Divine Beast (2)

[The divine beast ‘Seven-Colored Bird’ joins you!]

[You have acquired the title ‘Master of a Divine Beast’!]

[You may name your divine beast!]

“What should I name you?”

“Hmm. How about Seven Colors?”

“Wow, you have absolutely no taste. Right?”

“Coo.”

The Seven-Colored Bird nodded as if in agreement.

“... And Hail and Miles show good taste?”

How dare this bastard hit him with facts?

He smacked his insolent summon on the head. Only then did Cedric quiet down a little.

“Let’s see. You’re white, so let’s call you Snowy. How’s that?”

“Coo.”

“You like it? Aww, aren’t you adorable, my little Snowy?”

[The divine beast has been named ‘Snowy’!]

Having named the Seven-Colored Bird, he gently tapped its beak.

“Snowy. Time to eat.”

“Coo!”

FLAP!

When he pointed at the fragment, Snowy flapped its wings and approached it like a hawk swooping on prey.

It had just reached the ten-pace mark when the messages appeared.

[The divine beast Snowy activates its racial trait!]

[Attribute adaptation begins!]

[Perfectly adapted to the ice attribute!]

Its tiny body reached the fragment without any resistance. He saw its little talons grip the fragment tightly.

Then came the sound.

TAP TAP TAP!

It began breaking the fragment apart with its beak. Just how hard was that beak? The fragment crumbled like a cracker.

‘Wow, it’s that easy?’

Snowy pecked away at the fragment as though it were a feast of exquisite delicacies. With every bite, the surrounding temperature rose so quickly he could feel the difference.

Before long, more messages appeared.

[The Fragment of Winter has been destroyed!]

[‘Snowy’ has consumed an ice-attribute fragment!]

[Ice attribute progress increased by 20%!]

[80% remains until the ice attribute fully blossoms!]

“Cuurp.”

Perhaps because it had eaten an entire fragment larger than itself, Snowy let out a hearty, satisfied burp before flitting back to him.

“Was it tasty?”

“Coo.”

Perched on his shoulder, it nodded. Some of the feathers on its nape had turned an icy blue.

A moment later, new messages appeared.

[‘Snowy’ shares its attribute with its master!]

[You may use the ice attribute!]

[Ice attribute resistance increased by 20%!]

“...?”

He blinked at the messages.

“Snowy. Try canceling the sharing.”

[‘Snowy’ stops sharing its attribute with its master!]

[Returning to an unattributed state!]

‘Holy shit...’

Kim Minwoo’s expression went rigid.

“Cedric.”

“What is it?”

“Do Seven-Colored Birds share their attributes with their masters, by any chance?”

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? I have never seen anyone raise a Seven-Colored Bird. This is uncharted territory for me as well. Why? Did it share with you?”

“Yeah. It shared its ice attribute. I can cancel it, too.”

“That is... extraordinary.”

Cedric’s expression grew solemn. So did Minwoo’s.

Receiving attributes at will—he instinctively understood just how incredible that ability was.

At first glance, gaining an attribute sounded wonderful. But it was a double-edged sword.

‘Attributes have strengths and weaknesses against each other.’

Suppose you acquired a water-related attribute. You would eat fire attributes alive. But a wood-based attack would deal double damage to you.

The stronger your attribute’s energy became, the more pronounced those interactions grew.

You might ask whether acquiring a balanced assortment of attributes would solve that problem.

‘That doesn’t work.’

Try developing water after acquiring fire, and not only would the water attribute barely budge, your fire attribute would actually wither away.

Once one attribute became fixed, the range of attributes you could develop shrank drastically.

That was precisely why he hadn’t wanted to consume the ice-attribute fragment. The risk to his life was a problem in itself, but there was more to it.

‘Locking myself into one attribute isn’t necessarily a good thing.’

It would be a huge help against enemies weak to ice. Against enemies with an advantage over ice, however, it would only get in his way.

At present, he was close to unattributed. No particular strengths, but no weaknesses either.

If he had a primary attribute at all, it would be death.

‘But that has no unfavorable matchups.’

Its caliber was so high that even light, its natural counter, barely worked against it.

And now, in that situation, Snowy’s ability had emerged.

He could receive whatever attribute he wanted, whenever he wanted.

‘That’s insanely powerful.’

The utility was downright ridiculous.

He hurriedly turned to Cedric.

“Are Seven-Colored Birds affected by opposing attributes? Like, if it eats ice, does that halve the effect of eating fire later?”

“... No. They are not. If they were, they would hardly be called divine beasts.”

“Oh, my precious baby!”

He lifted Snowy high and spun around. With that answer alone, Snowy’s value had shot up dozens of times over.

Any attribute-related items he found from now on? He could feed them all to Snowy.

He could even pick out only the essential attributes. Several major ones sprang to mind already.

Fire, wood, wind, earth, electricity...

Then he only had to receive the appropriate attribute for each stage.

‘As long as I raise it...’

Clearing gates would become several times easier. The monsters would be positively dying of joy when he hit them with their elemental counters.

With Snowy cooing happily on his shoulder, he left the inner keep.

The sun shone brilliantly in a sky that had been filled with a blizzard only moments earlier.

“Snort! Sunlight!”

“It’s warm!”

Orcs sprawled all over the place, their faces utterly relaxed in the sunshine. The elves were equally delighted to bask in it.

A balmy breeze flowed through the north.

Then it happened.

Everything froze, as though time itself had stopped inside the gate.

[Gate clear rewards will now be granted!]

[You have cleared the gate through a special route!]

[The effects of the ‘Mysterious Necklace’ change significantly!]

[Some effects of the title ‘One Who Walks the Hero’s Path’ are activated!]

[Your level is too low to proceed to the next stage!]

[Exiting the gate!]

“Coo?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

The scenery before them had abruptly changed to his home.

‘I got kicked out?’

It seemed there was a level requirement for the next gate. He examined the Mysterious Necklace, the item he had used to enter the gate in the first place.

[Mysterious Necklace]

[Grade: ??]

[A necklace whose sinister provision has vanished, allowing a hero’s energy to begin taking root.]

[Effect 1. Serves as a medium for undertaking Salvation of the Continent (S+). Your previous progress will be saved until then. (Minimum requirement: Level 251 or higher)]

[Effect 2. Contains two sockets. Something appears to fit inside them.]

[Effect 3. This necklace can only be activated by someone who holds the title ‘One Who Walks the Hero’s Path.’]

The Mysterious Necklace.

Its description had changed dramatically. He was certain it had originally said something about undertaking Osiris’s Provision.

‘The sinister provision has vanished?’

Osiris’s Provision = sinister provision.

However he looked at it, that seemed to be what it meant.

“Osiris, you bastard...”

He didn’t know much about Osiris. No one beyond the gate had even recognized the name.

But he could tell the bastard had been trying to pull something.

‘It was suspicious from the start.’

An ordinary necromancer would have immediately joined the Apostle upon encountering the Chimera in the orc village.

And after that?

They would have worked hard under him, earning merit, leveling up, and receiving rewards.

‘That must have been his aim.’

He had undoubtedly intended to raise a necromancer that way and use them for something. Perhaps he had planned to steal their body or strike a deal with the Witch?

‘You’re dead if I ever meet you.’

Osiris.

Etching that name firmly into his memory, he examined the necklace’s sockets.

‘These...’

He thought he knew what they were.

One was shaped like a woman wearing a round, brimmed hat, and the other like an enormous dragon.

The Witch and the Ice Dragon.

The sockets resembled them.

‘Does defeating those two drop something that fits perfectly in here?’

Filling them certainly looked as though it would yield something good.

‘First, I’ll have to reach level 251.’

He checked the titles he had acquired this time.

[New Titles]

[1. Professional Commander]

[You commanded an army of over 30,000.]

[Effect: Morale of troops under your command increased by 15%.]

[2. Slayer of the Strong]

[You easily slew a monster despite an overwhelming level gap.]

[Effect: Damage increased by 20% against monsters whose levels differ from yours by at least 200.]

[3. Master of a Divine Beast]

[A baby Seven-Colored Bird has acknowledged you as its master.]

[Effect: Magic Power +10]

[4. One Who Walks the Hero’s Path]

[You united the strength of different races, defeated the Apostle, and drove the cold from the north.]

[Effect 1. All stats +30]

[Effect 2. ???]

‘Oh.’

All four were good titles, especially One Who Walks the Hero’s Path.

Thirty to every stat.

There was even another effect hidden behind it.

‘That probably unlocks as I progress through Salvation of the Continent.’

Skills, titles, items—he had gained quite a lot. Enough to make the investment worthwhile.

‘But the biggest jackpot is definitely Snowy.’

This divine beast was his greatest prize. Without the hidden gate, he would hardly have had easy access to something as unusual as the Fragment of Winter.

Their meeting would have been delayed considerably as well.

He placed Snowy on his shoulder.

“We’re going to be together forever now.”

He was never letting it go.

“Coo.”

“You like that? Daddy does too.”

After stroking its beak, he left his room. There was something he had decided to start once he got out.

Equipment manufacturing.

It was time to see the chairman.

* * *

“... What’s that bird on your shoulder?”

“My child. I got it in the gate. Its name is Snowy. Say hello to Grandpa.”

“Coo.”

Snowy bowed its head, and Chairman Kim, suddenly promoted to grandfather, received the greeting with a bewildered look.

“Well, I hear you wanted to discuss something...”

“I’d like to start an equipment business.”

“Minwoo, aren’t you a necromancer? Where would you get the equipment? That’s no easy business to enter. Competition is fierce these days, and craftsmen’s fees are sky—”

SNAP!

With a snap of his fingers, a group of skeletons appeared.

“Father. Watch this.”

He took out materials and placed them in front of a skeleton. It used its crafting skill.

Perhaps because the materials were of a suitable level, it quickly succeeded.

“... Huh?”

Chairman Kim rubbed his eyes.

“Is old age getting to me? Why am I seeing a Plus?”

“You’re seeing correctly. I told you the hidden gate had plenty of good things. I got this there.”

“Wait, the hidden gate even gives those things skills?”

“They weren’t given the skills. They learned them. You know my skeletons can learn, Father.”

“Good heavens...”

Perhaps the sight was simply too absurd to process. But his baffled exhalation lasted only a moment before his expression turned serious.

“How many can you summon?”

“Well over a thousand.”

“Can those skeletons use their crafting skills indefinitely?”

“No. It does cost mana. But there’s a loophole. Resummoning.”

Crafting skills consumed mana. Eventually, the skeletons would run out.

But there was a solution.

He could dismiss them and summon them again. They would return with full mana.

“If I set aside just one day for production, they could easily make tens of thousands of items. Provided there are enough materials.”

“Heh...”

No labor costs. No fatigue. High quality.

His son’s summons had the potential to overturn the entire equipment market.

“And the prices?”

“We sell cheap, and... you know?”

Minwoo drew a hand across his throat.

Chairman Kim grinned as well. He could almost hear the wails of the other conglomerate families that had entered the market already.

From the low-end to the midrange market, their competitors would all be wiped out.

But that wasn’t their concern.

Fall behind, and you die.

That was capitalism. That was business.

“Will you keep this up for long? You’ll need to hunt, too.”

“I’m not sure. But in the meantime, can’t you scoop up all the craftsmen who lose their jobs?”

“True enough.”

That would set the stage for Ilseong to dominate. Once that happened, Minwoo wouldn’t need to devote much effort to manufacturing.

He could simply release small quantities of Plus products as loss leaders.

Chairman Kim looked at his son.

“What do you want?”

“I’ll just take the margin on the equipment I supply, after deducting material costs.”

“... Are you sure? Isn’t that a little too generous?”

Minwoo would be supplying the equipment, and he would be the one offering it cheaply.

Thanks to him, their share of the equipment market would rise until they controlled the whole thing.

For that reason, the chairman had privately been willing to pay a bonus for every item supplied.

Yet all his son wanted was the margin?

“Father. We’re family, aren’t we?”

“... Of course.”

“Ilseong should use this chance to pull away from the competition. You’ll have your hands full improving its global ranking, too.”

“Minwoo...”

“And if I’m going to keep climbing, I’ll need Ilseong’s help with plenty of things. We should keep this going for a long, long time.”

“... Minwoo, do you have no interest in running the company?”

“I really enjoy hunting. I’m no good at playing with numbers. Besides, Hyeongseok is studying business, isn’t he? Leave it to him. Tell him to give his big brother plenty of support.”

“Heh...”

Chairman Kim chuckled softly.

There had indeed been plenty of commotion over the succession lately. He hadn’t expected his son to be so casual about it...

If anything, that made the chairman feel all the more reluctant to let the possibility go.

His business sense, his boldness, his astonishing awakened abilities.

‘I think he’d do an excellent job if he inherited it.’

Chairman Kim smacked his lips regretfully.

Minwoo, meanwhile, had other thoughts.

‘I’m never taking it over.’

He had no intention whatsoever of inheriting the company. He was busy enough trying to kill the Outer God. Why let himself get tied down?

Becoming the heir would make life terribly cumbersome. Staying good business partners, as they were now, was the best option.

‘And this already benefits me.’

Crafting skills only gained proficiency through use.

And here was a company willing to supply unlimited materials.

Proficiency? He could keep raising it for free.

He wouldn’t have to worry about sales at all. Ilseong would handle everything.

It was also an opportunity for his skeletons to level up, since using crafting skills earned them experience.

“Let’s take this market for ourselves, Father.”

“With everything laid out this neatly, I’d be an idiot if I couldn’t. Don’t worry. Starting tomorrow, I’ll have stock in equipment stores nationwide.”

They understood each other perfectly.

The two men grinned.