Episode 3. ShamShion, the Sun Liberator (1)
Three years after the game's release. In other words, when Cheon Gyeongu was still twenty-three.
The conference room at VR Chronicle was heating up.
The first +10 weapon in the game had been born.
As they dug through the in-game records, they were shocked.
The highest-level user in the world was only in the late 300s, yet someone had a +10 Unique weapon?
"It’s astounding… whether it’s luck or money. Plus, the being he’s contracted with is of the Monarch lineage."
It was a single remark from the chief developer.
Gamers were living far more obsessed with the game than they had imagined.
The wealthy were investing hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars, betting their lives on the game.
It was only natural. After all, Face Chronicle was a game that delivered a thrill unlike anywhere else.
"We expected it would take five or six years after launch for a +10 to appear. But to see it broken in just three… at this rate, won’t we see +15 or higher weapons within ten years?"
"Yes, I agree. The odds are absurd, but it’s not entirely impossible, so at this rate, there’s no guarantee a +15 won’t appear before the main scenario."
"You’re right. After all, we’d need weapons of that caliber to lead the main scenario."
The others agreed with one developer’s words.
"Who knows? What if someone hits the jackpot and goes straight to +17—or no, +19."
"Haha, that’s ridiculous."
"If someone like that existed, they’d break the balance all by themselves."
"Who in the world could possibly be that lucky!"
When the chief developer quipped, everyone burst into laughter as if the very idea were absurd.
* * *
Flash—!
A white light burst forth.
It wasn’t much different from a +1 or +2 enhancement.
Just a light akin to briefly turning on a bulb emanated from the weapon.
But at this moment, it was perhaps the most expensive light in human history.
Shattered debris had been reassembled into a +19 musket.
"You said I needed nineteen Soul Engravings, right? With this, it’s complete. Though I couldn’t restore the broken scope, thank you for giving me the chance to forge a weapon like this in my life! Kwahaha!"
The master blacksmith, Brahman, laughed heartily and held out Black & White to Ted.
"Ah, aah…"
With trembling hands, Ted accepted the weapon.
The +19 enhancement he had aimed for had succeeded.
Soon, a status window rose.
< Black & White the ShamShion > +19 / Unique-Grade Musket / Creator: Addison
Basic Enhancement: SS-Rank / Hole Over: Rank 3 / Basic Musket Scope
Minimum Level Restriction: 0 (Available after contract with ShamShion)
Durability: 32,000 / 32,000
Attack Power: 47,243
Range: 45,585
Accuracy: 100%
Penetration: SSS
—Additional Options—
Soul Engraving: ShamShion, the Sun Liberator
Bullet Skill Negation: 90%
Bullet Defense Penetration: 90%
—Additional Slots (6 slots, Six-Star Seal)—
"Huh!"
Ted, having taken the musket, let out an exclamation.
*It’s astounding.*
Attack power and range increased by over thirty-two times compared to before!
They were staggering figures.
The weapon with the highest attack power in Face Chronicle was the
Though its accuracy was atrocious and its fire rate like a slug’s, it was a weapon of devastating single-shot power. Its attack power was about twice that of a normal musket.
A certain American guild had once revealed the stats of a +9 Unique Two-Handed Cannon; its attack power had been 15,283.
*And this is a musket with more than twice the fire rate, yet triple the attack power.*
It could truly be called a gun that fired nuclear missiles.
Furthermore, options that hadn’t existed before had appeared.
Nonsensical options like 90% defense penetration and skill negation.
Some options had disappeared to accommodate them, but the newly born options were on a level incomparable to what was lost.
*It has six whole slots. Can a single weapon really have six slots? This is truly insane. To think a day this lucky would come in my life…*
It seemed the luck he had accumulated throughout his life had finally burst forth today.
It was truly an immeasurable surge of emotion.
It felt as though all the hard times of the past were being rewarded at once.
*With this, I can take on both organizations. Not only that, but taking rank one, my lifelong goal, will be no problem. With this… with this, it’s possible. Now it’s a smooth path forward! Long live my life!!*
Just as Ted was bouncing around in astonishment at the weapon’s monstrous performance.
Inside the smithy where only Ted and Brahman remained.
Right above that place, space began to tear open as if a mouth were opening wide—*jjjeok—*. It was a tear spanning dozens of meters.
Within it, a dark-red space that looked like hell itself was born.
"It seems the engraved soul has come to find you again this time."
Before Brahman’s words could even finish, something began to emerge from the dark-red space.
*Ruuuumble—!*
An ominous aura weighed down on Ted and Brahman’s entire bodies.
It was an enormous force, enough to make even Brahman—who had reached the level cap—tense up.
Soon, a massive horn was revealed within the torn space.
Despite the massive spatial rift spanning dozens of meters, it revealed only a single horn and one eye.
An eye that seemed ready to suck him in gazed down at Ted.
—I am ShamShion, the Sun Liberator.
He spoke in a majestic voice.
—Before I formalize the contract with you, who have summoned me here, I shall ascertain your vessel.
As soon as ShamShion finished speaking, Ted’s body slowly rose into the air.
Ted tried to say something. But his throat was constrained, and no voice came out.
*What the hell. Ascertain my vessel? That never happened before.*
Soon, Ted was sucked into the space that had opened its mouth.
—Quest Occurred—
Quest Difficulty: S
ShamShion, the Sun Liberator, has called you to the Sky Mausoleum.
Here, earn his recognition.
Will you accept?
A quest window rose in the darkness where nothing could be seen.
An S-rank difficulty, no less.
*Accept.*
—The quest will now proceed.—
At some point, Ted opened his eyes in a different space.
Just as in a dream, from a starting point he could not recall—Ted was already there.
*Above the clouds? In the sky?*
Ted looked down and was horrified.
He had glimpsed himself floating above the clouds in the sky when on a plane.
But this was not that kind of situation. To Ted’s eyes, clouds spread across the horizon like land.
The ground Ted stood on was made up of countless monster corpses.
Like pyramids, like tombs, they formed mountains stretching far into the distance.
Among them were boss-class monsters Ted had hunted or seen before, as well as gigantic monsters he had never laid eyes on.
"This is the Sky Mausoleum. The place where I obtained the Six Stars."
Someone spoke to Ted.
*Huh? That’s me.*
Yet the appearance was identical to Ted. Face, height, equipment—all of it.
Ted could tell by instinct. That human who resembled him was ShamShion, the Sun Liberator.
He continued speaking in a strict voice.
"Those who seek to claim the Six Stars must always rise from the lowest place to the highest. Power too great for the vessel is wasted. Fight me and prove your vessel."
*What the hell is he saying. Damn it. He seals my mouth and runs his mouth just fine alone. Anyway, does this mean I just have to beat him in combat?*
The moment Ted was complaining.
*Fwaa—!*
ShamShion shot through the air toward Ted.
*That’s my movement passive.*
A passive skill that lets you leap far with your first step.
He was using Ted’s skill.
The surprised Ted reacted in kind. The moment ShamShion aimed his gun muzzle at Ted, Ted also used Thousand-Leap to create distance.
*Bang—! Bang—!*
Ted dodged while simultaneously spinning his body to fire bullets at him.
A musket whose accuracy was extremely low unless scoped in.
But Ted pinpointed ShamShion’s location through the scope in a fleeting 0.2 seconds.
Ted’s signature technique, which had recently begun trending worldwide via YouTube and Paprika—Instant Zoom.
But ShamShion evaded it easily, as if he knew the technique.
*Weapon enchant,
Ted fired his skills, predicting ShamShion’s movement.
Vines made of fire snared ShamShion’s feet as he tried to dodge. At the same time, five bullets containing lightning engulfed him.
The moment Ted wondered if the attack had worked.
ShamShion sprang out from behind Ted. And while doing so, he fired
*Shadow Footprints… He’s completely my avatar.*
A skill that lets you move through shadows at short distances.
Ted also used
All of this happened before a total of ten seconds had passed.
A speed that ordinary high-level users would struggle to follow with their eyes.
*So that’s why the difficulty is S. If a thousand people received this, barely one would succeed. Fortunately, I have a chance. About seventy percent, though.*
The moment Ted’s thought ended, flames ignited on ShamShion’s forearm.
The instant Ted had used Shadow Footprints to dodge ShamShion’s attack—he had simultaneously laid a Volcanic Firevine trap in midair.
It had been a situation where dodging alone was urgent, but Ted had shown quick wit.
"Is the vessel sufficient to contain the Authority?"
ShamShion, seeing the flames on his own arm, stopped and muttered.
A brief silence fell.
Soon, ShamShion took out a Skill Orb attached to a nearby monster’s head.
A Skill Orb is a pearl containing a skill, a gem socketed into weapons or armor.
ShamShion inserted that fingernail-sized pearl into one of Black & White’s slots.
And then aimed the muzzle at Ted.
*Hwiing—!*
But for some reason, instead of a bullet, a fireball flew toward Ted.
*Magic? So that Skill Orb was a Fireball?*
The advantage of Skill Orbs is that regardless of class, one can use skills from various jobs.
Ted evaded it easily.
But using Shadow Footprints, ShamShion appeared at Ted’s side and aimed his gun again.
This time, a curtain of fire wrapped around Ted in a U-shape.
*C-rank magic
He hadn’t inserted a different Skill Orb into the slot.
Yet for some reason, a superior skill had come out.
The massive flames erased all shadows around Ted. Ted’s active movement skill was neutralized.
Ted retreated backward through the flames with a split-second judgment. He took damage, but it wasn’t severe enough to faze him.
But ShamShion was standing right where he emerged.
*Just as I expected.*
From the moment he had been piercing through the flames, Ted’s musket had been gathering light.
*
The skill with the fastest bullet speed among Ted’s skills unfolded.
A white beam erupted from the musket’s muzzle, drawing a cylinder as it flew toward ShamShion.
He had just used Shadow Footprints, so he couldn’t use a skill yet. Moreover, he shouldn’t be able to dodge. This was a sure hit.
Despite thinking so, ShamShion simply aimed his muzzle with composure.
*Hwarrrk—!!*
Soon, a powerful sphere of flames was created. A sphere of fire so intense it could melt the monster corpses nearby!
*
Flare Burning pulverized Ted’s Baekje Flash Round head-on and shot toward Ted.
Ted barely evaded it, his face painted with shock.
ShamShion was continuously casting superior magic higher up on the skill tree.
Soon, using Shadow Footprints to position himself before Ted, ShamShion turned the whole world into a sea of fire.
It was the A-rank grand fire magic,
*It’s certain. His Authority—that thing called the Six-Star Throne—is the evolution of Skill Orbs.*
Goosebumps rose on his skin. The evolution of Skill Orbs? Was such a thing even possible?
Flare Ground.
It was the superior skill to Flare Burning, a technique only used by ultra-high-level mages of level 700.
*This is dangerous. I need to get as far away as possible. The next one up on the skill tree must be Archmage-class fire magic.*
The moment Ted, trapped there, was about to lash out desperately, ShamShion’s muzzle aimed at him once more.
*Hwarrrrrk————*
Without a word, ShamShion pulled the trigger.
Soon, black flames soared up from ShamShion’s entire body, the ground, and the sky, converging at the tip of the muzzle.
S-rank. Hellfire that would not extinguish until it burned everything to ash.
It was Hell Fire.
"Have you witnessed it clearly? My Authority, the Six-Star Throne. With this, I, ShamShion the Sun Liberator, establish our contract. Now, be reborn in the infernal flames of hell. As the new vessel that shall contain me."
Before ShamShion’s words could finish, Hell Fire engulfed Ted’s body.