Chapter 79: Polar
Sa-hyeok picked up the unidentified object first.
It was a flat, metallic ring.
The ring’s width was about 3cm, and its diameter was about 30cm.
Other than that, there were no distinguishing features, so he couldn’t even guess what it was used for.
‘Is this something you use to play frisbee with a dog……?’
Sa-hyeok picked it up.
As soon as he picked it up, a strange vibration resonated from his fingertips.
A sensation similar to when he first picked up the Iron Arms of the Bone King.
It was definitely an artifact.
“Yang-gyu, what is this?”
“I looked it up because I was curious too, and the closest weapon I could find was a ‘Chakram’.”
“Chakram……?”
“Yeah. It’s a throwing weapon that looks exactly like that, but a Chakram has a sharp outer edge, right? But this one is thick and blunt, right?”
“That’s right. I guess it’s not a Chakram after all.”
He couldn’t know for sure until he unlocked its function.
Well, the same went for the other four junk artifacts.
“But what criteria did you use to pick these out?”
“Criteria? You just told me to buy anything, didn’t you? This is all I could get my hands on as soon as they were listed.”
He did a good job as requested.
Sa-hyeok nodded inwardly, thinking so.
‘Should I take them and examine them carefully?’
Sa-hyeok spoke as he got up.
“Thanks, Yang-gyu.”
“You’re welcome. Come find me again anytime you need anything. But do you have a way to carry these?”
Clatter!
Sa-hyeok unfurled the metallic bandages of the Iron Arms of the Bone King, tied the artifacts together, and carried them like a backpack.
Seeing that, Yang-gyu chuckled and muttered.
“……As expected, you shouldn’t worry about Hunters.”
“Thanks, see you next time!”
Sa-hyeok started running back towards the Kwonmu-mun Guild building.
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Kwonmu-mun Guild Building, Sa-hyeok’s Room.
Clank.
Sa-hyeok lined up the artifacts he received from Yang-gyu against the wall.
Two spears over 2 meters long.
One large, cracked greatsword.
One thick, large shield that seemed like it could withstand any impact.
And one unidentified metallic ring.
Except for this one……
“Why are they all so huge?”
Each artifact was quite large.
Bang-ul-i, hanging from his neck, asked.
[Is being big a problem?]
“My main fighting style revolves around hand-to-hand combat and mid-range telekinesis. It’s hard to fight like that with these huge things on my back.”
[Then why didn’t you ask for small ones from the beginning?]
“This is all that was available after scraping the market clean. What would have been left if I had set conditions? And I’ll use these too.”
[How?]
“There will be a time to use them someday.”
[What?]
“Even if I can fight now with just agility and hand-to-hand combat, who knows what kind of opponent I’ll have to fight in the future? This is preparation for the future.”
[Preparation…… Well, why don’t you prepare a giant robot too? For the future.]
“I would if I had one.”
[Oh?]
“There’s no man without a romance for giant robots, Bang-ul-i.”
[Ah, that’s true.]
“Anyway, there’s one thing I have to do now.”
Sa-hyeok said, gripping the greatsword.
“I’m going to unlock the functions of all of these.”
Sa-hyeok channeled his telekinetic power into the greatsword.
The artifact unlocking process began.
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Two hours later.
“Ugh.”
Sa-hyeok retched, his face buried in the sink.
[What’s wrong, hyeong-nim?]
“You try solving puzzles nonstop for two hours……”
[So, are all the artifacts unlocked?]
“Four of them are.”
A greatsword, a shield, and two spears.
The function unlocking of these four was complete.
The problem was the last one, the flat ring, which wouldn’t unlock no matter what he did.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to test the functions of the unlocked ones first.”
Sa-hyeok took the artifacts and went down to the training ground.
Arriving at the personal training ground.
Sa-hyeok first drew the cracked greatsword.
[What’s the name of that one?]
“
Crackle-
As Sa-hyeok injected mana into the greatsword, light seeped from the cracks in the blade.
He swung the sword with all his might-
Phew phew phew phew!
Crash!!
The blade shattered into small pieces, scattering and sweeping the area in front of him.
Right after the attack subsided.
Swoosh-
Clack!
The scattered blade fragments flew towards the hilt and reassembled themselves.
[That’s good, isn’t it?]
“If I use my telekinesis to control the trajectory of the blade fragments, it’ll be even more versatile.”
[What’s next?]
“This spear.”
A crude spear that looked like a long iron pipe with a roughly sharpened tip.
“This is
Sa-hyeok aimed the spearhead and activated it.
Whoosh!
Crack!
The spearhead extended at high speed, piercing the target.
Not in a straight line, but in a long curve like a snake.
A simple but useful function.
The next thing Sa-hyeok picked up was also a spear.
“This spear is
An extremely ordinary-looking spear.
Sa-hyeok thrust the spearhead into a large monster mannequin and activated its function.
Poof!
Dozens of spearheads sprouted from the point of impact, turning the mannequin into rags.
[……Well, this is a one-hit k*ll if you can just land the stab.]
“Yeah. That’s why I like it quite a bit. Although it’s a bit cumbersome to carry around.”
[Now only the shield is left?]
“Yes,
A thick, large, and heavy metal shield.
Sa-hyeok held the shield in front of him and activated it.
Rumble!
A wide black barrier instantly unfolded, centered on the shield.
The strength of the barrier itself was also quite impressive.
It was an artifact truly specialized for instantaneous wide-area defense.
“Phew.”
After finishing the demonstration, Sa-hyeok took a breath and sipped on the Mandrake’s Bile.
[So what are you going to do with all of these?]
“For now, I’ll keep them in my room, and when I have time, I’ll put them in the cabinet at the boarding house.”
[What about the flat ring?]
“I’ll carry that with me. I’ll keep trying to unlock it whenever I have a chance.”
Sa-hyeok said as he gathered the artifacts.
[But hyeong-nim, if you keep using these, won’t people eventually find out?]
“Find out what? That I have the ability to unlock junk artifacts?”
[Yes.]
“It’s okay, what if they find out? And besides, everyone will probably just think they’re unique artifacts. I’ve been using the Iron Arms of the Bone King like crazy, and no one noticed anything strange.”
[That’s true.]
“In the first place, unless someone has a list of all existing artifacts memorized, they won’t even notice anything strange.”
However, neither Sa-hyeok nor Bang-ul-i knew.
That there was actually a person who carried a list of artifacts in their head.
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Meanwhile, a special aircraft landed at Incheon International Airport.
The identity of the aircraft that flew in from the United States was a magic engine-powered special aircraft.
Its characteristic was its tremendous speed, covering the distance to Korea in 5 hours, a journey that would normally take 13 hours.
This aircraft was also a product of dungeon engineering.
A man and a woman disembarked from the plane.
A young woman and a large man.
A woman with long, sleek gray hair, snow-white skin, and a straight nose.
A man with short-cropped blond hair and a well-groomed beard.
Both had the typical appearance of Northern European Caucasians.
They were guided to a room within the airport.
A luxurious room furnished with comfortable sofas and a table, a TV, simple refreshments, paintings, and a folding screen.
The woman sat on the sofa and watched a video on her phone.
The man asked.
“What are you watching? NewTube?”
“Yeah, a monster hunting video. It was filmed at a theme park in Korea, and I found something interesting.”
She was watching a video of a Hunter killing a King Septaferus at a theme park.
“It’s certainly fascinating. The power to levitate objects…… Is it wind magic?”
“That’s not the important part. Look at what he’s wearing on his arm.”
She pointed at the metallic bandages the Hunter was wearing on his arm.
“What about it?”
“Look closely.”
Clatter!
As the Hunter retracted the metallic bandages he had deployed, the bandages were instantly sucked back into the bracelet.
“Hmm…… I’ve never seen equipment like that before.”
“It’s your first time seeing it, but you know it.
“……Only the Supervisor would have that entire list memorized.”
“Well, it’s not strange that you say it’s your first time seeing it. There’s no Hunter who can use this like that.”
“Huh?”
“These bracelets,
“If that’s the case…… Ah!”
“This Hunter is currently using it by unlocking the function of the junk.”
“……Is that even possible?”
“We’ll have to go and see for ourselves.”
“But Supervisor, shouldn’t we prioritize the mission we’ve been assigned?”
“Finding this person and our mission are not unrelated. In fact, if this person exists, our mission could become much easier. This Hunter’s name is……”
Polar looked at the comments section and muttered.
“Min Sa-hyeok, that’s his name.”
“So what are you going to do when you meet him?”
“Well…… I’ll have to think about that after we meet him.”
Beep-
At that moment, both of their phones rang simultaneously.
“An emergency disaster alert, a message notifying us of a dungeon leakage.”
“The location is Gangbuk-gu, Suyu-dong…… Where is that? Anyway, the appearing monster is one Black Dragon-type Negrodeller. They’ll have a tough time.”
Click-
Just then, the door opened and a protocol officer entered.
“Thank you for waiting. Immigration procedures, equipment quarantine, and baggage clearance have all been completed.”
This room was the VIP room.
It was a place prepared for a small number of high-ranking individuals who entered and exited through this airport.
Those who entered through this room had all their immigration procedures handled by the protocol officer, the immigration process was simplified, and they received various convenience services.
In other words, it meant that these two young men and women were high-ranking individuals who could use this VIP room.
The protocol officer returned the passport to the woman and said.
“You are Polar Greyney, the Combat Supervisor of the
“Yes.”
“Welcome to Korea, Ms. Greyney.”
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Around the same time, Kwonmu-mun Guild building, Sa-hyeok’s quarters.
Sa-hyeok and Jang-hoon were sprawled on the sofa, relaxing and watching TV.
Beep-
Sa-hyeok and Jang-hoon’s phones rang simultaneously.
It was an emergency disaster alert.
Jang-hoon muttered as he read the message.
“One Black Dragon-type Negrodeller, appearing in Gangbuk-gu, Suyu-dong. It’s a bit far to go right now.”
“Hyeong-nim.”
“Why?”
“Aren’t Black Dragon-types weak against lightning attributes?”
“That’s true.”
“Okay.”
Sa-hyeok got up from his seat as if he had been waiting for this, and donned his equipment.
Two rings, the Iron Arms of the Bone King, two Mubuchamdo, and two Thunderbolt Needles.
He had been waiting for a chance to test his new weapons against monsters, and the opportunity had finally arrived.
Seeing this, Jang-hoon asked in disbelief.
“Are you really going? Suyu-dong is quite a distance from here.”
“I have to catch the monster. And test my new weapons at the same time.”
“Won’t the situation be over by the time you arrive……”
“Don’t worry. I’m faster.”
Sa-hyeok opened the balcony door and jumped straight out of the building.
Whoosh!
Sa-hyeok immediately soared through the air.
Whirr!
And a drone followed Sa-hyeok, flying out the window.
“That kid…… he should at least close the screen door……”
Muttering to himself, Jang-hoon closed the balcony door.
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Gangbuk-gu, Suyu-dong.
Thud-
Sa-hyeok landed on the rooftop of a tall building on the outskirts of Suyu-dong.
“This place has changed a lot too.”
[What’s changed?]
“Originally, it was a typical old town with a dense concentration of relatively low buildings. But what about now?”
[There are quite a few tall buildings……?]
“Yeah. The damage to the buildings during the Gate incident was so severe that new buildings were built afterward.”
[Ah…… Come to think of it, I heard they’re building new buildings on the moon too.]
“The moon……? Ah, the US started constructing a lunar base.”
The orbital elevator, the lunar base, and recently, the technology to launch aircraft outside the atmosphere without rockets had been developed.
The world was changing at a frightening pace.
Anyway, where is the monster……
[Should I fly around and take a look?]
“No, I don’t think that will be necessary.”
Boom-
Two o’clock direction, about 400 meters away.
A shockwave and smoke erupted from there.
“There it is.”
Whoosh!
Sa-hyeok started running again.
Towards the monster, the Black Dragon-type Negrodeller.
