<h4>Chapter 74</h4>


    74====================


    The Tenth Fragment, Altemia


    It wasn’t that difficult to get through An’s checkpoint. Whether someone was a noble or an adventurer, they could pass if the guards could identify their identity. They entered through the passage of the gate that was as long as a massive wall. Jeanne and Judah admired the calm, open streets, unlike what they had seen from outside.


    They thought that the buildings towering far above the gate would be intimidating but looking at the city before them, everything was spacious andfortable. As a country’s capital, Serenia was an iparable crowd. Still, evenmon trash was hard to see on the road, and housents neatly arranged by the entrance made the threshold feel far more warm and weing. It was like a textbook rich country.


    “The road is one-way, unlike Dempa.”


    “Isn’t it amazing? It feels neat.” Jeanne muttered, earning a nod of agreement from Judah.


    The road was divided into two sides, allowing people to walk to their right ording to whichever way they were heading to not bump into each other. The two of them blended into the crowd on their right. They didn’t need to avoid the iing people who followed the same rules on their side, and no shoulders were bumping into each other. At this point, other countries felt like awless zone.


    When he was making the game, he couldn’t remember making such detailed rules. If this world appeared in the game, it would be an iplete world with missing details, but magically, this ce wasplete. In the game, if youpared Serenia and Philoria, there would be no difference even if you went into a different country.


    ‘Ah. That…’


    While walking along the street with Jeanne, Judah stopped. His vision caught a glimpse of a colossal structure inside the second wall. It was a circr tower, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.


    ‘Hall of Fame.’


    It was amon name, but it was the name of that tower. Hall of Fame — there was no other name that suited it. That circr tower honored the ck gstaff winners and stored the items they used in their battles.


    ‘That’s awesome. Really…’


    Judah gazed at the streets before him, a euphoric smile curling on his lips. Suddenly, the memories of making a game in the distant paste to his mind. For the 2nd continent, some people helped him design and build it, so he didn’t spend so much time creating buildings or terrain. But in the first continent, he made everything on his own. After nning the area and setting the terrain, the buildings wereid out using various tools in his editor. After modeling the key locations of each country, the building was given a particr name and function. Serenia’s -The Temple- and An’s -Hall of Fame- were prominent examples.


    To put it into perspective, everything on this street was made by Judah, with his own hands. But to be honest, it wasn’t as detailed as it was now. There were empty spaces everywhere, and itcked so many details. To keep the yer from straying off the map if it was too intricate, the yer could only see the private houses outside and could not enter them.


    But now, he was free to roam like somebody had filled the holes he left. It felt like whatever he made was remade from the ground up into something much better and higher in quality. Looking at the capital city before him, he had almost forgotten that he made it. However, the moment he remembered that he made the very base and idea of everything around him, he couldn’t contain the pride swelling in his heart.


    “Judah?”


    “Yes?” He didn’t know how long he had been gaping, but Jeanne snapped him out of it. Jeanne was staring at him, and Judah waste to realize that hispanion had been giggling at him.


    “What are you looking so happy for?” Jeanne continued.


    “Ah-” Judah paused, unaware that his glee had been showing up on his face.


    Looking back on old memories filled him with so much joy he couldn’t hide it. But just in time, a child passed by, holding her mother’s hand. The little girl licked away at her lollipop happily, and the adorable sight made him smile.


    “It’s nothing. Just… lots of good things to look at.”


    “Is that so? You weren’t looking at the child?”


    Jeanne figured she could be wrong, but instead of answering her question, Judah only smiled as he continued walking. Jeanne watched the mother and child pass by before following after Judah again.


    “Didn’t you say we have to stop by somewhere here in An? Do you know where it is?”


    “Um, roughly? Maybe, we’ll find it until the sun sets.”


    “Roughly?”


    After seeing Jeanne mutter in disappointment, Judah pulled up his -Map-. Usually, the general field would be obscured unless the yer can explore the field, but in a safe zone like a castle or vige, he could check all the information about the area without going around.


    If he remembered correctly, the store that sold the fragment was located on the second wall. The game made it impossible to walk towards private properties. It did not have any special features and was made to keep the yer from going astray. However, there was a store located in a corner that people failed to find.


    Judah led Jeanne, taking their time diligently. After getting used to the surroundingndscape, Judah went to the food stalls by the street. Jeanne promised not toin about Judah leading their way, but Judah bought her something to eat to make things even sure. From sweet to soft bread, Jeanne munched down whatever they had bought. Thanks to this, Jeanne’s mouth watered even more than before.


    “By the way, Judah, you find your way very well foring here, like you’ve been here before.”


    Of course, it was easy. Looking at the map helped. Now and then, Judah pretended to stop on his tracks to avoid suspicions and even asked around the food stalls for directions.


    “I tend to find my way just fine. I’ve never been lost in the woods. And if I get lost, will it be a problem? Because my path is the right path, and whichever way I go, I arrive somewhere. Wandering around the marketce is nice. Don’t you find it pleasant to just go about?”


    “Well… I like what you just said, ‘whichever way you go, you arrive somewhere.’ But can you tell me where we are headed exactly?”


    “Ah, that’s what you’re curious about? The ce we’re going to right now is a cksmith shop. Specifically, the weapon shop.”


    “?” Jeanne’s eyes widened. There were weapons and cksmith shops all around.


    Daang! nk!


    The sound of hammers bashing on iron echoed faintly through the streets, but it was a sound mostmonly found in An.


    “Is it something special?”


    “Yes, it’s special.”


    The cksmiths and weapons shops around were bright and colorful. The materials in Serenia were not evenparable to theirs, just like the taste of their rice cakes. And in here, he was able to get a good weapon at a rtively cheap pricepared to buying it elsewhere. Perhaps because of that, people visited An to purchase weapons. But contrary to the rest, the store Judah was going to was a shabby one.


    “…Is it really here?”


    “Yeah.”


    Jeanne looked back and forth at Judah and the store incredulously. Compared to the tremendous number of peopleing and going to the capital An, this street was less crowded than most. And contrary to the weapon shops that they’ve seen before, the one in front of them looked unkempt.


    The signboard was also faded, and the building before them looked unweing than the surrounding establishments. One of the weapons on disy through the window certainly looked good to Jeanne, but there was no one inside, so she doubted that the shop was open. In short, Jeanne found the store to be unreliable.


    “I know I shouldn’t say this, but this store looks weird and beaten down. No, wait a minute. Is it special because it’s meant to look as strange as it is?”


    “No, that’s not it.”


    “Are you out of money? So you went here to buy a good weapon at the lowest possible price?”


    “No, not really. Jeanne, if you walk in, you’ll see why I went for this nice little store.”


    “…If you don’t have enough money anytime, please tell me. I have money too, so if you don’t have enough travel expenses, I can give you.”


    “Thank you for the offer.” Judahughed, knowing well why Jeanne would react in such a way about the store. It may not look impressive, but this was precisely the store Judah went for.


    It was old, shabby, and famous only for those who knew of it. It was far more special than any other ce where the other twenty-four fragments were, and the fragment here was much easier to obtain as well.


    People like the word -hidden-. It was an Easter Egg Judah felt satisfied with, and the short story he added with it. Just finding something -hidden- gave the yers a great sense of aplishment.


    And it was the same with Judah. He aimed just for that, and he built this store and let the fragment sit and be avable for purchase. When making the game, he tried to keep the movement of yers as little as possible so that they couldn’t go to private houses. However, this was the one ce they could go to.


    Most yers gave up around the area after realizing there wasn’t much for them to explore. It can be seen as a kind of prejudice. They thought that if they couldn’t go to the other properties, why would they wish to visit this shabby store as well? Since it was a single-yer game, not an online game, there were only three cases where yers thought it was a bug in the game because nobody else had stumbled upon it.


    When you hear about thement from other people who enjoyed the game, read an article posted by other people on the game website, or identally enter an alleyway, those who came into the store like that are wondering but were surprised to see what the store owner sells. Of course, the item sold at this store was one of the twenty-four fragments.


    It was -10th Fragment, Altemia-.


    “We should stop standing and go inside.”


    Judah smiled and opened the door of the store. It jiggled as the bell at the top of the door rang through the room. Unlike the old facade seen from the outside, the interior was rtively neat. Not a single dust could be seen on any surface.


    “Wee.”


    The moment she heard the bell, an olddy appeared before them.