Since the spaceship wasn't that large, the repairs were completed within an hour.
As Yoon Seo and Kwon Jihan inspected the ship for any more loose screws, Yoon Seo felt a faint vibration against his shoe and looked down. Tap-tap-tap. A baby slug, no bigger than a fingernail, was diligently tapping his shoelace with its tiny front legs.
When Yoon Seo glanced down, the baby slug said, "Ttyulkkyagyeb Bburupbbi!" and then quickly scurried back to its mother.
"What did it say?"
The slug representative answered.
[Ttyulkkyagyeb Bburupbbi. In our language, that means 'thank you.']
"How do you say 'you're welcome'?"
[Kkyulibppye. That's how.]
"Kkyulibppye."
When Yoon Seo said this while looking at the baby slug, it trembled its antennae with excitement.
Suddenly, all the other slugs began trembling their antennae as well. The reason for this collective reaction became immediately clear when the representative exclaimed in surprise.
[Oh my! Why is your pronunciation so good? Do you perhaps have any Ttyulkkyak ancestors?]
"I'm a pure human from Earth."
[You're the first person who's ever pronounced Ttyulkkyak so perfectly! You have a real talent for our language!]
"Is that so?"
[Would you consider becoming a Ttyulkkyak? With your excellent pronunciation, you could fully enjoy speaking our language as one of us!]
At the unexpected offer of citizenship, Yoon Seo hesitated. Kwon Jihan, seeing this, dramatically wrapped his arm around Yoon Seo's.
If this were a dungeon, a system message saying, The God of Love is pleased, would have appeared.
"My hyung is a memory genius. His recall is so good that his pronunciation turns out perfect. But don't give him that look like you want to recruit him. All 6.3 billion humans would rise up."
[Ooh… 6.3 billion, that's really terrifying….]
Kwon Jihan's warning seemed to have worked as the slug representative drooped its antennae and stepped back.
With the slug population only in the tens of thousands, Earth, with its 6.3 billion people, must have felt like an overwhelmingly high-level planet.
Despite having issued the warning, Kwon Jihan, feeling guilty when he saw the slugs' deflated mood, crouched down in front of them.
"Someday, there will be billions of alien species who speak Ttyulkkyak. The universe is vast, and surely there's a planet with an environment just right for you slugs. Both you and we will find what we're looking for."
[Thank you so much. But is there something Yoon Seo and Kwon Jihan are searching for as well?]
"Yeah. A status effect nullifying potion."
"And an Ego Sword too. We're looking for an intelligent weapon."
[A potion and an intelligent weapon….]
The representative fell deep in thought.
Just then, a small robot appeared, waving its mechanical arm.
"AiAi (II)! The repairs are done, nyam! Let's head back, nyam!"
The robot swiftly retreated into its main body. With a whir and a click, the humanoid's eyes opened.
Just as Kwon Jihan was about to get up, the representative urgently gestured for him to stop.
[Just a moment. We will reward you. Our kind always repays favors.]
"Oh? What is it? I won't refuse."
The representative pulled something out of the inventory, a key the size of a grain of rice. When it touched Kwon Jihan's hand, it grew to a size that fit perfectly in his grip. The entire thing was black and had a glossy sheen.
Peep?
Riceball showed interest, landing on Kwon Jihan's hand. Kwon Jihan held it carefully, allowing Riceball to peck at it with its beak, and asked,
"What does this key open?"
Before the representative could respond, Myam suddenly shouted.
"This is, no way…! Isn't it the 'Key to Find What You Seek', myam!?"
"The name is intriguing. What exactly does it do?"
Myam, full of excitement, explained.
A long time ago, before an awakened being known as the 'Judicator' ascended to become a blessing god, he decided to get rid of some of his items.
Countless buyers came seeking him to acquire the rare items he had collected while traveling the universe for hundreds of years.
In front of the people gathered like swarms of ants, he said this:
'I have put all the items I possess into this chest.'
A glossy black chest.
It was 30 cm wide and 20 cm tall, but as is often the case with mystical items, it contained items much larger than its exterior suggested.
He placed everything he owned into the chest before closing the lid.
Then, he floated hundreds of glossy black keys into the air.
'There are 300 treasures in this chest, and there are 300 keys. I will scatter these keys across the universe. Some will be at the core, others at the edges. If you truly desire it, you will come to possess one of these keys.'
With these parting words, as he prepared for his ascension, the world went into a frenzy to find the keys….
Of course, no war broke out.
Because the awakened beings were good people.
"When you open the chest with the key, if you earnestly wish for the item you want, that item will appear in the chest, myam. But of course, it must have been an item owned by that awakened being before they ascended, myam."
Kwon Jihan's eyes shifted.
"Did that person have a potion that nullifies status conditions?"
"He didn't just have potions, he had elixirs, which are a tier above potions, myam. Most people took healing elixirs, so the status condition nullifying elixirs should still be there, myam."
"Tell me the location of the treasure chest. I need to go now."
"Of course, myam!"
Without asking Yoon Seo's opinion, the destination was decided. Yoon Seo didn't mind.
In truth, Yoon Seo wanted to give Kwon Jihan an intelligent, bound weapon like Riceball. If Yoon Seo opened the treasure chest with the key, a weapon with a consciousness would likely appear.
But if that happened….
'Kwon Jihan would flip out.'
Yoon Seo didn't want to argue with Kwon Jihan, and he knew well how badly Kwon Jihan wanted to get rid of this healing resistance.
If we prioritize correctly, getting the elixir first is more important than the weapon.
If Kwon Jihan were in a condition where no healing potion or skill would work, Yoon Seo would scour the entire universe to find a status immunity elixir and shove it down Kwon Jihan's throat.
"There are only a few dozen of these keys left, and I hear their price has skyrocketed, myam. As their numbers dwindle, the hidden battles to claim them have intensified, myam. This reward is far too generous for what we've done, myam. If there's anything else we can do for you before we leave, please ask, myam."
[You've already given us plenty of F-energy and completed all the repairs. Now, it's time for us to go our own way. We're just happy if we've been able to help our benefactors.]
"Where did you even get something this precious, myam?"
[An alien race that helped us 100 years ago gave it to us as a reward, telling us to pass it on to another alien race that helps us in the future.]
Kwon Jihan asked.
"What did you give that race in return?"
[We gave them an item that another alien race gave us 200 years ago, with the same instruction to pass it on when someone helped us.]
"And to that race from 200 years ago?"
[We passed on something from yet another alien race that helped us 300 years ago.]
Kwon Jihan looked intrigued.
"What about when you received help for the first time? What did you give back then?"
[The first distress signal we sent was 700 years ago. At that time, our ancestors were helped by an alien race with advanced scientific and technological prowess. They upgraded our Ark. Since we didn't have anything suitable to offer in return, we packed up vegetables and fruits from our farm and orchard. As it turned out, grilling them and eating them on skewers was their hobby, so they gladly accepted.]
"..."
[They gave us an item then, saying that if we ever needed help again, and another race came to our rescue, we should give them this item in return. They said those who do good deeds deserve a reward.]
"..."
[100 years later, we sent out another distress signal during a crisis. When we handed the item over to the alien race that saved us, they gave us a new item, telling us to pass it on to a third alien race as a reward.]
"I see. So it's a precious tradition that's been passed down for a long time."
Kwon Jihan was satisfied with this fairytale-like story.
But despite his satisfaction, a new problem had emerged.
The two humans and one android put their heads together.
They now had to leave a reward behind for the next alien race that might help the Ttyulkkyak people 100 years later.
What could they offer that would be as valuable as the 'Key to Finding What You Seek'?
"The most valuable thing I own is the blueprint for a spaceship, myam. But you can buy those anywhere, myam."
"Most of my items aren't tradeable."
"What about F-energy? It's essential for space travel."
"I can already imagine a scenario 100 years from now where these Ttulkkyang people run out of F-energy, send out a distress signal, and receive F-energy from aliens, only to give them F-energy in return."
"Hmm…."
Kwon Jihan thought for a moment before slyly suggesting.
"Warp bombs?"
Recently, Earth had developed a few bombs using warp particles. While not as powerful as antimatter bombs, they were strong enough to clear an S-class level 3 yellow dungeon in one go. Kwon Jihan had several of them stored in his inventory.