Coin Shop Tier 1

Whew.

Why are there so many?

Ten options. Maybe he should pick through them one by one, starting from the top?

First up.

The blueprint boxes.

Whoa.

So as long as he had coins, he could pull blueprints out at random? And if he ever scraped together 100,000 coins, he could even get a Unique blueprint.

I'll have to grind quite a few dungeons back on Earth.

And then...

A random production skill book box? Pay 1,000 coins and it hands you a skill book? Limited to crafting-related ones only?

Made sense, really. The shop had apparently been unlocked through crafting quests, so the entire lineup leaned heavily toward production classes.

And down at the bottom there—

Why on earth was the Mini-Dragon so expensive? A tiny dragon? Was it actually summoning a dragon?

Scrolling further down, he found a sheep and a spider too. Judging by the vibe of it—ding ding ding—they looked like pets that produced wool and spider silk.

Hmm. What to use first?

His heart wanted to crack open the skill book box right away.

But.

Now that the shop was open, he had already resolved to buy every last thing on that list eventually. Which meant—

Let's start by splurging on the spider and the sheep.

Seo Hwarang raised a finger and tapped the bottom two entries.

Yes.

The moment he nodded—

A whole 1,000 coins, slurped away in an instant.

Ahh. My precious life savings!

And then two adorable little creatures popped into existence.

— Meeeeeeh!

— Cheek, cheek!

"Huh."

Seo ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hwarang clapped both hands over his mouth.

What ARE these things? Why are they so cute?

For starters, the Mini Sheep, hopping around in little bounds, looked exactly like a small clump of cloud.

— Meeeeeeh!

Its eyes were round and large and black—and they sparkled as if tiny stars had been set into its pupils.

Thwump!

The sheep latched onto his leg. Apparently the system treated them as items, because an info window appeared.

Wow. A full-blown Unique item.

And because it counted as an item—

Swoosh! Pop!

It could be stuffed into his inventory and pulled back out at will.

— Meeeeeeh!

"Hold still a moment."

He set the sheep ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down and, on the off chance, tried casting Wind Cutter on it.

1st Circle. Master Wind Cutter.

Shhhhrk!

The wool sheared off clean and soft. But then? The moment it was cut, it immediately grew right back.

Oh ho.

Shall we see who's faster, then?

Sssswoosh!

Seo Hwarang kept the wind blades falling in a steady rhythm. In less than thirty seconds, a mountain of fleece had piled up around the bench.

"Whoa."

This was insane. No—this was a revolution.

He'd never have to trek out to the pastures beyond the city to gather wool again! Just summon a Mini Sheep, park it there, and harvest forever. And the quality of the wool? Guaranteed better than anything he'd gathered back then—practically the finest grade available.

And this cost a measly 500 coins?

Then how much better were the other summons going to be?

Goosebumps were already creeping up his arms. Which meant the Mini Spider—?

— Cheek, cheek!

So THAT was what that sound was. Good grief. It was the sound of spider silk being spun. An enormous quantity of the stuff had already draped the entire bench like a second skin.

"Can you go any faster?"

The moment Seo Hwarang asked—

— Cheeeeeeeeeeeek!

The silk came pouring out like Spider-Man shooting webbing, strand after relentless strand.

Whew. Too much. Way too much.

"That's enough!"

Shrieking, Seo Hwarang stopped it and tucked both summons into his inventory. Then he cleaned up the bench, which was simple enough.

FWOOSH!

He just torched it all out of thin air with Firebolt.

Anyway.

This was huge, wasn't it? At this level of utility, it seemed smarter to pull the remaining summons as soon as possible. But properly farming coins meant hitting up higher-grade dungeons, and for that—

...I'd need to raise my own rank.

Ha. What a chore. The real answer was to hurry up and level Seon-ah first. What if he built her all the way into an S-rank, then tagged along as her humble "porter"? No unwanted attention, access to the best dungeons, easy living. What wasn't to love?

Right, decided. He needed to move things along. Time to get their fair Orthodox Mage to 7th Circle and beyond, pronto.

Once they crossed over, he'd have to knock out that Wind Silk Robe blueprint first, and grind up the proficiency of his other production skills while he was at it.

Yep. She was clearly desperate.

Yoo Seon-ah came sprinting like a woman possessed.

Thud!

She dropped onto the bench, and Seo Hwarang rested a hand lightly on her shoulder. Their little ritual, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every crossing.

9th Circle. Astra Gate. Cost: 5 coins.

And with that, they crossed over into the Etherion Continent once more.

From that point on, the serious proficiency grind began.

Yoo Seon-ah threw herself into raising her 1st Circle proficiencies alongside Bella—she needed at least ten spells pushed to 80 before she could break into the 2nd Circle. For now, she drilled the spells she already had on repeat. Once she'd mastered those, the plan was to move her onto the skill books Seo Hwarang was holding: Ice Needle and Rock Shield.

And Seo Hwarang? Naturally, he leveled his Tailoring skill and its supporting arts. Using the various auxiliary skills in concert, he set about producing garments—after all, he couldn't even read that blueprint without hitting Intermediate Tailoring first.

"Heh heh, what in the world are these?"

Edwin Taylor could hardly contain his wonder at the newly acquired Mini Sheep and Mini Spider. Who could blame him, when wool and silk multiplied just from the things standing there?

"A true mage, indeed. Summoning such wondrous little creatures. Might you be able to make one of these for me as well?"

"Haha, my apologies, but these aren't something that can be made. I had to work hard to earn them myself."

"Heh. I see? I've never once envied a man his gold or jewels, but those darling little things—I admit I'm rather envious."

In any case, thanks to the sheep and the spider, his Weaving skill climbed steadily. Spinning thread and weaving cloth had gone from familiar to something downright divine.

Loo loo.

Of course, weaving wasn't the only thing he was leveling. Every time he spun thread or wove cloth, he sprayed on material-reinforcing reagents, turning out fabric that was smoother and tougher still.

And then? Was plain white really good enough? Everything needed to be dyed in lovely colors, too. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.

Chwak chwak chwak chwak!

And more? These days, flat colors alone were far too dull. He needed to learn to emboss patterns to order as well—especially for the nobles, each of whom bore a crest symbolic of their house. Their garments had to be embroidered with thread, beautifully.

Sirurk, srruk!

Seo Hwarang did that flawlessly too, like a machine.

And then there was this: with winter coming, there were times a garment needed reinforced insulation, or quilted shock absorption for defensive use. That was simple enough—a technique of sandwiching wool between two or more layers of cloth or leather and stitching the whole thing through. He practiced it diligently as well, with an eye to the future. Even if it went unused here, cold regions existed—and who knew when it might show up in some other item blueprint?

Only when every one of these auxiliary crafts had been mastered did the garment finally become complete!

There it was. All of this had been nothing more than the means to level the main skill: Tailoring.

"Honestly, I can't tell your garments from mine anymore. Are you quite certain this is truly your first time?"

"That's what I keep telling you. Have you just been getting fooled all this time?"

"Heh heh, it's simply marvelous, that's all!"

Edwin had been walking on air lately. A skilled magician had walked in and jacked up his sales overnight—how could a man not be delighted?

"At this rate, we may truly manage to craft the robe of my lifelong dream. Heh. What staggering talent."

One week passed, then two, and the man's praise never dried up—his mouth would have gone parched from flattery otherwise.

And so, after some time had flowed by—

AAAAH. At last!

Finally, the rank of the Tailoring skill—the apex of every auxiliary craft—had risen. By now, all the supporting skills had climbed to Intermediate as well.

"Edwin!"

"Hmm?"

"Show me that blueprint again. Please."

"You—really?"

Edwin's eyes gleamed. Was the day finally coming when that uncanny magician would fulfill his long-cherished dream?

"This way, come!"

They moved into the back room together, and—

Clunk!

He unlocked the drawer and drew out the blueprint.

He unrolled it, and—

Ahh.

At last!

It was readable! READABLE!

And that wasn't all! Comprehension flooded into his head in full, instantly.

So the reason Edwin couldn't understand this...

...means even that master craftsman with thirty years of experience never got past low-grade Tailoring.

Tailoring was brutal like that—it only granted proficiency once every single one of the auxiliary skills had been raised to a matching level. And Edwin, almost certainly, had neglected one of them. Material Reinforcement, or Embroidery, or the like.

Anyway.

One glance told him the materials would be sufficient, too.

"Edwin."

"Speak."

"Would you permit me to attempt the crafting?"

"...Can you truly make it?"

Edwin's voice trembled, and Seo Hwarang smiled.

"Of course. Let's give it a shot, shall we?"