‘Weltschmerz…’
Jeong Ho-san’s mind was very troubled by the news he’d been hearing lately. The moment he saw the publicly wanted face of a suspect belonging to Weltschmerz, Jeong Ho-san was so surprised he forgot to breathe for a moment.
Han Seo-hyeon.
Although he had never met him in person, the name and face were familiar.
He was the only brother of the victim Han Jo-hee in the ‘Han Jo-hee murder case’ that everyone must have forgotten by now.
And the suspect in that case was his friend, Kang Yi-sin.
The moment Jeong Ho-san heard the news that a murder had occurred, he sought out Han Seo-hyeon.
It might be called foolish guilt and responsibility, but he thought he couldn’t just abandon a 17-year-old child who had become an orphan overnight.
As long as Kang Yi-sin was the suspect in this case, he just couldn’t.
But Jeong Ho-san couldn’t go to Han Seo-hyeon.
Missing after stealing Han Jo-hee’s corpse from the morgue.
Until Han Seo-hyeon became publicly wanted, that was all Jeong Ho-san knew about Han Seo-hyeon’s whereabouts.
It’s only been four months since the Han Jo-hee murder case occurred. What on earth happened to Han Seo-hyeon during those four months?
‘Are you looking for Yi-sin?’
Did he even join a criminal organization called Weltschmerz for revenge? Jeong Ho-san’s mind was complicated.
His friend who suddenly disappeared and Han Seo-hyeon.
As long as he belongs to the villain organization Weltschmerz, Han Seo-hyeon will try to find Kang Yi-sin more relentlessly than anyone. He would probably use illegal methods that Jeong Ho-san, officially belonging to a guild, couldn’t use.
‘I can’t let Yi-sin die.’
Kang Yi-sin dying without him knowing. It was such a horrible thought that he shook his head involuntarily just imagining it.
Calming his complicated feelings, Jeong Ho-san went outside.
He was planning to go home to sleep and come out again.
Someone blocked Jeong Ho-san’s path.
“Are you Jeong Ho-san?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“I came to ask about Kang Yi-sin.”
At that question, Jeong Ho-san’s demeanor changed instantly. Looking closely at the two men in front of him, he had an intuition that they were certainly not good people.
The man with a handsome face wearing a suit might be okay, but the large man standing behind him certainly had a vicious look as if engaged in illegal activities.
“What’s this about?”
“Your friend borrowed money from me and just ran away.”
The one who answered Jeong Ho-san’s words was the man standing in front of the large man. Jeong Ho-san, who finally guessed the situation, scattered the mana he had drawn up and said:
“Are you the loan shark who lent money to Yi-sin?”
“Loan shark?”
“Ahem, let’s not do this and go somewhere quiet to talk.”
While the man was crumpling his face, the big guy interjected. Jeong Ho-san narrowed his eyes looking at that big guy. Although he didn’t like it at all, they couldn’t keep talking like this on the street.
So the three people came to a nearby franchise cafe. Only then could Jeong Ho-san hear the names of the two people, or rather, the team leader’s name.
Team leader of a place called Push and Cash, Choi In-hyuk.
“Boss, oh, no! Team leader, what would you like to drink?”
“Americano.”
“Yes, and you…”
“Just buy him something. Tell him to eat anything.”
“It’s one drink per person here…”
“Fine, then make it all Americanos.”
“Huk, can’t I have something sweet?”
At the childish words of the big guy, Kim Du-sik, Choi In-hyuk’s eyes turned fierce. Kim Du-sik finally headed to the counter with his shoulders drooping.
Choi In-hyuk opened his mouth.
“The reason I came here is because I wanted to check if Jeong Ho-san might be hiding his friend Kang Yi-sin.”
At those words, Jeong Ho-san crumpled his face. To have such dirty suspicions.
“Not at all. In the first place, what made you trust Yi-sin enough to lend him 130 million won? The interest rate was ridiculous to begin with…”
“Ha, our interest rates are all within legal levels. You shouldn’t talk like that about what I lent with a kind heart because he was so desperate. Wasn’t it because you were completely untrustworthy as a friend that he came to me in the first place?”
Jeong Ho-san glared at Choi In-hyuk. It was a thought that had been troubling him anyway. That maybe Yi-sin borrowed from loan sharks because I was completely untrustworthy.
He didn’t want to hear those words from such a dirty loan shark.
“Did you saddle him with debt intending to sell him off in the first place? Isn’t this all just a show? Didn’t you sell Yi-sin off somewhere else and then come looking for me?”
“What nonsense! I’m the victim! I’m already frustrated enough about having my money stolen, and what? Sell him off?”
“I’m saying, didn’t you target Yi-sin knowing about his lying talent from the beginning?”
“Ah, lying? Yeah, that bastard lied to me from the start. He told me he could only use low-frequency!”
Choi In-hyuk, who shouted like that, rubbed his face. He didn’t seem to be pretending not to know. He really knows absolutely nothing about Kang Yi-sin.
“Ha.”
It seemed impossible to find Kang Yi-sin like this after all. He hadn’t had high expectations to begin with, but…
“Forget it, I had expectations because you’re his friend. But it seems you really don’t know anything.”
At Choi In-hyuk’s words, Jeong Ho-san clenched his fist. Choi In-hyuk stood up. Kim Du-sik, who had belatedly returned with the drinks, shouted in surprise.
“B-Boss! Are you leaving?”
“Yes!”
“What about the drinks? Should I change them to take-out?”
“Just come!”
Hearing the words ringing out behind him, Jeong Ho-san quietly clenched his fist.
-I had expectations because you’re his friend. But it seems you really don’t know anything.
Choi In-hyuk’s words stabbed his heart.
Really, was he…
‘Am I really your friend, Yi-sin?’
If Kang Yi-sin were in front of him, he wanted to ask that.
* * *
“Good, good!”
I smiled looking at the bracelet in my hand. I was able to complete it faster than expected.
I poured all my concentration into making the bracelet because of the sense of crisis that arose after meeting Blood Mage Chu Ma-geol.
=====
Mana Assist Bracelet / B-Grade
—–
Accessory · Auxiliary
A bracelet made by tempering mithril and decorating it with Montoro snail shells.
It does not heat up easily and is light and flexible.
It transmits mana from the mana stone charged in the charging device to the wearer.
=====
The bracelet I made before was C-grade, but this is B-grade! The description was as positive as the increased grade.
The biggest gain was using Montoro snail shells, which are used as insulation, to prevent the bracelet from heating up. Now I won’t get burned by my own bracelet anymore.
By the way, I ‘obtained’ this material from nearby guild warehouses.
Going to the black market has become burdensome now that Weltschmerz’s notoriety has increased much more than before, so I had no choice but to borrow materials like this.
—You don’t leave Weltschmerz’s name for things like this.
‘Ahem, ahem.’
Refining the mana stone was finished too. The refined mana stone was brilliantly golden like amber. Was it because it was Yebrica’s mana stone that handled sand? Sand particles could be seen moving inside.
Time passed well just looking at it quietly.
The name attached to it was Hoan’s Mana Stone.
=====
Hoan’s Mana Stone / A-Grade
—–
Material · Mana Stone
A mana stone with impurities removed by heating at ultra-high temperatures.
Contains Yebrica’s mana.
=====
The grade of the refined mana stone was A-grade. It was the same grade as the Red Flame Mana Stone that went into building this house.
I had expected it might even come out as S-grade since the size was so impressive before refining, but whether because the refining method was crude or because the size shrank during refining, it came out as A-grade. Still, I thought this level might be top-tier among A-grades.
I brought a tree branch I had prepared in advance. Don’t dismiss it as just a tree branch. It’s a mana-infused branch I made by striking lightning on the oldest tree I found searching this forest myself.
I engraved over 10 mana circuits on it. Mana auxiliary, vitality enhancement, energy enhancement, a few simple defense circuits. This was enough.
I inserted the mana stone into the gap I had made in the branch beforehand. The two artifacts fit together smoothly.
At that moment, light burst in front of my eyes.
=====
Hoan’s Staff / A-Grade
—–
Weapon · Staff
A staff made by embedding Hoan’s Mana Stone into a lightning-struck old tree.
Assists the wearer’s mana and smooths mana manifestation.
Helps the user using Yebrica’s mana.
Haste · Shield usable every 24 hours.
=====
It was a jackpot. An A-grade staff, no less! Of course, it’s because the materials were incredibly good, but I made an A-grade item with my own hands for the first time.
By the way, maybe because it was made with Yebrica’s mana stone, the words ‘Yebrica’s mana’ were attached to the item.
“This is a bit unusual.”
—What’s unusual about it?
“Seeing that it specifically left ‘Yebrica’s mana’, I think some of the skills that guy used might have stuck to it.”
It’s not for nothing that this world’s system window is said to be unfriendly. It never tells you if any functions are attached or anything. Things like Haste and Shield mentioned in the description only show up because they blatantly wrote out the manifestation formula, and it doesn’t tell you about other functions.
So the first thing to do when you have an artifact in front of you is to experiment to find out its true functions.
I gripped the staff and drew up mana.
“Oh.”
My mana flowing out through the staff shone golden. It had become golden sand.
“Oh.”
The sand made with Yebrica’s mana had all scattered the moment Yebrica died.
I cut off the mana. Likewise, the sand I had created immediately scattered.
‘The sand is maintained only as long as mana is maintained.’
But conversely, it meant that I could freely handle Yebrica’s sand as long as I supplied mana.
I thought of Han Seo-hyeon’s black sand that had played an active role during the Yebrica subjugation.
“This is a much bigger jackpot than I thought?”
I held out the staff to Han Seo-hyeon.
“W-Woooow!”
Han Seo-hyeon liked the staff even more than I expected. Well, even I can see this is really well made.
“Th-thank you!”
“If you’re thankful, start by learning how to properly utilize this. The better you handle sand, the more your abilities will grow.”
The weakness of being inevitably neutralized when the handled undead is unsummoned might be completely covered by sand. Plus, sand can be summoned and combined with mana, so there was no penalty at all.
At my words, Han Seo-hyeon nodded with a serious face.
Good, I’ve accomplished at least a few things I aimed for.
Ray is analyzing Park Sang-pyeon’s sword that the kids picked up without consulting me. At first I thought it would be done quickly, but it seems like it will take more time than expected.
—The mana circuits are hidden deep inside, you see.
Artifacts are often made with mana circuits visible on the surface.
Even my bracelet has mana circuits densely engraved on the inside.
But this demonic sword is different, he says. Whether mana circuits or some cursed thing is hidden completely inside, so it’s difficult to grasp.
I’ve forbidden touching the sword until the analysis is completely finished. I plan to give it to Kim Jae-ho if I succeed in properly analyzing and modifying this artifact later, but it didn’t seem like a job that would end quickly.
The rumors about Weltschmerz that filled the internet began to subside gradually. Even the biggest fire will go out if the firewood disappears. It was amazing that it burned for this long in the first place.
I plan to spend this winter quietly.
To me, who had made such plans to rest well, one piece of news that bothered me came:
[Sirius’ special rookie Yoo Seon-je! Finally debuts]
It was news of Yoo Seon-je’s debut match.