yelling like that?
To me, it didn’t seem all that surprising for a mineral to contain magic. After all, if items can come out of dungeons, why wouldn’t there be minerals with magic?
“So far, the only mineral that contained magic was magic stone. But this clearly has different properties from a magic stone. Of course, it could be a type of magic stone, but that needs to be confirmed,” Young-seong explained further as I scratched my head. Seon-ah spoke gently.
“If that’s not a magic stone but still contains magic, it’s a tremendous discovery. Imagine making equipment for awakeners out of that mineral!”
“Oh? So, you’re saying we could make items out of it?”
“It’s a bit different. Even if we made something out of it, it wouldn’t have the same properties or effects as items. But awakeners could significantly enhance their protective abilities using the magic contained in the mineral.”
…Did I find something much more amazing than I thought?
After examining the gem for a while, Young-seong sighed.
“It’s definitely not a magic stone. We can’t determine its properties here; we need to take it to the lab.”
“That’s a good sign, right?”
“Yes. As your sister just said, if we can make protective equipment for awakeners from this, it will offer tremendous protection. We need to confirm it, but it’s almost certain.”
“Wow!”
This is really incredible!
The burden of the dungeon of avarice seemed to lighten a bit. The issue now is how much of that gem is buried here.
“I can’t believe we discovered something like this. This will cause an uproar in the industry and academia.”
“There are many other things inside, but I’m curious about the amount of that gem that’s buried here.”
“…What?”
“Huh? No, I mean, I’m curious about how much of that gem is buried here.”
“No, before that.”
“There are many other things…”
The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.
Why? What’s going on?
“This isn’t the only one?”
“Yes. Yes.”
“This is insane. This place is truly insane.”
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“Usually, finding something like this means it’s related to the magic flowing through the mine. But there are other minerals too? It’s highly likely they won’t be ordinary, just like this gem.”
So, does that mean…
We really found a gold mine?!
Cliche Novel 