Chapter 43
<What is written there? It doesn’t look like ancient script since I can’t read it. Hmm, is it a language of the continent?>
It was natural for Entur to react this way.
After all, the characters written in the notebook were from the language of my original world—Earth.
Specifically, English and Korean.
‘My god.’
While Entur wore a puzzled expression, for me it was a moment that sent chills down my entire body.
In this world, people used the “Continental Common Language,” a fictional script that didn’t exist on Earth.
And naturally, when I possessed this body, knowledge of the Continental Common Language had been implanted into me.
Yet suddenly, English and Korean?
Moreover, the content itself was far from ordinary.
‘……Don’t tell me the “GM” written here is the same GM as in Game Master?’
If that was the case,
And if this notebook was something left behind by the game administrator,
‘It might be a clue.’
It could serve as a key hint toward my ultimate goal:
‘Returning to Earth.’
“Holy shit.”
Even with <Iron-Blood Heart>, my heart was pounding wildly.
I had no idea why killing the Soul Eater caused this to drop, but the reason didn’t matter.
I swallowed hard and opened the notebook with trembling hands.
And then,
“…….”
On the first page of the notebook,
I felt as if I had been struck hard in the back of the head by the single line written in large letters.
[Main Quest 21 Entry Route]
“……What?”
Seeing the number 21, I blinked for a moment, wondering if I had misread it.
After all……
‘The main quests in <Soden> end at 20, right?’
I could say with certainty that there was no 21st main quest.
As I had mentioned before, <Soden> was a notoriously premature game that rolled the staff credits immediately after defeating the Demon Emperor, without even an epilogue.
This applied to everyone—Demian, Ray, Sylvia, Kara, Arthur, and Bismarck. No exceptions.
Yet here it was, suddenly talking about entering Main Quest 21?
“…….”
I tried to stay calm and turned the page to read the rest of the content carefully.
However,
<There isn’t a single intact part. Isn’t this just scrap at this point?>
“Goddammit.”
……Every page after the first had been torn out. As if someone had deliberately ripped them away.
My hands trembled as I flipped through the pages in rising anger.
Fuck, they had torn out almost everything, leaving only the top corners so I couldn’t even infer the content.
Flip…… Flip…….
Still, I kept turning the pages, hoping at least one intact page remained, but……
There was nothing until the very end.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Why even give it if it’s like this?
Just as I was about to throw it away in frustration, my hand stopped.
At the bottom corner of the back cover, I discovered a small handwritten note.
I narrowed my eyes and hurriedly checked what it said.
- ……If the notebook is heavily damaged due to aftereffects, go find OS.
‘OS…….’
If my memory was correct, OS was an NPC located in the <Land of Twisted Valleys> in the far east of the continent.
However, OS wasn’t exactly a normal NPC……
Because she was something like the administrator’s owner character.
Like the NPCs commonly seen in other games who only existed to deliver patch notes, announcements, event quest information, and the like.
OS could be considered the same.
What was unexpected, though, was……
‘OS exists in this world too?’
I had assumed she didn’t.
In this world that was practically another reality, the presence of an administrator’s owner character NPC felt distinctly out of place.
But since it was explicitly mentioned in the notebook, it seemed my assumption had been wrong.
<You seem to be able to read the writing in the notebook. What does it say?>
“It says to go to the <Land of Twisted Valleys>.”
In any case, that was the destination I was planning to head to after the weapon was completed.
‘Because that’s where the second Main Quest — 「Demon Festival」 begins.’
After roughly organizing my future plans, I carefully closed the notebook and stored it inside the ‘Hole Bag.’
Now, all that remained was to mine the Vulcart and leave this place.
Just as I was about to create a pickaxe with <Blood Weapon>,
Saaaak—.
“……!”
At the sudden ominous energy I felt, I quickly sharpened my senses and turned around.
A pale, hazy current was rising like smoke from the spot where I had blown up the Soul Eater earlier.
Wondering if there was some surprise second phase, I raised my blood ki, but……
-You saved my soul. I am truly grateful.
The rising current quickly took the shape of a person.
What soon appeared was a man wearing a flowing long robe.
Though his form was blurry like thick fog, judging from the context, it was obvious who he was.
“The Martial God.”
-Martial God… That title doesn’t suit someone like me, whose body and soul were devoured by a mere evil spirit.
<That’s not wrong.>
-…….
<Hmm? What? You can hear this body’s voice? Ah. Since you’re the same kind of spiritual body, I must be visible to you.>
I glanced briefly at the ancient dragon, who had no filter, and observed the Martial God’s reaction.
His form was too blurry to clearly see his expression, but it was obvious he had become deeply somber.
-When I was still alive, I once fell into a qi deviation after dabbling in demonic arts and was on the brink of death. That was when the evil spirit took my body.
“An unavoidable accident.”
-Khm. Thank you for understanding.
“I won’t apologize for doing that to your body. It was unavoidable if I wanted to win against the Soul Eater.”
-There’s no need to apologize. It was a body that was already dying from qi deviation anyway. Rather, I should be the one thanking you. You saved my soul.
The Martial God, having expressed his gratitude, extended his hand toward me.
I thought he wanted to shake hands, but that wasn’t it. In his hand was a crystal orb emitting a faint light.
When I looked at him with a questioning gaze, the Martial God continued.
-It is an essence containing a fragment of my soul. Although I met a shameful end, I spent my entire life pursuing only martial arts. My soul should undoubtedly be of help to you.
“…….”
-Please accept it as my way of repaying your kindness.
I felt a slight reluctance at receiving a soul fragment from someone who had fallen into qi deviation, but……
I soon shook my head inwardly and accepted it. I didn’t sense any harmful energy from the essence.
Suuu—.
When I reached out, the essence melted and naturally seeped into my body.
Immediately after,
[You have absorbed ‘Fragment of the Martial God’s Soul’!]
[You have acquired the Passive Skill, ‘Martial Soul’!]
‘A passive skill?’
I had expected it would only raise my stats a little, but it was a skill.
I checked it right away.
【Martial Soul】
Your stats increase slightly the longer combat continues.
- Increases by 15% of base stats every 10 minutes.
- Applies for up to 30 minutes.
“……!”
I was shocked as I read the skill’s effect.
A 15% increase each time…… and it was considered “slight”?
If it applied for up to 30 minutes, that meant a final stat increase of 45%.
‘What kind of insane passive skill is this?’
Fighting for just 30 minutes would grant nearly half of my current stats as additional stats.
No playable character had such an absurd power-up type skill.
Moreover, it was a passive. There was no need to consume blood ki to activate it, nor any penalties to bear.
‘With this, it was more than worth risking my life to defeat the Soul Eater.’
Having gained the best reward beyond my expectations, the corners of my mouth naturally rose.
The Martial God, seeing my reaction, spoke in a gentle tone.
-I am glad it was enough to repay you.
“Mm.”
-It is time for me to depart. It is truly a shame in many ways. If we had met in the same era, we could have had a meaningful discussion about the martial arts we each pursued……
The Martial God muttered with a wistful voice and vanished like a mirage.
I quietly stared at the spot where he had been for a moment, offering a silent prayer for his soul, then created a pickaxe with <Blood Weapon> again.
<Are you going to mine that Vulcart or whatever it’s called?>
“Yeah. I need to finish this quickly and leave this tiresome place.”
<You really don’t have any time to rest. You poor thing…… Why are there two pickaxes?>
Instead of answering, I tossed one pickaxe to Entur.
“Help out.”
<You insolent fool! Not only did you ask me to break the barrier, now you’re forcing me to do manual labor—.>
“You couldn’t break it, though.”
<……>
***
“Uh!”
“He’s back! That man is coming back!”
“I-I can’t believe it. He really came back alive from there……?”
Riter Village.
The residents looked at Ruth walking from afar with wide-eyed shock.
They hadn’t expected him to charge into the criminal organization’s headquarters alone and actually return alive.
Even though they had held onto the belief that he would survive, seeing it with their own eyes left them utterly astonished.
Step, step, step—.
As Ruth approached, the villagers parted like the Red Sea.
In the silence where everyone’s attention was focused on him, Ruth spoke in a calm voice.
“From now on, the <Silver Snake Group> and the Monster of the Mountain will never trouble you again. Ever.”
The final word he added.
“Ever.”
In other words, he had killed them all.
It was the best possible news for the people, yet there were no cheers.
“R-really……?”
“S-so from now on… we don’t have to live in fear anymore?”
“No, more importantly, he really went alone and took care of those bastards and the Monster of the Mountain……?”
“T-that’s impossible.”
Everyone was somewhat dazed, unable to immediately accept the sudden reality.
However,
Whoosh—!
“……?!”
The moment Ruth poured out the money and items he had swept from the mine’s secret vault from the ‘Hole Pocket’, the people’s eyes widened all at once.
Everything that had been taken from them under the pretext of tribute was now returned before their eyes.
Ruth warned the frozen, astonished villagers.
“Take only what belongs to you. Don’t covet what belongs to others.”
“Ah…….”
And so, starting with someone’s tearful sigh,
Waaaaaaaaah—!!
A roar that seemed to shake the entire village finally erupted.
The people, filled with excitement, maintained order among themselves as they reclaimed their stolen money and belongings.
With a monster even more monstrous than the Monster of the Mountain standing right in front of them watching, who would dare try anything funny?
Some people, while gathering their money and items, bowed deeply to Ruth and expressed their gratitude.
Seeing their reactions, it was clear just how severe the <Silver Snake Group>’s exploitation had been.
A short while later.
“Ah, aah! S-Sir Ruth! W-what are all these wounds on your body?!”
“A-are you alright?”
When it was their turn, Jackson and Nora saw Ruth’s condition up close and were at a loss.
Having just come back from a life-or-death battle, his entire body was covered in cuts and gashes.
Rather than worrying about their own reclaimed money and belongings, the two were more concerned about their benefactor’s state.
Grateful for their kind hearts, Ruth gave a faint smile that was barely noticeable.
“They’re wounds that will heal quickly if I apply some red stuff. Don’t worry too much.”
“No, that’s not the kind of thing that heals with just some potion…….”
What Ruth called “red stuff” was blood, but Jackson had no way of knowing that.
He simply kept glancing at Ruth with worried eyes even as he gathered their stolen money and items.
“……Huh?”
Then, spotting something among the pile of items on the ground, his expression hardened.
A small stone engraved with rune characters.
Not only Jackson, but Nora also opened her mouth so wide her jaw nearly hit the floor.
“G-Grandfather. This is……!”
“T-the Rune of the Master Craftsman!”
Seeing their intense reaction, Ruth tilted his head.
“Rune of the Master Craftsman?”
“It’s one of our family’s three great heirlooms! It was taken by those bastards as tribute before! Since it’s an extremely precious treasure, I thought they had already sold it or hidden it somewhere we could never find……!”
Having regained the family heirloom he thought was lost forever, Jackson’s eyes turned red with emotion.
“With this…… with this, I can use the Steel & Anvil family’s treasure for its rightful purpose…… What greater honor could there be for a blacksmith!”
“Rightful purpose?”
“The Rune of the Master Craftsman is the one and only rune stone in the world that permanently grants magical effects to weapons. My father told me never to use it unless it was a moment where I had to stake my very soul.”
A moment where he had to stake his soul.
A moment where he had to pour everything into creating a masterpiece.
Until now, Jackson had never faced such a moment.
Yes. Until now.
But now was different.
“I will use the Rune of the Master Craftsman on the sword I make for you, Sir Ruth.”
An opportunity to repay the benefactor who had freed them from the family curse.
If not now, when else would he stake his soul?
Meanwhile, Ruth still had questions. Since this development had never occurred in the game, he had no knowledge about the Rune of the Master Craftsman.
“What kind of magical effect does the Rune of the Master Craftsman grant?”
“It’s simple. It—”
And Jackson’s following answer was truly a statement powerful enough to shake the very foundations of <Soden>’s item system.