Chapter 689

At Su-ho's groan, the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City laughed.

"You're lacking spirit."

"I'm sorry."

"Isn't your talent making the impossible possible? No one's chasing you, so since you're here, make sure you fully grasp it before you leave."

"Yes, understood."

"Before that."

The Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City snapped his fingers.

A portal appeared in front of him, and he said,

"Before you begin training in the Blacksmith Style, go take care of the Mega Crusher matter first."

"Right now?"

"As a blacksmith, I'm someone who values efficiency. If what I know is correct, then progressing the Mega Crusher matter first and training in the Blacksmith Style afterward will benefit you more, both in terms of time and results."

"Ah, yes! Understood."

Grateful for his consideration, Su-ho bowed deeply before stepping into the portal.

Soon after Su-ho disappeared, the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City looked at the spot where he had vanished and chuckled.

***

When Su-ho emerged from the portal, he found himself in the living room.

Jack was eating pizza there.

- What, you're done already?

"No, not that. Something came up that I need to take care of first."

- What kind of thing?

"Turns out I had another overdue quest. Anyway, see you later."

- Sure.

Without even looking over, Jack casually waved a hand in farewell.

Su-ho likewise didn't look back as he opened the Subspace House and entered.

[ Entering the Subspace House. ]

It had been a while since he'd come inside.

Aside from special circumstances, he rarely had any reason to come here, so he hadn't paid much attention to it.

But he still remembered perfectly well how to use it.

When he snapped his fingers, Su-ho's location shifted to where Pi Seong-yeol was.

However, the moment he arrived in front of Pi Seong-yeol, he flinched in surprise.

Pi Seong-yeol, reduced to skin and bones, was lying sprawled out flat with his tongue hanging out.

What the hell?

Is he dead?

And from starvation?

That'd be a problem.

With trembling eyes, Su-ho approached and placed a hand beneath his nose.

Damn.

He wasn't breathing.

Startled, Su-ho hurriedly shook him awake.

"Hey, hey! Why are you dead?! Wake up!"

But there was no response.

When Su-ho pulled up his shirt, the Mega Crusher was still attached.

What about the items?

All those cursed items that had once been piled up were gone as well.

Instead, stat fragments were scattered around.

Proof that he'd been working hard.

At that moment, Su-ho remembered something Pi Seong-yeol had said.

At some point, dismantling items had made it so he no longer became hungry even without eating or drinking.

But there were no items left around him anymore.

Which meant?

Su-ho opened his inventory.

Then he took out the first item he could grab and brought it close to the Mega Crusher.

Nothing happened.

It remained silent.

For a very brief moment.

Then.

GRRRK- GRRRRK-

It sounded like some old, dust-covered piece of machinery that had been left abandoned in storage was beginning to move.

It was the Mega Crusher.

The Mega Crusher suddenly activated and began reacting to the item Su-ho had brought near it.

GRRRRRR-

Like a shredder pulling in paper, the Mega Crusher began gnawing away at the item.

At the same time, Pi Seong-yeol's body began trembling, and not long after—

"Ah......."

His voice sounded like dry firewood scraping together.

At last, Pi Seong-yeol woke up.

"Y-You're here......."

The moment he opened his eyes and saw Su-ho, Pi Seong-yeol suddenly began crying.

He looked deeply moved.

He squeezed out tears for a while, then finally managed to sit up, wiped his eyes, and spoke.

"I...... I really...... thought I was going to be forgotten like this...... Ughh......."

Pi Seong-yeol sobbed miserably.

Those tears came from a mixture of emotions.

Terror, fear, loneliness, resentment, and relief at having finally been found again.

Su-ho let out a hollow laugh and said,

"Why would I forget you? I'm going to torment you until the day I die."

"Right......."

"More importantly, why were you unconscious? You weren't even breathing."

"That...... judging from what I can tell, I think the Mega Crusher simply shut me down completely, like turning off the power."

"The Mega Crusher? Turned off your power? What are you talking about?"

"Well......."

Pi Seong-yeol explained.

In summary, this was what had happened.

Because dismantling items with the Mega Crusher could substitute for eating and drinking, at some point Pi Seong-yeol had simply continued dismantling items without emotion.

But after the stockpile that had seemed endless finally disappeared, the Mega Crusher began tormenting him with extreme hunger and pain.

When that condition dragged on for too long, the Mega Crusher apparently sensed danger to its host and forcibly shut off his consciousness itself.

"You're not some machine...... Earlier you weren't even breathing, so I seriously thought you were dead. You're saying it has a function like that?"

"Yes. I didn't know either, but I found out this time."

That was a relief.

Su-ho really had been worried that Pi Seong-yeol had died.

Of course, it wasn't concern for Pi Seong-yeol himself.

The Mega Crusher required a host, and it was an item that could only be used while inflicting pain on that host.

At this point, where was he supposed to find someone other than Pi Seong-yeol?

'I could find someone if I really had to.......'

Still, reality was that an experienced worker was better than a rookie.

Su-ho used recovery to restore Pi Seong-yeol to perfect condition, then.

[ Purification is activated. ]

"AAAAARGH!!"

Using Purification, he separated Pi Seong-yeol from the Mega Crusher.

"U-Ughhh......."

Pi Seong-yeol trembled in pain.

Ignoring him, Su-ho checked the information on the Mega Crusher he had removed.

[ Mega Crusher ]

Grade : S# Outstanding technology from another world.

# It can grind down any item, and through a more refined Art of Dismantling, it has become possible to additionally extract the materials and options possessed by the item.

# Every time the Mega Crusher's host dismantles an item, Dismantling EXP accumulates, and the accumulated Dismantling EXP makes the host stronger.

# The conditions have been fulfilled. The related quest has been unlocked.

"Oh."

As expected, the conditions for unlocking the quest had already been met long ago.

Su-ho immediately touched it and started the quest.

[ Quest activated. ]

[ Awakening conditions have been revealed. ]

Awakening conditions?

Not quest conditions?

He checked the information again.

[ Mega Crusher ]

Grade : S# Outstanding technology from another world.

# It can grind down any item, and through a more refined Art of Dismantling, it has become possible to additionally extract the materials and options possessed by the item.

# Every time the Mega Crusher's host dismantles an item, Dismantling EXP accumulates, and the accumulated Dismantling EXP makes the host stronger.

# Awakening will proceed after an additional 10,000 items are dismantled.

The conditions had been revealed.

But they weren't quest conditions.

They were awakening conditions.

The contents themselves were simple.

Compared to the previous condition, which had required dismantling 1,000 items, the number had simply increased tenfold.

Su-ho narrowed his eyes.

'So the Elder knew this and sent me here first.'

Of course he did.

After thinking for a moment, Su-ho attached the Mega Crusher to Pi Seong-yeol again.

"AAAAARGH!"

The process of attaching the Mega Crusher hurt as well.

Ignoring that, Su-ho left the Subspace House.

Then, after thinking briefly, he took out his phone.

Jack glanced over, then returned his attention to the TV.

The person Su-ho called was none other than Ion, the head of the Union.

The call was answered before the ringing tone had even sounded three times.

- Chancellor!

Chancellor.

It had been a long time since he'd heard that title.

Su-ho gave a faint laugh and said,

"Director—no, you're Chairman now, aren't you?"

- Whether I'm Director or Chairman, what does it matter? Call me whatever's comfortable for you. More importantly, what brings you to call after so long?

Ion sounded so delighted he was practically bouncing.

Naturally.

Thanks to Su-ho, he'd been able to do more than simply bring the Union out of the shadows and into the open.

He had turned it into a massive global corporation spanning the entire world.

"Ah, it's nothing major. I just have something I'd like to ask you to handle discreetly."

- If it's a request from you, Chancellor, then of course I'll do anything. Just say the word.

"I'm at my house in Cheongdam right now, and I need a large number of items. Not consumables. Please focus on wearable equipment and send them here. The type doesn't matter. If you have Subspace Pouches, it'd be even better if you packed them into those to reduce delivery volume. And separately, if you have any cursed items, gather every last one and keep sending them here."

- Understood. Will that be enough?

"Yes. But you're not asking why?"

- If you're asking for them, Chancellor, then I'm sure you have a reason. And since you're telling me separately instead of going through Mr. Kim Geon, I'm assuming it's something that requires confidentiality.

"As expected of the Chairman."

- Oh, not at all. More importantly, when do you need them? If it's urgent, I can have them sent within an hour.

"That fast?"

- We can start by sending the items the company already owns, and for the rest, we can sweep up what's available on the market and hire teleport users to deliver them.

"The world's gotten convenient."

- It's the world you created, Chancellor. Nobody has to worry about monsters, Gates, or criminals anymore, so everyone's focusing on developing technology and conveniences again, just like before the Great Cataclysm.

That was a good sign.

Su-ho smiled and nodded.

"Then I'll leave it to you. The faster, the better. Ah, and as for the items, I'd appreciate it if you mainly gathered ones nobody needs, as long as it doesn't affect the market."

- Of course.

Not long after the call ended, the doorbell rang.

When Su-ho went outside, the Subspace Pouches he'd ordered were waiting in front of the door.

Each pouch had a name tag and quantity written on it, divided between ordinary items and cursed items.

As expected of Ion.

His work was even more efficient than Su-ho had expected.

Su-ho gathered them up and said,

"If employees bring more pouches like these later, just keep them all together."

- Got it.

"You're not even going to ask what they are?"

Instead of answering, Jack waved his hand dismissively.

Meaning, go away.

His eyes were still fixed on the TV.

"That bastard......."

Su-ho shook his head.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

'Wait, do I have to personally take these pouches into the Subspace House every single time?'

Only Su-ho could enter the Subspace House.

Even Jack couldn't enter if Su-ho wasn't there.

But then that would be way too inconvenient.

At that moment, a good idea came to him.

'I can just put Pi Seong-yeol next to Jack, can't I?'

Smiling, Su-ho hurriedly entered the Subspace House.