14th
Iron Tier Adventurer Hassan
014 –
The first to discover it was the musician Malko.
“I don’t think anything like this happened until yesterday. Did it get exposed after being destroyed in the commotion with the goblins? What do you think, brother?”
Malko is a broken stone statue. He asked me for my opinion on the strange sculpture inside. Even if I asked, would I be the only one who could know?
I just carefully examine everything with narrow eyes.
It was another statue inside a statue.
Just like a matryoshka doll, the broken marble statue contained a rather spacious space and a strangely shaped model.
Its size is slightly larger than the palm of your hand, so it could be called a statue or figure.
What model is it?
It’s hard to see because it’s covered by the fragments of a broken stone statue. It’s shiny black and seems like it could be quite a precious item.
Luna, wearing her strange mask again, thrusts her huge head in and mutters, “Hmm.”
“Since it was hidden, isn’t it an incredibly valuable item? A treasure, perhaps?”
“Sister, that makes perfect sense. Then I think we should bring it up.”
It was at that moment that the short-nosed Malko was about to reach into the stone statue.
“Hey, you damned bastards! Don’t touch me! This is gonna be a big problem, you guys!”
The old man who was finishing up pulling out weeds over there let out a loud noise, so we stopped what we were doing and turned our heads.
“Heh, heh… If these guys touch things carelessly, heh, they might get punished by heaven.”
The sight of him suffocating made me worry that he might meet his end before receiving divine punishment.
Anyway, since that spirit was not ordinary and even contained something that could be called a ghost or madness, we had no choice but to do as the inspiration said.
“This, this is…!”
Inspiration was greatly surprised to see another small statue inside the stone statue. Does it know something? Malko asked, feeling the same anticipation as I did.
“What is that? Old man, do you know anything?”
“No, I don’t know!”
What the heck? You’re a doctor, but you’re a total idiot. While I was muttering like that, the doctor snorted and added a few more words.
“I don’t know either…! That’s why it’s even more dangerous! I have a doctorate in theology along with philosophy. So I know everything about the relics and statues in the area. But this is a form I’ve never seen before, a stone statue I’ve never seen before… How can something like this exist?”
The doctor was half-mad. However, he couldn’t touch the object itself and just stared around with his eyes wide open.
I asked with an excited heart too.
“Anyway, is it something great?”
“Wow, that’s amazing! If you do it right, it could be a rare artifact, no, an epic artifact? No, it could even be a legendary artifact!”
Legendary artifact?
I don’t know what it is, but it has the word “legend” attached to it, and judging from the doctor’s attitude, I know it’s amazing. However, if I were to ask what a legendary artifact is, I’d probably get yelled at, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Old man, what is the legendary artifact?”
A musician who doesn’t care about other people’s opinions or stares asks the question on my behalf.
“You little punk, you adventurer, you don’t even know the stages of artifacts! These days… . Listen carefully. There are five stages of artifacts. The first are ordinary artifacts. They are just old antiques. No one except the rich seekers, they are just trash. I mean, the ones sold by street vendors.”
The old man’s explanation made me think of the mat vendors scattered throughout the city. They would sell things like broken jars and worn-out straw shoes as relics.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand the person selling it or the person buying it. Anyway, they say it’s a common relic.
“And the second is rare items, or luxury items. They are like decorations that nobles use to decorate their rooms and gardens. And the third is epic-level artifacts. Epic-level artifacts and above have truly absurd abilities. The prices are also outrageous. These are items that we, the iron-level people, will never see in our lifetimes.”
My ears twitch at the mention of epic artifacts. I have previously handled an epic artifact called the Staff of Clepius.
Since then, the grace has been opened, and the strange massage ability has been acquired. The epic relic was so precious.
Then Luna lifted her mask slightly, revealing her bare face, and said:
“I know about epic relics. You mean the fountain pen we used at the guild? The magical item that reads my karma.”
“Ew, tsk.”
The doctor clicks his tongue at Luna’s question.
“It’s a bit ambiguous to call something like that an epic relic, but it’s true. Epic-level relics and above contain the grace of the gods. And legendary-level ones, and ones that exist beyond legends… In fact, they’re relics that I’ve only heard of through word of mouth, but have never seen in person.”
“So, according to the inspiration, this could be a legendary relic?”
As I continued to listen to the story and organize my thoughts, I reached a conclusion and asked. My grandfather crossed his arms and groaned.
“I’m not sure, though.”
“Then, is that legendary relic expensive?”
“Is it expensive? If the item is authentic, it will be worth its price because it has really high academic value. You can get a pouch of it in gold!”
A pocket full of gold coins!?
Shit, is that even real? I’ve never even seen a gold coin in this world.
But I can receive it all in one go. I’m so happy that my shoulders start to shake. Damn, I’m rich!! I’m retiring as an adventurer at the same time!!
“goldfinch!”
“I can buy a new guitar!”
“I wanted to change the amulet too!”
Even though you and I are each saying positive things, Platan’s expression is not bright for some reason.
“Sir, you said it was gold! Isn’t that something to be happy about? Why do you look so gloomy?”
“You savages, this is not something to be happy about. High-grade relics contain such magical power. It is enough to completely destroy human life! Anyone who touches such things will be cursed!”
The musician Malko asks the old man who is speaking passionately with spit flying from his mouth.
“So, what the old man is saying is that we can’t touch this?”
“I think this black shape and the thing hidden inside the stone statue… I think this is a sealed object. Sealing something in a temple was a common practice in ancient times…”
Seal? What kind of ominous sound is that? My suffering sensor, which has endured all kinds of hardships while rolling around the bottom, makes the back of my neck shiver.
“Inspiration, what if it’s a seal…?”
“I don’t know. It could be a bad spirit. It could be a demon. Or it could be something beyond our understanding. Look at that form. It doesn’t seem normal.”
I looked closely again at the shape of the stone statue pointed to by the tip of the inspiration’s finger. Its appearance was completely black, like obsidian.
It looks like an octopus, but also has wings like a bird. Something that is a combination of an octopus and a bird, sitting on a box and meditating? Anyway, that’s it.
“But, old man, I don’t believe in curses. A living, breathing being shouldn’t be afraid of things like that.”
Cover-.
“Fuck!”
The fearless musician boy took out an obsidian statue from inside the broken stone statue.
We had been listening to the doctor’s explanation and were on edge until just now, so we could do nothing but shrug our shoulders and scream at his violent actions!
“You crazy bastard! What are you doing? This could be dangerous!”
“Hehehe, brother of the foreign country, you’re more scared than you look. There’s nothing to be scared of. You’re just an object. You’re just an object. You’re just an object. You’re just an object. You’re just an object. You’re just an object-.”
“You son of a bitch! You’re cursed!”
Malko lifted the statue high into the air and repeated the same words over and over again like a parrot. He already seemed crazy, but the sight was so bizarre that I jumped up and trembled.
“Oh, what should I do, old man!”
“I, I don’t know! I think it would be better to just get rid of that thing!”
“Hassan, do something about it! I’m scared!”
I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. These brats, they talk too much and it doesn’t help when things get tough.
Shit, my first mission as an adventurer involves a cursed casualty? I can’t possibly start my career off that spectacularly.
So, with a feeling of, “I don’t know,” I hit the bread of the noisy musician with all my might.
“It’s just an object-guest!”
“Hey you little shit! Come on!”
Thud, thud, thud!
We have to survive! We have to survive!
I respected life and, with only one thought in mind to save it, I punched the guy in the face with all my might.
“No way! Let’s all do it together!”
“Yeah! That, that sounds good!”
“I’ll help you too!”
We trampled and kicked the body of the musician who was lying there. It may seem like we are lynching him one-sidedly, but we are only saving people. Probably.
Deering-.
『Cure 『Low-level Mental Contamination』』
『Task value + 10』
“That, that maaan… , ugh.”
Only after being beaten for quite some time did the little guy finally start making human sounds.
“T, stop… Is this the kind of thing that will kill Malko…?”
“You little brat! You’re alive!”
*
“Suddenly, my vision went blank. I felt dizzy, as if my head was spinning. Even now, I’m having auditory hallucinations… Oh, oh, brother, please put your fists away. If I get hit by your fist, I might really die. I’m still in my right mind!”
Malco shuddered as he recalled the time he had touched the relic. It had to be a truly terrifying relic, one that had left the guy’s face covered in bruises and even made his nose bleed.
“It’s definitely a cursed item. It seems like the seal on this thing that shouldn’t have been broken has been broken…”
Dr. Platan makes an anxious sound. We had long since finished our mission of cleaning the temple, but we were still restless and unable to leave the place.
Where our gaze is focused, there is a strange stone statue lying on the grass.
A black shape that looks very ominous. It feels like it’s vibrating like a whoosh-whoosh-whoosh. It doesn’t seem right to leave it like that, but it’s also not something you can take with you.
Some people were left to wait, and one person was even thinking about calling a high-ranking official from the city.
“Okay, okay. I used the voodoo of the Great Calamity to re-seal it…!”
“You be quiet.”
“Uh, uh… .”
Even if everyone put their heads together, there was no way anything could come to mind. After all, I was a stranger in this world, and even magic, let alone curses, still felt strange to me!
The only one who is trustworthy is this old man, Dr. Lee, who has at least tried his hand at ink.
Even the doctor couldn’t really say anything, just kept groaning and groaning. If someone saw him, they might think he was taking a shit.
“Old man, are you sure you’re not going to get wet in your pants?”
“Hey, you punk! Anyway, it’s not like there’s no way… .”
“Is that true, inspiration?”
“Yes, but for an Iron-rank adventurer like us, it’s nearly impossible. As the Ideophe sorcerer said, we have no choice but to re-seal it.”
“Resealing? Is that possible?”
“This is the temple of the old sun god. If one has the grace of the sun god, how can one endure the strangeness of that thing? Of course, it is only a theory and not certain. Above all, those who have the grace of the sun god are few and far between in Sodomora…”
Tiyoong.
The grace of the sun god?
I thought of the grace I had, the “clumsy dexterity”. According to the guild’s one-eyed uncle, the grace I had was a gift from the sun god.
Isn’t this great timing?
I could feel a strange sense of foreboding as to why I was here, and why the statue and the grace were together.
Literally destiny. It feels like a ray of light shining in the darkness.
“Sir, I have the favor of the sun god. What should I do?”
“Huh, huh? The sun god’s grace has been bestowed upon a barbarian like you? A mere iron-rank adventurer would not receive such grace! Are you crazy too?”
“Explaining is a hassle, so just tell me what to do.”
“Oh, you’re a bad guy for urging an old man. You said something grandiose about sealing it, but in fact, I don’t have any special tricks up my sleeve. If you really have a favor, then maybe if you touch it yourself, it might work out somehow.”
No, isn’t that too much? It means I have to pick it up and be prepared to be cursed.
“Brother, if it looks like you’re losing your mind, I’ll beat you with a stick as many times as I’ve been hit with! Don’t worry, just pick it up!”
“Yeah, yeah! I’ll help you too, Hassan! I’m confident I can hit you well!”
I ignored the loud chatter of my colleagues and approached the statue. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to touch something like this even if I was paid.
I also developed a strange ability to lift curses and quirks… .
More than anything, it could be my mood, but this stone statue seemed to be calling me all along. It was vibrating in a seductive manner, as if it was forcing me to touch it.
“Fuck, I don’t know!”
Hot.
[Work Review] Juuji-nim, IJoker-nim!!! Thank you for the coupon!!
And thank you always for your suggestions and recommendations ㅠㅠ!! I really appreciate it!!!
There are many stories that say it is similar to Geommeowe. I am so happy that you think it gives off the feeling of a work that has been firmly maintaining the Noble No. 1 spot for a year ㅠㅠ..
But I don’t even dare to lift up Kat’s shoelaces…sob. The more I write, the more I feel that writing a light and humorous piece like Geommeo requires a kind of natural talent…
Anyway, this article is actually a combination of things I’ve recently read that were fun: Blacksmith + Evil Party + Game Warrior + My Buff + Illidan and Maiev, etc. I put them all together because I don’t know what you guys like. Yes, it’s a mongrel. It’s a bastard without a pedigree..
