Chapter 6: Post-Apocalypse pistol is an artifact in my world(2)

“Thank you! The water you gave me last time was really helpful!”

I received Lisa’s salute with an awkward smile.

“I really appreciate the Gremlin pistols. All five of them seem to be working… you must have gone through a lot of trouble?”

“Compared to the water you gave me, that’s nothing.”

We both laughed and complimented each other, but I couldn’t hide my awkwardness.

I wish my conversations with clients when I was working at the company were like this.

“By the way, what did you use the Gremlin pistols for?”

“I have a use for them.”

I smiled faintly.

It wasn’t strange for Lisa to have doubts about it.

The Gremlin pistol was a material closer to waste than a weapon.

Gremlins.

They are a demi-human race that exists in the world of [Wasteland 2].

Their behavior is not much different from goblins.

They have green skin, like to do mean things, and are weak individually, but can be a little dangerous when gathered.

They basically use crude and shoddy weapons, but sometimes those weapons have a ‘slight’ amount of over-technology.

The Gremlin pistol was a symbolic weapon.

Reliability does not exist at all.

Like the short and insignificant life of a Gremlin, the weapon was too easily broken and discarded.

The firepower is also insignificant.

Seriously, I thought it would be more powerful to just grab a rock and throw it than to use this thing.

But all Gremlin pistols had an ‘enhancement’.

An option incomparably better than the ‘non-combat health +1’ ring I received.

‘Accuracy +2’ was basically attached.

Of course, that doesn’t make Gremlins sharpshooters.

They were fools who fired without even aiming, and this option only added a minimum of accuracy to their bullets.

But the ‘Accuracy +2’ option itself had the power to instantly turn a ‘shooter who just tries shooting’ into a ‘not the best, but still quite skilled shooter’.

Normally, it wouldn’t mean much since it can only fire small and weak Gremlin bullets-

‘That child can replace bullets with her own ability.’

The weakness and strength of bullets meant nothing to her.

Because she won’t use them anyway.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re happy.”

“Then, the next trade…”

“Yes. It will be difficult to send more water than this at once due to capacity issues, but I can periodically send that amount of water.”

“Thank you so much!”

“It’s nothing…”

Through Shin Yuhwa, I was able to gain some certainty.

The artifact options applied in [Wasteland 2] also apply in this world.

‘I’m pretty sure… honestly, I was a little unsure about the ring.’

Yuhwa was convinced that the weapon I gave her was an artifact.

She was treating my weapon like a shrine.

She was even deducing my identity, who could personally leak five of such precious artifacts.

‘In that case…’

I smacked my lips.

Lisa’s status didn’t seem very high.

It would be unreasonable to ask her to bring various kinds of useful ‘enhanced weapons’ or artifacts right away.

But just confirming that the items that can be brought from [Wasteland 2] can be more useful than I imagined was a considerable achievement.

Just as water, which doesn’t have much value here, is treasured there, artifacts that don’t have much value there can become very precious items on Earth.

With anticipation, I ended the communication.

I was looking forward to tomorrow.

****

“Shin Yuhwa. To your position.”

The expulsion test began.

‘Sigh…’

Shin Yuhwa forced herself to suppress her nervousness and felt the sensation of the pistol in her hand.

‘With this, I can do it.’

She had not been neglecting her practice.

She was confident that she could pass.

She was well aware that she was already on the edge of a cliff.

But she couldn’t give up.

‘I want to be… a hunter.’

Her heart was important, but this pistol from him was also incomparably precious.

She couldn’t back down.

She couldn’t give up.

‘For Brother’s sake-‘

The test began.

Numerous bats made of holograms floated in the sky.

Red and black bats were to be killed, and sky-blue bats were not to be shot.

“Screeeech!!!”

It was a difficult condition to instantly hit and shoot down moving targets, even flying ones.

But if you were a hunter, and even more so if you were an academy graduate who should be superior to other ordinary hunters, it was an ordeal you should naturally overcome.

“Haaaaap!”

With a shout, she held the pistol in her hand and fired two shots.

As if being sucked in, the flame bullets she created annihilated two black bats.

‘As expected-‘

But, that was it.

‘Huh?’

The flame definitely flickered.

She created a flame bullet in the gun and pulled the trigger.

But the bullet didn’t go forward.

‘What, why?’

In an instant, despair filled her heart.

Maybe she was being punished.

She didn’t attend classes properly, and during the practical training, her arrogance and mistakes endangered others, yet she dared to continue working as a hunter.

Maybe she was paying the price.

And, Yuhwa bit her lip.

‘No.’

This was just bad luck.

It wasn’t her problem, it was the gun’s problem.

She can do it again.

She can keep trying.

Just like he said.

“Ugh!”

She dropped the gun in her hand and quickly drew the pistol on her right hip.

And she aimed again at the incoming bat.

But, that gun didn’t respond either.

Even though the flame bullet was loaded, nothing happened when she pulled the trigger.

‘Was it… a mistake?’

She was scared.

It felt like the world had abandoned her.

The pistol that worked fine during practice ignored her coldly.

It didn’t respond.

‘No…’

Shin Yuhwa bit her lip tightly.

‘It’s not me.’

‘I believe in Brother…!’

Bad things happen just because of randomness.

There’s no need to associate it with other things.

But if it’s a good thing, you can believe there’s a reason for it.

‘Brother told me… to try.’

His existence was a miracle.

When she was trapped in the thought that ‘I can’t do anything’, he crushed all that despair.

When she lost the ribbon, he found it for her.

When she was on the verge of expulsion, he gave her hope that ‘I might be able to do it.’

‘I found such a miracle… there’s no way I can fail!’

The bat was already in front of her eyes.

Yuhwa grabbed the third pistol on her left hip.

“Haaaaaa!!!”

That pistol spewed fire.

Her posture was clumsy, and her marksmanship was still terrible.

But like a dream, like a miracle, the bullet she fired was heading towards the target.

A long time passed.

All the bats disappeared.

“Shin Yuhwa, pass.”

“Yes!”

At the teacher’s words, who looked surprised, Yuhwa cheered.

She still had the right to remain in the academy.

****

“So! I was in despair, but suddenly Brother’s face flashed by-“

“Uh, yeah.Thanks.”

Listening to an unreliable narrator was more difficult than I imagined.

‘That doesn’t make sense… well, whatever.’

Sitting in the cafe, I listened to Yuhwa’s story.

There weren’t many nutritious stories.

It was hard to believe everything she said about my face flashing by or remembering my words.

But, not all of it was meaningless.

‘The accuracy correction exists.’

“It’s certain.’

Yuhwa unintentionally became my test subject.

And the result was successful.

‘Should I wear that ring as much as possible… it’s annoying.’

“It’s really all thanks to you Brother! I was so desperate that I even looked for a place to stay if I got kicked out of the dormitory!”

“Weren’t you going back to your mom?”

“I-I thought about it… but I was afraid I’d get spanked if I went home after being expelled…”

“You still have to go.”

“Well, I don’t have to think about that now.”

“That’s right!”

“Thanks to Brother, I got to stay in the academy!”

“Th-There are other people besides us, so can you lower your voice a bit…”

Yuhwa blushed.

“W-Was I too loud.”

“It’s not that bad… never mind.”

“Anyway, give me back the gun.”

“Yes?”

“I lent it to you, remember?”

Yuhwa’s expression darkened.

“Well. You see. I did something really, really wrong…”

“What did you do wrong?”

“That’s, uh, um…”

Tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Sniffle…”

The attention of the surroundings sharpened.

It was impossible not to attract attention when a woman who had been talking loudly until just now suddenly started crying.

“What’s wrong.”

“The gun, um… some of them broke-“

“You told me that earlier.”

“Yes?”

Yuhwa, who had been hanging her head, looked at me with her eyes slightly open.

“Earlier, when you were talking about my expression.You said the gun didn’t fire?”

“Ah, I did.”

Like a criminal confessing a crime to a detective without realizing it, she looked terrified.

“It’s okay. It’s a gun that breaks easily. That’s why I told you to take three. And I told you not to practice too much.”

“Were you worried about the gun’s health instead of mine?”

“Both.”

“Then… you’ll let the broken gun go?”

Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“I wasn’t planning on letting it go or anything. I’m just taking it because I’m going to throw it away.”

“You’re going to throw it away?”

“What am I going to do with this?”

I didn’t think these fake guns would cause any problems, but it wasn’t good for them to spread around.

It would be a headache if my abilities were discovered and regulated.

“…I’ll buy it.”

Her eyes sparkled.

“Huh?”

“Give me your account number!”

“No matter how much to pay, I’ll buy it!”

“Why would you buy this?”

“It might not be a big deal to you Brother, but it’s a precious item to me! I can understand if you just take it, but throwing it away! That’s ridiculous!”

“But then I have to throw away trash…”

“H-How much can I buy it for? Here, I don’t have much cash in my wallet, but I’ll give you all of this for now! Account! Give me your account number!I’ll repay the favor I received this time, even if it’s just a little-“

“What am I going to do with money from a kid.”

“I probably have more money than you, Brother, who’s working as a gatherer. At least for now!”

“Hey, this job pays a lot, okay? You’re still young, so you don’t have a sense of money yet, but that’s all your parents’ money!”

“I’ll pay my mom back when I grow up, so it doesn’t matter!But if my precious pistol goes into your hands, it’ll go straight into the trash-“

“Ah, okay! Okay!”

I lost.

I can’t fight this kid’s stubbornness.

“It doesn’t make sense for me to sell it, so let’s just give it to you. As a gift.Okay?”

“Really?”

“…Sigh, yeah.”

The situation turned out a bit absurd, but in the long run, it’s not a bad thing.

I got to know someone among the academy students.

In some cases, I could say that I have a channel to contact guilds or high-ranking hunters.

Of course, it will take a lot more time for me to use that meaningfully.

For now, this was enough.