Chapter 53: 53

“Ah!” Tae-Sung kicked a fuss inside his VR capsule in frustration as he shouted, “Why do I have to get stunned now of all times?! Why?! Damn it, why is it now?!”

Who knew that his character would get stunned? However, there was nothing he could do. In fact, he should think he was lucky that his character did not die upon taking the brunt of the shockwaves from the mana explosion.

He was Level 53, while Shakiro and Vladimir were over Level 300. There was a saying that a shrimp would get squashed when caught up in a fight between whales, and Siegfried shouldn’t have survived the impact of the shockwaves from their battle. It didn’t matter whether he had a hidden class or something even more special.

However, the main reason Siegfried got stunned was because of Shakiro’s skill.

‘Just how strong is he?’ Tae-Sung wondered, recalling the powerful skill that manifested earlier.

Weapons constructed from mana? This could only mean that Shakiro could manifest weapons made out of mana at will. Those weapons rained down on the battlefield at the Weapon Master’s will as well.

“Shakiro must have won… Well, there’s no way he would lose after using a skill like that,” Tae-Sung was convinced—no, he was confident of Shakiro’s victory.

“Ah… I want to log back in as soon as possible…” he grumbled.

His impatience only made the clock tick even slower, which made him even more frustrated as he waited for the countdown timer to end.

Thirty minutes later…

[5…]

[4…]

[3…]

[2…]

[1…]

[You have recovered!]

[The player’s character has recovered from ‘stun’!]

Tae-Sung’s vision returned after the countdown timer ended.

***

“Euk…!” Siegfried groaned. He had just recovered from the effects of Stun, but there was already a pain inundating him.

He was a total mess. The durability of all his equipment was reduced to one except for Megingjord, and both his HP and mana were reduced to ten points.

It was a testament to the strength of Shakiro’s skill.

“Are you awake?”

Siegfried heard a familiar voice.

“Shakiro-nim!” Siegfried exclaimed. He forced himself to get up and turn toward the familiar voice.

Shakiro stood tall in front of Siegfried, and he looked so calm that nobody would believe that he was just in a middle of a vicious fight to the death.

“What happened? What was that skill just now?” Siegfried asked.

“Thousands of weapons litter the skies to descend as a rain of steel. Whenever I use that skill, blood rains all over the battlefield. It’s my secret skill. It contains everything I had learned throughout my life. I stumbled upon it by chance while experimenting with an ancient book I found in a ruin,” Shakiro explained.”

“Haha…”

“It’s called Torrential Flower Rain,” Shakiro uttered the name of the skill that contained everything he lived for.

“It’s awesome,” Siegfried said in awe, and then he added, “It’s an ultimate skill that certainly suits you. What a shame, I couldn’t bear witness to it…”

“You don’t have to be ashamed about it. It’s commendable enough that you were still alive after taking the impact of its shockwaves. Honestly, I was worried that you might get swept up and die…”

“Come on, what does it matter if I die? I will come back to life anyway,” Siegfried said with a smile.

“No…” Shakiro shook his head before saying, “If you died, we wouldn’t be able to meet again.”

“Huh? Do you have somewhere you have to be?” Siegfried asked.

“Setting that aside…” Shakiro changed the topic, “From now on, you have to be careful since you have become a target of the Church of Osric. The Red Cardinal, Vladimir, is going to be looking for you from now on.”

“Huh? He’s still alive?” Siegfried asked in surprise.

“Unfortunately…” Shakiro directed his gaze at a spot around ten meters away.

There was a severed arm that seemed to belong to Vladimir.

“He has quite the skill for someone who had just become a Master. No, can you even call that skills…? Anyway, he is strong. He managed to survive and lose only an arm despite receiving the skill I have devoted my entire life to,” Shakiro said.

“Oh…”

“Of course, if my body were in good shape, it would have been a different story,” Shakiro added.

In addition to his body being in bad shape, Shakiro had also given away all of the legendary weapons he possessed to his disciples, so he fought Vladimir with quite a penalty.

“I recall you mentioned that you’re sick…” Siegfried carefully said.

“It’s not an illness. My body is just giving up on me,” Shakiro nonchalantly replied.

“What? Your body is giving up on you?!” Siegfried exclaimed in surprise.

“It has been a long time since I started fighting the Church of Osric. They are an organization that disrupts the peace and brings chaos to the continent. It was my calling to put an end to their evil plans as a Master, but I ended up suffering a grievous wound while fighting them. However, I have no regrets. I don’t mind sacrificing myself for the sake of world peace,” Shakiro explained.

“Shouldn’t you focus on recovering rather than being here? Let us hurry up and—” Siegfried started.

However, Shakiro cut him off. “If it were curable, I would have treated it long ago.”

“But…”

“It was nice meeting you, Siegfried.” Shakiro suddenly bade goodbye.

“My journey started here, and I wanted a quiet end to my journey while aimlessly walking around the streets, reminiscing about the past. I walked down the streets I once walked while looking back at the life I lived,” Shakiro said.

“Shakiro-nim!”

“I saw you while I was walking. I thought you possessed a pretty unique physique for a young man, and I wanted to teach you anything that would be helpful to you. However, you turned out to be far more talented than I initially thought. I was proud of you. Setting aside your physique, I admire your passion and your mindset. You are truly a rare young man in this day and age, and I didn’t expect that you were qualified to dream of becoming an invincible being on top of all that,” Shakiro continued.

‘No! Nooo!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly when he realized that Shakiro was really saying goodbye.

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“It was fun being with you. I was happy despite the short time we spent together,” Shakiro said.

“No! You can’t leave just like this!” Siegfried exclaimed with desperation in his voice.

“Siegfried,” Shakiro called out. His body was slowly disappearing as if he were a ghost.

“Take Herbert’s life’s work with you. It will be my final gift to you. I wasn’t able to find it myself, but I know that you will fulfill the dreams of my youth and find it.”

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“Ah! Please, Shakiro-nim! That item isn’t important right now!”

“I hope you will use it for the greater good, and this is the skill that contains my life’s work…” Shakiro waved his hand, and an old tattered book dropped in front of Siegfried’s feet.

“It’s not as useful as what your master bestowed upon you, but I know that it will be useful to you one day. Practice it whenever you get the chance.”

“Shakiro-nim!”

“Don’t lose your heart, as it will be your strongest weapon. And if you do manage to become powerful one day, then I want you to use it for the greater good. I want you to become a responsible person who knows how to use his strength in the right way.”

“Ah…”

“Lastly…” Shakiro muttered with a weak smile, “Siegfried… I…”

“Shakiro-nim… please…” Siegfried begged.

“I consider you my disciple.”

Those were Shakiro’s last words.

Fwaaa…

Shakiro vanished after leaving his last words.

Weapon Master Shakiro could no longer be found except in his memories.

“Why?!” Siegfried screamed out loud.

“Siegfried… I consider you… my disciple…”

The Weapon Master’s last words continued to ring in Siegfried’s ears.

***

For quite a while, Siegfried remained in place.

“Ah… why… he’s just an NPC… Haa…” 

Siegfried didn’t feel good at all.

If put bluntly, Shakiro was just an AI created by Hive Entertainment Games, and he was just a bunch of data made up of zeroes and ones. However, Siegfried couldn’t help but feel sorrowful for his passing. It was because NPCs in BNW were created after analyzing the actions and manner of speech of humans so that the NPCs could replicate them.

In short, they were beings who knew how to speak, listen, and feel just like normal human beings.

Once a player was immersed in BNW, it was normal for them to forget the fact that they were playing a game and that NPCs were just a bunch of data.

BNW captivated the entire world because they could make anyone find it hard difficult to distinguish what was reality and fantasy.

“Hoo…” Siegfried let out a sigh and calmed down. He picked up the book Shakiro had left behind.

“Siegfried… I consider you… my disciple…”

Shakiro’s last words continued to ring in his ears.

“It was nice to meet you as well, and I was happy I met you. I will certainly avenge you… I will be leaving now, and I hope that you rest in peace…” Siegfried muttered before adding, “Master...”

Siegfried ended up acknowledging Shakiro as his second master.

- Haha! What did you just say? Did you just call me Master? My, my! What an honor!

He wasn’t sure if it was real, but he could faintly hear Shakiro’s voice.

***

Siegfried opened the large stone door where Herbert’s final work seemed to be located. There was no need for a key, and he also didn’t have to break the door open by force. It was because Shakiro had already destroyed the four guardians guarding the door.

Ddruuuk!

Siegfried pushed the large stone door.

There was nothing special about the room beyond the stone door. Inside, there was only a lone box.

‘Is Herbert’s life’s work inside that box? Isn’t it too small…? Is it a dagger rather than a sword or a spear?’ Siegfried wondered while observing the box the size of an apple box that could probably only fit a dagger, short sword, or a gauntlet at most. It didn’t seem like it could contain the world’s most powerful weapon.

‘Well, it could be a special weapon,’ Siegfried thought as he opened the box.

However, rather than a weapon, the box contained…

“What the hell is this…?” Siegfried muttered while picking up the item inside the box.

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Treasure Map Ripped in Half 1’!]

It was an old piece of paper rather than Herbert’s life’s work.

“Just for this…” Siegfried muttered, and his body quivered as rage started to rise up within him.

He had never imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that the item Shakiro had sacrificed his life to obtain wasn’t Herbert’s final work that he had been dreaming of obtaining in his younger days but a treasure map piece. Even worse, it wasn’t even a full treasure map but a map that was ripped in half.

“Is this some kind of a joke?” Siegfried growled under his breath.

It was then…

[Alert: Congratulations!]

[Alert: You have gathered both ‘Treasure Map Ripped in Half’! (2/2)]

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Treasure Map’!]

A notification popped up in front of him.

***

‘What? I gathered all of them? What is this talking about?’ Siegfried wondered. he couldn’t make heads or tails of the message that popped up in front of him.

Why was it saying that he had gathered all parts when he had just obtained ‘Treasure Map Ripped in Half 1’ just now?

‘Is it a bug?’ Siegfried wondered.

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Treasure Map Ripped in Half 2’!]

[Alert: Try to complete the map!]

He suddenly remembered an old piece of parchment lying in his Inventory, and it was none other than ‘Treasure Map Ripped in Half 2’.

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