(Sword of Judgment)
Grade: Mythic
Durability: Infinite
Attack Power: 976
Restriction: Examiner
Special Abilities:
· All stats increase by 10%
· Cutting power increases by 120%
· Attack accuracy increases by 150%
· Attack speed increases by 12%
· Active Skill. Judgment
· Active Skill. Observation
· Active Skill. Kneel
· Passive Skill. Hundred Battles
· Passive Skill. Collapse
Description: The Sword of Judgment is a sword bestowed by the god Ares upon one examiner alone. The Sword of Judgment was crafted from the god-metal Adamantium.
What is happening here?
Hyunsoo could not hide his confusion as he accepted the sword Purung had offered him.
What did I even do to deserve something like this?
He had heard the explanation about the examiner’s role, but he could not help wondering whether that alone truly justified a reward on this level.
Then—
Ding.
[You have completed the Secret Quest: Examiner Purung.]
[Secret Quest: Examiner Purung]
Grade: SS
Reward: ???
Penalty for Failure: Disqualification as king
Description: Examiner Purung is the most exacting examiner, filled with rage toward the king he once served. Earn the recognition of such an examiner, and become a worthy king.
That was the quest description.
The explanation had said that this man named Purung—standing before him now with a gentle smile—was the harshest examiner of them all.
An additional explanation followed.
[Ares bestowed the Sword of Judgment upon Examiner Purung because he possessed the coldest and most discerning eye for kings.]
[Purung may pass the Sword of Judgment to the one with the highest total contribution.]
Once Hyunsoo understood what had happened, more notifications poured down on him.
[This is a marvelous achievement.]
[Your total contribution is being calculated.]
[Your nation lacks many things, but it also surpasses ordinary kingdoms in many ways.]
[Purung assigns additional points based on his personal judgment.]
[The average total evaluation score of kings is 64%.]
[Your total evaluation score is 215%.]
[The Sword of Judgment resonates when it judges that it has met the greatest king.]
[The Sword of Judgment has resonated 17 times.]
So that’s why...
Feeling the resonance rising from the Sword of Judgment in his hand, Hyunsoo understood that this had not happened out of nowhere.
From the moment Purung appeared in this land, Secret Quest: Examiner Purung had already been underway.
And Purung himself—
he had assigned extra points based on his own subjective judgment, and in the end, as an examiner, he had been able to award an evaluation score.
That was within an examiner’s authority, and Purung had given him the highest score he could possibly bestow: 200%.
The reason was clear.
“I watched for several days. Seeing you hammer without rest, forging your kingdom’s symbol... I was glad. I took joy in it. I was moved.”
“I do judge that the nation of Hyun still lacks many things, but most kingdoms begin in lack. That is why the thing examiners value most is potential for growth. I saw immense potential for this to become a truly excellent nation. Therefore, you must become the owner of this sword.”
Hyunsoo grasped it instinctively.
A Secret Quest.
The reward for Examiner Purung had been listed as ???.
That meant the reward was something Purung himself decided. He had never been required to hand over the Sword of Judgment.
But Purung—
[Your Affinity with Examiner Purung reaches MAX.]
—had judged otherwise, and given Hyunsoo the greatest reward he personally could offer.
“There is one thing I earnestly wish to ask. May I dare to speak it?”
Hyunsoo did not know it, but this was also the first time Purung had ever shown such courtesy toward any king.
Still, he knew Purung meant him well, and Purung was the very man who had given him the Sword of Judgment. So Hyunsoo listened in silence.
“Stand even higher. Build the strength to protect your kingdom. Do not let the laughter of children ever cease. Do not become drunk on your own personal strength and abandon the people. Do not use your soldiers as cannon fodder. Treasure them. Cherish them, and hold them close.”
Even Purung’s eyes had reddened as he spoke.
Hyunsoo had met him for the first time today, and all he knew of him came from that Secret Quest. But he opened his heavy lips and answered.
“I swear it. That I will not change while leading the nation of Hyun. I will protect and protect again, and I will build it into a kingdom that will make you smile with joy when you see it again someday, Examiner.”
“I believe you truly will become the king of such a kingdom.”
Purung offered his hand, and Hyunsoo clasped it firmly.
After speaking with the dignity and tone proper to a king, Hyunsoo said,
“I think I’ll be able to complete the symbol within the next few days.”
“...Then I suppose I won’t be able to stay long enough to see it. My duty is already finished.”
For no good reason, Hyunsoo felt regret.
Parting from a newly forged tie was always bittersweet.
And considering Purung’s position as an examiner, they might never meet again.
There was regret on Purung’s face as well.
But for some reason, he was hastening his steps.
“...It is time for me to return.”
“Please visit the nation of Hyun someday. I’ll at least treat you to a meal.”
“Your sentiment alone is more than enough.”
With that, Purung turned and walked away.
He looked back at Hyunsoo, then slowly swept his gaze across the nation of Hyun with a gentle smile before leaving it behind.
*****
Excitement swelled in Hyunsoo’s chest.
It had been a long time since his heart had pounded like this in front of a material.
The god-metal Adamantium.
A mineral commonly known from fantasy novels.
Adamantium is the supreme version of Orichalcon, the hardest and finest mineral on earth.
A mineral that can be obtained only in the land of the gods.
The symbolism carried by Adamantium made it, at present, the greatest mineral one could possibly obtain.
I...
In the past, through Babylon, Hyunsoo had once obtained an infinitesimal amount of god-metal.
“Babylon really was microscopic. At best, I was only able to extract about 100 grams of the mineral.”
Babylon had been made by mixing 100 grams of Adamantium into an already excellent ore.
And Valhalla’s Babylon had been born by increasing that amount to 200 grams.
But this isn’t just 200 grams.
The Sword of Judgment was made of 100% Adamantium.
A ring-pommel saber usually weighed around 1 kilogram.
A longsword usually came in around 1.3 to 1.7 kilograms.
Hyunsoo could tell the instant he held the Sword of Judgment.
1.5 kilograms...
It was enough to make him shiver.
He had obtained ten times more of the finest possible mineral than he had in the past, when he first acquired god-metal.
Rumble—
He placed the Sword of Judgment into the furnace and melted it down.
After drawing it out at exactly the right temperature—
[You have extracted it perfectly without damage!]
[You have obtained 1.3 kilograms of Adamantium.]
When a sword was melted back down into raw mineral, the mineral itself could be damaged.
But the Adamantium had been extracted with virtually no degradation at all.
(Adamantium)
Grade: Mythic
Restriction: Artisan Blacksmith, level 500 or higher
Difficulty: Supreme
Special Abilities
· Cutting power increases by 453% when crafting swords
· Piercing power increases by 451% when crafting arrows
· All stats increase by up to 45%
· Average basic attack damage of crafted artifacts increases by up to 300%
· The probability that desired effects will be imbued increases by 180%
· Durability can rise to Infinite
Description: God’s mineral. Adamantium. It possesses elasticity and hardness far beyond Orichalcon, and it is said that an item crafted from Adamantium can even cut a god.
This is insane...
All stats could rise by as much as 45%.
And if he made a weapon, its basic attacks could rise by up to 300%.
And then there was the thing users wanted most of all.
The probability that the desired effect will be imbued rises by 180%?
Materials were used according to their nature.
A fire-aspected mineral like Balaka’s ore, for example, vastly increased fire-related attack power.
But even if a blacksmith wanted to produce explosive force, there was no way to know for certain whether it would happen.
Because the effect a blacksmith wants does not always get imbued.
But Hyunsoo was different.
God’s custom crafting created artifacts like tailored clothing—made to fit exactly.
And with Adamantium’s “up to 180% increased probability of desired effects being imbued,” it all but guaranteed that the effects he wanted would appear.
ROOOOOMBLE-!
He placed the extracted ore into the furnace, invoked God’s custom crafting on the Undefined Hammer Crafting Method formed through divine craftsmanship, and began.
Rumble—
He drew out the crimson metal flowing from the furnace and moved directly into refinement.
CLAAAANG-!
CLAAAAANG-!
CLAAAAAANG-!
A hammer was square.
It had to be folded hundreds of times, again and again, so it would become blunt, powerful, and heavy when it came crashing down.
CLAAAAANG-!
CLAAAAAANG-!
He kept bending and layering the metal, then bending it and layering it again.
HSSSSSSSS—
He quenched it.
After going through that process for several hours, a square block of crimson metal finally emerged.
Just looking at it was dazzling.
The crimson metal was beautiful.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG—!
He kept striking it, shaping it into perfect form.
The section where the handle would be inserted was hollowed out into a round opening.
Then he began carving the handle.
SCRAPE, SCRAPE, SCRAPE—
Purung, thank you. Truly.
Material was skill too, in the end.
And this was help from Examiner Purung.
As he carved the hammer’s handle, he pictured the effects he wanted to place into it.
A massive increase in the probability of producing better artifacts.
Scrape, scrape—
But it must also overcome the limits of being a hammer. A hammer can, at times, strike enemies as well.
The fact that its basic attacks could rise by up to 300% testified to that.
That huge block, folded hundreds of times until it was larger than any hammer-head in existence, was proof that if it struck an enemy, it could utterly destroy them.
The hammer’s size was enormous and solid, like Thor’s Mjolnir out of myth.
Normally, forging something this large was difficult.
I’ll also try giving it the effect of reducing its weight by 50% when I craft artifacts with it.
He infused that effect as well and joined the pieces together.
CLACK—
The completed hammer was beautiful.
The black-glinting metal shone with a soft light like mithril when it caught the sun.
He engraved the name Hyun at the lower right as decoration and looked down at the hammer, filled with immense anticipation that Blacksmith’s Soul and Rampage would activate.
But—
My instincts were wrong?
Nothing activated.
All the effects he had expected to trigger after breaking free from that extreme state of Trance—
The crown’s probability increase for producing a better artifact.
The stat Will’s tireless heart.
Even the effect of Even If It Breaks, which rose when he pushed through crisis.
And above all, the absurdly overpowered force of Blacksmith’s Soul, which raised an artifact’s grade by one full rank.
None of it happened.
And as disappointment closed over him—because what he had believed were his instincts, his effort, and his skill now felt like mere self-delusion—
KRRRRRUMBLE!
FLASH—!
The thunder pouring out of the hammer as an artifact effect proved it.
The blacksmith called Master Blacksmith Hyun—
rather than merely going one step beyond what all blacksmiths could produce through their skills, titles, and a fine hammer—
was someone who could refine a Mythic material no one else could refine, and pour in his skill, understanding, and all the experience he had amassed until now at once to complete it.
[The fourth Myth is written.]
[The greatest hammer in all of history has been born.]
[It will be the ultimate crafting tool and the ultimate weapon, one that produces excellent artifacts while also compensating for the weakness that blacksmiths themselves lack the power to protect themselves.]
[You gain 2,000 Fame.]
[You gain 300 Overwhelm.]
[You gain 30 in all stats.]
[A world message rings out.]
Crackle, crackle—
Hyunsoo stared at the hammer on the ground, sparks dancing across it.
A resonance rose from it, just like the one that had come from the Sword of Judgment.
The fact that the Sword of Judgment could resonate at all had meant it possessed at least a fragment of self-awareness.
The unnamed hammer called out.
[Please give it a great name.]
A name for an absolute hammer that can shatter even enemies. A name that will be recorded by the age and passed down for a long time.
Hyunsoo smiled faintly.
At first, he had considered naming it Headcracker.
That name had come from the inspiration to create a hammer that would smash in the heads of every enemy it faced.
But...
This would become the treasure of the kingdom.
And if the hammer that every king in the world would envy was called Headcracker, Takashi would probably come running over shouting, Ho, you made Headcracker for me?
So he declared it.
“Unparalleled.”
[The hammer Unparalleled is designated as the symbol of the nation of Hyun.]
[This is the first time in history that a Mythic artifact has been recorded as the symbol of a nation.]
[It is recorded in history.]
A supreme symbol.
A national treasure that no one would dare covet for a very long time had settled into the nation of Hyun.
And even more astonishing—
it was the first hammer Hyun would ever use.
Meanwhile—
Examiner Purung hurried away from the nation of Hyun.
Like Hyun had invited, Purung too had wanted to stay and speak with him longer.
But he could not.
If you had been my king... would I have been happy too?
Because he had harbored that irreverent thought.
It was a grave sin an examiner must never commit.
After putting enough distance between himself and Hyun that no harm could come to him, Purung saw the examiners who had come out to receive him.
There were four of them.
“Purung, we strip you of your position as examiner.”
“You have harbored impure thoughts unbecoming an examiner.”
“The Sword of Judgment belongs to Ares. For handing it to a king at your own discretion, you will pay the price for that crime.”
“In three days... you will be executed.”
