A Shop in the Middle of the Dungeon

Ed-an looked profoundly shocked.

"No! Tae-hyun! You can't do that!"

"Then if it bothers you so much, why don't you become the Avatar of Archisus?"

It was the pettiest answer in the world.

If you've got a problem with it, do it yourself!

Of course, Ed-an couldn't.

"Then we have to go down, but before that..."

Tae-hyun looked over at the blacksmiths.

They were useful enough as porters while traveling around, but once they got down below and had to fight, the blacksmiths would honestly just get in the way.

Of course, he could bring them into battle.

It would be cumbersome, but Tae-hyun had done that sort of thing before.

Still, he had a better idea.

"You guys stay here."

"Pardon??"

The blacksmiths didn't understand what he meant at first.

"Set up a stall here."

"...?"

"Woo Jeong-sik, you. Your class is Wandering Blacksmith, right?"

At Tae-hyun's words, Woo Jeong-sik nearly jumped out of his skin.

"You promised you'd keep that secret!"

"Oh. That was a secret? Why was it a secret again?"

The other two blacksmiths tilted their heads.

"Seriously, why?"

"Is that the kind of class you need to hide?"

At that, Woo Jeong-sik flushed red.

Then he answered slowly.

"Well... I was worried that if people found out, they'd start trying to keep me in check later on..."

...

There was a brief silence.

Then laughter burst out.

"Pfft!"

"Hahahaha!"

With the other blacksmiths laughing at him, Woo Jeong-sik's face turned even redder, and he snapped back.

"Hey! I can worry ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I want to!"

"No, I mean... why would anyone go out of their way to target you, Mr. Woo Jeong-sik?"

"Right. Exactly."

He'd only brought it up and gotten himself mocked for it.

Grumbling, Woo Jeong-sik asked,

"So what's the point? Why bring up that I'm a Wandering Blacksmith?"

"Because Wandering Blacksmith is a hybrid class."

A class that mixed blacksmith and merchant together.

Wandering Blacksmith.

Of course, since merchant-type gameplay didn't really suit him, Woo Jeong-sik had mostly been building his character around blacksmithing.

"Then you can act as a merchant too, right?"

"I can, but... I barely leveled my merchant skills..."

"Doesn't matter. There isn't any competition here anyway."

Competition among merchants!

In some ways, it was fiercer than competition over raids.

How did you haul the maximum number of items to the most popular hunting grounds and sell them for the biggest possible profit?

While other classes grew by developing their characters, merchant classes grew by accumulating gold and climbing in status.

Because of that, competition between merchant players was unimaginably vicious.

They bribed NPCs to interfere with each other, sure, but they also came up with all sorts of methods nobody would ever expect.

But inside Marden Castle, this was a blue ocean with no other merchant players in sight.

No matter how much they liked competing, no merchant player would come all the way in here just to sell things.

If they died, the losses would be enormous.

"Think about it. Any party trying to clear this dungeon has to pass through here. At first they might not want to buy anything, but after going back and forth a few times, they'll change their minds."

Even if their own party didn't buy, just the thought that another party might buy here would make them anxious.

In quests like this, what mattered was getting one step ahead of everyone else.

If their party had to leave Marden Castle, regroup outside, and come back, while another party just bought what they needed here and went right back into the dungeon, then they'd already fallen behind in the competition.

"I see!"

"We'll get started right away!"

The two of them shouted excitedly.

Even in cities, competition between blacksmith players was intense enough already.

In crowded places, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were guaranteed to see that kind of shameless fight at least once a day.

But here, they were free of all that competition.

They could get their hands on all kinds of players' equipment.

Kim Ji-san and Park Seong-chan rubbed their hands together, thrilled, and started preparing right away.

Tae-hyun turned to Woo Jeong-sik.

"There are some items here from the merchant group. Sell them as well as you can."

The better Woo Jeong-sik sold them, the more skill bonuses Tae-hyun got for the item modifications he'd made.

It was basically a pyramid scheme structure!

"Understood."

"And sweep up as much junk loot as you can."

"...?"

Woo Jeong-sik tilted his head.

"I mean the junk loot that drops in this dungeon. Players coming out of a dungeon run won't care that much about junk items. Sell your blacksmithing services and consumables in exchange for junk loot. If that absolutely doesn't work, gold's fine too, but prioritize cleaning out their junk loot."

"Uh... why?"

"I've got a use for all of it. Anyway, you can do it, right?"

Woo Jeong-sik nodded.

Getting here had been the hard part. What he had to do now really wasn't that difficult.

He already used all sorts of blacksmithing skills in the city, and setting up a stall to sell different items was more than possible with the merchant skills he had.

"Good. You stay too."

"Why?!"

Cain, suddenly singled out, jolted in surprise.

"I'd be uneasy leaving just these guys here. Monsters could wander in, or they could get into trouble with other players. Just stand around beside them looking imposing."

"I-I want to go into the dungeon too..."

Naturally, he did.

Cain had died several times already and had built up a hefty death penalty.

If he wanted to recover from it, he had to keep pushing as hard as possible.

"Want me to pull out that contract you signed again?"

"...Then I'll just work hard at looking intimidating!"

Cain lowered his head and answered.

Seriously, he's so petty and dirty...

Meanwhile, the party that had been scammed by Tae-hyun... no, that had concluded a perfectly legitimate transaction... headed back outside the castle gates and tried to force their way through the monsters again.

They'd repaired their equipment and gotten supplies, but one of their party members had still died.

There was no way they could keep running the dungeon as they were.

"Let's hurry back and wait for him. Where does he respawn around here again?"

"You have to go all the way back to the village."

"Ah... I was already worried other parties would show up in the meantime..."

"Can't be helped. Who's going to heal us if he isn't here?"

"That's true. Still... you don't think other parties will overtake us in the meantime, do you?"

"Probably not. Right?"

"What are you gonna do if we get the village?"

"I'll build a small Magic Tower at least. Get that magic skill bonus."

"I'm going with a forge. I'm sick of constantly butting heads with other blacksmiths just to use city forges."

The players' heads were full of dreams!

Their dreams were modest enough, too.

Unlike Tae-hyun, they didn't want a Count's seat and a vast territory right from the start.

One village would be enough!

Honestly, even just officially receiving a single village would already put them well ahead under the current circumstances.

And not in some kingdom torn by civil war or some remote frontier, either, but in the Erangs Kingdom, where the most players gathered!

If they had just one, it felt like they could do everything they wanted.

"Kim Tae-hyun said he was putting buildings up in his territory, right?"

"Yeah. Hardly collecting any taxes either. Sounds like he's seriously trying to develop the place."

"If it were me, I would too. Nobody else has legitimate land of their own right now. Who'd pass up that kind of opportunity?"

"I even heard some people are already moving toward that valley. Trying to stake out spots in advance for when the territory really starts developing..."

The person handing out the rice cakes hadn't even thought about it, yet everyone else was already guzzling kimchi broth by the bowlful.

In fairness, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠players weren't being strange.

It would be stranger not to use territory like that after receiving it as a reward.

"Man, I'm jealous."

"Let's just get our village first! Monsters, over there!"

"Got it. I'll shoot the spearman on the left!"

The archer who had bought arrows from Tae-hyun nocked one with practiced ease.

Thwip-thwip!

As he activated a skill and fired, the arrow flashed with light and flew forward.

KABOOOM!

"?!"

With a single hit, the Marden Castle Undead Spearman was blasted backward and knocked flat!

"W-What the hell?"

"What did you do? No, seriously, if you had a skill like that, why haven't you used it until now?"

An explosion, plus knockback.

If he'd had a skill like this the whole time, things would've been much easier.

"No! That's not one of my skills!"

"What? Then what the he—"

"Aaah! The monsters are coming! Hey! Fight first! Quit yapping!"

The monsters Tae-hyun's party had herded over earlier hadn't fully scattered yet.

Grinding their teeth, the party members threw themselves back into the fight.

Because of that, the archer player didn't get a chance to inspect the arrows he'd bought from Tae-hyun.

I'll check later!

As he kept firing, the archer secretly set one arrow aside.

He was genuinely curious.

Just what kind of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠modification had Tae-hyun made for those undead to be shattering like that?

"Ed-an goes up top, the idiots stay by the castle gate..."

"And the rest of us are going below?"

"That's right."

"I think I'd actually rather be stationed upstairs..."

"Haha. Don't say things you don't mean."

"No, I really mea— mmph!"

Tae-hyun clapped a hand over Rufo's mouth.

When they came down the central underground stairs, the entrance to the dungeon appeared immediately.

Even though it was underground, it wasn't poorly built or anything like that.

Every wall in the corridor was made of carefully worked stone.

"Was there really any need to build a place like this so thoroughly?"

"Marquis Marden was a famous figure, after all," said Rufo, gripping his sword and scanning the surroundings as he continued. "A great noble who dominated his era."

Apparently, Marquis Marden, who had once ruled this region long ago, had wielded tremendous power.

He had commanded strong soldiers and fertile lands, and he himself had also been extremely capable.

Because of that, not only did other nobles fear him, but outside enemies feared him as well.

"Though that's all just an old story now... It's been hundreds of years since Marquis Marden disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"Yes. Some say he went mad after his wife died. Some say he killed himself. Some say he found a way to live forever and left. They're all just rumors."

"Those are some creepy rumors."

After Marquis Marden vanished, the heirs he left behind supposedly fought among themselves until they all collapsed together.

And then, at some point, undead monsters began appearing around the area.

After that, nobody came anymore, and the place gradually fell into ruin.

That was what this place was now.

"Right."

"Tae-hyun. Of course I trust you, but..."

"Anyone who starts a sentence with 'Of course I trust you, but' usually doesn't actually trust the person."

"...What I mean is, are you sure you know the way?"

The paths in the Marden Castle Underground Dungeon were insanely complicated.

It hadn't even been a minute, and they'd already come across not just branching roads, but even three-way intersections more than once.

But Tae-hyun didn't hesitate for even a second before choosing.

Watching from the side, Rufo couldn't help feeling anxious.

"Don't you know the saying that blessings come to those who believe? If you followed me around calling me an Incarnation, then show a little faith."

"O-Of course."

Rufo nodded.

But his expression was clearly saying, That's easy for you to say when you've done so many reckless things before.

"Quit talking nonsense and go stand next to him."

Tae-hyun pointed at Jeong Su-hyeok.

Seeing that, Rufo asked,

"You mean I should protect him if enemies appear?"

"Hm? No. Just stand next to him. You're next to me right now, and that's why you keep saying pointless things."

"..."

Rufo summoned up his patience and nodded.

Beside him, Jeong Su-hyeok patted him on the back with an apologetic look.