Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Titan's Stake
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“Ooooh… This thing! It kills me!”
The solid heft reverberating through my hands.
Compared to how I hadn’t really felt the weight of weapons until now, this heaviness finally made me truly feel like I was holding one.
It was an unfamiliar weapon, but I picked it up with both hands, swung it one-handed a few times, and started getting used to it bit by bit.
“See! My eyes never lie! Haha! That guy’s a total pushover now. Hahahaha!”
“Hmm…….”
“No other options for now—it’s forged entirely from solid ‘God’s Steel,’ so it’s tough, heavy, magic-proof, can’t be enchanted, and fully immune to spells. It was originally made to pin down Titans, after all. Hahaha!”
In other words, zero options.
Tough, heavy, and magic-immune.
Simple and straightforward specs.
“But this is Legendary-grade, so the price…….”
“I’ll just give it to you. And if the hero wants, I’ll keep it hush-hush. Stick something identical-looking in there, and no one will know.”
Why on earth is he doing this?
No, really, just because he found the weapon’s rightful owner?
Even if it’s zero options, I swear I heard it’s made from some otherworldly ‘God’s Steel’ material?
“But this is made of ‘God’s Steel,’ and just the material alone would cost tens of billions…….”
“Nah, that’s too low. That much would probably go for hundreds of billions. But even then, the only one who can smelt ‘God’s Steel’ is Lord Hephaestus. If someone else could, you think we’d leave it lying around?”
“Ah, aaaah…….”
“Of course, he said you could melt it down in a supernova explosion or shove it into a superheated planet like the sun. At that scale, it’s already beyond us mortals. If we could handle it, it would’ve been turned into gear ages ago.”
A precious metal, but useless to humanity since we can’t work it?
Plus, it’s so heavy that anything short of SS-rank Strength can’t even lift it, and with no other options, no one would touch the brute.
“Anyway, I’ll gratefully accept it. And please keep this whole thing secret…….”
“Of course, hero. Everyone’s got their circumstances. I swear it on Lord Hephaestus’s name.”
If he’s swearing on a Constellation’s name, that’s trustworthy enough.
And it’s not just any guild—it’s Olympus, a global mega-guild, so their credibility’s sky-high.
After that, I grabbed the sword and spear Ayoung had ordered—decent stuff—and paid up before leaving the shop.
“Where’ve you been? Oh? Got your weapon? But no armor?”
“No size fit, so I went to the VIP room, got measured, and ordered already. They’ll call when it’s ready. Anyway, inventory all this stuff…….”
“Ah! Then no problem.”
I smoothly covered the meeting with the branch manager and the Titan stake by playing it off as getting armor fitted.
The Association gear excuse wouldn’t fly, so it was a white lie, but nothing suspicious, so we left without issue.
Hard to believe we’d only hit one store—it felt like we’d burned half the day.
‘…Now I’m scared of whatever’s next.’
“Aww, too bad. I wanted to pick gear too~ Such a shame~ Uncle, you should’ve let me try. You looked promising…….”
‘Feels kinda guilty now, no words.’
Sure, the Titan stake’s basically zero options, but it’s still Legendary-grade, so calling it “chosen” felt bad enough.
Anyway, best to say nothing.
“Where to next?”
“How about grub first? Kimbap Heaven sound good?”
“Where’s that?”
No way she doesn’t know Kimbap Heaven? The legendary snack joint where you can order anything?
Really hits me how girly she is in unexpected ways.
B-rank Awakener, Heaven Class, heir to a mid-tier guild—probably far from commoner life.
“Somewhere else then?”
“No. You mentioned it, so now I wanna go. Let’s go! Let’s!”
“Uh, uh, sure. But don’t complain if it’s not your taste. Though it’s all good anyway…….”
Figured the flavors were safe enough, so I pulled up my phone, searched nearby Kimbap Heavens, and led Ayoung there.
But right then, I noticed the guy who’d been tailing me from school—not the shop—pick up our trail again. Now I had to ponder what to do with him.
‘Who the hell is he, and what’s his deal? Making my life a drag. Sloppy too, which bugs me more. And… it’s not just one?’
Still, moving now would be bad, so I played dumb, entered Kimbap Heaven, and ordered right away.
***
‘Finally ducked somewhere.’
Lee Ji-young, the girl tracking Yoo Seongwon—Blue Dragon Guild member and Academia student—saw them enter Kimbap Heaven and slipped into a nearby café to observe.
She’d started tailing him on guild orders while investigating Baekya Guild. He’d been Shin Ayoung’s exclusive staff, now backup for the raid team.
“Doesn’t look like much…….”
Blue Dragon Guild was in chaos after their heir’s death and the raid flop.
Especially with Jeong Min-su’s failure involving an S-rank+ Awakener, and hints of a hidden S-rank in the participating guilds—they were desperate to find them.
“And the rumors are everywhere now. Sigh~”
[Association News: All raid guilds deny having mystery ‘Golden Knight.’]
Humiliating for Blue Dragon, but since it was a joint op, they couldn’t bury it.
Drones and black boxes from other guilds fed straight to media, spreading the raid failure too.
‘XTube’s all Golden Knight vids right now.’
[Who is the Golden Knight?]
[Which of the five guilds has knight classes?]
[Power of ‘Golden Knight’ skills caught on guild drone?]
[Association urges hidden S-rank to reveal self and contribute to humanity.]
Anyway, Seoul and surrounding Awakener scenes were buzzing.
Others from the raid guilds were under even heavier watch.
Maybe someone else was surveilling this spot too.
“Wooow! What is this place? So good! Absolute fire! Ayoung’s missed out on half her life!”
“Shh, eat quietly.”
“Yeees! Auntie, one more each of jjol-myeon, tteokbokki, and fritters please!”
“You a pig?”
“Oink oink oink! Snort! Snooort!”
“Argh! Fine, just eat nicely!”
Frowning at their goofy banter, she kept eyes on Yoo Seongwon and tried probing with magic.
Couldn’t during travel, and weapon shop banned casual spells, but this was a normie spot—fair game.
[Target Scan Results]
[Yoo Seongwon]
Status
Str:■■■■ Dex:■■■■ Vit:■■■■ Mag:■■■■
[Skills]
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
Unable to confirm
[Log: Target appears under powerful protection, or using defensive skill/artifact.]
“A mere staffer… what’s this?”
Staffers could be Awakeners, but no way one had defenses this tight.
Intel said he was Shin Ayoung’s exclusive staff, registered trainer. No reason for heavy anti-magic prep.
‘Normally no one bothers that much… no way?’
Obvious red flag—she got a hunch right away.
With the guild bloodthirsty for the Golden Knight’s ID, no clue was too small. She upped his priority and kept tailing.
‘Calling for backup’s smart, but if I move first… those guys over there and that one’ll jump too.’
Why she was cautious: she wasn’t the only tail.
Subtle players—fellow Academia students?—had been bugging her awhile.
‘Stick for now. Gotta hunt other leads too…….’
“Phew~ stuffed. What now? Oh, right. VR arcade using Academia sim tech? Or escape café?”
“Escape café sounds fun. D-rank has puzzle dungeons, good training.”
“You barely Hunter, but dungeon strats obsess you.”
“Gotta level up somehow. Even as staff.”
Chatting date-vibes, they hit escape café first, then roamed everywhere.
Like they sensed no tails, they ate dinner late, played wild till dark, finally hitting Academia gates.
“Whooo~ Epic fun. Haven’t played this hard in forever.”
“Hanging with someone… hmm… first time ever. Excluding company drinks.”
“Uncle, no work buds?”
“How do you bare souls with coworkers?”
“No way? Ah… aaaah…….”
Yoo Seongwon, thirty-two this year.
Lost parents young in Grandmaster mess, orphan till adulthood in facilities, then job with zero close friends.
Catching on, Shin Ayoung gaped, eyes misty as she stared.
“Don’t pity me. You’re Heaven Class—no friends either!”
“Better than thirty-plus years solo?”
“You’re next.”
“Haah~”
Lee Ji-young had tons to say but just sighed.
Probably same as other tails on Yoo Seongwon.
After chit-chat, different dorms split them.
Then Yoo Seongwon headed alone—not to staff dorms, somewhere else.
‘What? This late, where to?’
Ji-young questioned but kept following.
Naturally, other tails did too.