Ttaak.
A crisp and cheerful sound. The meticulous packaging of the potion by Baek, immersed in her task.
Ttaak.
The Mithril Golem glanced momentarily at the source of the sound. There.
-Excellent! Just a little bit more!
Ttaak.
-Oh, oppa, this part needs a bit more trimming.
Ttaak.
-Doesn’t this piece have the right specifications?
A flask containing floating eyeballs, and a handsome man with distinct features were earnestly engrossed in something. This scene had been going on for several days.
Keukeuk.
The mithril golem naturally returned to the packaging work.
-That’s it! This is the last one!
A voice brimming with satisfaction.
“Phew…”
The young man wiped his forehead briskly. Kim Shimun collapsed onto a nearby chair.
“It’s completely exhausting.”
Days of intense work. As a result, Kim Shimun’s disheveled hair and shirt swayed along with his breath. His weary voice matched his appearance perfectly.
Of course.
-But we got it all done.
“That’s true.”
Kim Shimun’s eyes sparkled with vitality unlike his fatigued appearance. It was understandable.
-You managed to refine this much Adamantium and Orihalcon in just 10 days. Truly amazing, as expected of my oppa.
A pouch containing a significant amount of Adamantium and Orihalc. Having successfully refined them to fit the Golem in just 10 days, how could they not be happy?
“We also have Dragonium.”
-Oh, right! I forgot about that.
They even managed to mix in Dragonium flawlessly.
Now, with only the final steps like attaching parts left to do, they were almost done.
Kim Shimun gazed warmly at the Philosopher’s Stone floating in the flask in the air.
“Philo, I’m grateful for your help. It would have taken me over a month without you.”
-Hehe! I’m quite impressive, aren’t I?
The Philosopher’s Stone, the ultimate product of alchemy. Given its value, it flawlessly identified all the subtle errors that were hard to discern with human eyes.
Thanks to it, Kim Shimun was able to easily finish refining the alloy of Adamantium, Orihalcon, and Dragonium without needing any special crafting equipment.
-Oppa.
The Philosopher’s Stone, which had finished checking the refined parts, approached them.
-Stop messing around and go rest now. You haven’t rested properly for a while.
“Let’s finish it first and then rest. My alchemy energy has fully recovered anyway.”
During the recent Platinum promotion match in the arena.
Even though the rewards for promotion matches weren’t that significant.
Kim Shimun, who had leveled up by 6 levels, invested all his remaining stats into alchemy energy, increasing it from 130 to 136. Here, with the title “Chosen by the Constellations” effect adding +4, the total alchemy energy is 140. Additionally, the Philosopher’s Stone has achieved level 68. Naturally, the recovery speed of the alchemy energy was considerable. Just as he was about to wake up to the commands on his forehead.
– Oh! Oppa, you fool!”
“Ugh.”
Something cold and slippery touched him. Before he knew it, the Philosopher’s Stone in the flask had reached his forehead.
“Your alchemy energy might recover quickly, but not your mental strength!”
The eyes of the figure looking at him showed discontent.
“You’ve been working on a high-level task for ten days straight without proper rest. Even a high-ranked warrior would find this exhausting!”
It was true. Adamantium and Orihalcon were among the highest-grade materials. Naturally, they required the expertise of skilled craftsmen with substantial experience for refinement.
Not to mention the mysterious metal, Dragonium, involved in the process. Thanks to this, he had to go through various refining methods with numerous errors.
No matter how exceptional a player was, they couldn’t help but feel mentally exhausted.
“Of course, I understand your feelings as well.”
The Philosopher’s Stone inside the flask glanced at the completed parts. The Shimun did not just exceed the average rank’s standards by far. The reason he had invested ten days into making the golem, despite having such superior specs, was different.
“You must be eager to finish it soon and prepare for the actual battles. The Platinum Debut Match is coming up soon.”
As the Philosopher’s Stone mentioned, while regular players were immediately allocated to their respective ranks after promotion, there was a debut match reserved exclusively for the top players among the promoted ones. Moreover, from Platinum and above, wasn’t it a global match rather than domestic?
It was a place where promising talents from around the world gathered.
On top of that:
-Black Forge awaits you.”
“That’s right.”
The hidden quest received from the Dark Elf Dayna, 『Towards the Black Forge』, presented a challenging difficulty.
“To be honest, I’m more concerned about Black Forge than the debut match. The mentions from previous arenas were quite alarming.”
-True. Considering that they captured Dwarves and Dark Elves, it seems far from ordinary.”
For some reason, Shimun had a gut feeling that Black Forge wouldn’t be easy.
Would he experience his first failure in the arena due to underestimation?
“Of course, it’s still not a regular arena, so there shouldn’t be a penalty for death.”
However, he couldn’t treat it lightly as usual. Shimun wanted to give it his all. And as the Philosopher’s Stone knew Shimun’s heart better than anyone else…
-Ugh! I can’t help it. Anyway, you are just going to complete this, right? We’ll start working on more from tomorrow.”
“Got it.”
-Really? Promise me.
Pat. With his hand resting on the table beside him, the Philosopher’s Stone extended his hand.
Shimun chuckled softly, meeting the Stone’s outstretched pinkie finger.
“Alright, I promise.”
– Haha! Then I’ll set up right away.”
Was making the promise what pleased her?
The Philosopher’s Stone joyfully fluttered off to where the golem crafting was taking place.
“Let’s see. This is the arm, and this is the leg….”
Clang.
With meticulously crafted arms, the Philosopher’s Stone for assembling parts in various ways. When the soul stirred and approached. The parts made of premium alloy were perfectly integrated with the mithril framework.
– Oppa, now we just need to attach the head.
“Okay.”
At his words, Shimun approached a somewhat rounded model next to the framework. Which served as the head part. Then, he retrieved a bluish-glowing glass bottle from the inventory.
『Mimir’s Spring Water』
Grade: SSS
A rare holy water from Asgard.
Can grant wisdom and consciousness even to inanimate creatures according to the method of use.
Mimir’s Spring Water.
An SSS-Rank material obtained by clearing the special arena ‘Nature’s Decline’. According to the Philosopher’s Stone, it can bestow intelligence upon a golem. The information window clearly stated the bestowal of wisdom and consciousness.
“Just by adding this, the head part will be complete.”
The golem being created already had superior intellectual abilities compared to ordinary golems. Considering the materials used were already extraordinary in themselves. What kind of exceptional golem would emerge with the addition of Mimir’s Spring Water?
“I’m looking forward to this.”
Gloop.
Shimun poured all of the Mimir’s Spring Water onto the round head part. Contrary to common knowledge that it would flow down the surface.
Swoosh.
The Mimir’s Spring Water seemed to evaporate immediately. Without leaving a single drop behind, it was fully absorbed. Shimun, holding the completed head in hand, approached the body.
Click.
The head attached seamlessly as if it had always belonged there. Feeling the satisfaction of ten days of hard work, Shimun took a couple of steps back with a pleased expression.
-“Oppa?”
“Okay. Now we just need to infuse the energy.”
Nodding, Shimun raised his hand toward the created golem.
“Philo, you know what to do, right? We may have to spend achievement points for this.”
– Yeah! I got it!
With a total of 49,500 achievement points earned from the previous arenas.
With just a few thousand more points, he could obtain the Homunculus crafting recipe from the Black Goat’s quest reward, or even unlock the method to cultivate the 3rd stage of Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.
“But for now, completing the golem is the priority.”
Considering the valuable and expensive materials poured in. Shimun decided to spare no expense in investing in the golem creation.
“Let’s begin.”
Hum.
At the center of the golem’s chest lay the Philosopher’s Stone. There, the familiar alchemy energy flowed out, gathered at Shimun’s fingertips.
Snap.
The moment he released it.
Crackle!
A series of sparks erupted, and the crafting golem started to be enveloped in a white luminous haze.
“Wow…”
“Oh, wow!”
Shimun and the Philosopher’s Stone within the flask were wide-eyed at the scene. In no time.
Jjeong!
Along with a sound tinged with gold.
“Kreuk!”
Kim Shimun grabbed his chest and staggered. To face that Kim Shimun.
“『Insufficient power to activate draconium.』”
An absurd message popped up.
– Oppa! Are you okay?
“Oh, I just feel a bit drained.”
As if his energy had been depleted. It felt like his body was completely empty in an instant. Even the previous system window. Kim Shimun could easily figure out the cause of this fainting sensation.
‘Insufficient power…’
For a golem activation, it wasn’t about activation power, but power itself?
It was quite a ridiculous situation, but it was not difficult to understand.
– Oppa, it seems like it’s because of the draconium, right?
“Yeah, the system also says so.”
Kiing.
As the faintness subsided, Kim Shimun immediately activated Odin’s Eye.
He didn’t know when he made it, but after trying to activate the power once, he understood.
“Draconium, this metal needs power injection to be properly activated.”
Should I say it needs to be powered up?
It needs a certain amount of energy to function properly. Kim Shimun looked at the parts that were still roaring for more power, even after he had just swallowed his power.
– Hng! I see. I didn’t know about this kind of metal before…
“It’s okay. It’s natural not to know.”
It’s not like his body flew away. He can try activating it again. But the problem is.
“But even roughly speaking, the power demand is enormous, right?”
– Yeah.
It was the power needed to activate draconium.
A total of 140 alchemy energy for activation. Only half of that, 70, was his allocated power.
‘Even pouring all of that in only results in temporary activation.’
If we look at it as 100%, we’ve filled about 20%?
Even that 20% was dispersing rapidly to a scary extent.
Therefore, ‘It means we need to pour a large amount of power in one go…’
With 70 power points at 20%. Just by simple calculations, we need 350 power points. The Philosophers’ Stone in the flask shook its head.
– Oppa, we might have to spend achievement points, right?
“That’s what we have to do. But with this much power, wouldn’t it cost a lot of achievement points?”
– That’s right. After all, energy activation is extremely inefficient. Maybe the points we have now won’t be enough?
Although he used achievement points generously, if it’s an inefficient investment, the situation changes.
At that moment.
Knock, knock.
“Kim Shimun-nim.”
A knock was heard at the door of the research lab.
“Please come in.”
With the permission of Shimun of the room, a familiar man walked into the room. Park Jinwook, the Night Hunter, spoke with a serious expression.
“Shimun-nim, someone has arrived from the Continental Guild.”
***
A tall and handsome man, Seo Wiryong, nervously tapped a teacup filled with steaming tea.
Clang.
The elegant door opened, and a distinctively featured young man entered. Seo Wiryong quickly rose from his seat.
“It’s been a while! Shimun-nim.”
Seo Wiryong greeted with grace.
To which Shimun replied somewhat awkwardly, “Ah… It’s nice to meet you, Seo Wiryong-ssi.”
Seeing this, Seo Wiryong smiled and lightly clapped his hands.
“There’s no need for fist salute. You’re not a member of the Continental Guild, Shimun-nim.”
“Haha, is that so.”
Shimun scratched his head and sat down.
Seo Wiryong’s smile deepened.
‘I felt this before, but he truly carries himself with dignity.’
Like some of the other large guilds, Continental Guild also had its unique culture of formalities. Despite not being affiliated with the Continental Guild and being a foreigner, being shown a bit of respect was quite pleasing.
‘With his level of power, he could easily be arrogant… He’s truly fitting of the title Sword Saint’s brother.’
Seo Wiryong’s admiration grew. Unaware of this, Shimun casually asked, “Seeing you here, I assume things went well as expected?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, the Guild Master sighed in relief. We were in a similar situation.”
“That’s a relief.”
A smile naturally appeared on Shimun’s face.
‘If things go this way, the power succession will likely occur smoothly, erasing the traces and factions of the former Guild Master.’
“If Seo Wiryong is saying this, the moderate faction in the Continental Guild must have consolidated their position.”
With the faction being intact, it would be a thorn in the side of Zhang Liqiu. Seo Wiryong, who was sitting across, took a sip of tea and spoke with a bitter smile.
“I wonder how to repay this favor… I would like to return it many times over, but unfortunately, our situation is not favorable yet.”
Seo Wiryong’s shoulders slumped slightly with disappointment.
In response, Shimun shook his head and replied, “Your intentions are more than enough. If it bothers you, you can repay it later when the situation stabilizes.”
He wouldn’t reject such a gift. To which Seo Wiryong responded, “Shimun-nim…”
Seo Wiryong’s eyes welled up with moisture. Suddenly, he remembered something.
Seo Wiryong hastily opened his inventory and pulled out a small glass bottle of crimson liquid.
“That’s…!”
Shimun’s eyes widened.