Ding!
[Additional information on the Star Sage Elia Posen has been updated!]
[She not only established the concept of alchemy and laid its foundation and groundwork, but also created the related rules and order!]
[By founding academies and guilds to foster the next generation of alchemists, she is a living legend and history! Even now, countless alchemists look up to Elia Posen as a role model and respect her!]
Jinhyuk stared at the messages flying up like rapid fire.
Countless alchemists looked up to her as a role model.
Well, there was no way for him to know that since there weren't any other alchemists around.
He looked at Elia, who was still going "Heh heh!"
She seemed even more impressive today, for some reason.
The first alchemist!
"Elia, one more question!"
"Ask away!"
"Then, did you also create the greatest taboo of alchemy?"
"As expected of my master, very sharp. You could say it's a taboo created based on the trial and error I went through."
Elia slid closer and lowered her voice.
Then, she spoke in a very secretive tone.
"So, I've never actually broken the taboo, you know? Because I did it before the taboo was even created. You could say I'm completely innocent."
Gulp!
As he swallowed dryly.
Kancho, who was listening from below, clicked his tongue.
"That's no good. Can't use that. And it's not 'completely innocent,' it's 'the perfect crime,' isn't it..."
Bam!!
Elia's hand swung out, and Kancho went rolling away again.
But this time was different.
Yodel Ranger Vice-Captain Kancho was no longer holding back.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Kancho immediately manifested his divine form and started pounding Elia's head with his slingshot, tearing into her.
Even Jinhyuk nodded this time.
She had held back a lot.
Thud!
Not long after, Elia collapsed ungracefully.
It was a pitiful sight that didn't match her titles of Star Sage and first alchemist at all.
"Acting all cocky when you're on your last legs!"
Kancho dusted off his hands and spun around.
His fur was disheveled from the fierce resistance.
But he seemed satisfied, so it was okay.
"Still fierce as ever, the Fist of Satan."
Elia flipped over and lay sprawled out.
"My head's a complete mess now!"
Momo came over and pressed down on the chaotic hair.
Jinhyuk also approached and sat down beside her.
"This Philosopher's Stone, did you give it to someone, Elia? You had it with you until you left here, right?"
"Ah, that?"
Elia snapped her fingers and wore a bright expression.
"I dropped it while running to get something to eat?"
He stared at her with a blank face.
So it was possible to lose it. Something this incredible.
"Then someone must have picked it up, processed it into an orb, and used it."
He took out the machine that had been encasing the Philosopher's Stone.
An orb that came out from somewhere.
He thought the purpose would be revealed after clearing Elia's promotion quest, but it seemed to be a separate issue.
Elia, who had been staring intently, sat up.
"Now I'm curious."
She rubbed her chin and examined the orb closely.
"Before, I had no idea where this was used."
Elia put the Philosopher's Stone into the orb and nodded.
"If it can block the stone's energy to this extent, it would be perfect for a doll, no more, no less."
"Hey, old hag! If you knew something like that, you should have said it earlier! Why were you keeping quiet?!"
"I think it's because my Primordial Curiosity level went up. Before, I just thought 'oh, okay,' but looking at it again, I see some new things."
She poked and prodded the orb with tools she pulled out from somewhere for a while.
"I've seen something like this somewhere... I feel like I've seen it."
Elia tilted her head this way and that, deep in thought.
"If you can't remember, just say so. I'll help you out. Even a broken radio is no match for this one hit."
Kancho pulled out an assault rifle from his bag.
Instead of pulling the trigger, he seemed to be planning to use it as a club.
But they had never owned a radio at home, so how did he know about that?!
After a little time passed, perhaps the threat worked.
Elia snapped her fingers.
"I remember! It's called Magitech Engineering, right?"
"Hey, old hag! You're not just saying something random to avoid getting hit, are you?!"
"No, I'm not! That's right, that's right. Magitech engineers always struggled with the core energy source when making dolls. Because if you don't periodically recharge it, it just stops."
The moment Elia finished speaking.
Ding!
[The Star Sage Elia Posen's curiosity has revived a forgotten memory!]
[The entry conditions for the 20th floor of the Tower of Myth have been met!]
Oh!?
The 19th floor of the Tower of Myth, which had been cleared when Elia promoted.
He was worried he'd have to go somewhere else to find out about the usage of the Philosopher's Stone, which was the entry condition for the 20th floor.
But it was solved in one go.
[You currently possess 3 Tower of Myth tickets. You may enter the 20th floor!]
His friends were still in good shape.
Without any hesitation, he pressed the entry button.
Let's go right away.
To find the owner of the stone.
* * *
The situation room of the CIA, located in Langley, Virginia, USA.
A strange atmosphere flowed into this place, where information from all over the world was gathered.
"Observation target 3,722 in Texas is also on the move."
"7,111 in São Paulo, Brazil, is the same."
Daniel Mercer, the head of the situation room, furrowed his brow upon receiving the report.
Did they all have dinner plans together today or something?
The major observation targets, which had been quiet for a while, started moving simultaneously.
Daniel stood up and walked over to the monitor.
In addition to the just-reported 3,722 and 7,111, over a dozen other points were moving.
"Display the observation reasons for the currently moving targets."
"Understood."
A moment later, Daniel let out a gasp at the text appearing on the monitor.
Every single one of them was suspected of being involved in large-scale terrorism or the assassination of key figures.
People they couldn't put out a warrant for because they had circumstantial evidence but no hard proof.
"Where are they going?"
"It'll be clearer if we wait a bit longer, but based on their current direction of travel, they're heading to the airports in each city."
"Can you find out the destination?"
"If they use their own passports, yes. If they use different names, it'll take time."
"Everyone, listen up."
The agents' eyes focused on Daniel.
"Stop whatever you're doing and let's handle this first. Find out where these people are going. If the names don't match, cross-reference them with the photos of everyone who booked tickets within 24 hours. Contact the relevant departments and ask for their cooperation. Let's begin."
"Yes, sir!"
With a loud reply, the situation room became busy.
The space filled with the noise of keyboards and phone calls.
Standing in the middle of it, Daniel let out a groan.
He had a bad feeling.
Usually, the results of such omens were either horrific terrorist attacks or assassination attempts that would go down in history.
"Destination confirmed for 173! Incheon, South Korea!"
"7,111 is the same!"
"What?"
Daniel frowned.
Incheon, South Korea. An unexpected destination had popped up.
It was the country furthest removed from terrorism and assassination. Why?
Reports from other stations followed.
There was no need to hear the rest.
All major observation targets were heading to Korea.
"Possibility of a layover in Korea?"
It happened sometimes.
Cases where they included an unrelated country as a decoy.
"Not at the moment. There are no tickets booked under the same name, and Korea is not a suitable transit point for switching to other means of transport. The land route is also blocked by North Korea."
Daniel tapped his fingers.
What the hell was in Korea?
It was too far a land to go just for dinner.
"Team leader!"
An agent who had finished a call came running over.
His flushed face suggested he had heard something serious.
"Well, it's not one hundred percent certain, but..."
"Just say it. It's fine."
"There's a rumor that the Russian special forces unit, Vali-Kits, has moved."
Daniel and the other agents gasped.
Silence fell over the situation room.
It couldn't be helped.
Vali-Kits was a threat of a different caliber from the targets they were currently observing.
A unit whose exact numbers or members were unknown, with only occasional survivor accounts being reported.
A truly invisible threat. If even Vali-Kits was heading to Korea, the situation was more serious than they thought.
"Contact the US embassy in Korea. Strengthen the security of American personnel stationed there... No, recommend they stop all external activities until we figure out the situation. If Vali-Kits is there, the security personnel on site won't be nearly enough."
"Understood! Should we inform the Korean side?"
"Hand over the list of monitored targets and tell them to prepare for terrorism."
"Yes, sir!"
After giving the orders, Daniel stared at the monitor.
Korea, a small country in Northeast Asia.
It had outstanding economic power and defense capabilities for its land size, but that was it.
A peaceful country that had lived far from terrorism or war for the past half-century.
The ones gathering there were threats that such a country would find extremely difficult to handle.
Since nothing had happened yet, early intervention from their side was impossible.
So, all he could do was hope.
That the damage wouldn't be greater than expected.
* * *
[Entering the path to the 20th floor of the Tower of Myth, the Magitech City 'Etheropolis'.]
"It's so cool!"
Momo's eyes sparkled as she snorted.
Just as Mohwang had said.
The Etheropolis visible in the distance was more splendid than any city they had visited so far.
"Ooh. It's developed quite a bit? When I first met them, magitech engineers were just eccentrics tinkering with simple mana circuits."
"Old hag. Stop your magitech hatred."
"It's magitech engineering, not magitech hatred, you ignorant raccoon."
Momo ran over and shoved her chubby face at Elia.
"What is magitech engineering?!"
"Ahem! Magitech engineering is, you see, the study of using mana to generate magical power and using that magical power as a driving force to move machines or buildings. If you add magical power to Gearheim, which we visited on the 18th floor, you could roughly consider it magitech engineering."
"Then is Etheropolis better than Gearheim?!"
"Well, it's not exactly that simple."
Elia continued explaining while squishing Momo's cheeks.
"Gearheim realizes all its movements through technology, but magitech engineering just glosses over the core elements or power source with magical power. Even if the technology is a bit lacking, you can just roughly cover it up with magical power! They probably couldn't even explain the principle if you asked them to."
"What?! So it's totally fake!"
"Your vocabulary is dazzling, chubby-cheeks! Very appropriate!"
Jinhyuk, who was listening, swallowed dryly.
As Kancho said, she seemed to have a bit of a magitech engineer hatred.
Anyway, why did the tower place them so far away again?
Was it being capricious?
After giving the tower a sharp glare, he started walking towards Etheropolis.
And at that moment.
Creak.
A strange sound echoed from the darkness.
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T/N:
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