The Final Boss Has Returned 38

Chapter 38

The level-up notification that makes you feel good just by hearing it!

Along with it, I dismissed the notification window explaining Aqua Haven and went inside the city, guided by Nereus.

Thanks to the translucent barrier surrounding the entire city, the interior of the city resembled the terrestrial environment to some extent, except for the unique style of buildings built using seashells, stones, and byproducts of marine monsters.

Following Nereus, I entered a giant conch-shaped building in the center of the city.

[You have entered Kraken’s Sanctuary.]

Kraken’s Sanctuary!

Engraving the name in my mind, I was finally able to sit face to face with Nereus in the reception room inside the building.

Nereus spoke to me as I sat on a chair made of coral.

“There’s something you need to do.”

I instinctively smelled the scent of a quest from his words.

The revival of the Merfolk Kingdom!

It’s a quest of immense scale, and since there are multiple quest objectives, there will definitely be sub-quests.

Besides, didn’t the notification that popped up when I entered the city tell me to receive a Kraken-related quest from Nereus?

I smiled inwardly and replied.

“What is it?”

As I said this, as expected, Nereus replied with a serious expression.

“It’s to restore Kraken.”

“How?”

“As you know, Kraken is in a coma with serious injuries. As of now, even his life or death is uncertain. To revive Kraken, we need a legendary grade magic stone or an item with equivalent power.”

Listening to Nereus’s words, the outline of the quest began to take shape.

Regardless, Nereus continued his explanation.

“Fortunately, in the basement of the palace in our old capital, the Great Atoll, a treasure equivalent to a legendary grade magic stone, the Abyss Pearl, is sealed. It’s currently in the hands of the mermaids, but the seal of the Abyss Pearl is not something they can easily tamper with. It would be great if you could go there and retrieve the Abyss Pearl.”

[A quest has occurred.]

[Retrieve the Abyss Pearl!]

[Grade: Hero]

[For ages, the Merfolk have been under the protection of their guardian beast, Kraken. However, in the war nine years ago, Kraken was severely injured and fell into a coma due to the Mermaid’s guardian deity, Scylla, and the Merfolk Kingdom lost its capital and was scattered.]

[Kraken slumbers in Aqua Haven, the newly established city of the Golden Scale Tribe. To revive the comatose Kraken, the power of a legendary grade magic stone or an item with equivalent magic power is required.]

[In the basement of the Palace of Mano, the old capital of the Merfolk and under the control of the Mermaids, lies the treasure of the Merfolk Kingdom, the Abyss Pearl, which possesses magic power equivalent to a legendary grade magic stone.]

[Infiltrate the basement of the Palace of Mano and retrieve the Abyss Pearl.]

[Will you accept the quest?]

The quest window appeared as if it had been waiting, as soon as Nereus finished speaking!

Looking at the notification window shining in front of me, I slowly spoke to Nereus.

“So anything will do as long as it’s a legendary grade magic stone or an item with equivalent power, not necessarily the Abyss Pearl?”

“That’s right. But the only item that can be obtained near here is the Abyss Pearl. I believe you are well aware of how rare a legendary grade magic stone is.”

I smiled at Nereus’s answer.

A legendary grade magic stone is a rare item!

I knew that fact very well.

Among the six grades of Normal-Rare-Mystic-Hero-Legendary-Mythical, Legendary was a grade that was difficult to obtain through normal means, although it wasn’t at the level of the Mythical grade, which had rarely appeared.

It’s not called Legendary for nothing.

It’s no wonder the Hero grade is called the practical end-game grade.

But for me now, that wasn’t a very important fact.

‘If I just have a legendary grade magic stone, or an item equivalent to it, I can skip this quest!’

It doesn’t have to be the specific item called ‘Abyss Pearl’, as long as I have an item of a similar kind, I can skip this quest!

This fact was important to me.

Of course, a legendary grade magic stone wasn’t something you could easily obtain, and its price was as expensive as a house in reality.

It’s not for nothing that the nickname for legendary grade items was ‘house-selling item’.

Because the price was at a level where you literally had to sell your house to get it.

Of course, since magic stones were material items, their price was lower than equipment items like weapons, accessories, and armor of the same grade, but legendary grade material items were the foundation of legendary grade equipment, so in absolute terms, their price was indeed high enough to be called a ‘house-selling item’.

The ultimate purpose of this sub-quest was clearly to present a solution to ordinary users who were unlikely to possess such a house-selling item.

Of course, since it was a quest to obtain an item equivalent to a legendary grade magic stone, the quest difficulty was a whopping Hero grade!

Infiltrate the enemy’s city, which is obviously now their capital after they took it from us, the most heavily guarded palace in the center, and steal the Abyss Pearl!

It was clear at a glance that the quest content was no joke.

But what was important to me now was not the difficulty or content of the quest.

The fact that the quest could be skipped depending on the conditions!

That was the only thing that mattered.

That’s because I had a self-imposed time limit of 23 days, and in order to complete the quest within the time limit, I had to use any means necessary.

I didn’t have the luxury of leisurely infiltrating the enemy city, filming an infiltration action movie, and stealing things.

All roads lead to Rome!

Thinking that way, I whispered to Shin Ha-yeon.

[Executive Director Shin.]

[What is it, Drakan-nim?]

[I need a legendary grade magic stone, or an item with equivalent power.]

[Right now, sir?]

Shin Ha-yeon’s voice came through the whisper.

A legendary grade magic stone!

Even though I was asking for an item worth hundreds of millions of won in real money, I couldn’t feel any hesitation in her voice.

[Yes.]

[Please wait a moment.]

Executive Director Shin’s whisper was cut off.

I continued to stare at Nereus without saying a word, looking at the quest window still floating in front of me.

As time began to flow

“Are you not going to help us, Contractor?”

“The request to bring the Abyss Pearl from the basement of the palace is beyond my capabilities.”

[You have refused the quest.]

[Nereus’s affinity decreases.]

[The Sea Demon King makes a sullen expression.]

[The Destruction Demon King laughs at you.]

[The Destruction Demon King sponsors 10 points.]

[The Demon King of Hatred watches you with an interesting expression.]

“You said you would help us on the surface, but you’re refusing our request. I’m disappointed, Contractor.”

“Instead, I will prepare another item with equivalent power.”

At my words, Nereus’s expression naturally sulked, and the messages from the Demon Kings also started popping up incessantly.

“I don’t know what kind of nonsense that is. Is Legendary grade someone’s pet turtle’s name? Why don’t you go look for the Abyss Pearl now?”

[Nereus suggests the quest ‘Retrieve the Abyss Pearl!’ again.]

[The Sea Demon King tells you that this is your last chance.]

[The Destruction Demon King bursts into laughter.]

[The Dark God begins to watch you.]

[Will you accept the quest?]

Perhaps because his affinity had dropped, Nereus didn’t trust my words, and just as I was about to refuse the quest again.

[I got it.]

Shin Ha-yeon’s whisper arrived at just the right time.

[Please use the Friend Summoning Crystal. I’ll bring it myself.]

At Shin Ha-yeon’s following words, I opened the point shop.

[Friend Summoning Crystal]

[Price: 20,000 Points]

[A magic crystal that allows you to summon one of your friends on your friend list to your current location.]

[Friend summoning requires the consent of the summoned friend, and the crystal is consumed immediately upon use, regardless of the summoned friend’s consent.]

[Cannot be used during combat, and similarly, cannot summon a friend who is in combat.]

The price of the Friend Summoning Crystal was a whopping 20,000 points!

It was a price that was almost half of my current points, a price that would make ordinary users tremble just to buy it, but I bought it without hesitation.

[You have purchased the Friend Summoning Crystal.]

[The Friend Summoning Crystal has been delivered to your inventory.]

Seeing the notification window, I took out the Friend Summoning Crystal from my inventory.

As I held the transparent crystal with a shimmering green glow in my hand, a translucent window appeared in front of me.

[Select the friend you want to summon.]

“Ha-yeon.”

[Do you want to summon friend ‘Ha-yeon’?]

“Yes.”

As soon as I finished speaking, a green light shone brightly from the crystal.

[‘Ha-yeon’ has agreed to the friend summon.]

A short notification window followed.

Along with that, the Friend Summoning Crystal in my right hand turned into a green light and disappeared, and at the same time, the green light filled the reception room.

“What in the world is this……!”

Just as Nereus’s voice was losing its composure.

“I’ve arrived.”

Shin Ha-yeon’s clear voice echoed through the reception room.

Wearing a dark blue robe and holding a magic staff with a shining blue crystal, she smiled faintly at me as usual as soon as she appeared.

“Drakan-nim.”

“The item?”

“Here it is.”

Shin Ha-yeon took out an item from her inventory and placed it on the table.

It was a single horn with a blue spark.

“It’s the Thunderbird’s Horn.”

I checked the information of the Thunderbird’s Horn that Shin Ha-yeon had placed on the table.