Level Up Machine

Chapter 41 The Power of the Black Cube (4)

Black Cube.

A useless “junk item” that drops from boss monsters. It was so useless that it wasn’t even traded in the market.

But for Yeong-sik, it was different. Yeong-sik looked at the dozens of Black Cubes within the pile of junk items and twisted his lips into a grin.

When he used Structure Analysis on a single Black Cube last time, the level of Structure Analysis had immediately risen. With this many, he looked forward to how much the level would increase.

‘And also…’

Yeong-sik’s eyes gleamed sharply.

The Black Cube contained fragments of the boss monster’s memories. Through those, Yeong-sik thought he might be able to learn a bit about the secrets of this world.

‘The chances are high that those secrets are related to me.’

Yeong-sik recalled the time when he unlocked a security level. He clearly remembered seeing the Black Cube in his memory.

Yeong-sik looked down at his right hand. He recalled the memories he obtained when he unlocked Security Level 4. They were the vaguest memories he had acquired so far.

He saw himself going down a deep underground passage.

Those memories were definitely connected to the ones he obtained when he unlocked Security Level 3.

‘If it’s this…’

Yeong-sik reached out for the Black Cubes. If he could raise the level of Structure Analysis through these Black Cubes, he would be able to learn the rest of those memories.

“Yeong-sik?”

Han-seong, who was gathering items in Han Cheol-ho’s warehouse, stared blankly at Yeong-sik.

“It’s nothing. Let’s gather the items quickly and get out of here.”

“Yes. Although I’ve deployed the soundproof magic circle, someone might have seen the fight.”

Han-seong nodded in agreement with Yeong-sik’s words.

Of course, after wiping out the Light Shield Guild, they couldn’t use the building as it was. That would be too dangerous for the Salvator Guild, which needed to hide its identity.

Even if their identities were revealed through the Light Shield Guild, openly using their guild house and waging war against the kingdom would be foolish.

At that moment, the crystal ball inside Han-seong’s pocket began to glow. Han-seong took out the crystal ball from his pocket.

“We’ve taken care of everything on this side.”

“We’ve also taken care of everyone who tried to flee.”

The voices of Park Cheol-tae and Yu-na came through the crystal ball. Han-seong nodded.

“Quickly leave here and gather at the designated location. Try to avoid being seen by people.”

“Understood.”

With Park Cheol-tae’s reply, the communication ended.

After gathering all the items in the warehouse, Yeong-sik’s party left the guild.

They headed towards a mountain on the outskirts of Talion. In the mountains, Park Cheol-tae’s party and Yu-na, who had arrived ahead of them, were waiting.

“Is the cleanup finished?”

Han-seong asked, looking at Yu-na and Cheol-tae. Park Cheol-tae nodded in response.

“We’ve put all the bodies of the Light Shield Guild members into the subspace scroll and cleaned up the surroundings as much as possible.”

“I also cleaned up all the bodies. Lee Chae-rin used her magic to completely burn the subspace scrolls. But…” Yu-na looked bitterly at the Light Shield Guild headquarters.

“No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t erase all traces of the battle.”

“Yes. We were pressed for time,” Han-seong nodded as if he had expected it.

“…How long do you think we can avoid detection?” Yeong-sik asked Han-seong with a deep, calm gaze.

Han-seong clicked his tongue and answered, “At most, three months.”

Yeong-sik nodded at his words.

A giant guild, ranked in the top six, had been annihilated overnight. This was not the kind of information that could be hidden.

No matter how hard they tried to erase the evidence, it was impossible to hide the fact that the Light Shield Guild had been “destroyed.”

An incident of this magnitude would prompt the kingdom’s public security to investigate its truth. Not only the kingdom’s public security, but also the three major guilds would start investigating who had destroyed the guild in such a large-scale incident.

There was no way to avoid leaving evidence when people moved. Especially in the case of the Salvator Guild, which had already had its identity “exposed” to Hong Seung-gal once.

It was impossible to stop the information from spreading given that they didn’t know who Hong Seung-gal had bribed or how many people knew the information.

From the moment they attacked the Light Shield Guild headquarters, the Salvator Guild had set off a time bomb that “inevitably had to” be discovered.

“Three months.”

Yeong-sik swallowed hard, recalling Han-seong’s words. After three months, it would no longer be possible to stay hidden. They would inevitably clash with the Elnote Kingdom.

If their only goal was to disappear with money, it wouldn’t be too difficult. They could escape to another country where the Elnote Kingdom had less influence.

But the Salvator Guild’s objective wasn’t just to run away. They had to infiltrate the Elnote Kingdom’s royal castle and rescue Tiria’s family, who were held hostage.

“Rescuing the hostages isn’t their only goal,” Yeong-sik thought, frowning as he recalled Han-seong’s plan. According to the plan, rescuing the hostages was a secondary objective; they were aiming for something else entirely.

To devise a plan for infiltrating the royal castle, the Salvator Guild didn’t have the luxury of hiding in another country. Besides, the ones pursuing the Salvator Guild were the elite public security forces of the kingdom.

In Elnote, where border control was insignificant compared to modern times, the public security had considerable influence even in foreign countries.

“We must amass enough power within those three months.”

Yeong-sik looked at Park Cheol-tae, Choi Yu-na, and Yoo Jin, contemplating. They weren’t strong enough to be called “Rankers,” but compared to him at present, their strength was beyond his reach.

If he were to enter a forced liberation state, the current gap would reverse, but relying on such a risky power wasn’t wise.

Ultimately, the only method left for Yeong-sik was to build his strength to match theirs within these three months.

‘With that amount of Black Cubes…’

Yeong-sik’s eyes gleamed sharply as he thought of the Black Cubes he had obtained this time. Dozens of Black Cubes. If he utilized them, it wasn’t impossible to stand shoulder to shoulder with them within three months.

‘And…’

Yeong-sik turned to Han-seong. He had heard about the rough plan before but still had unresolved doubts. It might sound harsh, but if those doubts weren’t cleared up, joining Han-seong’s plan would be reckless.

“Han-seong.”

“Ah, yes.”

Yeong-sik asked in a low voice, “Why is the Elnote Kingdom looking for the Salvator Guild in the first place? If their initial goal was to completely take over the huge Salvator Guild, most of its value would already have been lost.”

Han-seong smiled bitterly at his words. “It’s probably because of the Guild Leader. Tiria has a special power.”

“A special power? What is it?”

“Haha. I’ll explain the specifics later. It’s not a power you can use right now anyway.”

Yeong-sik looked puzzled.

Han-seong continued in a low voice, “Besides that, our guild has strong summoners like Yu-na, Yoo Jin, and Cheol-tae. They plan to expand their influence based on these core members.”

“Hmm… I see.”

Yeong-sik nodded, still looking unsure.

“But can we really raid the royal palace with such a small number of people?”

At his understandable question, Han-seong pressed his lips tightly together. After a moment of contemplation, he opened his mouth as if making up his mind.

“You said it doesn’t make sense to face the kingdom with just ten people, right?”

Han-seong continued in a low voice, “I think you’re right.”

Hearing this, Yeong-sik’s eyes gleamed. It wasn’t hard to guess what Han-seong was implying. Yeong-sik nodded and muttered in a low voice, “So, there are more people supporting the Guild Leader.”

“…It’s not certain yet. But let’s just say they’re not the type to abandon us easily.”

Yeong-sik nodded at his words. If there were indeed other forces supporting them, Han-seong’s seemingly reckless plan had a chance of success.

“In that case, we will separate and build our strength over these three months,” Yeong-sik said calmly.

“Separate?”

Han-seong looked at him with concern. The Elnote continent was too dangerous a place to level up without support.

“As I mentioned before, we can’t rely on supporters for our growth forever.”

“It would be good if you could, but…”

Han-seong scratched the back of his head with a troubled expression. For the plan he had in mind, having more high-level summoners was essential.

However, he was also worried about sending Yeong-sik and his party, who were only around level 30, to hunt alone.

‘Especially Yeong-sik…’

Han-seong recalled the awe-inspiring power Yeong-sik had displayed previously.

Before that incident, he had thought Ara was more powerful than Yeong-sik. She was over level 90, with a hidden class as a Frost Mage summoner.

But when he saw Yeong-sik annihilate the elite unit of the Light Shield Guild with his own strength, he realized he had been completely mistaken.

Yeong-sik was a monster with unfathomable power. Beyond the issue of whether he could control that power at will, the very possibility that he could use such power proved that he was a being far beyond common sense.

Such power was crucial for the future revival of the Salvator Guild, more important than his own life.

So, the idea of Yeong-sik going hunting alone naturally made Han-seong worried.

“You don’t need to worry. I have my own plans.”

Yeong-sik’s calm voice conveyed confidence. Han-seong sighed and nodded.

“If that’s what you want, I can’t stop you. Let’s stay in contact through the communication crystal while your party is out hunting. Also, we’ll provide you with the rare items we obtained this time.”

Han-seong, recognizing Yeong-sik’s firm resolve, handed him a communication crystal.

Taking the communication crystal, Yeong-sik spoke up.

“There’s one more thing I need to ask.”

“What is it?”

“I want to use part of the gold we earned to buy iron ingots.”

“Iron ingots? Are you planning to craft something with your manufacturing skill?”

Han-seong asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

Yeong-sik responded with a sly smile.

“Yes, I’m thinking of making a drone this time.”

At his words, Han-seong was left speechless.