Clatter.
Scratch.
Familiar sounds of work could be heard. But before the familiar laboratory greeted Kim Shimun, there was the message:
『You’ve cleared the special arena ‘Black Forge’ in an unprecedented manner.』
『The clear rewards have been increased based on your performance.』
『The bound trait ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ receives a portion of the experience points.』
『You have leveled up by 12.』
『The Philosopher’s Stone has increased by 8 levels.』
『You have received the ‘Soul Core’ as a clear reward.』
It was a barrage of messages that made his eyes hurt.
“12 levels up?!”
Kim Shimun was astonished reading the experience gain message.
Naturally so.
“No matter how special the arena, I’m already level 99, right?”
While the exact mechanics of experience distribution in Galaxy Arena weren’t known, it was generally understood that the higher one’s level, the slower the experience gain.
Especially around level 100, and even more so in higher tiers like Platinum and Diamond, where the reward experience decreased sharply.
More precisely, it wasn’t the experience that decreased, but rather the required experience for leveling up increased substantially.
Moreover, ‘Despite sharing experience with the Philosopher’s Stone, it’s this much….’
The Philosopher’s Stone had leveled up by 8 levels from this arena alone. Even with simple calculations, that meant a total gain of 20 levels.
“This is insane.”
A Platinum rank at level 99 gaining 12 levels at once— who would believe gaining the equivalent of 20 levels of experience in one go?
Kim Shimun smiled with satisfaction.
“Then, let’s check the item rewards too.”
He opened his inventory to look at the items he had received. Just then,
『You are the first mortal to partially destroy the Black Forge.』
Another message popped up in front of Kim Shimun.
『The Black Forge is one of the main facilities of the dragonkin.』
『Clearing this arena significantly alters the determined fate.』
‘It’s the same message as before.’
It was similar to the message he saw after completing the special arena where he saved the dwarf girl Marnel.
At that time, he hadn’t realized what had changed, but soon enough, Shimun experienced several changes firsthand.
Most notably, ‘I met a more grown-up Marnel and participated in an arena with her.’
The dwarf he had saved, Marnel, had grown up and become a player, clearing an arena with Kim Shimun. Considering that his opponents were always dragonkin, ‘This arena will definitely bring harm to the dragonkin too.’
Regardless of the altered fate, he had already caused significant damage by partially destroying the Black Forge and taking out key figures, including the head manager and several named dragonkin.
Proof of this came quickly.
『The five constellations watching you are exceptionally pleased with the neutralization of the Black Forge.』
The constellations responded with high satisfaction.
The problem was, 『The five constellations engage in a serious discussion among themselves.』
It didn’t end with their satisfaction.
『The five constellations demand additional rewards from Galaxy Arena.』
『The Council of Galaxy Arena is convened.』
“Huh?”
It was an unexpected development. Kim Shimun blinked at the situation involving the convening of the arena’s council. Then.
『The discussions concluded that additional rewards are not possible.』
『Constellation Zeus strongly protests, ‘Not possible? Do you not understand the significance of the Black Forge?’』
『Constellation Odin complains, ‘Many constellations have benefited from that player. You are responsible for compensating that.’』
The constellations continued to protest against Galaxy Arena’s decision.
『Furthermore, Earth is not yet an official arena, and Galaxy Arena values absolute neutrality above all else.』
『Constellation Black Goat scoffs, ‘Neutrality? And yet, when an evolved dragonkin snuck in last time, you disguised it as a hidden boss?’』
Galaxy Arena fell silent at Black Goat’s jab, but they seemed to have a rebuttal.
『Compensation for that incident has already been settled.』
『Constellation Heavenly Demon grins menacingly, ‘That incident is settled? Fine. But isn’t it true that you’ve been overly favorable towards the dragonkin?’』
『Constellation Baal nods at Heavenly Demon’s words.』
『Galaxy Arena stresses its commitment to absolute neutrality. Please refrain from baseless accusations without concrete evidence.』
Galaxy Arena stood its ground.
『The five constellations recently had frequent interactions with the player Kim Shimun, thus their demands lack legitimacy, according to the council.』
They went further to declare that the five constellations lacked the qualification to make such demands.
At that,
『Constellation Black Goat raises its voice, ‘How dare you!’』
『Constellation Zeus roars, ‘Do you dare equate us with those who directly interfere?’』
Just as the five constellations were about to explode in anger,
『Constellation Hades intervenes, ‘Then we will formally make the demand.’』
『Constellation Osiris intervenes.』
『Constellation Yama intervenes…』
『Constellation Hel intervenes…』
The death constellations intervened en masse.
『Constellation Hades steps forward, ‘On behalf of the death constellations gathered here, I formally demand additional rewards for the player Kim Shimun.’』
『The council is reconvened.』
In response to their demands, Galaxy Arena went back into session.
『A decision has been made to grant additional rewards to the player Kim Shimun.』
Finally, a message of surrender from the arena appeared. And then,
『The death constellations have requested ‘Sargas’ as compensation.』
『The constellations’ demand is accepted.』
『As an additional reward, you have obtained ‘Future Sight’.』
Humm.
A small hum accompanied the fall of a deep brown orb in front of Kim Shimun. As he quickly caught it,
Hum…
Odin’s Eye activated automatically, and the brown orb was absorbed into his left eye.
『Future Sight has been added to Odin’s Eye.』
With the addition of Future Sight, the responses from the constellations and Galaxy Arena ceased, as if a storm had passed. Unexpectedly gaining Future Sight, Shimun nodded in satisfaction.
A cheerful voice echoed in his ears.
-Hmm~. Looks like the dragonkin really made some enemies.
It was the Philosopher’s Stone.
-Death constellations rarely get involved like this.
“Really?”
-Of course! Technically, these are mortal matters. If they hadn’t been using something like a soul generator, those constellations wouldn’t have intervened so heavily.
“True, even to someone like me who doesn’t know much about death, that seemed extreme.”
Kim Shimun frowned.
‘Using souls as fuel to produce energy. I never imagined that.’
The cause of the soul cycle disruption, which the Philosopher’s Stone had explained after the arena ended, had indeed been horrendous.
“It’s fortunate that Shiyeon destroyed it while playing.”
-Yeah, no kidding! They were even using that energy to build a massive weapon! Serves them right!
For some reason, the Philosopher’s Stone’s voice was suddenly much louder. Kim Shimun tilted his head but let it go at that.
“Exactly.”
Kim Shimun nodded absentmindedly.
“I’ll check the Future Sight later. Let’s see the item rewards now.”
He immediately opened his inventory.
‘There were a total of three rewards from this special arena, right?’
The hidden quest from Dark Elf Dayna and the mission rewards from the death constellations, and the clear rewards just received from the arena.
‘This is the first time I’ve gotten three item rewards at once from a single arena, isn’t it?’
While Kim Shimun had amassed a large number of rewards throughout his arena journey, this was the first time he received three item rewards at once.
“Huh?”
As he reached into his inventory with anticipation, Shimun suddenly paused. The reason was simple.
“What? Why are there only two items?”
Beyond the space, there were only two new items in his inventory. Thinking he might have missed something, he plunged his arm into the inventory up to his shoulder.
But despite his efforts, only two new items were there.
“Just the Soul Core and the Death’s Gift box?”
There were only the Soul Core as the clear reward and the Death’s Gift box from the death constellations.
At that moment,
“Hehe! Quang-Quang!”
A lively voice echoed.
Kim Shimun naturally turned his head in that direction.
‘That’s it!’
He could see it.
“Sparkly!”
Shiyeon, as though it were a beloved stuffed toy, was rubbing her face against a black crystal as big as her head.
“Shiyeon.”
Kim Shimun quickly approached her.
“Appa!”
Shiyeon tossed aside the black crystal and bounded into his arms.
Kim Shimun stroked her head and asked,
“Shiyeon, where did that come from?”
“Hmm?”
Shiyeon tilted her head quizzically.
Then, seeing the black crystal Kim Shimun was pointing at, she smiled brightly and replied,
“Quang-Quang gave it to me.”
“Quang-Quang?”
“Yep!”
Shiyeon nodded energetically and pulled the black crystal towards them.
“Quang-Quang wanted to come home too… but it couldn’t. So Quang-Quang gave this to me!”
“I see.”
As a parent should,
Kim Shimun perfectly understood Shiyeon’s explanation and nodded calmly.
‘The item reward for the hidden quest must be a part of the Black Forge.’
The huge golem Shiyeon controlled was clearly from the Black Forge.
And Shiyeon would be categorized as his summon.
The black crystal, being a part of the gigantic golem, must have been her reward.
‘Shiyeon saying it couldn’t come might be due to system restrictions.’
The gigantic golem was entirely made of Dragonium.
The arena would never have permitted it to leave.
‘It’s a bit disappointing, but taking the entire golem out doesn’t make sense.’
Normally, items without an info panel couldn’t be taken out of the arena.
And that amount of Dragonium would be excessive, even as a top-rank Diamond reward.
‘Wait a minute. That means this black crystal has an info panel, right?’
Kim Shimun knelt down to match Shiyeon’s eye level.
“Shiyeon, can Appa talk to Quang-Quang for a bit?”
“Yep! Shiyeon’s Appa’s after all!”
“Uh, right?”
The phrase was a bit odd.
“Yes, Appa belongs to Shiyeon.”
“Yep!”
Kim Shimun chuckled and patted Shiyeon’s head again before examining the black crystal.
『Dranion’s Core』
Grade: S
The core of Dranion, a dragonkin battle weapon.
Created with advanced Dragon Force and technology, it requires a body that matches its caliber.
Upon reading the info panel, Shimun’s brow furrowed.
‘A battle weapon called Dranion?’
Naturally,
‘I’ve never even heard of this in my past life.’
Dranion was something he had never encountered, even in his previous life that faced annihilation.
Looking at it another way, ‘It means they didn’t even need to use Dranion to conquer Earth…’
Kim Shimun smiled bitterly, unable to deny the thought. In his previous life, Earth was in a state of significant turmoil, both due to the arenas and internal strife.
But now, “It’s different this time.”
The present was diverging significantly from his past life. The distribution of arena medicine, the survival of Marnel, the World Tree, and the High Elves—many things had changed.
The system itself confirmed these changes. Thus, the likelihood of encountering Dranion in this life was high.
Therefore, ‘I should definitely prepare a countermeasure for Dranion.’
Kim Shimun returned Dranion’s Core to Shiyeon and met her bright eyes.
“Shiyeon, can Appa play with Quang-Quang sometimes?”
“Yes!”
“Thank you.”
“Hehe! Quang-Quang, let’s go there! I want to show you my room!”
Holding Dranion’s Core, Shiyeon scampered out of the lab.
Chuckling at the sight, Shimun said, “That settles the hidden quest reward.”
He took out the two remaining items from his inventory.
“Now, let’s check these.”
Kim Shimun first examined the ash-grey orb in his right hand.
『Soul Core』
Grade: SS
A core that houses souls.
It has been used as a soul generator for a long time, leaving traces of souls.
“Amazing!”
Kim Shimun couldn’t help but exclaim in excitement.
It wasn’t just because of the high SS grade.
As soon as he read the info panel, the knowledge etched within the orb reacted immediately.
“Philosopher’s Stone, this!”
-Yes, your thoughts are correct. This can be used to create a homunculus.
A homunculus.
Even for the current Kim Shimun, the creation of such a being was beyond reach.
-It could probably be used as a core material like the Mimir’s Spring Water… but you know?
“Yeah, I know. Creating a homunculus right now is out of the question.”
Kim Shimun smacked his lips with a disappointed expression.
“But it’s a core material, so it could help in creating a higher-grade homunculus.”
-That’s true. But its condition is… if you use it as is, there could be problems.
At the Philosopher’s Stone’s words, Shimun examined the ash-grey orb closely.
Looking carefully, he could see something pale undulating within the orb.
He easily identified what it was.
“Traces of souls.”
As the info panel of the Soul Core indicated, the countless souls had been squeezed dry as fuel until they became vengeful spirits, leaving behind their agonized wails as traces.
‘I definitely need to handle this separately.’
Storing the Soul Core in his inventory, Shimun turned his attention to the box adorned with bones and skulls.
“Personally, I’m most excited about this one.”
-So am I. It’s a gift from a Constellation, after all.
The mission given by the death constellations, with the condition of liberating the souls in the Black Forge, had been completed to its maximum thanks to his daughter, Shiyeon.
What could a Constellation’s gift contain?
“Let’s open it.”
Kim Shimun’s anticipation-filled hands opened the box.
Click.
A dull sound of bones clashing together followed.
Whoosh.
Eerie, spectral smoke assumedly emanated from within.
And as Kim Shimun and the Philosopher’s Stone laid eyes on the contents of the box,
“This, this is!”
-Oh my goodness!! What is this?!
They couldn’t hide their astonishment.
—
Top Level of the Korea Awakener Association Headquarters.
Bang.
A heavy sound echoed from the association president’s office.
“Which bastards dare!”
A middle-aged man hurling out a furious shout.
“Choi Changwook!”
Kim Muyeol glared at the tall man standing beside him with a menacing aura.
“Yes, President-nim.”
“What’s the status?”
“Based on our findings, it appears to be the work of guilds associated with players expelled from the national team.”
“These vermin…”
As if ready to strike something down immediately,
“They dare to defy me?”
Kim Muyeol’s sharp gaze fixed on the monitor.
TL’s Corner:
What did the scrubs do?