Chapter 70: Forbidden Demon Ore
“Bloody Bloody Ore Oa?”
The president seems to be confused by the unintelligible words.
“Let’s talk a little about the past…” Aisha sits deeper into the sofa and crosses her legs as she looks at the two sitting directly across from her.
The president and Yuma looked at each other and wondered what was going to happen.
“Three years ago some explorers entered the Black Dungeon deep in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. It wasn’t a very deep dungeon, but in the middle level they encountered a strange creature. It had thick, strong arms and skin as hard as steel. At first glance it looked like a gorilla. It was later given the official scientific name of Varin.”
“I don’t know. It’s rare for a black dungeon demon to be given a name, is it a rare demon?”
“No, not really. It lives in the middle levels of the Black Dungeon and has been sighted many times since it was first discovered. It’s fearsome in strength, but if you attack it from a distance with fire or lightning magic, you’ll have no trouble defeating it.”
“What? So the drop rate is low and magic ore is rarer?”
“No, the drop rate is pretty normal for a ‘Black Dungeon’ demon. There should be a good amount of magic ore around too.
The president looks doubtful when he hears this.
Then isn’t it strange! I’m a professional explorer and I don’t know what kind of demons and ores are out there!
“That’s true. Governments and international organizations covered it up.”
A cover-up?
The president and Yuma don’t understand Aisha’s story. They don’t understand why the government is covering up the existence of demons and magic ore.
“When this magic ore was discovered, researchers naturally wanted to study its effects. They fed it to the test subjects like any other magic gem and observed the changes it caused in their bodies. It was a perfectly normal experiment. And the effects were dramatic. The people who ate the magic gems gained tremendous power and speed. Just like Superman.”
“That’s awesome!”
The president’s eyes light up.
He’s suddenly interested in it when he hears that it can make him strong.
“Hmm, you’re a simpleton. The problem is, that’s what happened after.
“Problem?”
“When the effect of the magic ore wore off after about three minutes, the subject who had been moving around like a demon god suddenly stopped moving and began to vomit blood. Blood spurted out from every hole and he died.”
“Oh, come on, that’s…”
“When we dissected the bodies, we found shattered bones, ruptured blood vessels, torn muscles and tendons. The body just couldn’t handle it.”
The president and Yuma were shocked. The world was unanimous in believing that the “magic gems” and “magic ores” produced in the dungeon had no harmful effects on the human body.
“So you’re saying that this is the first ‶harmful‶ demon ore‶ that’s been found…”
Aisha snickers as the president wrinkles her brow and asks.
“Harmful is harmful. After all, the subjects are dead.”
Why do you have such a dangerous magic ore?
“I’m a researcher in the Black Dungeon. How can I not get my hands on such an interesting magical ore?
“Oh, interesting…?”
The president stares at Aisha in disgust, but Aisha doesn’t care and continues talking.
“Well, if something like this had been found we would have had to disclose it, but this was found just as the dungeon business was starting to take off. The government and corporations had made a huge upfront investment. If other dungeons and the magical jewel were considered dangerous it could affect the dungeon business. That’s what the governments thought.”
That’s why you covered it up?
“Yes. But it’s made the dungeon business a global industry. You could’ve started a company and made a profit too, couldn’t you?”
“G… Nu.”
The president can’t talk back and bites his navel.
“And governments have tightened their controls to prevent this information from leaking out. They strictly controlled access to the dungeons and narrowed down the number of scholars who could study them. Since the dungeon wasn’t very popular to begin with, there didn’t seem to be any strong opposition. I was also told by the Japanese government to keep quiet in exchange for research funding.
You’re talking!
“Hmph.”
Aisha stood up and began to walk around the room.
“But… I’ve been trying to figure out a way to use this dangerous magic ore. I’ve been trying and trying.”
It’s too dangerous!
“Yes, that’s right. No one can use the magic ore. It’ll kill them. I was about to give up on using it. But…”
Aisha’s eyes lit up. Yuma was horrified as she stared at him.”What if… What if there was a man whose muscles were made of steel?”
