Citadel's Golden Hammer
The first thing players who reached Terra usually did was blink in a daze.
They had somehow clawed their way through the Tutorial Floor and made it to the First Layer, yet from this point on they had absolutely no idea what they were supposed to do. There was no longer anyone like Didascalia to kindly explain things. From now on, every path had to be carved out by the players themselves.
In the first round, Yujin had been just as clueless as the rest of those idiots at the start. He had known neither where anything was nor what needed doing, so of course he had floundered. But not this time. Right now, Yujin knew with perfect clarity exactly what he had to do first.
Thud—.
Unlike the players who had not even managed to step inside Terra yet, his stride never hesitated. Brilliant decorations of every color lay etched across a pure-white canvas. In stark contrast to its majestic first impression, the interior of Terra was extravagantly gorgeous. No matter where the eye landed, the city’s almost decadent panorama burned itself into the retina like a photograph.
“A new player?”
“So it has begun again.”
“But how has he already climbed this far?”
“Looks like a record for the shortest time. Akasha will be quite pleased.”
The murmuring voices of NPCs drifted over. Even to them, the speed at which Yujin had reached the First Layer seemed far too fast. The curious, expectant gazes they kept sending his way said as much. Looking at the familiar scenery after so long, Yujin felt anew the reality that he had truly returned to the past.
I never thought I’d see these guys again.
When the world ended, the Tower had collapsed with it. What had become of the NPCs in the process, even Yujin did not know. Had they died alongside everyone else, or had the Akasha System relocated them somewhere else? The latter seemed more likely. These NPCs appeared to have lived through this exact situation more than a few times already.
Well, none of that matters either way.
He was glad to see them, but they were not important enough for him to waste his time on. The ones he urgently needed to meet were not these ordinary folk staring at him as if he were a spectacle.
Here.
Drawing every NPC’s attention as he walked the luxurious streets, Yujin finally stopped in front of a small shop.
Citadel’s Golden Hammer
The shop’s name was scrawled carelessly across a wooden board so old it looked ready to rot. A shabby little place standing in stark contrast to the glamorous, beautiful buildings all around it. Seeing it, Yujin nodded.
“Just like I heard.”
At first it had been a location no player paid any attention to. Between the ramshackle exterior and the fact that the door was always shut, it hardly looked like a place of business. On top of that, the owner’s personality had been thoroughly rotten, so there had been no reason to take interest. A few curious souls had poked around on the off chance something was hidden inside, but all they had gotten for their trouble was a mouthful of curses.
“Still, there really was something there.”
About three years after the summoning to the Tower, rumors had begun to circulate that Citadel’s Golden Hammer held a beautiful black sword named Black Wing [C]. For a while afterward the players had gone wild trying to obtain it.
“In the end it ended up in that bastard’s hands, though.”
Recalling old memories, Yujin raised a fist and knocked on the tightly shut door of Citadel’s Golden Hammer.
Bang! Bang! Bang—!
A heavy noise rang out. As expected, no answer came. Yujin snorted a short laugh and simply shoved the door open.
Creeeeeeak—.
The rusty hinges screamed as if they had not moved in ages.
“Who the hell dares walk in without the owner’s permission!”
Only then did a thunderous bellow explode from within.
“That’s a fine way to talk to a customer.”
“What did you say!”
“Judging by the voice, you’re not even that old. Going deaf already? Hey—customer’s here!”
Thud— Thud—!
Whether the footsteps themselves were heavy or the floorwork was simply terrible, a massive resonance accompanied the owner as he finally showed his face. A bushy beard. Arms thick as pillars. Fierce, bulging eyes. A man whose appearance would make ten out of ten passersby shout, “Blacksmith!” on the spot.
“I’m not taking customers for a while, so just get out. While I’m still asking nicely.”
Yet the face speaking those words did not look well. Every time he opened his mouth the stench of alcohol rolled out in waves, and his complexion was a sickly, leaden hue.
“From the looks of it, you’re in no position to be picky about customers. Trying to starve to death?”
The man’s face, which had seemed ready to collapse at any moment, flushed a deep red.
“…You little shit.”
A thick, booze-soaked snort blasted out.
“Maybe once I break something you’ll finally open your damn ears—!”
“Citadel.”
The man, sleeves already rolled up as he started forward, froze at the chill in Yujin’s voice.
“That’s your name, right?”
Citadel’s Golden Hammer had been taken from his own name. Of course it was no great secret that needed hiding from the world; every NPC in the area already knew. But what came next was different.
“I hear you’ve got a problem these days. What was it again… Ah—you snuffed out an important flame, didn’t you?”
Citadel’s eyes flew wide. Already large, they now looked ready to pop clean out of his skull.
“H-how do you know that? No—wait! You’re not from around here!”
Still half-drunk, he finally recognized that Yujin was a player.
“That’s right. A player. Just climbed to the First Layer.”
“That makes even less sense.”
The worry that had driven Citadel into the bottle was something even the other NPCs did not know. There had been nothing good about spreading it around, so he had told no one. Yet a player—someone who had only just finished the Tutorial Floor—somehow knew?
“Does it matter how I know?”
Yujin’s creed had always been singular. Results over process. Results over reasons. Results over causes. Only the result held absolute value. Process, reasons, causes—those could be slowly examined after everything was already finished.
“Or does it matter more that I know how to solve your problem?”
Citadel felt the same. He was curious about the former, but it could not compare to the latter.
“…You know how to fix it?”
“Yeah. That flame you idiotically let die. I can bring it back.”
When Yujin nodded with absolute certainty, Citadel’s legs seemed to give out; he swayed slightly.
“Help me! That flame is more important than my life! If you succeed, I’ll do anything—everything I can!”
“Ohh, really?”
The only reason Yujin had endured Citadel’s earlier insults without crushing the man’s mouth was because he had been waiting for exactly those words.
“You said it with your own mouth, right? You’ll do everything you can?”
Under the look that promised absolute retribution if he tried to take the words back later, Citadel briefly wondered whether he had been too hasty. But only briefly. Restoring the flame was simply too important. So he nodded.
“A man doesn’t take back words he’s already spoken! Fine—whatever you ask, I’ll do it!”
The corner of Yujin’s mouth curled upward.
“Then first hand over Black Wing [C]. Ah, and while you’re at it, throw in Grace [C] too.”
“Y-y-you insane bastard!”
Citadel leapt straight up on the spot, startled far beyond what his massive frame should have allowed.
“W-what the hell are you?! How do you know about those?!”
Of course he was shocked. The two items Yujin had named were treasures passed down through his family for generations. At this moment in time, not a single living soul besides Citadel himself even knew they existed. And yet a complete stranger of a player—one who had only just reached the First Layer—knew about them. It was enough to make a man faint.
“You don’t need to know that. Are you going to hand them over or not?”
Yujin asked with a toothy grin.
“Th-that’s—!”
Citadel would never be able to refuse. No matter how precious Black Wing [C] and Grace [C] were, they could not compare to the flame. As he himself had said moments ago, that flame was more important than his own life.
Hands trembling violently, Citadel forced his stiff neck into a nod.
“I-I’ll give them. But you must succeed. If you fail, I’ll snap your neck myself!”
The eyes fixed on Yujin burned like open fire.
Very trustworthy of you.
If he had never intended to keep the promise, there would have been no reason to look so reluctant.
“Don’t worry about that. Just wait here a bit. I’ll be back by tomorrow with the way to rekindle the flame.”
Not that he would “find” a method, but that he would “return with” one. Grasping the difference, Citadel let out a hollow laugh.
“It’s true. You really do know how to bring the flame back.”
“I already said so. Anyway, I’m heading out, so have those items ready and waiting.”
With that, Yujin turned and walked out of the shop. The sidelong glances of the NPCs watching him felt sharp. They were clearly dying to know what conversation had just taken place inside. Yujin had not the slightest intention of telling them, so he ignored their stares and kept walking.
What exactly did I need again?
He sifted through his memories.
Horn of the Sulfur Deer [F], Membrane of the Vampire Bat [F], Core of the Blue Slime [F], and…
The most important one.
“Blood of the Earth Dragon [D].”
The first three would be easy enough to obtain. Outside Terra, the monsters that dropped those items swarmed everywhere. Kill a few and the materials would pile up in no time. The problem was the last one.
“An Earth Dragon, huh.”
A name he had not spoken in a very long time.
“Well, it’s not a real dragon.”
Comparing it to the true dragonkin of the 100th Floor’s Apocalypse or the 90th Floor’s Black Darkness was pure nonsense. It merely had “dragon” stuck onto its name; in truth it was little better than a giant earthworm. The fact that it stretched dozens of meters was the only impressive part. Even so, it was undeniably strong. At the current players’ level, even hundreds swarming it at once would never bring it down. It would take several parties of players at least level 10 working together. In the first round it had taken a considerable amount of time to hunt the thing. Plenty of people had died, too.
“Can I take it alone?”
Yujin’s current level was 7. For an ordinary player it would have been utterly impossible. Yet the thought that he might lose never even crossed his mind. On the contrary, his whole body itched with the urge to clash with it at least once.
“I’ll know once I try.”
In the Tutorial Floor, Yujin had obtained four things in total.
Instant [E].
Flame Dragon Blade [E].
Unity of Exterior and Interior [E].
And finally, the crowning prize: God-Infused Physique [S].
With this much, calling him an ordinary level-7 player was almost embarrassing. Full of confidence, Yujin turned his steps back toward Terra’s main gate.
“Looks like they’re finally starting to arrive.”
Not NPCs—players were beginning to appear here and there. While he had been busy at Citadel’s Golden Hammer, the rest of them had finally made it.
“The other Tutorial Floors still aren’t finished, either.”
Every single one of them wore eyes full of fear; they were clearly the ones who had climbed up from the same floor as him.
“Good work.”
“Uh—huh?”
Tossing a passing greeting toward Enand, who was checking the players’ identities, Yujin strode straight out through the gate.
East first.
The first thing he needed was the Horn of the Sulfur Deer [F]. After that he would circle clockwise, gathering the rest one by one, then finish by killing the Earth Dragon and returning.
Yujin drew the Flame Dragon Blade [E] from his waist and headed for the sulfur deer habitat.
“Been a while since I went hunting.”