Nothing in This World Is Free
There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
A few special skills required additional materials beyond mental energy consumption.
The Curse Dispel skill was one of them.
Depending on the curse being targeted, various materials were needed, but the most commonly required one was a Mana Stone.
The skill converted the energy stored within the Mana Stone into the power of Curse Dispel, essentially pushing the curse off the item to remove it.
Strictly speaking, Curse Dispel was closer to stripping away a curse than purifying it.
The stronger and more firmly attached the curse was, the more Mana Stones had to be poured in. The skill needed to be used steadily over a longer period of time.
What if someone ignored that process and tried to strip the curse away all at once? The item might not hold up and could shatter.
Of course, attempting such a thing would require dumping an amount of resources that even a Calamity Grade 1 item would take three years to accumulate. In reality, it was nearly impossible to even try before discussing success or failure.
That was why Lee Won-hyung couldn’t help but feel stunned by the current situation.
Humin had clearly said he would dispel the curse, yet he hadn’t prepared anything. He simply reached out toward the cursed item.
This was completely different from the mechanism of Curse Dispel that Won-hyung knew.
What on earth is this man trying to do?!
Lee Won-hyung harbored that exact question.
It was a doubt he could only have because he had no idea about the difference between ordinary Curse Dispel and Ahn Humin’s version of it.
“Hestia’s Brazier.”
Hestia's Brazier Lv.1 (Soul)(Magic)(Purification)
The brazier and goddess of purity, Hestia. I call upon her sacred flame. Hestia's pure purifying fire burns away evil energies and cleanses corrupted souls.
Whoosh.
The moment the goddess of purity’s flame wrapped around the item and blazed up—
WHOOOOSH!!
“Wh-what?!”
“……”
A pitch-black, murky energy erupted from the necklace, swirling madly and exploding outward in every direction.
Lee Won-hyung shielded his face with his arm, lowered his stance, and braced himself with all his strength.
The intensity of the storm-like energy was so violent that he wouldn’t have been able to stand otherwise.
Is Hunter Ahn Humin completely unaffected? No, more importantly, what the hell is even happening right now…?
“Hunter Ahn Humin! This is too dangerous! I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but you must stop immediately!”
“Just a moment! A little longer!”
If ordinary Curse Dispel worked by driving out the cursed energy clinging to an item using the power of Mana Stones,
then Hestia’s Brazier completely incinerated the impure curse with the goddess’s pure purifying fire.
Naturally, from the cursed item’s perspective, it was no different from suffering a horrific execution by burning at the stake. It had no choice but to thrash desperately.
This very struggle is proof that the skill is working properly!
Groooooooaaan…!!
The thick black energy billowing out transformed into tens of thousands of human faces, screaming in agony.
The shrieks were so bone-chilling that Lee Won-hyung couldn’t help but frown deeply.
But the frenzy didn’t last long.
“All done. It worked.”
“Excuse me? What do you…?”
“I said I removed the curse.”
“A-already?!”
Lee Won-hyung’s eyes widened in shock as he rushed over to examine the item.
The cursed aura that used to make his skin tingle just by getting close was gone. All that remained was an item that actually felt sacred.
He hurriedly checked the item’s options.
◈ Level Restriction: 65 or higher. Must be acknowledged by the Goddess.
◈ All stats of tamed beasts and summoned creatures +900%
◈ All resistances of tamed beasts and summoned creatures +70%
◈ All tolerances of tamed beasts and summoned creatures +50%
◈ Health regeneration speed of tamed beasts and summoned creatures +400%
◈ Mental energy regeneration speed of tamed beasts and summoned creatures +400%
◈ Tamed beasts and summoned creatures gain curse immunity.
◈ Base limit on number of tamed beasts and summoned creatures ×10
◈ (Taming) skills +20
◈ (Summoning) skills +20
◈ [Majesty of the Demon Beast King] (Buff)(Aura) can now be used. (Cooldown: 1 hour. Duration: 10 minutes.)
“Th-this is impossible! You really removed the curse from a Calamity Grade 10 item?!”
Wait a second! He didn’t just remove it. This is…
Sensing something subtly different from the Token of the Demon Beast King Baruga he knew, Lee Won-hyung pulled up the previous cursed version on his tablet PC to compare.
“Is there a problem?”
“A problem? Not at all. On the contrary, after checking, the item’s options have been significantly strengthened compared to when it was cursed. Would you like to take a look?”
Director Lee Won-hyung handed me the tablet PC he was holding.
“Oh~ It really has improved. I didn’t know Hestia’s Brazier had this kind of bonus effect. This is a good thing, right?”
“Good? Hahaha… This goes far beyond ‘good’! Hunter, do you truly not realize what you’ve just accomplished?”
The man who usually carried a gentle smile as warm as his demeanor and a dignified charisma matching his large frame was now flushed with uncontrollable excitement—the first time I had ever seen him like this.
Still unable to calm down, Director Lee Won-hyung explained to me.
“With just this single act of curse removal, Hunter Ahn Humin, you have proven an ability that every nation on Earth would drool over. As I mentioned before, Calamity Grade items grant users absurd power in exchange for a powerful curse that corrupts them. They are truly double-edged swords. The curse is dangerous, but if you can dispel it, you can obtain immense strength. Frankly, which country wouldn’t want an item that can turn an A-class Hunter into an SSS-class one?”
“W-well, that makes sense, I suppose?”
“Just look at our neighboring countries, Japan and China. They suffer headaches because of Calamity Grade items, yet ironically they’re desperate to obtain even one more. That’s one of the reasons these items are stored in the 1st Vault.”
In other words, Calamity Grade items—which could elevate even an A-class Hunter to national-level power—were absurd weapons capable of completely changing the global landscape.
They were treated as strategic assets on par with nuclear weapons.
Of course, without the ability to dispel the curse, they were nothing more than pie in the sky. But with me here, the situation had changed.
“If they were previously nuclear weapons that no one could touch, now you, Hunter Ahn Humin, can literally hand anyone the key to use that nuclear weapon. And you can upgrade it to be far more powerful in the process. How is something like this even possible in this world…? Ah, now that I think about it!”
Director Lee Won-hyung looked at me with an expression of dawning realization.
“Your grandfather, who was hospitalized in a coma, suddenly recovered and was discharged… Could that also be…?”
“That… was also something I did…”
“Hahaha…”
Director Lee Won-hyung let out a stunned, hollow laugh.
“So to summarize, Hunter Ahn Humin, you possess combat power above SSS-class, you have a Curse Dispel skill capable of removing curses from Calamity Grade 10 items, and you also have a healing skill that can instantly cure patients in comas that even SS-class healers struggle with?”
“Um… let’s just say that much for now? Any more and I’m worried you’ll have a heart attack, Director…”
“Haha… Hahahahaha!”
At first, Director Lee Won-hyung let out a disbelieving chuckle, but soon he burst into a refreshing, hearty laugh.
“I see. Thank you. If you had said anything more, just as you worried, I probably would have had a heart attack or fainted. How many people in their right minds could accept that a single human possesses not one, but three—or even more—abilities that would shake the entire world if revealed? By the way…”
Director Lee Won-hyung glanced at the Calamity Grade 10 item I had chosen—the Blessed Token of the Demon Beast King Baruga—before asking me carefully.
“Do you know what the restriction ‘Must be acknowledged by the Goddess’ means, Hunter?”
Actually, I had been curious about that too. It was the first time I had seen such a condition.
That was when it happened.
Huh? A new message?
“One moment.”
I widened my eyes after reading the unexpected new message that had arrived at a time when no message should have come.
My child. The time has come. Plant the flag bearing my name upon this land and gather beneath it steadfast believers. Faith directed toward me shall become my power. And my power shall become yours. You must begin preparing now for the day that is to come.
“Uh… A message just arrived. It seems to be from the one I serve.”
“The one Hunter Ahn Humin serves?! Who is that person?”
“Ah, not a person. It’s Lady Nyx. She is the Goddess of Night. She’s an incredibly exalted being. Somehow I ended up becoming her apprentice priest, and just recently I was promoted to holy knight. Anyway, she sent me a message, and one part of it is the answer to the question you just asked, Director. About what ‘acknowledged by the Goddess’ means.”
The fact that Ahn Humin’s class was a holy knight serving a goddess was already shocking enough, but now the goddess herself had sent a message at this very moment?
Ever since I met this man, every single moment has been one surprise after another.
“S-so what did the goddess say?”
“Those who enter the order, become children of the goddess, and spread my name. They shall receive my acknowledgment.”
“An order?! In other words, you’re saying that unless someone joins the Nyx Church, they cannot use a purified Calamity Grade item?”
“There is no such thing as goodwill without a price in this world, and great power comes with great responsibility. That’s what she said next. Hahaha…”
On the outside I was laughing awkwardly, but inside I was breaking out in a cold sweat like rain.
What do I do? If she asks me to compensate now, should I play dumb? Or should I beg her to lower the price even at this point?
The problem was that I had specifically asked for this one to be purified. If I had known this would happen, I would have quietly borrowed a purified Calamity Grade 1 item instead…
“Then how can one join the order and spread the goddess’s name to receive her acknowledgment?”
The unexpected question that flowed from Director Lee Won-hyung’s mouth left even me stunned.
“What?! You’re actually thinking of joining?”
“First, we need to gather information. If the method isn’t too extreme or impossible, then it would be worth considering.”
Was this all part of the goddess’s arrangement?
Since she had essentially stamped her mark on the item as the price for purifying a Calamity Grade item, it was only natural that anyone who wanted one would be desperate.
“Joining the order itself is simple. Receiving baptism from me, her holy knight, completes the enrollment. As for spreading the goddess’s name, she says to raise her flag and accumulate good deeds.”
“Good deeds?”
“Yes. Whether it’s subjugating monsters in Gates, clearing the Tower, or even pulling a handcart to deliver briquettes—anything that causes people to praise the goddess’s name and the order’s actions. The resulting increase in people’s faith toward Lady Nyx. That is how one spreads the goddess’s name and earns her acknowledgment.”
“That doesn’t differ much from what the Management Bureau is already doing. Understood for now.”
“By the way, about this necklace…”
“Ah, please don’t worry about that. It was an item that couldn’t even have been attempted to purify if it weren’t for you, Hunter. Feel free to use it comfortably.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
What a relief…
It was truly fortunate for me, who had been anxiously wondering if she would demand compensation.
Having secured the Demon Beast King’s necklace, I left the 1st Vault together with Director Lee Won-hyung.