Max Talent Player

The Master Pedro, the manly man fanatic who was actually a woman, laughed heartily in front of Hyukjin.

“Hahaha.”

It was the laugh of someone who deeply believed that manly men had to laugh loudly and from the gut. It looked a little awkward to Hyukjin, but it wasn’t important.

“I’m here with very happy news.”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember what I said before?”

In the past, Pedro gave Hyukjin a Sylphid’s Wing after receiving a Tomb-Pilfering Shovel from him. Hyukjin said that the Tomb-Pilfering Shovel and Sylphid’s Wing weren’t an equal match. After acknowledging that fact, Pedro said:

“Let me balance the scales at a later time. You are the one who called me and gave me an item out of nowhere, so this much should do for an initial trade, right?”

“I haven’t forgotten that I still owe you.”

Pedro sent Hyukjin a look. As someone who could read even the Guardians, Hyukjin immediately realized what Pedro wanted to hear.

“As expected of a manly man among men. You haven’t forgotten your promise.”

“Hahahaha!”

Pedro puffed out his chest and loudly laughed. He really was obsessed with being a manly man.

“That’s right. Because I’m a manly man.”

Hyukjin could have said that a manly man wouldn’t be so obsessed with being a manly man, but he just smiled. Seeing how confident Pedro was, he must have brought something extremely good with him. Hyukjin waited in silence.

“My damn—ahem, my teacher would like to see you for a moment, Hyukjin.”

“Elder Bufafa wants to see me?”

“Yes. I got a quest to escort the VIP to the Winter Castle.”

“Can you tell me why?”

“Of course!”

Pedro took out a letter, which Hyukjin took and read.

This letter is humbly penned to your exalted personage.

And so the letter began, continuing for a staggering thirteen pages. Minus all the flowery language and unnecessary fluff, the letter could be boiled down to a fairly simple message.

As an elder, I possess a special innate authority, and the time when I can use it has come. To repay you for granting me an audience with Lady Isabel, I would like to dedicate the innate authority to your exalted personage. Please come to the Winter Castle.

‘A special innate authority?’

The dwarfs were already a special race. Even by future standards, their kin were the most outstanding in all things production. They were at the top of their field, and a top elite among them, Elder Bufafa, was going so far as to call this authority ‘special’.

‘And it’s an authority he can use just once in a hundred years.’

It happened to be resetting this year, and Elder Bufafa wanted to use it on him, a lucky coincidence Hyukjin had never imagined.

“Will you come with me to the Winter Castle?” asked Pedro.

“Of course.”

Hyukjin didn’t deliberate for long. As he made his way outside with Pedro, they ran into his sister Ahyoung in front of the door.

“Oh, Noona. You’re home early today.”

Ahyoung was working as an assistant in a Korean restaurant these days. Apparently, the aspiring cook was working extremely hard to learn the culinary arts.

“This is…?”

“Ah, just a friend of mine.”

“Ah, I see. Hello.”

Pedro put out his hand. “Hello, I’m Hyukjin’s friend, Pedro. Please call me Pedro, Noonim.”

“I’m Kim Ahyoung.” After that short greeting, Ahyoung asked, “When will you be back?”

“Not sure. I think it’ll be a bit. Why?”

“Nothing.”

Ahyoung dipped her head in goodbye at Pedro before going into the house. She heard Hyukjin’s voice behind her.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Whatever.”

Ahyoung roughly tossed the shopping basket she was carrying into the kitchen. She was originally going to try her hand at a seafood doenjang stew today, but it suddenly seemed like a pain.

‘He’s probably not coming back today, is he?’

Hyukjin’s friend looked like a foreign Player. From the way they hurried out, it didn’t seem like Hyukjin would be returning today. Forget the seafood doenjang stew, she didn’t care.

‘What a pain.’

Ahyoung, who normally enjoyed cooking, decided not to cook today.

* * *

* * *

It had been a while since Hyukjin visited the Winter Castle. Once he and Pedro passed the forest made of iron, the fortress where snow-topped steel towered into the clouds, the Winter Castle, came into view.

Pedro suddenly straightened his shoulders, chortling with a look of extreme gratification. “I can already imagine what expression those two jerks will make.”

They reached the Winter Castle. Just like before, it loomed before them with immense dignity. In front of the Winter Castle were the twin gatekeepers Hyukjin had seen before.

“I have escorted the esteemed guest here!” called out Pedro.

The brother and sister twins respectfully bowed.

“You’re Elder Bufafa’s guest!”

“You’re Elder Bufafa’s guest!”

Pedro said loudly, “I think you should speak more respectfully.”

The twins straightened and glared at Pedro.

“Human. Wanna die?”

“Human. Wanna die?”

Upon which, Pedro put a hand on Hyukjin’s shoulder.

“I’m this guy’s friend.”

“...”

Hyukjin realized what was going on.

‘Pedro’s had a rough time of it.’

These twin siblings detested humans by nature. Hyukjin remembered the first thing they said the very first time he came here.

“Haa, the smell of humans. Disgusting.”

That was their default. It was only because Hyukjin was now a precious guest of Bufafa that their attitude had changed at all, an unprecedented development.

‘And dwarfs typically don’t pay much heed to the relationships of other dwarfs.’

Dwarfs were unlikely to care whether Hyukjin was a VIP of Bufafa or not—they were fiercely independent thinkers. That the twins were acting so respectfully now was a reflection of how highly Bufafa regarded Kim Hyukjin.

As if to vent his built-up resentment, Pedro harrumphed, “Greet me properly from now on.” He patted the two 130 centimetres short dwarfs on the shoulder. “I’m this esteemed guest’s friend, you know? I was even acknowledged by his older sister.”

It wasn’t a lie. Hyukjin had introduced Pedro to Ahyoung as his friend.

“Take care to be respectful in the future. Got it?”

“...”

“Why aren’t you answering me?”

The twins clenched their teeth.

“Understood.”

“Understood.”

Only then did Pedro relent with a big smile.

“That’s it, that’s how you do it. Now this is the way to greet a manly man. Uhahaha!”

The gatekeepers opened the door. The Winter Castle didn’t have a physical door—a circular door appeared in the wall when the gatekeepers recited something, and the two of them were able to walk into it.

After entering the Winter Castle, Pedro assumed the role of navigator.

“I’ll take you there.”

All paths in the Winter Castle were magicked. Going straight wouldn’t take you straight, and going left wouldn’t take you left. It was laid out with one short teleportation gateway after another. If you didn’t know the exact way, getting lost was a guarantee.

Pedro knew the path well. They reached Elder Bufafa’s house, which was still on fire.

“Teacher! I’m here! I’ve brought the esteemed guest.”

The door opened, and Elder Bufafa came running out.

“I apologize for not being able to escort you in person. The circumstances did not allow it.”

Elder Bufafa didn’t have a single scrap of clothing on his body. He was covering the essential areas with his extremely long, profuse beard.

“I will use the authority at once. There is no time.”

This was an authority that could only be used one time in one hundred years. Not only that, but it was only possible to use after soaking in water infused with the ‘essence of Athenae’ for at least thirty minutes, and the authority had to be used within five minutes of leaving the water.

Hyukjin nodded.

“Please do so.”

“Yes. I will do my best, esteemed one.”

Stark naked, Bufafa went to stand behind Hyukjin. He placed both palms on Hyukjin’s back, and his long brows stood straight on end.

“-- --- --.”

“--- --- ----.”

Hyukjin heard an incomprehensible incantation, feeling the dwarf elder drawing forth his power.

‘Into my body.’

He felt something entering him, snaking and squirming through his veins. It felt foreign.

‘This… is Elder Bufafa’s innate authority.’

He contemplated his own body with Eye of Perception.

‘I don’t know what exactly it is.’

It was beyond his comprehension. That was how advanced Elder Bufafa’s authority was. After some time, Elder Bufafa crumpled to the ground behind him.

“Teacher!”

Pedro ran forward and propped up his teacher. At the same time, Hyukjin heard a notice.

[You have successfully received the ‘innate authority of Bufafa, the chosen dwarf elder’.]

[You are bestowed the ‘Dwarf Elder’s Blessing’.]

He was able to read the detailed explanation.

[Dwarf Elder’s Blessing]

A blessing usable once in a hundred years by an individual of the chosen people, the dwarfs. Among them, this dwarf is of a particularly chosen lineage, the Sword Forest, and holds even among them the position of elder.

*The blessing is effective for 7 days.

*The ‘Dwarf Elder’s Blessing’ applies to a reward of the item category acquired directly from the System within 7 days.

*’Breath of Production’ will be bestowed on a directly acquired reward of the item category.

*If ‘Breath of Production’ successfully takes effect, one identical item will be created.

*If the first reward acquired following the blessing is not of the item category, the blessing will disappear.

‘The explanation… is extraordinary.’

Extraordinary wasn’t a sufficient description.

‘It sounds like if I acquire an item reward, that item will be duplicated.’

Elder Bufafa got heavily to his feet, his body thinner than before. Apparently, it was because he had drawn too much strength in one go.

“I’ll recover in no time, so please do not worry,” said Bufafa. “It seems… that my inadequacy has imposed too many restrictions.”

“No, this is already an incredibly generous gift. Elder Bufafa, thank you so very much.”

“Your gracious words deeply flatter me. But please, be careful. You must, at all costs, be given a ‘reward of the item category’ for the first reward.”

Receiving something else, like a title or stats, would result in the blessing’s disappearance.

“Yes. I’ll keep it in mind.”

For other Players, it was an enormous penalty. But for Hyukjin, an Observer, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

‘I don’t get any rewards by hunting something myself anyway.’

That was the string attached to his class. It was possible he would get some kind of sponsorship from the Guardians, but all he had to do was ask Senia to pause streaming.

Upon receiving the blessing, Hyukjin jumped right into completing one of his scenarios. He returned to Korea and immediately met up with Choi Sung-gu.

They had to move quickly and finish it within seven days.

“Whassat? Shabam? Centipede Cave? Not going! I almost died back then! And it’s obviously gonna be even harder this time! You crazy, bro?! Just kill me!”

“The Giant of the Sunset will be happy if you play a major role there. Don’t you need to make some kind of big splash right now because of the government contract?”

“Actually, I’ve always wanted to go to Plum Blossom Island.” It wasn’t difficult to persuade Sung-gu. He asked, “But friendo, why Plum Blossom Island, of all places?”

“There’s a Tome of the Divine Sword Physique there.”

“Wha, really?”

“But I’ve landed a chance to get not just one, but two of them.”

If things went as Hyukjin was planning, he would be able to acquire two Tomes of the Divine Sword Physique.

“Holy shit, you crazy mofo. Then Yeonseo can get one, and you can get one.” Sung-gu shivered all over. “Shin Yeonseo’s a monster too, but you’re gonna become one crazy monster. Eurgh, gross. You’re so strong, it’s positively nasty.”

Despite saying that, Choi Sung-gu seemed extremely happy. He also knew how precious a Tome of the Divine Sword Physique was.

Hyukjin asked Senia to pause streaming. From now on, her channel would proceed with pre-recorded content. Then, they went to Plum Blossom Island by helicopter.

“We’re gonna find the Centipede Cave.”

And so began a new story, one suddenly initiated by an unexpected variable, Elder Bufafa’s invitation.

‘This…’

Greed swirled in Hyukjin’s eyes. He wanted to become strong. Desire burned hot within him.

‘...is where I’ll get the Tome of the Divine Sword Physique.’