Chapter 123

Arriving in Madran, Ming Hu immediately traveled through the warp gate back to the capital city of Nexus.
“I thought it would take a little longer.”
On his way to the imperial palace, Ming Hu muttered to himself as he looked at the scenery around him. When he set out, he thought it would be a long journey and he would not return for some time. But it was not long, and he returned in just one day, just one day.
Sigh
Arriving at the entrance to the imperial palace, Ming Hu looked toward the exchange for a moment before walking into the palace.
“I’ll finish the quest first, then head to the exchange.”
Entering the imperial palace, Ming Hu muttered his way forward and began to walk toward the building that housed the emperor’s office.
Jumbled
Arriving at his destination some time later, Ming Hu was greeted by the soldiers guarding the entrance and entered.
smart
Passing through the corridors and arriving in front of the office, Ming Hu cautiously knocked on the door and opened his mouth to speak.
“Your Majesty the Emperor, Minghu.”
“Huh? Huh! Come in!”
When he heard Alkan’s voice from inside his office, Ming Hu opened the door and stepped inside.
“There you are.”
Once inside, Alkan smiled at Ming Hu and said, “Ming Hu. Ming Hu closed the door at Alkan’s words and opened his mouth to speak.
“I’ll report back to you.”
“Oh, that’s okay, I’ve already been reported.”
At Ming Hu’s words, Alkan waved his hand in the air and said, “I will report. At the same time, a quest completion message began to appear.
[You have completed the quest].
[Helioca’s notoriety increased by 2 million].
[Earn additional rewards].
[Helioca’s notoriety increased by 5 million].
“I guess…
The extra credit was exactly what I expected.
“And take this.”
“…?”
But then Alkan handed him something, and Ming Hu turned away from the message to look at what Alkan was handing him. The object was a key.
“Is this the question mark reward?
The quest reward wasn’t just a merit badge. Perhaps the key was the reward listed with a question mark. Ming Hu took the key first.
[You have acquired the key to the Imperial Treasury].
“…!”
Ming Hu was speechless for a moment when he received the key and saw the message.
“This is the key to the vault that holds the treasures of our empire, but it’s not really a key, it’s a token.”
Ming Hu swallowed hard and looked at Alkan as he continued, and in response to Ming Hu’s reaction, Alkan continued.
“Just because you have the keys doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want with them! It’s how much you’ve helped the Empire that counts.”
“Merit…
That meant we needed a public profile.
“Good job.”
At Alkan’s words, Ming Hu opened his inventory, inserted the key, bowed, opened the door, and began to walk away.
“Ah! Wait!”
It was then that Alkan called Ming Hu, who was walking out the door, as if he had remembered something. Halfway out the door, Ming Hu turned around and looked back at Alkan.
“Revill will probably hand you something, so good luck.”
At Alkan’s words, Ming Hu bowed once more before exiting the office and closing the door behind him.
Sigh
After exiting his office, Ming Hu walked down the hallway and opened his inventory, pulling out the key to the imperial treasure room he had just received as a quest reward.
‘Imperial Palace Report…’
It was an unexpected reward.
“We’ll have to listen.
I was originally planning to go straight to the exchange, but now that I have the key, I’ve changed my mind a bit.
“If you were there…
Ming Hu opened the Quest window.
<Emperor's Golden Hammer
Tilto demands that you bring him the Emperor's golden hammer as proof that you smashed the noses of the court smiths flat. Take the Emperor's Golden Hammer to Tilto and prove that you smashed the noses of the court smiths flat!
Difficulty Level: S
Quest Reward: ???
I had almost given up on the quest that had brought me here, but I couldn't figure out where the quest completion item, the Emperor's Golden Hammer, was… but not now.
"It's possible.
If an item had the word Emperor in its name, it was likely to be in the Treasure Vault.
"Let's go.
He already knew where the treasure trove was. Ming Hu began to walk straight toward the treasure house.
Jumbled
"Stop."
Later, when Ming Hu arrived at the treasure house, he heard a voice and stopped walking. As he stopped, the soldier and wizard guarding the place approached him. The wizard took one look at Ming Hu and opened his mouth to speak.
"This is not a place where just anyone can come in."
Ming Hu frowned slightly at the wizard's words.
"I'll stop by the costume shop before I go to the exchange…
Ming Hu thought to himself and pulled a key from his inventory.
"Please go back…"
The wizard stopped talking when he saw the key.
"Oh."
He let out a short exclamation, looked at the key and Ming Hu in mild surprise, and then opened his mouth to speak.
"…just follow me."
Ming Hu followed the wizard toward the warehouse.
"Wait."
Pausing at the door a few moments later, the wizard asked for a moment, pulled a small card from his bosom and held it up to the door.
Thrrrr
I took the card and the door glowed and slowly began to open.
"It'll open on its own when you get out, so…"
When the door opened, the wizard spoke to Ming Hu and began to walk toward the soldiers. Ming Hu glanced at the wizard, and then went straight into the warehouse.
Thrrrr
Once inside, the door closed by itself. Ming Hu looked at the road. The road led downward.
"Is it underground.
From the outside, it looked a bit too small to be an imperial treasure trove, but as we approached, we could see why. Ming Hu followed the road underground.
"…Yikes."
Reaching the end of the road a short time later, Ming Hu marveled at the treasury before him. It wasn't an imperial treasure trove for nothing; it was so neat that you wouldn't think it had been built underground.
"It could be divided by type…"
Best of all, unlike the exchange, the treasure house had separate entrances for each type of weapon, armor, and trinket. That's what Ming Hu liked most.
"First. I guess we'll find the hammer first."
After a moment's hesitation at the entrance, Ming Hu entered the area where the weapons were gathered.
"…"
Once inside, Ming Hu was speechless. The room, which felt even larger than the first floor of the exchange, was filled with weapons.
"Wow. That's really organized."
That wasn't all. The shelves were organized by type: greatswords, daggers, longswords, hatchets, and two-handed axes.
Jumbled
Ming Hu walked over to where the hammers were displayed, and he found the golden hammers and began to check their information.

Limit: 2000 Strength, 1000 Dexterity, 1000 Health
Physical Attack Damage: 3500
10% Attack Speed
Attacks have a 50% chance to reduce an enemy’s Physical Defense by 80% for 10 seconds.
A hammer made to crack and smash everything, and quite heavy to hold with two hands.
Merit required: 4.5 million

Limit: Strength 1500, Dexterity 800, Health 1400
Physical Attack Damage: 2500
HP +20000
Attacks have a 10% chance to instantly heal a party member for 3% Health.
An energized hammer that spreads life around you when you strike it.
Merit required: 4.3 million
Only after looking at a few hammers did Ming Hu find the Emperor’s Golden Hammer.

Limit: Strength 1400, Health 1800, Endurance 2000
Physical Attack: 2800
Dignity +10000
30% chance to attack with +50% Attack Speed for 20 seconds
20% chance to attack with +30% Movement Speed for 20 seconds
A golden hammer forged by Remil Helioca, the third emperor of the Helioca Empire.
Merit required: 5.5 million
“…”
Seeing the option, Ming Hu opened the quest window to check the quest, then looked at the hammer option again and scratched his head.
“Is this right?”
Ming Hu was a bit puzzled. While the Emperor’s Golden Hammer was not the symbol of the court smiths, he still expected it to be a production hammer, but when he looked at the options, he saw that it was the perfect battle hammer.
Of course, it didn’t matter if it was a production hammer or a battle hammer. You needed the Emperor’s Golden Hammer to complete the quest.
“But… what do you need so much credit for?”
After checking the required merit points, Ming Hu frowned slightly. The amount of merit required was far beyond the exchange.
“Well, at least it’s an S difficulty level, and the rewards are huge…”
Unable to resist, Ming Hu finally decided to purchase the Emperor’s Golden Hammer. After deciding to purchase it, Ming Hu looked around and muttered to himself, “I have a thought.
“But… how do I buy this, do I just walk away and it consumes itself?”
Like the Exchange, there were no counter NPCs here. Ming Hu first opened his inventory and placed the Emperor’s Golden Hammer in it. A message popped up.
[Do you want to purchase the Emperor’s Golden Hammer? If you do, your merit will be reduced by 5.5 million].
After seeing the message and realizing what the purchase was about, Ming Hu pressed confirm.
[You have purchased the Emperor’s Golden Hammer].
[5.5 million fewer public service jobs].
Ming Hu looked at the Emperor’s Golden Hammer in his inventory with a mixture of bittersweetness and elation, then began to walk away. Now you can complete the quest with this.
“What knuckles…”
Not right away, of course. Ming Hu smiled broadly as he looked at the countless knuckles and gauntlets on display in the distance.