Boom! Crash!
Even while moving towards the detected target point, a colossal roar constantly shook the inner swamp. Turning my head to the left, the source of the vibrations revealed a massive, scale-covered leg moving violently in the swamp, several times thicker than my body.
A Lizardman Champion.
It had a body twice the size of a regular Lizardman and, no matter how much it was beaten, it showed no signs of running out of health, thus earning the nickname “Swamp Zombie.”
Unlike regular Lizardmen, it swiftly grabbed Hunters with its wide webbed claws and dragged them into the swamp—once caught, escape was nearly impossible.
Like a true boss, it received additional positive effects, making it much more agile and strong within the swamp.
But right now, it was bombarded by the Hunters’ pre-prepared long-range attacks, likely just defending itself helplessly.
The thin, sharp screams of the creature constantly filled me with tension, but I was certain it wouldn’t find me sliding across the swamp floor.
‘About time.’
Whooooom—
I began shaping my magic power into a shovel and started digging into the mud with both hands. It was a lackluster pace compared to Wang-wang, but it was enough to scatter the mud piled on the door.
Thud, thud—swish, swish—
Bam!
‘Got it.’
The metallic sound echoed as my magical shovel struck the iron door, and I groped for the handle with my hand and pulled it up with all my might.
Clunk—whoosh—
Inside, a massive air pocket swelled up, and then something suddenly pulled me into the door.
‘Feels just like when I was summoned by Yeon-hee.’
Feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, I soon landed on a cold stone slab.
Clack—
And the door I entered through automatically closed behind me.
Clang!
‘Whoa—let’s go.’
I remembered wandering around aimlessly when I first arrived, overwhelmed with extreme tension and chaos, but this time was different.
Before me stretched a long corridor of about 3 meters wide, and when I turned around, I saw something huge twisting like a black hole, swirling chaotically.
‘Looks the same structurally.’
Clatter—clack—
Curious if the same message would show up, I approached the black hole.
– Unauthorized entity, access denied.
‘Well, that’s the same.’
I hesitantly brought my hand closer, but I was sucked in effortlessly before being violently bounced back without any warning.
‘No need to linger on what can’t be helped.’
I quickly turned around and started walking forward.
Tap—clack—tap-tap—
I sprinted about 50 meters down the bland, featureless corridor and eventually arrived at another door. I grabbed the long horizontal handle without hesitation and turned it.
Click—
As I opened the black door I had seen before, I was greeted by a cold, gray space with no decorations.
However, in the center of the room stood a stone structure resembling a round table, and atop it was an object glowing faintly in a hollow.
‘Different…’
From my memories, there used to be only a cloak sprawled out here, but now a rather large jar stood in its place.
It was a jar glowing with a faint red hue, reminiscent of the artifact that contained Gus Pawl’s necklace.
Though the entrance was wider and its shape was slightly different, the unique blood-like color suggested it was from the same creator.
Whoosh—!
Lifting the brown lid, I pulled out two items resting inside.
A thick, wide black cloak of familiar color and a jug shaped like a swan, made of clear glass…
‘Huh? A jug? Never seen one of these before.’
At least among the artifacts I knew, there was nothing in the shape of a jug.
Hmm— a jug…
I was lost in thought, not because I had discovered an unseen artifact shape, but because while I knew the developments were slightly different from what I experienced in life, I thought it would only be a small change in position, not an addition to the artifact’s components.
‘Is this what Jo Gi-man used to call a change in the singularity?’
Anyway, it wasn’t a bad change for me, so with a feeling of delight, I began reading the artifact’s description.
Forgotten Ancient Empire Water Jug
– A tragic invention created with the purpose of being supplied to the royal court but ultimately never delivered.
– Connected to the crystal-clear Lake Katharine, which is considered the clearest in the empire.
……?
‘What the hell is this?’
I genuinely questioned as I shook the jug around. However, since it was an all-in-one jug with no lid and completely empty inside, there was no sound at all.
‘Still, it is an artifact, so I could sell it, but is it utterly useless? The cloak at least has some function.’
Even when I let magic flow through it, there was no response, so I was about to toss it into my inventory when a sudden thought struck me, and I concentrated my senses on the jug.
As the formless, colorless wave wrapped around the jug, the translucent glass became entirely clear, and water began to pour from the jug’s opening.
Splash—!
“Clap, Clap!”
‘Oh jeez, you scared me!’
Startled, I propped the jug upright and tilted it again.
Gush, gush, gush—
It was water. I didn’t taste it, but it was definitely water.
‘Wow—! An artifact that can provide water from another world?! You thought I’d be excited, huh?! No way!’
Clang!
I hurled the water jug onto the round table.
‘This is completely useless for me. I can store water in my inventory just fine.’
Of course, that was considering my standards, with an inventory space that was nearly infinite. In fact, for other hunters, this could be a pretty useful artifact.
After all, with limited space, it would be a waste to carry around buckets of water. Higher-ranked hunters exploring dungeons for days or weeks would be drooling over this.
‘Is it really necessary to only think of the Hunter Market?’
Or maybe sell it to some drought-stricken country in Africa? I could pitch it to rich folks as “water from another world” and sell it high…
*Cough*—I might get a decent price for it after all.
Whoosh—
I picked up the thrown jug and wiped it off with the cloak.
Scrub, scrub—
The artifact was so solid that even if a top-tier hunter hit it with all their strength, it wouldn’t break. Despite being thrown hard enough to make a loud noise, it had no scratches, and the surface of the jug gleamed brightly.
It was a mystery how an item that was never even presented to the royal court had such durability, but that was just the way it was.
And I couldn’t understand why it only responded to my sensing ability, but the fact that there was a usage limitation somehow increased its value.
Let’s see, I should let Wang-wang try the water first. Or maybe not, since that guy eats everything, I should let Helen or Jin-kyeong have it first…
I couldn’t know for sure if the water was still clean since it was pure back then, so a safety test was necessary.
And one more thing.
Military Cloak of the Forgotten Kingdom
– A cloak carefully developed by the court engineers of the Tanemoro Kingdom that allows for gliding.
– When leaping purely using one’s strength, additional effects occur based on the height reached.
Level 1: Begins gliding and activates a magic that obfuscates perception for 10 minutes.
Level 2: ???
Level 3: ???
‘Hehe, I finally get to obtain this awesome item.’
A cloak that lets you glide through the sky when you jump into the air for a while. It won’t let you fly higher than where you started, but it’s an artifact I used frequently for a mood boost in my previous life.
Remarkably, it ties itself around the neck when placed on the back, much like what you’d see in a superhero movie.
While the additional effects increase your altitude, I had always focused on enhancing my sense and agility stats; I could only use Level 1. Even until I became a high-ranked hunter, it was the same.
‘Kang Yeon-su managed to pull off all three levels in one go…’
Once, while trapped in a maze-like dungeon, I used the cloak to escape with my party members.
Kang Yeon-su found it interesting when she heard about it, and I had no choice but to lend it to her briefly. Watching her unleash all its abilities made me feel all kinds of ways.
She had offered me a large sum of cash to buy it, but I didn’t sell it.
Back then, despite being greedy for money, oddly I didn’t want to pass that artifact onto anyone. Looking back, it was just childish spite.
Now, I’d say I could sell the jug for a good price, but honestly, I didn’t feel any urge to part with it.
Even though I always complained, I did appreciate Kang Yeon-su for looking out for me, it wouldn’t be that hard to let it go. But was I perhaps even jealous of her talent, being among the top five of the physical enhancement hunters?
*Sigh*, you darn fool… Why didn’t you just give it to Yeon-su already?
In the end, I got killed by Jo Gi-man and ended up having to surrender all artifacts—what a pathetic situation.
‘Now that I think about it, did that bastard Jo Gi-man set the trap for my artifacts? Ugh… Even just thinking about it makes me mad!’
[Calm]
Hoo…
Shaking off my thoughts, I began scanning every corner of the room with the waves of my senses.
‘Let’s see… Hmph… Nothing else, huh?’
It struck me how inefficient it felt that there were only two artifacts sitting in this wide room.
As I placed the artifacts into my inventory, a stone block shaped like a square descended from the ceiling.
Standing atop the stone block, I found myself rising back up to the ceiling. It felt like an ancient elevator, huh? Seems like people’s thoughts are similar, even in another world.
After a while ascending, I found myself outside and glanced around. It looked like a wooded area a bit away from the Lizard Swamp.
Creeeak—
As I approached the limit distance from Yeon-hee, my body started to get pulled in one direction naturally.
After taking a few steps in that direction, I spotted a battlefield where Lizardmen and Hunters were clashing. It was a position from where I could look down upon the skirmish occurring on slightly elevated ground compared to the swamp.
‘Looks like everything’s fine. Good. From this height…’
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
