The Divine Artifact, Part 2
"W-what...?"
Lea de Karayan stared at me with a look of utter bewilderment.
To her, it must have looked like I had suddenly thrown the sword to the ground.
But I didn't.
I had simply dropped it because it was too heavy.
Damn this Strength stat...
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Damn it. Just how weak was this body?
According to the game's lore, Frostglow wasn't even a particularly heavy sword. To think I couldn't even lift this.
It was a truly pathetic excuse for a body.
Well, come to think of it, I barely managed to lift a rusty one-handed sword earlier. How did I expect to carry a massive longsword like this?
I let out a sigh of disappointment.
I had set out to find a weapon that could withstand my skill, but I couldn't even lift the damn thing in the first place.
Nothing I can do. I'll just have to give up on Frostglow...
...Wait, hold on.
I froze.
At that moment, a realization struck me, and my eyes narrowed.
As I silently stared down at Frostglow lying on the floor, Lea finally snapped out of her daze and hurriedly spoke up.
"M-my savior? Is something the matter...?"
"Quiet for a moment."
"...Yes, sir."
I silenced her first.
Lea shut her mouth tight, her eyes darting around in confusion.
Ignoring her reaction, I calmly organized my thoughts.
No matter how I look at it, this doesn't make sense.
At first, I had lost my composure because I never expected Frostglow to appear here.
But the more I thought about it, the more suspicious it felt.
Frostglow.
According to the original game's storyline, this weapon shouldn't belong to the Ruins Merchant Group at this point in time.
It would eventually fall into Lea's hands, but that was supposed to happen much later in the story.
Which means the Frostglow sitting here right now is...
Having reached a conclusion, I spoke immediately.
"It's a fake."
"...Pardon?"
Lea gasped, her voice laced with shock.
"A-a fake?"
"Yes."
"I-I apologize, but the chances of that are extremely low."
Lea began to stammer, trying to explain herself.
"This sword is undoubtedly Frostglow, crafted by the Lord of Flame and Smithing. We have already verified..."
I cut her off.
"Didn't you say you acquired this weapon just a few days ago?"
"..."
"Then you haven't performed a detailed appraisal yet."
After a brief hesitation, Lea nodded.
"We have indeed only completed the preliminary appraisal. However, the probability of it being a counterfeit was deemed negligible..."
"I won't repeat myself. Appraise it again."
"..."
"What is there to hesitate about? Cross-verification is a standard procedure anyway."
My firm tone silenced Lea.
Soon, she nodded without another word of protest.
"Understood. I will contact the appraiser immediately."
"Tell them to inspect it under the assumption that it is a fake."
"...I will make sure to convey that."
Good.
With this, the Ruins Merchant Group owed me yet another debt.
This single piece of advice would undoubtedly return to me as a massive fortune in the future.
It's a bit of a shame I couldn't get the real Frostglow here, but...
Even if it were real, it was too heavy for me to carry around anyway.
I brushed off the lingering regret with that thought.
Besides, I don't need to obsess over a divine artifact with powerful active effects.
After all, I had the Soul of the Sword Master skill. There was no need to get greedy over flashy weapon effects.
I didn't need to overreach for a weapon with complex abilities.
...So, let's focus on my original criteria.
A sword durable enough to withstand my skill, yet light enough for me to carry without effort.
A weapon with enough potential to serve me all the way to the endgame.
And above all...
...the sword I had set my eyes on the moment I stepped into this room.
I shifted my gaze.
My eyes swept toward a corner of the secret vault.
A pure white scabbard.
Beside it lay a slender blade.
I quietly muttered the weapon's name in my mind.
The Feather Sword.
A highly intuitive name, wasn't it?
True to its name, this divine artifact was the only sword in the game with a weight stat of exactly zero.
However, because it possessed no other special effects, the Feather Sword was once considered the lowest-tier weapon among all divine artifacts.
...But for the current me, it's the perfect weapon.
A weapon with zero weight.
It meant that even with my abysmally low Strength stat, I could wield it effortlessly.
Furthermore, the Feather Sword was still a divine artifact, meaning its durability was leagues above any ordinary blade.
Unlike the cheap sword that crumbled into dust the moment I activated the Soul of the Sword Master, this weapon would easily withstand the strain of a 12-star Mythic-tier skill for a long time.
"..."
Shring!
I unsheathed the Feather Sword.
As expected, it felt completely weightless in my hand.
Satisfied, I smiled and turned to Lea.
"I'll take this one."
"...Pardon?"
Lea, the master of the Ruins Merchant Group, stared at me in utter disbelief.
"T-the Feather Sword? Of all the treasures in this vault, you are choosing the Feather Sword?"
I looked at her and replied flatly,
"Is there a problem?"
"N-no, it's not that, but..."
Lea trailed off, her expression deeply conflicted.
She looked at the Feather Sword in my hand as if it were a piece of junk.
"..."
Well, yes.
It was only natural for her to react that way.
Aside from having a weight of zero, the Feather Sword was no different from an exceptionally sturdy normal sword.
In fact, because it had absolutely no weight, most swordsmen in the game's lore actively avoided it.
It was impossible to perform swordsmanship that relied on momentum and weight, and the lack of tactile feedback made wielding it feel incredibly awkward.
It's a garbage weapon that doesn't deserve the title of a divine artifact.
Perhaps that was why.
As I mentioned earlier, the Feather Sword was once considered the worst weapon among Lost Elder players.
...Key word being "once."
As time passed, players eventually discovered its true value.
They realized that the weapon hadn't been labeled a divine artifact for nothing.
There was a reason it bore that title.
The Feather Sword awakens once certain conditions are met.
The original game featured various easter eggs.
The most famous among them was the "True Name Awakening"—a system where seemingly useless items transformed into overpowered gear upon fulfilling specific requirements.
The Feather Sword was one of those awakening weapons.
Its True Name Awakening form was rated as one of the absolute best weapons in the entire game.
Eventually, it would even surpass Frostglow to claim the number one spot in the sword rankings.
If Lea knew what this sword was capable of after its awakening...
Even she, who was willing to hand over Frostglow, would have never let me walk away with the Feather Sword.
What would happen if she discovered its true nature later on?
It was obvious.
She would probably try to buy it back from me, even if it cost her a fortune.
I smiled to myself at the thought.
Perfect.
So far, this start was the smoothest out of all the playthroughs I had ever attempted.
"Please take this."
The moment we stepped out of the secret vault, Lea handed something to me.
It was a dimensional pocket enchanted with a weight-reduction spell.
I took it and looked back at her, my expression filled with curiosity.
Lea shrugged and replied,
"It is one hundred million shillings."
"...?"
Shillings.
It was the currency unit of the original game.
The exchange rate was roughly equivalent to the Korean Won—meaning one shilling was worth about one won.
Because of this, there were rumors among players that the mysterious game developer was actually a Korean company.
Granted, the game's economy is completely ruined since the setting is an apocalypse, but...
Even so, one hundred million shillings was an astronomical sum.
This money would be of immense help for my survival in this world.
...But why is she suddenly giving me this much money?
Was she handing this over simply because I was her savior?
As I stared at her with questioning eyes, Lea offered a detailed explanation.
"It is the reward for defeating the champion of the underground arena."
"...Ah."
The moment she said that, a memory I had temporarily forgotten flashed through my mind.
"The slaves who survive this match will have all their debts cleared and receive a grand sum of one hundred million shillings from the Ruins Merchant Group!"
Right.
The announcer had definitely said that in the arena.
I had been so distracted that it had completely slipped my mind.
"We have also granted freedom and paid one hundred million shillings to the other surviving slaves. Thanks to that, our underground arena has recorded a deficit for the first time."
"..."
"Well, to be fair, Barba the Human Butcher had held the champion title for far too long. We were in need of a new face anyway."
She paused.
Lea, who had been speaking unusually fluidly, suddenly fell silent.
She stared at me with an unreadable expression for a long moment before asking a question.
"But unfortunately, it seems that new face won't be showing up in the arena again."
"..."
"You plan on leaving this place. Am I correct?"
I nodded silently in response to her question.
As I had decided earlier, I needed to maintain a proper distance from the Ruins Merchant Group.
Living under their protection might be comfortable for now.
But in the long run, it would bring me no benefits.
And above all...
On the off chance that they discover I am not actually her savior...
...things will turn incredibly ugly.
Therefore, I had to leave the Ruins Merchant Group as soon as possible.
Perhaps Lea had also sensed our impending parting.
She continued in a slightly subdued voice.
"Could you at least tell me your name before you go?"
My name...
After a brief moment of thought, I gave my answer.
"Well. I've forgotten it."
"...Pardon?"
"It's been so long since I last used it."
Lea stared at me, her face a mask of bewilderment.
She looked as if she couldn't believe the nonsense I was spouting.
But it couldn't be helped. As I had established, it was best to minimize my involvement with the Ruins Merchant Group.
"You are a truly mysterious person, my savior."
Staring at me, Lea finally let out a sigh and nodded reluctantly.
"Understood. I will not pry any further."
"..."
"However, just one thing... Please answer just one thing."
Lea paused for a moment, looking straight into my eyes.
"You will visit the Ruins Merchant Group again someday, right?"
I nodded.
And without a single shred of hesitation, I replied,
"Yes. Someday."
This world was incredibly harsh.
There was no reason to throw away a perfectly good connection when survival was on the line.
If I ever found myself in a situation where I desperately needed the help of the Ruins Merchant Group...
I would definitely return here.