The Blade's Lonely Hilt

"Welcome."

The owner gave a half-hearted greeting as we stepped inside.

The shop was crammed with unappraised items—swords, spears, armor, even accessories.

"Pick out whatever you want."

"Sorry, what? I can just... take something?"

"Yep."

Every item in here cost 100,000 won.

The average unappraised item went for around 70,000.

Unless you were genuinely chasing a jackpot, it was steep. That was why most people didn't treat it as gambling on a fortune so much as a lottery—a game of chance they played for fun, calling it a "draw" rather than a bet.

"Maybe I'll pick something too."

Seo Inha began browsing for her pick, and I started looking around the shop as well.

Nothing really catching my eye.

Having finished with the accessories, I drifted over to the weapon section. Longswords, spears, greatswords—a whole variety of weapons lined the racks, but nothing drew me in.

-...Give it.

Then a voice reached my ears.

-Find... it. Give.

The voice cut in and out, but the request was unmistakable: find it for me.

I walked slowly in the direction the voice was coming from.

-Here. Hey.

It kept calling to me.

I'm over here. Come on, hurry.

"This is... huh?"

What I'd picked up was a rusted hilt.

The blade was gone—only the hilt remained, all alone.

-You found it. Good.

After that, the voice said nothing more.

What was that just now?

There were things called Ego Weapons—arms with a will of their own.

But an Ego Weapon met its death the moment the weapon broke. No matter how carefully you repaired a shattered blade, the ego never came back.

So how is this thing sustaining an ego with nothing but a hilt?

The Ego Weapon I now held in my hand was something outside everything I knew.

"Boss oppa!"

Seo Inha came over from the accessory display case just then.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Well, you did buy me a gift, so it feels weird calling you just 'employer' all the time."

"Fair enough."

It didn't feel bad, so I decided to let it slide.

"So, did you pick an item?"

"Yep!"

With that, Seo Inha held out a ring for me to see. Ornate, but not gaudy—simple without being plain.

I gathered up the hilt and the ring and headed for the counter.

"I'd like to pay for these, please."

"Huh? You want to buy that hilt?"

The owner clicked his tongue at the sight of my choice. He probably thought I was some kind of weirdo.

They call them unappraised items, but nobody's going to buy a hilt.

"Yes, this one."

"Alright, alright. Card or cash?"

"Card, please."

After running my card, I walked out of the shop with the item appraisal slips and my unapprised prizes in hand.

Seo Inha was waiting by the entrance.

"Here."

I held out the ring and its appraisal slip. By rights, a draw was something you were supposed to do yourself.

Why does anyone want a proxy draw in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠first place?

I couldn't understand it—but then, there were surely people who wanted exactly that.

"Um... could you do the draw for me, Boss oppa? I have really bad luck..."

"Ah."

And that someone was Seo Inha.

Honestly, with luck that bad, it seemed like she'd have already drawn a dud at the picking stage, but I kept that to myself.

"Sure, why not."

I took the ring and appraisal slip back from her and tore the slip open.

The system messages appeared, and the ring and the hilt began to faintly glow.

The light faded after about three seconds.

"Alright, let's see..."

I checked the information on the two appraised items.

My eyes went wide as I read the item information.

The Vigor stat was known as the single most valuable stat for master craftsmen. The catch was that the only way to get it was through an item.

As for the hilt's effects, I couldn't quite make sense of them yet.

"Well, first off—you just hit the jackpot."

I said that as I handed her the ring.

When Seo Inha checked the item information, her eyes went round.

There really is no better stat for a craftsman than Vigor.

Seo Jincheol probably had a Vigor stat himself.

"Holy crap..."

Something that sounded a lot like a curse slipped out of her mouth, but I decided not to have heard it.

I turned my attention to the hilt's effects.

Shape Shifting — the hilt's form could be changed however I pleased.

Mana Devouring — it absorbed its owner's mana and stored it in the blade, and the stored mana could be used to forge a blade.

Oh!

First, I shifted the hilt's form into a dagger. Then I fed a little of my mana into it.

When I checked again, Mana Devouring had been renamed Mana Predation.

I poured about half of my current mana into the hilt.

The message appeared, and the hilt began to crave my mana like it wanted seconds. Like a man who hadn't eaten in years.

Whoa there?

Hungry or not, a tool indiscriminately drinking its master's power was the behavior of a demon blade, nothing less.

I cut off the mana flowing into the hilt completely.

Kiiiing!

The hilt began to whine, demanding more.

Knock it off. I'm your master.

As if it had read my mind, the hilt went quiet. Only then did I start feeding it mana again, little by little.

Kiiiing!

Perhaps because it had just had its meal snatched away, it was remarkably docile this time. When I'd fed in roughly half of my mana, the hilt refused any more.

Full, are you?Kiing!

At my question, the hilt whined an affirmative.

Stored Mana: 2,000

Its mana had filled up to about 2,000. That was probably the little guy's current limit.

"Um... Boss oppa?"

Seo ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Inha, standing beside me, spoke up.

I'd completely forgotten she was there, wrapped up in the hilt.

I answered with the friendliest smile I could manage.

"What's up?"

"Um, when should I start on the setting work?"

"Whenever works for you."

It would be nice to have the stone ready, but I didn't need it right away. What I had to do from here on out was achievement farming.

"Status window."

Astonishing, no matter how many times I looked at it.

Level 3, with total stats over 80.

All that remained now was to pick up Supernova.

"Let's call it a day. I'll call you when everything's ready."

"Okay!"

Seo Inha gave a crisp bow and started walking toward Myeongdong. Once she vanished from view, I turned back the way I'd come.

I figured I'd need about three days to get fully accustomed to my new equipment.

"Time to run a gate, then."

Getting Supernova during those three days of waiting for Seo Inha was the best possible outcome. I opened the Awakeners app on my phone and searched for gates I could enter right away nearby.

Oh, there's a Kobold Cave.

As it happened, a gate called Kobold Cave was open close by.

F-rank gates allowed a C-rank to enter solo. I made a reservation on my phone, hailed a taxi, and headed for the gate.

* * *

"Thank you."

I thanked the taxi driver and walked toward the gate. After a simple reservation check at the entrance, I was able to step inside.

The moment I entered the gate, the entry message appeared normally.

What achievements could I get from kobolds again?

If I remembered right, there were five achievements obtainable from kobolds. Kobold Slaughterer and Mine Breaker were the iconic two; the other three had annoyingly convoluted unlock conditions.

I should avoid Slaughterer at almost any cost and set my sights on Mine Breaker instead.

Kobold Slaughterer was exactly what it sounded like—an achievement for slaughtering kobolds en masse. The problem was that experience points were tallied along the way. Which meant I could conceivably blow past level 10 mid-farm.

So, goal: Mine Breaker. Now, how do I break the mine in a way that gets people talking?

Broadly speaking, there were two ways to clear that achievement: demolish the mine completely, or extract the dwarves who served as its labor force.

The moment I finished that thought, a quest window popped up.

Naturally, I chose the former.

"Ooh."

The quest rewards were good.

I had no idea what the Ring of the Dwarf did, but Black Iron was an ore you'd be lucky to find even in a B-rank gate.

"Must be because it's a mine-type gate?"

Whatever the reason, it was good news for me. With Black Iron in hand, combining ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it with the worked Earth Stone would be perfect.

"First things first—let's deal with some kobolds."

"Grrrr!"

Right on cue, a kobold came shuffling around the corner. This was exactly what a bipedal wild beast would look like, I supposed.

"Then, shall we run the first test?"

I immediately formed a blade from the hilt's power.

Vmmm.

A silver-gleaming blade materialized from the hilt. The sight of it—a dagger wrought of silver, the natural bane of demons.

The moment Fighting Spirit activated, every fiber of my attention locked onto the kobold in front of me.

"Hoo."

I exhaled and stepped into my footwork.

Basic Footwork.

Speed.

Moving through the footwork, I swung the dagger.

Swish!

And the kobold's head came clean off.