The God of Liar

Ferguson Diselheim was once a top-notch blacksmith based in the capital, People even joked that the swords he forged could split light in half. Warriors lined up to visit his smithy and gave him the deepest respect. He was the one who took care of their weapons, which were vital for their survival.

One day, however, he left the capital saying that he’d never forge another set of gear until he came back.

Even nobles who had once patronized him were regretful upon hearing the news.

Ferguson was gone, and even a duke couldn’t trace him. This wasn’t surprising though, as it was the King of Valaran who hid him.

”That’s why I’m here. Sorry, that took longer than expected.”

”Not at all.” Seojin shook his head. Of course, he was lying. ’Never knew he was this much of a chatterbox.’

He had followed the blacksmith into his smithy, and it had already been an hour since he started this somewhat random, lengthy story.

Ferguson smiled bitterly as if he read Seojin’s mind.

”You’re probably wondering why I’m talking about this…”

”I won’t lie, I am.”

”Cheap desire for fame. That’s all.”

’What’s this, another test?’ Seojin did not reply and observed Ferguson.

Ferguson shook his head. ”I was once the best. I’m not one to deal with rookies like you… is what I want to say. I always wanted to be talked about, and be praised, but I can’t. Causing a rumor about me would be rude to what His Majesty did for me.”

”Doesn’t that go for me too though?”

”Let’s call you an inevitable exception… I told you the reason I can stay here, but not exactly why I’m here… do you know why?”

”I do not.”

With a slight nod, Ferguson spoke, ”I had a dream. There was a metal of gods hidden in each part of the continent. One of them was here, in Movelon, and it turned out to be a good place to hide. Neither a high mage nor a dragon slayer can set foot in here.”

’Because it’s a starter town…’

Seojin caught on quickly. Just as top-tier players couldn’t do quests here, high-level NPCs probably couldn’t come here either.

Ferguson put down his teacup. ”I’m not the only blacksmith to leave the capital, and it didn’t just happen in our country. Many well-known blacksmiths left their smithies at the same time.”

”By that you mean…”

”That they all had the same dream.”

’And why is this guy telling me this?’

Ferguson raised his finger just as Seojin began to ponder.

”But my dream had conditions. First of all, we had to receive help from adventurers.”

”…”

”And one more thing…”

He raised another finger.

”His Majesty has requested me to only entrust the task to someone I can trust.”

Clank.

A sound came from the pile of iron ore next to him.

Ferguson tapped the ores lightly and made eye contact with Seojin.

”And this, is the token that gets my trust.”

Quest Complete

* Level up! Current Level: 6

* Ferguson, the blacksmith of Movelon, has a hidden secret. You met his criteria and are now faced with new opportunities.

Bonus Reward!

* Quest chain activated.

’So, the reward is a quest chain?’

The atmosphere felt unusual. Seojin waited calmly, and Ferguson soon brought up another matter as expected.

”I beg you earnestly…”

World Quest!

”…Orichalcum. The sacred ore must be asleep somewhere in Movelon. If you can retrieve it, I’ll repay you in kind. You can take whatever His Highness has left, including my own sincerity.”

* Ferguson the blacksmith wants you to find the Orichalcum, a near-impossible demand. However, the reward may be as big as the task at hand.

* Objective: Bring Ferguson Orichalcum.

* Default Reward: Enormous Wealth, Favor of Ferguson.

Seojin briefly forgot how to breathe. It felt like the puzzle that he had trying to piece together for so long was finally put together. Considering that it was a world quest, the earlier situation also made sense.

’All because that cave appeared earlier and the orichalcum fell out of nowhere…’

NPCs associated with ”world quests” were spread across the continent, and when certain conditions were fulfilled, they gave out special quests. In a streak of coincidence though, he happened to have the very item he was requesting stowed away in his inventory.

”Erm, sir…”

”Of course, I do not think it will be an easy task. It’d be…”

”No, it’s not that. Take a look.”

”What’s important right now is not that purple metal… whaa?!”

Ferguson’s eyes widened. His eyes were locked on Seojin’s right hand.

In the palm of his hand, there was a chunk of purple metal.

”You’re talking about this, right?”

”Ri-ri-right, no, how did you..?”

His serious attitude was nowhere to be found. Ferguson almost pounced on him and held Orichalcum like he was holding a precious newborn baby.

”What in the world… how?”

Ferguson murmured unintelligibly before handing it back to Seojin.

”Hold it! Hold it for a moment!”

”Uh, sure?”

Ferguson ran out of the room and a loud thud followed. It sounded like he was closing every door of the smithy. The smithy was getting darker as he blocked every ray of natural light.

Ferguson lit up the oil lamp and reached out to Seojin.

”It’s done now. It’s done…”

”…”

What’s done?—Seojin wondered as he handed the orichalcum to Ferguson, who scanned the metal thoroughly with a wonderous expression on his face.

’I don’t know exactly what a World Quest is, but if he’s this freaked out…’

Maybe he’d reward Seojin with gold. A few dozen of them.

Seojin hid his expectations. If he could make money out of this, he’d be able to pay a month or two of rent in advance.

He asked carefully, ”It’s the one you asked for, right? Orichalcum?”

”It is. It indeed is.”

Ferguson finally nodded. What followed was like a hailstorm of system messages.

World Quest Complete

* Surprisingly, you succeeded in finding Orichalcum, metal of gods!

* You won the favor of ”Master” Ferguson.

* You won favor with every blacksmith.

* King of Valaran remembers your name.

* You were rewarded 500 Gold in the name of King Valaran.

* EXP increases dramatically (10,000,000)

* Level Up! Current Level: 7

* Level Up! Current…

”…”

* Level Up! Current level: 10

The window flashed as he continued to level up, and stopped as it became stuck.

* Reached level limitation!

* Remaining EXP has been transferred to your inventory.

Achievement Unlocked: Midgard’s Lucky Child!

* All stats +30

The never-ending system messages finally stopped.

”Oh my God…”

Seojin was dumbfounded. It was a gigantic reward. He received the favors of both the King and a Master-level NPC.

While he didn’t know any specific details yet, he was sure that the reward would have a significant impact on his future gameplay.

What about the favor of all blacksmiths? Seojin could only assume it would mean something like cheaper blacksmithing rates or access to rare items.

The achievements and EXP gains were beyond enormous, but that wasn’t what shocked Seojin.

It was the gold.

’500 gold?’

One copper was equivalent to 10 Korean won, which was less than one cent in US dollar.

Since 100 copper was the same as one silver and 100 silver was the same as one gold, 500 gold meant 50 million won, or about 36,000 USD.

’I’ve already earned this much through a game? It hasn’t even been a few days since I started…’

He had always hoped for it, but he didn’t think it would happen this fast. Now he couldn’t deny what Merhen had told him.

A Hidden Class was worth a lot of money.

”Oh my…” Seojin muttered and Ferguson nodded.

”I understand. You probably didn’t know this was so precious and brought it in your bag as a keepsake. You must be surprised right now”

”…Oh, yes, that’s right. I was just thinking about that,” Seojin replied in a hurry.

He couldn’t say he was thinking about cash, it’d be disastrous if Ferguson changed his mind out of spite.

Ferguson was now smiling brightly, there was no trace of the old grumpy old man he used to be.

”I know I’ll never be able to properly repay you, you made my dream come true.”

”No, I should thank you for—”

”Quit brown-nosing and take my reward.”

”…Yes, sir.”

Ferguson laughed heartily.

”Just once. I’ll forge any equipment you want. Only once though.”

”Thank y—”

Ferguson raised his eyebrows before Seojin could reply properly, ”I’m not finished, so shut up and listen. I’ll save some of this ore for it, it’ll be only a crumb, but that alone will be enough to top any other adventurers. I know it’s not a big enough reward for finding this, but that’s all I can do for you. What do you think?”

”Absolutely.”

”Damn right.”

There was no reason to refuse. It was the metal that finally made a Master-level NPC happy again. It hadn’t hit him yet, but there must be huge benefits.

Ferguson laughed again as he patted Seojin on the back.

”Next time, if you happen to stop by the capital, come and see me. I can make a room for you. Don’t die on the street, make sure you come and visit, alive.”

”…I’ll try. Thank you.”

Seojin nodded and bowed his head. This at least, he was sincere. The old man bought one item that he picked up randomly for 50 million won.

”Then…”

Just as he was about to say goodbye and leave the smithy, Ferguson began to glitching.

”What?”

It felt like the graphics were glitching. It didn’t take long for Ferguson to fade away completely. One moment later, there was a different NPC standing before him.

”Oh, you’re Seojin. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard stories of you.”

”What happened to Ferguson?”

”He’s back in the capital. I am honored to take his place.”

”That quickly?”

”That’s right.”

’Oh, that’s how it is.’

Seojin understood.

The NPCs would return to their place immediately after their presence was no longer of use.

”Then the quest is over.”

It was time to move on to the next thing.

However, Seojin made sure of one last thing.

”Is there anything you want me to do?”

”Well, you’re too strong. It’s a waste of time to take on any jobs in Movelon. But if you head to the Tower of Choice, I think you’ll find something to do.”

”Thank you.”

As expected, after Seojin had achieved Level 10 by completing the World Quest, he could no longer proceed with any quests in Movelon.

All that was left for him to do was to get skill points as the new NPC showed up.

But there was still work to be done.

”Inventory.”

EXP pill (10,000,000)

500 Gold / 18 Silver / 22 Copper

”Achievements.”

Perfectionist!

First Contact

Black Swan

Midgard’s Lucky Child

He needed to check out the rewards and achievements piled up after completing the quests.

And of course, that ghostly thing too.

Seojin opened the community window and sent a voice message.

”Yo, you busy?”