Mythic-Grade Item 2

There were plenty of things to worry about—starting with how I was supposed to clean up this tangled mess—but for the moment, a smile crept across my face anyway.

Kim Hyunsung standing beneath the light spilling from a mythic-grade sword looked exactly like the hero from a picture book, the sort of champion children were raised on and adults secretly prayed for.

Wow…

Ever since the first time I’d laid eyes on him, I’d known I needed to cling to this guy like glue, and I’d been doing exactly that ever since. But never before had I felt so grateful to have followed him as I did in this moment.

Magnificent! Hyunsung, you’re unreal! You’re making me look like a total scrub over here!

Usually, the role of the protagonist belonged to someone like him.

For a second, I even imagined myself being chosen by Yuliena, but the difference between that and this was just too enormous.

I had no choice but to admit it: Kim Hyunsung and I were not the same.

The pure white light seemed to draw him in, as if it were pulling Kim Hyunsung toward it, and he slowly extended a hand.

He moved as if the sword had belonged to him from the very beginning.

I wasn’t the only one who’d been robbed of my attention.

The structure was built in an ancient style. The background was full of shattered ruins and broken stone, all marked by the influence of the ancient god. And standing there in the middle of it all was a man with striking good looks, enough to make even the women of Black Swan gasp without realizing it.

I already knew the world was unfair, but this was yet another reminder.

The whole thing felt like watching some kind of religious ritual, enough to make it seem as if he’d been chosen by a god himself.

The sword, which had been hovering in midair, slowly descended into his hand, and in an instant, brilliant light flooded the room.

Fwoooooosh!

As if nothing had happened at all, he brought the sword to his waist and glanced around with a slightly awkward expression before continuing.

The one who answered him was Park Yeonju.

Unlike me, who could see the information about the sword from the start, the others must have had a lot of questions.

“It looks like the owner recognition was successful.”

“As expected… I see. So it really is a mythic-grade sword?”

“Yes. It is a mythic-grade sword. I’m not yet skilled enough as its wielder to use all of its functions, but… it certainly doesn’t seem inferior to a legendary-grade item. In any case, I’d like to apologize to everyone from Black Swan.”

“No, there’s no need to apologize at all, Hyunsung. Ownership recognition isn’t something you can simply decide to go through, and no one else has the right to stop it. Especially when the weapon came to you on its own like that… And besides, you were helping us with the expedition in the first place, so I have no desire to make an issue of it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous, but seeing you in such good form actually makes me happy.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

To be honest, there was room for trouble.

Lucky break.

Blue was in the position of helping Black Swan, but in practical terms it was no different from taking an object whose value was beyond measure without any prior agreement.

If someone wanted to pick a fight over it, they would have had a perfectly valid excuse.

But because Black Swan’s guild master, Park Yeonju, had a favorable impression of Kim Hyunsung—and because of the special nature of owner recognition—the issue passed without incident.

Still, since it’s already been taken, it’s only right that we keep it.

No matter how valuable something was, if no one could use it, it was no different from a stone.

Just as I was thinking that it would probably be difficult to claim the legendary shield Park Deokgu was fiddling with and the legendary staff Jung Hayan was staring at so intently as our own, I saw Jung Hayan being wrapped in golden light.

Well done! Hayan!

She, too, had succeeded in owner recognition.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Even as she bowed her head, a faint smile was already playing on Jung Hayan’s lips.

She’d looked so delighted when she spotted the staff that she’d practically run to it, and in the end, she’d forced mana into it and caused a scene.

It was fair to say that this was our fault for not controlling her properly.

Still, if I was honest, I felt pretty good. I swallowed the corners of my mouth before they could start creeping upward for no reason and went on.

“Jung Hayan.”

“S-sorry… Oppa.”

“Deokgu, you put the shield down for now too.”

Don’t put it down.

“Deokgu.”

Hurry up and start the owner recognition! You stupid pig. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Just pour your mana into it and swallow it whole! Your brother will handle the cleanup! This is exactly the kind of thing where you eat first and ask questions later.

“Ah, I understand, hyung-nim.”

I said eat it already!

Unfortunately, my inner thoughts didn’t seem to get through.

Park Deokgu, who lacked all sense, set the shield down on the floor and clicked his tongue for no reason before taking two steps back.

It was a little disappointing, but I had no choice but to swallow the bitterness and continue.

“Heeyoung, you should probably put yours down for the moment as well. And you too, Gi-mo. I understand that you’re excited, but we didn’t come here by ourselves. Item distribution is the expedition leader’s exclusive authority, and right now the leader of this expedition is Park Yeonju. Hyunsung’s case is unavoidable, but… Hayan, even you….”

“I’m sorry.”

What exactly are you sorry for? You did great. Keep doing that next time too.

Maybe after we got out of the dungeon, I ought to give Jung Hayan a reward.

“Seems it all happened without even the lady realizing it. You shouldn’t scold them too harshly… In a situation like this, being calm is hard for anyone except maybe Park Deokgu here. Isn’t that right!”

Oblivious as ever, Park Deokgu was doing his best to defend Jung Hayan while subtly praising himself for his own patience, but that pig didn’t need a reward. He needed a punishment.

You’re getting punished when we get back.

But of course, I couldn’t let that show right now.

Forcing down the word idiot before it could reach my tongue, I turned to Park Yeonju and spoke softly.

“I’ll apologize on their behalf.”

“It’s all right, Kiyoung. What’s done is done, and… in a situation like this, I think congratulating them is more appropriate than getting upset.”

“I’m truly sorry.”

“There’s no need to keep apologizing. After all, in a situation like this, improving our specs is more important than anything else. It makes sense for the person who can use it right away to take it. Survival has to come first. The fact that owner recognition succeeded means that among everyone here, Hayan is the one who can handle that weapon best at the moment. Our mages seem satisfied too… Congratulations, Hayan.”

“Th-thank you….”

Exactly.

I could be certain of it.

Park Yeonju really was an angel. Her almost absurd sweetness seemed partly aimed at Kim Hyunsung, but in any case, seeing her willing to yield as much as possible made me envy him all over again.

It felt like his love life had a very bright future ahead of it.

She’s making a good point too.

I liked the fact that she was focused on survival first instead of greed right in front of her eyes.

Now I could see why she’d chosen Lee Jihye, who had nothing to her name, and given her the authority to handle the guild’s affairs.

“Of course, would it be all right if we first judge whether the remaining items can be used on our end?”

“Yes. I think that would be best.”

I liked that, too—that she was determined to make sure she kept what she could in a situation like this.

Kim Hyunsung, I’m jealous.

He was smiling quietly while receiving congratulations from Cho Hyejin and Park Yeonju, a stark contrast to me, with one arm effectively sealed by Jung Hayan.

Meanwhile, Yuliena kept buzzing in my ear like a completely oblivious pest.

Probably because she’d only just woken up after all this time, she quieted down before long, but there was no doubt in my mind that the mythic-grade sword Kim Hyunsung had obtained this time was different from Yuliena.

In any case, if I stepped back and sorted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the situation out, Blue Guild had essentially swallowed a mythic item and a legendary item whole.

The remaining legendary item was the shield Park Deokgu had been touching, along with a few good heroic-grade items.

The shield might still give us a chance, since it was an item that required owner recognition, but the heroic-grade items were likely to be monopolized by Black Swan.

Sun Heeyoung’s furtive glances toward the heroic-grade support relic—the gospel—were definitely something I noticed, but there was no way I could ask for that item now, not even if I’d been replaced by another version of myself.

There were four priests in the expedition already.

All of them were equipped with heroic-grade items, but there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t want that gospel too.

Since it was a support weapon rather than a primary one, it would normally be difficult for priests who typically used two-handed staves to make use of it. But human greed, by nature, had no end.

For now, I decided it would be best to wait.

After all…

Since we’d already gulped down items of that caliber, I didn’t have the conscience to claim ownership over heroic-grade items.

Just like the fragments of the ancient god or that green monster I’d seen before, mythic-grade items were beyond the reach of my own eyes as well, but even without reading the description, there were some things you could simply feel.

That’s a treasure.

The sword Kim Hyunsung had obtained was a supreme treasure.

What I could confirm from the status window was only that the blade did not break.

But that alone was worth more than enough.

Kim Hyunsung’s swordsmanship was already at a level high enough to be recognized as one of the continent’s eight seats, and people had even been gossiping that he lacked experience. But that was nothing more than nonsense spouted by idiots who didn’t know he was a regressor.

I didn’t know what other functions were hidden inside it, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if our Hyunsung—already more than competent in every way—were to wield it, then just the ability to cut through anything and never break would be more than enough to pay for itself many times over.

The legendary staff Jung Hayan had ended up with needed no explanation either.

The description is… kind of unsettling…

Still, I was happy.

Overall, Blue’s grade had basically risen another step.

The idea that a goddess driven mad by jealousy had murdered her husband’s lover and turned her blood into a jewel was ominous no matter how you looked at it, but it was still a good thing.

Anemone…

It might be fair to say it suited Jung Hayan, but I had a feeling it would cause problems sooner or later.

In truth, after owner recognition was complete, she didn’t seem very interested in the big staff anymore.

The staff with the red gemstone, now lying there discarded, caught my eye.

If that’s all it was, why were you so quick to run over and claim it in the first place?

She’d clearly been wildly excited when she first spotted it, just a few moments ago.

Now that owner recognition was over, she looked like someone spitting out gum after all the sweetness had gone out of it.

It seemed like she’d wanted the staff mainly for the abilities hidden inside it, but I started to wonder why she’d been willing to seize a legendary-grade staff while also taking on the penalty of being scolded by me.

After looking at Jung Hayan’s face, which was grinning idiotically as if nothing in the world mattered, I realized what she’d wanted almost instantly.

Mana stat… 97….

At a point just a little over one year in.

That was the moment Jung Hayan unofficially obtained power comparable to one of the continent’s eight seats.

W-wait a second…