How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game

Chapter 159: Children of the Desert (4)

I have a reason to be almost certain. The joining of Cedric and the archaeologist Theodore was a change I brought about.

Toun Zaha said it wasn’t something they had mentioned.

Although I changed Haisen’s fate, there’s a possibility they would have discovered it even without my intervention.

Moreover, considering the Mystic Power that Denif had, it’s almost guaranteed.

‘I felt a bit sorry that they might not get it because of me.’

One slightly suspicious point was whether Denif would have come here in the game without me.

If I hadn’t been there, things in the empire would have unfolded urgently.

Another agent would have entered as Erendil’s escort instead of me, but they wouldn’t have achieved this level of success.

By now, Haisen’s decline would have started, and Denif might not have had the leisure to come here.

Hmm. Perhaps Denif might have escaped with the remaining information during Haisen’s decline process.

In fact, the emergence of imperial terrorists was a few years after the game started.

Well, it’s not important.

The future has changed anyway. I decided to search based on this map for now.

‘Denif should have Mystic too.’

The next day, I introduced Namir to the group. The group welcomed him warmly.

After all, I had said I was going to recruit someone.

However, Namir looked a bit perplexed. It was because of the appearance of the group members.

It was a natural reaction, given how young they were and that there was even a dwarf.

-I-I didn’t expect there to be a dwarf…

-Don’t worry. They’re not a friend from the northeastern part of the continent.

There was also a hint of disappointment. It seemed he sensed the kids’ skills.

If Denif hadn’t released some of his aura at my request, wouldn’t he have been more disappointed? I introduced Denif as the second-in-command.

-The boss and sub-boss are… certainly different, but honestly, I didn’t expect such a gap with the other friends.

He spoke as carefully as possible. Of course, I told him they were all talented kids.

They actually were. After a brief sparring session, Namir understood to some extent.

He was very surprised when I explained the kids’ backgrounds.

The level of Aron, who learned swordsmanship in the fighting pit, and Jofor, who had only recently picked up a spear, was considerable.

-I know I’m being paid more than my skills warrant, so it’s a bit awkward to say this, but…

-Honestly, I felt a bit unfair to receive the same salary.

-But hearing that you’ve bought the future, I understand. It seems you have an excellent eye for people.

I could understand to some extent. I just smiled and patted his shoulder.

-I recruited you because I saw potential in you too. If you weren’t as good as the rumors, I wouldn’t have made such an offer.

-Is that so?

-And while the base salary is fixed, bonuses will be given based on performance. It doesn’t mean everyone gets exactly the same money.

The structure within an organization is important.

Even sports teams on Earth try to manage their players’ wage structure.

It’s the same here.

Equal treatment doesn’t always mean good results. Famous mercenaries and knights often change positions.

That’s why I planned to give high base salaries and generous bonuses.

Anyway, Denif seemed quite pleased with Namir’s joining.

After all, someone more skilled than Aron and Jofor had joined.

Aron and Jofor seemed to burn with more enthusiasm, perhaps feeling a bit stimulated.

‘That’s a good phenomenon.’

Although we didn’t have much to do after meeting Toun, we stayed for two more days before leaving Sonora.

We had to move quite tight to match the contact timing.

We also had to give Namir time to say goodbye to the people here.

Unlike the other guys who were without ties, Namir was a person with a base here.

‘I really can’t figure out where it is.’

During that time, I looked at the map Toun Zaha had brought, but there was no particular progress.

Even when I called Namir to look at it together, it was difficult to pinpoint the location.

To begin with, it wasn’t a map of the entire southeastern desert. It was closer to a detailed drawing of a specific area.

The oasis and seven large stone pillars were the most distinctive features, but…

It was hard to guarantee if they would still be there after so much time had passed.

In fact, desert maps are unreliable because they constantly change as the wind move the sand.

‘Even if that oasis or pillars remain.’

Finding it in this vast desert is quite difficult.

Even Namir, who had based himself here, said he didn’t know. It was the same even after asking around.

It was more of an obstacle than I thought.

I need to give Denif Mystic Power, but I can’t spend too much time here either.

“Oh, this is Mystic…!”

Anyway, as we left Sonora, Namir expressed sincere admiration feeling my Winds.

“But boss, why are they doing that?”

Namir tilted his head, looking at Aron and Jofor moving on foot without the protection of Winds.

“It’s training to endure extreme situations.”

“…”

Namir looked at the kids with a peculiar gaze. Strictly speaking, it was Denif who ordered it.

“Why? Do you want to do it too?”

“What? Me? Why?”

When I asked with a half-joking smile, Namir reacted strongly.

“If you lived here, wouldn’t you endure well?”

“That’s true. But I don’t want to endure pain unnecessarily.”

Namir shook his head firmly.

***

It took exactly 8 days to find a desert scorpion. To be honest, it was unexpected.

With Winds, I thought we’d find one within 4 days at most.

It really seemed like desert scorpions were becoming scarce. In the early stages of our journey, we encountered many prowling hunters. They seemed to be observing us. ???????

Namir was wary of them. He said that although we had large numbers, if they approached, we should respond strongly.

‘Killings in places like this are common and hard to trace.’

It was a frequent occurrence among hunters.

It was also a place where they competed for limited resources and to take each other’s spoils.

However, as time passed and we moved to more remote areas, the frequency of encounters decreased significantly.

And on the 8th day, we encountered a scorpion with a tail as big as two people put together.

Namir himself did the hunting, and it ended easily.

He blinded the scorpion’s eyes with an arrow from afar, then avoided its tail and rushed in to stab its head directly with his sword.

‘It was a professional’s skill.’

Afterwards, he cut off the tip of the tail and put it in a pre-prepared bottle of alcohol along with an antidote herb.

We didn’t bother to take any other parts.

“Wow, we found it quickly thanks to you, boss.”

“Really?”

“Usually, there’s no guarantee. Even if it’s fast, it takes a month, and if it’s long, we can’t find it for over half a year. If you’re insanely lucky, you might see one in a few days, but usually, you stumble upon them while catching other monsters.”

Is it like ginseng? I understood what he meant.

This time too, we found one sleeping under the lined-up sand dunes using Winds. If we had only used our eyes, we would have passed by without noticing.

One disappointing point was that we couldn’t find any clues written on the map.

Now I had two options left.

‘Either search a bit more. Or just retreat now.’

In the game, Denif would have found it on his own, but now I couldn’t be sure.

Mystic was too valuable to give up easily.

But the problem was that continuing an indefinite search would cost too much in terms of opportunity.

I couldn’t just tell Denif to find it himself either.

I couldn’t be certain that Mystic was on the map given by Haisen.

Hmm. I guess the best option is to set a time limit and search a bit more. The water and food we brought aren’t infinite either.

‘If it doesn’t work out, I might have to send Namir separately for a search.’

Let’s search for about a week more for now. Honestly, it was a short time to find something.

Even archaeologists with information take months to discover ruins.

But I can’t spend more time than that. I informed the group of the plan and started the search.

We’re looking for an oasis and seven huge pillars. However, that opportunity came sooner than expected.

In the desert night.

It was while we were changing into warm clothes and setting up the magic tent we brought from Gorivan.

“Huh?”

Denif exclaimed, looking at the western sky.

“Isn’t that an aurora?”

“Oh! You’re right!”

In the western sky, green and blue lights intertwined, shining as if creating an imaginary mountain ridge.

It looked like a cloth made of light was swaying.

I didn’t expect to see it so suddenly. Moreover, the point of appearance was closer than I thought.

“Stop what you’re doing and move immediately.”

It’s just the beginning stage. The aurora will gradually grow larger, and we need to get as close as possible.

The magical phenomenon will fill the sky for 15 minutes.

And the closer you are, the higher the mana sensitivity. We moved right away.

After moving for a few minutes.

The aurora spreading across the sky reached above our heads. I could feel the mana abundant in the atmosphere.

‘If we’re talking humidity, it would be over 90%.’

Mana that seemed about to overflow touched our skin. And it slowly seeped into our bodies.

The others seemed to feel it too, as they opened their mouths and looked at the sky.

[You’ve encountered an aurora. Your magic sensitivity is increasing.]

It had been a while since I saw a system message. I hadn’t been doing much scheming lately.

With the higher level, the required experience must be enormous.

A strong wind blew from afar. Perhaps it wasn’t just magic sensitivity that increased, my Winds seemed a bit sharper too.

About 1.7 times the usual sensitivity, even if not in the best condition?

Of course, this doesn’t last forever. It will decrease a bit when the aurora ends.

At that moment, I sensed something out of place between the flowing sand dunes with my expanded senses. I immediately turned around.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Just a moment.”

As I got a bit closer, I realized that something was in the shape of a person.

The fact that it wasn’t moving made its meaning clear. As expected, there was a withered corpse when we arrived.

“What’s this?”

“It seems they lost their way.”

We pulled out the body half-buried in sand, and there were no wounds on it. It’s quite far from the nearby cities.

I’m not sure how they ended up here, but I think they collapsed from exhaustion. Or maybe they ate something wrong.

But the equipment they were wearing looked quite good.

Denif seemed to feel the same way, as he drew the sword the corpse was holding. Shing- The blade was clear.

“Oh, it’s not bad?”

“Yeah? It’s not just worth a penny or two.”

It wasn’t a legendary sword, but it was a very well-made weapon. It’s at least high-grade. Of course, even high-grade is hard to find in reality.

There was a good amount of money in the pocket, and it didn’t seem like much time had passed since death.

With this level of equipment and traveling alone, it means they were quite skilled. Were they overconfident?

They probably didn’t expect to die in a place like this.

“We can give this to Aron.”

It was Denif’s words. Since Jofor uses a spear and Namir uses a curved sword, it was suitable for Aron.

I nodded in agreement. Aron expressed slight embarrassment at our reaction.

“Uh, but it’s from a dead person…”

“What does that matter? Does it feed you? It’s better to put it to good use.”

Denif said that and handed over the sword almost forcefully. At that moment, a strong wind blew again.

Sand flowed down over the place where we dug out the corpse. And there, something of a slightly different color was visible.

A hopeful thought crossed my mind.

I quickly dug through the sand with Winds. And a stone pillar buried under the sand revealed itself.

“Holy shit.”

Could this be it? I thought there might be only one, but that wasn’t the case.

As we continued to dig around, there were exactly 7 pillars.

“What’s this? Isn’t this what you were looking for?”

“…I guess so?”

I was dumbfounded, wondering if we could be this lucky. It seemed almost unbelievable how things were unfolding.

Denif let out a laugh of disbelief.

“You’re lucky.”

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