Episode 64
064. The Hammer Warrior and the Blacksmith
‘A darkness attribute, huh… I wonder how effective it’ll be?’
Golden Hand, having unexpectedly strengthened his mental defense in a unique way. Moreover, it was an ability that could be absorbed through magic. He wanted to test it immediately. And there were plenty of monsters here to experiment on. Even at this very moment, new monsters were likely spawning deep within the Forgotten Giants’ City.
Re-equipped, Geumson resumed his steps deeper into the city. Thanks to his enhanced abilities, his hunting speed had increased beyond comparison to before.
[Level has increased! Lv. 46]
[Insight of the Flow has reached Lv. 4.]
[Level has increased! Lv. 47]
[Low-Grade Regeneration has reached Lv. 6.]
.
.
.
[Level has increased! Lv. 50]
Crunch!
Having laid waste to the massive castle at the city’s very center, golden hand surveyed the interior. No special monsters were in sight—they had all become his experience points. Not stopping there, he began combing through the castle meticulously, searching for the ‘Infinite Chain Strike’ skill book.
‘Where on earth is the Infinite Chain Strike?’
He scoured the castle library, treasury, even the king’s bedroom, but found no trace of the skill. The items he obtained were:
[Giant’s Bone Powder]
[Frostbitten Chain]
[Giant’s Tear Gem]
[Broken Statue Finger]
[Petrified Giant’s Bloodstone]
[Dried-Up Inkwell and Giant Quill]
[Faded Silk Handkerchief]
[Pendant with a Portrait of the Giant Queen]
.
.
.
Nothing particularly special. Some items seemed like decent enough materials, but none caught Golden Hand fancy.
‘This is complete junk. What kind of dungeon is this?’
It felt somewhat lacking for a dungeon. Normally, dungeons were supposed to be full of traps and overflowing treasure. But this place was packed with monsters yet offered few worthwhile items. As time passed, a sense of impatience began to sprout within him.
‘This won’t do. Am I… missing something?’
Geumson stopped, catching his breath as he scanned his surroundings. The place was torn apart, with seemingly nowhere left to search. Even the Dungeon Core lay exposed and defenseless before his eyes. Any ordinary player would have smashed it immediately to claim the dungeon clear rewards.
But Golden Hand did not. However he thought about it, clearing the dungeon didn’t seem like it would grant ‘Infinite Chain Strike’ as a reward.
‘Seo Joo-won clearly said he got the skill book here. He didn’t say he got it from clearing the dungeon. Could that be a lie too?’
Seo Joo-won’s words had already lost their credibility. Yet, Golden Hand refrained from rashly destroying the Dungeon Core. Just looking at the items he’d obtained so far, nothing was special. It seemed unlikely that clearing the dungeon here would suddenly reward him with ‘Infinite Chain Strike.’
‘I need to search thoroughly again. It must be hidden somewhere.’
Golden Hand didn’t give up. But his next action wasn’t merely about ‘searching.’
“If I break everything, it’ll probably show up somewhere.”
Rising from the throne, Golden Hand re-gripped the ‘Hammer of Forgotten Void.’ A ferocious smile played on his lips.
“Walker, help me break this castle.”
“Walker! Woooorker!”
— Tiiiiit! Tit!
The Iron Walker roared as if excited, clashing its giant steel fists together. Tia also began fluttering excitedly, seeming to find the spectacle entertaining.
Golden Hand first swung his hammer at the massive throne before him, symbolizing the king’s authority.
[Mining[MAX] skill activates.]
Kwaaaaang-!
The throne shattered with a deafening roar, scattering fragments. golden hand’s act of destruction did not stop there.
“Smash it all! Pillars, walls, everything in sight!”
The joint demolition by golden hand’s and the Iron Walker commenced. As the hammer struck walls, thick stone barriers crumbled weakly. As the Iron Walker’s fist slammed into pillars, the ceiling shook precariously.
Crunch!
Craaack!
Rumble-!
The royal castle was rapidly transforming into ruins under the hands of the two destroyers. A being watching this merciless act of destruction was utterly flabbergasted.
‘He’s insane! That bastard is truly insane! He’s breaking the castle!’
In the Forgotten Giants’ City, where only golden handed should exist, a small shadow was secretly observing him. Hidden in the darkness, the small shadow hurriedly pulled out a thick book as large as its own body from its embrace and began flipping through it, searching for something.
Flap- Flap-
Fliiip-
The pages seemed to turn on their own before stopping. Information was written on that page—information about golden hand’s.
[Player: golden hand]
Hammer Warrior, Blacksmith
Simple information about golden hand’s. However, the peculiar point was that the information was subtly different. What was written in the book was the profession Geumson had obtained in the Age of Ruin.
Hammer Warrior and Blacksmith.
That was what was written.
“Hammer Warrior? Blacksmith? He’s nothing special… What the! What is this!”
An unremarkable profession set. Yet, the actions of the player named ‘golden hand’s’ before its eyes were completely beyond common sense. With an anxious expression, the shadow opened the thick book again.
Flap- Flap-
Fliiip-
The book moved on its own again, as if magical, beginning to find the page the shadow desired.
[Player: Seo Joo-won]
Martial Artist, Chef
The shadow gritted its teeth as it confirmed Seo Joo-won’s information.
‘Right! This guy! This guy was supposed to come… Why is this inhuman bastard here causing havoc instead?’
The small shadow nervously chewed its nails while looking at Seo Joo-won’s info, then fell into deep thought.
‘At this rate, that bastard will find it… Should I intervene? But I’ll get in trouble if I do… What to do? Agh! What to do?!’
The small shadow’s thoughts didn’t last long. A piercing gaze from a single being tore through it.
— Tiiiiit!
Tia began fluttering on Geumson’s shoulder. Her gaze was fixed precisely on the small shadow hidden in the darkness. The shadow’s eyes met Tia’s. The shadow also recognized Tia—its face turning pale.
“E, Elementia? Why is that thing… Wasn’t it extinct? Ugh… This is bad… This is really bad…”
Realizing something was terribly wrong, the small shadow seemed to ponder something. It appeared to make a decision.
“Tch! I have no choice! I’ll get in trouble if I intervene… but I can’t let him get that skill too! Absolutely not!”
The small shadow began channeling magic into a magic circle hidden within the royal castle. Unaware of this, golden hand’s remained solely focused on the castle’s destruction.
— Tit! Tit! Tap tap- Tiat!
Suddenly, Tia began fussing on his shoulder. Her reaction made him a little worried.
“Hmm… Is the noise too loud? Sorry, I’ll finish quickly. Let’s hurry, Walker! Looks like our Tia got scared.”
“Woooorker!”
“Be careful not to make it collapse, but break it well. It’s definitely hidden somewhere.”
golden hand’s began breaking the castle, even activating Intuition of Resolve and Insight of the Flow. At that moment, near the throne’s base, a faint red dot and a blue dot appeared, overlapping.
‘Huh? Why there…?’
He was sure he had broken everything. Yet, a red dot was visible. That meant…
‘There it is!’
golden hand’s was certain. Beneath the piled debris of the shattered throne, the faintly glowing overlap of red and blue dots. That was no simple weakness. It was clear evidence of an artificially hidden space.
“Walker, break that spot under the throne. Not too hard, just that exact point.”
“Walker! Worker!”
The Iron Walker moved its massive body toward the throne. golden hand’s climbed onto its shoulder and pointed to the precise spot with his finger.
“Yes, right there. Use only about 30% strength.”
The Iron Walker’s giant steel fist descended towards the indicated spot—softly, yet with immense weight.
Thud-
Creeeak-
With a dull sound, spiderweb-like cracks began spreading across the marble floor. Without hesitation, Geumson reached into the crevice and cleared away the broken pieces.
There, from within the dust-covered darkness, a small treasure chest emerged, old yet engraved with intricate patterns.
[You have discovered a hidden treasure chest.]
[‘Ancient Explorer’ achievement effect activates.]
[Detecting traps around the chest.]
‘So there was a trap.’
golden hand’s stopped his hand as he was about to open the chest. Faint threads of magical energy, invisible even to Intuition of Resolve and Insight of the Flow, connected the chest to the floor. Likely, opening the chest would trigger a powerful magic spell meant to turn the intruder to ash.
‘It’s a bit crude, but… should I just smash it whole?’
He could see the red and blue dots. However, he couldn’t be sure how the magic on the chest would react if he forced it open.
‘It’ll be… fine, right?’
Just as he picked up his hammer with a sense of unease, Tia pecked his shoulder with her beak.
— Tit! Tii-
“Huh? You can do it?”
— Tiat!
Tia wore an expression that seemed to say, “Leave it to me.” As Geumson nodded, Tia fluttered over and landed on the chest.
Peck-
Peck peck-
Ping-
It looked like Tia had just randomly pecked at it a few times. But what golden hand’s saw was completely different.
‘The magic… it’s being dispelled? No, is she devouring the magical effect placed on the treasure chest?’
Tia, who devoured items to take their power, seemed to be consuming the magical effect on the chest as well.
‘No change in attribute. That’s a bit disappointing.’
He checked her attributes, but there was no notable change. It seemed the magical power was too weak to trigger any special attribute blossoming.
