What Is This Thing For?
What is this thing even for? Boom— Thump— Even as I moved toward the detected target point, massive roars continued to shake the depths of the swamp without end. When I turned my head toward the source of the vibrations on the left, I spotted a scaled leg far in the distance, several times thicker than my own torso, thrashing violently through the marsh.
The Lizardman Champion. It possessed a body twice the size of a regular Lizardman and never showed any sign of losing stamina no matter how much you beat on it, which earned it the nickname Swamp Zombie. Unlike its lesser kin, it could nimbly snatch hunters with the wide webbed hands at the ends of its arms and drag them down into the swamp. Once caught, escaping was nearly impossible. As expected of a boss monster, it seemed to receive additional positive effects, making it far more agile and powerful inside the swamp itself.
Right now, however, the hunters' pre-prepared long-range attacks were pouring down on it, leaving the creature helplessly focused on defense. Its thin, piercing screams kept my nerves on edge, but I was certain there was zero chance it would notice me as I crawled stealthily across the swamp floor.
This should be the spot.
Whirrrr— I shaped my mana into a shovel and began digging away at the mud with both hands. The speed was pathetic compared to Wangwang, but it was more than enough to clear the mud piled on top of the door.
Scrape scrape— Scrape— Clang—!
Done.
The mana shovel struck the iron door with a dull metallic ring. I fumbled around until I found the handle, then yanked it upward with all my strength.
Gurgle— Whoosh—
A huge air pocket surged up from inside, and then something grabbed hold of me, sucking me into the doorway in an instant.
This feels a lot like when Yeonhee summons me.
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me as I soon landed on a floor of cold stone slabs.
Tap—
The ceiling door I had entered through closed on its own.
Clank—!
Alright then— let's get moving.
The first time I came here, extreme tension and confusion had left me wandering in place for a long while, but not this time. A long corridor roughly three meters wide stretched out ahead of me, and when I glanced behind, a massive black hole-like vortex twisted and spun in every direction.
The layout is exactly the same.
Clack— Tap—
Wondering if the same message from before would appear, I approached the black hole-like phenomenon.
Access to this entity is not permitted.
Same as ever.
I reached out to touch it just to be sure, but it simply pulled me in without resistance before a powerful rebound flung me back out.
No point wasting time on something I can't influence.
I turned around at once and walked forward.
Tap— Tap— Tap tap—
After sprinting roughly fifty meters down the plain, featureless corridor, I finally reached another door. Without hesitation I grabbed the long horizontal handle and turned it.
Click—
When I opened the black door I had seen in my previous life and stepped inside, a cold gray space with absolutely no decoration awaited me, just as I remembered. In the center of the room, however, stood a circular stone structure resembling a table. Resting inside a recessed hole on its surface was an object that held a faint, gentle glow.
It's different...
In my memories from my past life, only a single cloak had been spread out here. Now a fairly large jar sat in its place. It carried a reddish glow similar to the container that had held my first artifact, Gusfowel's Necklace. The wide mouth made the shape slightly different, but that distinctive blood-red hue suggested it came from the same maker.
Pop—!
I lifted the brownish lid and took out the two items stored inside. One was a thick black cloak with a familiar color and generous cut. The other was a glass pitcher whose spout curved gracefully like a swan's neck...
Huh? A pitcher? I've never seen one of these before.
At least among the artifacts I knew, there had never been one shaped like a pitcher. Hmm—a pitcher...
I wasn't lost in thought because I'd discovered an artifact of a form I'd never seen before. I already knew the events were unfolding slightly differently from my previous life, but I'd assumed the changes would be minor things like shifted locations. The fact that an entirely new artifact had been added genuinely surprised me.
Is this what Jo Giman always called the variation caused by the singularity?
Still, it wasn't a change that disadvantaged me, so I happily began reading the artifact's description.
An invention created with the intention of being supplied to the imperial household, yet a tragic piece that was ultimately never delivered. It is connected to Lake Katarin, said to hold the clearest and cleanest water in the empire.
What the hell is this nonsense?
The question was so genuine that I picked up the pitcher and shook it in every direction. It was a seamless piece with no lid, and the interior was completely empty, so no sound came from inside.
Well, it's still an artifact so I could sell it, but is it completely useless? The cloak at least has some functions.
Even when I tried channeling mana into it there was no reaction, so I was about to toss it into my inventory when a thought occurred to me. I focused my senses on the pitcher instead. The moment the formless, colorless wave wrapped around it, the translucent glass became perfectly clear and water began pouring from the spout.
Splashhhhh—!
"Clack!!"
Oh shit, that scared the hell out of me!
Startled, I quickly righted the pitcher, then tilted it again.
Gush gush gush gush—
It was water. I couldn't taste it, but this was definitely water.
Whoa—! An artifact that supplies water from another world?! That's so badass! Yeah, as if I'd actually say that! Dumbass!
Clang—!
I hurled the water pitcher onto the round table.
It's completely useless to me. I can store as much water as I want in my inventory anyway.
Of course, that was from the perspective of someone with a near-infinite inventory. For other hunters, this would actually be quite useful. Carrying large amounts of water in an inventory wasted precious space that could be used for other things. High-ranking hunters who spent days or even weeks exploring dungeons would drool over it.
Do I really have to limit myself to the hunter market?
Maybe I could sell it to a water-scarce country in Africa? If I marketed it as water from another world to rich people, I might be able to charge a premium...
Ahem— I think I could actually get a decent price for it.
I picked up the pitcher I'd thrown and carefully wiped it down with the cloak.
Scrub scrub—
Artifacts were incredibly durable. Even if a high-ranking hunter struck one with full power, it wouldn't break. Despite being thrown hard enough to make a loud noise, the pitcher's surface didn't have a single scratch and gleamed with a smooth polish.
How something that couldn't even be presented to the imperial family possessed such toughness was a mystery, but the fact remained. Why it only reacted to sensory abilities was also unclear, but those usage restrictions were points that could only increase its value.
Let's see, I should let Wangwang drink some first. No, that glutton eats everything, so maybe Helen or Jin-gyeong should test it first...
Even if the water had been clean at the time, there was no guarantee it still was. A safety test was necessary.
And then there was the other item.
A cloak developed with utmost care by the court technicians of the Tanemoro Kingdom, granting the ability to glide. When leaping using only one's own power, additional effects activate depending on the height achieved.
Stage 1: Cognitive Impairment magic activates for 10 minutes after gliding begins.
Stage 2: ???
Stage 3: ???
Hehehe, I finally got my hands on this ridiculously good item.
This was a cloak that let you glide through the air after jumping high. Of course you couldn't fly higher than your starting point, but it was an artifact I'd used often in my previous life simply to lift my mood. It had the amazing function of automatically tying itself around your neck when placed on your back, just like the capes in superhero movies.
Additional effects appeared based on how high you jumped, but since I'd focused my stats on senses and agility in my past life, I'd only ever been able to use the first stage. That remained true right up until I became a high-ranking hunter.
Kang Yeonsu managed to draw out all three stages at once...
There had been a time when our party got temporarily trapped in a maze-type dungeon. I'd used the cloak to help us escape. When Kang Yeonsu heard about it, her interest was piqued and I reluctantly lent it to her for a short while. Watching her draw out every single function instantly left me with complicated feelings.
She had even offered me a huge sum of cash to buy it from me, but I refused. Even though I was quite greedy for money back then, for some strange reason I didn't want to hand the artifact over to anyone. Looking back now, it was just childish stubbornness.
Even now I talk about selling the pitcher at a high price, but the truth is I have zero desire to part with it. Kang Yeonsu always grumbled but secretly looked after me; I probably could have given it to her...
Maybe I was jealous of her talent? She was counted among the top five body-reinforcement hunters, after all.
Sigh... You idiot. Why didn't you just give it to Yeonsu?
In the end I'd been killed by Jo Giman and forced to surrender every artifact. How pathetic.
Now that I think about it, that bastard Jo Giman might have set a trap specifically targeting my artifacts. Damn... It still pisses me off.
Composure
Huu...
I shook off the lingering thoughts and swept every corner of the room with waves of my senses.
Let's see... Hmm... As expected, there's nothing else here.
It suddenly struck me as incredibly inefficient that this large room contained only two artifacts. The moment I stored them in my inventory, a flat stone slab descended from the ceiling. When I stepped onto it, the slab rose back toward the ceiling. It felt like some kind of ancient elevator. People's ideas really are similar no matter what world they're in.
After rising for quite some time, I emerged outside and looked around. It appeared to be a forest a short distance away from the Lizardman Swamp.
Crackle—
It seemed I'd reached the limit of my distance from Yeonhee; my body was naturally being pulled in one direction. After taking a few steps that way, the battlefield where Lizardmen and hunters were clashing came into view. The ground here was slightly higher than the swamp, offering a perfect vantage point to look down on the fighting.
Looks like nothing serious happened. Good. At this height...