Chapter 67

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 67

Chapter Title: Personal Merchant

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I spent the entire night in the healer's body, hugging Kang Ju-young, Ha Chae-jeong, and Ga Se-yeon.

Especially with Kang Ju-young, I held her almost to the point of torment, determined to leave an impression she'd remember for the rest of her life.

'Though it was unexpected that she took it all so willingly.'

In any case, unlike the healer body, the rest of me had gotten through without any real issues.

Excluding the [Cadet] body and the [Healer] body, the other two had only been grinding proficiency in the mountains, so they couldn't have had any problems.

'The cadet body didn't do much either, aside from handing over the runes I made to Instructor Park Tae-yong.'

I'd given the 2~3 tier runes I'd created to Instructor Park Tae-yong, who was in charge of magical item production.

At the time, he'd trembled like he was receiving a treasure of the century before fixing me with a resolute expression.

-"I'll figure out the connections in these runes somehow. And I'll make sure the glory reaches you too."

I had nothing to say to the overly serious instructor, so I'd just left him with a request to please do so.

'Anyway, I've gained a lot this time around.'

I decided to start on one particular task.

-......

'Why is this guy making that face, though?'

Before beginning my work, I glanced at Lee Seojun, who was staring blankly into space with a dazed expression.

To be precise, he'd been like that ever since I'd held Kang Ju-young, so I watched him for a moment before calling out.

"Lee Seojun."

-"Yes? What's up?"

"That's what I want to ask you. Why do you look so spaced out?"

-"Spaced out? Ah, sorry. I was just lost in thought for a bit."

"So, what were you thinking about?"

When I pressed him, Lee Seojun scratched his cheek awkwardly and replied.

-"I was wondering what I was doing at this point in time."

This point in time?

"You mean the early stages, right?"

-"Yeah. I was just focused on training."

"Training is the obvious priority."

Unlike himself, who'd been solely dedicated to training, I'd been moving freely as I pleased, and he seemed lost in thought over it.

"Our starting points are different anyway. No need to compare yourself to me."

-"I know. But I ended up failing in the end. Now I'm thinking maybe I didn't need to push myself that hard."

......Was he having some kind of reality-check comedown?

I watched him for a while before offering some advice drawn from my own experience.

"If you've lived desperately up to now, that alone has value."

-"Sure, it has value, but what matters is the result."

"You don't need to fixate so much on the result."

-"Is that so?"

Unfortunately, it seemed Lee Seojun didn't quite get it.

"Simply put, it's because you went through that process that you're able to advise me now, right?"

-"You've changed so much that I have no idea what's going to happen anymore."

"Even so, it's still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠better than me deciding and acting on my own. I don't know anything about this world."

-"I'm not so sure. With your abilities, it probably doesn't matter if you know nothing."

This guy?

I glared at Lee Seojun, who was ignoring my hard-earned advice.

Under my gaze, he flinched before reverting to his usual expression and speaking up.

-"More importantly, what are you planning to do? Going to the physical training room to boost your strength and stamina wouldn't be a bad idea."

"The training room sounds good. But first, I've got something else to handle."

-"Something else?"

"I'm going to register all the skill stones and rank-up stones I've collected so far."

Lee Seojun tilted his head at the word "register."

-"Register? What does that mean?"

"I'll show you."

I figured showing him would be faster than explaining, so I pulled out an item from an online game.

"[Personal Merchant Summon Ticket]."

The item I took out was a paper ticket.

When I tore the [Personal Merchant Summon Ticket] in half, a flash of light burst in front of me.

-"Personal merchant?"

As if answering Lee Seojun's question, a woman appeared where the light had flashed.

She was a diminutive dwarf woman, about 130cm tall, with pink hair.

"Yes! The cute and charming merchant, Ransi, has arrived!"

The twintailed dwarf who introduced herself as Ransi struck a V-sign with one hand, proudly showing off her adorable appearance.

-"Whoa, she's super cute."

Lee Seojun seemed to have fallen for her cute looks right away.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Ransi, the personal merchant, set down a backpack as tall as herself and addressed me.

"So, what did you call me for? I can handle registration, sales, purchases—anything!"

"Registration, please."

"Got it! Please show me the items you want to register."

I handed over all the skill stones and rank-up stones I'd gathered so far.

There were about 500~600 skill stones, but only three rank-up stones once duplicates were excluded.

"[Skill Stones] and [Rank-Up Stones], right? How would you like to categorize them?"

Like my observation skill, Ransi had eyes that could identify them instantly.

"Category: [Skill Stones of the 15th World]. Sort them by level. There aren't many rank-up stones, so just register those as-is."

"Understood! Oh, and there are some duplicates among the skill stones. What do you want to do with those?"

"Exclude the duplicates."

"Got it. [Skill Stones of the 15th World] category: 537 skill stones and 3 rank-up stones have all been registered!"

All the skill stones I'd pulled out—except about twenty—were sucked into Ransi's backpack.

-"Whoa, Lee Seongmin. All the skill stones got sucked in—are you okay with that?"

"It's fine. I said it was registration."

-"Ah...... So you can pull them out again?"

"It's more than that."

I demonstrated the true power of the personal merchant.

"Sell me some Thought Expansion skill stones."

"Right away! Thought Expansion, E-rank level 7! Price is 300,000 gold each. How many?"

"I need to raise proficiency too, so give me 11."

"Total: 3.3 million gold! Deducted from your account."

Ransi automatically deducted the gold from my funds and handed over 11 skill stones.

-"No way—those skill stones are all Thought Expansion?"

"Exactly. Registered items can be bought as many times as you want."

-"As many times as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you want?!"

Lee Seojun asked incredulously, then shook his head like it was impossible.

-"I've seen all your crazy abilities up to now, but this one takes the cake."

"As you said, it's a useful ability."

-"But wouldn't it have been better to register everything from the start?"

"Back then, it was just my personal collection hobby."

That was before I heard about mana awakening.

I'd figured taking care of myself and those around me was enough, so there was no need to bother with registration.

"Now I'm registering them to cover for my comrades too."

-"Comrades—you mean Ha Chae-jeong and Ga Se-yeon?"

"No. Comrades from previous worlds."

I'm only mentioning it now, but my soul housed comrades from past worlds.

Normally, I'd summon them each time I moved to a new world like this, but now I planned to call them only when needed.

"I'll introduce you sometime when there's a chance."

In worlds 12 and 13, I'd left them alone too long, and some had developed depression-like symptoms.

From my perspective, this peaceful world was a rare chance for them to relax and have fun, but each had grown listless for their own reasons.

-"It just hit me— all your comrades are women, right?"

"That's right."

-"......You're incredible."

Incredible my foot.

'If he knew how many there were, he'd think even more so.'

I glossed over it, not wanting to shock him further, and got to learning Thought Expansion first.

I absorbed the faint light from the skill stone, feeling my mind expand as the stone crumbled to dust.

"How do I raise proficiency with the remaining skill stones?"

-"Simple. Just think about raising proficiency for that skill."

Following Lee Seojun's instructions, I focused on Thought Expansion and proficiency. The skill stone absorbed itself automatically.

'Each one fills 10%.'

Confirming that, I raised the other four skills in turn.

"The proficiency gains are all different."

-"They're affected by rank and level. Still, Thought Expansion used level 7 stones, so it went up a decent amount."

"Yeah, Dual Thinking only got 1%."

-"It's a B-rank level 7. The rank gap is huge, even if levels match."

From what I gathered, skill stone rank and level were key for proficiency gains.

'For now, let's raise Thought Expansion to C-rank.'

Since probability depended on proficiency, no need to max it to 100%.

I could buy rank-up stones from Ransi too, so I filled it roughly to 50% before upgrading.

-"Same for rank-up stones. Focus on the skill and think about ranking it up."

Soon enough, I'd raised Thought Expansion to C-rank.

"Now I need B-rank rank-up stones."

-"While you're at it, grab from A to S too."

"Nothing higher?"

-"Not yet. Later from high tower floors or unmeasurable gates."

"Unmeasurable gates?"

-"Yeah. Gates S-rank and above are called unmeasurable gates. Not time for those yet."

This world seemed no joke.

"Anyway, Thought Expansion is solid. I can probably make two more clones now."

-"Planning to make more?"

"Gotta raise Absolute Clone proficiency."

With that, I created two more clones and sent them to the mountains.

At that moment.

The Hero Association was in an uproar.

"Huh? W-what are you? Weren't you killed by the Destroyer?"

It was because people whose heads and torsos had clearly been obliterated by the Destroyer's fist had returned alive and well.