66. The Settled Stone vs. the Rolling Stone
The Moon Saintess learned her skills in a peculiar way.
"They say if you build up contribution, you can learn skills."
"Oh. Can you learn SS-rank ones too?"
"There are two SS-rank skills you can pick up at level one... and each of them costs 100 contribution."
"That's cheap."
"Is it cheap?"
"...Is it not?"
An offhand remark, and the ripple it sent out was bigger than I expected.
GoldenHolyKnight donated 50,000 won.
"Ah!"
The donation flashed, and a brilliant idea hit me with it. Why hadn't I thought of that sooner?
"GoldenHoly-hyung. Help me out."
As if he'd been waiting for the call, GoldenHolyKnight appeared from somewhere.
"Haa... Hello... Boss..."
"Why the long face?"
"...It's nothing."
"Aha."
"I'm sorry. The relative deprivation..."
"Aigoo, not at all, sister-in-law. It's absolutely nothing like that, so please don't give it a second thought. Hahaha! I've just had a headache over quests lately myself..."
GoldenHolyKnight walked us through how the Temple's ecosystem actually worked.
"Contribution... it really is filthy hard to raise, I'll give you that. If what you need right now is 200 contribution, hmm... it isn't impossible, but you may have to spend a little money."
"Ah. I brought plenty of money!"
"Yes... I saw."
"..."
"A hundred million, and already... ahem."
"Contribution is paid out differently depending on the item you donate. As a rule, the materials that go into holy water are the most efficient, and they're what the Temple is happiest to see. After that, gear a paladin can actually wear, or items with the holy attribute — those get accepted in bulk as well."
"Money..."
"...Of course, there's a ceiling on how far donations alone will take you. Besides giving, you also have to run Temple quests."
"What are Temple quests?"
"The reason the Temple exists in Haven is to clear the dungeons that appear across Haven according to the goddess's will, and to wipe out the monsters. Healing the people who get hurt along the way, and looking after them, is part of the role too. So — I'm talking in circles, but it comes down to this. The more dungeons you clear and the more monsters you kill, the more contribution you stack."
"Ah!"
"That's easy."
"Right. It's the same as anything else. A temple doesn't make it different. They're NPCs in the end."
GoldenHolyKnight's explanation turned out to be a pretty educational stretch for the viewers watching along, too.
Of course, easy as the explanation sounded, there had to be a reason so many people slammed into that wall and broke themselves on contribution.
"For a first step in, I've already mapped out a donation route, and I can get you 100 contribution for certain. The problem is it runs about two hundred million... in Haven money..."
"I'll do it! Two hundred million for one SS-rank skill is cheap, isn't it?"
"....Yes. It's pure profit. No question."
We followed GoldenHolyKnight straight to the auction house and bought the materials. He'd said about two hundred million, but in practice it came to roughly two hundred forty million in Haven money.
"Someone swept up every material that goes into high-grade holy water not long ago..."
"Who?"
"..."
"So that's why they were expensive."
Rare, pricey materials, it seemed, had a way of being needed everywhere.
We went back to the Temple and made the donation, and a high-ranking priest took the materials with a look of open gratitude.
"As expected of the Moon Saintess. Contributing for the sake of the Temple — truly admirable."
And with that, he handed over the contribution.
"I got 100."
"Easy."
"..."
When I thought about what it had cost me to buy a single SS-rank skill, Lim Sarang had practically gotten hers for free. And the truly shocking part was still waiting behind that. Even I hadn't seen it coming.
"Huh? I already had 100 contribution?"
"Huh?"
"Pardon?"
"Ah... when I accepted the quest, they gave me 100 contribution as the reward."
"..."
"Whoa..."
And so, in the end, Lim Sarang was able to buy two SS-rank skills.
"Wow. Congratulations."
"Thank you... though it doesn't really feel real yet."
"Why not?"
"...Because I'm not sure this is how it's supposed to go..."
"Come on. You worked hard to pull that 5-star. You ought to enjoy at least this much. And you spent a lot of money, too, didn't you?"
"..."
"There's plenty of spending still ahead of you, so saving on the front end is a good thing."
"I guess so?"
"Yes."
Honestly, even as I said it, I felt a little unsettled myself. Is this what other people feel when they look at me? The money she'd spent was smaller, sure, but watching her fill in SS after SS and grow stronger, I couldn't help setting her next to the me of right now. At least up to where Lim Sarang stood at this moment, she and I were the same.
"Come on. Does this game look rigged to you? Where in Haven is there any manipulation? Maybe every 5-star is just like this."
The way I saw it, it was probably something like a privilege that came with a root class. There was no one to compare against anyway, so I papered over it and moved on. It wasn't what mattered right now, either.
"Everyone. The most important part is still left, isn't it?"
"Checking Sarang's skills. And checking my four-star SS class-exclusive special option."
I was curious too. How, exactly, was a thing like that supposed to work? A cooler thought cut through the excitement — it probably wouldn't be as good as I was picturing. That's the nature of random. Random I couldn't control. If the pool of choices was too wide, it would be easier to treat whatever came up as a little something on the side, not the spell I needed in the exact moment I needed it.
"Right. Then tomorrow I'll be back with a dungeon clear — Sarang and I, matching our breathing for the first time."
"We did plenty today."
The broadcast had already run long. I cut the stream and left the viewers howling behind me. Riding the momentum wouldn't have been a bad call, but something as big as checking skills felt better saved for a day of its own, once the heat in the room had a chance to settle.
"It still doesn't feel real. Me, a 5-star healer..."
"Think you'll be all right, though? Going from dealer to healer..."
"Of course! In Haven, healers are straight-up nobility, you know? It's not like a healer just stands in the back and heals. I heard they have attack skills, too."
"Aha."
"And... I get to be with you, Siwoo..."
The last of it was murmured so low I barely caught it.
"Hm?"
"I said it's nice. Hehe."
"Ah. Same here. I've really picked up a reliable partner. A 5-star, and the build matches mine on top of that... Like I said earlier, we're going to have a lot more content."
I was looking forward to it, too. A 5-star dungeon I'd cleared solo. What kind of synergy would we show if Sarang came along?
"Once you've got attack skills, Sarang, you could clear dungeons on your own, couldn't you? Or does being a healer make that impossible?"
"If it looks doable, I want to try it."
"I think it'd look amazing."
"Heh..."
She'd drawn a healer class, but Lim Sarang had been a 4-star mage ranker. She'd been through plenty of dungeons and come out the other side of more than a few crises. Mage or healer, both were classes with frail bodies, so raising a new one wasn't likely to change her position all that much.
"Then, shall we meet tomorrow?"
"Yes. Good work today!"
"Oh — but things like the schedule, I'll go over them with you ahead of time. If deciding something out of nowhere in the middle of a broadcast doesn't work for you, just tell me, and I'll adjust it afterward."
Being together was good, and precisely because it was good, there were parts that needed care. Sarang had her own time and her own thoughts, and if I started acting on my own, it could turn sour.
But she shook her head.
"You're the party leader, Siwoo. Don't bother asking what I think. Do whatever you want. That's Haven."
"Ah... it's that serious?"
"Yes. In the upper dungeons, if the party leader tells you to die, you follow the order far enough that you really might."
"Whoa... actually dying is a little..."
"Of course I don't mean suicide or anything... anyway... just order me around however you wa....nt."
"....."
Did I hear that wrong?
Sarang seemed to realize, a beat too late, that the words could be taken the wrong way, and her voice trailed off.
"Right... anyway, I'm in your care!"
"Likewise!"
We hurried to change the subject and closed the conversation on a warm note.
In the space the two of us left behind, a gloomy-looking GoldenHolyKnight sat alone, sunk deep in thought.