CH 65

Tae-Sung went home after meeting Cheon Woo-Jin, and then he immediately logged in to BNW.

Siegfried hopped on board an airship provided by the empire and headed south to where Herbert’s life’s work was supposedly located.

‘There’s no way it’s going to crash again, right…?’ he thought.

He was scared and worried that the airship would crash once again.

How scared he had to have been when he realized that the place he crash-landed on was none other than the island where the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament was being hosted?

How much despair he had to go through when he died after being hit by a mortar shell?

Contrary to his worries, the airship didn’t crash this time.

Why?

The airship provided by the empire was very well maintained, and the pilot was a veteran pilot who was also a lieutenant in the empire’s air force.

Siegfried followed the treasure map and arrived where Herbert’s life’s work was apparently located, but the treasure Herbert had left behind as his final masterpiece, the treasure that he ground his entire soul and being into was…

“A stick?”

The item known as Herbert’s life’s work turned out to be a stick made out of metal.

“No wonder there were no monsters guarding this place…”

The final masterpiece Herbert had left behind didn’t suit the titles it had. In fact, the descriptions it was given were greatly exaggerated.

Siegfried climbed up the rocks and went closer to inspect if the stick was indeed Herbert’s life’s work.

The rod was about 180 centimeters long, and there was nothing out of the ordinary. With its thickness, any adult male could grab it with one hand.

Perhaps the only thing that stood out was the material used to make it.

The rod was made out of an unknown material that exuded a low luster as if it were showing off that it was alive. And the ancient texts engraved on its surface gave a mysterious feel to it.

But aside from those, there wasn’t really anything extraordinary about it.

Siegfried couldn’t understand how this silver rod was the deadliest and most powerful weapon of destruction Herbert had ever created.

“What the hell is this?” Siegfried muttered in disbelief. He extended his hand out and inspected the rod with his Rune of Insight.

[Rod of God]

[A rod created to imitate the rod used by the Lord of Chaos, one of the main gods of the continent’s mythology.]

[Type: Rod]

[Rating: Mythic]

[Durability: Unlimited]

The item named ‘Rod of God,’ which was apparently Herbert’s life’s work, was an indestructible weapon that possessed infinite durability. However, the main strong point of this weapon wasn’t its unlimited durability but the ability it possessed. Its ability made it live up to its Mythic rating.

[Abilities: Scourge of God]

[Allows the user to launch the Rod of God into the air and drop it at the desired location. The range is eight thousand thousand kilometers with a ten-meter margin of error. The Rod of God will wreak absolute havoc within a fifty-kilometer radius from ground zero.]

[The Rod of God weapon will automatically return to the user once used. (Cooldown: One Year)]

“What the hell? Is this an ICBM?” Siegfried muttered in disbelief while reading the weapon’s description which resembled the description of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Rod of God had the ability to lay waste within a fifty-kilometer radius from its ground zero, and it had a range of eight thousand kilometers away.

“This is… this is the weapon Herbert dedicated his entire life to create?” Siegfried muttered while looking at the weapon.

The Rod of God’s ability was indeed amazing, but Siegfried couldn’t help but feel that this wasn’t the end of it.

He remembered Shakiro’s words. The deranged mad blacksmith, Herbert, was someone who enjoyed seeing the weapons he made be drenched in blood on the battlefield.

However, someone like him actually made a weapon like the Rod of God, which would never be drenched in blood?

It was indeed a destructive weapon, but it didn’t fit Herbert’s aesthetic philosophy.

“Well… It doesn’t really matter…” Siegfried said. He then extended his hand toward the Rod of God.

Bzzt! Bzzzzzzt!

The Rod of God shot a powerful current toward Siegfried, but it wasn’t strong enough to prevent him from grabbing the weapon.

The sparks soon died out, and a string of messages popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: The ‘Rod of God’ has acknowledged you as its owner!]

[Alert: The ‘Rod of God’ is not satisfied with you, but it has acknowledged your potential.]

[Alert: You have obtained the ‘Rod of God’!]

[Alert: The ‘Rod of God’ has been bound to you!]

[Alert: You are the only one who can use the ‘Rod of God’!]

The messages confirmed that he was now the owner of the Mythic-rated weapon Herbert had left behind.

“Shouldn’t a weapon like this resist a few times at the least…” Siegfried muttered in disappointment at the lackluster turn of events, but he wasn’t really complaining about it.

Good things were good, and it was better for him that things had worked out this easily.

“I thought it was a spear, but it’s a rod…”

While Siegfried was mumbling to himself, his heart suddenly started to beat wildly.

Badump! Badump! Badump! 

Flash!

The scenery in front of his eyes changed in a flash. A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood appeared in front of him, and the scene made Siegfried think that he was getting a glimpse of hell itself.

— Keke…

Siegfried heard someone’s laughter.

— It seems that you are the greenhorn who is going to continue my legacy.

Siegfried turned around toward the voice and found a short yet muscular being looking at him with a huge grin on their face.

***

“I’m certain I was in a cave just now…” Siegfried muttered.

However, the short yet muscular being suddenly said.

— It’s an illusion, kiddo.

“An illusion?”

— That’s right. These are the memories I stored within the Rod of God.

“Then, you are…”

— Yes, I am the Blacksmith of Death, Herbert.

“Herbert wasn’t human…?” Siegfried muttered in surprise.

It was exactly as he said. The Blacksmith of Death, Herbert, wasn’t human.

He had a long ponytail that almost reached the ground, a large nose that resembled a pig, lower teeth that protruded ten centimeters out of his mouth, and yellow skin that had a texture similar to those found on insects.

Herbert wasn’t human but an orc.

— You didn’t know I wasn’t human?

“Yeah.”

— So, do you have any complaints because I’m not human?

“Not at all. I was just surprised since I would have immediately recognized you if you were a dwarf instead.”

— Keke! A dwarf, you say? Don’t compare me to those fools. How dare you mention those imbeciles that only have a few tricks up their sleeves to someone like me, the Great Herbert?

The Orc Blacksmith Herbert was calling the dwarves imbeciles and fools with a very arrogant smile. However, Siegfried didn’t mind Herbert’s arrogance at all. He also didn’t find it unpleasant.

Why?

It was because a legendary blacksmith like Herbert could be as arrogant as he wanted when it came to his field of expertise.

— Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, greenhorn who is going to continue my legacy.

“Legacy? Please don’t tell me that you’re going to ask me to improve or complete your final masterpiece or something…” Siegfried muttered nervously.

The legacy Herbert was referring to meant something akin to a business or traditions passed down from generation to generation, and Siegfried couldn’t help but interpret Herbert’s words as the Blacksmith of Death asking him to create an even more powerful weapon of mass destruction.

— That’s right. You will have to complete the most powerful weapon of mass destruction for me. I’m talking about that, my final masterpiece.

“This is incomplete…?”

— Unfortunately, yes…

“Tsk… To think that it’s incomplete…” Siegfried surreptitiously grumbled and grimaced.

‘Ah… Master Shakiro… he said it’s incomplete…’ Siegfried thought.

He suddenly imagined Shakiro replying to his thoughts, ‘Damn it… I even wasted my entire life searching for it…’

It was definitely for the better that Shakiro didn’t find out about this in his final days. Siegfried was sure that Shakiro would have died from high blood pressure if he had discovered that the weapon he had been searching for was an incomplete one.

— Who the hell are you to grimace like that? It should be me who should be upset because that weapon is incomplete! It’s my only lingering regret!

“Everyone has their own stuff to handle…” Siegfried said with a shrug, and then he muttered under his breath, “What’s with the regret when he’s already dead? Wait, is that why he stored his memory like this?”

— You damn arrogant punk! Hey, you unqualified fool! I let you become the owner of the Rod of God, but what did you just say? Everyone has their own stuff to handle?!]

Herbert’s voice boomed.

‘Oh, so that’s how it went…’ Siegfried finally realized that things had only gone smoothly because Herbert had helped him out.

— You ungrateful little bastard!

“I don’t think I’m indebted to you in any way, so please refrain from saying things like that.”

— W-What did you just say?!

“This is your incomplete final masterpiece, right? Who will complete it for you if not me? Well… Should I just throw it into the ocean or something?” Siegfried said while swinging the Rod of God a few times.

— N… No! Don’t do that! Anything but that!

Herbert pleaded with a pale face.

“Let’s not do anything that will cause a rift between us. Do you understand?”

— T-This…! This little…!

Herbert gnashed his teeth, but he didn’t say anything else that could potentially upset Siegfried.

The hierarchy between Herbert and Siegfried was established with Siegfried the one with more say in this situation.

“So… this thing is incomplete?”

— That’s right…

Herbert responded to Siegfried’s question, and then he explained.

— I successfully managed to recreate the scourge of the Lord of Chaos to create the world’s most powerful weapon of mass destruction.

“But why is it so lackluster?”

— You bastard…

“I’ll throw it away.”

— I’m sorry…

“We agreed to be careful with our words, right?”

— We did…

“So, you wanted to create a weapon of mass destruction, but you only managed to make this rod?”

— My illness worsened, so I could no longer work on it. Although I was finally able to complete the weapon’s design…

“So you barely managed to work on it… what should I do to complete this, then?”

— Take this.

Herbert passed a scroll over to Siegfried.

— It’s the blueprint.

“Blueprint, you say…”

— A Grand Master blacksmith will be able to complete the weapon once they see this blueprint.

“That sounds easy, but finding a Grand Master blacksmith isn’t as easy as it sounds, you know that?”

— You don’t have to worry about that since there will certainly be at least one of them in every generation. And they will burn with passion the moment they see my blueprint, so you don’t have to worry about convincing them. The problem is not with the blacksmith.

“What’s the problem?”

— The main problem is gathering the materials.

“How difficult can it be…” Siegfried muttered. He unrolled the scroll and looked at the list of materials necessary to complete the weapon of mass destruction. Upon seeing the list, he clicked his tongue and gasped. “This is crazy…”

The materials necessary to complete the weapon of mass destruction were the following:

[Herbert’s Blueprint]

[A blueprint of the most powerful weapon of mass destruction. A Grand Master blacksmith will easily understand it, and they will be able to complete Herbert’s final masterpiece as long as they have the following ingredients.]

[Type: Recipe (Universal Weapon)]

[Materials:]

[Rod of God × 1 ✓]

[Omnipotent Mechanical Gear × 1]

[Horn of Chromatic Dragon × 1]

[Soul of the Vampire Lord × 1]

[Eye of the Storm × 1]

[Universal Grade Mana Stone × 3]

[Heart of the Demon Lord × 1]

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

It turned out that the weapon of mass destruction Herbert had been dreaming of creating was actually meant to remain as nothing but a dream.

***

The news of Raptor’s character being reset spread all over the world in a heartbeat.

A single video was uploaded to the top game streaming website ‘G-Tube,’ and the video garnered a record-breaking one hundred million views in three days.

「[BNW] Control ability of the Level 50 that overpowered Raptor.avi (99,999+)」

The star of the video wasn’t Raptor, but the Level 50 Adventurer, Siegfried. The guild masters of the top ten guilds reacted the same after they were done watching the video.

“Find out his phone number.”

“Get in touch with him.”

“Let’s recruit him before anyone else does.”

“Does anyone know who he is?”

“Is he a pro gamer from another game?”

“Oh my god!”

“This bastard is mine.”

“Recruit him immediately! Immediately!”

“I’m going to fire our entire recruitment team if someone else recruits him first. Mark my words!”

However, there was one guild master who showed a different reaction from the rest.

“Han Tae-Sung…?”

Chae Hyung-Seok, the Guild master of the Genesis Guild, stared intently at the screen while doubting his eyes a hundred—no, a thousand times.