Chapter 29
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Red Flower (1)
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After the memorial service.
I turned my gaze to the information window.
[702nd Wave Reward Tally]
Once again, a message appeared, as if it had watched my entire playthrough.
[You have defeated Iramatus, the undead lich who reached the highest echelon. After crossing a sea of blood and mountains of corpses, the final destination for the undead horde was your castle. Could the lich have known? That the legacy he built through immortality would come crashing down with the sacrifice of three goblins.]
Of course he didn't know.
Just like Count Gullar, the half-drake, never imagined he'd be killed by a spoon.
[The Dream Lord's Castle has acquired spoils of war. Spoils acquired: Skeleton Dust × 500, Undead Lich's Heart × 1]
This time, the wave was a rather simple combination of 1199 skeletons and one lich, so the spoils were few.
Of course, I still don't know what these spoils are used for.
So it was too soon to say they were 'nothing special.'
“Well, it was a clean clear, so this is good enough.”
As if agreeing with me, the Sage floating beside me bobbed up and down.
I pushed aside an empty milk carton and some trash, then dragged my tired body up.
In just a few hours, I had to visit Sancheon's workshop to pick up the Bloodflow Stone.
I needed to rest right away.
Just then.
[During byproduct processing, a special item was discovered in the Dream Lord's Castle.]
A new pixelated window popped up on my retina.
“A special item?”
I couldn't resist.
My finger moved on its own.
A bizarre pixelated image of a skull resting on a pile of bones appeared.
[Half-Body of the Undead Lich Iramatus - Special]
[A remnant left behind upon the demise of the undead lich Iramatus. Perhaps this half-body holds the secret to the immortality he enjoyed. If you leave it and watch... well, something is bound to happen!]
That was all the information there was.
There was no grade listed, nor any details about skills or stats.
It wasn't even an equippable item.
However.
[The Peddler proposes an item trade!]
“Hm?”
A new window popped up with the unexpected notification.
It was the same trade window where I'd bought a ton of energy bars on the cheap.
This time, however, gold was on the Peddler's side.
And on my side was the 'Half-Body of Iramatus'.
[The Peddler wishes to purchase the 'Half-Body of Iramatus' for 5000 gold.]
I glanced at the Audience Chamber and saw the Peddler, who had been packing his things, giving me a thumbs-up.
I stared at the image of the pile of bones.
5000 gold.
That wasn't a small amount.
It was enough to hire two special heroes.
Plus, my gold reserves had dwindled quite a bit from the last defense.
‘Selling it seems like a good idea. But it also has the stench of a cursed item.’
In MonMonMak, there's a thing called a 'Cursed Item'.
These items are at least A-rank or higher.
But that rank is a trap.
Cursed items entice users with their outstanding performance.
But they start backstabbing you later, subtly.
‘They might lower the stats of the monster they're equipped to, or their stats might not apply at all once a wave starts. Something like that.’
There was no way to remove the curse from these items, so the best thing to do was just to stash them in the warehouse.
The 'Half-Body of Iramatus' was likely one of these cursed items.
The description fit perfectly.
I crossed my arms and asked the Sage.
“What do you think?”
- *Purung.*
I was sure it was a cursed item, but I hesitated to sell it right away.
‘If it were a simple cursed item, the Peddler wouldn't offer 5000 gold for it.’
If only I had a bit more information.
The Sage's glasses couldn't check for hidden information unless the object was real...
“Huh?”
My eyes suddenly widened.
I'd remembered something I'd forgotten.
“Sage, come here.”
*Purung?*
*Porororo!*
The Sage flew over, levitating through the air.
I handed the silver-rimmed glasses to the creature as it approached.
“It's a gift.”
The Beholder Sage's Glasses.
That's right.
This item had a special option.
An option that stated, 'a new skill is generated when equipped by a Beholder Sage'.
*Purung?*
The Sage carefully examined the glasses held out before it.
And then.
“Oh!”
The silver-rimmed glasses glowed and vanished, reappearing as a monocle on the Sage's large eye.
The lens made its large eye seem a little smaller, but that wasn't important.
[Due to dedicated item synergy, the Beholder Sage acquires a new skill.]
[Sage's Special Analysis]
[Can decipher hidden information and stats. The scope of analysis includes monsters, items, and secret areas in dungeons. ※ Can analyze even if the object is not physically present, but cannot be applied to humans.]
“Perfect.”
A smile spread across my face.
When I needed information on humans, I could just wear them myself and activate 'Sage's Eye'.
“Do you like it?”
*Purung!*
The monocled Beholder bounced around excitedly.
Do you see this, Gardener of the Mother Goddess?
This is how much I cherish my eyeball friend.
I watched it with a pleased expression, then pointed at the pixelated window.
“I'm counting on you.”
The Sage bobbed up and down, then began to stare intently at the Half-Body of Iramatus.
[Acquired hidden information about the item through Sage's Special Analysis.]
Soon, the message I'd been waiting for appeared, followed by a list of new information.
[The Half-Body of Iramatus can be placed in the Audience Chamber. The placed half-body requires continuous maintenance. Upon meeting certain conditions, Iramatus will be revived. The revived Iramatus will be subservient to the Lord's Castle. ※ The revived monster may be incomplete.]
Haha, I knew it.
I grinned and spoke to the turbaned Peddler.
“Sorry, but I'll have to call off this trade, Mr. Peddler.”
Even he, who always exclaimed 'Thank you!', let his shoulders slump this time.
***
Four Hunters were submerged in deep darkness.
It was a gruesome sight.
Three of them were already motionless, their eyes rolled back.
The only one still conscious could do nothing but gasp for air, his eyes wide with terror.
An A-rank Hunter, a renowned talent even within Bone Breaker.
That was all Hong Hansol could do.
“...Crazy bitch.”
As he spat the curse, blood gushed from his mouth.
Then, a voice echoed from the darkness.
“Awake, are we? No, wait. You never passed out, did you?”
A dry voice, like the crunch of fallen leaves.
The moment he heard it, his body began to tremble like a leaf.
Hong Hansol was afraid.
Afraid of this inscrutable space.
Afraid of the darkness that consumed it.
Afraid of the single snake watching him.
He was simply terrified.
“Fuck, let me go, please... I'll tell you anything, okay? Whatever you want, I'll tell you!”
And so, Hong Hansol screamed in a phlegm-choked voice.
Just a few days ago, he had been the one mercilessly killing someone begging for their life.
This was the only way Hong Hansol knew.
In other words, he didn't know how to struggle to survive.
“Why can't you seem to understand?”
The snake hidden in the darkness tilted its head.
“I don't have any information I want.”
Because she could know anything, there was nothing she wanted to know.
The snake before him was that kind of being.
Nevertheless, Hong Hansol played the last card he had left.
“Kim Hanul...!”
“Hm?”
“I'll tell you what Kim Hanul's ability is. You've never seen that bastard's power, have you?”
“Ah.”
That was his last card.
“Sadism!”
And it was torn apart before he could even play it.
A shadow seeped into Hong Hansol's open mouth.
*Pow!*
With the sound of something bursting, a spray of blood erupted.
And from his open mouth, teeth clattered to the ground.
“That's certainly interesting information, but I don't feel like hearing it from you.”
Sanarae watched the choking Hunter and spoke in a gentle voice.
If she put her mind to it.
And with the power of the 'Divine Seat' she had contracted with.
It wouldn't be difficult to grasp everything about Kim Hanul.
But she didn't want to.
Not right now, and probably not ever.
“It's okay. They don't die from this much.”
“H-hugh... fuck, fuck!”
Hong Hansol, bound and dangling, finally began to sob.
He stared at Sanarae with a twisted face.
“W-why are you doing this? You and I, we're on the same side.”
The same side.
Her own kind.
No, a word that held a much deeper meaning.
For the first time, a change flickered across Sanarae's languid expression.
But the fleeting fragment of emotion vanished like a shadow.
She said only one thing.
“Why?”
It didn't matter how many people Hong Hansol had killed as a member of Bone Breaker.
How many innocent people were among them.
How much 'work' he had done as one of her 'kind'.
None of it mattered.
The reason was simple.
He had touched one of her people.
*Kkiiigigik.*
The shadows consuming the space began to constrict Hong Hansol's bound body like a snake.
“Gyaaaah!”
A scream torn to shreds.
Bone Breaker.
Sanarae smiled languidly.
Hong Hansol's current state suited that name well.
“Ah.”
The snake, watching the limp Hunter, widened her eyes slightly.
“I'm going to be late.”
***
“Sorry, I'm late again.”
I shrugged at Sanarae.
“It's fine. You must be busy, yet you made time to come.”
We were in the blacksmith alley of Mullae-dong, just like yesterday.
“Still, as the broker, I have to see things through to the end. The blacksmith could just disappear with the Bloodflow Stone, after all.”
I gave a wry smile at her jest.
Come to think of it, she had a point.
I didn't know Sancheon personally.
Not that I was worried, though.
“By the way, Hanul, you look very tired. Is it because of what happened yesterday?”
Sanarae suddenly tilted her head and asked.
It seemed she'd noticed the dark circles under my eyes.
“I think my sleep schedule's all messed up.”
“Why?”
“From playing a game.”
“?”
Sanarae's eyes widened.
“A game?”
“Yeah. I got really into it yesterday and lost track of time.”
“Ah...”
“It was a really important match.”
That last part was an unnecessary addition.
But I added it because of the strange look on Sanarae's face as she watched me.
“Pfft.”
Sanarae, who had been looking blank, soon started to chuckle.
I was surprised.
I'd never seen her laugh out loud before.
So she could laugh so refreshingly.
It was that kind of surprise.
Not long after, we arrived at Sancheon's workshop.
“You're here.”
The heavily bearded blacksmith nodded as if he'd been waiting.
“You've finished it.”
Sancheon replied to my expectant words.
“Of course. The greatest masterpiece of my entire life has been born. It's good enough to be called Sancheon's magnum opus.”
His tone was overflowing with confidence.
Ah, so this is it.
The aura that only a master who has poured his life into his craft can exude!
I calmed my pounding heart and looked around.
“Can I see it now?”
“Of course.”
What could it be?
A Mana Gun that can fire max-power mana bullets?
Or an all-in-one air suit?
I heard the Bloodflow Stone the Sanarae Guild acquired last time became a teleportation portal device, so is it something like that?
A sword or a melee weapon would be a bit tricky since I have the Emperor's Remnant.
“Here, take a look.”
And the moment Sancheon handed me the item.
“?”
Not just me, but even Sanarae, who was standing beside me, froze blankly.
The thing resting on Sancheon's palm.
Was a pretty brooch made from the Bloodflow Stone.