The moment the Ring touched her hand, it was like a spark had been ignited. The professor's eyes widened instantly, eyes gleaming like the brightest star as she brought it closer for a look.
Then…she sniffed it. Took a gigantic whiff.
Minjae's jaw almost dropped to the ground as he saw the whole thing play out.
What the hell? Is she…some kind of pervert?!
"...What are you doing?" Minwoo asked flatly.
"Mana residue," she said matter-of-factly. "Sometimes you can pick up lingering traces depending on the origin—"
But instead of finishing her sentence, she spun on her heel and marched straight back to her desk.
She cleared the entire messy place in one sweeping motion, sending a stack of papers sliding dangerously close to the edge before stopping just in time.
"Cathedral, right?" she asked quickly, already setting the ring down onto a small circular device.
"Fallen Archbishop's Cathedral," Minjae replied naturally. But suddenly covered his mouth just as quickly as he realized that he just exposed himself.
"Mm," the professor replied quickly. "Thought so."
He frowned slightly. "…You did?"
"One of the earliest cleared Dungeons," she said, tapping the side of the device. "Back when people didn't know what they were looking for. If anything got missed…
The machine hummed to life. "…it would be something like this. That's the entire point the Dungeon History and Artifact Department existing."
A thin ring of light formed around the artifact, scanning across its surface, the light reaching in every groove possible.
Numbers began to populate the screen beside her.
"…No, no, no—that's not right," she frowned, tapping the interface rapidly.
Minwoo leaned slightly to the side. "…Is it broken?"
"No."
"…The machine's fine."
She tapped again, slower this time, eyes narrowing. "…It's the ring."
Minjae stepped closer. "What about it?"
Andrea crossed her arms before speaking softly. "It's like…the system can see it, but can't actually interact with it, almost like it's locked."
"...Locked?"
"Dormant," she corrected.
"Then, can you at least tell me what it does?" Minjae stepped forward, glancing at the ring before his gaze came back to her.
Andrea shook her head before sighing. "Maybe in my main lab, but I'd have to fly it back to Brazil…which I assume you're not thrilled by the idea?"
"…Yeah," Minjae replied flatly.
"Then, no," she said just as simply. "Right now? I've got nothing."
The room went silent for a while, filled with only the noises of the machine to their side, before Professor Andrea pushed out her chair and stood up.
"Although…there is another way: the Underground Awakened Market…"
Minjae blinked. "…That still exists?"
"I thought those were wiped out after the Chaos Era," he added, tilting his head slightly.
Andrea shook her head.
"Not wiped out. Just…driven underground." A faint smile tugged at her lips. "It's home to a variety of different Awakened services."
Minwoo frowned. "Isn't that illegal now? With all the international restrictions on Awakened abilities?
"Well, it depends," Andrea said, waving a hand lightly. "Some people go there for…less than legal reasons."
…
"But it's also one of the only places you'll find certain Skills being offered as a service."
She leaned into the desk, placing both arms on it. "I once heard about a CEO who saved his daughter using a Skill he found there. Something classified as 'incurable' by every hospital on record."
"Alright," Minjae said, entertaining the idea. "What would I even do there?"
"Someone with the [Appraise] skill. They'll one-hundred percent be able to help you out."
Then, a small smile appeared on her face. "Just make sure they don't run away with it once they realize how valuable it is."
A sense of dread immediately crept up on Minjae as he took the ring back into his hands. But regardless, there was no other way to find out the mysteries of this thing.
Guess I'll just have to take the plunge…
***
The city was completely different at night.
Towering buildings of glass reflected endless waves of neon coming from every billboard trying to fight for attention in the darkness.
Idol advertisements, luxury brands, energy drinks endorsed by famous Players— light spilled across the streets in every direction.
Minjae walked through it all, hoodie pulled up, half to cover his identity while the other was keep him away from the soft patter of the rain that was beginning to drop down.
He had one hand in his pocket while the other scrolled through his phone.
The screen displayed a forum that definitely didn't exist on any legal search engine. Even Minjae was having a hard time figuring out what was going on, as half of the posts were from anonymous usernames and were written in code words and slang.
His eyes narrowed as he kept scrolling, eventually arriving onto the post that he needed to find.
[How to access the Underground Awakened Market?]
[Need healer ASAP, no questions asked.]
[Looking for memory alteration skill, urgent.]
Yeah…totally normal society.
He scrolled past the variety of different comments before landing on a smaller thread at the bottom.
[First timers read this.]
He opened it immediately.
Several methods were listed, though most sounded like scams, arrests waiting to happen, or both. But one answer kept getting repeated over and over by different users.
Duckoo's Private.
A bar hidden in plain sight.
Some comments claimed it was owned by retired Battle Arena Players who acted as middlemen for certain Awakened services. Others said it was nonsense made up to lure gullible idiots.
Minjae stared at the screen for a second.
Retired Players…
That at least sounded more believable than 'knock three times on a sewer grate.' Unfortunately, the deeper he went, the stranger the forum became.
[Need someone with charm-type skill. Strictly professional.]
[Anyone know a fire-user that can heat pools cheaply?]
[LF illusion caster for revenge package.]
"…What the hell kind of place is this?" he muttered, backing out of the thread immediately.
After another few minutes of digging through directions, fake addresses, and arguments between anonymous users, a map pin finally appeared on his screen.
He looked up.
Across the street, tucked between a luxury watch store and a karaoke lounge, was a narrow building lit by a single warm sign.
[Duckoo's Private]
Yet there was no flashy neon sign or loud music to advertise where it was, just a front entrance and a tinted glass door.
Minjae slipped his phone back into his pocket and exhaled slowly.
…Guess I really am doing this.
He crossed the street quickly, before arriving at the place. Minjae stepped forward, reaching for the handle before—
Pushing the door open.