The Supreme Weapon
Cheok Jun-gyeong... Huang Zhong.
I had heard of both of them. They were legendary historical figures, after all.
“Are you... by any chance, that Huang Zhong from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?”
“Most likely the very man you are thinking of. The one whose single bow shook the realm—men once hailed me as the veteran general Huang Zhong. Fufu... to know my name still echoes through time pleases an old soldier.”
Damn... This is insane.
It really was the Huang Zhong. No wonder he had been stubbornly insisting the bow was the supreme weapon.
“Ahem... And have you heard nothing of this venerable one?”
Of course I have. How could I not?
The trouble was, acknowledging it felt a bit awkward. See, I'd seen him on the internet—Cheok Jun-gyeong, celebrated across Korean message boards as Goryeo's legendary Swordmaster. But I couldn't exactly walk up to him and ask, “So, are you really Goryeo's Swordmaster?” Besides, he was from Goryeo, which made him an ancestor of sorts even if we didn't share blood. Still, singling out only one of them would leave the other feeling embarrassed, so I decided to phrase it tactfully.
“I've heard of you, sir. I know you're incredible with a sword.”
Ah. Maybe I should have just asked if he was the Swordmaster after all. “Incredible with a sword”? What kind of lame, underwhelming praise was that?
“Indeed! A warrior who feared nothing under the heavens so long as a blade was in hand. That is none other than I, Cheok Jun-gyeong!”
Phew, what a relief. He looked quite pleased with himself.
Cassius chimed in smoothly.
⟨Ho-ho... He is far too lowly an existence to warrant the esteemed attention of you two. He is merely a fledgling Climber who has yet to even reach the wall.⟩
Look at this golem. Look how remarkably polite he was being. Whenever he addressed me, it was always “this punk” or “you brat,” yet to them, it was “the esteemed two” spoken in the most reverent, delicate tone possible. Well... he wasn't wrong, I suppose. Though what in the world was “the wall”? I didn't have the faintest clue.
“Which only piques my curiosity further,” Cheok Jun-gyeong said, stroking his chin. “At a glance, the aura he exudes is utterly feeble, yet he is a Climber capable of visiting the Tower of Transcendence. Is that not truly marvelous?”
“Indeed, and stranger still that he is a VIP member of this Arcana Market,” Huang Zhong added. “I had heard that even among all the High Transcendents, only a mere handful hold that distinction...”
Ah, right. That VIP member was me.
Still... was it really that rare? Rare enough that barely any High Transcendents held the status?
I was just a freshly minted newbie who had become a VIP only yesterday, which was why I had learned for the first time today that a blaring chime rings out whenever a VIP steps into the shop.
Seriously, is there no way to disable that?
It wasn't that I hated attention, but I wasn't that much of an attention seeker. Thanks to that blasted chime, I had drawn all the aggro in the room. If not for that, I would have quietly browsed the wares in the corner until the other customers finished their business and departed...
Still, it was fascinating. Transcendents. I'd heard they existed, but I never imagined I would actually see them in the flesh.
⟨Consider it an honor,⟩ Cassius remarked telepathically. ⟨They are no ordinary Transcendents, but distinguished masters who began scaling the tower long before and have already conquered many of its floors.⟩
Aha. So they were my seniors.
“Seniors?”
“Haha... that is a word I have never heard in all my days.”
What? Did Transcendents not use words like that?
⟨Well... strictly speaking, there is reason enough to call you seniors,⟩ Cassius said. ⟨This fellow has already ascended one floor, after all.⟩
“What? He climbed a floor?”
“Surely you do not mean the Tower of Transcendence? A frail child like him?”
Whoa, child? Come on now. I might look young, but I was twenty-three years old—fully grown! Well, by their standards, maybe I really was an infant. They were figures from the Three Kingdoms and Goryeo dynasties, after all.
“That's right. I managed to clear the first floor not too long ago.”
“To pass that cursed scarecrow that crumbles if you so much as breathe on it...” Cheok Jun-gyeong grunted, shaking his head. “You must have suffered immensely.”
Suffered? Uh... not really. I just walked up and gave it a few taps, and it let me through right away...
“Wait,” Huang Zhong interrupted, his eyes suddenly gleaming. “If it is a recent clear of the first floor, is there not only a single record?”
“Huh? Now that you mention it...” Cheok Jun-gyeong's eyes widened with equal intensity. “The one that caused an uproar about an all-time record?”
Wait, what? An all-time record? So you could check that kind of thing in the Tower of Transcendence too?
“Could it be... that record from a few days ago, clearing the Origin-Sensing Scarecrow with one hundred percent durability remaining—was that you?”
Well... that probably was me. They said there was only one recent clear, so who else could it be?
Wait. Hold on a second.
Does that mean... that scarecrow didn't lose a single point of durability? Seriously? Even though I punched it five whole times?
“I think... I was so weak that my punches didn't even register as damage?”
A short and simple summary.
Their reaction?
“Hah, so that was it... To pass with ease precisely because one was too weak... What an unimaginable solution.”
Right? Under normal circumstances, nobody would ever dream of such a thing, since only Transcendents could enter this place to begin with.
“Following similar logic,” Huang Zhong mused, “perhaps he might pass the next floor just as effortlessly.”
Oh? The next floor too?
Now they were making me curious. I'd definitely have to drop by and test the waters later.
“A Climber scaling the Tower of Transcendence with such a frail mortal vessel... A fascinating lad indeed,” Cheok Jun-gyeong chuckled heartily.
“Since fate has brought us together like this, why don't we lend him a small hand?” Huang Zhong suggested.
“Sounds splendid.”
Oh? As expected of the seniors! Could it be... were they about to bestow a gift upon me?
“We shall personally recommend the very best items you can purchase with your current funds,” Huang Zhong declared warmly.
...Excuse me?
You're recommending, not giving?
⟨Tsk.⟩
Hey! Cassius, you just clicked your tongue at me, didn't you?
Was I being too greedy? I mean, come on... the way they talked, it really sounded like they were about to hand me some free legendary gear!
“Now then... you mentioned wanting to learn the sword, the bow, or the spear,” Cheok Jun-gyeong said. “What does your current wealth amount to?”
My current wealth, huh.
“If I scrape together everything I have, it comes out to about four hundred magic crystals.”
“...”
“Haha...”
Seniors? Why the sudden dumbfounded expressions?
Come on. It's totally normal for a newly awakened rookie to be broke...
“Four hundred...” Cheok Jun-gyeong rubbed his chin in thought. “Hmm, four hundred high-grade magic crystals. With that much, you should just barely be able to procure something serviceable.”
Huh? High-grade?
Uh... they're just plain old magic crystals.
⟨To be precise, they are low-grade magic crystals,⟩ Cassius clarified bluntly.
Right. The golem did say they were low-grade.
“If I count every last spare scrap, I might be able to stretch it to four hundred and twenty...?”
“Four hundred low-grade magic crystals...” Cheok Jun-gyeong turned to the shopkeeper with a frown. “Cassius, does the Arcana Market even stock anything for sale within that budget?”
⟨The core motto of the Arcana Market is to provide whatever the customer desires,⟩ Cassius replied with practiced merchant dignity. ⟨Naturally, we have options.⟩
“Haha...”
“What a peculiar day.”
Fortunately, there was quite a wide selection of items that fit my budget.
Swish!
⟨Everything from here to there can be purchased for eight hundred magic crystals or less.⟩
Look at that punk Cassius.
When I was browsing on my own, he grumbled endlessly about me looking for cheap junk, yet the moment these seniors asked, he brought out the catalog without a peep of complaint.
“Uh... Mr. Cassius? Doesn't this look like way more stuff than when I was looking earlier...?”
⟨Quiet. It is merely your imagination.⟩
No, it definitely wasn't my imagination. Even a casual glance revealed—
See? There were tons of items. When it was just me, he brought out maybe one or two—at most three.
“Hmm... with only four hundred magic crystals, assembling a complete, proper setup for swordsmanship will not be easy,” Cheok Jun-gyeong remarked with a sigh.
Just as I thought. I'd realized it earlier too: everything related to swords was ridiculously overpriced. A shame, but Senior Cheok's path was out of the question for now.
Which left...
“I have made my choice. These two,” Huang Zhong announced, gesturing toward the display.
Oh? Two whole items? Within my budget?
The items Senior Huang had picked out were:
Just those two.
How much would they cost, though?
⟨Combined, the original retail price for both is eight hundred magic crystals,⟩ Cassius stated.
An original price of eight hundred magic crystals.
Which meant... after applying the fifty percent VIP discount?
Four hundred.
Damn. He had calculated it right down to the exact crystal.
“This looks great!”
Wait. Hold on.
“Uh, there's just one problem... I don't know how to shoot a bow at all...”
If I didn't even know archery basics, what good was a bow and a thumb ring? Buying them would be completely useless if I couldn't shoot.
“Do not fret. That is precisely why I selected that Green Wood Thumb Ring alongside it.”
The Green Wood Thumb Ring? Why that? Wasn't a thumb ring just something you wore to protect your fingers from the bowstring?
“It is a piece crafted by the point-eared folk,” Huang Zhong explained. “When firing a bow with that equipped, it not only provides fundamental aiming assistance, but the depth of mastery gained from practice accumulates several times faster than normal.”
Oh. So basically... it makes shooting easy, and your skill levels up crazy fast?
That was incredible.
“Furthermore, it will automatically adjust your aim toward whatever target you wish to strike, so you need not worry in the slightest.”
...Huh?
Auto-aim?
Wasn't that a high-tier skill that archer-class Awakeners had to grind to high levels just to barely scratch the surface of?
And I get that right away just by slipping on a thumb ring?
Insane. This was an absolute jackpot.
“Well? Is the bow not truly the supreme pinnacle of weaponry?” Huang Zhong asked with a proud, booming chuckle.
I had to admit it. Maybe bows really were the best weapon after all.
Beijing, China.
The Alliance Leader's office of the Heavenly Martial Alliance.
“So... it opens in precisely four days?”
“Yes, Celestial Emperor. Without a moment's discrepancy, the Special Dungeon will open in exactly four days and one hour.”
Luo Qin nodded in satisfaction at the confident report from Liu Wei, the S-rank Detection-Type Awakened who was the pride of China.
“Good.”
What had the other countries been whining about again? That they couldn't even properly predict the opening time of the Special Dungeon? At best, they could only guess a rough window.
China, on the other hand, commanded intelligence on an entirely different plane thanks to Liu Wei, their sensory specialist. The exact opening time, precise coordinates, and even the general premise of the dungeon were firmly in their grasp.
“What is the premise of this dungeon?”
“The dungeon's designation is the Quiet Abyssal Temple. According to our sensory scans, all forms of mana usage appear to be severely restricted within its boundaries.”
A restriction on mana usage.
To ordinary Awakeners, such a condition was practically a death sentence. Yet to Luo Qin, it mattered not in the slightest.
Why?
“Excellent.”
For Luo Qin's specialty was neither mana nor brute physical strength, but a power of an entirely different dimension.
In other words:
“Then the national buff shall belong to China once again.”
EX-rank clearer or whatever, some Awakened from a petty little nation. Crawl and flutter all you want. In the end, you will never defeat me.