Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Golden Goblin
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+227 Boots, Golden Goblin (1)
“You seem to have bought a lot from the others. Are you buying mine, too?”
“Of course. How many do you have?”
“I have three.”
After checking the items, I immediately took out 3 gold and 3 silver from my pouch and handed them over.
“Thank you. By any chance, next time…”
“If I decide to buy more next time, I’ll post about it.”
“Understood. I hope your enhancements are successful.”
“Thanks.”
Phew, it’s finally over.
Far more people showed up than I expected.
I’d estimate well over a hundred people came. The power of the community is truly something else.
I’ll admit I only offered a premium of about 1 silver, so I really didn’t expect this many people to show up.
I was even considering raising the price if no one was selling, but it was a needless worry.
“Hyeon-ung, should I move this to the room as well?”
Luke pointed to the sack filled with Blessed Armor Enhancement Scrolls.
“No, this is the last one, so I’ll take it. You’ve worked hard.”
Luke had gotten the sacks for me and had been carrying them to my room since the trading began.
I was going to give him a 10-silver tip, but I happened to be out of silver coins.
Well, he went back and forth several times, so what the hell.
*Flick—*
I tossed him a 1-gold coin, and Luke’s face, as he caught it masterfully, was brighter than I’d ever seen it.
“A whole gold coin! Thank you so much, Hyeon-ung.”
He did get the sacks to hold the scrolls, after all.
Carrying the last sack up the stairs, I noticed it was quite heavy even though it wasn’t completely full.
He must have made four or five trips. A 1-gold tip was well deserved.
When I reached the top of the stairs and arrived at my room, there were five sacks piled up.
Each sack held roughly 250 to 300 scrolls, and the one I was carrying was about half full, so I had about 1,600 scrolls in total.
Besides the sacks, I also had over 1,000 scrolls in my inventory that I received from the Golden Lion Guild as payment for some items.
As one of the two pillars of the guild alliance that monopolized the floor bosses, the Golden Lion Guild had quite a lot of scrolls.
And thankfully, they calculated the price at the low market rate of 90 silver per scroll.
They didn't have to, but they said they were grateful to me for clearing out their excess stock.
First, I carefully moved the soundly sleeping Geum-yong from my pocket to his cage and took out the Boots of Enhancement.
I had to prevent any unfortunate incidents where he might snatch and eat them while I was enhancing.
Alright, shall we begin?
I took out the six Normal Armor Enhancement Scrolls I had purchased from the general store and, just as I had learned, tore them above the boots.
[Enhancement of Boots of Enhancement was successful.]
[Enhancement of Boots of Enhancement was successful.]
[Enhancement of Boots of Enhancement was successful.]
[Enhancement of Boots of Enhancement was successful.]
[Enhancement of Boots of Enhancement was successful.]
[Enhancement of Boots of Enhancement was successful.]
Success was guaranteed up to +6.
I knew the probability dropped with each subsequent enhancement, but since anything beyond +10 was uncharted territory, I had no idea how much it would drop.
I had about 2,500 scrolls.
A 50% success rate… no, is that too greedy?
Still, with a Great Success giving +2, shouldn't I be able to aim for at least a one-in-three success rate?
*Let’s keep it modest, no need to be greedy,* I thought to myself as I tore a Blessed Armor Enhancement Scroll.
[Great Success in enhancing the Boots of Enhancement.]
Oho, a good start.
Alright, shall we keep going?
****
I came out to the plaza early after breakfast, but there were fewer people than usual.
The first session was always packed so tight there was no room to move, but it seemed many were taking a break since the rest period was short.
Then again, the Golden Lion Guild had also said they would be skipping this labyrinth run.
They had never missed one before, but there was an event scheduled during the 10-day rest period after this run.
New summoners were arriving on the sixth day of the rest period, and the Golden Lion Guild was in charge of training this batch.
They said they could save me an instructor position if I was interested, but honestly, I wasn’t.
Ah! Though, if someone with a cooking trait similar to Seol-hwa’s showed up, that might be a different story.
Just as I was thinking I should ask to see the new summoners’ questionnaires, a blue light erupted.
A familiar lurch, and my vision shifted.
The same damp and gloomy 1st floor of the labyrinth.
I was about to summon Red Hare, but there was a group of green goblins right in front of me.
“Kerk, kerk.”
“Kerk!”
“Kerk!”
To my surprise, one of them was larger than the others, its body glowing with a faint blue light.
A floor boss.
I’d heard during basic training that you could run into monsters the moment you were summoned into the labyrinth, but I never expected to meet a floor boss right away.
And there was no one else around.
I considered dispatching it quickly but decided to approach them instead.
“Kerk?”
My unguarded approach seemed to fluster them.
As I got close enough to touch them by just extending my arm, the two in front lunged with their daggers.
The daggers were covered in so much yellowish rust it looked like a single scratch would give me tetanus, and their movements were ridiculously slow, but I didn’t dodge.
Instead, I extended my arm so they would hit my bare skin rather than my armor.
*Clang—*
Sparks flew as if metal had struck metal, and the daggers bounced off my bare skin.
“Kerk?”
“Kerk! Kerk!”
With bewildered faces, they stabbed at me several more times, but the result was the same.
*Clang— Clang—*
When their daggers finally broke, the floor boss behind them pushed the goblins aside and stepped forward.
It swung the staff in its hand, and two fireballs the size of a grown man’s head materialized.
A shaman type, was it?
Judging by its build and developed muscles, it looked like a hybrid, but it probably resorted to magic since its minions' physical attacks were ineffective.
For a floor boss, it showed some thought. The idea was decent, but the choice was poor.
The moment the two fireballs touched my body, they vanished as if they were snowflakes melting away.
My resistance to other elements was high, but my fire resistance was already over 100%.
“Ke… Kerk?”
Seeing it take a step back in bewilderment, as if about to flee, I closed the distance and planted my left fist squarely in its face.
*Craaack—*
I hadn’t even put much strength into my left hand, but with a loud crack, its head flew off.
[You have defeated the 1st Floor Boss, Goblin King Emalt.]
[You cannot acquire experience from monsters of a significantly lower level.]
[You have acquired the ‘Goblin King Slayer’ achievement. Agility +1]
So the experience limit applied to floor bosses too.
Well, it wouldn’t have been much anyway.
I’m more than satisfied with the single stat point.
Though, at this point, one stat point hardly makes a difference.
I placed my hand on my boots, which now glowed with an even deeper black light.
[Boots of Enhancement (Unique) +227
They look ordinary on the outside, but these incredibly sturdy boots are imbued with an unknown power.
Defense 237 (10+227), Strength +237 (10+227), Agility +237 (10+227), Stamina +237 (10+227), Luck +237 (10+227), Mana +237 (10+227).
Special Effects.
Infinite Enhancement.
—No enhancement level limit.
Limit Break.
—All stats +1 upon item enhancement.
Destruction Prevention.
—The item will not be destroyed upon enhancement failure.
Grace Enhancement.
—The penalty of resetting the enhancement level does not apply when using a Blessed Armor Scroll.]
The success rate dropped more than I thought as the enhancement level got higher, so I couldn't even manage a one-in-ten success rate, let alone my modest goal of one-in-three.
Of course, just looking at the stats they provided was enough to make me feel full.
“Kerrrk…”
“Kerk…”
With their boss defeated in an instant, the other goblins tried to flee, but they couldn't outrun me.
I easily caught up to them and finished each one off with a single punch.
“Kkyuing!”
Geum-yong leaped out of my pocket and headed for the corpses.
[Acquired Goblin King's Leather x3.]
[Acquired Blessed Armor Enhancement Scroll x1.]
[Acquired Blessed Weapon Enhancement Scroll x1.]
It was just a stone’s throw away, but he was still doing his job diligen…
“Geum-yong? That’s dirty. Don’t pick that up.”
[Acquired Goblin’s Leather x2.]
[Acquired Goblin’s Bone x1.]
I told him to skip the regular mob corpses. This part is a bit inconvenien…?
[Acquired Golden Goblin Summoning Coin x1.]
A Golden Goblin Summoning Coin?
It was a drop from a regular monster, but the item’s name sounded unusual, so I immediately opened my inventory.
I tossed the leather and bones… this must be it.
I took out a large, yellow gold coin.
[Golden Goblin Summoning Coin (Consumable)
A golden coin that can summon the phantom monster, the Golden Goblin.
You can summon a Golden Goblin by breaking the coin in half.
A Golden Goblin of a different grade will be summoned in proportion to the summoner's Luck stat.
Possession Effect: Rare Item Drop Rate +3%, Unique or higher Item Drop Rate +1%]
The possession effect was decent, but this was an item I had to use.
I was about to apply force and break it but put it back in my inventory.
Summoning it on the crowded 1st floor felt wrong, and while my luck was high enough, I could make it even higher.
I summoned Red Hare and used the Thousand-Mile Horse skill to jump to the 43rd floor.
I considered going to the 44th floor, but Miter’s Blessing would activate there, so I decided to do the summoning here.
I took out the companion summoning cards from my inventory.
First, Hanna, and next, Rina.
“Hyeon-ung! You’ve called for me agai— Oh my!”
The moment Geum-yong saw Hanna, he dashed over and leaped into her arms.
“Have you been well, Geum-yong?”
“Kkyuing! Kkyuing!”
That little rascal… he might not actually be a dragon.
“Mister, why did you summon Hanna before me?”
Rina shot me a glare as she complained. She hadn’t changed a bit.
“Huh? It was only a few seconds’ difference. I’ll summon you first next time, Rina.”
“Th-That’s not what I meant.”
She never finishes her sentences. Still as dishonest with herself as ever.
Next, I summoned Timi and Milli.
“Oh my, Hyeon-ung, thank you for not forgetting me.”
Timi flirtatiously blew a kiss my way.
“…Hello. This time again… you summoned that old lady before me…”
Milli muttered in a tiny voice, but thanks to my increased stats, I heard her clearly.
I thought she was similar to Hanna, but maybe she was more like Rina…
“O-Old lady? Who are you calling an old lady!”
“You seem older than me…”
“She is pretty old, though.”
“What do you mean, old! You both want to die?”
The bickering started, and the atmosphere quickly became boisterous, but I didn’t mind it.
“Um, Hyeon-ung?”
“Yes, Hanna? What is it?”
“By any chance, are you not going to summon Alpen anymore?”
Looking out for Alpen, too. Hanna was truly loyal.
“Come to think of it, you didn’t summon that loser.”
“Doesn’t Geum-yong like Hanna more anyway?”
Alpen would be so hurt if he heard that.
“Ah, I’ll summon Alpen in a little bit.”
“Then who are you…”
“Bio?”
Timi was quick on the uptake.
“Correct.”
I held Bio’s summoning card and explained the situation first.
He might not show up if I just summoned him out of the blue.
“Bio, Master of the Forgotten Space.”
Bio appeared in a flash of purple light, but his expression was strange.
“What’s with that look? Did I wake you up?”
“No, you just feel different somehow… Did something happen?”
The only thing that changed was my boots…
“Different? It’s probably just because it’s been a while. If you heard everything, just give me my sword.”
I quickly changed the subject.
My first instinct was to brag, but an uneasy feeling flashed through my mind.
I won’t fall for that twice.
“Is that so? My apologies, but I don’t have the sword.”
“Huh? Don’t tell me you lost it.”
“Did I not say I would have it improved? I entrusted it to a friend. He said it would take about a month.”
So he wasn’t doing it himself.
“Ah, well, can’t be helped then. Just stick around for a moment.”
It was a shame I couldn’t use the 10% stat increase from Kalisina’s Fang, but just having Bio here raised my Luck stat by 100.
After briefly explaining the situation to everyone, I took the Golden Goblin Summoning Coin from my inventory again.
*Snap—*
[You have used the Golden Goblin Summoning Coin.]
[Lured by your phenomenal luck, an Emperor Golden Goblin will be summoned.]
Yesss. Even without Kalisina’s Fang, going through the trouble of summoning Bio was worth it.
The light that burst forth with the notification was purple.
The very same color as when Bio was summoned just moments ago.