Chapter 49: Cursed Sword – Black Sun

“Dieee!!!”

I thrust the large greatsword into the imp’s head as it charged through the bushes.

With that one blow, its head caved in, and it collapsed to the ground.

I pulled the sword back and glanced at Helena, who was standing beside me.

It seemed like she was still upset about how I had hurriedly run out of the classroom earlier, saying I didn’t have time.

Helena, with her lips tightly sealed, was wielding her staff and exterminating the demon monsters in the corrupted forest.

“Hey… So, uh, Helena…”

“Yes?”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes.”

I stood there, dumbfounded, as Helena openly spoke about her feelings.

The woman, dressed in a red robe adorned with golden patterns, definitely looked different from Sohee.

Yet, when she smiled indifferently at me, it reminded me of Sohee in the real world.

“I’m sorry. It’s because of the hidden quest… and I didn’t have time to explain properly.”

I felt like I hadn’t been able to understand Helena’s delicate feelings, probably because she acted so much more mature than her age.

She crossed her arms, turned her head away, and pouted.

Even though she seemed to be upset, she still used her magic to help hunt the demon monsters.

Watching her, she looked so cute.

Maybe I’ve been playing games too much?

I didn’t really know what middle school girls of her age liked to do for fun, so it was hard to start a conversation with Helena.

I suppose that was because my tastes were… a little, very unique.

“Is it because I only play games?”

“Yes.”

Sohee was always busy.

She even had a driver who picked her up.

I heard rumors that she barely came to school until last year.

“So… once we finish this quest, do you want to go out with me?”

“Where to?”

“Uh, anywhere…”

At that moment, Helena’s slightly stiff demeanor relaxed, just like usual.

She smiled warmly, then launched a massive fireball, completely obliterating the place where the demon monsters had just respawned.

Boom!

“Sure.”

It seemed like she was no longer upset.

I walked through the forest with Helena, just the two of us.

She smiled brightly as she hit the imp’s head with her staff, as if she enjoyed even this unpleasant and smelly place.

She had cast magic all over the place, so her mana must have been running low.

“Yap!”

With a cute sound, Helena’s staff crushed the imp’s skull.

The imp died instantly.

Helena couldn’t check the quest drop items, the demon’s heart and demon’s blood.

She walked over to me, looking at the demon corpses scattered around.

“How much have you gathered?”

“Quite a bit. I think we’ll be done in about an hour.”

Farming with a party was definitely faster than doing it alone.

I smiled as I looked at the demon hearts and blood that had piled up in my inventory.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Yes, it makes my heart race.”

“I can make your heart race too.”

What could she possibly mean by that?

I stood there, dumbfounded, as Helena spoke.

Behind her, monsters began to respawn.

I immediately swung my sword and rushed forward.

“Hiyaa!”

Slicing through the monsters’ bodies, I yelled.

The demon monsters’ corpses scattered in all directions, mixing with the red blood and tumbling on the ground.

It was 8:40 PM.

There was still some time left before the shutdown.

I looked at the quest completion window, feeling proud.

“Did you gather everything?”

“Yeah, I gathered it quickly thanks to you.”

“Good. Is it over?”

“No! There’s more left!”

Helena raised an eyebrow at my words, but she nodded.

She was also a player of Deron and knew how important this quest was.

I headed back to the capital city with Helena and made my way to the place where I had met Nerim.

As always, Nerim was faithfully fulfilling her role as a class-changing NPC.

When I approached, Nerim, who had been sitting in a chair, stood up.

“Did you gather everything I asked for? No, I can tell without asking. I can smell the demons’ blood from here…”

Hehehe.

With a witch’s eerie laugh, Nerim turned and spoke.

“Follow me. I’ve prepared an altar for you.”

Inside the workshop where Nerim went, a portal marking the dungeon had formed.

It seemed that we needed to enter there.

“Go ahead. I can’t go.”

Helena frowned as she approached the entrance to the dungeon.

I nodded and jumped into the dungeon’s entrance.

The interior of the workshop was dimly lit.

It looked like a typical witch’s house from various subcultures.

“Come here.”

Following Nerim’s words, I discovered a large pentagram drawn on the floor.

It seemed to have been drawn with demon blood, and there was a faint, acrid sulfur smell coming from it.

“Hand over the orb and the offerings.”

Following Nerim’s instructions, I took out the quest items and orb and handed them over.

She moved slowly, placing the orb in the center of the pentagram.

Then, she moved toward the end of the magic circle and began tearing the demon heart she held in her hands, letting the blood spill onto the floor.

The orb placed in the center of the magic circle began to react.

It started absorbing the pieces of the heart and the blood, emitting an evil energy.

“Oh, ooooh!”

After absorbing everything I had prepared, the orb began to release an even clearer energy than before.

Even from a distance, I could tell how much stronger the energy inside had become.

“Where you use it is up to you. But don’t forget the promise. Whatever is left after you use the orb, you’ll give it to me.”

Nerim picked up the orb from the floor and handed it to me.

[Awakened Orb of Corruption]

An orb imbued with evil energy.

It can corrupt items with strong divine power.

Even the sun god, Solara, could not resist its power and fell to corruption.

Usable Item: [Solara’s Holy Sword]

This quest was a hidden quest to upgrade Solara’s Holy Sword.

In other worlds of Deron, such upgrade quests did not exist.

I had thought you could only upgrade by reshaping or selecting items, but the developers of this world clearly didn’t want the first world item to be discarded.

No need to hesitate.

I took out the Holy Sword from my inventory and used the orb on it.

[※Warning: Once corrupted, items cannot be undone.※]

YES/NO

A warning message appeared in front of me, and I paused to think.

Without this holy sword, I wouldn’t be able to easily handle the Crow patterns in raids.

But I couldn’t resist.

Upgrading a world item was something that couldn’t be seen in the world I was from.

An item I had never seen before was now in my hands.

I lightly tapped the YES button.

The orb floated in the air by itself, flying toward the cross guard of the holy sword and beginning to spread evil energy.

Kwahhh!

The divine energy of the holy sword and the corrupted energy of the orb collided.

However, the stronger energy came from the divine power of the holy sword.

At this rate, the orb’s energy would likely dissipate.

However, as I watched, Nerim reached out toward the holy sword.

Fwoosh!

Hell mana extended from Nerim’s hand, covering the holy sword and beginning to aid the corrupting energy.

I raised the holy sword high, watching this unfold.

The holy sword made one last attempt at stronger resistance.

The immense divine power inside it surged and burst forth, but it couldn’t resist Nerim’s hell mana and the corrupting energy.

[Ki-ki-ki-ki-!!!]

It was as though the sword was screaming.

At that moment, a massive light flashed silently and scattered in all directions.

“It seems it’s completed…”

Just as Nerim had said. The upgrade of the holy sword was finished.

The sword, which had once dispersed gentle sunlight, now spread corrupt energy. The sword itself had absorbed hell mana, giving it a murky hue.

The sword’s shape wasn’t the only change. It had grown longer, and now it could be used as both a one-handed and a two-handed sword.

While the overall look hadn’t changed drastically, the effects coming from the sword were much more pronounced, with occasional lightning bursts spreading out in all directions.

In short, it had become incredibly impressive.

[The great divinity has been corrupted.]

[The power of hell draws one step closer.]

The world message that had appeared when I acquired Solara’s Holy Sword also spread out.

Unlike before, the message appeared twice and carried an ambiguous hint.

[Corrupted Demon Sword – Black Sun]
Power +170, Health +100, World
Max health +15%.
Attack speed +20%.
Attack power +1250
Bound item.
Max damage +20%.
Level limit: 45
Once per day, [Corruption of the Sun God’s Holy Domain] can be activated.
[Execution] skill available.
Attack has a 30% chance to trigger [Black Lightning], which prevents the opponent’s health regeneration.
Attack has a 20% chance to reduce the opponent’s defense.
Wearing it decreases NPCs loyal to the Sun God by 2 levels.
Wearing it maximizes affinity with the corrupted.

[Corruption of the Sun God’s Holy Domain]
Declares a wide area around the wearer as a corrupted domain.
During its duration, all stats are increased by 25%, and the defense of all enemies in the area is decreased.
Duration: 60 seconds.

[Execution]
Instantly executes an enemy with low health, regardless of their remaining health.
Executed enemies cannot be resurrected by priests, and if revived through regular resurrection, all stats decrease by 10% for 120 seconds.
Cooldown: 10 minutes.
※ Cannot be used on boss monsters ※

[Black Lightning]

Drops Black Lightning on all targets within a narrow range centered on the wearer.

Enemies hit by Black Lightning receive the [Curse of Corruption] debuff.

Cooldown: 10 seconds.

[Curse of Corruption]

Reduces health recovery effects by 30% for 5 seconds.

“Wow…”

The message wasn’t important.

The guild chat started to blow up, but I ignored it all.

Now was the time to admire the new item.

The options of the cursed sword were truly incredible.

I could only express my admiration.

I swung the cursed sword around in my hands.

Swish- slash.

The grip felt perfect.

Inside the workshop, there was a large mirror, so I walked toward it.

The only thing near me was an NPC who only repeated preset lines.

Nerim didn’t understand what my actions meant.

There was no need to be shy.

I struck a pose that I couldn’t do because I was always worried about others’ gazes, and took several screenshots.

“Looking cool…”

The appearance of the small girl was a bit of a flaw, but even that looked cool.

The red blood energy flowing from my body and the black energy emanating from the sword mixed together, giving off a very sinister vibe.

It almost looked like the lord of darkness, didn’t it?

The cloak I was wearing on my back was also black.

If I had added some horn-like costume, it would have been perfect.

“Heh-heh.”

I wickedly laughed and fluttered my cloak.

“Seems like you’re pretty satisfied.”

At that moment, I was pulled back from my own world by a voice.

It was Nerim.

Nerim approached and extended her hand toward me.

She was asking for the promised reward.

“Hmm, ahem…”

I didn’t really need to be embarrassed, but for some reason, my face flushed.

I coughed awkwardly and handed Nerim the remaining orb.

[Depleted Orb]

An orb that once contained powerful corrupt energy.

Now, all the energy had drained away.

“It was a satisfying deal.”

Nerim held the orb in her hand and waved her other hand at me.

It was a sign to leave.

I nodded and left the workshop.

As soon as I stepped out of the dungeon, I bumped into Helena, who looked flustered.

She was looking up at the sky.

I followed her gaze and looked up at the sky as well.

The blue sky had a strange, murky greenish tint to it.

That wasn’t all.

In the center of the sky, which looked like it was covered in hell mana, there was a large magic circle hovering.