Chapter 83
What an unexpected harvest, Seong-Hwi thought as he stared at Muka examining various things in the smithy.
He had accepted Muka’s proposal to work on a job with him for two reasons. The first was to become well-acquainted with a dwarf artisan who could create items. The current human blacksmiths couldn’t be more terrible. Not even those who had been blacksmiths on Earth could find their groove in the Mirror World, filled with new materials and forging methods.
Although a few human artisans were exceptional, they were only so by human standards. They couldn’t measure up to dwarves who were artisans from birth. On top of that, making friendships with dwarf artisans was so hard that Clan Calasanz had no connections with dwarf artisans in Seong-Hwi’s past life.
Since I have janateel, I need a dwarf artisan connection if I want it refined, Seong-Hwi said inwardly.
Secondly, he needed a dwarf’s help when he visited Ferrum, the capital city of the dwarves, after carrying out his next plan. However, Seong-Hwi could never have expected Muka to be the disciple of Steel King Bafor, the master of Ferrum.
I doubt he’d have as much influence as I’d hope since he’s only the three hundred sixty-second disciple, but his connection to the Steel King is all that matters!
Seong-Hwi stared at Muka with shining eyes.
Muka asked, “Seong-Hwi, do you know why I followed you instead of returning to my home?”
“Isn’t it because you want to create a steel that doesn’t rust from my skill?”
“Yeah. It’s not just my wish, but the wish of the dwarven race.”
Muka turned around and faced Seong-Hwi. His eyes seemed to be blazing red, likely because of the blast furnace behind him.
He continued, “The killer of iron, the natural enemy of metal, the disaster of ruin. It has many names, but the dwarven wish is to one day surpass that power. Even janateel was merely a byproduct born from that process.”
“I think you said something similar before... Do you know what this skill is?” Seong-Hwi asked.
[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]
A menacing, dark red aura enveloped Seong-Hwi’s hand. Simply manifesting the B-rank skill was enough to corrode the surface of metals in the surroundings as if they were screaming.
Rust of Ruin was the signature S-rank potential skill of the Progenitor, Haema Sanguis. It was highly versatile because it could rust anything that contained even the tiniest amount of iron.
No one is free from this skill unless they have only an astral form.
Haema Sanguis was like a walking disaster, especially for a city like Ferrum, where everything was made of iron. He could have easily destroyed the dwarven capital in a day if he wanted to.
“How could I not? It’s what took everything from us!” Muka shouted as he glared resentfully at Seong-Hwi’s hand, listening to the screams of metal throughout the smithy.
“It took everything from you?”
“Yes! The disaster of disasters that destroyed our home dimension, Adamas! Rust of Ruin!”
Seong-Hwi re-examined the description of Rust of Ruin.
[Rust of Ruin (Skill)
Rank: B(11)
Description: The power of rust that ended a ferrous civilization. It can be applied to all skills and actions to boost attack. The debuff Corrosion can be applied if the struck area contains even the slightest amount of iron (Fe).]
The power of rust that ended a ferrous civilization, huh? Then does that mean the ferrous civilization in the description is... Adamas, the dwarves’ home dimension?
Muka, his determined voice as hard as steel, shouted, “I will create a steel that will not lose its light even against that disaster! I will surpass the Steel King!”
***
“What do you think the skills and items that come from cubes are? Where do you think they come from?” Lina Ahn once asked, bringing up the subject to her Calasanz comrades in Seong-Hwi’s past life.
“Who cares, as long as they’re useful?” the simple and ignorant Park Tae-Jin said.
“Heheh! Of course, a game would have skills and items!” said the middle schooler Charles Dullin, who treated the Mirror World like a video game.
“Everything is as Buddha wills it. Namo Amitābhāya Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,” the Buddhist Ugyen Dorji remarked.
The others each voiced their opinion, but none were satisfying.
“This isn’t that simple of a problem. I’m sure you’ve all just accepted it as new rules in a new world, but... there’s something to them.” Lina continued, “I can feel a history in each skill and item, just like how Earth’s history can be indirectly felt from human D Weapons and unique skills.”
***
“K-kerek,” groaned Mitasra, in a black robe covering his entire body, as he followed Seong-Hwi into a store.
Dammit! Dammit! Why did I have to get involved with this crazy human?!
Mitasra regretted having met that human more demonic than demons in that hallway at that time. He had become the head of the collection unit using his exceptional art of living, but his combat prowess was utter crap. Hence, it did not even take the human five minutes to capture him.
The problem came when the human began to mercilessly torture him. The human took Mitasra’s dagger and expressionlessly peeled his flesh. Wounds formed on his skin one after the other. On the twentieth slice, Mitasra screamed that he would answer any question the human had, unable to endure the pain.
However, the human said, “Since we got started, we might as well get up to at least a hundred. You’re more likely to lie if you get comfortable. No confession is honest without pain.”
The human sliced off Mitasra’s flesh a hundred times. After that, the human poured liquid from a blue cup on Mitasra, healing his injuries. Mitasra cried, thanking the gods for ending his suffering.
Just then, the human asked, “How did you know Tutobure was dead?”
The gears in Mitasra’s head turned rapidly, wondering how to lie. The human smiled as if knowing what Mitasra was thinking.
“Next time, answer more quickly,” the human said.
The hundred slices began again. Mitasra was carved alive like steak. The next time the human asked the same question, Mitasra had no choice but to tell him everything, not even in the right mind to think.
“Oh? I see. You’re the head of the collection unit, huh? In other words, you hold all the Coins Clan Trophy has collected until now, correct?”
“K-kerek! I’m not the only one! It’s divided among my other subordinates—”
“I don’t care. How much do you have?”
Mitasra was stuck on yet another question. He wondered how much he should say, since the Coin balance was his past, future, and his lifeline.
The human smiled even wider as Mitasra hesitated, and said, “I changed my mind. You can answer slowly. In exchange, you’ll have to give me a number I’m satisfied with.”
“W-what do you mean by—GAAAAAH!”
The slices resumed. The dagger mercilessly sliced fragile areas like the armpit, ankle ligaments, and groin. The number of slices was always one hundred. Mitasra spouted lies even while tears and snot poured out of him under the extreme pain.
“Kerek! T-ten million! I have ten million Coins! You can have it all!”
One could buy two B-rank items with that many Coins. Mitasra expected the human to be satisfied with that amount. However, he was sorely mistaken.
“That’s it?” the demon-like human said as he resumed the slicing.
Mitasra continued to lie, saying he only had fifty million, eighty million, and even a hundred million Coins, but the human was not fooled. Mitasra’s tenacity was rather impressive. Coins were all he had, but the continuous torture eroded his mind.
A golden ankh scepter was in Seong-Hwi’s hand before Mitasra realized it. He did not know it was the Majestic Scepter, one of the symbols of No.4 The Emperor, which possessed a manipulation ability. He only saw the human smiling once he regained his senses.
The human said, “Jackpot. 333,585,701 Coins, huh?”
“Kerek?!”
Mitasra’s destiny had been set in stone once Seong-Hwi found out how many Coins he possessed down to the last digit.
As he was recalling the nightmarish memory, he felt someone hitting his head.
“Kerek!” Mitasra looked forward in shock.
The demon-like human, holding a sharp dagger curved like a tiger’s claw, said, “What are you doing? Pay.”
“W-what?”
Mitasra looked beyond Seong-Hwi and saw an item store owner being protected by two tough-looking guards.
The owner smiled and said, “A great choice, sir. That karambit is difficult to use, but it has high potential. I will give you a special discount of 4.9 million Coins.”
“Kerek?! 4.9 million?!” Mitasra mumbled dumbfoundedly.
Seong-Hwi asked, “Do you have any daggers with A-rank potential?”
“Haha... My apologies, sir. The only item with A-rank potential we have in our store is a shield. Would you like to take a look at it?”
“No, I’ll just take this,” Seong-Hwi replied as he looked down at Mitasra.
Mitasra’s hundreds of scars throughout his body ached once he looked into Seong-Hwi’s black eyes.
“Kerek... O-okay.”
Mitasra had no choice but to pay for the dagger.
The demon-like human then said, “It sure saves Karma to have a Coin shuttle. If you’re done paying, let’s go. We’re going to an armor shop next.”
Mitasra clenched his trembling fists and thought, Just you wait! I will make you pay for this humiliation one day!
***
[Bucephala Hoodie (Item)
Rank: D(99)
Description: A hoodie made with the mane of Bucephala, known as the Black Pegasus. It is the masterpiece of Zuko, an artisan of the Steel Hawk tribe. It has exceptional physical and magical defense and allows its wearer to use Bucephala’s Steps once per day.]
...
[Zanaka Karambit (Item)
Rank: D(99)
Description: A karambit made by processing the claw of the drake, Zanaka. The properties of the material used allow it to cut steel like paper.]
...
Seong-Hwi examined the descriptions of the two items in satisfaction as he walked along the Paysandu alley in Middle Earth. His Ackher Ring Dagger had shattered during his battle against Tutobure, and there was a hole in his Barbed Snake Brigandine from the Shadow Fairy Queen’s attack.
He purchased two items from luxury item stores in the Capital because he needed new armor and a secondary weapon. Firstly, the Bucephala Hoodie was not a cube item. It was made by the B-rank artisan Zuko of the Steel Hawk tribe to fit a human. On the outside, it was like any other black hoodie.
The Zanaka Karambit was a cube item. It was a recurve knife, curved like a crescent moon, as one would expect from being made using a claw. On top of that, it had a ring pommel like the Ackher Ring Dagger. When held with a normal grip, Seong-Hwi could put his pinky finger in the ring so that he wouldn’t be easily disarmed. When held with a reverse grip, he could put his index finger in it, allowing him to perform various techniques.
The two B-rank potential items cost 11,300,000 Coins. It was a massive amount, but he did not find it was a waste in the slightest since he had not used his Coins.
“Kurgh! Kerek! Ten million Coins... How many prey have to be sold to make that much?” Mitasra mumbled as he followed Seong-Hwi, thinking about the massive amount of Coins stolen from him.
Seong-Hwi stared at Mitasra and thought, Over three hundred and thirty million Coins, huh? How many prey did these Trophy bastards sell for canned hunting to make that much?
His eyes grew cold. Considering what Clan Trophy did, he did not feel even an ounce of sympathy for the clan wiped out by Biphatogenes.
The same goes for him.
Seong-Hwi stared at Mitasra, the head of Trophy’s collection unit, who held the bloodstained Coins for Tutobure. He wanted nothing more than to publicly execute him in the Capital’s plaza to avenge the human newbies who were dragged to the Tin Can and died without a clue of what was happening.
But not yet. There’s still a use to him.
Mitasra was Clan Trophy’s Coin storage, possessing over three hundred million Coins. Although Coins were not worth as much as Karma, three hundred million was a lot.
Since Coins did not exist physically, they could only be exchanged through quests. However, considering Mitasra treated the Coins as valuable as his life and the massive quest commissions ate away at his Coin balance with each payment, it was more beneficial to use him as a personal wallet like Seong-Hwi was doing now.
The goblin would likely try to kill himself if it seemed like all his Coins would be taken, so Seong-Hwi would just suck him dry up to that point. Besides, he had another use for the goblin—in a way, this was the main use.
I’m sure humans can get something out of the war between Abyete of Humilitas and Biphatogenes of Nivalis, Seong-Hwi thought.
For that, keeping Mitasra alive as the sole survivor of Clan Trophy and its executive member was much more beneficial. The rest was up to timing and the ability to prepare a table for negotiation.
I don’t necessarily have to be the one to prepare that negotiation table. I have to take action for my next goal—Oh, they’re finally here.
Seong-Hwi stopped in his tracks while he was organizing his thoughts as he walked. The air in the deserted alley of Middle Earth in the dead of night felt heavy. Flies were on his tail.
It was only natural. People usually bought high-ranking items in secret at luxury item stores by making an appointment. However, Seong-Hwi proudly entered through the front door and purchased high-ranking items, receiving much attention and envy from those around him.
It had been far too sweet a temptation to resist. It had been more than enough bait for flies to gather around him. However, the flies had no idea they had flown into a flytrap.
Around a dozen Black Humans approached Seong-Hwi, surrounding him.
“Hehe, you caught on rather quickly. Your Sense stat must be D-rank at least.”
“Haha, did you hit a dungeon jackpot or something? Capture that brat in the black robe. He’s the bank!”
“This isn’t South Earth. We have to make this quick and get out as soon as possible before the Union’s dogs catch our scent.”
Seong-Hwi grabbed the Zanaka Karambit in a reverse grip, inserted his index finger in the ring pommel, and spun it rapidly like a propeller, buzzing like a wasp.
He smiled widely and said, “It’s my lucky day. How did you all know I wanted to test out my new dagger? You’re like walking practice dummies.”
The ambushers were dumbfounded by Seong-Hwi’s comment.
“Keh! You’re crazy. Do you think you’re a Ranker or something?”
“Do you have any idea where we’re from? We’re from Clan Hard Drug!”
The Black Humans were elated as if facing a powerless prey. Hard Drug was among the top ten most vicious black clans. It mostly consisted of drug D Weapon users, and unlike the relatively modest Pure Ladies and Gentlemen, they were extremely unruly.
“Hard Drug, huh? I was wondering where to get some ayahuasca. This is perfect,” Seong-Hwi remarked as he walked toward the ambushers, smiling in satisfaction after realizing the ones who took the bait were much more scrumptious than anticipated.
“Kerek... Poor bastards... they just had to cross this crazy son of a bitch, of all people,” Mitasra mumbled as he rubbed his aching scars after seeing Seong-Hwi’s expression.