Chapter 14 - Creating a New Weapon
[Using the skill ‘Material Conversion’ to synthesize the concept of ‘Cutting’.]
Slash!
“Kwee-eeeeeek!!”
Native was suddenly overwhelmed by indescribable pain in its right hind leg before it could even gain speed.
Soon it lost balance and skidded across the ground.
The situation was as follows.
When Native decided to flee and took a step.
Han-wol was already running in that direction.
Then he took out magic stones and synthesized daggers of cutting in both hands.
At the moment Native’s right foot passed Han-wol.
He immediately cut it off.
Then he quickly poured all twelve bullets, firing from both hands, into Native’s still-dangling right foot.
Before all the bullets could even lodge in, Native’s drum-sized right foot fell off with a fountain of blood.
“KWOEOOOOOO!!”
Native used all its strength to try to devour Han-wol in front of it.
Despite having only three legs, its movement was astounding.
But once again, it was in vain.
Native felt similar pain, this time in its left hind leg.
A horrific roar that could hardly be called a pig’s squeal tore through the air.
Now Native had only two legs left.
The sight of Native crawling on the ground using only its front legs was extremely unsightly.
Native continued to struggle.
And struggled again.
While shouting with all its might in pig language.
—I can’t, I can’t die here.
—More, more, more, more, more.
—Eat and eat more, eat, eat, eat, and devour more.
—Chew up everything without discrimination, bones and all.
—So chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew and chew again.
—Whether it’s my own kind.
—Or humans.
—Or insatiable hunger.
—And finally.
—Even my own body.
—I will devour everything.
[Native is attempting to awaken.]
“What?”
A sudden system log appeared in front of Han-wol.
And at that moment.
Native began to bite its own body.
Forcibly bending its unbendable neck, it started to devour every part—front legs, chest, torso, abdomen, every part.
[Current Entity Level: 2-Star S-Rank.]
[If successful, it will evolve into a 3-Star boss monster.]
Han-wol immediately took action.
He loaded new bullets.
And fired them all.
The new flesh of Native, which was growing like tentacles of a monster, burst with Han-wol’s bullets and turned into chunks of meat.
The fallen chunks of meat crawled like larvae and attached themselves to Native’s body.
Then they began to grow anew.
As soon as he finished loading a new magazine from his inventory.
He immediately pulled the trigger.
Six shots from each hand, for a total of twelve gunshots, and by that point.
He was already changing to a new magazine.
He shot and.
Shot again.
Until it turned to pulp.
He continued shooting.
How much time had passed?
The stinging smell characteristic of magic power was so intense that his nose was almost numb.
Bang, bang, bang!
Click.
Click.
He was about to take out a new magazine from his inventory but then stopped.
Looking around.
Both Han-wol himself.
And the surroundings were completely covered in dark red blood.
[You have defeated the boss monster ‘Native’.]
[Title ‘One Who Defeated Native’ acquired.]
[You have transcended your limits.]
[Awakening quest completed.]
[Star (星) has increased by one level.]
[Current level: 2-Star F-Rank.]
[Experience points increased.]
[Experience points increased.]
……………
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Current level: 2-Star D-Rank.]
Against the reddened background, Han-wol let out a short sigh of achievement.
It was also a sigh signaling the end.
Then all the dark blood and sticky flesh around began to change into pure white light.
The light rose into the air and then completely disappeared.
Han-wol reached for the huge tusks lying alone on the ground.
[Name: Native’s Double Tusks]
[Grade: Unique]
[Description: The end of Native, who devoured countless of its own kind and humans.
It was always hungry and suffered from starvation.
Hunger was its driving force and the meaning of its life.
It finally tried to devour even itself when it couldn’t overcome its hunger, but ultimately failed.
Its remarkable gluttony has been imbued into the remains left behind.]
[Gluttonous Recovery: Has the ability to absorb the vitality of the target it pierces.]
[※However, you become very hungry.]
[※Hun-hun-hun-hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry, oink.]
Grumble.
Han-wol really became hungry.
[Due to the weapon’s effect, your speech pattern is forcibly changed.]
“I’m hungry, oink. …Hup!?”
Han-wol covered his mouth at the suddenly changed speech pattern.
Then he immediately put Native’s tusks into his inventory.
“…This item is really garbage.”
Han-wol seriously considered throwing away the hard-earned material.
x x x
‘PlayVen’, South Korea’s largest player community.
PlayVen’s scale was enormous, with nearly 1 million posts written and over 2 million comments posted daily.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that PlayVen’s interests were essentially the interests of all players in South Korea.
This was clearly demonstrated by PlayVen’s ‘Popular Search Terms’ rankings.
However, most of the popular search terms had long since stagnated.
It’s already been 7 years since the Savior system was created and players appeared.
The average player level had reached almost 3-4 Stars.
They’re probably still hunting diligently even now.
On the other hand, most 1-2 Star players, commonly recognized as beginners, had returned to everyday life.
They chose to retain only the convenient inventory and gold system while valuing their lives.
As a result, it was only natural that the influx of new players was decreasing over time.
Therefore, most of PlayVen’s popular search terms were filled with topics irrelevant to low-level players.
Except for today.
Rank 9 out of the top 10 popular search terms.
The post title written there was as follows:
-About the ‘Magic Handgun’ sold at Seoul Village West Vigilante Office.
x x x
[Name: Pig Claw Handgun]
[Type: Magic Handgun]
[Rarity: Rare]
[Weapon Level: 2-Star S-Rank]
[Equip Requirement: 1-Star (2-1) or higher, usable by all professions]
[Description: A high-quality selection from the mass-produced magic handguns by the Theory Master.
A white pig’s claw is attached to the end, making close combat possible.]
[Special Design: Due to advanced design, the required equip level is reduced by 1-Star.]
[※However, requires magic bullets when used.]
-Wow, is this real?
-I personally went to Seoul Village West to check, and they really do sell it;;
-That level requirement reduction is insane.
-Whoa, so even 1-Star players can equip it?
-So what?ㅋㅋ Guns don’t work on monsters anywayㅋㅋ This is obviously fake.
-Try it yourself before speaking.
Don’t even have money to buy it?
-Do I need to try crap to know it’s crap?
-Guys, I bought one and tried it, and it’s seriously amazingㄷㄷ;
They sell three types at the vigilante office: Normal, Magic, and Rare, right? The prices are exactly as stated in the post.
When I tried Normal and Magic, white pigs died in 5-6 shots, and with Rare, they died in 3-4 shots.
-Yeah~ I can kill white pigs just fine without using that stuff~
-Is that anonymous guy an idiot?
If what he’s saying is true, it means even 1-Star players can hunt in 2-Star hunting grounds like they’re massacring them.
-Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.
Magic bullets cost 100,000 won for 100 shots, but if you kill more than 20 2-Star monsters with them, it more than covers the cost.
Although Han-wol’s magic handgun post was low in ranking, it was overwhelming in terms of the number of comments.
It was especially bound to become a hot topic among beginners who hadn’t yet moved beyond 1-2 Stars.
Of course, that’s natural.
They could easily take down monsters that they had previously risked their lives to barely kill, with just a few shots.
And that wasn’t all.
Equip level requirement reduction –1.
In other words, despite being a 2-Star item, even those at the lowest level, 1-Star F-Rank, could equip it.
This could rightly be called a revolution.
“This is a revolution…”
Kim Hyun-woo, the technology development manager of Shinsan Engineering, thought the same.
Shinsan Engineering was originally a company that manufactured military supplies including guns and tanks.
Therefore, the company wobbled back and forth according to government orders, and especially when administrations changed, they were busy sucking up to the government.
But after monsters and the player system emerged, the relationship was reversed.
Shinsan Engineering jumped into the player weapon industry faster than anyone else.
Under the leadership of technology development manager ‘Kim Hyun-woo’, Shinsan Engineering sought a major transformation.
And eventually succeeded.
Currently, when people thought of major corporate equipment, they immediately thought of ‘Shinsan Engineering’.
The equipment they produced was also excellent.
Kim Hyun-woo skimmed through the post again.
In the comments, everyone was heatedly debating whether the weapon was really good or bad, but Kim Hyun-woo’s interest wasn’t in that.