Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Laying the Foundations (2)
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‘Ah, so their doctrine is charity?’
Charity means pitying others and helping them.
‘Which means...’
The Palao Order was basically a gathering of people accustomed to giving things away.
The benevolent face of Hemar, who had handed over the precious blackwood without hesitation despite acknowledging its value, overlapped with Rashar’s bright, innocent expression.
Their kindness wasn’t a bad thing for me at all, yet it left me feeling stuck.
‘What happens when you run a specific group with nothing but expenses and no investments?’
It goes bankrupt. With no reinforcements coming in and members just dying off one by one, a denomination with zero growth was prime for elimination.
‘Players dying is inevitable.’
Expecting zero casualties was arrogance.
That’s why recruiting new members was crucial.
But the very person responsible for leading that effort had set the point accrual rate for member growth to a measly 0.1%.
‘And they even have limits on new recruits.’
The nagging doubt that I might have chosen the wrong faction crept up again.
But I pushed it aside.
‘No, it’ll be fine. It’s not too late yet.’
I was already part of the Palao Order.
Unless I had 1,000 achievements, I couldn’t leave.
‘At the very least, I have to keep it from collapsing.’
I rubbed my face and swallowed a sigh before speaking up.
“This is coming from genuine worry on my part.”
“Huh?”
Watching Rashar tilt her head innocently stirred complicated feelings in me.
She probably thought she was being considerate to players by setting allocations to the minimum.
But in the long run, it was a terrible move.
I couldn’t just gratefully accept it.
“At this rate, we’re all going to crash and burn.”
In the end, I voiced the bitter truth.
* * *
After my not-quite-a-lecture wrapped up, Rashar looked dejected.
Even so, before I left, she insisted several times.
-You’re part of the Palao Order, aren’t you? As Palao’s apostle, providing for you is my duty.
-You’ve come to this unfamiliar world without family or kin. Please, let me help you—I’d be delighted.
She wanted me to stay in this mansion.
Frankly, it was an offer that was weird to even hesitate over.
It made it easier to ask about other orders, and I wouldn’t need to waste mana unnecessarily.
So I readily accepted the invitation to keep staying.
Thanks to that, I was shown to a guest room that rivaled a high-end hotel.
The bed was big enough for three grown men to sleep comfortably, and one corner even had a desk like in a study.
All the furniture exuded an antique elegance.
Beyond the bedroom was an attached bathroom with a tub, plus a separate room with a robe and light clothing hanging.
Magic tools were installed everywhere, so it wasn’t much less convenient than modern civilization.
A snap of the fingers lit the fire, and water gushed out freely.
Rashar’s mansion was a hundred—no, a thousand—times better than going outside and using my own mana.
Satisfied, I unpacked the luggage from my inventory, took a refreshing bath, and turned in for the night.
“Phew...”
But the reason I sighed the moment I woke up in the morning was simple.
“Mmnya, mm...”
It was because of the little one, Belta, sleeping with her tail wrapped around my neck.
-Meow! Meow!
I’d woken up at dawn to what I thought was a cat crying, only to find Rashar there holding the child.
-She woke up crying for you nonstop...
No matter how she tried to soothe her, the crying wouldn’t stop.
Part of me wanted to kick out the kid crying in someone else’s house.
But as a guest here myself, I hesitated to unleash my temper fully.
Belta’s status played a role in tempering my irritation too.
‘She seems like she’s from a good family.’
Maybe I could expand Bihar’s network through this little one.
So under the moonlight, I’d held her and sung a lullaby—something I’d barely done for my siblings back when our parents passed.
And now, less than 24 hours after meeting her, I was doing it for this kid.
I’d managed to get her to sleep, but this pint-sized villain who’d crashed into my life wasn’t one to go down easy.
Every time Rashar took her away, she’d wake up and come right back—repeating it over and over.
Once she figured out where I was, from the second time on, she’d toddle over on her own.
Like I’d smeared honey on myself or something—she wouldn’t leave me alone.
If I lay down to sleep, meow meow.
If she seemed asleep, meow meow.
Even ignoring it to sleep, meow meow.
She meowed all night; I thought I’d lose my mind.
In the end, I picked up the wailing kid from outside my door and brought her in.
-Just... just go. I’ll put her to sleep tonight.
“O-Okay...”
I sent off Rashar, who looked both confused and dazed, put the kid back to sleep, and now here we were.
She’d thrashed around all night, kicking me, so I hadn’t slept properly.
And right as I woke, her tail was looped around my neck like a noose.
Thanks to an unexpected nap yesterday, my body wasn’t totally wrecked, but I couldn’t stop the sigh.
“Phew.”
Sighing again, I gently unwound the tail from my neck.
Then I noticed the colorful fur all over my clothes, and my cheek twitched.
‘Did I babysit a kid or a beast?’
Why does she keep coming to me?
Pushing aside my bewildered frustration, I sat up and checked the shop window.
Messages had updated at the bottom of my vision while I slept.
「Item creation complete!」
「Item synthesis complete!」
The notifications, spaced a couple hours apart, were plenty to pique my interest.
I opened the shop and tapped custom creation first.
This was one of the features restricted during server connection.
Only after it ended could I experiment properly, and the results had come while I slept.
[Receive items? (Y/N)]
Hitting yes filled my inventory with neatly stacked items.
All made from materials I had on hand.
The blades from that mummy-like corpse were the key ingredients.
‘They had too many flaws to use as-is.’
Chipped edges everywhere, rusted spots too.
Only two daggers in perfect shape were usable right away.
So I experimented with the damaged ones.
‘Custom creation’s range of uses.’
I learned that for shop-listed items, you get a discount equal to material costs.
‘First, the created items.’
Top of the list: a longsword.
Mine had melted fighting the croc evolution type, so I was out.
This one matched the shop’s double-edged sword exactly—nearly twice as heavy as tutorial gear.
Boosted destructive power as a result.
‘Should hold me for a while.’
Beyond the sword, I’d geared up arm and leg guards too.
‘Total cost: 2,015 mana.’
Buying outright would’ve run over 7,000, but custom creation saved mana.
That’s why I’d used the blackwood from the Palao Order for custom creation before bed.
Requested it shaped like the shop’s smallest dagger: just 150 mana each.
Total of eight.
‘90% completion?’
Ordered last night, so they’ll finish soon.
Of course, custom creation wasn’t limited to that.
[Slightly Larger Random Box]
• Type: Mission Reward
• Acquisition Difficulty: Special
• Description: Reward obtained from completing system-involved missions. Provides player-optimized rewards based on allowable causal probabilities.
‘Naming sense is...’
The name inspired some skepticism, but it wasn’t something to take lightly.
Three random boxes from finishing the main scenario.
Better one big one than a bunch of small stuff, so I tried synthesis.
Result: success, as you see.
I fiddled with the slightly larger random box, lost in thought.
‘From experience, they tend to give what I need.’
Description confirms player-optimized rewards.
Better to save for worst-case than open randomly—last-resort item.
But hoarding blindly isn’t smart either.
Could accelerate growth a step.
‘What to do.’
Use now? Save it?
Didn’t take long to decide. I knew exactly what I wanted right now.
‘An AoE skill.’
No chances since missing the fireballs due to the barrier.
Mana absorbed from Rashar’s group bus went into gear.
‘To hit silver rank, can’t slack on stockpiling.’
Using mana involved many trade-offs.
‘Attribute mana has basic attack power on its own.’
But not decisive enough.
‘A normal human would drop dead from a lightning strike.’
Problem is, my opponents aren’t normal.
Stun via shock is all it amounts to.
I wanted a proper AoE, like always.
‘Go for it.’
I ditched the hesitation and used the random box.
After the bright light faded, in my hand was...
[Zeber Standard Accumulation Magic Tool]
• Type: Auxiliary Gear - Detachable
• Acquisition Difficulty: Rare
• Rank: ★★★★★
• Description: Accumulates about 10,000 attribute mana. Varies by mana properties; activate accumulated attribute mana via keyword.
A fist-sized yellow gem.
Item description now gave precise, reliable info—my requested update.
Thanks to that, I knew exactly where to use it.
Confirming “auxiliary gear” again, I pulled out my armor from inventory.
Slid the magic tool into the shoulder of the greaves, where the beast-head maw gaped open.
*Click.* The gem locked perfectly into place.
“......”
I stared at the gear and tool with a strange expression for a moment.
‘It’s what I needed, sure...’
Great item on paper, but joy didn’t come easy.
Some chilling hunch that random boxes wouldn’t yield skills anymore.
With a shallow sigh, I equipped the accumulation tool, completing the armor.
[Zeber Elite Scout Greaves (7,343 Mana)]
• Type: Armor
• Acquisition Difficulty: Common
• Description: Gear issued to Zeber Kingdom scouts. Protects vitals without hindering mobility; detachable accumulation magic tool slot.
‘Acquisition difficulty...’
Shop items are all “Common.”
Accumulation tools start at “Rare” baseline.
My other one’s Rare too, so probably right.
[Ownerless Accumulation Magic Tool]
• Type: Accessory
• Acquisition Difficulty: Rare
• Rank: ★★★
• Description: Accumulates about 2,000 attribute mana. Varies by mana nature and quality; use via keyword.
Reason they’re not sold in shop.
‘That rank thing only for rares...?’
Pondering the stars briefly.
I glanced at my gear tab full of Commons, then switched to skills.
This tab had changed a lot post-server connection too.
Damn System