Chapter 85
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: The Forgotten Artisan
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An exclamation mark blinked above the head of the NPC who had evacuated outside the building.
That meant the quest was complete.
You have completed the quest.
You have acquired the Growth Elixir.
Perfect.
This elixir was the "Growth Elixir" he had drunk before.
It was an item that massively boosted experience points. There was only one bottle, but it held a full 1L.
With this, he could level up without hunting.
The underground city will disappear.
With the boss gone, the bugged city began to slowly fade away.
It no longer had any reason to exist.
The man's voice was completely shattered and unintelligible, but judging from the relieved smile on his lips, Jeong Hoon could guess what he meant.
Thanks for freeing me.
A life where he wanted to leave because of the bug but couldn't.
Now that such a tiresome existence had finally ended, it must have felt liberating.
As he turned into white ash and vanished, Jeong Hoon sent Michael back.
"Let's head back too."
"Yes."
A flush of color returned to Kim Bong-gu's face.
The moment they exited through the portal, Kim Bong-gu received Jeong Hoon's permission and hurriedly logged out.
Heh heh, what a sightwatching him scamper off.
Mukho snickered.
"Mukho, I've been thinking. How about I boost your abilities a bit?"
My abilities? You said it wasn't possible right now.
"That's right. But then this showed up."
What Jeong Hoon pulled out was the mysterious magic stone he had obtained after dealing with Yi-hyeong.
Italian server.
"Maximus! I found a bug!"
"A bug?"
"I'm telling you! Why else wouldn't New World fix it? They hid an opportunity there on purpose!"
Maximus rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.
The man before him was Federico, his friend since childhood.
Federico had been hailed as a genius from a young age due to his brilliant mind.
That genius extended to computers as wellhe had competed in various programming contests and taken home victories.
Of course, he had completely abandoned programming once New World launched.
So Federico's words were unlikely to be lies.
But no matter how he thought about it, something felt off.
"It doesn't make sense. How many opportunities have been discovered so far?"
Maximus had been fortunate enough to find one at level 36.
That was how he had obtained a unique-grade job after his second class change.
Yet in all his time playing New World, he had never heard a whisper of bugs.
"No, I'm serious. New World hid it in a different form!"
Federico placed a single note on the table.
Western End
-!!
Everything in the note was garbled except for "Western End."
Federico had instantly recognized it as a bug upon seeing the note.
It matched the typical distortion that occurred with bugs.
"A different form?"
It had been a long time since Federico had been this proactive.
"Yeah! Think about itNew World, leaving a bug like this alone? No way!"
Federico had been sweeping programming contests left and right when he suddenly dropped everything, largely due to New World.
This is impossible! How can such technology exist in this world!
He had felt powerless, unable to keep up with the developers of New World no matter how hard he tried...
And at the same time, he had fallen hopelessly in love with New World itself.
It was a collective masterpiece of technology that far surpassed the modern era.
"...Fine. So where is it?"
"Super close! Autobahn!"
"Autobahn? Isn't that right here?"
This was Autobahn Square.
True to the Italian server, every user in Autobahn was Italian.
The place Federico led him to was a cliff at the western edge of Autobahn.
"It's beyond there!"
"...This is the edge of the territory. Didn't New World block it off?"
New World wasn't a single world.
It was a semi-open-world game stitched together from countless worlds.
As such, the developers had blocked players from venturing beyond a territory's set boundaries.
"It's fine here!"
With that, Federico leaped off the cliff.
True to his mage class, he cast a flying spell and descended slowly. The drop was dizzyingly high.
"Hey! What am I supposed to do if you go alone?"
Unlike him, Maximus was a Martial Artist.
But moments later, a portal appeared right in front of him.
It was a transport portal that would take him straight down the cliff.
"What the...? Was there something down there that activated the portal?"
Though puzzled, Maximus stepped into the portal and descended.
But there was absolutely nothing below.
"Huh? It's gone? Where'd it go?"
"...Maybe it's not Autobahn?"
"No way! Look down there!"
Federico pointed to the note again.
-Au tobahn's Western End
There were recognizable letters.
"Autobahn...?"
"Yeah, Autobahn. You saw the portal appear once we got down here, right? This is definitely it!"
"...But there's nothing here."
No matter how thoroughly they searched the base of the cliff, they couldn't find the opportunity.
You think you can enhance me in this stinking dump? I doubt it...
Mukho muttered suspiciously.
And understandably sothe place Jeong Hoon had arrived at was a small hut located a short distance from the cliff.
It looked like a complete ruin where no one could possibly live.
The reason for visiting such a ruin was simple.
The one who can enhance Mukho's abilities is here.
Upon closer inspection, the hut was surprisingly well-maintained and clean for a ruin.
There were also signs of someone inside.
Jeong Hoon knocked on the hut's door.
"Who's there."
"I've come on business."
"Cut the crap and get lost."
A cold voice replied.
"I've brought a magic stone."
"...And?"
Bingo.
The corner of Jeong Hoon's mouth curled up slightly.
It was just a fleeting moment, but the man inside had hesitated.
"I want an enchant done, but there are no capable experts around."
Enchant.
Unlike evolution, refining, or strengthening, it was the process of forcibly imbuing external power to add new performance and attributes.
It was similar to soul stones in nature, but just as only those skilled in ego-related techniques could handle them, enchants were the same.
And the man Jeong Hoon had come to see was a true master of enchants.
"I don't do that. Stop talking nonsense and leave."
However, the hut's door showed no sign of opening.
Forcing his way in would mean he couldn't make the request.
Jeong Hoon knocked again and spoke.
"It's legendary armor. And the magic stone is unverifiedsomething that's never appeared in the world."
From what Jeong Hoon remembered, this master was overwhelmingly curious.
Legendary gear was rare enough, and an unverified magic stone?
It was more than enoughoverflowing, evento pique his interest.
What? You're sticking an unverified one in me?! Who's dying today!
'Be quiet, you're being loud.'
You damn master! You want me to stay calm with a knife to my throat? Would you?!
'I'm getting you enhanced.'
Enhanced my ass. This is a live experiment!
Ignoring the noisy Mukho, he waited for a response from inside.
"...Come in."
With those words, the firmly shut hut door slowly creaked open.
Standing before him was a single old man in his seventies.
NPC Information
-Nickname: Iruno
-Level: 150
-Job: Forgotten Artisan
Jeong Hoon sat on the worn chair opposite him.
Iruno brought over a cup of green tea and set it on the table.
"Thank you."
"...Is the martial robe you're wearing right now legendary?"
True to his artisan eye, Iruno had recognized Mukho at a glance.
"You can tell?"
"It'd be weirder not to recognize something radiating such an impressive aura."
Truth be told, it was because it was Iruno.
When starting New World, players could automatically set their items to private.
Unless manually changed to public, others couldn't identify them.
Naturally, Jeong Hoon hadn't set it to public, so other users couldn't tell.
"I see."
"But it's only half-complete?"
Oh, he could even see that far?
Half? You want two mouths now?
Though Mukho reacted irritably, Jeong Hoon simply ignored it.
"Yeah, so I want to use this for the enhancement."
Jeong Hoon took the magic stone from his inventory and placed it on the table.
The moment Iruno saw the magic stone, his pupils began trembling wildly.
"H-How did you obtain this?!"
"You know what this magic stone is?"
"Of course... How could I not recognize it."
It was designated unique-grade, but its performance rivaled legendary: a Special Grade Magic Stone.
In his sixty years as an enchanter, Iruno had only ever handled up to highest-grade magic stones.
Special Grade Magic Stones were the stuff of legendsno one had ever been able to wield them.
And now, one lay right before his eyes.
"That's a relief. So you can handle it?"
"It's not about handling it... Where on earth did you get this?"
"I got lucky."
"This is absolutely not something you get from luck! It's a legendary magic stone!"
Iruno raised his voice.
Unlike when Jeong Hoon had knocked, excitement filled his tone.
It can't be helped.
Jeong Hoon knew that Special Grade Magic Stones were virtually nonexistent in New World.
They weren't something enchanters could easily come across.
"So, what will you do?"
"...You're really going to entrust this to me?"
Iruno's gaze refused to leave the magic stone.
"Yes. That's why I came all this way."
"...Then leave it with me. I'll make sure it succeeds."
A question mark appeared above Iruno's head.
Hidden Quest: Artisan Iruno
-Restriction: Iruno's motivation Max
-Reward: Enchant success
-Description: Request an enchant from Iruno.
Thanks to the Special Grade Magic Stone, the quest had popped up quickly.
Perfect.
Without the Special Grade Magic Stone, he never could have swayed Iruno's heart.
Jeong Hoon accepted the quest.
"I'll leave it to you."
Hey! I don't wanna go to that guy!
As he tried to remove Mukho, it went berserk.
'It's to make your abilities stronger.'
What if it fails? What then!
'It won't fail. He's the real dealan actual artisan.'
!
As Mukho spewed curses, Jeong Hoon quickly took it off.
Mukho's voice cut off abruptly and no longer reached him.
"Just trust me. Even if it doesn't look it, he's an enchanter with a 99.14 success rate."
"How long will it take?"
"...Hmm, generously speaking, about eight hours."
Longer than expected.
"Understood."
"Then come back in eight hours?"
Iruno exited the hut and entered the workshop behind it.
The workshop was only a third the size of the hut.
Who would have thought that was the workshop.
"I'll watch."
"Very well."
Eight hours.
Plenty of time.
Jeong Hoon returned to the hut and sat on the floor.
Now it was time to consume the elixir from the quest.