WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈
Chapter 98: Is This Heaven?
──────
The World Ritual Implement Expo, where craftsmen from around the world gather.
Just hearing about it made my heart race.
There'd be Ritual Implements from all over the world there, along with every country's unique occult techniques on display, right?
Man... I could already feel the dopamine kicking in.
"Master, are you that excited?"
Yuha asked as she pulled her suitcase alongside me.
We were in the arrivals hall of Cairo International Airport.
We had just passed through the gate after a long flight.
"Ahem, I guess I am."
...Was I being too obvious?
But I couldn't help it.
Opportunities like this were incredibly rare.
Honestly, I hadn't experienced anything like it even in a game.
Kingdom of Fire was set in a medieval world, after all.
There were no events like this, and there were barely any blacksmith players to begin with. Sharing techniques was out of the question.
If I wanted to learn a new technique?
I'd have to ask around everywhere, take a ship, cross mountains and rivers, and travel for ages.
The journeys were brutal too. Remote wilderness was a given, and one wrong turn could bring monster attacks, bandits, or pirates. It was never simple.
But this?
All I had to do was get on a plane, and the greatest craftsmen from around the world would be showing off their latest Ritual Implements and techniques?
Man. I was getting seriously pumped.
Come to think of it, it was a good thing I had sorted out my Tianshan Sect identity back then.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have been invited as a Korean craftsman.
Anyway, my excitement level was at about two hundred percent.
"What a shame, Master."
Yuha, who had been checking her phone, looked thoroughly dejected.
"It seems something urgent came up... I think I need to leave first."
It looked like her client had contacted her.
Well, Ms. Yuha hadn't come here for fun. She was here for an exorcism job.
"Sure! Go on, then!"
"..."
"...?"
But she didn't go.
Yuha just gripped the handle of her suitcase, seemingly hesitant.
"...? Is there something you wanted to say...?"
"M-Master!"
"Yes, Yuha."
"If my job ends quickly, would you maybe like to have a meal together...?"
Oh, that was it. I thought something was wrong.
"Sure, let's do that."
"Oh! Okay! I'll contact you!"
Yuha brightened at once, bowed, and hurried off.
Ahem.
Anyway, so this was Egypt.
They said someone from the organizers would be here to greet me.
Let's see...
Ah, there.
[Welcome, Master Do.]
A woman with exotic features stood holding a sign with crooked Korean writing.
"As-salamu alaikum."
"Uh...?"
My brain froze for a moment.
Wait.
The staff member who was supposed to guide me... didn't speak Korean?!
She tilted her head too.
Well, that made sense.
Craftsmen would be coming from all over the world. How could anyone speak all those languages?
But what was I supposed to do now? Open a translation app?
Then.
"Ah."
The woman suddenly looked as though she had forgotten something and began rummaging through her bag.
She then held out a palm-sized box.
"...?"
"Law samaht... ilbis da fi widnak."
As she spoke words I couldn't understand, the woman tapped her ear.
Looking closer, she already had something in her ear.
Opening the box, I found a small apricot-colored device that looked like a wireless earbud.
'...Is she telling me to put it on?'
I carefully inserted it into my ear.
The moment I did.
"Can you hear me now?"
"Hello. It is truly an honor to meet you, Master Do."
"...!"
Whoa. What was this?
She was clearly still speaking a foreign language.
Yet it felt as if she were speaking Korean.
Or rather, I naturally understood what she was saying.
Yeah, it felt like I had always known Arabic.
"This is a Thought-Transmission Device, also known as an Interpreter Implement. Please speak comfortably."
What...?
This was incredible.
"Ah... hello."
"Hello, Master. Shall we go? I'll guide you to the vehicle."
Wow... insane.
Technology like this existed?
This was crazy. How did it work?
"Could I ask about this...?"
"Ah, it's a Ritual Implement provided for the event by the American company Aether Link, which is also exhibiting at this expo. We're lending them out so craftsmen from different countries can communicate more easily."
"I see..."
I took a breath.
My heart was already racing!
All right.
When I got to the expo, the American booth would be my first stop.
Man, I was this excited before it had even begun.
I couldn't wait!
* * *
I rode in the guide's car to my reserved hotel.
"Wow..."
Even in the brief time it took to leave the airport and reach the parking lot, the heat took my breath away.
It was scorching here.
Korea was just beginning to cool down for early autumn, but Egypt was so hot that the sunlight seemed to prick my skin.
"It's very hot, isn't it?"
She thoughtfully turned the air conditioning all the way up.
"Ah, yes. It is a little hot."
It was amazing how naturally we could communicate like this.
Unfamiliar scenery rushed past outside the window.
Foreign buildings in sandy hues, packed tightly together.
Arabic signs I couldn't read at all.
Cars honking wildly, with mosque minarets visible between them.
Man... this brought back memories.
How long had it been since I'd seen scenery this foreign?
Of course, I had only seen it in games.
"My name is Nadia Hassan."
As I blankly watched the scenery outside, Nadia formally introduced herself.
She was Egyptian.
And an archaeologist specializing in ancient Egyptian occult artifacts.
"I am a researcher with the Occult Heritage Office under the Supreme Council of Antiquities."
"The Supreme Council of Antiquities?"
"Yes. It manages ruins and artifacts across Egypt. It also handles excavations, preservation, and restoration."
I see.
Egypt had such a long history, after all.
Its occult history had to be ancient too. It must have an incredible number of surviving artifacts.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities was hosting the World Ritual Implement Expo this time, and Nadia had been assigned to work at the event.
"Oh, right. The Ritual Implements you sent in advance have already been set up in your booth. Would you like to see?"
While the car was stopped at a light, Nadia took out a tablet and showed me the screen.
The booth was neat and stylish, with a Taegeukgi hanging over the entrance.
Inside the display cases were sealing key rings and Enchant Talismans.
The Ritual Implements I had made and left piled up in storage were also neatly displayed by type.
A usage video that Ms. Ji-an had apparently stayed up all night making played on a display at the front of the booth.
Detailed explanations were posted beside it as well.
Wow...
They had set it up nicely.
Seeing my babies displayed like that made me feel strange.
"The expo begins tomorrow and runs for one week."
She explained when the opening ceremony would be held, what the demonstration schedule was like, and the rest of the week's events.
By the time she was finished, we had arrived at the hotel.
In the lobby.
"Masa el-kheir. Fi hagz bi-ism..."
Nadia spoke rapidly with the front-desk employee in Arabic.
From what I could tell, this Interpreter Implement converted Imprinted Intent into spoken words.
It seemed to work only between occult practitioners with Spiritual Power who wore one.
So it didn't work with ordinary people.
After helping me check in, Nadia handed me the room key.
"Get plenty of rest today. I will come for you tomorrow morning."
"Thank you."
I went up to my room, roughly unpacked, and had a simple local meal through room service.
The long flight must have tired me out.
After showering, I fell asleep as soon as I lay down on the soft bed.
* * *
The next day, at the World Ritual Implement Expo.
The moment I stepped out of the car.
"...Wow."
An exclamation slipped out before I knew it.
Wow... what was this scale?
"This is the Grand Egyptian Museum. It is the largest museum in the world devoted to a single civilization."
Nadia, standing beside me, continued her explanation proudly.
Apparently, during the week of the expo, they had completely barred ordinary tourists under the excuse of special interior construction and an academic event.
Then they had converted the entire building into an Occult World expo venue.
Look at this scale... They rented out this enormous museum?
Even before entering, booths of every kind had already been set up across the outdoor plaza.
Some were decorated like exotic desert nomad tents.
Others looked as though they had dismantled and moved in an entire traditional forge or alchemy workshop from their countries.
Following Nadia, I passed the enormous obelisk at the entrance and entered the museum.
"..."
The hall was massive, with a ceiling so high it seemed endless.
At its center stood a stone statue that looked as tall as a three- or four-story building.
"It is a statue of Ramses II. It is eleven meters tall and weighs eighty-three tons. He was a pharaoh from over three thousand years ago."
Beyond the statue stretched an interior space so vast that I couldn't see the end of it.
And above it, the flags of nations fluttered.
Japan, China, the United States, India, Mexico, Italy...
"There are separate national pavilions and exhibits for individual craftsmen inside. There are also demonstration halls, seminar rooms, and special sessions introducing production techniques."
"..."
"There is also a separate area for invited craftsmen. I'll show you later."
Insane.
This place was seriously insane.
Where should I go first?
My eyes darted everywhere from the moment I entered.
On one side, people were carefully carrying something far taller than a person, wrapped tightly in cloth.
At another demonstration area, people in armor were clashing Ritual Implements in mock combat.
Clang! Clang!
Every time sparks flew, exclamations rose from the spectators.
And beyond them, where the faint scent of herbs mingled with the acrid smell of molten metal, I could see the booth of a huge trading company with mountains of rare materials said to come only from the deep sea or remote mountains, materials I had never seen even once in my life.
Man...
Was this heaven?
Come on, let's go. Hurry.
"Hehe. You can look around later. Shall we register you as an invited craftsman first?"
"Ah... yes."
So I waited my turn in front of the registration desk.
Man, I was already excited.
What should I see first? The American booth that made the Interpreter Implements? Or the Egyptian pavilion?
That was when I was looking around.
The bustling hall gradually fell quiet.
...Huh?
Everyone's attention turned toward the entrance at once.
A group wearing pure white... martial arts robes? Taoist robes?
Anyway, clothes like something out of a martial arts novel, entered the hall.
Then.
The elderly person at the front suddenly snapped their head in this direction.
Our eyes met.
Their bright gaze was unfathomably deep.
And on their chest was an embroidered, familiar symbol.
'...Huh?'
That symbol.
I was sure I had seen it somewhere before...
'What was it?'
The familiar shape of clouds curling in a circle...
...It was the Tianshan Sect.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
