Chapter 13 #6 The Arrogant Artifact (3)
But his shock was short-lived. Soon enough, the artifact flew into a rage.
━How dare you lie to me! You worthless piece of trash! With those slanted eyes of yours!
A torrent of curses poured out nonstop. Words so filthy I wouldn't dare repeat them went on for ages. And why drag my eye shape into this? It's a bit of a complex for me, you know.
Stuck in here all this time, has it just been honing its vocabulary of insults? The variety was impressive. It seemed genuinely pissed at being tricked by me.
"Haha, I had no choice. If I hadn't lied, you would've killed me, right?"
Silence fell for a moment before it spoke again.
━So you're admitting you lied to me?
"If you're just gonna say a guy like me doesn't deserve to live, save it. Either way, I survived. That's all that matters."
Even without a physical form, I could picture its disgusted expression. Was that just my imagination? A chuckle escaped me.
Yeah. I survived.
Lie or not, who cares.
If I'd told the honest truth, I'd be dead right there. Is that what justice looks like? The ability I once hated with a passion had saved my skin again. Good enough for me.
"By the way, do I have to keep hearing your voice like this?"
Was there no way to snag the power and ditch this thing? The droning voice echoing in my head was seriously annoying.
━Hah! I hate you just as much. But what can we do? You picked me up.
"So no mute or vibration settings?"
━I don't have trivial features like that.
So I had to put up with this nonsense indefinitely.
How the hell did Park Se-un endure it? Then again, a weirdo like him might've gotten along with this thing just fine.
"An artifact with its own ego."
Perfectly synced with my body, yet still clinging to its sense of self. First I'd heard of anything like it.
I sat down. My broken ribs throbbed, but the window floating before my eyes made the pain vanish in an instant.
Park Se-un had called his talent "Myriad Transformations," but the name on my system window was different.
Just like all the other talents in this world, the description was woefully vague.
But a skimpy explanation didn't mean the skill itself was skimpy.
Quite the opposite.
"This is insane."
S-grade potential was one thing, but the ability to convert mana into any form? Straight-up broken.
When I'd absorbed and subjugated the artifact earlier, thousands of mana circuits had etched themselves into my body.
Awakening is the process of mana circuits forming in a normal human body. That's why everyone has fixed talents.
The circuits etched during awakening determine your talent.
In my case, it was circuits for "telling good lies."
And those circuits couldn't be changed, no matter what... or so the experts claimed.
But with this artifact, I could wield thousands of talents.
The catch—the voice had pointed it out—was my limited mana reserves, capping the output.
I'd scored something way bigger than expected. "Pearl necklace on a pig" sprang to mind, but I shook my head.
I'm no pig. Nope. Just gotta use it right.
The problem: I couldn't distinguish between all these new mana circuits.
Unlike before, where channeling mana naturally triggered my lie talent, now I had no clue what to do with it.
Earlier, when I'd used condensation and release, the voice had guided me.
I glanced at the air and cleared my throat.
"Ahem. Thanks for saving my life first off. Sorry for being rude earlier."
No response to my apology. Acting all high and mighty for a non-human.
I recalled its words.
"You mentioned a great mission earlier. That you came to this dimension for it."
━Yeah. What's with the sudden politeness? Talk like you normally do.
"Can't be rude to my lifesaver."
━Hah, kissing ass now?
Tch, it likes it but plays coy. I bounced it lightly in my hand and probed.
"So, what's this great mission?"
Not just flattery. If this thing really came from another world on a mission, it might be dangerous.
━I'm going to save this world from invasion by another dimension.
Well, now.
I blinked. It was the last thing I'd expected. As if reading my surprise, it sneered.
━Yeah. Nothing a lowlife like you could grasp! But I won't be swayed by your selfish desires.
"No, I'm surprised because your mission lines up with my goal, more or less."
━What?
"I plan to save this world too."
It exploded in disbelief.
━You? A scum like you with a holy purpose? Lies! You're lying to me again!
"Harsh. I was dead serious."
Our ideas of "salvation" differed in scale, but I meant it.
"Well, my take was more like clearing out the corrupt bastards rotting this country."
I figured that'd save the world naturally. Wrong call.
Invasion from another dimension.
"You mean gates are that invasion?"
━Do you think dimensional gates opening in your world—and people with talents to close them—is pure coincidence?
An artifact with ego was odd enough, but knowing about gates? Suspicious, even from another dimension.
"Someone planned all this?"
━Yes. It's all to pave the way for other-dimensional invasion. The gap between dimensions narrows until worlds overlap. Then yours ends. Like mine did.
I bit my lip. What the—
I thought saving Korea was enough, but this meant the whole world was screwed.
My plan to off the corrupt leaders here then jet overseas for the good life crumbled.
The true purpose of gates, unknown until world destruction in my past life, revealed here.
"Any way to stop the invasion?"
━Prevent gates from appearing? No such method.
"Then how do you stop them?"
━Eventually, their main force will cross over. Crush that.
I'd gotten an answer, but it was absurdly impractical. Hit the main force invading our dimension?
Korea could barely handle scout gates—how against the full army?
━Even I admit your talents can't handle it. Should've just let me go.
That stung unfairly.
Because in my past life, Park Se-un—its owner—did jack shit to save the world!
He used his powers for personal gain, never even did free gate raids like other hunters.
A guy with shit taste in people lamenting me? Laughable.
But explaining future knowledge was pointless.
"Not giving up. I told you—my goal's saving this world too."
I tossed it a line.
"We're in the same boat now, right? Like it or not, we're one body."
Silence. Deep down, it knew it was bound to me.
This status window—truth of the world—proved it.
Worst case, I could threaten it into obedience. But no need.
Carrot after the stick.
"Sure, I'm a pretty lame awakener. But with your help, we might do okay. Like how you guided my mana through the circuits to save me."
━Ahem! You noticed, huh.
Putting on airs, but it was just an artifact. Worthless without an owner. Craving validation.
"I'll do my best, shortcomings and all. Help me out?"
━Shameless.
No more raging, though. It accepted I was its best shot. Dirty and sneaky? Sure. But I was its only hope.
"Mind if I ask your name?"
If it had ego, it had a name. Introductions start relationships. First button's already wrong, but hey—fix it.
━No name for trash like you.
Stubborn. Tch. But cracking tough nuts is fun.
"Come on, same boat, right? Just your name?"
Wheedling didn't work. I snapped.
"Fine! Won't tell me? I'll call you whatever. Mr. Dogshit?"
Finally, a meek reply.
━I can't remember.
"Memory wipe?"
━Yeah. Had to purge junk to transmit here. Parts of my memory went too.
If true, tragic.
━As long as I remember the important stuff, fine.
Voice sounded lonely. If all true, it'd sacrificed everything to save another dimension.
Damn. Can't even curse freely.
"Can't remember? I can name you."
━You'll slap some garbage name on me... Like Dogshit again? No! I have pride!
"Stray."
English for wanderer. Perfect for a voice adrift dimensions, identity lost.
It shut up. Liked it?
━Stray's too long. Ray's fine.
Status updated.
Still ???-grade, but made sense. Lost memories, maybe lost power knowledge. Hope we find a way to recover them.
"Looking forward to working with you, Ray."
No reply. Shy?
Haha.
"Greeted you properly—say something back?"
What a talent for pissing people off.