Chapter 64
Chapter 64
9. Wandering and Settling -6
Thud, rumble, crash!
These sound effects were not the noise of a counterterrorism unit breaking into a residence to subdue a criminal. Surprisingly, this was the sound of Elijah searching Joero's secret warehouse.
Perhaps "searching" wasn't quite the right word. Looting, seizure, robbery—those words might be closer.
Naturally, since this secret warehouse was our reward, there was no time limit. Muyeon had given us plenty of time, and frankly, even if we stayed here for a day or so, it probably wouldn't be a problem.
And yet Elijah searched roughly and quickly, as if she'd get caught by the police if she didn't clear the place out within ten minutes. And it didn't feel like she was making a fuss. She wasn't overly excited either.
"Hm-hmm."
She was casual about it.
What about her expression? It was her usual face with a faint smile. She was even humming a tune. Which meant she wasn't in a state of tension.
If so, this wasn't something she was doing deliberately⋯⋯
Could it be that she'd grown so accustomed to ransacking places like this that the behavior came out naturally without her even realizing it? If that guess was true, then what the hell did she do for a living back on her own planet?
Rumble-
"Ah, found it."
After practically sweeping aside all the odds and ends, she managed to find the lost 『Coffin』.
The 『Coffin』 was in better shape than expected. I couldn't speak for the inside, but judging from the exterior alone, there was no sign of it being dented or damaged. The radicals must have recovered it carefully, considering it a valuable artifact.
"Let's see⋯⋯"
As Elijah manipulated the coffin this way and that, various parts clicked open like a cube, revealing a complex internal circuit board. Fortunately, the inside seemed intact, and her expression brightened.
She smiled brightly and said,
"I'm so glad the coffin isn't broken! Since we saved on repair costs, I think we can restore it once we buy the mechanical prosthetics to install inside!"
"⋯⋯Yeah, that's a relief."
I forced a smile as I looked at the secret warehouse, which had instantly transformed into a convenience store one week into the apocalypse. Yeah⋯⋯ as long as she's happy, that's what matters. As long as she's happy.
Though I did feel slightly at a loss as to how I was supposed to find the items I needed in this mess⋯⋯
"Oh my, I'm sorry, Noah! It's a habit⋯⋯"
Elijah belatedly realized what she'd done and cooperated wholeheartedly with the cleanup. It really did seem like she'd just moved on autopilot, with no other intention.
But as it turned out, this wasn't a waste of time.
"Hm⋯⋯? This wall here. It rattles a little."
"Rattles?"
Because in the process of tidying up the wrecked warehouse, we discovered a safe that had been secretly concealed. The hidden safe was behind a wardrobe. When luck is on your side, things work out like this.
Joero had been a D-rank hunter like me, but individuals and organizations operate on entirely different scales. There were so many things in this warehouse it seemed like he'd done nothing but eat and hoard wealth.
Things like a sword that emitted ghostly wails, a pile of secret manuals that looked precious no matter how you looked at them, and gemstones imbued with special traits rare even under the System.
After gathering together everything that looked reasonably valuable, I sat cross-legged on the floor and focused my mind. I needed to connect with the 『Glass Sword Lord』.
Wooong-
The power of the Heaven Path, cultivated through the 『Rite of Order』. Through it, I transmitted my message beyond that distant hierarchy and reinforced the channel between the Sword Lord and myself.
Soon, his voice echoed in my head.
"Hm? You've established a fairly solid connection. Solid enough to share not just words but even vision. What's the matter? If you wanted to see the photo of my pet lion I mentioned last time—"
"It's the matter I mentioned before. Are you busy?"
"Aha, the appraisal."
Right.
I planned to entrust the appraisal of everything from Joero's secret warehouse to the 『Glass Sword Lord』. As a senior hunter, he'd have far better discernment than me, and above all⋯⋯
"First, take that old book titled 『Hyeonggwang Jineungin』 and throw it away immediately. Yes, the one you just looked at."
"What is it, that you'd say that?"
"On the surface, it appears to contain grand and complex principles, but in reality, the more you train in it, the more your internal organs twist until you become a cripple. It's a martial art like that."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
This was exactly why I'd thought there might be landmines like this.
Joero was a man who'd done the Hell Path ritual and even paired up with an elf. I'd figured there was a high chance he'd stashed away things that a normal person would have recoiled from and thrown out long ago, and that turned out to be true.
If I learned one of those wrong, my future would get seriously screwed, so I had to be careful.
The Glass Sword Lord then added cautiously,
"⋯⋯I don't know how that secret manual will appear in translation, but in any language, if it contains the meaning of moon and madness, be wary."
So the "gwang" in 『Hyeonggwang Jineungin』 was the character for madness. For some reason, even though the System's translator was working fine, the meaning was blurred, and I'd thought it was "hyeonggwang" as in fluorescent light.
There were quite a few dubious points, but the Glass Sword Lord must have had his reasons for holding back. In agreed silence, we pushed the book aside.
After that, the Glass Sword Lord was a great help with the looting operation.
"Throw that away, that one would be good to use. This is⋯⋯ a Beast-Path secret manual? Haha, what a haul! There's no downside to keeping it, so you'd better take it! That shield looks usable too."
"⋯⋯That shield isn't really necessary, is it? I have this shield made by the combined efforts of the Republic of Korea's finest scholars."
"It looks far better than that shoddy antique⋯⋯ though it is a bit large. I see, so you're the type who considers whether equipment fits your body before considering its quality. But if it were me, I'd have used this shield! Haha!"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
With a C-rank hunter on the line, about an hour passed, and I finally finished all the sorting. Around then, the time allotted to the Glass Sword Lord also ran out, just barely.
"Ah, I can't communicate any longer. The Credit consumption is fast."
"⋯⋯I'm always in your debt. When I go up, I'll definitely repay you."
"Hm, I'll look forward to it."
Bzzt-
Apparently, for a higher-rank hunter and a lower-rank hunter to communicate in any way, Credits are consumed. Like last time, the Glass Sword Lord had covered my entire international call bill and left cleanly.
I had no intention of stiffing him. When I go up, I really do plan to repay this debt down to the last Credit. But why did his final words—"I'll look forward to it"—sound somehow chilling?
Leaving behind 90% gratitude and 10% unease, I turned my gaze to the sorted items. The list of items I'd whittled down with his consultation was as follows.
The first item was the Beast-Path secret method. Specifically⋯⋯
Beast Path / First-Realm Ladder Ascension Method / 『Rite of Leopard-Swift Refinement (豹速練化)』.
[There is a bell that rings once every ke. Until this bell has rung a total of 35,000 times, crawl on all fours like a beast. Tear raw meat with your teeth, without using your hands. Then you shall obtain swiftness like a leopard.]
One ke, 35,000 times. Roughly estimating, that's a year.
It was an ascension rite achievable by living truly like a beast for a year, though of course it wasn't a rite accomplished merely by imitating a beast. It included incantations to memorize and various minor sub-rites.
The Glass Sword Lord praised this rite highly, saying it was extremely orthodox and had no aftereffects, while adding:
'I'm not necessarily telling you to learn it. I don't know the details myself, but rumor has it that stepping into too many paths can be detrimental. You could give it to someone else, or perhaps use it in a trade.'
I accepted that advice. I planned to use this for trading.
In the first place, the conditions for learning it myself were⋯⋯ problematic, weren't they? I had to lead Seoul, and if the leader went around crawling on all fours eating raw meat, the citizens—especially Hyejin—would be utterly horrified.
Next.
The second item was the "Iron Wall Shield."
A shield with an angular, crude design, with an anachronistic sword pattern embossed on it in a tacky way. It was manageable for me to carry, but relatively heavy, and overall it didn't seem like it would feel good to use.
But no matter how much I tried to nitpick⋯⋯ its performance shone like the sun before a firefly. I could tell just by lightly tapping it with my fist. The resonance itself was different.
⋯⋯I should seriously consider switching shields.
Next.
The last items were various precious metals, medicinal ingredients, artworks, and other expensive miscellaneous goods.
There was a reason I'd grouped these into one bundle. Gazing at the luxurious hoard, I checked with Elijah one last time.
"Elijah, you've taken everything you need, right? I'll check again. If there's anything you need among those, take it now."
"Don't worry. I've thriftily stashed anything that looks like it can be liquidated inside the 『Coffin』!"
"Okay, then⋯⋯"
I picked up a piece of pure gold lying around the warehouse and drew a circle surrounding the miscellaneous goods. Very carefully and precisely, so that it was close to a perfect circle.
This process was much easier with Elijah's help. Even without any tools like a ruler or compass, she just swiped and it came out as a circle.
Ding!
[Rite of Order connected - (Circle precision 99% / Material purity 88% / Transmission efficiency 90%)]
[Credits remaining until next proficiency (D-): 712 / 5000]
[Beginning offering value assessment. For goods in kind excluding Credits, a depreciation of -50% will be applied to the final appraisal value.]
Right. I planned to offer all of these to the Rite of Order. Including things like 『Hyeonggwang Jineungin』, which could cause accidents if someone else stepped on them.
This amounted to about half of the secret warehouse. Since Muyeon had conscientiously said to take as much as I wanted, this was a fair price I'd set myself, including the cost of trash disposal.
Ding-ding-ding-
The System quickly calculated the value of the tribute and began displaying it on the Status Window. And soon, the total amount appeared.
[Total estimated appraisal value: 32,403 Credits / Will you offer it?]
Previously, when I'd scraped together everything I owned in Seoul—every last asset—and offered it, it had come to 1,003 Credits. After that, I'd opened random boxes and offered every item that came out, barely scraping together 700 more.
But 30,000 Credits⋯⋯
A memory that felt like ancient history suddenly surfaced. R-11, the Alliance member from the Hunter Alliance I'd met in the first tutorial, had said this:
The price of a unique weapon purchasable from the System Shop was around 10,000 Credits, and if you equipped about three of them, you could aim for C-rank promotion. In other words, this amount was enough to bring a single nobody right up to the threshold of C-rank promotion.
And this was even after depreciation had been applied.
"⋯⋯I offer it."
Flash-!
With a white flash, the items inside the circle vanished as if they'd never existed. And at the same time, a response came from the Status Window. Notifications rang out in succession.
[Rite of Order proficiency has risen from E => D+.]
[Credits remaining until next proficiency (C): 3115/20000]
[Registration complete.]
Name: Noah Won
Age: 27
Hunter Rank: D+++ (Promotion Candidate)
Titles: Coup Idol, Shield, Traitor Purger, Rite of Order (D+)
Skill List
└ Unidentified Skill 1 (F): B07#@R2e8
-> Download Slot 1:
-> Download Slot 2:
Storage List: 『A01#@47Eb』, 『Flame Goat Gauntlet: Flame Emission』, 『Lightning』, 『Bullseye』, 『Overgrowth』, 『Moso Bamboo』
(Reappraisal required due to an error of unknown cause)
└ Azure Wind Wanderer (D / B)
Progress: 20% (2-star / growth restricted)
‘The significance of the System lies in wandering the wide world, so roam various worlds and feed it various rains and clouds. Then you shall be able to command wind and rain at will.’
(Additionally, progress can be increased by consuming Credits)
└ Quick-Flash Inner Core (快閃內丹) (D/??)
Progress: 100%
└ Glass Sword - Internal Core Conversion (D / C)
Progress: 100%
Credits Held: - 9,999,972,020 (Debt)
"⋯⋯Hoo."
I checked the Status Window and let out a shallow breath. It was almost time.
Instead of the System-provided rebirth, once I completed Embodiment through martial arts⋯⋯ I could just promote without waiting any longer. I felt proud, but also tense, as if a great mountain loomed right before me.
I'd heard there was a separate promotion stage.
[Credits remaining until next proficiency (C): 3115/20000]
Anyway, seeing this made me greedy.
The amount remaining until C-rank Rite of Order was about 17,000 Credits. If I asserted my "legitimate right" to just a little of the remaining half I'd deliberately left behind, I could fill that amount. Just, close my eyes and⋯⋯
Ding!
At that moment, a notification sound—refreshing yet somehow chilling—pierced my ears.
[Warning]
[You are a promotion candidate. If you become stronger beyond a certain threshold, you will be immediately moved to the promotion stage and the C-rank promotion procedure will commence.]
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
I'd almost been promoted up there—without performing the ritual with Sergios, without discussing things with Elijah right in front of me, without exchanging a single word of farewell with Sohye⋯⋯.
So this was the line.
I barely calmed my startled heart, repeatedly thanking the famous movie line, "Take only half of the other money."
Good thing I'd left half. Really.
We'd taken everything worth taking from the secret warehouse. The results were excellent, if I said so myself.
Even if nothing was immediately useful, weren't these things that would be of great help to me in the long run, one way or another? I was satisfied with this much.
"Elijah, let's head back⋯⋯ what are you doing?"
"Ah, well."
Elijah was staring intently at the items that had been filtered out in the first pass of the Glass Sword Lord's sorting. Ordinary objects with no power like Magic Power or Skills imbued in them.
Since we'd already looked through them once, there probably wouldn't be anything more useful⋯⋯ I could have said that and hurried our return, but Elijah didn't seem like the type to do something pointless.
I walked over and followed her gaze, and saw a bizarrely thick shield. With a bit of exaggeration, its shape was almost like a top.
It was equipment we'd filtered out together with the Sword Lord because it was quite heavy even for me to use, and its shape itself wasn't suited for defense.
Was there something about it that caught her attention?
"The craftsmanship⋯⋯ as they say."
"Huh?"
"Here, right here. Do you see the faint lines etched here? And here too. You might think they're just graft marks, but in my opinion⋯⋯ I think this is a shield designed to change its form."
"Form transformation⋯⋯"
Now that she mentioned it, it did look that way. Elijah took out a thin screwdriver and other tools from the 『Coffin』, touched various parts of the shield, rattled it around, and soon—
"I've got it, I've got it. Listen, Noah!"
"⋯⋯Like this?"
"Yeah, good. And that handle part, right? Grip it tight, supply power, and push all the way. All the way!"
Power, she said. I'm a person, not an android⋯⋯ but as it happened, I had a way.
I hadn't used it much since I started acquiring 『Skills』 like Azure Wind Wanderer, but 『Download -2』's ability could also download and release natural phenomena. The one I'd used most often among them was lightning.
It happened to rain during my week of rest, so I'd downloaded some in advance—but I never expected to use it at a time like this.
I gripped the handle of the deformed shield tightly and released the stored lightning.
"Slot 3, 『Lightning』."
Flash-!
Right after the white lightning flashed.
Click, CRACK-!!
The deformed shield instantly changed shape and reassembled, transforming into a heavy greatsword with a blade about 1 meter 50 centimeters long. The spherical battery inside flashed with light and emitted a humming sound.
"⋯⋯Ghk?!"
Shhhhk!
It sucked in my Magic Power at a terrifying speed. At the same time, like a candle catching fire, the edge of the thick blade began to blaze with Magic Power, emitting a blue light.
⋯⋯This was an artifact so excellent that the goat-head gauntlet R-11 had bragged about could be treated as trash by comparison. The shield-turned-greatsword was radiating an aura that was clearly extraordinary at a glance.
"This thing drains Magic Power like crazy⋯⋯?!"
"Just hold on a moment. Hm, hmm⋯⋯ Aha. We have similar technology in my world, so I recognize it. It looks like an engine built by interpreting Magic Power through scientific technology."
As I held onto the greatsword, sweating profusely, Elijah began examining it here and there with a face full of curiosity. I couldn't even move comfortably for fear she might get cut by the blade.
"There it is, as expected. This product has a function that stores external impacts to charge the battery. It was designed with that premise, so the energy efficiency looks poor."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
"Ah, you can cut off the Magic Power now, Noah!"
The moment I heard that, I cut off the Magic Power supply.
Click- shhhhrrrk!
When the power was cut, the greatsword instantly reverted to the shape of the deformed shield. Hardly any time had passed, yet it seemed to have drained half my Magic Power.
But⋯⋯
As Elijah explained, if blocking attacks with this shield could recharge the battery, then—no. Even if it couldn't, this was a viable option. Its attack power was slightly lower than Synthesis, but aside from that, this greatsword was the strongest destructive force I could produce.
In the first place, Synthesis was a technique I couldn't actually use in real combat even if I wanted to.
Someone had to pin down the enemy's feet, I had to buy time to focus my mind, and after firing it, my internal organs would be wrecked and I'd be half out of the fight—it was practically a suicide technique.
If I'd had this when I fought Joero, I might not have needed to push myself and use Synthesis. Maybe I could have succeeded in the logging much more comfortably.
"Hoo⋯⋯"
The corners of my mouth crept upward. I'd scored a find.
It had been shoved into a corner of Joero's secret warehouse, so I hadn't paid it any attention, but thanks to Elijah, I'd obtained a hidden treasure. I turned my head to express my gratitude to her.
Elijah shrugged her shoulders and touted her achievement.
"I did well, didn't I, Noah?"
"Thanks, Elijah. If we hadn't found this, I'd have been pretty bitter about it."
"If you're grateful, I have a favor to ask⋯⋯"
She took out a notebook and spoke. I'd seen it before. That was from the secret safe. It seemed to be Joero's personal records, so I'd deliberately left it alone, but Elijah had apparently opened it.
"I found⋯⋯ some coordinates in here."
"Coordinates?"
"Yes. I think it's probably Joero's planet. Since he's dead, that planet will soon become a stage. Hey, Noah. Would you⋯⋯ like to go see it?"
"⋯⋯Right now?"
Elijah quietly nodded, with a cautious air.
I thought for a moment, then decided to do it. I had to repay her for helping me obtain a valuable artifact, didn't I?