Chapter 256
Chapter 256
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 256
Chapter Title: Zhuge Clan (2)
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"Mm—."
While gathering useful info from the internet...
I stretched out refreshingly and let out a short sigh.
"Things are going smoothly so far, which isn't bad... but his temperament really has gotten too aggressive."
Harris, the high elf who'd been rampaging through the Kanghwan Realm.
He'd finally received an official invitation from the Zhuge Clan and entered their headquarters.
Their first meeting hadn't gone well, but now he was being treated decently in a fairly amicable atmosphere.
'To be precise... they had no choice but to treat him that way.'
The Zhuge Clan had risen to its current position because their sorcery and formations were peerlessly unmatched—even without a single transcendent expert, let alone an Enlightenment Realm master.
Not just their barrier formations that warped reality using the surrounding environment, but their linked formations where the family's warriors and sorcerers fought in unison were said to be capable of taking on even Enlightenment Realm elites.
'Of course, against a true Transcendent, they'd need meticulously prepared barrier formations as essential support. Even then, it'd only be for passive defense.'
That was why they couldn't budge against the arrogant Harris.
Of course, in a world where power was everything, there was also the aspect of showing proper respect to a proven powerhouse.
But I, the person in question, couldn't easily accept Harris's changed demeanor.
"Mm, it's probably the influence of the surrounding environment after all."
Harris was inherently sensitive to his surroundings, whether due to his innate nature or acquired skills.
So it wasn't all that strange for him to react sensitively after dropping into a world where the ambient energy was gradually drying up.
'No major issues yet, so it should be fine. I'll send him back to Outerica soon anyway.'
It had been almost five days since Harris was sent to the Kanghwan Realm.
Half the allotted time had already passed.
All I remembered from that period was him gleefully causing chaos here and there, but since the results were good, it counted as a pretty successful start.
'Anyway.'
While rummaging through the system window, I spotted something interesting.
It seemed to have appeared right after smoothly entering the Kanghwan Realm...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Item Purchase - Detailed View └ Outerica └ Kanghwan Realm An item that let you easily acquire goods from each world by paying karma.
The submenu, which previously only had Outerica items available for purchase, now had "Kanghwan Realm" added to it at some point.
'So it works like this too.'
I nodded lightly upon seeing it.
I'd been worried it might only apply to Outerica, my officially assigned world, but fortunately, the system wasn't that inflexible.
I immediately entered the "Kanghwan Realm" list and skimmed through the goods on display.
'Millennial Snow Ginseng, Yin-Yang Fruit, Azure Spirit Oil... Just the names alone make them sound impressive. Tons of them.'
What first caught my eye was the variety of spirit medicines.
Precious treasures of all levels, natures, and uses.
Kanghwan Realm martial artists would lose their minds and charge at them...
'But with my natural-born spirit medicine hunter Harris around, no need to worry about that for now.'
Even in the Yungjung Mountains, where I was now, I could faintly sense a few spirit medicines nearby.
And right next door was Mount Wudang, renowned for its spiritual potency and vastly larger in scale?
'It had unusually strong ley line energy. Unlike other places, the ambient energy is still quite abundant. Spirit medicines grown there...'
I recalled the spiritual mountain I'd glimpsed from afar on the way to the Zhuge Clan and smacked my lips.
Once settled in properly, gathering them could be quite rewarding.
Besides that, the shop list had plenty of famous elixirs like Great Reversion Pills and Purple Harmony Pills.
Even secret martial arts manuals from various sects and divine weapons considered demonic artifacts in the martial world—nothing was missing.
And some items stood out with their outrageous prices.
Ten Thousand Children's Blood Treasure Jade (1,190,000) Millennial Glacier's Eternal Ice Crystal (780,000) Imperfect Yeouiju of a 999-Year-Old Imugi (1,530,000) ······ I didn't know much about the Kanghwan Realm yet, but even at a glance, these names looked extraordinary.
Obviously, they were worth their price tags.
'So imugis really exist. Wonder if dragons do too?'
They were intriguing, but nothing to focus on at this stage.
Remembering they existed was enough for now.
What I could actually use right away was something else.
I inputted my desired conditions into "Item Purchase" and pulled up the matching lists.
After skimming through them—
I wore a satisfied smile and repeatedly bought and transferred them to the "Avatar Cloud."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Thud—! Clang—! Thud!
'Hm? What's that sound?'
Jaonik furrowed his brow and perked up his ears as he entered the workshop after handling some business outside.
He naturally knew it was the sound of hammering metal, but what puzzled him was a more specific detail.
"Huh...?"
But no matter how hard he focused, he couldn't make sense of it.
In the end, he wandered inside toward the source as if entranced.
Clang—! Hiss—!
Sounds of forging followed by quenching rang out.
And there was Howard, shirtless and drenched in sweat like a downpour, intensely focused on his work.
A commendable sight brimming with passion and grit.
"What... in the world...?"
But Jaonik's gaze quickly passed him by and fixed dead on one spot.
His jaw dropped unconsciously, and an exclamation escaped his throat before he knew it.
"Wh-what is that? That metal? Huh? Something like...? Uh...?"
The dwarven master stuttered like a broken record.
He was thrown into confusion by an alien metal he'd never seen or even imagined could exist in this world.
"Ah, you've arrived?"
Howard, finishing up upon sensing his presence, turned and greeted him casually, but Jaonik wasn't in the state of mind to respond.
He'd shrugged it off even when Howard had brought rare ores from the Northern Mountains.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy, but with the Hubert Merchant Guild having grown into Toolk Kingdom's top trading company, it didn't seem impossible.
'...But that's different. No, it's not just different. Did something like that even exist in this world?'
The metal Howard was working with now.
It was something even he—a dwarf blessed by fire and metal, who prided himself on mastering all metals in the world—couldn't easily comprehend.
He simply couldn't accept that such a thing existed.
But with it plainly before his eyes, he couldn't deny it outright...
"Ahem! This is the new metal Hubert sent from the Northern Mountains. Want to take a look?"
As Jaonik's mind grew disordered...
Howard cleared his throat lightly, pulled another chunk from his subspace, and casually handed it over.
'There's more of it?'
Despite his inner thoughts, his hands instinctively accepted it.
'Ah!'
The moment it touched his palm, he knew intuitively.
His feelings weren't a delusion.
"What... is this? Why does something like this exist in the world?"
Mumbling blankly, he unconsciously busied himself.
He stared piercingly, stroked the surface, flicked it to feel the vibrations and resonance, sniffed it deeply.
Not stopping there, he stuck out his tongue to taste it, smacked his lips, and finally shoved it in his mouth to crunch on it...
'Ugh, what on earth is he doing?'
Howard's expression turned awkward watching up close.
Of course, he understood—the metal in his hand was something that didn't exist in this world: "Millennial Cold Iron," rare even in the Kanghwan Realm.
'Dwarves gonna dwarf. He recognized it instantly.'
He'd sensed it himself, so naturally Jaonik would too.
Howard gazed at Jaonik, still lost in the metal, with a faint smile.
'Magitech infused with otherworld laws doesn't apply here.'
He knew that well.
But that didn't mean the material's inherent properties changed.
'Can't infuse extra mystical effects, but Millennial Cold Iron is top-tier just as it is.'
Its rejection of otherworld mysteries could even be used advantageously.
For example... armor that was ridiculously tough and ignored magic effects—an absolute indestructible piece.
'No need to make the whole thing from it. Just plating a suitable thickness on the outside would suffice.'
Of course, its properties would make it hard to work with and apply precisely, but you'd never know without trying.
Ways would come with time.
He was a dwarf artisan—a race innately cheat-level in creation, after all.
"In the world... This came from the Northern Mountains? What's going on in there? The Immortal King? What did that bastard do?"
Finally regaining his senses, Jaonik muttered dazedly.
There were still plenty of other metals like Dark Iron and Meteorite Iron left...
'Mm, take it slow.'
He still needed Jaonik's help for much more, so showing everything now might make him faint from shock.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ On the sixth day since Harris entered the Kanghwan Realm.
After briefly leaving the Yungjung Mountains—the Zhuge Clan's territory—he returned shortly after.
"Harris, Great Hero, where did you— Hm? Who is that...?"
With a stranger in tow.
The Second Captain of the Heavenly Mechanism Guard, welcoming Harris back at the main gate, twisted his face subtly.
He was already annoyed by the rude behavior, and now this outsider was being brought in willy-nilly.
"Ah, you haven't been informed? I said I was fetching an acquaintance before leaving."
"...Is that so? Must've been some mix-up."
To be exact, he'd unilaterally notified a servant and vanished, but the increasingly brazen Harris replied shamelessly without a change in expression.
"May we enter now? I want to introduce this friend quickly."
"Mm, hold on a moment. ...Ah! You're good. Please come in."
Troubled, he soon received covert transmission from inside granting permission and nodded.
Not wanting to deal with them further, he hurriedly stepped aside from the entrance, urging silently.
Just leave already.
But they didn't oblige.
The young man with Harris stepped forward right up to him.
Then, to his puzzled gaze, he politely cupped his fists and bowed slightly.
"Sorry for the sudden visit and inconvenience, Warrior."
"...No matter. I'm just following orders."
With the other party showing such courtesy, the Second Captain had no choice but to return the gesture with cupped fists.
He'd assumed this was another rude companion, but surprisingly, this one had manners.
"Pardon the late greeting. Nice to meet you. I am..."
The young man—clad in fine martial robes with an antique sword at his waist, looking every bit the scion of a renowned house—flashed a refreshing smile and spoke again.
"...Ha Seung-hoon."
Ha Seung-hoon, the alias also used for Hesperon.
The new alias for the entity named "Hugo," deployed to the Kanghwan Realm after Harris.