“Huff… Huff…”
I dragged myself onto the sandy shore, as if I had been washed up by the tide.
The side effects of the elixir and the excessive blood loss had drained all strength from my body.
“Ugh…!”
I collapsed onto the sand, face down.
“…I thought I was going to die.”
I blankly stared up at the starry night sky. The peace that followed the long struggle felt almost unnatural.
But I couldn’t afford to waste time like this.
Forcing myself up with difficulty, I scanned the surroundings to make sure no one was around. Then, carefully, I retrieved the Cup of Life from my subspace storage.
A golden cup that shimmered with a radiant glow.
I dipped the cup into the seawater.
Immediately, a bright light flashed from within the cup. In the blink of an eye, the seawater transformed into a clear, pristine liquid.
“…That’s amazing. Do I just drink it as is?”
I examined the cup for a moment before raising it to my lips.
Despite drinking seawater, thanks to the purification effect, there was no trace of saltiness at all.
[You have achieved the ‘Consumption of Purified Water’ achievement.]
[You have received 5,000 points as a reward.]
“Haah.”
Energy began to return to my body. My hazy mind gradually cleared, and the bleeding on my back was rapidly stopping.
Though it wasn’t the full power of the cup in its complete form, a relic was still a relic—its healing abilities were remarkable.
“…Incredible.”
I stored the Cup of Life back into my subspace storage.
Then, I pulled out some bandages. I always kept emergency supplies in my subspace storage.
Taking off my shirt, I spread the bandage wide and wrapped it around my back.
There was some pain, but perhaps due to the cup’s effect, it was much more bearable.
“Phew.”
After taking out a fresh set of clothes from my subspace storage and changing, I prepared to return to my original location.
Wee-woo! Wee-woo!
“…….”
A commotion was unfolding outside.
Siren lights flashed as special task force vehicles rushed past.
By now, the incident should be wrapping up.
I wonder if Baek Eun-seong managed to escape.
Or is he, pissed off because of me, recklessly fighting the task force on his own?
A million thoughts crossed my mind, but I shook them off.
Baek Eun-seong did have a tendency to act impulsively at times, but he wasn’t an idiot.
He probably realized faster than anyone that his situation was doomed and made a quick getaway.
“Mmngh!”
I stretched my stiff body.
Alright, time to head back to the crime scene.
The Jinwonpo Guild War incident was swiftly suppressed as a large number of special task force agents were deployed.
Approximately 70 guild members were killed, and around 60 were arrested.
Since it was such a sudden event, the task force was focused on investigating the details of what had happened.
“Explain what happened.”
Detective Kang sat across from Jung Taechan, the leader of the Hyesung Guild, questioning him.
His body was in tatters, in dire need of medical attention, but first, the cause of this incident had to be determined.
“I don’t… know… they took it… those bastards….”
“What did they take?”
“My item….”
Jung Taechan muttered unthinkingly, half out of his mind.
“What item?”
“The Cup of Life….”
“The Cup of Life?”
Detective Kang furrowed his brows.
He had heard of it somewhere before.
Thinking for a moment, he suddenly recalled what it was.
“Oh, that stolen relic from a while back?”
“Yeah….”
“So it was you guys who stole it?”
“…Yeah. It was us. But then it got taken from us.”
“By who? Was it Goldwin’s crew?”
Jung Taechan shook his head.
“I don’t know. I couldn’t see their face.”
Detective Kang fell into thought.
Most of Goldwin’s crew had already been captured. Yet, when they were searched, there was no sign of the Cup of Life among their belongings.
So was this someone else’s doing?
Or did one of Goldwin’s people manage to escape with it?
“Did you see their face? Do you remember anything about them?”
“I couldn’t see their face. They wore a deep hat.”
“A hat?”
“And… a beard. They had a beard.”
“A hat and a beard, huh….”
That wasn’t enough to identify anyone. But if they had a beard, they were likely an older mage.
“What kind of magic did they use?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“Try to recall anything, even roughly.”
“Probably… non-elemental. I couldn’t make out its form clearly.”
“Non-elemental?”
Detective Kang tilted his head.
It wasn’t a common attribute. Not unheard of, but still rare.
“Alright. I see.”
Detective Kang stood up from his seat.
Jung Taechan glanced up at him, then let out a deranged laugh.
“…Catch that bastard. This is seriously unfair as hell.”
Meanwhile, Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo Ara were sitting on a rock somewhere near the scene, observing the situation.
The time was now 10:10 PM.
Their night patrol had long since ended, but because of the major incident, they had to remain here.
“Today was seriously dangerous. I never thought something even worse than yesterday would happen.”
“Yeah. But at least nothing truly catastrophic happened.”
After Detective Kang and Kim Sunwoo left, the two of them had encountered a few members of Goldwin’s gang while waiting for the task force’s backup.
Thankfully, their opponents were only C-rank mages, so they managed to subdue them without much trouble.
Had there been even one B-rank mage among them, things could have gotten much more dangerous.
Just thinking about it still gave her chills.
“By the way, where did Sunwoo go?”
Choi Seo-yoon mumbled absentmindedly, gazing at the night sea.
Even though the incident had been resolved for over thirty minutes, Kim Sunwoo was still nowhere to be seen.
She was starting to get worried.
Did he get caught up in the fight and get seriously injured?
Or did something happen to him?
Just as anxious thoughts began to creep in, a familiar shadow walked toward them from a distance.
“Sunbae?”
It was none other than Kim Sunwoo.
His clothes were intact, but his hair was damp, either from sweat or from swimming in the sea.
And his complexion didn’t look great.
“Where have you been?”
“Just went out for some fresh air.”
“Huh? Fresh air?”
Choi Seo-yoon stared at him, baffled.
She was about to say something when Detective Kang appeared behind them.
“Ah, everyone’s here. Thanks for your hard work tonight. You can leave the rest to us and head back now.”
He smiled, though he looked a bit tired.
Judging by the situation, the task force was going to be working all night.
“Oh, okay. Understood. Thank you for your hard work.”
Choi Seo-yoon bowed her head.
Detective Kang nodded.
“There might still be remnants of the perpetrators lingering around, so stay alert.”
“Yes, sir.”
Detective Kang disappeared somewhere.
Once again, only the three of them remained.
A heavy silence fell over them.
Yoo Ara and Choi Seo-yoon wanted to ask Kim Sunwoo where he had been, but his dark expression made them hesitant.
In the end, it was Kim Sunwoo who broke the silence first.
“I’m exhausted. Let’s go back.”
“Argh! I’m so pissed off!”
Baek Eun-seong let out a furious shout over the waters of Incheon.
He had been so confident about this job, yet it had ended in a ridiculous failure.
A sigh escaped him.
He had boasted that he could handle everything on his own, but now he didn’t even have the face to look at his comrades.
“…Ah, seriously, who was that guy?”
Baek Eun-seong recalled the figure who had escaped with the Cup of Life. The deep-pressed hat had concealed their face, leaving him with only one distinct memory—a strange beard on the lower half of their face.
“That bearded bastard. Who the hell is he?!”
Was he part of Goldwin? Or Hyesung Guild?
“…Judging by Jeong Taechan’s reaction, he wasn’t from Hyesung Guild.”
Then was he from Goldwin?
Even that didn’t quite add up. There were too many odd things about him.
For one, the moment he saw Baek Eun-seong, he had realized the difference in their abilities and fled at full speed without hesitation. But the most suspicious thing—he had jumped straight into the sea, as if he knew Baek Eun-seong couldn’t swim.
“How the hell did he know that?”
Baek Eun-seong bit his lip.
There were only a very few people who knew he couldn’t swim…
It couldn’t have been a coincidence.
Could there be a traitor in Jaun?
“…No.”
Jaun did not doubt its comrades.
That was the core of their principles—there were no traitors. He had to assume that as the baseline.
Then how—?
“…I don’t get it.”
Just then—
Bzzzt.
His smartphone vibrated with an incoming call.
The caller ID displayed the name “Bert.”
“Ah…”
His mouth went dry. He had no idea what kind of scolding awaited him once he reported this failure.
Even worse than the scolding would be his comrades’ ridicule and disappointment.
Click.
In the end, he rejected the call.
He wasn’t ready to face them yet.
Bzzzt.
The phone buzzed again.
“…”
Click. He rejected it again.
Bzzzt.
The phone rang once more.
“Sigh…”
The battle between the Goldwin Guild and the Hyesung Guild spread rapidly through news articles and reports.
Naturally, the Cup of Life was identified as the root cause of the conflict, sparking rampant speculation about who had taken it.
Of course, no one suspected a student from the Magic Academy.
Most theories suggested a betrayal within the criminal organizations.
Some even pointed out that recent mysterious incidents—like the attempted assassination at the Magic Academy—could all be the work of a single individual.
Naturally, those claims were quickly dismissed and ridiculed.
And so, time passed.
By Friday evening, the three-day field experience had come to an end, and I returned to the dormitory.
I sat on the couch, reviewing what I had gained from the trip.
[You have achieved the ‘Criminal Organization Suppression’ milestone.]
[You have received 7,000 points as a reward.]
[You have indirectly influenced the downfall of two villain organizations.]
[Your causality rank has increased by 1.]
A whopping 7,000 points.
Considering how slow my recent point gains had been, this was a very satisfying result.
Closing the message window, I opened my subspace and took out the Cup of Life.
“Hm.”
Bringing the cup here was one thing—now I had to figure out how to use it.
The Cup of Life was one of the components needed to create the Holy Grail.
The Holy Grail was a unique artifact capable of performing miracles under certain conditions, even reviving the dead.
It wasn’t useful right now, but if I could complete the Holy Grail, it would be a major asset.
“But… can I even complete it?”
To turn the Cup of Life into the Holy Grail, several other materials were required.
The hardest to obtain among them was an artifact called the Seed of Origin.
I had a rough idea of where the Seed of Origin was hidden.
However, it was currently out of my reach.
There was a condition that needed to be met.
And right now, I was too weak to fulfill it.
“What’s going to happen now?”
Now that Jaun had lost the Cup of Life…
How would they respond?
The Holy Grail was an artifact of significant importance in the original story.
It was tied to Jaun’s ultimate objective.
Of course, they could use a substitute item, though it would be less effective. Jaun’s goal hadn’t been completely disrupted.
But one thing was certain—right now, they were probably in complete mess.
They had lost an important item to an unknown figure, and their plans were now in jeopardy.
“Hm…”
What mattered was that I had bought myself some time.
Satisfied, I picked up the beer on the table and took a sip.
“Phew~.”
Refreshing.
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