Exactly one day had passed since Jeon Jae-woo had tossed some roughly gathered soil into Heaven’s Box.
“??”
For a moment, Jeon Jae-woo wondered whether he had opened the wrong front door and walked into someone else’s home.
Something new was standing inside his apartment after his brief outing.
At first, he nearly mistook it for an intruder.
‘What is that? It does not look human. A robot?’
After finally regaining his composure, he examined the robot-like object more closely.
It bore a striking resemblance to the sort of humanoid robot one might see in a science fiction movie.
Its height and build were roughly those of an average adult man.
But where in the world had something like this come from…?
-TAP TAP
Just then, a sound resembling someone typing reached Jeon Jae-woo’s ears.
[Greetings, Creator. It is a pleasure to meet you.]
At the same time, a blue notification window appeared before his eyes.
“???”
Jeon Jae-woo had already been sufficiently shocked, but this startled him even further.
“W-Who are you? No, who are you, sir?”
-TAP TAP
The sound of typing continued, and another notification window appeared.
[I am a creation personally made by the Creator.]
Creator? Creation? What kind of incomprehensible nonsense was that…?
Only then did something occur to Jeon Jae-woo, and he turned toward Heaven’s Box, which he had left unattended.
The box had automatically closed after he put the soil inside, but its lid was now open.
Jeon Jae-woo looked back and forth between the box and the robot.
“Do not tell me… you came out of this?”
[That is correct, Creator.]
Ah.
He thought he was finally beginning to understand what had happened.
‘Right. I put soil inside the box I created with my newly awakened Trait.’
But he had definitely put soil inside it, so why was there a robot standing here?
Then again, if that thing was some kind of Golem, perhaps saying it had been made from soil was not entirely wrong.
The sound of typing continued, and another notification window appeared.
[As the Creator has surmised, I am a Golem. If you wish to know more detailed information about me, you may also view my Status Window.]
Oh, so he could see this thing’s Status Window as well.
Jeon Jae-woo had plenty of questions, so he immediately checked it without hesitation.
〈Myeolgeop〉 - Bound (Jeon Jae-woo)
Description – One of the most powerful strategic weapons used in the battles of the gods in ancient times. It would not be an exaggeration to say that every function a weapon could possibly possess has been integrated into it. The user is therefore advised to exercise extreme caution.
Type – Golem
Traits – Annihilation (Transcendent). Detection (S). Self-Repair (S). Absolute Defense (Transcendent).
A brief stream of information about the Golem appeared before him.
Jeon Jae-woo’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
‘Good heavens. Two S-grade Traits and two Transcendent-grade Traits.’
The highest possible grade among the Traits Hunters could obtain was the Transcendent grade, which stood above even S-grade.
And this thing possessed two Transcendent-grade Traits?
He did not know the details yet, but if this were an online game, it certainly felt as though he had just obtained an absurdly powerful item.
But what kind of name was Myeolgeop for a Golem?
He did not even know what Myeolgeop was supposed to mean in the first place.
In any case, the description of the Golem was equally astonishing.
It warned that extreme caution was required when using it and called it a powerful weapon from an ancient war.
Then again, judging by its Traits alone, that description did not seem exaggerated.
Information about foreign Hunters was classified, so he did not know the details, but with abilities like these, could it not rival the capabilities of the Hunters considered the best in the world?
Still, it was a little disappointing that it had only four Traits.
Exceptional Hunters usually possessed one Transcendent-grade Trait alongside a whole string of S-, A-, and lower-grade Traits.
Jeon Jae-woo closed the Status Window and turned his attention back to the Golem.
“Hmm. All right. I understand that much, but what exactly can you do?”
These days, creating Golems through techniques involving Traits and Mana was fairly common.
Naturally, a Golem’s purpose differed depending on what abilities it possessed.
Judging by the description in its Status Window, this one appeared most likely to be designed for combat.
[I will attempt anything the Creator commands me to do.]
“No, I understand that. I am asking what you are especially good at.”
[What I do best is fight.]
So that was it.
It really was a combat Golem.
Jeon Jae-woo smiled in satisfaction.
Still, it probably did not possess overwhelming strength right from the start.
Regardless of all that talk about an ancient weapon of war or its Transcendent-grade Traits, this Golem had only just been created.
If compared to a Hunter, it undoubtedly possessed extraordinary talent, but it was still a complete novice with no experience.
Traits were essentially equivalent to a Hunter’s potential.
From this point onward, one had to hone the newly acquired Traits and grow stronger.
There was no reason a Golem with Traits would be an exception.
Even so, his heart was pounding with excitement.
Good heavens. He had put in nothing more than a handful of ordinary soil, and it had produced a Golem with such outrageous Traits.
Perhaps Heaven’s Box was a Trait exceptional even among those of the Transcendent grade.
[I act solely to carry out the Creator’s commands and safeguard the Creator’s well-being.]
On top of everything else, it was a perfectly loyal servant that would obey whatever its master commanded.
Jeon Jae-woo suddenly turned his gaze toward the television.
As it happened, the news was reporting a new development concerning Hunters.
[The System has just announced the new Ruins for this month. This month’s selection includes twenty-three Legendary-grade Ruins and approximately five hundred Rare-grade Ruins… It has been confirmed that no Ancient-grade Ruins appeared this month…]
Mana Ruins.
Mysterious spaces that had begun appearing in the world several decades ago.
More precisely, it was not that the Ruins themselves physically appeared on Earth. Rather, special spaces that only Hunters could enter came into existence.
In truth, calling them treasure vaults would have been more appropriate than calling them Ruins.
They contained all manner of natural resources and precious treasures so valuable that the ordinary natural resources found on Earth could be dismissed as worthless by comparison.
However, only Hunters capable of wielding Mana could explore Ruins.
No one knew what sort of cosmic entity was bestowing such gifts upon Earth, but a fixed number of new Ruins appeared in the world every month.
Naturally, every nation in the world, along with all of its Hunters, desperately competed to claim ownership of as many Ruins as possible.
That was because ownership of a Ruin went to the Hunter who completed its exploration first.
‘Hmm. No Ancient-grade Ruins this time.’
This month had produced twenty-three Legendary-grade Ruins, around five hundred Rare-grade Ruins, and roughly five thousand Common-grade Ruins.
Usually, about one Ancient-grade Ruin, which ranked even higher than Legendary-grade, appeared each month, but apparently there was none this time.
There were more than two hundred countries in the world, yet only twenty-three Legendary-grade Ruins had appeared.
That meant everyone would be competing fiercely to secure even one additional Legendary-grade Ruin this month.
The South Korean government was surely making thorough preparations of its own to claim as many Legendary-grade Ruins as possible.
In other words, it was a race to see who could claim the most valuable Ruins first.
Ruin exploration was both a fierce competition between nations and a major public spectacle comparable to the Olympics or the World Cup.
If South Korea outperformed other countries and claimed a relatively large number of the month’s Ruins, national pride would soar.
If its results were miserable, everyone would become dejected.
The difference was that Ruins were closely tied to actual economic and political matters, so poor results did not merely leave people disappointed. They had a direct impact on the lives of the country’s citizens.
Jeon Jae-woo quietly watched the news for a moment before speaking to the Golem.
“You can see the news they are showing over there, right?”
[That is correct. The current report concerns the Remnants of Cheongsin…]
It started saying something Jeon Jae-woo could not understand in the slightest.
“Those Ruins they are talking about. Do you think you can clear one?”
[Of course.]
“Then pick one Ruin, slip inside, and come back out. Be careful, though. I do not want you getting damaged.”
For now, he intended to determine roughly how strong the Golem was.
He needed an accurate grasp of where he stood before he could properly begin working as a Hunter.
However, he absolutely had not given the order because he thought a newly created Golem could clear an entire Ruin alone just because it possessed Transcendent-grade Traits.
[I will obey your command. Then please grant me permission to travel to a Ruin.]
“All right. Permission gran—”
-WHOOSH.
Damn, that startled him.
The instant he granted permission to move, the Golem vanished.
Considering that it had moved too quickly for the human eye to follow, it certainly seemed worthy of being called a combat weapon.
Jeon Jae-woo himself felt that something had changed after awakening Mana, but the difference was hardly dramatic.
Perhaps because his Trait specialized in creating things, he had undergone fewer direct physical changes than Hunters with combat-oriented Traits.
‘Who cares? This alone is already an unbelievable jackpot.’
All that remained was to slowly develop his Trait and watch the money come pouring in.
However, Jeon Jae-woo’s assumption turned out to be wrong in a slightly different direction.
A short while after he sent the Golem into a Ruin—
[W-We have breaking news! We have just received word that South Korea has completed the exploration of a Legendary-grade Ruin in only one hour…!]
The news suddenly reported that the exploration of a Legendary-grade Ruin had already been completed.
“……??”
Jeon Jae-woo’s eyes widened.
Only one hour had passed since this month’s Ruins were announced.
And yet someone had already cleared one of the Legendary-grade Ruins, the highest-grade Ruins available this month?
That speed made no sense.
Ruins were enormously vast and deep, and naturally, the higher their grade, the more difficult they were to explore.
On top of that, all manner of monsters appeared inside to obstruct the exploration.
Normally, properly clearing a Ruin required extensive preliminary reconnaissance. An advance team would be sent in to gather information, after which multiple Hunters would enter together.
Even then, clearing a Ruin of the lowest grade usually took at least an entire day.
‘Wait. Do not tell me…?’
Just then, as if perfectly timed, the Golem returned to Jeon Jae-woo.
A notification window appeared along with the sound of typing.
-TAP TAP.
[I have completed the mission as instructed and returned, Creator.]
“……”
The moment the news broke, related articles began appearing one after another.
[Ruin Exploration Completed Only One Hour After Announcement? Hunter Administration Refuses to Comment.]
[Major Companies Claim They Know Nothing About It… Was It Accomplished by an Individual?]
[Exact Clear Time: 52 Minutes, 18 Seconds. Expert Says It Would Have Been Impossible Without a Transcendent-Grade Hunter.]
[Who Is the Hunter Who Completed a Legendary-Grade Ruin in One Hour? Could This Have Been a Solo Clear?]
The online communities erupted as well.
┗What is this? Am I dreaming?
┗Did they accidentally report one cleared by Japan or China as ours?
┗Have you ever seen the Ruin System make an error like that?
┗No, seriously, who did it? If it was not the Hunter Administration, then who was it?
┗Whoever did it, at least South Korea managed to claim a Legendary-grade Ruin.
┗Hahaha. The Hunter Administration and the Companies talked such a big game last month, but forget an Ancient-grade Ruin, they could not even claim a single Legendary-grade one.
┗Could Kim Yu-min or Han Seong-jae have done a solo clear?
┗Say something that actually makes sense. Even an S-grade Hunter could not clear a Legendary-grade Ruin this quickly.
At this point, anyone who was not an idiot would have realized the truth.
The Golem had received his command, gone into a Legendary-grade Ruin alone, completed its exploration, and returned.
Just in case, Jeon Jae-woo opened his own Status Window.
[Ruins Currently Cleared – Altar of the Apostle of Death]
[Number of Ruins Available to Clear (11)]
The newly cleared Ruin had been recorded in the Status Window as though Jeon Jae-woo himself had cleared it.
Jeon Jae-woo stood frozen in place, utterly dumbfounded.
‘Is this for real?’