Item Test
"Heh. Much obliged, system folks. Then let’s crack open that top-grade reward first and see what comes out."
◈ High purity
◈ High density
"Whoa, jackpot!"
Ho-yeong gaped at the blinding light.
Mana stones were valuable because they could be used in all sorts of ways. Of course, Tamer Territory had no shortage of mana soil made by mixing mana water and suction clay, but mana stones had the edge in sheer strength, capacity, and density.
"What a sweet deal. Dragging myself around and fighting while the clock was ticking was worth it after all."
On top of that, he had received not only the Dice of Adversity promised by the angel Soliad, but other items as well.
"All right, time to crack open these three Unique-grade items."
Time Mage Rundar's Gray Pocket Watch
📍 Location: Unknown
🎁 Reward: Time stop for up to 3 minutes
Unique-grade.
It did not belong to any of the item ranks, ordinary, advanced, rare, legendary, or mythic. In terms of character grade, it was the equivalent of EX, or extra-class, something outside the standard.
(1) Time Mage Rundar's Gray Pocket Watch
- Grade: Unique
- Type: Active / Equipment
- Effect: When used, it can stop the timeline for up to 3 minutes.
- Description: Even while time is stopped, the wearer can exert limited physical force.
This watch breaks the moment it is used, and cannot be used again until it is repaired. Repair requires special materials.
Also, after using the watch, random negative events will occur as a side effect of bending causality, so be careful.
- Background -
Rundar screamed himself hoarse in delight after creating the masterpiece of his life, a watch that could stop time. He was so happy that, instead of time, his heart stopped.
Perhaps because he had no regrets left, even his soul refused the resurrection rite. The gray pocket watch was carried into the coffin in the inventor's arms.
The hands on this watch move only when the timeline is stopped, and they have moved more than ten times. No one has ever activated the watch, so why is that?
(2) Notes of Voliv, founder of monster resource science (damaged)
- Grade: Unique
- Type: Passive / Accumulative equipment
- Effect: Grants equipment that can harvest various resources from monsters.
- Description: These notes are packed with useful information, including material on the core found in monsters' bodies, also known as mandam stone. As you kill or convert monsters, the damaged portions are restored and you gain even more information.
Be careful not to let an evil person get their hands on these notes. If that happens, some villain might twist this precious knowledge for wicked ends!
- Background -
People pointed at the eccentric mage and laughed at him. Why bother using unstable mandam stone when mana stones could be mined all over the continent? Every time, Voliv answered with a cold smile: "That may be true now."
Only Her Majesty the Queen took interest in his research, but she said with a bitter smile, "I do hope a time never comes when we must scrape together even the stones inside monsters."
(3) Ring of Truth
- Grade: Unique
- Type: Passive / Equipment / Variable cooldown
- Effect: A ring that changes color when it hears a lie.
- Description: A ring set with an exceptionally transparent gem. If the wearer or someone nearby tells a lie, the gem changes color. The more benevolent the intent behind the lie, the whiter it becomes; the more malicious the intent, the blacker it turns.
Once the color changes, the ring's effect cannot activate again until it becomes fully transparent. The cooldown varies depending on the intent and strength of the lie.
For example, if some cute little kid insists they didn't snack before a meal, the cooldown would be less than 3 seconds. But if a murderer denies their crime, the cooldown could last 3 days.
- Background -
Nothing is known about who made this ring, or why. People merely speculate that some priest who found court squabbling over trivial disputes tiresome must have made it.
- Help -
This ring merely reads the emotional resonance of the person you're speaking with to determine whether they are lying; it cannot tell you whether any information is true or false.
In the example above, if you ask the child, "What is 2+2x2?" and they answer "8," the ring's gem will remain as transparent as the child's innocent smile. The child genuinely believed the answer was 8, so from their perspective, they did not lie!
The reverse is also true. In the second example, even if the murderer denied the crime and the ring judged it a lie, the victim may have survived by sheer luck.
They're all useful enough, but... every one of the three comes with a drawback.
They were, quite literally, items that existed only once in the world, but that did not mean they were necessarily top-tier. Depending on the case, their performance could be worse than an ordinary item, or conversely even better than a mythic one.
The watch has random side effects, the notes have security issues, and the ring has a blind spot when it comes to the reliability of information.
That made the user's ability and judgment all the more important.
Well, I'll make use of them however I can. Either way, there's no loss in taking them.
He tucked the pocket watch and the notes into his clothes, then put the ring on at once.
"Then I guess it's about time we got moving."
Final branching point for Chapter 1, The Endless Crossroads, has been created!
"Again...?"
Branching point. It was the second most hated word he had encountered since entering the game.
"Can't you just let me through? Still, I guess it's a relief that it's the 'final' one."
Ho-yeong shook his head and tapped the status window anyway.
Your future journey will be determined by your choice. There are two options.
(1) Detour off the main road: The chance of encountering high-tier monsters along the way increases, and the journey grows longer. This may disrupt the unfinished quest Respond to the Summons from the Capital, but you can obtain many useful supplies and talented people.
(2) Take the main road directly: The chance of encountering high-tier monsters along the way drops sharply, and the journey goes smoothly. However, there is no meaningful resource gain, and in fact you may suffer major losses from events such as handing over precious supplies to nearby villages or having them stolen.
The explanation sounded strangely familiar.
"It's like the branching point that came up when we left the capital for Tamer Territory. Only this time the direction's reversed, from territory to capital."
The fact that the main road, which had been the dangerous route back then, was now the safe one was the interesting part.
Time remaining to choose: 3 minutes
"What, just 3 minutes?"
There was no room to complain about how stingy that was, so Ho-yeong immediately began to think it through.
To sum it up... taking the main road is smooth and fast, but the supply loss is big. Detouring makes the journey longer and riskier, but the rewards are greater.
On the map displayed in the status window, the two routes were marked in green and orange.
"All right, I've decided."
Ho-yeong tapped the middle point between the two routes.
* * *
The carriage ran off the paved road while still following the direction of the main route.
⊳ "You are rather quick on your feet, Guardian."
"Thank you for the compliment, angel."
Ho-yeong grinned.
If the options are 1 and 2, then all I have to do is make a 1.5. Just like when I first met Peach and found a branching point.
He had no desire to risk danger or a long journey, but he still wanted the loot. That lowborn, slippery mindset turned out to work surprisingly well.
If I draw the route like this, I can take the strengths of both choices and cut down the drawbacks. Fast travel, a shot at loot, and sure, monsters still show up, but mostly low-tier ones instead of high-tier ones, so the danger drops way down.
You found the middle path on the map, choosing a way that reduced danger while increasing rewards. Excellent work, Guardian. As a reward, you have gained 5 EP.
The Tamer Territory tribute convoy encountered monsters several times during the journey, but they were all trivial trash mobs that posed no real threat.
Attention. A pack of low-tier monsters, gnolls, is rushing in!
The gnolls that appeared now were only a small pack of four.
This attack was little more than a minor incident, not even enough to count as a bonus stage, let alone a proper quest.
- Grrrnoool...
Gnolls were bipedal monsters that resembled hyenas. They were larger than humans and had a certain amount of combat ability, so they were no pushover, but they were no match for well-armed elite soldiers. Their body structure made it impossible for them to use tools, and unlike quadrupedal monsters, they also lacked the speed to run properly.
"Four gnolls. Nothing special."
On top of that, they had a uselessly aggressive temperament, so instead of ambushes or night raids, they preferred frontal assaults. That made them easy enough to handle.
"Minho, Eollugi. You two deal with them."
- Minoho... Minohom. (Of course we'll obey your command... But it's a little dull to fight nothing but these trivial pests.)
The minocentaurs yawned. To them, gnolls were barely even fit to be called small dogs, let alone hyenas.
"Then should I leave it all to Vulcher?"
- Hog! (Gladly!)
- Minoom! Minooo! (Minho, you fool, you talk too much! We'll handle it.)
Minho and Eollugi pulled out the weapons tied beneath the carriage.
- Gnool...?
The gnolls froze when they saw the giant halberd being swung by an invisible, transparent arm.
"Those gnolls are startled senseless. Serves them right for attacking decent travelers in broad daylight."
There was hardly even a battle. It took only 3 seconds to cleave three of them apart.
"Well done, boys! Don't kill the last one."
- Minoom? (You mean you want to keep it alive and make it work for us?)
The remaining one was trembling, stripped of all will to fight.
"Hmm, let's see what its specs look like."
The gnoll had stats that were passably useful for a fighter, but its hatred of humans was far too high. Ho-yeong did not see the point of spending valuable EP to convert it, so he checked whether it had any special abilities worth the trouble.
"It does have a skill. 'Gnolls' physical stat rises sharply while the sunset burns.' Hm, but how often are we really going to fight timed to sunset? Goblin 10, go try talking it down."
- Gob-gob! (Understood!)
The goblin cast Influence. If you wanted to sweet-talk monsters, the best one to do it was another monster.
- Grrrnoool...
But the gnoll growled and bared its teeth.
- Kooop. (It says if we don't kill it right now, we'll regret it.)
"In that case, there's nothing for it. Boys, send that one off without pain... hold on!"
Just as he was about to close the gnoll's status window, something flashed through his mind and he stopped the minocentaurs in place.
That one's intelligence is higher than I expected. From the way it's talking, its thought process seems fairly advanced too. If that's true...
Ho-yeong spoke to the gnoll.
"You seem to understand that running away won't help. If you tell me where the rest of your pack is, and promise never to attack humans again, I'll let you live."
- Grrnool?!
The gnoll looked shocked.
- Nool! (Don't be ridiculous, gnool! I don't sell out my own kind!)
"Oh? That's some real loyalty. Your sense of kinship is pretty strong."
- Gob-gob. (They are odd ones, sir. Even if it's not their own pup, if it's part of the pack, they take ridiculously good care of it.)
"If anything, that just means you goblins lack any sense of kinship at all. Anyway, gnoll, I have a proposal for you."
Ho-yeong began to negotiate.
"Fight this knight here."
"What?! A match? What in the world are you saying?"
What he pointed at was Shrakhim.
"If you lose, answer my questions obediently. If you win, I'll let you go."
- Nool?!
The startled gnoll widened its eyes.
"The rules are simple. Both of you fight barehanded, and the one who makes the other's back touch the ground first wins. Simple, right? Just don't kill your opponent. So? What do you say, gnoll? You don't really have any other choice anyway."
- Grrrnoool... (Fine. I won't run from a fight.)
To his surprise, the gnoll agreed easily.
"No, Count on the Border Region. You're seriously telling me to go barehanded against a thing with claws and teeth the size of fingers?"
"You can keep your armor on. You only need to fight barehanded. And don't worry, killing is against the rules."
"What if that thing gets excited and tries to kill me?"
"Leave that to me. I'll make sure it follows the rules."
Ho-yeong had already cast conversion on the gnoll.
The gnoll race had enough pride as hunters and warriors that taming them took a great deal of EP, but because of that, forcing one into a fair contest was not difficult.
There's no way I should let Shrakhim get hurt, either. And if I want information out of that monster, it's better to drag it into a match. Torture doesn't sit well with me, and even if I did torture it, I doubt it would sell out its own kind.
If things went well, he might be able to pry useful information out of the gnoll. The monsters they had encountered before were too stupid for interrogation, let alone conversation.
"B-but... do you really think I can win?"
"Of course you can. I'm not about to make one of my men suffer through a fight he can't win."
Ho-yeong soothed the terrified Shrakhim.
Strictly comparing physical stats, Shrakhim was slightly higher, but that was with a sword in his hand, so he needed some sort of buff.
"I have an idea, so relax. First, would you hold out your arm for me?"
"My arm? Y-yes, sir."
"Why are you extending it so shyly? Good grief, your forearm's thick enough to burst a bracelet if you're not careful."
Ho-yeong fastened a bracelet onto Shrakhim's awkwardly outstretched arm. It was the item he had received just a little earlier.
"What... is this?!"
"Something good. I'm only borrowing it for a moment, so use it well."
It was the Blood Drop of Scorching he had received from Eos, the market of Rainpa.
Ownership of the item Blood Drop of Scorching has been temporarily transferred. Current wearer: Shrakhim.