“Bloodstained Ore (Bloody Ore)?”
The president seemed perplexed by the unfamiliar term.
“Let me tell you a story from the past,” Aisha said, settling back on the sofa, crossing her legs, and fixing her gaze on the two men sitting opposite her.
The president and Yuma exchanged glances, wondering what was about to begin.
“Three years ago, several Seekers entered the ‘Black Dungeon’ in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. It wasn’t a particularly deep dungeon, but they encountered a strange monster in the middle layers. It had thick, sturdy arms, and skin as hard as steel. At first glance, it resembled a gorilla. The official scientific name later given to it was ‘Varlin.'”
“Never heard of it. It’s rare for monsters in the Black Dungeon to even be named, but is it a rare monster?”
“No, not really. It inhabits the middle layers of the Black Dungeon, and there have been many sightings since its initial discovery. Its brute strength is terrifying, but it’s not difficult to defeat if you attack from a distance with fire or Lightning magic.”
“So what is it? Is the drop rate low, making the Demon Ore rare?”
“No, it has a very ordinary drop rate for a monster in the ‘Black Dungeon.’ The Demon Ore should be fairly common.”
Hearing that, the president made a dubious face.
“Then that’s strange! How could there be a monster or Demon Ore that I, a professional Seeker, don’t know about?”
“That’s because the governments and international organizations concealed it.”
“Concealed!?”
The president and Yuma couldn’t understand Aisha’s story. They didn’t understand why the government would conceal the existence of monsters and Demon Ore.
“When this Demon Ore was discovered, researchers naturally tried to investigate its effects. Just like with other Magic Gems, they had subjects ingest it and observed the changes that occurred in their bodies. It was a perfectly normal experiment. And the effects were dramatic. The muscle strength of the humans who ate the Demon Ore was greatly enhanced, and they gained tremendous power and speed. Like supermen.”
“That’s amazing!”
The president’s eyes gleamed.
Hearing that it could make him stronger, he suddenly became very interested.
“Hmph, you’re so simple. The problem is what happened afterward.”
“Problem?”
“When the effects of the Demon Ore wore off after about three minutes, the subjects, who had been moving like Oni, suddenly stopped moving and vomited blood. Eventually, blood spurted from every Hole, and they died.”
“Whoa, that’s…”
“When the corpses were dissected, their bones were shattered, their blood vessels were ruptured, and their muscles and tendons were torn apart. Their bodies couldn’t withstand the power.”
The president and Yuma were shocked. The common understanding in the world was that “Magic Gems” and “Demon Ore” generated from Dungeons had no adverse effects on the human body.
“So, it’s the first ‘harmful’ Demon Ore ever found…”
As the president frowned, Aisha snorted derisively.
“Harmful is an understatement. After all, the subjects died.”
“Why do you have such a dangerous Demon Ore!?”
“I’m a researcher of the ‘Black Dungeon.’ There’s no way I wouldn’t get my hands on such an interesting Demon Ore.”
“I, interesting…?”
The president stared at Aisha in amazement, but Aisha continued her story without concern.
“Well, if something like this were found, it should have been made public, but it was found just as the Dungeon business was starting to take off. Governments and companies had made huge initial investments. If other Dungeons and ‘Magic Gems’ were also seen as dangerous, it could affect the Dungeon business. That’s what the governments thought.”
“So they concealed it!?”
“That’s right. But thanks to that, the Dungeon business has become a global industry. You’ve also established a company and are making a profit, right?”
“Gu…nu.”
The president couldn’t retort and bit his lip in frustration.
“And the governments strengthened their control to prevent this information from leaking. They strictly regulated entry and narrowed down the scholars who could study it. Since the Dungeon wasn’t popular to begin with, there didn’t seem to be any strong opposition. The Japanese government also told me to keep quiet in exchange for research funding.”
“Then you’re talking about it now!”
“Heh heh heh.”
Aisha suddenly stood up and began to walk around the room.
“However, I’ve been wondering if there’s any way to use this dangerous Demon Ore. I’ve been experimenting.”
“Impossible, it’s too dangerous no matter how you look at it!”
“That’s right, exactly. No one can use a Demon Ore that will kill them if they use it. No one should use it, and I was about to give up on using it effectively. But…”
Aisha’s eyes gleamed sharply. Yuma, who was being stared at, felt a chill.
“What if… there was a human whose muscles were made of steel?”