Purification (2)
The magical tools possessed by monsters are called magical artifacts. Of course, not every item a monster carried was a functional magical artifact. Only a rare few boss-class monsters ever held one. Occasionally, some would wield ancient relics of unknown origin… but those were contaminated by the monster’s demonic energy, rendering them unusable.
Naturally, it was possible to restore them by purifying the corrupted energy. The problem was that the purification process often destroyed the artifact’s inherent abilities as well. Because of that, purification was an extremely delicate and risky operation. It was literally a gamble.
If the artifact retained its power after purification, you’d struck gold. If not, it was trash. And since the purification process itself was so difficult, most artifacts were simply discarded without even attempting it.
But…
◈ A teddy bear containing the fear of a girl who could not pass on.
◈ Weakens the opponent’s magical power.
The teddy bear Joan had purified still retained its ability perfectly. It could have been a lucky coincidence, but surprisingly, it wasn’t.
“Joan, can you purify magical artifacts while preserving their abilities?”
“I’ll need to test it more, but… I think I can.”
“That’s incredible.”
I was genuinely impressed. Is this what holy power is capable of? I knew holy power was special, but its range of applications far exceeded my imagination.
“Lady Joan truly is amazing,” Vanessa added in praise.
Perhaps embarrassed by the flood of compliments, Joan’s face flushed a shy pink. But it was still too early to celebrate.
“Let’s gather more artifacts and test them.”
“Understood.”
We began roaming nearby Gates in search of monsters carrying magical artifacts. Hunters rarely brought them out of the Gates, so they were almost impossible to find on the market.
About thirty minutes later—
“Kiiiik!”
“Finally, one showed up.”
An ‘Orc Shaman’ holding a staff had appeared. Dozens of orc warriors formed an iron-tight guard around it.
Of course, whether it had guards or not didn’t matter to us.
“Gr?”
A black shadow slipped between the orc warriors like water. Then—
Slice—
The orc shaman’s arm, still clutching the staff, was severed cleanly. When Vanessa returned to my side, the shaman’s staff was already in her hand.
“My lord.”
“Having you around really makes things convenient, Vanessa.”
Vanessa smiled silently, her lips curving sweetly. Soon after, Joan cast her purification spell on the staff. I appraised it with the nervous anticipation of scratching a lottery ticket.
And then—
◈ Makes it easier to handle magical power.
“Oh.”
“Did it work?”
“It did! The ability is still there!”
My eyes sparkled as I confirmed the staff had retained its power intact.
“That’s a relief.”
“Congratulations, my lord.”
Both Joan and Vanessa brightened. After that, we continued sweeping through Gates and collecting more artifacts. For some reason, the two of them were unusually enthusiastic.
Whoosh—! Monsters melted away in holy light.
Snip snip— Others were sliced apart by scissors.
“My lord.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Mr. Seojun, this one has been purified.”
“You did great too, Joan.”
Thanks to their bizarrely motivated efforts, the collection process moved at an astonishing pace. In just two hours, we had gathered over a dozen magical artifacts.
“Shall we go artifact hunting again tomorrow?”
“I would be delighted.”
Did they actually enjoy hunting monsters? I guess I’ll have to visit Gates more often.
It was nice to see them so eager, but we already had more than enough for now.
“We’ve gathered quite a few. This should be sufficient for the time being.”
Over a dozen artifacts were now piled up in one corner of the general store. The results were, without exaggeration, a jackpot.
Every single artifact Joan purified retained its original ability. The preservation rate, which should have been a complete gamble, was sitting at a perfect 100%. It was like scratching lottery tickets that had no losing options.
Of course, there were limits. Purifying even one artifact consumed a considerable amount of holy power.
“Common-grade ones aren’t too bad, but starting from Rare-grade, purification consumes quite a lot of holy power.”
“How many do you think you can handle per day?”
“It varies by item, but five shouldn’t be a problem.”
Then we’d limit it to three. I had no intention of overworking Joan just to purify more artifacts. Her well-being came before money. Vanessa had also worked hard to snatch these artifacts from monsters.
In any case—
“We won’t have to worry about money anymore.”
Selling purified artifacts would undoubtedly bring in an enormous fortune. Even three Rare-grade ones would easily fetch several hundred million won.
“I’m glad I could be of help.”
Joan smiled brightly, clearly happy that she could contribute. She really was a walking lucky charm.
“Today, let’s go out and eat whatever you two want. My treat.”
“Is that really okay?”
“Of course.”
How much could they possibly eat? Both Joan and Vanessa were light eaters. I could tell they were deliberately eating less to avoid burdening me. So when I suggested we go out and eat to their hearts’ content, both of them lit up with joy.
“Let’s go. I already scouted some delicious restaurants nearby, just in case.”
“A restaurant my lord chose? I’m looking forward to it.”
“You can look forward to it as much as you like.”
I stood up and put on my coat. I could think about the artifacts later—after we’d had our fun.
*
The next day, after eating and drinking to our hearts’ content with the two of them—and even dragging in Choi Seoyeon for a round of bowling—I arrived at the Constellation of Dawn guild headquarters in Seocho-dong to dispose of the artifacts.
I called from the building lobby, and shortly after, Kim Hayun came running out.
“You should have called ahead. You didn’t have to come in person.”
“There are some items I wanted to show you, but they’re a bit too conspicuous to take out just anywhere. That’s why I came.”
“In that case, please follow me this way.”
Kim Hayun led me into an elevator and down to the fourth basement floor. It was a massive space that appeared to be used for storing Gate byproducts.
“What would you like to show me?”
“These.”
I reached into my spatial backpack and began pulling out the artifacts I had brought. The Cursed Doll of Room 406, the Minotaur’s Axe, the Orc Warlord’s Longsword, and more emerged one after another.
Kim Hayun stared at the artifacts being laid on the floor with a puzzled expression.
“What are these?”
“They’re magical artifacts from monsters.”
“I can see that, but…”
“They’ve been purified.”
“Ah…!”
Kim Hayun’s eyes widened.
“Are you saying you succeeded in preserving their abilities on all of them?”
“Yes.”
Kim Hayun looked at the artifacts with renewed astonishment. She knew better than anyone how incredibly difficult it was to purify a monster’s magical artifact. The Constellation of Dawn had once attempted it themselves.
But not only was preserving the abilities nearly impossible, even the purification process itself was extremely difficult. In the end, they had given up on commercializing the idea. If they purified ten artifacts and one succeeded, that was considered lucky. The same was true for every other organization. As a result, there wasn’t a single group in the entire world that ran a dedicated purification business. At best, churches would occasionally attempt it, but they almost always failed to preserve the abilities.
And yet, Choi Seojun had brought five successful cases.
“This is incredible… to succeed on all of them…”
“Oh, and that’s not all.”
“Pardon? There’s more?”
“I don’t have any more at the moment, but from now on, I can purify every magical artifact that appears while preserving their abilities 100%.”
“……Excuse me?”
Kim Hayun stared at me with an expression that said she couldn’t comprehend what she was hearing. It was a statement that completely defied common sense.
“Just as I said. I can purify magical artifacts while preserving their abilities at a 100% success rate.”
“……!”
Kim Hayun’s eyes gradually grew wider as she stared at me. She was so shocked that she stuttered when she finally managed to speak.
“Y-You’re saying you’ll entrust this to us?”
“Yes. According to our contract, the guild is supposed to handle Gate byproducts for me, correct?”
I could have sold the artifacts through my general store, but the ripple effect would be far too great. Trying to monopolize something like this would only end in disaster. Entrusting it to a proxy was the smarter choice. It was also more convenient for me.
“I understand. Please wait just a moment.”
After speaking, Kim Hayun forgot about the elevator entirely and sprinted up the stairs.
*
The Constellation of Dawn was thrown into complete chaos.
“He can purify magical artifacts!? Is that true?”
“Yes, I confirmed it with my own eyes.”
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“I checked multiple times. I even brought in an appraiser to verify that the abilities were still intact.”
Ha Jinwu asked the same question several times. It was that hard to believe. Being able to purify magical artifacts? That was an absurd ability capable of completely overturning the entire industry.
But it was real. The artifacts he had given Choi Seojun as a test had all been returned the next day completely purified.
“……Insane.”
Ha Jinwu immediately called the guild master, who was currently in the United States. He got an earful about calling at such an early hour, but the moment the guild master heard the details, his attitude flipped completely. He even said he would cancel all his schedules and return immediately.
It was that monumental of an event.
“Haha… ha…”
A hollow laugh escaped Ha Jinwu’s lips as he stared at the artifacts. This was a genuine jackpot.