Chapter 19
The place I headed after leaving the house was Jae-i's Blacksmith.
I was there to deal with the spoils I’d brought back from Hongyureung Gate.
The log was a powerful weapon, but it didn’t suit my fighting style.
Having to sling it over my shoulder was another drawback.
And the fact that it wasn’t just an ordinary log, but a branch from the World Tree, was a problem in itself.
I couldn’t hand it over to Yu Jae-i without telling her that much.
I might have to get her to sign a confidentiality agreement before I showed it to her.
If she said she didn’t want to, then I’d just keep it hidden.
“Welcome ba— You’re not wearing a mask today?”
When I opened the door and stepped inside, Yu Jae-i was sprawled behind the counter.
She was dressed much like she had been last time, but her hairstyle was different.
Her bangs still left her forehead bare, but the back of her hair was tied into a single ponytail.
She didn’t even bother with a greeting before climbing to her feet and starting with the mask.
I’d worn one in the first place so no one would realize Baek Do-woon was entering the Coincidence Who Group.
“I don’t need it anymore.”
“Is that so?”
“More importantly, you look free.”
“What, this? I’ve been swinging a hammer all night. I was just taking a short break.”
Ah. So that’s why she had tied her hair back while working.
I pointed a finger at myself and asked, “Was I interrupting?”
“No. If you were going to interrupt me, I’d have closed the door.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
Once I knew why she’d been sprawled out like that, I felt a little guilty.
I should get this over with quickly and not steal any more of her rest.
I took the armor out of my magic pouch and set it on the counter.
The moment she saw it, she narrowed her eyes and looked at me.
I quietly averted my gaze at that displeased look.
“…What?”
“How long has it been since you took this, and it already looks like this?”
As she spoke, Yu Jae-i pointed at the chest and abdomen.
There were huge holes in both places.
The chest hole was Saessak’s handiwork, and the holes in the stomach and back were the Skeleton Lord’s.
She said, sounding utterly incredulous, “Just looking at this, you’d think the person wearing it is dead.”
“Ta-da.”
I spread my arms to prove I was very much alive.
That made her lift one eyebrow and ask, “Why are you still alive?”
“Why am I still alive? That tone sounds like you think I should’ve been dead.”
“Hah. I figured your recovery was incredible, but I didn’t know you weren’t even human.”
“What are you talking about? I am human.”
After eating the Fruit of the Previous World Tree and becoming the Manager of the World Tree, I had gone through all kinds of changes in my body.
But my species hadn’t changed.
I was, without question, human.
As if she meant to deny that thought, she propped up the armor and shoved her right arm into the hole in the stomach.
Her right hand emerged through the hole in the back.
Her waving hand looked almost like it was saying hello.
“And you’re human?”
“……”
“Saying you killed a monster and brought this back would be more believable. What on earth did you fight?”
“The Skeleton Lord.”
“What?”
“I said I fought the Skeleton Lord.”
“Weren’t you a D-class hunter?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
“…?”
Wait. Had I told her I used to be a D-class hunter?
I’d only said I was a former hunter. I never mentioned my rank.
She pulled her right hand back out of the armor and held it toward me.
“Give it here.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll appraise it for you. You came back from a gate, so you must have picked up some items.”
Ah, right. I’d actually been wondering where I should get them appraised.
Yu Jae-i was a blacksmith in one of Korea’s top hundred smithies.
Her appraisal skill was probably no worse than that of most dedicated appraisers.
Grinning, I took the Skeletons’ weapons, armor, and cloak out of my magic pouch.
She watched the gear pile up on the counter and asked, “What did you do with the corpse?”
I’d purified it with Warm Touch until it turned to dust and vanished.
I couldn’t exactly say that, so I just shrugged.
She nodded and checked the items laid out on the counter.
It was normal for hunters to hand monster corpses over to dismantlers.
She was probably assuming I’d done the same with the Skeleton Lord’s body.
“The quality of the weapon and armor is excellent.”
“Really?”
Evolutionary monsters got better gear the stronger they were.
All of the Skeleton Lord’s equipment would be top-tier quality.
The only problem was that the armor was heavy plate, which didn’t suit me at all.
It wasn’t even the right size for my body, and it was too heavy to use.
“Yeah. They don’t have any special options attached, but the raw attack and defense are high.”
“How high are we talking?”
“Perfect for someone who’s just become an A-class hunter.”
“Someone who’s just become an A-class hunter”...
That phrase told me the gear wasn’t quite top of the line.
It meant the raw attack and defense were high, but there were flaws elsewhere.
Since it had belonged to the Skeleton Lord, it might even have an option that lowered the user’s physical abilities.
Or it could simply be too heavy or have terrible durability.
Then she appraised the last item on the counter, the cloak.
“…Whoa?”
A few seconds later, she let out a startled sound and scribbled something on a sheet of paper.
Then she handed the note to me.
“So the Skeleton Lord was an evolutionary monster.”
“But how did you know?”
“Evolutionary monsters sometimes drop items with skills attached.”
“I know. Because the nature of the mana changes, so— Wait.”
“Yep. The cloak has a skill on it.”
I turned my gaze to the note she’d handed me and read it.
Written on it were the cloak’s name and options.
[Skeleton Lord's Shadow Cloak]
[Defense (Medium) Up, A-grade skill Shadow Step.]
[Shadow Step: Three times a day, you can enter your own shadow and emerge from an enemy’s shadow.]
“Shadow Step...”
I remembered how the Skeleton Lord had vanished in an instant, then appeared behind me.
I’d guessed it was a gear skill.
Still, three uses a day?
The Lord had only used it once.
If he’d used this skill, he could’ve slipped away from me easily. So why hadn’t he?
He had ample chance to use it, yet instead of diving into the shadow, the Lord let me split his head open and kill him.
Then the right conclusion was not that he chose not to use it, but that he couldn’t.
The reason he hadn’t been able to use the skill...
Was it because I’d been latched onto him?
Maybe he couldn’t enter his shadow while someone was touching him.
Of course, it was also possible he’d already used up all three charges without me noticing.
The only way to know for sure was to test it myself.
The problem was...
“I’ll buy the weapon and armor. You’re not going to use either of those anyway.”
“True.”
“What about the cloak?”
“Hmm...”
The problem was that I didn’t wear cloaks.
A cloak didn’t fit my fighting style, which relied on moving nimbly.
If I were fighting like I used to, tanking head-on, it wouldn’t be an issue. But I knew that wasn’t a useful style for me.
I’d only been forced to act as the tank so I could party with Do-hee and Tae-cheon.
Still, it would be a waste to just sell it when the skill was this good.
“I’m torn.”
“...Want me to modify it?”
“Modify it?”
Yu Jae-i made a suggestion: modification.
It meant remaking the item into another piece of equipment while preserving its performance.
After modification, its quality could improve or worsen, and the number of uses for the item skill could decrease or disappear altogether.
Even so, it was worth a try, because it would let her create gear that suited me.
“As long as I can use this skill, that’s enough.”
“Fair enough.”
“Want to leave it to me?”
“Hmm... sure.”
It was too vague to make use of as a cloak anyway.
If that was the case, it was better to turn it into something I could actually use.
She knew my fighting style, so asking her to handle the modification was the right call.
“How do you want to pay? Now, or after the modification is done?”
“After everything’s finished.”
“Good. Then will you leave now? I feel like getting back to work.”
“Hold on. There’s something else I want to show you.”
She had been gathering up the items on the counter when she looked at me wordlessly.
Her eyes seemed to ask, Again?, and then drifted to the magic pouch in my hand.
I kept holding the pouch and staying quiet, and she tilted her head.
“You said there was more.”
“Well...”
“Hmm. You want me to sign a confidentiality agreement, don’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“If you say there’s something you want to show me and then start dithering, it’s obvious.”
Yu Jae-i set the items she’d gathered back down and let out a long sigh.
Then she reached out a hand toward me.
It was the same motion as before, but maybe I was imagining it, because she looked irritated.
“Fine, I’ll sign it. I’m curious to see how amazing this thing is.”
Mm. I guess I wasn’t imagining it.
She looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.
Since she’d agreed to the confidentiality contract, it should be fine to show her.
I took the World Tree branch from my magic pouch.
“...A log?”
A branch that looked, to anyone’s eyes, exactly like a log.
The World Tree branch I set upright beside us stood about 170 centimeters tall, a little higher than my shoulder.
“...I’ll admit it. It could look that way. It probably looks like an ordinary log. But this isn’t an ordinary log.”
“Then what is it?”
“An extraordinary log!”
“It’s still a log.”
Mm. I didn’t have a comeback for that.
Even if I called it extraordinary instead of ordinary, a log was still a log.
“……”
“Hah. What are you, a medicine peddler?”
When I shut up and stood there, she let out a deep sigh.
Then she stared at the World Tree branch.
She was using her appraisal skill to examine the log.
“Huh? Wait, what?”
Yu Jae-i lifted a hand and rubbed both eyes hard.
She tilted her head left, then right.
Each time she did, her tied-back hair swayed with the motion.
“W-W-World Tree? Where on earth did you get something this precious?”
Realizing at last that the log was not, in fact, a log, she asked in a hurry.
Like when she’d asked what I’d done with the Skeleton Lord’s corpse, I answered with nothing but a shrug.
Again, she nodded as though she understood.
She hurried away from the counter.
Then she crouched in front of the log and examined it closely, looking exactly like a child who’d just gotten a new toy.
“Hah... This is perfect as a weapon in and of itself.”
“Oh? Then what do we do? Use it like this?”
I pictured myself smashing monsters with a log.
That would be fun in its own way.
The problem was that it would only be fun.
“No, the balance is off. That won’t work.”
Would it really be that much of a problem?
I could easily imagine myself staggering after a hit or losing my grip while swinging it.
That didn’t sound very fun at all.
“Yeah. I’ve got a good idea. Will you leave it with me?”
“Sure.”
I answered immediately.
It wasn’t like I’d taken it out for any other reason, so there was no need to hesitate now.
“Thanks...”
A smile bloomed at the corner of Yu Jae-i’s mouth as she said that.
She seemed genuinely happy that she’d get to handle a World Tree branch.
She lifted the log as though to hug it with both arms, then suddenly froze, her eyes widening a little as if she’d remembered something.
Still holding it in that position, she looked at me and let her gaze glitter.
It glittered so brightly it was almost hard to bear.
“Do you have another one?”
“...I do.”
Staring at those sparkling eyes, I somehow couldn’t bring myself to say no.
Besides, I’d planned to have the other piece appraised at the same time as the log anyway.
“Really? What is it?”
With an expression bright with anticipation, I took the sap of the previous World Tree out of my magic pouch.
She stared at the green sap resting in my palm.
Then her eyes went wide in shock.
“No way...”
Why? What on earth did it do?
My own anticipation rose, pushed up by curiosity.
Baek Do-hee’s arrival in Korea: 99 hours 24 minutes.