Chapter 101

Chapter 101

It was about ten minutes later when James Hunter reported that there were no traps and it was safe. By then, I was stuck between Jeong Seojin and Adam Rogers, who were engaged in some strange tension, and I was suffering quite a bit. For the record, Hunter Joo Minjeong was watching me and those two with great interest.

“Joo Minju really should’ve seen this.”

“If she had actually seen it, I would’ve been in real trouble in many ways…”

She was already the type who, because of the whole Jeong Seojin thing, got super excited and asked if there was any progress between us—not just when we met face to face, but even over the phone. If she found out that even Adam was acting this bizarrely, she’d get so worked up she might destroy the environment around her.

I recalled Hunter Joo Minju saying things like, “Since it’s come to this, just completely conquer that bastard Jeong Seojin!” or, “You’ve got something going on with Yoon Juyeong too, right? Huh? Be honest with me,” during our check-in calls, and I made a thoroughly pale face.

When I moved a bit closer with Hunter Joo Minjeong, Jeong Seojin, and Adam to see Caliburn, it was even more beautiful than I had imagined. Was it because it was a legendary sword? Even though items that seemed to have brought an entire fantasy world with them were overflowing, actual equipment items were often not that flashy or beautiful, so this was a pretty special case.

“Wow… how is it this pretty? It doesn’t really match the legendary King Arthur’s Caliburn, does it?”

“…Pretty? I think it just looks nice because it’s simple.”

While I was examining the round ornament surrounding the sword’s hilt, I heard that conversation from behind me. I forgot about examining Caliburn for a moment and turned around to look at the two of them.

“…Simple? No matter how I look at it, it’s not a simple shape, is it?”

“…It’s just a straightforward composition with only what’s necessary… Wait. Joo Minjeong. And Joo… no, Yoon Seohee. How does this sword look to you? Try describing it a bit.”

“What’s with the sudden description… To my eyes, it looks like a flashy sword with jewels all over it. Even just on the pommel, there’s a huge gem embedded. And there are quite a few gems on the blade too.”

“…To my eyes, it doesn’t seem that extreme. The only parts with gems are the pommel and the ornament wrapping the hilt; the blade part is ordinary. …No, maybe not ordinary?”

I narrowed my brows slightly and carefully examined Caliburn once more. Then, after a short while, I nodded and finished my thought.

“The blade part… doesn’t seem to be sharpened. I mean, honestly, it’s beautiful, but it doesn’t look like it has any utility as a weapon.”

“What? To my eyes, it looks sharp enough to kill a few people right now.”

“That’s because Caliburn is a sword that is influenced by its owner’s mental image.”

Adam Rogers, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, cautiously chimed in. All three of us stared at him with puzzled expressions. Adam met the three pairs of eyes directed at him with a smile and continued his explanation about Caliburn.

“Caliburn has the property of changing its form to what its owner desires or needs. Of course, right now there’s no rightful owner, so…”

“So it looks different to each person who sees it.”

Jeong Seojin nodded as if he understood roughly. Joo Minjeong and I also nodded shortly after. Thinking about it, it really didn’t seem like the legendary great King Arthur would have used the sword I was seeing now.

‘No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like a sword meant for actually cutting people.’

Rather, it looked like a design for ceremonial or decorative purposes. I looked at Caliburn once more. It was fascinating to think that the Caliburn I was seeing now was what I ‘desired.’

“Hunter Yoon Seohee.”

“Yes?”

Judging that enough time had passed for us to observe Caliburn, James Hunter called my name in his characteristic dull voice. I lifted my head and met James Hunter’s dark green eyes.

“Are you fully prepared to draw the sword? If you need any preliminary preparations…”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t need anything special beforehand.”

Since all I had to do was use ‘Ruler’s Garden’ on this sword, no separate preparation was necessary. James Hunter nodded once at my words and then immediately led me to the front of Caliburn.

“Do I need any special procedure?”

“Yes. After using a skill related to ownership of the object on the sword, you can draw it immediately. Of course, once the ‘Gate’ opens, you must relinquish ownership right away.”

“Understood.”

I recalled the terms specified in the contract and nodded. Then, I immediately reached both hands toward Caliburn and activated a familiar skill.

“Using ‘Ruler’s Garden.’”

As always, an incredibly dazzling light burst forth. But this time, there was a slightly different reaction. I stared at Caliburn with wide eyes.

‘Huh?’

I couldn’t exactly put it into words, but something was definitely different. Normally, when I used the skill, I never felt anything in particular, but this time was different. I frowned at the heavy, constricting sensation lodged in my chest.

‘It’s not… painful. But something…’

‘Ruler’s Garden’ was supposed to be a skill where I exerted dominion over a target, so why was I the one feeling restrained? My face hardened at this utterly bizarre phenomenon. And as if my expression made them think I’d failed, a voice tinged with embarrassment rang out.

“…Hunter Yoon Seohee, did the skill activation perhaps…?”

“Ah, sorry. It’s not that. The skill definitely activated properly.”

I answered James Hunter while continuing to stare at Caliburn. Right. My skill had definitely been applied to Caliburn. As of this moment, Caliburn was mine. Wasn’t my status window even stating that Caliburn was in my possession right now?

I glanced sideways at the status window and equipment description window floating in front of me.

<Status Window>

Name / Age: Yoon Seohee (尹胥喜) / 27

Awakened: Y

Rank: S?

Awakened Skills:

―Mana * Holy (C+)

―Ruler’s Garden (S)

└Skill Applied Targets: Yoon Juyeong (S), Blackie (A), Jeong Seojin (S+), Caliburn (EX)

This side wasn’t particularly different from usual. What actually caught my attention was…

<The Great King’s Sword—Caliburn (EX)>

The sword used by the great king Arthur of a now-decayed world, who had brought his own story to an end. Blessed by the sun and moon, the lake and the fairies, it was promised to be eternally radiant, honorable, benevolent, and mysterious.

Only those with a strong mind and body, possessing a noble soul, and who are honorable can wield it.

It has the property of changing its form to reflect the owner’s mental image. As a ‘King’s Sword,’ it dominates all ‘Knight Swords.’

―Form transformation according to owner’s mental image

―Durability damage and destruction impossible

―Automatic oath of loyalty from Knight Sword owners

―Holy attribute mana correction (S)

―Light attribute mana correction (S)

―Wind attribute mana correction (S)

…

―Automatic resurrection upon owner’s death (1/1)

“Holy crap, what is this…?”

The options on this sword were endless. Not only did it have mana corrections for all attributes except rare ones—Holy, Light, Wind, Water, Fire, and so on—but the option that durability damage and destruction were outright ‘impossible’ was also extremely eye-catching.

Good grief. I’d seen items with no durability damage before, but this was the first time I’d ever seen an item with an option that made destruction itself completely impossible.

‘But that one’s still the most surprising.’

I stared wide-eyed at the option at the very bottom.

―Conditional resurrection upon owner’s death (1/1)

‘It’s only once, but… resurrection? Really?’

No matter how much dungeon items each had effects that defied the laws of physics, the option on this sword was on a whole different level. Among all the dungeon items that had appeared so far, not a single one could interfere with a person’s life like this. I forced down the groan that threatened to escape and narrowed my brow.

‘So this is why it’s EX-Rank?’

EX-Rank was a rank easily given to items whose conditions for use were not disclosed, or which had conditions that should not or could not be fulfilled. But for such items, if the conditions were somehow met, or if the conditions were removed through adjustment via my ‘Ruler’s Garden,’ it was common for the rank to change from EX to S-Rank.

But not this sword, Caliburn.

‘Even though all conditions are disclosed and active, it’s still EX-Rank.’

That meant the effects it possessed were so overwhelmingly powerful that it received a judgment of ‘unmeasurable (EX)’ rather than ‘out-of-rank (EX).’

‘I need to finish my job and hand over ownership as soon as possible.’

Even if it was just part of the job, having a sword like this in my possession was far too burdensome. I glanced at James Hunter, who was watching my actions, and immediately reached my hand toward Caliburn. Now that it was mine, all I had to do was pull it from the rock, open the gate, and then immediately release the skill—and my part would be done.

“It’s warm.”

I carefully gripped Caliburn’s hilt, and it was surprisingly warm—almost as if it had been heated by a person’s body temperature. I tightened my hold on the hilt and began to pull it from the rock, cautiously.

“Easy…”

Even though I was the sword’s owner, I’d thought pulling it from the stone would be quite difficult. But contrary to my expectations, Caliburn slid out of the rock with remarkable ease.

Holding the fully extracted Caliburn, I stared at the ‘gate.’ Just then, the red door emblazoned with a golden dragon began to move with a tremendous roar.