Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: The Sacred Sword, Repaired
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For nations climbing the Undead section, the existence of the Sacred Sword was like a sturdy pillar of support.
If a 60+ floor challenge seemed impossible, you could just pay ten million dollars and rent it.
It was even fine to use it from the very beginning.
Ten floors in the Undead section.
Renting the Sacred Sword for every floor's conquest would cost 100 million dollars.
Each floor had a conquest time limit of six months.
Assuming you used every bit of that time, you could hold out for five years.
Blocking the Tower's collapse for five years for 100 million dollars? That was a steal.
But it broke.
The Sacred Sword, that is.
We even witnessed the moment it shattered in real-time.
A flood of articles poured out.
The phones at the Awakening Management Bureau were ringing off the hook.
Nations that had already booked, nations that had future booking plans...
They asked if repair was truly impossible, and if so, shouldn't countermeasures be prepared?
But as always,
no clear answer was given.
What could the Bureau do anyway?
The original plan was just to spend one night in the great outdoors and come back.
Whether it's a trip or camping, a day or two is fun, but beyond that, it's just hardship.
That's how Joo-hyuk felt.
He couldn't wash comfortably, and the sleeping arrangements weren't great either.
But then work came up?
Repairing the Sacred Sword.
It couldn't be done at the penthouse, so he had to stay put here until the repair was finished.
The items Razix needed to repair the Sacred Sword were just two.
A small electric furnace capable of melting metal.
And a forge used for heating iron.
That very day, the forge and the small electric furnace were delivered by the Bureau to Joo-hyuk's villa in Namyangju.
Razix dumped all the holy relic fragments he had collected from the Tower into the furnace.
In the forge, the broken Sacred Sword was being heated.
Holy relics.
Objects imbued with divine power.
No, to be precise, it should be called the Holy attribute.
Even though the terms are used interchangeably, a strict distinction is necessary.
Gyeon Dal-rae had explained it.
"Divine power and the Holy attribute are fundamentally different in nature."
"Really? How so?"
"Would it be alright if I explain from the beginning?"
"We have plenty of time, so that's perfect. Let's hear it."
After a moment to organize her thoughts, Gyeon Dal-rae began her story.
"God is not one. In the world, there existed numerous gods, each with their own distinct identities."
That's true.
If dimensions aren't one, how could God be one?
In the different worlds where the Summoned Ones lived, gods existed too.
Gods of humans, gods of dwarves and elves, gods of beastmen, and so on—gods from different dimensions.
"Master Gungja, do you think it's possible to take the unique divine power, the authority of these various gods, and blend them all together into one lump?"
"Hmm."
"It is impossible. They cannot be mixed. Authority is not something you mix."
Then what about the holy relics Razix collected?
"Those can be mixed."
Why?
Gyeon Dal-rae's explanation continued.
Imagine there's a beverage.
Cola, cider, banana milk, orange juice, strawberry juice, apple juice, mango juice...
The unique flavor, aroma, and fruit content of each drink represented the unique authority and identity of each god.
But if you removed all the flavor, aroma, and fruit content from those beverages, what would be left?
Nothing but water and sugar.
That sugar can be thought of as the Holy attribute.
The basic power that remains after the gods' unique personalities and authorities have vanished.
What if you add more sugar to that sugar?
It's just sugar.
The sweetness just gets stronger.
Then why did the unique divine power disappear?
Because the world perished.
The god shared the fate of the ruined world.
Just look at Lucius Bardin right now.
A paladin who serves the god Nigel can't even move a muscle against his Summoner's orders.
Does that make any sense?
It's perfectly logical.
Because the god Nigel has vanished, leaving only his name behind.
Lucius Bardin is a Summoned One with the Holy attribute, nothing more, nothing less.
The holy relics Razix collected also only contained the Holy attribute.
If you melt them all down, attach them to the Sacred Sword, and rebuild the damaged engravings?
It's like adding sugar to sugar to create an incredibly sweet, sweet, sweet lump of sugar.
"The Holy attribute is added to the Holy attribute, creating a Sacred Sword of incredibly intense Holy attribute."
"Ah-ha."
Razix knew this fact too.
That's why he had said he could repair it all along.
'Hoo-heh,'
He put the previously collected holy relic fragments and an Orichalcum ingot into the electric furnace.
The metal fragments went in as is, while the wood and stone-based holy relics were ground into powder.
Then he switched it on to melt.
After a short wait, a bubbling molten metal of Holy attribute appeared.
The broken Sacred Sword also needed to be heated.
Placed on the forge, Gobang huffed and puffed with the bellows until it glowed red-hot.
Once it seemed ready, Razix used the molten Holy attribute metal to fuse the broken parts of the Sacred Sword.
Next, Razix took a golden anvil and a golden hammer from his subspace backpack and began hammering the sword.
It was reinforcement work.
He poured in more molten Holy attribute metal from time to time and hammered again.
It took quite a while.
It also required a lot of materials.
It was fortunate he had collected enough inside the Tower.
The finishing touch was the enchantment work.
Upon being promoted to LSSR, new skills and items had been unlocked.
The Worker's Essential Item Encyclopedia was one, and the Enchantment Technique was another.
He carefully carved out the faint patterns remaining on the blade's surface, maintaining a consistent depth and width.
He checked with a magnifying glass and the encyclopedia to ensure there were no mistakes in the pattern.
He mixed magic stones into the remaining Holy attribute molten metal to create the material needed for the enchantment.
Then he filled the carved grooves with the material.
Now it was almost complete.
All that remained was taking a whetstone from the subspace backpack and sharpening it.
Setting the edge, grinding it down.
Beads of sweat rolled down Razix's face.
If he was going to do it, he'd do it meticulously.
Finally.
"Hoo-heeeek!"
Razix raised the Sacred Sword high and let out a triumphant shout.
Joo-hyuk rushed over.
"Is it finished?"
"Hoo-heh, it's done."
"Oh my! Our Worker, you really worked hard."
"Hoeng!"
"Gasp! Look at all this sweat. Ah! What are you doing? Get something to wipe the sweat."
The Summoned Ones came tumbling over.
"Oh my, Worker Razix, you're dripping sweat, dripping. I'll fan you."
"Young lady, tears come to my eyes. Even if we brought ten truckloads of Kosak-nim, could they compare to a single top-tier servant?"
"Supply Manager, let me hold you. Wipe your sweat on my chest."
"Hoo-heh?"
"Kosak, you bastard! Aren't you going away? Why are you sticking to him?"
"...Ah, no, I'm sweating too,"
"Assassin, I'll wipe you. Come here."
"Ee-heek?"
The final step remained.
Checking if it worked properly inside the Tower.
Joo-hyuk took the Sacred Sword and entered the Tower with the Summoned Ones.
Spot!
It didn't take long.
He came right back out.
Spot!
As soon as he exited, he immediately took out his smartphone and dialed a number.
"Hello. It's me, Vice Director. Come pick up the repaired Sacred Sword."
They would probably be shocked.
When they saw the changed Sacred Sword.
The repair took a full two days.
By the way, shouldn't he double the rental fee?
A countermeasures meeting was being held in the US as well.
With the Sacred Sword broken, what alternative method could be used to conquer the 67th floor's Phantom Reaper?
Secretary of Homeland Security MacMillan, Director Antonio, and top player Gerald Watson had gathered.
Player Gerald Watson was pessimistic.
Shaking his head vigorously,
"Absolutely not possible. If there's no other item that can replace the Sacred Sword, we can't conquer it."
"...What about Light attribute items?"
"They're useless, I told you? They're trash compared to Brilliance."
"Sigh."
It was frustrating.
What kind of bolt from the blue was this?
"Antonio, what did the Korean Awakening Management Bureau say? Is repair possible?"
"We couldn't get a definitive answer. Korea, you know..."
"They're probably not in a hurry. They have an S++ rank clearer, after all."
"And they probably can't repair it. We tried it too, you know. In the Tower reward item mass production plan."
"That's right."
Tower reward items are incomparably superior to self-manufactured items.
But the probability of getting them is extremely low.
So, what if you scanned a reward item and used something like a 3D printer to make a copy?
Using Tower metals as materials, of course.
But it was a failure.
The replicated items had no options attached.
It was the same for damaged items.
No matter how perfectly you remade it, if a crucial part was destroyed, that was the end.
"The pattern was engraved right on the broken part of the Sacred Sword. Even if we reattach it, will the options come back to life?"
"Damn it!"
Secretary MacMillan's anger shot to the top of his head.
"We need to get Nasser's bodycam footage. We have to see with our own eyes what that crazy bastard did."
"Will they release it? They might have already deleted it."
"Fuck! From now on, Saudi Arabia is banned from renting Light attribute items."
France, next in line after Saudi Arabia, was just as frustrated.
France's Black Tower conquest time limit still had over three months remaining.
So why had they rushed to book the Sacred Sword?
Because the condition of France's top player, Guillaume Levoire, was not normal.
It was precarious.
So much so that not even antidepressants could calm his symptoms.
So he was advised not to climb the Tower at all.
It was certain that the Dark Aura had a negative influence.
Then they learned of the Sacred Sword's option.
Stalwart Spirit.
Maybe this could have an effect on Guillaume too?
So they hastily made a booking.
Hoping that if he just held the Sacred Sword, he might get better.
But now that hope had turned to bubbles.
The last remaining strand of hope had vanished.
"Because of that bastard Nasser, the Tower might collapse. The Eiffel Tower might as well crumble instead."
"We were next in line. What if we use this as leverage?"
"For what?"
"Wasn't it Nasser who conquered the 65th floor without the Sacred Sword? We demand temporary naturalization. To conquer France's Black Tower 65th floor for us."
"I don't know if it'll work... but apply pressure. We have nothing to lose anyway."
However, he wouldn't comply easily.
If he agreed to the demand, it would be tantamount to admitting responsibility for the Sacred Sword's damage.
"What about Guillaume?"
"He's at home now."
"He didn't enter the Tower, did he?"
"Th-that, I'm not sure..."
It would be best if he hadn't entered the Tower, but how can you stop a Player from entering?
They could only hope his depression would improve.
South Korea's officially known top player.
Nam Ga-eun also came to work at the Bureau today.
She did her morning workout at the gym, ate at the cafeteria.
An elite player, but she had practically become a Bureau employee.
Truthfully, Nam Ga-eun's mental state was also quite shattered.
It would be a lie to say she was fine after the unexpected incident at the HG Hotel.
That chilling experience of being held hostage with a bluish knife pressed against her neck.
It was too terrifying.
Deep trauma remained.
So much so that she couldn't sleep properly since that day.
But there was something that helped her every time.
The Sacred Sword.
When she entered the Tower and just held the Sacred Sword, strangely, all her fears, anxieties, and worries washed away.
Stalwart Spirit.
That was the force that sustained her.
But what was this? The Sacred Sword had broken.
Because of that bastard Nasser.
'Sigh,'
Only sighs came out.
What should she do without the Sacred Sword? What about conquering the 67th floor right away?
A flood of negative thoughts rushed in all at once.
'I want to muster strength...'
Completely demotivated, Nam Ga-eun's shoulders slumped.
She didn't even want to enter the Tower.
'Maybe I should just retire now?'
She knew well that she wasn't the only one having a hard time.
The Bureau employees' faces were also dark.
Especially the Sacred Sword's actual owner, Player Bong Joo-hyuk, must be very heartbroken.
She wanted to meet him later and offer some words of comfort...
But right then!
"Player Nam Ga-eun."
"Ah, Vice Director."
"If you're not busy, come see me for a moment."
"Yes..."
What could he want to say?
Probably the same old thing.
Don't lose heart, endure it, that kind of talk.
Nam Ga-eun followed Jeon Gwang-il into his office.
Inside, Team Leader Lee Min-ah was waiting.
"Unnie?"
"Come in, Ga-eun."
And then.
Click, Jeon Gwang-il locked the door.
Why was he doing this?
Why lock the door all of a sudden?
"What happens from now on must be kept absolutely secret. Can you do that?"
"...Um, yes."
"You must promise."
"I got it."
Section Chief Lee Min-ah took a long object out of her inventory.
"Huh?"
She recognized it at a glance.
How could she not know it?
"Th-the Sacred Sword? The Sacred Sword? But it broke! Is it a fake?"
"It's not a fake, it's repaired."
"My god!"
Its appearance had changed too.
If the old Sacred Sword was a worn-out used item, the one she saw now was almost like new.
"I did the first check. The effect is amazing, Ga-eun. You check it in the Undead section."
Nam Ga-eun, as if entranced, grabbed the Sacred Sword. The item information appeared.
"...Oh my?"
Two parts had changed.
The Insufficient Durability option was removed from the Limitation.
And in the Feature, it was no longer 'faint' brilliance but 'intense' brilliance.
'How on earth...'
This wasn't the time for that.
Let's go into the Tower and check.
"I'll be right back."
Spot!
Nam Ga-eun held the Sacred Sword in her hand.
"...Insane!"
Blazing, the flames of brilliance enveloped her entire body.
At this moment, she was the sun itself.
"Yes!"
Courage welled up, her mental state solidified.
Nam Ga-eun walked forward.
Whoosh-crackle! A Specter flew towards her.
"You came at the right time. Come here!"
Swish!
Its wings were severed with the first skill.
Swish!
Its tail was cut off with the second skill.
Swish!
Its torso was sliced through with the third skill.
Whoosh-burn!
The Specter burned and scattered into ashes.
"Uaah! Power! Power! Power!"
It was truly a Sacred Sword with a perfect effect.
Far more so than before it was repaired.