Chapter 222

Artemus's forge.

The scene there differed significantly from the typical image of a forge that one might imagine.

'It's filled with machinery.'

Rather than a medieval space, Artemus's forge resembled a state-of-the-art laboratory. The pristine interior was packed with intricate machines, and at the back, large test tubes were lined up.

'But what's inside those test tubes… Is that a brain?'

Inside the test tubes filled with white liquid, numerous objects resembling brains, slightly smaller than human ones, floated. And in front of those tubes, a machine was automatically creating metal masses.

'That metal… It looks similar to the materials for Artemus's legion's equipment.'

As Seong Jihan observed this, he heard Artemus's voice.

[&$(Percent… Oh, can you hear the translation?]

"Huh."

[Okay. The translation sync is correct. Come this way.]

Kurururu…

A white light shimmered from a corner of the forge's wall, revealing a hidden space. As Seong Jihan entered, a bald dwarf shook his hand, saying:

"Welcome. Comrade of Space 4."

This dwarf resembled the one Seong Jihan had seen when Artemus summoned his legion, but there was a difference in the body. His right leg and right arm were abnormally enlarged. The left leg and left arm were similar in size to regular dwarves, compensated by mechanical equipment to match the size of the right side.

"Are you Artemus?"

"Yes."

Nodding, Artemus looked at his arms and legs.

"How does my arms and legs look?"

"They don't seem to match your torso."

"Modifying the torso costs too much. I'll do it later."

"Hmm… Is this the race improvement you mentioned last time?"

As Seong Jihan observed Artemus's enlarged limbs, he recalled Artemus's words from their previous conversation.

-Oh, right. Did you also stay on BattleNet to improve your race? In that case, as a senior, I can give you advice. There's an optimal route for what options to buy for the lowest-tier races.

Artemus, showing familiarity to Seong Jihan as a fellow from a weak race, mentioned this. Was this what he referred to as race improvement?

While Seong Jihan was contemplating Artemus's appearance, Artemus gave a nod and exerted strength in his right arm.

The bulging muscles swelled, and the right arm, growing larger, ripped through the clothing.

"See this! Just by giving strength to my fist, the clothes don't tear like this. The properly transplanted arm of a White Ogre. It's perfectly integrated!"

"But why didn't you do the left one?"

"The cost is too high. Implanting it only on me is cheap, but applying it to all of our dwarf race is another matter."

"Hmm… Was such a thing possible on BattleNet?"

"Your race is still new, so the options haven't opened yet. They'll be available soon. Can you imagine the shock for everyone if they all had it?"

Seong Jihan cocked his head.

He had experienced BattleNet for a while in his past life, but never heard of such options.

'Was it not available because of our low rank?'

For now, Seong Jihan put this information from Artemus in the back of his mind as he opened his inventory.

"Is this what you wanted?"

The Hell Devil Palace Crystal.

The item retrieved from the inventory was no larger than a fist, not much different from an ordinary rock. The only difference was its color – a shining black.

Seong Jihan presented the item to Artemus.

The hellish rock gleamed with a deep crimson hue but showed no other particular characteristics.

Yet.

"Oh, oh… yes, that's right! The Hell Devil Palace Crystal. You've brought it properly!"

Artemus was visibly excited upon seeing the Hell Devil Palace Crystal.

"Now I can operate the forge again! Quickly, give it to me!"

"I'm expecting service before payment, though."

"Now, you… I need the crystal to start the forge again, see? Just hand it over."

"What if you just take it and run?"

"…Take it and run… is that correctly translated?"

"Yes."

Artemus's face reddened.

"What nonsense. The greatest blacksmith in the universe, Artemus, subjected to such disgraceful…!"

"You never know what goes on in the world."

"If you have doubts, just browse the BattleNet community! I'm swamped with requests from races desiring my service, and you dare come at me like this… Don't you plan to do business with me again in the future?"

"Oh, there's a community? Never seen one."

"…Ah, right. Your Race. You guys are the newcomers."

Seeing Seong Jihan, who didn't even know about the existence of the BattleNet community, Artemus sighed.

"Fine. Let's use the BattleNet authenticated contract. But you'll bear the commission fee."

Then a system window appeared before Seong Jihan.

[If player 'Seong Jihan' hands over the Hell Devil Palace Crystal, player 'Artemus' will enhance the spear 'Phoenix Flag' and the sword 'Eclipse,' providing three forge vouchers.]

[Do you want to proceed with the trade with player 'Artemus'?]

[A trusted player guaranteed by BattleNet with a trade reliability of 99 percent.]

He isn't a scammer then.

When Seong Jihan pressed 'Yes',

[The commission fee is 5 million GP.]

The BattleNet intermediary fee appeared.

5 million GP.

Compared to Artemus's intimidating demand that Seong Jihan bear the cost, it was a modest amount.

The fee isn't much."

"Hehe… When you enter the evolutionary stage of your race, you'll regret those words. Every penny will be so precious."

"I don't plan on evolving. I just want to be liberated from BattleNet as soon as possible."

"Well, whether you're liberated or not, you'll receive another invitation, won't you?"

"What?"

"Have you ever wondered why races receive invitations on BattleNet?"

"Why do they?"

"It's because of you."

What kind of nonsense is this?

As Seong Jihan looked at Artemus in disbelief, he extended four fingers as if to say, "For this reason."

* * *

"Even as a rookie and the lowest-ranked race, a player who entered Space 4 Area on BattleNet. Such monstrous cases are rare in the entire universe, especially among the lowest-ranked races."

And with that, Artemus spoke with a voice full of conviction.

"You must have been a monster even before being invited to BattleNet, surpassing your race' standards immensely. Yes… Like the great leader of the dwarves, the absolute monarch who unified a planet, I, Artemus, you would have been comparable to me."

Watching the bald dwarf brag about himself, Seong Jihan shook his head.

"Is that so? I was completely ordinary. My physical abilities were, well, just slightly above average."

"…How could that be? An average guy? How would someone ordinary make it into Space 4?"

"By coming first every time."

"Ha… every time? Is that even possible? I find it hard to believe."

Artemus looked at Seong Jihan as if he was a marvel and continued speaking.

"Then among your species, was there no one unusual? Someone who overwhelmingly surpassed the limits of their kind."

Seong Jihan thought first of Dongbang Sak and Longinus.

The two who overcame the limits of their race to enjoy eternal life.

Especially Longinus, who even became a constellation and possessed Vladimir.

'But their status is that of a martial god. Would those two be the reason invitations to BattleNet went out?'

Rather than them,

It seemed more suspicious to consider the wandering martial god above them.

"Could it be the wandering martial god?"

"The wandering martial god? You mean the hunter of constellations? Of course, I know. Isn't he a figure who reigns as a terror in the universe?"

"He might be the reason, then."

"Haha! No way."

But Artemus scoffed at Seong Jihan's conjecture.

"He's been a martial god in existence for thousands of years. If he's been around that long, he'd be treated as a deity rather than your human kind. If he was the problem, the invitations from BattleNet would have come long ago."

"Hmm…"

"No matter how I look at it, I think you are the main reason why BattleNet was summoned on your planet. It doesn't make sense for a newcomer to be assigned to Space in the first place."

"I told you, there was nothing special before BattleNet started."

"Heh, I understand that feeling. If you're in a low-grade race, you don't want to stand out as an alien existence. You want to hide your power to blend in… but why bother hiding from me? Like you, I too hail from a lineage of rulers."

Already convinced in his mind that Seong Jihan was the cause, Artemus didn't wait for persuasion and changed the subject.

"But why is an individual surpassing the limits of their race an issue?"

"BattleNet has a system to remove bugs. A slight surpassing of limits is fine, but an entity that overwhelmingly does so triggers the error detection. So, they gather all the bugs and have them fight to the death against each other."

"So all races participating in BattleNet have such irregular beings?"

"I don't know that. There are cases like elves and dragons who enter voluntarily. But if a race receives invitations without knowing why, it must be because there's an irregular entity within them."

Seong Jihan thought of his past life.

In the Space League, each opposing race had individuals who were overwhelmingly powerful.

Even among the orcs, who wallowed in the relegation zone with him, there was one who was transcendent.

'Still, that one lost to me.'

BattleNet's bug detection system.

Even bugs that weren't so strong were somehow invited into BattleNet.

While Seong Jihan reminisced about the past,

"Have your questions been answered somewhat? Bug player."

"I'm all the more puzzled, to be honest."

"As a fellow senior bug player, let me share another tip. The reason I'm modifying my race is also due to avoiding this bug detection."

Tap-tap!

Artemus tapped his mechanical arm, his ogre limb, with a hammer.

"If our dwarf race as a whole evolves, then the strength of this Artemus would be within the limits of our race. That would spare us from BattleNet's watchful eye."

"So you're looking to liberate yourself from BattleNet then?"

"No? Why would we leave if our race has become stronger? We should keep participating in BattleNet. Isn't it a world where the strong thrive?"

It seemed Artemus intended to stay in BattleNet even after his race evolved.

While playing with his arms, he turned the conversation back.

"Since it's the first time we've met in Space 4 as representatives from minor races, I've been talking quite a lot. Now, how about we fulfill our contract?"

"Alright."

As per the contract, Seong Jihan handed over the Hell Devil Palace Crystal.

Artemus swallowed the crimson crystal and,

Swooooosh!

Metal blocks began to materialize out of thin air and quickly attached to Artemus,

Click, click…

morphing his body in an instant into the form of the combining robot seen before.

[Integrating the Hell Devil Palace Crystal…]

As the ruddy light emitted by the hellish rock also coursed through his metallic body,

Flash! Flash!

Lights flickered over the robot's entire body.

From its back, nearly twenty long arms were generated.

[Good… now I can accept commissions. First, let's unveil your spear, shall we?]

"Here it is."

[Stab it into the ground.]

When Seong Jihan drew the Phoenix Flag and stabbed it into the ground; one of the newly created hands of the robot grabbed it.

Then,

Chiiiiik…

Smoke rose from the spear,

[It's done.]

Artemus handed back the spear.

'Done already?'

Just a grip and it's finished?

Isn't this a rip-off?

Seong Jihan suspiciously eyed the Phoenix Flag but,

[Cloud-Soaring Phoenix Flag]

– Grade: SSS+

-The war banner once wielded by the founding Khan of the Kingdom of Wind, a descendant of the phoenix.

-It holds the fervor emitted by the phoenix poets.

-The power of the thundercloud spear has been perfectly fused, allowing the thunder attributes to blend in as completely as the heat.

– As a special effect, when planted on the battlefield, it increases all stats by 35 percent for nearby party members and allies.

– An additional effect: if the user is a guild owner or guild master, it increases all option levels of the affiliated guild by +7.

'Hoho…'

The name changed, and the Phoenix Flag was enhanced overall. Seong Jihan felt it instinctively when he held the spear.

"Crowned as the universe's greatest blacksmith, I see it wasn't just an empty boast."

[What, are you surprised by this? There's more to come.]

Unimpressed by Seong Jihan's praise, Artemus said,

"The real deal?"

[Yes. Bring out the shadow sword and the Queen's Finger.]

Swoooosh…

Summoning about twenty hammers on his back, Artemus said with a serious expression.

[To the preposterous challenge of shadow engulfing the sun… I'll lend a hand.]