Chapter 29
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 029
Chapter Title: Artifact
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When Woojin pointed to an item in the corner of the store, the shopkeeper's gaze shifted in that direction as well.
There sat a large travel bag. It had an angular shape, like a military rucksack. Woojin approached it and brushed the dust off its surface.
A strange sheen flowed across the bag's exterior. The material was the hide of some unidentified serpent. The scales felt as hard as metal under his fingertips.
…As expected, it's made from beast hide.
This was no ordinary item. To gauge its true nature, Woojin asked the shopkeeper.
“What’s this bag?”
“From what I know, it's an artifact made quite some time ago… but a failure.”
“It looks perfectly fine at a glance.”
Woojin said as much while circling the travel bag. The craftsmanship wasn't half bad. It was just covered in dust—no damaged spots anywhere. Practically as good as new.
But this bag had a fatal flaw.
The shopkeeper said that as he rummaged through his desk and pulled out something. A pouch stuffed full of copper coins.
“You'll understand better if you experience it yourself. Here, try holding this pouch in your hand.”
It was a puzzling request, but Woojin obliged without hesitation. He picked up the pouch with his right hand. Filled to the brim with coins, it had considerable weight.
The shopkeeper opened the bag.
“Now, put the coin pouch inside the bag.”
Woojin did as asked and slid the pouch into the bag. But—was it his imagination?—the pouch seemed to shrink the closer it got to the bottom. It felt like watching some bizarre optical illusion.
As the startled Woojin peered inside, the shopkeeper grinned and added an explanation.
“It's a travel bag enchanted with Shrinking Magic. Anything you put inside halves in size, and it returns to normal when you take it out. Oh, and it doesn't work on living creatures, for reference.”
A bag that reduced the volume of its contents by half. With the items shrinking, it freed up space inside—meaning this travel bag could hold twice as much as a normal one.
An item anyone in the world would covet. So why was it called a failure?
“Pick up the bag, and you'll see why.”
He lifted it right away. But… the bag was far heavier than expected.
The shopkeeper promptly explained the reason.
“The item's size shrinks, but its weight doubles instead. Because of this contrary side effect, you can't load it up with too much.”
It could store a lot, but the increased weight of the contents made it impractical as a travel bag. A side effect that negated its main advantage. That's why this artifact had been ignored all this time.
…Until Woojin discovered it today.
“How much for this bag?”
The shopkeeper pondered the question.
“Well, I've never really thought about a price… but even with the flaw, artifacts like this are so rare that I'd need at least 150 gold coins.”
“I'll take it.”
“Uh… Pardon?”
The shopkeeper tilted his head in disbelief. Woojin set down the bag on his back and placed the gold coin pouch from inside it on the desk.
The shopkeeper's eyes widened at the pile of gold coins. Overcome with joy, the merchant's lips curled upward, revealing a gold tooth that gleamed brilliantly from between his molars.
“…Thank you, sir!”
A mutually satisfying deal was struck.
Thrilled to offload his problematic stock, the shopkeeper bowed repeatedly toward Woojin. Shouldering his new travel bag, Woojin headed out of the store. He felt just as pleased.
What should I carry in here?
Woojin hurried along.
His footsteps led back to the smithy he'd passed earlier. He stepped inside and examined the weapons on display one by one.
A long two-handed hammer caught his eye. Its handle was steel too, designed not to break easily. A brutish weapon made for beast hunting.
He'd hesitated to buy large weapons before. They were so bulky, carrying them around was a hassle.
“I'll take three of those. And the shield on the wall too.”
Woojin bought three hammers and a shield without a second thought. Then he shoved one long two-handed hammer into the travel bag. The moment it entered, its length magically began to shorten bit by bit.
Even though the hammer was much longer than the bag's depth, it slid in effortlessly. Like a snake swallowing large prey whole.
Not only can I carry twice the amount of supplies, I can even fit items bigger than the bag itself. Compared to this portability, the extra weight is a minor drawback.
Of course, for an ordinary person, doubling the weight was a massive downside.
This bag could hold twice as much as a regular one. Fill it to capacity, and it'd weigh as much as four normal bags.
A burden even seasoned mercenaries would struggle with. But Woojin didn't mind.
Perfect weight.
It doubled as a workout—great all around.
After filling the travel bag to the brim, he left the city.
Conrad's proposal lingered in his mind… but settling down in one city just to make some money didn't appeal to him. Plus, the 1st Pioneer City was close to the barrier, so beasts appeared infrequently.
Drying up the beasts in one spot was less profitable than traveling between cities and taking on extermination requests.
Above all… Conrad's confidence is over the top.
The expedition hadn't even begun.
Yet Conrad acted like his success was fated. Overconfidence like that often led to disaster. If things went south, Woojin would suffer too.
Better to watch from a distance. With that conclusion, Woojin set off toward the 3rd Pioneer City.
During his leisurely journey, he had chances to test his new weapons now and then.
Guwaaah—!
A massive buck burst from the forest with a grotesque bellow.
Horns protruded sideways from its head, broad and shield-like, while a long, conical horn like a rhinoceros's jutted from its snout.
Rhino Deer.
Not particularly strong. But infamous for its foul temper. Like the wild boar he'd fought before, it had fierce territorial instincts.
It charged straight at him.
Woojin pulled a two-handed hammer from his bag at the sight. What happened next… well, no need for a long explanation.
Kwaaaang!!
The buck's skull exploded.
Woojin fetched rope and hung the carcass upside down from a tree. To skin it and harvest the meat.
This deer's meat is pretty decent.
The hide sold well too. Worth the effort despite the work. Woojin slit its belly and pulled out the entrails and beast core.
Rex slunk over and sat beside him.
“You've barely earned your keep lately, huh?”
At that, Rex smacked his lips guiltily. He'd been refusing to let Woojin ride because the bag was too heavy.
“Here.”
Woojin chuckled and tossed him the core.
He'd consumed so many cores that these small fry ones barely made a difference anyway—he always yielded them.
He roughly tanned the hide and staked it out. Then skewered meat over the campfire. The venison sizzled, filling the air with a savory aroma.
Afterward, Woojin checked the hammer.
Bent again.
The swing felt incredible, but the handle warped with every crushing blow. The impact was just too much for it.
He'd broken one on the way—two left now. He'd have to use them carefully. Woojin straightened the bent handle.
Nothing beats my machete.
After trying other weapons, he appreciated his machete even more. His trusty blade through the years. Woojin drew it and wiped the blade with a cloth.
For some reason, it never shattered no matter how hard he swung it. It stayed sharp without even needing a whetstone.
When did the blade's color change?
Held to the firelight, a dark blue sheen danced along it. It hadn't always been this way.
Hunting beasts deep in the Demonic Realm, butchering them with the machete… at some point, a mystical luster had settled on the blade.
Just as he'd gained strength by harvesting cores, perhaps the blade had transformed after being bathed in beast blood time and again?
If so, calling this machete an artifact in its own right made sense.
There are precedents.
He'd heard legendary holy knights' weapons often gained strange powers. Likely from slaying countless beasts, birthing artifacts.
Such relics were classified as holy artifacts. Strictly managed by the Church Alliance. Tempting, but not something money could buy.
Realistically, getting one is tough… so learning Mana Arts long-term might be best.
Weapons that could withstand his strength were rare. He'd need arts to reinforce them with mana or holy power.
Too bad he hadn't asked Hector about Mana Arts last time…
He'd been too preoccupied then, torn between lazing behind the barrier or joining the expedition as a hunter.
Meat should be done by now.
Lost in thought, time flew by. Woojin took a big bite of the skewer. The gamey bitterness of beast meat lingered, but chewing brought out its rich savoriness.
As he ate…
…Something's stirring.
Beast howls suddenly rang out. Not one—a whole pack.
Listening closely, it sounded like a fight breaking out somewhere. The commotion of beasts pack-hunting. Curiosity piqued Woojin. Rex felt it too.
“Wanna go watch?”
Rex nodded eagerly. Spectating fights was always fun—for humans and wolves alike.
He crammed the rest of the meat in his mouth and stood. Woojin and Rex hurried toward the noise.
Soon, the source came into view. A horde of rabbits swarming something, attacking fiercely. The victims? Three wolf beasts.
Wolves getting hunted by rabbits.
The food chain turned upside down. But not shocking in the Demonic Realm.
“Grrr…”
Rex growled beside him, hackles up. He clearly hated seeing his kin hunted.
“Wanna help?”
Rex nodded slightly, eyes pleading.
Too many rabbits for Rex alone. To save those wolves, Woojin would need to pitch in.
But brawling beast packs every time was a pain. Cleanup was worse. He'd felt that fighting the leech rats.
Let's try it easy this time.
“Howl once. As loud as you can.”
Quick on the uptake, Rex got it immediately.
Wauuuu—
Rex bellowed at full volume. The call to summon the pack. The rabbits' ears perked up at the unexpected interruption.
Rabbit beasts were cautious by nature. They only fought sure wins—any risky variable, and they bolted first. The instincts of weak herbivores lingered.
Wauuuu—
The hunted wolves howled back long and loud. Then charged the rabbits instead. Figuring reinforcements were coming.
Overwhelmed, the rabbits broke their encirclement and fled. Tricked, but wise in the end. If they hadn't retreated, Woojin would've stepped in and butchered them himself.
Rex dashed to the surviving wolves. They exchanged howls like conversation. Woojin watched, chewing jerky.
Swapping hellos or something?
Then…
Rex returned. With the three wolves trailing right behind him.
…Family just grew.