The Three Sacred Tools
Seabird's Bath 041. I had gathered all three sacred tools needed to sweep through Stage 4's Seabird's Bath. The map, the snake bracelet, and the storage device Type-X. I couldn't imagine better conditions than this. With anticipation, I unfolded the map. There had been one thing that puzzled me all along. Nowhere in the community had anyone posted about reaching the end of the maze. If this place was truly a maze, there had to be an exit, yet no one had found it. The reason was written right on the map.
"So that's what it was."
If you kept walking in a straight line on Earth, you'd eventually loop back to your starting point. It was the exact same principle that prevented anyone from escaping the planet's surface on foot. Stage 4 was a small spherical world. The fact that the map itself was spherical was good news. It meant the right edge of the map connected directly to the left edge. For someone like me who needed to search for Fruits of Good and Evil, this was incredibly convenient. But it also left me with my first question.
Where exactly was the maze's exit?
Now that [Maze Monster] had been cleared, two [Events] remained for me. The second of those events was [Exit]. I had hoped the map would give me a clue, but it only left me more confused.
"It's not like we can escape into the sky..."
I decided to take my time thinking it over. Since I'd already resolved one event, I had plenty of breathing room. I plotted a route centered around the plains. Obtaining the three sacred tools had made things easier, but my exploration method hadn't changed much. The goal was still to cover every area, so I would start from the plains and spiral outward in circles.
"Well then, first destination—Seabird's Bath?"
The danger zone known as Seabird's Bath. Giant pelicans roughly two meters in size lived there. They would claw holes into their prey, stuff them into their beaks, and tilt their heads back to drink the blood. During the process, blood that couldn't fit down their throats would overflow and soak their bodies, which was how the place earned its name.
I summoned Baengnae. She crawled out from my leg where she had been summoned.
"Baengnae, do you like chicken?"
"Chicky?"
"Ah, you still don't know the joys of life."
"Don't know."
How unfortunate. The shop sold chicken, so I could buy some, but I had a feeling she would prefer the seabirds more. We crossed the plains, heading toward Seabird's Bath for our chicken dinner.
Camelion Summoner Luna sat on the rooftop of the human breeding facility, gazing down at the city of dwarves. Her forces specialized in information gathering and assassination more than anyone else's. This was an effect of her influence. Raised as a spy, Luna had passed her skills on to her chameleon beastkin. Thanks to that, the work of sending people back to Earth had already been completed two days ago. Yet Luna had not left Stage 3. She was the type of person who, once a question took root in her mind, would pursue it no matter what.
And here in this place, something had touched upon her curiosity.
"Why do terrain-based threats occur?"
When Luna had first entered Stage 3, that question had deeply captivated her. To resolve it, she had wandered the entire city conducting searches. All she found were countless ingredients and recipes. That was how the first post from a Stage 3 expert had appeared on the community boards. Though she had already circled the city once, Luna had not challenged the boss. Her question remained unanswered. So she stayed in Stage 3, met a sponsor, formed a contract, and was branded a scammer before being forced into the tournament. While users were thrilled by the tournament, she had no real interest in it. Luna's mind was occupied solely with the thought of "How can I eliminate the terrain-based threats?" That was why, even after reaching the top 200, she remained in Stage 3.
Rumors began circulating about the city of dwarves. Luna sensed this might be the key to solving her question and immediately pressed the challenge button. She blended in among the countless dwarves and gathered information. A Korean named Han Yua had said that the dwarves were replicas of something from Earth. Everything was a copy. If that was the case, were the "terrain-based threats" also imitations? Fear without a traceable source. Danger that could not be resolved. The bizarre encountered in everyday life. Luna reached her conclusion. The terrain-based threats were imitations of what people commonly called urban legends. Then how could one erase an urban legend? Where did urban legends originate? From the human psyche. They were born from the fears and anxieties of the weak, who imagined things that did not exist. Pain with pain, fear with fear. And urban legends could simply be overwritten with other urban legends.
Having reached her conclusion, Luna began to act. She spread her countless chameleons throughout the dwarves' city. The chameleons continuously applied invisible threats to the dwarves. They would make them imagine things that did not exist and mistake safe places for dangerous ones. Objects would fall from the sky. Doors that should open would remain shut. Sounds that should not be heard would be heard, and things that should not be seen would become visible. In the moment the dwarves trembled with fear and lost sleep, the urban legends would become real to them. Their copied fake legends would lose their place, and genuine terror would spread among the dwarves by word of mouth. The terrain-based threats had become the dwarves' own, and Luna's urban legend was erased. Luna smiled as she looked up at the night sky. Then she raised her hand and covered the replicated fake moonlight.
"This place is boring now."
Luna's lips trembled slightly. It was an old habit of hers that appeared whenever she was assigned a new objective. The thrill of raw knowledge.
"Returnee. You said you loved me, didn't you?"
That was the moment Luna's next question was decided.
Baengnae walked beside me, crunching on a pelican's beak.
"Delicious."
"Heh. So that's chicken...? Huh? That's a beak. You should eat the meat, not the beak."
"This is delicious."
When Baengnae offered me the beak, I declined.
"Well, whatever. As long as it tastes good."
"Correct!"
Unlike the happy Baengnae, I was not in a good mood. The pelicans did not live in flocks. When we encountered them, there were only five or six at most. Because of that, the storage device's gauge showed no signs of filling up. There was another problem as well. The pelicans were even dumber than I had expected. Was it because they had bird brains? When turned into zombies, they became creatures no different from the brainless. They were severely less useful compared to the monkeys.
Splash— Splash—
"Ah, there's this too."
The terrain here was full of puddles. Not just ordinary puddles, but filthy water from the bird-brains enjoying their "baths." Thanks to that, the new shoes I bought for Baengnae with gold had become completely secondhand. No, they had gone beyond secondhand and turned into trash. I had clearly bought mint-colored shoes, but now they were red.
"I'll have to buy new ones..."
Squelch— Squelch—
"Fun! Fun!"
While my mood sank, Baengnae was happily playing in the puddles. At least Baengnae was happy—that was some consolation. After walking for a while, we finally spotted a tree that looked as if it were reaching toward the sky. Seeing the snake head, it seemed this was the artifact we had been looking for.
"Oh, finally!"
Since arriving at Seabird's Bath, we had found three low-grade Fruits of Good and Evil. Unfortunately, no skills had appeared. Then the green head reacted, leading us here. Exhausted from the harsh environment, I used the storage device without even bothering to read the information. After all, the rewards wouldn't change, so I wanted to save the effort of reading the artifact's details.
"Soul Engraving, come out, Soul Engraving!"
With a hum, the hand-like tree clenched into a fist and sank into the ground. In its place, a sapling grew and bore fruit. When I saw the fruit, I was greatly surprised.
"Good heavens! That's—"
Hanging from the fruit was none other than [Grasping Pincers].
"Damn it! Are you kidding me?!"
It was a very familiar stone. I thought I had gotten rid of it, yet the same thing had appeared again.
"Ah, why...! Is this the Cat God's curse?"
At that moment, a message appeared before my eyes.
[Huh? I didn't do anything.]
"Gasp. When did you get here?"
I felt oddly flustered. I didn't know when she had arrived, but the stone's reappearance wasn't the Cat God's fault.
"Ahem... What I meant was, well, it's just that these great Soul Engravings keep appearing, so I'm really happy, that's all."
[Nyahaha. Idiot, idiot. I saw everything you hate. You idiot.]
She was always clumsy, yet sharp only at times like this. Still, it was unfair. What did Soul Engravings keep appearing have to do with calling me an idiot?
"That has nothing to do with being an idiot!"
[Of course it does. If Soul Engravings keep appearing, you can synthesize them, so isn't that good? But since you hate it, you're an idiot.]
I already knew about synthesis. But since I had already used up the [Grasping Pincers], I couldn't synthesize them. In the end, only this strange stone remained for me.
"I already used the one you gave me last time."
[Nyahahaha. Idiot. Idiot.]
"Stop calling me an idiot and give me an alternative!"
[Nyah? There is no alternative. Even already-granted engravings can be synthesized, so why would I suggest an alternative? Nyahaha! How funny!]
"Already-granted ones can be synthesized too? Why are you only telling me this now? You should have said that earlier!"
The Cat God was the Cat God—what could I do? At least I knew now. I picked up the [Grasping Pincers] and stored it away.
"So you're saying that if it's the same engraving, I can keep synthesizing them?"
[Nyah? No. As long as the grade is the same, they can be synthesized. But if you synthesize them wrong, they might turn into something strange.]
"Ah, so that's how it works."
"Then what grade is the Regeneration Cells that Baengnae has?"
[That's 5. The one in your hand right now is 1.]
"And the Grasping Pincers?"
[Ah? You made that? That's 2. Nyaha, you made trash. Nyahaha.]
"Ugh..."
This was entirely my fault. With a sponsor who knew the combination formulas right beside me, I had gone ahead and synthesized on my own. Still, it was fortunate that only two 1-grade items had been wasted. From now on, I just had to be careful.
"Got it..."
[Don't be too discouraged. Stage 4 has tons of Fruits of Good and Evil. There's another one right over there, isn't there?]
I couldn't tell where "over there" was. When I looked around, the Cat God added,
[Look at the bracelet.]
The green snake on the bracelet was raising its head again. There was another mid-grade artifact nearby.
"Oh..."
Following the snake's direction, I saw another tree similar to the one we had just found. 1+1—my luck was good. I immediately approached and used the storage device. At that moment, the Cat God burst into laughter.
[Nyahahahahaha.]
"Why... are you laughing?"
With a hum, the tree hand clenched, sank into the ground, and a sapling grew. Fruit formed, and a stone appeared.
[Grasping Pincers]
[Nyahahahaha! How funny, how funny!]
Baengnae came over and poked me repeatedly. Then she made scissors with both hands and wiggled them.
"Gimme. Snip snip. Baengnae wants too."
She wanted the pincers that had been on the boots attached to herself as well.
"No."
Whether it turned into porridge or rice, this had to go to the boots. Let's see how far this goes. I'll keep grinding these pincers until something good comes out!
"Hmm..."
I had boldly thought I would put all the pincers in, but that was actually foolish. Getting swept up by emotion and gambling like this was very unwise. I cautiously looked up into the air and asked,
"Um, Cat God. If I synthesize two Grasping Pincers... would you happen to know what comes out? Haha."
I don't repeat the same mistake.