Record of a Thousand Lives: Chapter 32

Chapter 32.

They both often ran into people, but ignored them as they were absorbed in the digging.

Kang Yoonsoo said when he reached a certain point, down the cave.

 “Let’s do it here.”

 “Do what?”

Kang Yoonsoo put forth the shovel to Shannette.

 “Shoveling.”

 “…..”

 “Dig right here.”

Shannette shoveled, sweating.

Kang Yoonsoo dug the cave wall with his pickaxe.

As the earth was removed, an old and rusty item began to appear.

 [Weathered bone]

Value – 3

It is the bone of an ancient life form.  It was too old to be properly identified.

 [Rusty sword]

Value – 14

A sword believed to have had been used a very long time ago.  As the blade was so worn, it looked to be impossible to restore.

 [Belt of an aristocrat’s daughter]

Value – 42

A belt appeared to have been used by an aristocrat’s daughter.  The condition was good.

The mined items couldn’t be immediately used unless their conditions were in good shape.

The higher the values of the mined items, the more achievements were received when they were brought to the Excavation Clan.

Sometimes, the excavators were able to find quite precious items, such that they would become instantly rich, but such scenarios were rare.

Kang Yoonsoo placed the items into his knapsack based on how well they were preserved.

Shannete, who was shoveling the dirt ground, realized that she has hit something solid.

When she dug deeper, a bright amulet was unearthed.

 [Moonlight amulet]

Value – 177

The amulet that kept its brightness even after a very long time.  It had both the artistic and historical values.

 “Ka, Kang Yoonsoo!  Look at this one!”

Shannette said in astonishment.

However, when she looked over at Kang Yoonsoo, she froze.

Kang Yoonsoo took out a large item from the wall, and was holding it in his arms.

 [Pure gold horn goblet]

Value – 557

It was a goblet which was used by an ancient head of the Vikings in drinking his rum.  The preservation condition was so good that it could immediately be used without any problem.  It had a very high historical value.

As Shannette appeared as if she could not believe it, Kang Yoonsoo placed the pure gold horn goblet on his side.

It was because he could not put any more items into the knapsack as it was already full.

The two came out of the cave, and walked towards the excavators clan’s headquarter.

The people’s attentions turned to the two people who were carrying a full load of items.

 “What the heck?  They were unearthed by just those two?”

 “The items’ qualities appear quite good, too.”

 “They must have been digging all night.”

It wasn’t easy to find anything valuable, even if one was digging the ground for a whole day.

Most of them would only find items of no worth like rusty spears or ripped boots.

Unless one was innately skilled in searching methods, excavating was a difficult and laborious work.

The people looked at the two with envy.

 “We’ve come to offer you these items.”

Kang Yoonsoo offered the pure gold horn goblet, moonlight amulet, and other mined items to the excavators’ clan.

LeMax’s eyes were opened wide.

 “You mean, you mined all these items in less than a day?”

 “Yes.”

Kang Yoonsoo replied nonchalantly.

LeMax looked speechless, but soon he took out his magnifying glass to examine the items.

 “Hm…. The items have been very well preserved.  On top of that, the historical values are also great.  You’ll be able to build high achievements based on this.”

[You’ve offered excellent items to the Redstone Excavators Clan.

The excavation achievements have been raised to 1,328.

The current achievements:  1,328]

 “The achievements can be exchanged for items or money, over there.”

The way that LeMax looked at Kang Yoonsoo and Shannete was very pleasant, at this juncture.

After looking at the two for a while without saying anything, he made a proposal.

 “By any chance, do you want to be formal members of our Redstone Excavators Clan?  I’m just saying that because you two will be such a waste to remain as temporary members.  If you join us, and bring items in the future, I’ll promise to reward you with more generous awards.”

 [LeMax, the head of the Redstone Excavators Clan, approached making the proposal.

If become a formal member, the rewards will increase, but must always act in accordance with the Excavator Clan.

Do you want to change to excavation class?]

In a past life, Kang Yoonsoo had also worked as a member of the excavator class.

Of course, he was a leader that directed the largest excavator clan in the continent, rather than working as a lowly member.

He did not have any intention of resorting to being an excavator class.

 “I’d like to turn it down.”

 “It’s a good offer, but I don’t want to be an excavator, either.”

LeMax looked somewhat disappointed.

 “Is that so?  Sorry to hear that.  If for any reason you change your mind, do let me know.”

A storage box that looked similar to a steel vault was visible.

Kang Yoonsoo pressed the button at the center of the storage box.

Then, a bunch of different items which could be exchanged for achievements got displayed.

 [What items do you want to exchange for your achievements?]

Lightning storm cane – 100,000 achievements

Mysterious magical wristband – 50,000 achievements

Master’s pickaxe – 45,000 achievements

Magnifying examining glass – 40,000

They were rare items which could not be purchased at ordinary stores.

Especially, the lightning storm cane required 100,000 achievements.

 ‘The lightning storm cane is a very good item at this point.’

The magic cane not only raised the owner’s magical power, but it also increased the power of the magic, itself, by many folds.

Basically, it was difficult to obtain high class magical equipment in the Sylphia Continent.

As a result, any magical items, higher than the regular class, commanded high prices.

As much as the achievements were to be consumed, the lightning storm cane was certain to possess powerful force.

However, even combining a countless number of excavators’ outputs would not come close to 100,000 achievements.

So many excavators have been trying so hard in their search, no one was able to obtain the lightning storm cane.

Kang Yoonsoo looked at the items at the bottom of the list.

Firebird feather candlestick – 1,800 achievements

Dimensional knapsack – 1,200 achievements

Alloy shovel – 700 achievements

By spending the excavation achievements, Kang Yoonsoo obtained the dimensional knapsack.

That was because his current knapsack was too small to store his items.

The dimensional knapsack could hold unlimited number of items since the space inside could be expanded without limit.

Kang Yoonsoo spoke after putting in the excavation tools into the dimensional knapsack.

 “Let’s go.”

 “Alright.”

The two returned to the excavation site, and continued digging diligently.

Had they been excavator classes, they would have collected items more quickly due to specialized skills, but as they did not have the relevant skills, it took them a while to find the items.

However, they were successful in locating a series of valuable items.

 [Ancient daughter’s broach]

Value – 155

A broach used by an aristocrat’s daughter.  There was still someone’s blood stain on it.

 [Belt of pearls]

Value – 279

A head band with many, large pearls.  The pearls were excellently preserved such that they could easily be sold separately.

 [Mysterious squash]

Value – 417

A brilliant colored squash.  An unknown life form is frozen inside.  It might be possible to learn the identity of the squash by consulting a capable scholar.

 [Flash patterned sword]

Value – 247

A sword used by an ancient aristocrat.  It was more meant for displaying than practical use.  A well skilled blacksmith could newly reshape it.

It was the result of having continued to dig at the place which Kang Yoonsoo had pointed.

Not even feeling her exhaustion, Shannette happily filled the dimensional knapsack to the limit with the items.

 ‘I want to mine some more, but these are the last of the items with good preservation conditions.  Others need to be either repaired, or apply restoration magic, so we’ll stop here.’

It was when the two were going back up to the ground.

 “Kirikriyaaaaahk…!”

A big vibration was felt from the bottom of the cave.

A roaring sound, similar to crying, was also heard.

It felt like a sign of bad things to come.

Shannette shook her head as she had an ominous feeling from the unknown source.

However, she followed after Kang Yoonsoo without stopping.

LeMax was again impressed when the two offered the items, once again.

 “You did it again!  Are you guys sure that you really don’t want to join us?  I feel so bad about it.”

The two rejected this time around, too, and LeMax looked disappointed.

 [You’ve offered excellent items to the Redstone Excavators Clan.

The achievements are raised to 1,917.

Present achievements:  1,917]

Kang Yoonsoo obtained 1 more dimensional knapsack.

The new dimensional knapsack was to be used by Shannette.

It was when the two were about to head back to the excavation site.

A screaming sound tore up the air from the bottom of the huge boulder.

 “Aaaaaahk-!”

The people ran out of the excavation site’s exit as they turned pale.

Some of them were covered in blood, and some of them were breathing tersely as they had big injuries in their stomach area.

 “What, what’s it?”

 “What’s going on!”

The people near the excavation site gathered.

Something big must have happened inside the excavation site.

A woman, who looked emaciated and wet with tears, screamed until her vocal cords were about to break.

 “No one come in!  No one can enter the cave from now on!”

Everyone looked at each other with confused looks on them.

A man asked.

 “How come?”

 “A boss, a boss monster has appeared from the bottom of the cave.  It was a large, flying monster, and it indiscriminately attacked everyone.  So the people at the bottom of the cave became trapped….. Aaang!”

Everyone looked shocked.

A boss monster?

In this cave?

Based on the fear filled expressions of those who survived, it surely did not seem like a lie.

Besides, the blood stains on them were, in fact, real.

Understanding that her words were facts, a few people calmly shouted.

 “Someone bring the head of the excavators!”

 “By any chance, is there a healer class?  Look after the injured!”

One man quickly approached, and asked.

 “Has everyone inside the cave died?”

 “No, no one has died, yet.  But, the boss monster is loitering around inside the cave.  No one should go inside.  He will surely get killed!”

The woman was still filled with fear as she kept crying.

Every member of the excavator clan, including the head, LeMax, came running outside.

Having heard what was going on, LeMax looked quite serious before speaking.

 “We are stopping all and every work at the excavation site.  No one is to enter the huge boulder’s entrance, from now on.  All outsiders, including the non-members, are to leave this place, immediately.”

Then LeMax spoke to the members of the Redstone Excavators Clan.

 “We’ll form a reconnaissance team.  The cave is being run havoc by the boss monster, and there are still survivors.  The responsibility falls on us for having failed to properly inspecting the conditions inside the cave.  Should there be victims, we can no longer expect any support from the city.  We have to rescue all the survivors, at all cost”

Then a member of the clan offered his opinion with disapproval.

 “However, leader, as you just said, even we did not correctly assess the situation of the inside of that cave.  But then how can you send people in there to find the trapped ones and rescue them?  There is a good chance that we could get lost inside there.”

 “Hmm….”

LeMax fell into a deep thought.

It was a cold response, but it was logical.

Hastily entering the cave where the boss monster was running havoc could only lead to putting more people in danger.

The head of the excavators lamented.

 “If there was someone who had the complete knowledge of the cave’s inside…..”

 “I am familiar with it.”

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