A café in some city.
By the time I had finished a warm latte, two women entered the shop.
They were Pyo Yeojeong and Lee Minyeong.
Pyo Yeojeong wore a hat, a mask, and a pair of glasses that did not suit her at all. It was obvious she had tried hard to hide her identity.
Lee Minyeong, on the other hand, showed up in comfortable clothes. Even so, the impression she gave off was entirely different from usual. If you did not consciously recognize her, you might mistake her for someone else.
“An agent indeed….”
“Heh, what do you think? Don’t I look cool?”
“You stopped being cool the moment you said that.”
“Aww.”
The reason I had called them today was simple.
To uncover the truth behind the barrier ring announced by the Hunter Association.
“But is there really anything we can do?”
“To be honest, it is something we have to approach carefully. It could end up looking like the government is suppressing a private company.”
Pyo Yeojeong and Lee Minyeong responded with concern.
They were right.
According to the article, there was no issue with the ring’s performance.
“But if that ring is fake, that changes the story.”
No matter how I thought about it, it was impossible for the hunters to replicate a mana barrier ring in such a short time.
They had definitely used some kind of trick.
“Deputy Commander, you really have to listen without misunderstanding, okay? I think you’re an amazing and outstanding blacksmith. I don’t know much about metallurgy and all that either. Honestly, I’m being really careful saying this, but—”
“Why are you beating around the bush so much?”
“Don’t think you’re the only one who can make it. That’s a sickness too, you know.”
Pyo Yeojeong said indifferently.
From how they saw it, they seemed to think I was being unreasonable because of my pride.
“After all, you’ve only been Awakened for a month. Those bastards have been living as Awakened for thirty years. Their technology is bound to be better.”
“That’s true. It’s infuriating that they kept it hidden all this time and only revealed it now, but….”
That would have been true before I had the knowledge I obtained from the Gallery.
I spread several blueprints out on the table.
“Rings, necklaces, bracelets…. What’s this?”
“Artifact blueprints.”
“Are blueprints usually like this? Why are they so complicated?”
“There are a lot of things to consider with mana artifacts.”
The blueprints I had ripped off from the Gallery included the locations of necessary nodes, methods for injecting mana, and so on.
“This is the blueprint for the ring we sell. I usually cut about ten grams of kobold scrap metal and use that, but as preliminary work, I remove the unnecessary nodes and leave only the core nodes. At this size, the nodes are so densely packed that they practically glow on their own.”
“What the hell are you saying?”
“The barrier ring is relatively easy because its core nodes are clustered in one place. Anyway, what comes next is important. While heating the iron and shaping it, you have to track the nodes as they bounce around and maintain the connections. At the very least, while keeping mana connected to one core node—”
“Um…! Deputy Commander, I’m sorry, but I still don’t really understand….”
“Don’t talk about things only you understand.”
Tsk.
Clicking my tongue, I took a ring out of my pocket.
It was one I had made with a different design from the usual barrier ring.
Lee Minyeong picked up the ring and examined it from every angle.
“It’s pretty. Can I try it on?”
“If you wear it, it explodes after thirty seconds.”
“Eek!”
Startled, Lee Minyeong quickly put the ring down.
“The operating mechanism of the two rings is the same. When the trigger activates, the barrier deploys.”
“Th-then why does this one self-destruct…?”
“Because I altered two lines of nodes. One is to activate the barrier the moment it’s worn, and the other suppresses the mana so it can’t escape outside the ring.”
“……?”
“The principle is that the mana, which should be discharged and serve as a barrier, gets trapped inside the ring and surges violently, until it eventually can’t withstand the pressure and causes a mana explosion.”
You could think of it like putting sealed food in a microwave.
“The reason you showed us this ring is….”
“It means artifact production is an extremely sensitive and difficult process. Making an artifact without the production method is like hoping a monkey will hammer away at a typewriter and write Shakespeare.”
If you connect nodes at random, it will not even function.
It is like how pressing Alt and F4 on a computer closes a window, but if you press Alt, F4, 5, Enter, the Giyeok key, the space bar, and a bunch of other things all at once, nothing in particular happens.
That was why the sword hilt I made before had no special function despite having over a hundred nodes attached.
“Then shouldn’t we assume they know the production method over there too?”
“If hunters had this level of understanding and technical skill, would they really have let it sit unused?”
They would have gone all out to make weapons and armor.
A real hunter blacksmith would have been born in no time.
And yet they were still relying on items farmed from the Tower.
“I get what you mean.”
“They must have used some kind of trick, or made the ring through an abnormal method.”
“Right? Then let’s get going.”
“Wait. I haven’t finished this yet.”
“Ask them to put it in a takeout cup.”
“I have a tumbler with me. Ah! I should’ve asked them to put it in the tumbler from the start. Then I would’ve gotten a discount.”
In some places, not a single cop shows up even if guns are fired wildly outdoors.
In another place, they give tumbler discounts in the name of protecting the environment.
What a shitty world, really.
***
The distance to our destination was only about one kilometer.
Even though it was close enough to reach quickly on foot, we traveled in an unofficial vehicle from the Mercenary Agency.
They even assigned us a driver.
Lee Minyeong sat in the passenger seat, and Pyo Yeojeong and I sat in the back.
I quietly scooted a little closer to Pyo Yeojeong.
“Are you all right?”
“With what?”
“Various things. Stuff related to me, and what’s happening now.”
“I just have to think I’m fine. You said there’s no backing out anyway.”
“……Then that’s a relief.”
I put some distance between us again.
How many seconds did we travel like that?
The car came to a stop.
“Are we already here?”
“Ah, no, sir. There’s such a crowd at the entrance road that we can’t go any farther in.”
“We’ll get out here. We can walk.”
“I’m sorry, Deputy Commander.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Receiving a rather burdensome apology, I got out of the car.
We were near an old traditional market.
From here, the target location was only a hundred meters away.
In other words, there was a human barrier a hundred meters thick stretching all the way to the target location.
“Good grief, why did so many people come?”
“They’re saying they’ll give you an extra life for free. How could people not come?”
“Then they should sell it somewhere spacious.”
“They’re drawing attention. If it’s a narrow place, it makes the crowd look much bigger.”
“There must also be a reason it’s specifically a traditional market.”
“Isn’t it for image-making? Making themselves look pro-common people?”
Ridiculous.
We forced our way into the crowded market.
Had we moved about fifty meters?
A singing voice calling in customers began to reach our ears.
It was the voice of a girl who seemed, at most, to be in middle or high school.
[If you miss Gu Cheonhwan’s mana barrier ring, you’ll surely regret it♪]
[A simple chance to save your family’s lives, right now, today only♪]
Compared to her young voice, the lyrics were painfully tacky.
The girl singing seemed embarrassed herself, her face flushed red.
“Yeojeong, who do you think she is?”
“Who knows. Family?”
“Have you seen Gu Cheonhwan’s face? Absolutely not.”
“Her mother could be pretty.”
“That’s not it either. I just checked, and she doesn’t show up as Gu Cheonhwan’s family or as a registered hunter. There’s no information on her at all.”
When did you figure that out?
A mysterious girl who had appeared out of nowhere.
She was clearly someone to watch.
“She’s probably a part-timer.”
“Yeojeong, would you do that if someone paid you? She looks like her face is about to explode right now.”
“Sorry. She’s definitely not a part-timer.”
We took up a position where we could see the girl clearly.
Just then, the song ended.
The girl immediately began selling rings to the citizens.
“This is the mana barrier ring Hunter Gu Cheonhwan made with his honor on the line.”
“Give me ten of those!”
“…I’m sorry, but each person can only purchase up to two.”
“What kind of rule is that? Hurry up and give me the rings!”
“Do you take cards?”
“…There’s a discount if you pay in cash.”
“Over here! Over here!”
Gu Cheonhwan’s rings were selling like hotcakes.
Everyone held out their cards as if possessed.
Each one cost a million won, but no one seemed to think the money was a waste.
If you could buy an extra life for one million won, I admit even I would be tempted.
Still, shouldn’t you at least consider it carefully before buying?
“Wait!”
“Huh?”
“What are you doing! You said we’d just take a quick look and leave, Deputy Commander!”
“Shouldn’t they show the ring’s performance before selling it? How are we supposed to know whether that’s a barrier ring or a candy ring?”
At my point, the girl’s face stiffened.
It was not an expression of having been struck in a sore spot, nor one of displeasure.
It was as if she were trembling in fear—
“Who said they were curious about the ring’s performance?”
A man walked out from behind the stage.
He had a massive build, easily twice the size of an average adult man.
It was the D-rank hunter, Gu Cheonhwan.
“I hear there’s a customer who wants to test the ring.”
“That would be me.”
“You must have seen the news article too. Are you saying you can’t trust the Hunter Association?”
“Of course not. However, if one needs to decide whether to run or fight in a dangerous situation, shouldn’t one know the strength of the shield?”
“Haha! Performance, huh? Performance! Right, performance is important!”
Gu Cheonhwan chuckled as he approached the girl.
“Watch closely. I’m going to use my full strength.”
“What? Wait!”
Gu Cheonhwan threw a punch at the girl.
Booom—!
A powerful shockwave spread out behind the girl’s back.
It happened without even a chance to stop him.
Everyone stared at the girl with startled eyes.
“Ugh….”
The girl… merely clutched her abdomen and did not appear to be in danger of dying.
The mana barrier coating her skin had protected her.
It had not completely blocked the attack of a mere D-rank hunter, and the barrier was distorted unsightly, looking so unstable it seemed it might go out at any moment.
But it had certainly activated.
“How’s that! She’s fine, isn’t she!”
“Yes, ugh, I’m fine… I am. Ugh….”
“You see that? If there hadn’t been a barrier, you wouldn’t have found a single piece of this bitch’s body.”
“…….”
“If you get it, then buy the damn ring and get lost. Hey, you! Why aren’t you taking these people’s money already!”
With that, Gu Cheonhwan disappeared behind the stage.
And the people left behind, along with the girl—
“I’ll take two rings too.”
“H-here you go….”
—bought and sold every remaining ring.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the sight of a girl surviving a D-rank hunter’s fist had awakened an unbearably desperate desire to own the rings.
This really was a shitty world.
***
The next day.
The same three people gathered in a different place in the same city.
The reason we had gathered was simple.
For the girl.
“Will it be all right? If we move rashly, your identity could be exposed, Deputy Commander.”
“Yeah. You said you were going to live quietly.”
“It’s not like I’m going off to shoot an action movie.”
“Then what?”
“I’m only going to headhunt. Safely.”
To find a new employee for Prydwen.