Chapter 374
Chapter 374
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 374
Chapter Title: God's Atlantis
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Thud. Thud.
I entered the world of God's Atlantis and trudged along the rugged mountain path.
Rurrrrrrr!
My footsteps halted. I lifted my head at the strange cry. A brown monkey with a bird's head stood atop a tree.
'Temonkey.'
Temonkeys weren't particularly strong monsters. With my current abilities, I could handle them without much trouble.
Crackle.
Lightning sparked in my palm, and the startled temonkey fled in a flash. For a monster, temonkeys were quite cowardly. They only ran like this if they weren't confident they could kill their enemy outright.
'Chasing it down to kill would be a hassle... I've got my own path to follow.'
It might gather its fellows to ambush me, but I wasn't worried. I was confident I could sweep away dozens of them without issue.
'When the hell is this village gonna show up?'
I grumbled to myself as I pressed on along the mountain path.
A few minutes later, the air suddenly felt stifling. And just like that, a village appeared before my eyes.
Zone 4,523, Ironwood Forest. I'd successfully reached my destination.
I didn't barge into the village entrance. Instead, I stood back, observing the village and waiting for a resident to appear.
'What kind of village is this mess?'
The buildings inside the village were wildly varied. One resembled a rectangular Lego block, another a triangle, a circle, or even a honeycomb. Not a single house shared the same shape. The materials were just as diverse—mud, wood, iron, stone, and more.
'This could pass for an amusement park.'
But there was one thing they all had in common: every house had a chimney billowing thick black smoke into the sky.
'The barrier hid the smoke from outside.'
As I watched the black smoke gradually dissipate into the sky, someone approached.
It was a dwarf wearing an iron helmet shaped like a thimble. He stood about 1 meter tall, with a long black beard reaching his knees. He wore sturdy chainmail and pointed steel boots.
My gaze went to his waist. A hammer hung there—one that seemed impossible to lift without the proper qualifications.
"You don't look like a merchant. Who are you, and how did you find our village?"
His voice was incredibly gruff.
"I've come to the Ironroot Dwarf Village with a request."
I adopted a humble posture. Deep down, I wanted to enslave every last one of these dwarves and work them to the bone, but this wasn't the 'Baekhwan' world, and this zone had its own lord.
"A request? Sorry, but we don't take requests from outsiders. We don't welcome them either. We can't even offer you a sip of water, so turn back."
The dwarf placed his hand on the hammer's handle at his waist—a warning that he'd resort to force if I didn't listen.
"Ah, please wait just a moment. I have her permission slip."
"Permission slip? Don't just talk about it—show me."
"I was just about to."
I pulled a letter from my pocket. It bore a seal of a blue crescent moon and a sword. The dwarf removed his hand from the hammer's handle.
"It's been a while since someone other than a merchant showed up."
The dwarf took the letter and carefully broke the seal.
"I'm Damens Unroot, a dwarf of Ironroot Village. Both blacksmith and warrior."
"Exile Sung Yu-jin."
"Exile?"
"Yes. Is something wrong?"
"It's just the first time an exile has visited our village. Congratulations."
"Thank you...?"
I blinked. Was that something to be congratulated on?
Damens slowly read the letter.
This so-called permission slip was a letter personally written by Elena Valderth, the Illusion Duke, one of the Empire's Five Dukes. This zone was one she ruled, and without her permission, no dealings with the Ironroot Dwarf tribe were allowed.
I'd asked her for it because I had a goal in mind.
"...Understood. Her Grace says we should make what you want. Follow me for now."
I followed Damens. He led me to the largest house in the village.
It looked like a gaunt winter tree. Instead of leaves, dozens of bare branches spewed black smoke as decoration. The house was as big as a four-story mansion.
"Quite the unique and impressive house. I've never seen anything like it."
"My parents built it themselves. Took about four months."
We entered through the door of the intriguing house. A wave of intense heat hit me. I instinctively took a deep breath and regretted it immediately. Filling my lungs with that heat wasn't pleasant.
Five dwarves working at the forge turned their attention toward us.
"Damens! Who's that human?"
"Bringing a human all the way here? Must not be an ordinary one."
"Hate to say it on first meeting, but he gives off a bad vibe."
The stocky dwarves eyed me curiously.
Enslaving them would make my life a breeze, but Elena would surely try to kill me if I did, so I let the thought go.
"He had a letter from Her Grace. We have to make something for him."
"Something? What kind?"
"Heh heh. Been a while since we've swung our hammers on a human's order."
"Came empty-handed, though? Disappointing."
The dwarves' reactions weren't bad.
"Of course, I brought gifts for you all."
I pulled beer from my inventory. The classic fantasy trope that dwarves love beer held true here too. I went all out and brought ten cases.
But when they saw the beer I'd brought out, the dwarves just tilted their heads.
"What's this?"
"Never seen glass bottles like that. Water inside? We've got plenty of water in the village."
"It's beer. Beer. I heard you all liked it... You don't?"
"Beer? Ooooooh!"
"Ooooooh!"
The dwarves swarmed the beer cases, grabbing bottles and chugging them straight away.
"Uoooooh! To think beer this delicious exists! It's on a whole other level from what we've had!"
"Kyaah! Refreshing and perfect!"
The dwarves suddenly started a drinking party. I felt uneasy. What if they passed out drunk?
But contrary to my expectations, the dwarves didn't overdo it.
"Sung Yu-jin. Thanks. Didn't expect you'd bring beer this good. Where's it from?"
"German beer."
"German? Well, tastes great anyway."
Damens's reaction was lukewarm. He'd just asked out of curiosity.
"You've had quite a bit to drink, but can you still make what I want?"
"Haha! No weak dwarf gets drunk off one bottle! Beer is our oil!"
"Oil?"
"Wheels need oil to turn smoothly. Same for us—we need beer to get going! Now, tell us what you want! With enough materials, we could even make you a gun!"
These dwarves' technology was far more advanced than I'd thought. Come to think of it, I spotted machine-like contraptions nearby.
"What I want is armor, a sword, and a cloak. The armor should be lightweight yet sturdy, the sword prioritizing durability above all. The cloak needs to ward off cold."
"Hmm."
The dwarves exchanged glances after hearing me out, then took another swig from their bottles.
"Eh. Pretty boring."
"I was hoping you'd ask for a slaughter wagon or something..."
"The last merchant said guns were trending lately... Guess that was a lie."
The dwarves seemed disappointed.
"Armor and sword... Were you a knight? Sending you here personally means you're a knight with Her Grace's trust."
"Something like that."
I glossed over it. I couldn't reveal my relationship with Elena to them.
"Any specific design in mind? We'll tailor it to your requests as much as possible."
"Uh... Make it cool-looking. Heavy yet sleek, not too big... but not too small either."
"How am I supposed to work with that? Sketch roughly what you want."
Damens handed me paper and a pencil. I gripped the pencil and drew the armor and sword I envisioned.
Objectively, it was poorly drawn. But grasping the general outline and shape wasn't hard.
"What's this on the gauntlet? A throwing weapon?"
"Hidden blade. Comes out from the back of the hand. Impossible?"
"Not impossible. Just doesn't seem practical."
"It looks cool, so make it like this. Might come in handy in real combat."
"Hmmm... Fine. But this sword—the tip looks blunt. Intentional?"
"Ah, that's just my bad drawing. Make the sword sturdy and sharp."
"Is this skull decoration on the sword essential?"
"Doesn't it look badass? Gives off that supreme sword vibe, right?"
"No. It just looks creepy. Carrying a sword like that would make people question your taste—and ours. We'll skip it."
"Fair enough."
I nodded. The sword's decoration wasn't that important anyway.
"The cloak?"
"Red, please."
"Got it. Should take about a week."
Damens pocketed the paper and stared at me intently.
"......Is there something else you want from me? I can give more beer."
"More beer? Won't say no. But do you have a weapon you're using? I'd like to see it, if you do."
"My weapon... you mean?"
Why? I eyed Damens warily. Glancing around, the other dwarves were watching too. Were they planning to steal my weapons?
"No misunderstanding. We rarely leave the village, so we don't get to see weapons made outside much. Hard to broaden our horizons. If you don't want to show, no problem."
"Showing is fine. I have a hobby of collecting weapons, so I've got quite a few."
I pulled out weapons made by the dwarves of the 'Baekhwan' world. I figured it'd humble these Ironroot dwarves. But they just smirked at what I showed them.
"Well made. But you can tell it's slapped together."
"......Slapped together?"
My face stiffened. The Frost Hammer dwarves had presented it to me as a sword forged with all their heart.
"It's a good sword, sure. But the smith who made it has the skill for better."
"Hmm. Not quite our level, but decent skill. Personality seems iffy, though."
"The hilt's sloppy. No smith would miss that..."
"Has the skill, but not the artisan's spirit."
Grind.
I gritted my teeth.
'Fucking hell. I've been too soft on them lately, and now these slave dwarves are getting cocky... When I get back, time for some proper re-education.'
The dwarves looked at me. My grinding teeth had echoed a bit loudly.
"...What's wrong? Did we offend you with our blunt words? If so, we'll apologize. We were too forward."
"It's a habit. And anyway, this is just one of many swords I own. I don't even use it. Let me show you the one I truly cherish and use in battle."
I drew the Hwarryeon Bido. I couldn't let them look down on me.
The dwarves' eyes widened and jaws dropped the moment they saw the Hwarryeon Bido.
"This......!"
"No way."
"Hoo......"
"Incredible......"
Seeing their shock satisfied me.
"Haha. What do you think? That red blade is killer, isn't it? Every time I look at it, my heart swells with grandeur......"
"Sung Yu-jin."
Damens called me with a serious expression.
"Yes?"
"This blade has accumulated far too much malice. It's on the verge of turning into a yodo. Seems made from dragon scales... No human could massacre that quickly without something like this happening... This sword is dangerous."
"Dangerous? What do you mean... A sword's just a sword."
"Hard for non-artisans to sense a blade's condition. Didn't your head ache when you swung it? Or surges of killing intent for no reason? Even urges to harm yourself?"
"No. I haven't felt a thing..."