The Divine Weapon (3)
"Ugh… so thirsty."
When I opened my eyes that morning, my throat felt like it had been scraped raw. I'd been in such a good mood last night drinking beer that I'd gone ahead and cracked into the soju too — maybe that had been a bit much. I staggered out of bed and downed a glass of cold water.
Gulp— gulp—
"Ahh. I'm alive again."
I flopped straight back onto the bed, grabbed my phone, and logged into the game. I'd bought a twenty-thousand-won package last night while drunk, so I needed to get my money's worth.
Once I was in, I sorted through the resources that had piled up overnight and opened my inventory.
"What the hell is this?"
Tucked in a corner of the inventory was an item with a purple border I'd never seen before. Every item I'd encountered so far had been borderless. Curious, I tapped it for details.
"Oh? What's this? Why do I suddenly have ore like this?"
I wondered if the dwarves had mined it, but the mine wasn't nearly far enough along for that. Thinking it over carefully, there was only one reason something this good would just appear out of nowhere.
"It must've come with the package I bought yesterday."
It had almost certainly been bundled into the Building Completion Package I'd purchased last night. For twenty thousand won, just a completion function alone would've felt a little thin.
"I can smelt this and make a weapon out of it."
The moment I tried to move the Mana-Infused Orichalcum to the smeltery, a message window popped up.
! Ore not unlocked. Smelting impossible. !
"What is that supposed to mean? Acquiring it and unlocking it are two different things?"
I was speechless. I opened the system window and checked the unlocked list — not a single ore had an unlocked mark next to it.
"I paid real money for this and you won't even unlock it? God, what a trash game."
Cursing the developers for refusing to unlock resources I'd bought with my own cash, I was about to craft a dagger out of the orichalcum when I hesitated.
Should I push a little harder and unlock a better weapon?
Making a mere dagger out of such rare ore felt like a waste. I wanted to craft something better and sell it to adventurers. If I was going to do this, I might as well squeeze every last drop of profit out of it, right?
Yeah. Let's unlock a weapon.
I opened the weapon list and browsed the A-Grade weapons. Of course, the gold I currently had didn't come close.
"Fine. I'll fall for it one more time."
I swiped my card and performed the miracle of turning real cash into in-game gold. Twenty thousand won became data-world currency, and my game wallet was suddenly flush.
Looking at the gold that had ballooned after burning another twenty thousand, my stomach twisted a little — but this level of spending was just one less fried chicken dinner.
I forced myself to let go of that chicken and started happily shopping through the A-Grade weapon list.
"Hmm… what's good…"
Being A-Grade weapons, the names were packed with menacing, powerful modifiers like "Shining" and "Blood-Drinking" instead of the usual "Worn" or "Short."
Swipe—
Flick—
I was scrolling casually through the list when one weapon suddenly caught my eye.
"Whoa… this sword is huge."
True to a game called Weapon Crafting, almost everything you could make was a weapon — but I'd never seen a blade this big.
"Why is it so ridiculously massive?"
I pressed in and checked the item info.
A-Grade Weapon
A sword the size of a full-grown adult filled the display. Even just looking at the model, it dwarfed every other blade.
"I've seen something like this in another game."
I'd never encountered a sword this large in this game before, and the sight of that enormous two-hander made a man's romance stir in my chest. Uniquely, the blade unraveled from the midpoint like cloth, twisting and coiling until the edges met again at the tip — and it looked incredibly cool.
"How am I supposed to resist a greatsword this badass?"
I hit the craft button without a second thought. Being a high-grade weapon, it ate all ten pieces of orichalcum — but I had no regrets. A greatsword is romance.
Clank-clank—
A hammering effect flickered on screen for a moment, then vanished.
Ba-bam—!
Looking at that magnificent greatsword sitting in my inventory, twenty thousand won didn't feel wasted at all. The model was just that good.
"Heh. I'll save this for a high-rank adventurer later."
There was no way I was selling something this precious to an F-Grade adventurer. After locking it down, I used the leftover copper and steel to craft longswords and daggers.
"Why haven't any adventurers been coming to the inn lately?"
Plenty of empty rooms, and it felt like the rate of new arrivals had dropped. This game was unfriendly enough that it wouldn't even show how long until the next adventurer showed up. All you could do was wait blindly.
"Tch. Typical trash game."
Waiting around for adventurers was too annoying, so I sold everything off and logged out.
Kenis jolted upright in the early hours before dawn. She could have lingered in the haze of exhaustion, but she rose without a hint of sluggishness and washed up at once.
Today's the day the expedition departs!
She checked her packed bag one more time — the same bag she'd already inspected four times before falling asleep.
Insect repellent, salt and jerky, blanket, whetstone… wait, what else was there?
And so Kenis packed and unpacked everything three more times before breakfast.
She barely touched her food, and the moment she finished she shot out of the dining hall like an arrow.
The expedition was to assemble after breakfast, in front of the Pantheon's main gate.
Kenis hurried back to her quarters, changed into the sturdy travel clothes she'd prepared, and grabbed her bag.
—Yank.
She hauled the strap tight across her shoulder, laced up her thick-soled boots, and made straight for the main gate.
The expedition to seek the traces of a god is setting out! And I'm one of its members!
A fair number of people had already gathered in front of the gate, murmuring among themselves.
Am I late?
A trainee holy knight who showed up late to her very first assembly would not hear kind words.
Knowing that well, Kenis approached at something close to a run. She made for the man who looked to be directing the group and greeted him in a clear, ringing voice.
"Good morning, sir! I am Trainee Holy Knight Kenis! I look forward to serving under you!"
As she bowed, her red hair spilled down along the nape of her neck.
"Ah, I've heard about you. Trainee Holy Knight Kenis, correct?"
A figure stepped toward her.
"I am Paladin Demonic. I hold overall command of this expedition."
"Yes, sir! An honor to meet you!"
Kenis felt her heart hammering before she could stop it. A paladin! One of only three living idols of every holy knight in the Pantheon was standing right in front of her, speaking to her!
She realized then just how much the Pantheon expected of this expedition — enough to place a paladin at its head.
"We haven't much time. Report to the blonde woman over there. I'm busy, so I'll leave you to it."
"Y-Yes, sir! It was an honor to meet you!"
"May the grace of the Five Gods be with you."
Demonic strode off in a whirl of orders, clearly occupied with directing the entire expedition.
"Kenis! Help me move this gear!"
"Yes! Right away!"
Kenis fell in behind the senior holy knight assigned to her and threw herself into the preparations.
After a brief flurry of activity, the expedition at last marched out through the Pantheon's main gate in full dignity.
—Snap!
"May the blessings of the Five Gods go with the brave souls who seek the traces of the divine!"
"""May the blessings go with them!!"""
Every priest of the Pantheon had come out to bestow their blessing upon the departing expedition, and Kenis watched with her chest swelling full.
Yes — this is the holy knight I dreamed of being! Not freezing in the dark north, brawling with those damned fiends! This is what I wanted!
The shafts of light falling from the sky under the priests' blessing seemed to consecrate the first step of Kenis's great journey.
At least, that was how it looked to her.
For all of one-eyed Evan's dire warnings that heretics and demons would try to stop them, the expedition traveled for eight full days without a single incident.
Kenis wore a faintly deflated look.
"Kenis, we'll reach a city soon."
Her senior holy knight spoke up.
"They say the dungeon where the first divine weapon was obtained is near a city called Yustella. Looks like we'll rest in town before heading into the dungeon."
"A divine weapon?"
Kenis's ears pricked up.
"Yeah. Word is it's a golden sword of the gods, sharp enough to cut clean through a steel shield."
The senior knight cheerfully rattled off every rumor he'd picked up along the way.
"Funny thing is, everyone describes this 'divine weapon' differently. Some say they received a sword, others a dagger."
"And all of them claim they met a god and heard a voice?"
"That's what they say, anyway. Who knows? Maybe a new god really has descended to the earth. Or maybe heretics and demons are up to their old tricks again."
After that, the senior knight launched into a long string of stories about thrashing demons and heretics. Kenis only half-listened.
A divine weapon! Golden light, sharp enough to tear through steel shields?
In her mind's eye, she was already the hero who had received that weapon, meting out judgment upon wicked demons and fiends.
While Kenis's head was full of daydreams, a loud voice rose from the front of the column — Demonic, the expedition's commander.
"All attention! A short march more and we reach our first destination — Yustella! Mind your appearance and conduct so that the city's citizens see us in proper order!"
Kenis slapped the dust from her clothes and trousers and roughly rinsed the oil from her hair with a splash of water. The rest of the company tidied themselves up as best they could.
Evan surveyed them with satisfaction.
"Good. Move out!"
The expedition passed through the city's great gates, transformed from a dust-caked rabble into a presentable company.
And Kenis took each step with her heart racing.
Could I be the one to obtain that divine weapon?