Chapter 107
Chapter 107
Chapter 107: Crafting a Golem (1)
Translation: godtl
[Hidden Achievement "Defeating Hidden Bosses (5/?)" has been completed.]
[You have single-handedly defeated the Hidden Boss "Squadron Commander Verpark."]
[You have earned 3,000 Achievement Points as a reward.]
The messages announcing Verpark's death continued.
[You have completed your Constellation's mission.]
[The four Constellations are extremely satisfied with your performance.]
[You have earned 5,000 Achievement Points.]
Additional rewards poured in for completing the mission.
'That makes a total of 8,000 Achievement Points, right? Sweet, so sweet!'
Nearly 10,000 Achievement Points.
Wearing a satisfied smile, Si-mun descended to the ground.
Flutter.
Two pairs of wings fluttered near Si-mun's head and ankles.
Perhaps, like Laevateinn, they had exhausted all their energy.
Petasos and Talaria gradually dissolved into particles and scattered.
At the same time.
[Time limit has expired.]
[The Platinum Promotion Match has concluded.]
As the message announcing the end of the Arena appeared, Si-mun's body began to fade.
-Insane! Absolutely insane!
-Why is he so good at aerial combat too?
-No kidding. This is the first time I've seen him fly, so how is he this good?
-When I first flew, I got motion sickness right away...
The moment he returned to the waiting room, a flood of comments poured in from Arenia.
-Koreans are all liars. And he claims it's his first time flying? LMAO.
-Seriously. The sheer audacity is baffling...
-At this point, American Dream should be making him an offer, right?
-They probably already are. They're always eager for talent.
-Maybe they're already preparing a dollar bomb? XD!
-What the hell is Continent Guild doing, letting talent like this slip away?
-If you trace Kim Si-mun's lineage, he's definitely from the same continent as us.
-I agree. It's like watching the Spear King back in his Rising Star days.
Perhaps because foreign viewers made up half the audience, the chat was more overwhelming than usual.
Of course, despite the staggering 500,000 viewers, the chat remained clean and orderly.
The reason was simple.
[Manager "Black Goat" has banned dlwps.]
[Manager "Odin" has banned rnlcksgdk.]
[Manager "Black Goat" has...]
Black Goat and Odin.
The high-ranking Constellations, serving as managers, were fiercely competing in their ban spree.
'They're acting like kids... but it's reassuring.'
Chuckling at their antics, Si-mun prepared to wrap up the stream.
"Thankfully, I made it to Platinum. Next broadcast will probably be my Platinum Debut Match..."
He needed to hurry back and check his rewards.
Just as he was about to sign off, brimming with anticipation—
[Guild "American Dream" has donated 1,000,000 AP.]
=Congratulations on your Platinum promotion. I'd love to meet and talk with you personally.
A single donation blocked Si-mun's path.
-Holy shit!
-W-Wait, a million? A million?!
The chat instantly exploded in shock.
And for good reason—AP had a one-to-one exchange rate with the US dollar.
Meaning 1,000,000 AP equaled 1,000,000 dollars.
Roughly converted to Korean won, that was over 1.1 to 1.2 billion won.
And someone just casually dropped that much for a message like that?
But more importantly—
-Wait, the guild... Am I the only one shocked here?
-Me too! American Dream?!
-American Dream! I knew you guys would make a move!
-Hurry up and scout Mr. Kim already!
The guild that had sent the donation was one of the two strongest guilds in the world, often called the world's top guilds.
Isn't that the American Dream?
[The American Dream Guild has donated 10,000,000 AP.]
=If your schedule doesn't align, we'll gladly come to meet you in person.
Another donation naturally flies in, this time with an extra zero attached.
-What the...? There's an extra digit at the end...?
-T-Ten... ten million...?
-HOLY SH*T! HOW MUCH IS THAT?!
-Even at a glance, it's over 10 billion, lol.
The chat was once again flooded with shock.
It was only natural—this donation was ten times the first one, reaching the tens of billions.
-To casually add another zero to a billion like that...
-Is this guild made of oil money or what...?
-If their donations are this insane, how much would an actual contract be?
-DAMN IT! Some people would do anything to get into that guild, and this Asian gets paid to join?!
-GOOD! Bring him to America ASAP!
The chat erupted in excitement over the massive donation, but...
'American Dream, huh...'
Si-mun, the actual recipient, didn't seem particularly thrilled.
If anything, his mind was as calm as still water.
And for good reason.
The Arena Disease cure alone was already making him absurd amounts of money.
Not to mention the fortune he was raking in from lending out the World Tree's Guild Buff.
And both of these were steady, monthly income streams.
At this point, with high-profile financial managers already on his payroll,
a measly ten billion didn't even make him blink.
'Money's just gonna turn into worthless scraps of paper when Earth gets destroyed anyway.'
So rather than the amount...
'Didn't expect American Dream to make their move this soon, though.'
Si-mun focused on the guild behind the massive donation—American Dream.
Or at least, he tried to.
[Masamune Guild has donated 10,000,000 AP.]
=Congratulations on your Platinum promotion. We, too, would love to have a discussion with you, Mr. Si-mun.
Before another donation could follow...
[Continental Star Guild has donated 10,000,000 AP.]
=Congratulations on your Platinum promotion. We at Continental Star also wish to meet with such a promising Rising Star.
[Alfaea Guild has...]
Japan's Masamune and China's Continental Star had both sent love calls with their ten-million AP donations,
and soon after, a parade of donations from major guilds across the world followed.
-Damn! This guy's class is on another level!
-Well, he's Platinum now. It's only natural for top-tier players to get offers like this.
-Are you insane? Since when do Platinums get exclusive offers from only the biggest guilds?
-LOL, you make it sound so easy. Even Diamonds don't get this kind of attention, lol.
-What if Mr. Si-mun actually leaves for another country?
-Yeah... At this point, it might be worth taking the nationality penalty...
The chat exploding was inevitable, but Si-mun remained as composed as before, merely reading through the donation messages.
His gaze lingered particularly on the three guilds at the top of the donation list—
American Dream, Masamune, and Continental Star.
'They should know I'm already in a guild after my match with Kang Hwa-wi. Why make offers like this?'
Weren't these the same guilds that had spectated his duel with Kang Hwa-wi?
They had to know he was already affiliated. So why go out of their way to contact him?
Then, Si-mun nodded in realization.
'Ah. They must think I only joined for the Growth Buff.'
Not an unreasonable assumption.
After all, publicly, the Guild Master of Simdrasil wasn't him—it was his younger brother, Kim Si-hyeok.
'Kinda feel bad now. Even after all that AP, I've got no intention of jumping ship.'
Back at the start of his regression...
What had been his reason for refusing the scout offer from Hu Yeon-ryong of Continental Star?
"Perhaps before awakening, but abandoning your country after awakening would be madness."
Yet Si-mun didn't outright refuse the offers.
Not to test the waters.
The guilds sponsoring him were all top-tier powerhouses.
Openly rejecting them in front of an international audience of over 500,000 viewers wouldn't be the wisest move.
Not to mention the guilds' pride.
He'd just come off as an arrogant upstart who'd grown too big for his boots after receiving a windfall.
This was, after all, a matter of social etiquette.
"Thank you for your generous offers. I'll reach out to each of you separately regarding this matter."
Si-mun smoothly deflected the flood of sponsorships with practiced ease.
Then.
[The White Tiger Guild has sponsored 1,000,000 AP.]
=Player Kim Si-mun, we sincerely apologize for the disgraceful incident caused by one of our guild members.
Another guild reignited the cooled sponsorship window.
The White Tiger Guild.
The very guild to which Chang-min—the player who had tried to turn others against Si-mun during the Promotion Match—belonged.
[The White Tiger Guild has sponsored 1,000,000 AP.]
=The member in question has been immediately expelled, and we will soon issue an official apology. We offer our deepest apologies once again.
Another message from the White Tiger Guild followed.
At this, Si-mun's eyes widened slightly.
'It can't be easy to apologize through a public sponsorship like this...'
By nature, the larger an organization, the more it values face.
Though the White Tiger Guild wasn't on the level of the Seongsam or Myth Guilds,
it was still one of the prominent major guilds.
For such a guild to issue an apology right after the broadcast ended,
and even promise a formal apology statement—that carried significant weight.
Because he understood this well,
"It's alright. The Promotion Match ended well, after all."
Si-mun took the hand the White Tiger Guild had extended.
Then.
[The White Tiger Guild has sponsored 1,000,000 AP.]
=We sincerely thank you. If you have the time, we would very much like to meet in person to apologize!
The White Tiger Guild's immediate response.
Si-mun chuckled inwardly.
'Even going as far as trying to arrange a meeting. A major guild indeed.'
After wrapping up the White Tiger Guild's sponsorship as well,
"Alright everyone, I'll be logging off now. See you in the next stream."
-Bye~.
-Bye~ Today was lit!
-Why would anyone curse at Mr. Kim?
-Do Koreans say goodbye to Rising Stars with curses? We don't treat talent like this in our continent.
-What? It's just slang lol.
-Lmao the foreigners are so confused lolol.
-It's not a curse, it's just shorthand for "Si-mun bye"!
-I totally meant it as a curse though?
[Manager 'Black Goat' has banned 'TrollMaster'.]
The stream ended.
With a soft flash of light, Si-mun returned to his laboratory.
Clank. Clank.
The Mithril Golems, mid-task, all saluted him in unison.
"Yeah, you've all worked hard."
Though he had programmed the action himself,
Si-mun naturally accepted their greetings.
It was a habit born from his past life's loneliness—a small comfort to ease the solitude of working alone.
"Now, let's check the rewards."
Rubbing his hands together, Si-mun didn't even sit down before reviewing his rewards.
[You have successfully cleared the Platinum Promotion Match.]
[Your bound trait 'Philosopher's Stone' has distributed a portion of experience.]
[Your level has increased by 6.]
[The Philosopher's Stone has leveled up by 4.]
"As stingy as ever."
Despite having traveled to another dimension, the rewards were meager.
Yet Si-mun felt no disappointment.
Promotion Matches were never known for generous rewards, after all.
[Player Kim Si-mun has been assigned the Platinum-rank.]
[Achievement 'Platinum-rank Player' has been completed.]
[You have earned 3,000 Achievement Points as a reward.]
"Now this is nice."
3,000 Achievement Points.
For Si-mun, who was always in dire need of Achievement Points,
this alone was enough to bring a satisfied smile to his face despite the meager Promotion Match rewards.
Above all else—
'The real reward is yet to come.'
Wasn't the main dish still waiting?
[Hidden Boss 'Squadron Commander Verpark' has been defeated solo.]
[You have obtained the 'Queen's Egg' as a reward.]
"Ah, so this is what they give."
Without hesitation, Si-mun opened his inventory.
The reason was simple.
'Queen's Egg. I wondered why this didn't disappear even after the Arena ended.'
The white bead that Prince Ents had handed him—
normally, items without a status window couldn't be taken outside the Arena,
yet the Queen's Egg remained firmly in his inventory.
"Now the status window should appear."
Taking out the Queen's Egg, Si-mun checked its details.
[Queen's Egg]
Grade: X
An egg containing the Queen of Dimension Insectia.
That was all.
"What the... Is this it...?"
Si-mun let out a hollow laugh.
'Even if it's X-Rank, it's just an egg that hatches a Queen, nothing more.'
Originally, to birth the Queen of Insectia,
an Imprint process from an Insector was absolutely necessary.
The species of the Queen would be determined by which Insector's Imprint was used.
Therefore—
"So... it's useless?"
This Queen's Egg, despite its X-Rank status, was utterly worthless as it was.
"Tch. What a letdown. Still, it's not completely unusable."
At present, it might have no practical use,
but once the official Arena begins and cross-species interactions become commonplace,
it might prove valuable—at least within Dimension Insectia.
Tap.
With a flick of his finger, Si-mun conjured a circular pedestal and placed the Queen's Egg atop it.
"Time to get to work."
Just as he turned toward his workstation—
Knock, knock.
"Si-mun, sir."
A familiar male voice accompanied the knocking at the lab door.
"Come in."
At Si-mun's permission,
the door swung open, revealing a rough-faced man.
"Si-mun, sir! I watched the broadcast! All I could do was marvel—only to be expected from you!"
It was the Night Hunter, Park Jin-uk.
"Reaching Platinum so quickly... At this rate, Diamond-rank won't be far off, will it?"
"You flatter me."
"Flatter? From what I've seen, you could jump straight to Diamond-rank right now and still hold your own."
With a cheeky grin—
yet in a tone brimming with genuine admiration—Park Jin-uk placed a few documents before Si-mun.
"Here's the guild buff rental receipt. I've saved the data too, so you can review it later."
"Payment must have gone through already."
"Given how absurdly powerful that buff is, people were practically scrambling to pay up. Kkhah!"
Park Jin-uk laughed heartily before suddenly scratching the back of his head.
"Ah, right... About that..."
His expression turned slightly awkward.
"I know you just finished your Promotion Match, but... there's someone you need to meet. Apologies for the timing."
"Someone I need to meet?"
"Yes. A delivery just arrived from the Black Market."
At that, Si-mun's expression brightened slightly.
There were only one—
no, two items that could be coming from the Black Market.
"You've already secured the Adamantium and Orichalcum? The Black Market never disappoints."
Adamantium and Orichalcum—
the two super-metals he had commissioned for crafting his Golem.
But then, Si-mun tilted his head in confusion.
"But why would I need to meet someone just to receive the items?"
Was there some kind of confirmation required?
His doubts were swiftly answered.
"My, my~ How cold."
A voice so enchanting it sent shivers down one's spine, regardless of gender—
a voice that had no business being here—drifted in from the open doorway.
And then—
"I personally delivered such precious goods, and you'd send me off without so much as a greeting?"
"You—"
Si-mun turned toward the entrance, and his face stiffened instantly.