Chapter 612: Selection Ceremony (4)
Clack, clack…!!
On the quiet stadium stage, only the incessant sounds of parts rotating and grinding echoed.
A dozen or so judges quietly watched as his slender fingers ran over every part of the musket, caressing it.
Wariness and suspicion. Confusion and fear.
Even though he clearly knew the gazes directed at this gun were far from positive, Lennok continued to move his hands.
‘Its condition is much better than I expected.’
The artifacts displayed without names in the stadium’s last showcase. Treasures from the Heart-Star Vault, which was said to house only the oldest and most valuable items in the Machine City. Ancient wonders with unknown origins and histories, which even Meisters dared not touch. Among them, this dusty, old musket even looked shabby compared to the other splendid and grand artifacts.
Lennok was certain of this musket’s true value.
‘This is definitely the appearance I remember. This is…’
The Magic Gunner from WORLD 2.0, which Lennok himself played. The Magic Gunner class Lennok played was so ambiguous that he wondered what the point was in recalling those memories now.
In WORLD 2.0, Common Magic was a versatile power, just two steps shy of omnipotence, and Magic Gunners were only allowed to mimic magic and manifest it through their guns.
Therefore, in the late stages of the game, crafting and creating powerful Magic Guns was as crucial for the class as developing a Magic Gunner’s power.
To unleash mighty miracles through bullets, it was natural that an equally powerful cannon was needed.
‘Teremer’s Demise. A top-tier item treated as exclusive equipment for Magic Gunners in WORLD 2.0.’
Depending on how the Magic Gunner class was developed, it was exclusive equipment usable until the very late stages of the game, a top-tier artifact whose Magic Gun specifications were adjusted according to the wielder’s abilities.
Lennok had once obtained this item while playing as a Magic Gunner in WORLD 2.0, and through that memory, he was certain that this musket was indeed Teremer’s Demise.
But even knowing that, even with the miracle of finding a Magic Gunner’s exclusive equipment in Machina’s artifact storage right before his eyes, Lennok’s gaze remained cold.
‘Why are artifacts from the Old World still intact like this?’
In this world, “artifacts from the Old World” referred to equipment or traces that flowed in from the memories of a world that had already perished once.
Artifacts that leaked out from the completely closed causality were mostly not in a perfect state, and it was extremely rare for their abilities or even their appearances to remain intact.
Even Pandemonium, which collected and used artifacts from the Old World, would have found it impossible to successfully restore their technology or abilities without the presence of an outstanding researcher like The Doctor.
Yet, the appearance of this musket Lennok was currently touching was almost perfectly intact, except for being rusted from excessive neglect.
Lennok continued to ponder what that fact implied, and what the artifact storage of Machina, the Heart-Star Vault, truly meant.
“Your hands have stopped.” Someone among the Meisters muttered in a nonchalant voice.
“If you intend to give up now, I won’t stop you. No one will blame you.”
“…”
“I don’t know how you picked that gun, but we’ve known for a long time that musket is no ordinary artifact.”
Another Meister said, observing Lennok’s silence.
“Even when I was barely twenty and challenging the Selection Ceremony, this artifact was exactly as it is now. It’s a wonder that exists a step outside the flow of time.”
“Even if interested artisans tried to take it, it would always return to its place after a day.”
“Decades ago, there was a rumor that it was a haunted gun, but now even that has been forgotten and is no longer heard.”
“I never thought I’d see that thing again…”
Clack!! Lennok muttered, letting the Meisters’ monologues wash over him.
“It’s not existing outside the flow of time.”
“…What?”
“It was simply designed to revert to this old form from the start.”
With those words, Lennok finished working on the musket’s interior and slowly raised the gun.
As it settled snugly against Lennok’s shoulder, the old metal object rested comfortably in his hands.
“As you may know if you’ve handled this equipment before, several core parts necessary for its operation are missing from the musket’s barrel.”
“Yes. But no matter how many new parts we made and assembled into it, the gun wouldn’t work…”
“Because it didn’t need parts that fit a musket.”
For a moment, the judges, unable to grasp his meaning, silently looked at each other.
“What… what does that mean?”
“The parts weren’t missing; the space was deliberately left empty.”
As Lennok said that, he naturally pulled out the Penteract from his pocket.
Clack, clack…!! The Penteract, which had been a constantly shifting cube, had transformed into an unidentifiable black, uneven shape.
“Without deliberately creating space inside the barrel, it would be difficult to properly manifest this gun’s original functions.”
“What in the world are you talking about—!!”
Lennok did not wait for the other judges’ replies. The moment Lennok slid open the lower part of the magazine and inserted the Penteract into it.
Shhhwwwip!!! The musket’s barrel split and peeled back like fish scales, completely altering the shape of the barrel.
Like shedding its skin, the Magic Gun transformed right there into a barrel resembling a lizard’s head.
“!!!”
The Meisters forgot to breathe as they watched the musket transform in Lennok’s hands.
The Magic Gunner’s exclusive equipment, Teremer’s Demise, an artifact from the Old World, did not exist merely as a literal old musket.
It was a transforming Magic Gun that evolved into the wielder’s desired form through specific parts and actions.
This old musket was the artifact’s first, dormant form before its awakening.
‘There were three preconditions required to bring out Teremer’s Demise’s second form.’
One of them had been met even before Lennok touched it, and the second was something Lennok could resolve with the Penteract.
The third condition was difficult for Lennok to fully satisfy at the moment, but satisfying just two conditions would be enough to display the Magic Gun’s second form.
“As you all know, this musket uses no screws whatsoever. All connecting joints are assembled in a modular fashion.”
“…”
“While guns are sometimes manufactured this way for quick disassembly and assembly, it’s not common.”
Lennok said, sweeping his gaze around.
“In that case, wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that the few missing internal parts were part of a design created from the beginning with the barrel’s transformation and metamorphosis in mind?”
“…So you forced ill-fitting parts into it and succeeded in discovering the artifact’s true form?”
“Many craftsmen must have already attempted to repair it while maintaining its musket form.”
Lennok nodded at the muttered words.
“So I merely tried my best to explore other ideas and possibilities beyond that.”
“…”
Everyone was speechless, quietly staring at the Magic Gun in Lennok’s hands.
“Sho-shoot the gun once.”
Brahms, who couldn’t hide his discomfort and twitched his shoulder, gestured with his hand, and the administrative committee member standing next to him hurriedly brought a bullet.
“If you’ve truly repaired the equipment perfectly, you should be able to fire through the artifact, right?”
“Understood.”
Lennok docilely accepted the bullet and slid it into the Magic Gun’s magazine. Then, finishing the reload, he turned the muzzle backward.
He aimed the muzzle at the internal lining on the stadium wall and looked at the judges, who nodded as if it were okay.
In tense silence, Lennok slowly pulled the trigger.
Everyone anticipated the burst of light that would erupt from its muzzle, and at the moment they lowered their eyelids slightly.
Click! Along with a strange sound like a spring breaking, gunpowder dust puffed out from inside the muzzle.
“…”
The extremely tense atmosphere suddenly dissipated, and a sense of futility spread throughout the area.
It felt as if the heightened nerves and gazes from just moments ago were crumbling and scattering.
But Lennok gave an awkward smile, as if it wasn’t surprising, and put down the Magic Gun.
“It failed. It seems one can’t get full on the first bite, after all.”
“…”
“Ha, haa…”
The indescribable expressions on the Meisters’ faces. The members of Ex Machina sighing in relief.
Lennok paid no mind to the reactions around him, slowly stepped back and nodded.
“Since I failed, I suppose I won’t get any points in the maintenance performance.”
“…No, that’s not necessarily true.”
The elder standing at the center of the Meisters gazed intently at Lennok’s face for a long time before turning his head.
“The Selection Ceremony has ended. The results will be announced soon, so all participants may return and await the results.”
The Selection Ceremony abruptly concluded along with Lennok’s maintenance of Teremer’s Demise.
The results of the Selection Ceremony were smoothly announced a few days later, but unfortunately, Lennok’s name was not among the awardees.
More precisely, it should be said that the name of Lyman, the owner of this workshop, was not there.
“I still can’t understand…”
Mouser, who had settled down in Lennok’s workshop with a few bottles of alcohol, grumbled.
“Aside from the lack of respect for craftsmen, your skill in handling equipment is genuine. There’s no way you failed the Selection Ceremony due to lack of skill!”
“I haven’t failed the Selection Ceremony yet.”
Lennok said, giving a slight nod.
“At least the announcement was made clearly in that manner.”
On the table lay the Selection Ceremony results announcement, already crumpled several times.
It listed the names of the three craftsmen who achieved the best results in the Selection Ceremony, in order, and signed to grant them Meister qualifications and relocate their workshops.
In addition, evaluations of craftsmen who received high enough scores to be ranked were neatly written.
At the very bottom of the list, where the names of craftsmen who unfortunately did not become Meisters were written, right there, information about Lennok was also written.
[Lyman: Showed outstanding performance in modification but lacked skill in creation, failing to meet the standards.]
[Creativity in design and combination recognized, but other criteria unmet. Maintenance performance evaluation pending.]
[Further results to be announced later.]
Not failed, but pending. Not unmet, but on standby.
It was an extremely ambiguous notification, but in the end, perhaps it was also a result of Lennok’s choices.
“It’s extremely rare to give such ambiguous evaluations to craftsmen participating in the Selection Ceremony. And they didn’t even specify the maintenance field…!!”
Mouser, rarely showing such agitation, rubbed the announcement poster vigorously.
“I can only conclude that this is either interference from above, or the result of some kind of political maneuvering!!”
“…”
Instead of agreeing or refuting Mouser’s words, Lennok quietly tilted his head.
In a way, Mouser’s reckless speculation wasn’t entirely wrong.
‘I didn’t think they’d actually postpone the Selection Ceremony results… But…’
Although things didn’t go as planned, Lennok did not regret working on Teremer’s Demise itself.
Because he knew that touching the Magic Gun himself at that moment was more important than getting high scores in the Meister Selection Ceremony.
Providing the judges with some explanation about the Magic Gun’s history and abilities.
Choosing the Magic Gun from the last showcase and attempting to repair it, and failing to fire at the last moment, causing the repair attempt to stop.
All of that was the best judgment Lennok could make at that moment.