Yeah. Of Course It’d Be Like This.
Chapter 51
Come to think of it, he’d probably gotten worked up for no reason.
Kim Tae-hyun was currently in the middle of hunting down a pirate crew and searching for the power of the Avatar. It wasn’t as if he was actually going to run off and become a royal chef.
“If the chance comes up later, introduce me.”
“!?”
Rufo whipped his head around in shock.
“Wait. You’re seriously thinking of doing it?”
“Why? You said royal chef was an honorable position.”
“No… You’re an Avatar! Where would an Avatar find the time to be a chef?”
“Don’t worry. I can balance it out well enough.”
How does that make any sense?!
Rufo barely managed to swallow the shout clawing up his throat.
“A Dwarf?”
“Do you have a problem with that? If you do, we can turn around right now.”
“Haha. Why would I have a problem? I was just asking.”
Rufo clicked his tongue.
He truly couldn’t understand why Tae-hyun was wandering all over the place like this.
Right now, the two of them were on their way to find a famous mechanical engineer in Genoma City.
Whatever other skills he might miss, Tae-hyun intended to learn as much Mechanical Engineering as he possibly could while the opportunity existed.
If he failed to learn other things, he could make do somehow. But not this.
The perfect skill for creating variables!
Rufo had just told him that the mechanical engineer, Maxwell, was a Dwarf.
“Still, doesn’t this place look a little shabby?” Tae-hyun asked, sounding puzzled.
The area they were walking through really was run-down.
Up until a moment ago, they’d been moving past luxurious mansions and polished roads. Now they were threading their way between old, cracked buildings and broken streets.
“If he’s a famous mechanical engineer, shouldn’t he be living somewhere nicer?”
“Maxwell had an… incident.”
“An incident?”
“If I remember right, the item he was supposed to present to a noble exploded. He paid dearly for that. After that, nobody wanted to entrust him with work anymore.”
“Things can explode, though, can’t they?”
“How can you say that so casually?”
Rufo stared at him in disbelief.
How could anyone possibly use something with peace of mind if it might explode at any moment?
But Tae-hyun didn’t see it that way.
In mechanical engineering, explosions and side effects were like shadows that followed behind you.
If you feared that sort of thing, you could never master the craft.
To truly master Mechanical Engineering, you had to accept explosions and side effects calmly—or better yet, know how to turn them to your advantage.
“People in this city are more timid than I expected.”
“Maybe you’re the strange one…”
Bang bang—
When they arrived, Rufo knocked on the battered door.
A drunken-looking Dwarf staggered out from inside.
“What? Who is it?”
Tae-hyun pointed at the Dwarf.
“Maxwell?”
“Yes. That’s Maxwell,” Rufo confirmed.
Tae-hyun spoke at once.
“I heard you’re good at mechanical engineering. Can you teach me?”
“Get lost.”
Bang!
“This little—”
Rufo surged forward, furious, about to grab him by the collar and yank the door back open.
But Tae-hyun flicked a hand.
“What are you planning?” Rufo asked.
“You’ll see.”
Tae-hyun opened the door again.
Maxwell glared at him, irritation plain on his face.
“I’ve got no intention of teaching mechanical engineering to some human, so get lo—”
Chrrr—
Tae-hyun pulled out a pouch of gold coins from his clothes.
They were the coins he’d received from McCraney.
The gold spilled across the floor with a clear, beautiful clatter.
Maxwell’s eyes widened.
“Get lo—”
“Get lost?”
“Get yourselves seated, and I shall reconsider my position and teach you!”
“What kind of Dwarf is that? Doesn’t he have any pride?” Rufo grumbled.
Maxwell’s house was spacious, but chaos reigned inside thanks to all the junk piled everywhere.
“If he folds for money, that just makes things easier. Why are you complaining?”
“Of course I’m complaining! If I’d known he’d cave for money this easily, I’d have just summoned him. He’s famous for being arrogant and stiff-necked. I came all this way because I thought money wouldn’t work on him…”
“Tsk, tsk. Rufo.”
Tae-hyun patted him on the shoulder.
“There are things in this world more important than money.”
“What would that be?”
“More money.”
“……”
“If money doesn’t work, then show your sincerity with even more money. Then they’ll fold.”
“No, there are still people who won’t fold even then—”
“That just means there wasn’t enough money.”
Such absolute conviction.
Rufo felt himself being weirdly persuaded by Tae-hyun’s words and hurriedly covered his ears.
This Avatar had a bizarre gift with words. If you listened too long, you started to feel strangely bewitched.
“Hahaha! What is it you wish to know? I, Maxwell, shall kindly teach you everything from one to ten!”
Maxwell came back looking spotless, as if the drunken act from earlier had never happened.
Seeing that, Rufo clicked his tongue.
“Everything you know.”
“Pardon? Everything? Mechanical engineering is difficult no matter what—it’s not something just anyone can lear—”
Tae-hyun pointed at the pile of gold coins with one finger.
Maxwell instantly answered.
“…Even so, I shall do my utmost to teach you! Haha!”
◈ Beginner Gunpowder Production4 (27%)
◈ Beginner Bomb Crafting8 (40%)
◈ Beginner Tool Crafting4 (35%)
◈ Beginner Tool Crafting3 (68%)
“The most important thing to be careful of when handling bombs or gunpowder is explosion. The stuff is unstable, so it can blow up.”
Bomb-type items were dangerous precisely because they had a chance of exploding.
Made by packing gunpowder inside.
Created with a basic method, but its destructive power is sufficient.
Caution!10% chance of explosion.
Even the bombs Maxwell made had a 10% chance of exploding on their own.
That was one of the flaws built into Mechanical Engineering.
If even Maxwell, whose skill was already at a high level, still produced a 10% failure chance, then anyone else with a lower skill level would face an even harsher penalty.
But…
“You’re juggling bombs?!”
Maxwell nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Tae-hyun casually tossing bombs through the air.
Does he have multiple lives?!
But Tae-hyun wasn’t doing this because he was insane.
He had something he trusted.
Made by packing gunpowder inside.
Created with a basic method, but its destructive power is sufficient.
Caution!10% chance of explosion.
High Luck reduces explosion probability.
Probability Manipulation reduces explosion probability.
Divine Foresight reduces explosion probability.
Once he received buffs like that…
Made by packing gunpowder inside.
Created with a basic method, but its destructive power is sufficient.
Caution!0.0001% chance of explosion.
At that point, it was safe to say the thing would absolutely never go off.
Grinning, Tae-hyun tucked the bomb into his bag.
“Didn’t explode. Nice work.”
“How in the world…?”
“If you want to make more money, come find McCraney’s merchant guild. You’ll be able to meet me there.”
With a wave, Tae-hyun walked back outside with Rufo.
The other NPCs each already had their own positions, so he couldn’t really drag them along.
But Maxwell looked different.
He was basically unemployed right now.
An opportunity to bring along an NPC of this caliber wasn’t something that came around often.
Still, Tae-hyun didn’t say it directly.
These things worked better a certain way.
If you act like you’re the desperate one, you lose.
He already knew Maxwell cared more about money than expected.
In a situation like this, if he said, Come work for us!, Maxwell would instantly pick up on it.
He’d realize they were the ones who needed him.
At times like these, the correct approach was: Come if you want. Don’t if you don’t. You’re the one losing out.
Given Maxwell’s circumstances, he’d crawl over on his own soon enough.
“So we’re done now?”
“More or less. We’ve been around everywhere we needed to.”
Rufo let out long, weary sighs.
He had no idea what McCraney was going to say.
He’d thought they’d be helping prepare to wipe out the pirate crew, but instead he’d been trailing after Tae-hyun while the man checked out one skill after another.
“Now I need items.”
“Pardon?”
“Items. You’re not seriously telling me to face the pirate crew looking like this, are you?”
Such relentless determination to squeeze every last drop out of an opportunity.
Pointing at his own gear, Tae-hyun spoke to Rufo.
“You’re a rich merchant guild. You’ve got equipment you can spare, right?”
“...Follow me. I’ll take you to the warehouse.”
As he followed behind the trudging Rufo, Tae-hyun thought, Sure, I’m probably not getting anything absurdly good here, but there should still be something decent.
McCraney wasn’t stupid.
She wasn’t about to shower Tae-hyun—someone she’d only just allied with—with Legendary-grade items.
Still, she was a grand merchant.
That meant the equipment here was bound to be pretty solid.
Rufo opened the warehouse door and let Tae-hyun inside.
All sorts of equipment lay scattered around.
“Have a look around here.”
“Hm? Where’s the appraiser?”
To fully inspect an item’s performance, you needed an appraisal skill.
And right now, Tae-hyun’s appraisal skill wasn’t high enough.
He couldn’t see every detail of an item’s stats.
“My apologies, but they’re busy right now, so I can’t bring one over. You’ll just have to choose for yourself. You’re an Avatar—surely you can manage that much?”
Rufo decided on a small revenge.
In any case, it wasn’t even fully certain that Tae-hyun really was an Avatar, and he wasn’t exactly rushing straight off to capture pirates.
Rufo didn’t want to hand over good equipment.
If Tae-hyun wanted something from the warehouse, he could just pick it himself.
“Oh yeah?”
Tae-hyun smirked, having read Rufo’s thoughts cleanly.
“Fine. I’ll pick for myself.”
Rufo had failed to remember one very important thing.
Which god Tae-hyun was the Avatar of.
Archisus was the God of Luck.
Tae-hyun immediately activated Divine Foresight and stepped inside.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he pulled out a set of equipment and walked back.
Rufo’s jaw dropped.
“Th-that is…!”
Durability: 200/200
Defense: ?
Magic Defense: ?
Attribute Defense: ?
Usable Skills: Shadow Dive, Stealth, Shadow Recovery
Requirements: Strength 100, Agility 100, Constitution 100, Wisdom 100, Luck 100
A cloak once worn by the legendary wanderer Kainda. Kainda pursued balanced growth in all stats. Without that balance, one could never wear this cloak.
“!!”
How had he immediately pulled out a Heroic-grade item that had been shoved all the way into the furthest, most forgotten corner of the warehouse?
Rufo could only stand there, mouth hanging open.
And that wasn’t all.
Durability: 130/130
Defense: ?
On Equip: All Stats +10
Requirements: Strength 40, Agility 40, Constitution 40, Wisdom 40, Luck 40
A belt worn by Kainda. Part of the same set as the cloak. When worn, it helps the user develop their stats evenly.
Wait, what’s with the question marks?
Whether Rufo was stunned or not, Tae-hyun checked again, unable to understand why the most important values were displayed as question marks.
The Wanderer’s set items are affected by stats.
“?!”
Some items changed performance depending on the stats of the wearer.
If the Wanderer’s Cloak was influenced by Tae-hyun’s stats, then…
My Luck is over two thousand, so…?
If it scaled off Luck, then the performance would be enough to slap a Legendary item in the face.
Stat Affecting This Item: Constitution
“Damn it.”
Of course the world wasn’t going to make things that easy.
The cloak’s physical defense, magic defense, and elemental defense were all tied to Constitution.
What about the belt?
Stat Affecting This Item: Strength
“...There are still others left…”
Since it was a set item, it consisted of a belt, gloves, cloak, and shoes.
The cloak itself, which looked like a long coat, was stylish enough—but Tae-hyun cared only about performance.
Please. Just one item that scales with Luck.