by Yoo Seong
‘I’ve already fallen down hundreds of metres. If I hit the ground at this height and speed……’
100% death! Unconditional death.
‘But I can reduce the fall speed!’
Ark murmured and raised his head. Ark manipulated his Nymphe and a shovel sprung out of the bag.
‘I can slow down the speed using this!’
Bakak-!
Ark used all his strength and plugged his shovel into the ice wall. And a sharp pain split his shoulder. It was natural. The shovel was stuck inside the ice wall so he all the weight was concentrated on his shoulder. An average person would’ve dislocated their shoulder. The reason it was possible was because Ark hadn’t neglected to exercise…..but the reason was different.
Jijik! Jijijijik! Jijijiji!
The armour covering his shoulder rose like a muscle. Everything was due to the battle suit covering Ark. The battle suit was a technology of the future that increased the endurance of the body! Ark was also using the battle suit designed by the Rama……
‘My speed has decreased a little bit! It is possible for me shoulder to hold out!’
…….Just as he was thinking that.
Papapapa! Papapapa! Papapapa!
Ark confirmed the effect and wielded his shovel like crazy. His fall speed would decrease a little bit every time it hit the ice wall. Once his speed decreased to a certain point, he got drive the shovel into the ice wall even more powerfully. Ark grabbed the shovel with both hands.
“That’s it!”
Snap! Kakakakaka!
The shovel tore down the ice. A long scar dozens of metres was created in the ice wall….uddeok! His body finally stopped.
“Pant pant pant, I-I’ve stopped.”
Ark dangled from the shovel and gasped with a pale white face. He had been frantically shovelling after falling off the cliff. It felt like he had done a strenuous workout as sweat dripped down his body.
“If I was a little late…..”
His eyes dropped to the bottom and he felt a chill again. There was only 10 metres until the ground
If he had delayed even a few more seconds then he would be smashed like the Rama warrior. He looked at the smashed body of the Rama warrior on the ground. If Ark was even a little slower then he would be in the same position.
“It is fortunate that I’m alive.”
But he couldn’t feel pleased when looking at the distance he fell. It had taken him 3~4 minutes to stop falling down the crevasse. When considering his rate of descent, he had fallen at least a few kilometres. In other words, he needed to climb up a few kilometres in order to escape the crevasse
However, his worries didn’t continued for long.
“Eh?”
Ark looked around the area restlessly. He saw a shining object next to the body of the Rama warrior
The identity of the object was a piece of armour! The Rama warrior had dropped an item. He stopped worrying about escaping the crevasse the moment he saw the items. A level 50 warrior had dropped an item!
“Isn’t this a windfall?”
Ark cheered and jumped to the ground.
Jang-! Jajajajak-!
There was a sharp sound and cracks spread on the ground. Ark took a deep breath and looked around at the unexpected situation.
‘What, what the? This floor….is it ice?’
Ark had jumped down to a ground made of ice. Luckily the ice seemed fairly thick. However, the ice had weakened thanks to the Rama warrior’s fall and cracks started to spread once Ark stood on it. Once the cracks happened, the ground started to shake.
‘If this continues……’
The cracks would slowly spread across the ice floor. He couldn’t fathom what was underneath the ice. Ark had to live no matter what. If he didn’t live then everything would be wasted. However…..however……
‘I can’t! I can’t give it up!’
Ark swallowed his saliva and stared at the shiny armour in front of him. It was an item a level 50 Rama warrior had dropped. How could he give it up when it was right in front of him?
‘Yes, there is no guarantee the ice will break even if I grab the item. The chances of getting out of the crevasse is 20%. Right now dying is a common part of my history. It isn’t an abrupt thing. But that item will be mine!’
So far Ark had died 7 times on Beltana! He had died so frequently that Ark was desensitized to the sensation. Therefore he became a slave to his greed and carefully advanced towards the item. He spent 10 minutes narrowing the distance little by little. Ark looked at a big crack with anxiety and fear before grabbing the item.
“I got it!”
Harkenion Armour (Magic)
Item type: Light Armour (Coat)
Wearer Restriction: Level 40 (Body Coating Required)
Defense: 45 Durability: 5/50
A armour made from a metal called Harkenion mined from the planet Atempor. Harkenion is a peculiar material with a unique hardness like rubber and is a widely used metal in armour. However, excellent space resources invites trouble. A few years ago, the Rama raided Atempor for its Harkenion as formed it into a colony. Since then the Rama has monopolized Harkenion and produced many special armour with it.
“A level 40 magic armour!”
Ark cheered with joy.
Jjang!
A sound was heard from under his feet. The cracks spread through the icy ground like spider webs and it was barely hanging on. Ark’s weight had increased after picking up the armour. He had to carefully maintain his balance on the broken ice.
“Hik! N-no! Before it is too late……”
Ark hurriedly turned around. Then it happened.
Jajang! Jajajajang! Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!
The icy ground split apart and sunk.
“Heok! Eh? Eh eh eh? Eh eh eh eh? Waaahhhhhhhh!”
He fell and his feet touched the ground. The place underneath the ice wasn’t as deep as he thought
Ark was sighing with relief when his foot slipped and he started sliding down at a huge speed. There was a steep slope underneath the ice! He was slipping down with no end in sight. Ark hurriedly packed the armour and took out his shovel. He used the same method like when he fell into the crevasse and slowed down. Then something quickly appeared in front of him. It was a pillar of ice as sharp as a blade! If he collided with the ice pillar then he would be cut in half.
“Dammit!”
The shovel wouldn’t work. Ark hurriedly put away the shovel and took out the Fading Steel.
Cheolkeok, cheolkeok, cheolkeok! Pepepeng!
He blindly fired the Fire Bullets and shot the ice pillars, scattering it. However, there wasn’t just one ice pillar. When one was broken, it was followed by another and another! Ark hurriedly reloaded the Fading Steel and kept on firing as he slid down. How long was he sliding? He had reloaded 13 times. After he had shot the Fire Bullets many times, an underground square unfolded in front of him.
Daekururu, teolsseok!
Ark rolled 100 metres in the square before he could finally stop. Ark’s face slammed into the ice and he flinched after he raised his head.
“Pant pant, I survived once again…..what is this place?”
Ark swept away the ice fragments and looked around. It was a huge underground cave with giant icicles hanging from the ceiling. First he had fallen into the crevasses and then he had slid down a steep slope. He didn’t know how deeply he had fallen. Now he had to determine the distance from the federation base
“GPS!”
-The GPS doesn’t work normally in this area.
He have fallen several kilometres into a deep crevasse. He was too deep underground so the GPS didn’t work.
“Damn, does that mean I just have to wander around?”
Ark sighed and mumbled. Suddenly a new message appeared from the Nymphe.
-You have received a feeble signal from a nearby structure.
A compass appeared
on the Nymphe and the direction was indicated.
“An unknown signal? Then something is here? Why in a place like this……”
Ark worried about it for a while. It might be a signal for help from someone unidentified but there was no indication if it would be friendly or not. However this was a game. He never expected that a signal would be discovered in a place like this but it was a game so he couldn’t ignore it. Something popping up like this could be a jackpot.
‘I need to confirm what the signal is!’
Ark looked at the compass and ran across the underground cave. The underground cave was more spacious and complicated than he thought. The Nymphe also only indicated the direction so he would often be blocked by the terrain. But he wandered around for a few hours and the terrain gradually became familiar. Therefore he slowly got closer to the signal. The path suddenly lengthened and opened up.
“W-what is going on?”
++ Ruins of an Ancient Alien Civilization ++
You’ve stumbled upon an identified signal underneath Beltana. You’ve followed the signal and found the remains of an ancient civilization. The purpose of the ruins is unknown
Whenever a pioneer discovers an unknown civilization or area, they can gain adventure points. Adventure points can be used for various purposes.
* Adventure Points +100
An information window appeared from the Nymphe.
Space 7
Pyramid
“Hrmm.”
Ark tilted his head to one side. He had fallen several kilometres down a crevasse and was in a huge underground square. Ark had followed the signal from the Nymphe for several hours before finally arriving at the destination. Then information about the ruins of an ancient civilization surfaced on the Nymphe.
“But no matter how I look at it……”
Ark was standing in front of a huge stone building. It was a building dozens of metres high with bricks stacked up. Ark had seen this building before. No, anybody on earth would know that building. An Egyptian pyramid! Ark had found a pyramid in the underground square. One of Earth’s pyramids had been discovered on Beltana that was hundreds of light years away. The question ‘why?’ came to his mind.
‘This is something impossible.’
He was a man so this was a mystery that Ark was crazy about. He had often watched documentaries talking about the mystery tied to the pyramids. The pyramids were built thousands of years ago where the technology made it impossible to build the pyramids. So many people thought the pyramids were a creation of an alien civilization. He had just thought of it as a funny story.
“Galaxian is a game set in the future where aliens exist. If aliens like the Charenjok and the Grey could visit Earth then building a pyramid wouldn’t be a problem.”
Ark organized his thoughts. The game had contingencies set for everything. There was a reason the architecture of the building was in the form of a pyramid.
“The pyramid is the tomb of an Egyptian King. I don’t know why a signal is coming from this place but if it is built for the same purpose as Earth’s pyramids then it should contain a high ranking alien king. And if the alien pyramids have the same customs……”
The customs of the ancient Egyptians! The King’s burial goods was left with him. That was the reason most modern archaeologists wanted to investigate the pyramids. 90% of the academic or history research were excuses. The real purpose was to steal the burial goods left in the pyramids.
‘There might also be burial goods hidden here!’
Ark was sensitive to the presence of gold. This place was still unknown. In other words, no one had robbed this pyramid yet. He could hopefully monopolize the goods!
‘Life is really ironic.’
A thrill of excitement surged inside him. He had fallen into Valencia’s trap and was chased by the Rama before falling into the crevasse. But who would’ve expected to find something like this thousands of metres underground? A huge treasure might be hidden in the pyramid! If Valencia knew this fact then he would probably regret it. Endorphins flowed in Ark as he imagined it.
“Kekeke! I’ll sweep them all!”
Ark started to investigate the pyramid. But despite examining every corner of the pyramid for a few hours, he couldn’t find a way to enter.
“What? Is this just a model that resembles the shape of a pyramid?”
He started to feel uneasy. But Ark soon shook his head.
‘No. This is clearly not just a model. My Nymphe had received a signal from this structure. There is no doubt that something is hidden inside the pyramid. But I can’t find the door…..’
Then an ‘!’ appeared in his head.
“Wait? Why do I need to go through the door?”
Ark was interested in the pyramid because of the signal. In other words, he wanted to rob it. There was no need to politely go through the door! And Ark possessed a way to enter without a door.
“It is this!”
Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
Ark lifted his shovel. It was the shovel that saved Ark from despair on Beltana! Once again, Ark had learnt the Dig skill while trying to rib the museum. He originally used it to earn food but now it was a tremendous skill!
“Okay, shall I get started?”
Ark spat in his hand and grabbed the shovel. He started to show off the intermediate Dig skill.
Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
Every time the shovel moved, a huge part of the ground was dug up. The -50 frozen solid ground and rocks wasn’t a problem for Ark. No, what problem would stand in the way of Ark’s dream of a jackpot? Ark was determined to enter even if blisters appeared on his hand and didn’t stop shovelling.
Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
It also wasn’t difficult to determine the direction to dig. He receive the signal from inside the pyramid. This meant there was a signal generator inside. So he could just follow the direction of the signal indicated on the Nymphe! Ironically, the signal had become like a compass to a tomb raider.
Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
He spent 2 days frantically digging at the ground!
“Here! The signal is coming from above here!”
Ark stopped shovelling and looked at his Nymphe.
-The direction of the signal is coming from 2 metres (↑) .
The compass that had been firmly fixed until now was finally pointing upwards.
“It is only 2 metres away! Right above me!”
Ark cheered with delight and dug at the ceiling with his shovel. He didn’t care even if a heap of earth fell on his face. The only thing that revolved in Ark’s head was the treasure sleeping inside the pyramid! What did a little dirt matter as long as he could get the treasure?
Tang-!
Then he heard the sound of a shovel hitting stone. Rocks had interrupted him a few times before
These were flat rocks! There was no doubt that they were the paving stones from the floor of the pyramid. Ark immediately dug up the soil around the stone. Once he got rid of the surrounding dirt and pushed at the stone, it immediately went up. He lifted the paving stones and climbed up…….
“G-gold!”
Ark’s mouth gaped open. Ark had climbed into a room where the walls, floors and ceiling were sparkling with gold. But disappointment appeared on Ark’s face after a moment. It was shining with gold but it was just the room. It was gold paint applied instead of real gold.
“Damn. Making me so excited. Why is gold paint applied to the walls? Huh? This is?”
Ark frowned and turned around. A chair that looked like a throne was placed on the opposite side of the room. It was gold just like the interior of the room and a mummy was sitting on the throne. However Ark wasn’t interested in the dead body. There were two items placed on a table in front of the dead body. One was a type of long sword with complicated patterns carved on it and the other was a small pyramid.
“This is it! It is impossible for there to be nothing!”
Ark’s face brightened. The items were entombed in a pyramid! Perhaps they were items the mummy had used. It was an item that an alien king or aristocrat had probably used. In fact, the sword had a silver blade with a pistol grip stuck in the sword hilt. He didn’t know the purpose of the small pyramid but just the sword was worth it.
“Even if that is a magic item……!”
Ark started salivating and took one step forward. Then he stepped on a pattern on the ground and a humming voice was heard.
-Trespassers!
“Eh? What, what the?”
-You have disturbed this refuge! You will be cursed by Anubis, the guardian of the dead!
A bright light appeared around the dead body. Ark reflexively closed his eyes.
“Huk! What is this? Where is this? Mummy? Item?”
He had only closed his eyes for 1 second. Yet this place didn’t have the room of gold, the mummy or the items? The room he was in was around 10 metres. Instead of walls of gold, bizarre murals full of people in the afterlife were drawn and 4 statues of Anubis were placed in each corner of the room.
“What is this…..”
Ark was flustered as he looked around. Then the room was dyed in a red colour.
Ujik! Ujik! Ujik! Ujik!
There was also the sound of stone moving. Ark winced and turned his head.
“N-no way…..that stone……”
Powder fell down as the stone statues of Anubis in the corner started moving. The statues moved like they were waking from a sleep and turned towards Ark. And they brandished a long iron bar. He had been teleported into a large room where the stones started moving. He didn’t know what was going on but one thing was obvious.
‘If I continue staring blankly then I will die!’
Ark ducked and rolled his body.
Kung-!
The iron rod caused a pit as it slammed against the wall. Ark rolled across to the wall on the other side and stared at the Anubis.
‘Yes, I roughly know what is happening. The mummy in the room I entered is clearly the owner of the pyramid. And as expected, there are burial goods hidden there. But there was something I hadn’t considered. Traps were installed in the pyramid!’
Earth’s pyramids also had a history of various burial goods being robbed by a number of tomb raiders. And kings had predicted those things for thousands of years. Therefore they created numerous traps when building the pyramid. Wouldn’t that also be the same for a pyramid created by an alien civilization?
