Chapter 45: Armory (1/2)

Terms used in this chapter:

Gathering dirt to make a big mountain – a proverb/expression which means that even very small things can become huge if they accumulate. An English equivalent would be ‘many a mickle makes a muckle.’

Eat it raw/eat something raw – an idiom which means to do or have something without making any effort. So if you see the word ‘eat it raw’ later in this chapter, it refers to this idiom and not the literal meaning (Edit: And not the lewd one in English too, hahaha).

The ancient dwarves were superior in many ways to the current dwarves, and the two had significant differences, especially in terms of physique.

“The ancient dwarves were quite tall.”

“Rather than being tall, aren’t they just bulky?”

“Well…at any rate, they’re grossly big.”

If the bulky adults of the current dwarves were about 130 to 140 centimeters tall, the ancient dwarves reached an average height of 170 centimeters.

‘As Cordelia had said, rather than being tall, they are bulky.’

The body type of the ancient dwarves were the same as the current dwarves.

They have short limbs, broad shoulders, and quite a large head.

Their body type remains the same, but as their height grows, the other parts of their body also grow bigger.

They have big hands, big feet, and a big head.

Incidentally, all these facts were quite useful for Jude and Cordelia at the present moment.

This is because the position of the panel that opens the door to the armory is just at a right height for human use.

“Hmm.”

“What is it?”

“No, I just thought you’re a little big.”

“Big? Do you mean my height?”

“Ah, is it because you’re slowly being healed from Gueumjulmaek?

Based on when they awakened their past lives as the starting point, Cordelia’s height was about 165 cm, and Jude’s height was around 166-170 cm.

Therefore, their differences in height was not enough for her to look up to Jude, but now that they’ve stood parallel to each other, Cordelia had to raise her head quite a bit to make eye contact.

“Well…there are some cases where Gueumjulmaek hindered growth. In the first place, the character ‘Jude’ will later grow to almost 180 cm. So I’ll grow up too.”

“Hmm, 180.”

Cordelia took a step back as she evaluated Jude by looking at him up and down.

“Hmm, not bad.”

“Thank you for your kind consideration, ma’am.”

“Yes, mom. Anyway, just open the door.”

“Isn’t ‘dad’ better than ‘mom’ though?”

“You want to be called ‘Daddy’? Do you want me to call you ‘Papa’ from now on then? Okay, Papa. Your taste is unique.”

“Just call me Mom.”

After they’ve exchanged a silly conversation, Jude brushed off the accumulated dust on the panel that was attached to the wall.

It was a panel of numeric keys that was common everywhere, and the door was only opened after entering a nine-digit password.

In the original story, they had to find the notebook of the ‘forgetful manager’ hidden somewhere on the 5th floor to find out the password, but this time, they didn’t have to.

“Open it quickly, quickly. Doo doo doo doo doo.”

“Wait, let me search my memories.”

Cordelia pretended to listen as she hummed, while Jude checked his Memory Palace.

A few minutes after, when the password was successfully entered, the seal of the armory’s large steel door was released with a rattling sound.

“My heart is pounding.”

“Me too.”

Jude replied to Cordelia, and then pushed the steel door that opened sideways to open the armory.

“It’s the same as the original.”

Cordelia spoke small as her cheeks reddened and she looked inside the armory while remembering how the armory in the original looked.

It was a square room about 10 meters long on each side, but it was not like a frozen freezer compared to the other rooms in Frost Anvil, perhaps because it was sealed for a long time.

“The real deal is further inside, right?”

“Yes, so let’s take a look here before that.”

Cordelia quickly nodded as Jude pointed to the shelves on the wall.

“Right, right. I really wanted to take these whenever I played the game.”

Taking the other items was a pipe dream because they couldn’t be acquired in the game, but now, it was no longer a pipe dream anymore.

“Is this a basic armor set?”

Cordelia ran to the shelf and looked. She then found a set of gloves, shoes, a vest, and a round helmet that could all be equipped as a set.

“Umm, sort of. After all, rather than completely being an armory, this is a storage room for equipment.”

“Why? Why do you say that?”

“No, that is….those are work clothes.”

“Work clothes?”

“Yes, because Frost Anvil was an underground city, and it was a place where mining and expansion were continuously being carried out. So those are a safety helmet, safety shoes, safety gloves…stuff like that?”

But even so, it was the legacy of the ancient dwarves. Moreover, the work clothes were strong and firm in the first place, so it was perfect to use as an armor.

“But it’s too big.”

It was just an average-sized safety helmet in the ancient dwarves’ standards. Whereas when Cordelia used it, the safety helmet became like a large pot that was flipped over.

Jude tried to hold back his laughter that was about to leak out, and afterwards, he likewise rummaged through the shelves.

“Look carefully. Even if those are work clothes, it’s a safety set, so there should be ones for children too. The gloves and shoes’ size will be adjusted automatically. ”

As Jude had said, there were several safety sets prepared for children in the corner of the shelf.

“Pfft, you look like a chick.”

“Hey, aren’t you wearing the same clothes as me?”

The safety hat, safety shoes, safety gloves, and vest were all yellow.

As it was work clothes, it was made to stand out.

“Are there any combat uniforms?”

“It wouldn’t fit even if this place have those.”

Children obviously wouldn’t have combat uniforms.

“Besides…I think this is good enough?”

Like the equipment of ancient dwarves, both the gloves and shoes were enchanted with magic.

“The gloves increase muscle strength…does the shoes increase agility?”

Cordelia said as she jumped in place. She jumped much higher than usual to check if it really worked.

“Good, I like it. This should be enough for a while.”

After Jude tried his footwork skill, he looked down at his feet with a satisfied look.

Safety shoes weren’t usually sturdy, but with these shoes, the attack power of his kicks would now become much stronger.

“Let’s open the inside quickly.”

The Power Spear used to defeat the White Snake in the original story was stored behind the second door, which was the true armory.

“Okay, just wait for a second.”

Jude immediately opened the door by operating the number panel of the second door.

And then, the original story’s event occurred.

[This is Jamu, the person in charge of the armory. Please listen to my story.]

A translucent ancient dwarf appeared right in front of the door and spoke in a dignified voice.

It was a holographic image, not a ghost, and as Jamu said, he was a kind of artificial intelligence that managed the armory.

“It has no physical body, so let’s just pass through it. Besides, his story is just the armory’s general story.”

Jude said that and tried to pass through Jamu.

“Wait, wait a second.”

Cordelia held Jude’s hand and looked at Jamu with a troubled look for a moment. Afterwards, she immediately spoke to Jude again.

“Don’t do that. Let’s listen to his story.”

“Story?”

“Uh, this was like that in the witch’s forest. You remember how I went through a lot when I just skipped it, right? In addition, there was a cinematic movie at the event when you get the Power Spear. Wouldn’t it be difficult for us if there was something that was not known in the video again?”

Cordelia’s words were quite reasonable.

Therefore, Jude nodded without hesitation.

“It’s possible!”

“Hey, wasn’t that my line?”

“Let’s listen to it then. We have plenty of time anyway.”

Having made up his mind, Jude took a vest from the shelf, spread it out and made it as a mat.

“Ma’am, please sit down.”

“Yes, Daddy.”