Chapter 74

Chapter 74. If You’re Curious, Bring 5 Million Gold (1)

As soon as Cork became an adult and joined the mercenaries, he never picked fights or fought with anyone stronger than himself.

It was only natural that the side with superior skills and experience would win in a fight. He knew his limits and restrained himself until he had grown strong enough.

One day, Cork visited a tavern with his comrades to celebrate his promotion to Gold Class.

“Oops!”

A drunken comrade spilled beer on a man at the next table.

The man was alone, wearing a cloak. His neat hair and clean clothes made it obvious that he was either a knight or a noble.

But the drunken mercenaries had lost all fear. No, it was more because the man was alone and seemed like an easy target.

“Ah, sorry about that. That outfit looks expensive. Heh heh!”

The drunken mercenary joked.

“Tsk.”

The young man pushed the mercenary aside and left the tavern, his attitude irritating the drunken mercenary.

“You little brat, clicking your tongue? Do you think nobles can’t die?”

The mercenary drew his sword and followed the young man.

Cork and his comrades didn’t stop him. To them, the young man didn’t seem that strong. His gait and soft hands gave it away.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of clashing swords came from outside the window.

Thud!

Blood splattered on the windowsill.

Cork jumped up.

“Damn it, he didn’t kill him, did he?”

Not out of guilt, but because if he had killed him, they needed to flee immediately.

When Cork and his comrades went outside, they couldn’t believe their eyes. Lying on the ground wasn’t the young man, but their comrade.

And he wasn’t moving, already dead.

“Zolt!”

The mercenaries, now sober, grabbed their weapons and charged at the young man with the sword.

The way the young man adjusted his grip on the sword still looked like a beginner’s swordsmanship.

Clang, clang!

The young man struggled to block the mercenary’s strikes.

But the two didn’t last long. The mercenary’s sword suddenly broke.

“Huh?”

As the mercenary panicked, the young man clumsily struck his neck.

The mercenary tried to block with his arm, but the young man’s sword sliced through it effortlessly and cut deeply into his torso.

“Dead!”

Meanwhile, another mercenary who had circled behind the young man swung his sword.

The young man wasn’t even wearing armor. His attire was very light.

But the mercenary’s sword was effortlessly blocked by the young man’s cloak.

“Th-that’s impossible!”

Splat!

The mercenary who had tried to ambush from behind also had his throat slashed and collapsed.

Cork, now alone, trembled. Tears streamed down his face.

Not because he was drunk, nor because he was angry about his comrade’s death. It was because he felt pathetic for thinking that skills and experience were everything.

The young man’s swordsmanship was terrible. By mercenary standards, he was barely Silver Class.

The difference in equipment decided the outcome.

Swordsmanship, experience—none of it mattered.

“Ahhhhh!”

Cork screamed in a pitiful manner and fled, leaving his cold, lifeless comrades behind…

Even the next day, Cork couldn’t shake off his despair. He didn’t even feel like avenging his comrades.

“So equipment is more important than skills and experience…?”

A Diamond Class mercenary who happened to hear his worries gave him the answer.

“Is that what you’re saying? Artifacts, even if used by a country bumpkin, can kill thousands like you. Even the so-called replicas, magical tools, if you use them, you might even beat me.”

Cork wanted to know if that was true.

But how could he get one?

Even as a Gold Class mercenary, above average in the industry, he was still just a bug on a national scale.

Still, he went to the city’s auction house to try and get a magical tool, but the prices were absurd.

A dagger-shaped magical tool with an engraving for enhanced cutting power cost a whopping 300 gold.

Compared to a top-quality steel dagger that could be bought for 10 gold, the price difference was a staggering 30 times.

“Damn it. Just one engraving costs 300 gold?”

Cork’s usual C-rank requests paid 8 gold. Rare B-rank requests paid 20 gold.

Even those took at least a week, sometimes up to three months, and were highly risky.

After six years of relentless mercenary work, Cork had only saved 200 gold.

And that was considered a lot for a mercenary. Most mercenaries, not knowing when they might die, spent all their money on alcohol, women, and entertainment.

To make up the missing 100 gold, he would have to take on five more dangerous B-rank requests.

Even though they were B-rank requests, some were impossible to take on, so he couldn’t just do them one after another.

Moreover, if he got injured during a request, the medical costs were high. There were even days when the medical bills exceeded the request fee.

“At best, two years, at worst, three years.”

Frankly, Cork’s patience was at its limit.

He was going crazy wanting to experience the power of a magical tool firsthand, but he couldn’t wait two or three years.

And what if the price of magical tools went up even more by then? The anxiety was overwhelming.

“No choice. There’s really no choice.”

Cork bought a mask at a general store.

And six months later.

A dagger he had never seen before hung at Cork’s waist.

After using the magical tool, Cork went through shock, admiration, and joy in that order.

“To cut steel without using aura… Is this really possible?”

Of course, Cork could use aura.

But at best, he could only swing it eight times.

Moreover, aura wasn’t just for offense; it was mainly used for defense.

Cork immediately tested the magical dagger in combat. He joined a B-rank request to hunt orcs and charged in alone.

“That crazy bastard, why is he charging in alone!?”

Contrary to the mercenaries’ worries, Cork fought well. He used aura purely for defense and fought with the magical dagger.

His incredible performance drew the attention of the mercenaries.

“What’s up, Cork? You’ve gotten stronger since we last saw you.”

“Did you find some elixir? Tell us the secret.”

“Thanks to you, we caught them easily.”

Cork didn’t foolishly show off his dagger. And he realized something.

‘Just using one magical tool can do this.’

From then on.

Cork became obsessed with magical tools.

But magical tools were expensive. One with a single engraving cost 300 gold.

In the industry, this was called a ‘level.’ One engraving meant Level 1, two meant Level 2.

A Level 2 magical tool wasn’t 600 gold. It was 3,000 gold.

A Level 3 with three engravings cost over 50,000 gold.

A Level 5 magical tool was said to rival the performance of an artifact, and one sold for 2 million gold at the empire’s largest auction house.

“No choice. This time too.”

Cork stepped into forbidden territory. Once was hard, but twice wasn’t. As a mercenary, as a human, he did things he shouldn’t have.

Plunder, and murder.

Especially targeting the owners of magical tools.

Sometimes monsters possessed magical tools, usually taken from dead adventurers. Cork also hunted down monsters with magical tools to collect them.

After about eight years, Cork had grown stronger in many ways.

He was covered in magical tools, and to adapt to their variety, he learned to wield all kinds of weapons.

He wasn’t particularly skilled in any one thing, but the performance of the magical tools backed him up.

In the mercenary industry, being good with tools was also considered skill, so there were no restrictions on Cork’s promotions.

After surpassing Platinum and reaching Diamond Class, Cork experienced the greatest thrill of his life.

Diamond Class, which he thought he would never reach. Even with the help of magical tools, it was a remarkable achievement.

‘Good, now I’ll challenge the highest class, Orichalcon.’

But Cork’s dream and confidence were shattered within a year.

The next level above Diamond, Amantium, was a rank that couldn’t be achieved with magical tools. The best magical tool Cork could get was Level 2.

Cork didn’t give up easily, but the wall of Amantium was far more insurmountable than he had imagined.

In fact, Cork was confident he could beat an Amantium in a fight.

“I admit I’m lacking in aura quantity and technical aspects. But in actual combat, I’m Amantium level!”

When he went to the Mercenary Association to argue, the receptionist sneered and said.

“Want to test it?”

The receptionist introduced a man. An Amantium Class mercenary.

Cork sparred with him and lost three magical tools that day.

The Amantium Class mercenary smashed the magical tools and said.

“Just relying on equipment, huh?”

Hurt by the insult to his pride, Cork tried to assassinate the Amantium mercenary who had looked down on him but failed and fled to Ruquer.

Though a fugitive, knowing he couldn’t leave, Cork didn’t give up on life for revenge.

While adapting to the environment by fighting fiercely with the people of Ruquer, he found a strange note in the pocket of a man he had killed in a dispute.

-I’ve finally found the labyrinth where an artifact sleeps. But the security is too tight. Traps and mazes are everywhere. I can’t do it alone. Form a team and come find me. I’ll be waiting at the house.

“An artifact?!”

Cork quickly covered his mouth.

The original form of magical tools, the weapons of the mythical era, artifacts!

The ‘records’ of their power were said to be more than true.

‘Demon Sword Hellfire’ could burn an entire city with a single swing, and ‘Holy Sword Arondight’ was famous for its invincible defense when wielded by a saint.

Artifacts weren’t all in the form of weapons.

‘Iyus’s Armor’ granted the wearer infinite life force and vitality, and ‘Malphite’s Ring’ bestowed the strength of a giant.

Of course, the aforementioned artifacts all had owners. Each one was a renowned powerhouse or a grand noble known across the continent. Stealing them was impossible.

‘An ownerless artifact… This is a chance given to me by the gods!’

The note only mentioned a house, so Cork wasted a year just finding the house hiding the labyrinth.

As expected of a labyrinth where an artifact slept, there were many traps, and the structure was complex. There were also occasional undead monsters, making it impossible to conquer alone even in hundreds of years.

“I need to work secretly with reliable people.”

Where to find such people?

Mercenaries would do.

Luckily, there was a mercenary guild in Ruquer.

Cork worked tirelessly to become the branch manager of Ruquer and succeeded in taking the position after three years.

“Hahaha! Half the battle is already won.”

Using the authority of the mercenary guild branch manager, he controlled the area near the labyrinth and recruited trustworthy mercenaries to tackle the labyrinth.

If the existence of the labyrinth became known, tens of thousands of competitors would appear instantly, so Cork worked hard to keep the labyrinth conquest a secret.

Then one day.

“New recruit!”

In the mercenary guild full of shady men, a kid showed up and boldly said.

“What’s this kid doing here? Go play somewhere else. This isn’t the place for you.”

“Isn’t this the mercenary guild?”

“It is. Your mom’s not here. Maybe your dad is? Hey! Who’s the brat who dumped this kid and ran?”

The mercenaries burst into laughter at Cork’s words.

“Me?”

“Come on, with your face, you think a kid like that would come out?”

Despite the mercenaries’ ridicule and attention, the kid didn’t care.

“Kid, get out of here. This isn’t the place for you.”

“I want to be a mercenary. That’s my dream.”

“Aww, is that so? Go drink more of your mom’s milk.”

One mercenary approached the kid to provoke him.

“My uncle said. If you can do one person’s share, anyone can be a mercenary.”

“How are you going to do one person’s share? We’re not an assassin guild; we don’t raise kids.”

“I didn’t ask you to raise me. Besides, I’m already stronger than you.”

“What? This brat’s getting cocky…!”

As the mercenary grabbed the kid’s hair roughly.

Whack!

The kid headbutted the mercenary’s groin.

“Ugh!?”

As the mercenary knelt, the kid started punching his face with his small hands.

“That, that kid! He’s wearing iron chains on his hands!”

“Since when?!”

“Stop him!”

The mercenaries rushed in, but the mercenary who had approached was already a mess.

The kid’s fingers were also bleeding heavily. It was natural since he was wearing iron chains and punching. But the kid didn’t show any pain and said.

“I did one person’s share. So, I’m a mercenary now, right?”

“……”

The bloodied kid smiled brightly, and the mercenaries, unable to mock him as before, looked at branch manager Cork.

Cork frowned.

‘If I let this brat join, it’ll draw attention. That’s the last thing I want.’

The artifact excavation had to remain a secret known only to a select few. Since he planned to kill all the mercenaries involved to keep it quiet, Cork approached the kid.

“That’s not possible. Come back when you’re at least twelve. I’ll let you join then.”

“Too late. Why should I wait?”

“Don’t worry. Time flies. Listen to the adults.”

“The adults I know say age doesn’t matter.”

“Who’s that?”

“The uncle who was the branch manager here.”

“That was his policy. Not mine.”

“Sniff…”

The kid hung his head and made crying sounds.

Cork approached the kid and knelt on one knee, reaching into his pocket. He planned to give him at least 1 silver and send him away.

Swish!

“Ugh!”

Cork quickly raised his hand to block something coming at his eye.

Always wearing magical tools, Cork was wearing gloves, and what was blocked by his glove was a sharp awl.

“Didn’t work.”

The kid calmly stepped back and said.

“Uncle, what’s your name?”

“Cork. I’m the new branch manager here.”

“Okay. I’m Keter. Uncle, do you have a dream you want to achieve?”

It was an odd question after an attack, but at the mention of a dream, Cork unconsciously nodded.

Then Keter smiled with his eyes and said.

“Good. I’ll crush your dream too.”

After that, Keter repeatedly picked fights with the mercenaries of Ruquer and Cork. At first, they thought it was just a joke and would stop.

Ten years passed.

Cork grew anxious.

He thought he could conquer the labyrinth in five years, but Keter’s constant interference slowed the progress significantly.

He had long thought of killing him. But Keter, as if knowing, kept provoking him to the limit and then running away.

Still, they reached the final room of the labyrinth. The problem was that no matter what they did, they couldn’t open the final room.

“Damn it, what’s the condition? There’s not even a keyhole!”

Breaking it by force was also impossible.

Cork punched the door in anger. His bare fists were skinned and bleeding.

But…

“The blood… was absorbed by the door?”

Cork tried again.

This time, he splashed a handful of blood on the door. The blood was absorbed in the blink of an eye.

“This is it! Blood, blood is the key!”

It didn’t matter how much blood was needed. Ruquer had an abundance of corpses.

But the door rejected the blood of the dead.

It only accepted the blood of the living.

Cork said simply.

“No choice.”

Once was hard, twice was easy, and the third time didn’t even require thought.

Cork kidnapped countless people, drained their blood, and poured it on the door. When one of his mercenary comrades tried to stop him, saying this was wrong, he killed him too and used him as fertilizer for the door.

The number of people he killed exceeded 100. Among them were children. He intuitively felt that the door preferred the blood of children.

“Almost there. Just a little more…”

In the center of the door was a bead, and as blood was offered, the bead filled up red from the bottom.

After sacrificing 300 people, the bead finally turned completely red. Cork thought it was all over.

Soon, the door reacted.

The labyrinth rumbled, and the sound of mechanisms moving was heard. The bead was sucked inside, and a new bead appeared.

“Huh?”

This time, it wasn’t one but three.

“What?”

Cork staggered.

It took 300 lives to fill just one bead. But now three new beads had appeared.

900 more lives?

“Kuh, kuhuhu…”

The anxiety that this might not be the end also crept in. But Cork, with bloodshot eyes, muttered.

“Good, I didn’t think it would be this easy to get. Of course.”

Cork discovered more.

Killing humans with aura filled the beads faster. Also, killing young virgins was effective.

Cork killed indiscriminately. Since Ruquer was overflowing with people who didn’t matter, ‘materials’ were readily available.

An enormous amount of time passed. Considering that branch managers were usually replaced every five years, Cork had been the branch manager of Ruquer for far too long.

People outside started to suspect why Cork had held the position for so long.

Cork hid even more and focused on his work. No matter what people around him said, he was convinced that everything would be solved once he got the artifact.

‘I will become the Mercenary King of Ruquer.’

With relentless determination, just before filling the three blood beads-

That guy suddenly appeared.

Ruquer’s mad dog and solver, Keter.

He had disappeared four days ago, and Cork had been disappointed. Keter was the first person he planned to kill once he got the artifact.

But that guy showed up at the guild first, demanding the branch manager’s position.

He could never give it up. The entrance to the labyrinth was a place only the branch manager could enter.

‘Keter, you… you’re not after me because you know about the artifact, are you?’

Keter said it was revenge, but the timing was too perfect. Just when he was about to get the artifact, he targeted the branch manager.

Regardless, Cork couldn’t lose in this Trial of the Goddess. The Keter he knew was reckless but never acted without a reason. He must have some scheme.

Cork ordered his subordinate mercenaries.

“Find out what Keter is up to. And you, you preemptively recruit those skilled in detection to prevent Keter from hiring anyone.”

To find the A-rank named monster Red Comet, magical detection was necessary. So, he would first go to mages