Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Beast King's Gauntlets (2)
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[Beast King's Gauntlets – B-Rank]
-Direct hits have a certain probability of increasing all stats by 1%.
-Direct hits have a certain probability of increasing physical resistance and skill resistance by 1%.
-Stats and resistances can increase up to a maximum of 20%.
‘Simple enough.’
Kang Hyun-soo noted the direct hit requirement, which made it seem tailor-made for fist fighters.
‘Huh, hold on?’
Shifting his focus from the options to the name of the gauntlets.
‘Beast King's Gauntlets?’
It matched the name of the item that had been like the Fist Emperor's mascot before his regression.
‘This was the one being sold here? But why are the options so lackluster?’
The Beast King's Gauntlets that Kang Hyun-soo remembered from before his regression weren't just some item that boosted stats and resistances by up to 20%.
‘It was a cheat item that raised stats and resistances by up to 45%.’
And that wasn't all.
It had a long cooldown of about a month, but it was also a cheat item that boosted physical and skill resistance by 10,000% for 10 seconds.
‘Practically 10 seconds of invincibility.’
The only downside was the direct hit activation condition, which limited it to fist fighters.
For the Fist Emperor, a fist fighter himself, it was the ultimate item.
‘And it's cheap, too.’
About 1.5 times the price of a typical B-Rank item.
‘The seller doesn't realize the Beast King's Gauntlets are a growth-type item.’
Like the Ring of Protection, the Beast King's Gauntlets could grow up to EX-Rank.
Considering that, the price was practically a steal.
From the perspective of those unaware of that fact?
‘The options are good, but it feels a bit overpriced.’
It wasn't a mainstream weapon like swords, blades, or spears—it was a niche item exclusive to fist fighters.
Yet its price was 1.5 times that of a standard B-Rank item.
‘Terrible liquidity.’
If those same options were on a sword, spear, or blade?
It would've sold in an instant.
You could use it until switching to an A-Rank weapon and then sell it off.
‘But fist fighter weapons have too few users.’
If it weren't a growth item, you'd probably have to wait ages to sell it when upgrading to an A-Rank, or dump it at a weapon shop for pennies.
‘That's the plight of those who use niche weapons.’
Fortunately for the Fist Emperor, that meant the Beast King's Gauntlets hadn't sold yet.
“Why? Too expensive?”
The Fist Emperor cautiously asked Kang Hyun-soo.
He'd proudly declared, “This is it!” only for Kang Hyun-soo to silently stare at the price tag.
“This price is fine. I'll take it.”
Kang Hyun-soo picked up the Beast King's Gauntlets and headed to the counter.
If not for the activation condition, Kang Hyun-soo would have wanted to use them himself—they were that tempting.
But for such an item, it was better in the hands of his party member, the Fist Emperor.
‘It was his to begin with, after all.’
Kang Hyun-soo bought the Beast King's Gauntlets at the counter and handed them to the Fist Emperor.
“Use them well.”
“Yeah! Thanks! I'll definitely pay you back for the gauntlets!”
“Take your time, take your time.”
Kang Hyun-soo smiled warmly at the Fist Emperor's words, emphasizing “take your time.”
“I picked one too!”
A moment later, Song Ha-na came over holding a single longsword.
‘Made for a magic swordsman.’
It had options boosting both magic skill attack power and physical skill attack power.
“Use it for the time being.”
He had his eye on a perfect item for Song Ha-na.
‘It’s in a dungeon, so I can’t get it right now.’
Once he leveled up to named player standards and acquired a healing skill?
He could conquer the dungeon and gift her the ideal weapon.
“You’re not buying anything?”
The Fist Emperor asked, puzzled.
“I will. But I prefer quantity over quality.”
Kang Hyun-soo bought a bunch of B-Rank and C-Rank weapons with useless options that kept their prices low.
To feed them to Gluttony’s Blade.
‘Gluttony’s Blade cares more about rank than options.’
Conversely, when buying defensive skillbooks to grow the Ring of Protection, he had to scrutinize the options carefully.
‘For the Ring of Protection, quality matters more than quantity.’
Kang Hyun-soo left the weapon shop, stopped by the skillbook store, and picked up some defensive skillbooks as well.
In the end.
‘Down by half.’
His funds were cut in half.
‘I’ll just earn more.’
At least selling off the items from the nighttime ambush with the Fist Emperor had cushioned the blow.
Without that?
He’d have burned through more than half.
‘Back to hunting tomorrow.’
He needed to diligently hunt monsters, increase his summons, raise skill ranks, boost stats.
Oh, and make money, of course.
* * *
Late that night, Kang Hyun-soo slipped out of the inn alone.
‘That guy needs to pay an appropriate price.’
The martial arena employee.
No malice, sure, but his loose tongue had put people who bet on the fights—and made money—at risk.
‘Just because there was no malice doesn’t mean it’s forgivable.’
Because of that “maliceless” action, someone probably lost a fortune.
Maybe even their life.
As Kang Hyun-soo donned a mask and prepared to leap into the darkness.
“Where are you going?”
Song Ha-na’s voice rang out.
“I’m curious too.”
And he wasn’t alone.
‘They both followed me.’
Kang Hyun-soo was at a loss.
He didn’t want them knowing he was off for personal revenge.
But with things as they were, he had no choice but to come clean.
“There’s a guy who set up the ambush on me and the Fist Emperor. A martial arena employee...”
Kang Hyun-soo briefly explained the situation.
“A guy like that deserves severe punishment!”
Song Ha-na shouted angrily.
“Obviously, he needs to be punished. Leaving him be means others will suffer too.”
The Fist Emperor agreed.
‘Huh?’
Kang Hyun-soo was a bit flustered.
Song Ha-na, whose Earth sensibilities weren’t fully eroded yet, and the Fist Emperor, with his beastkin temperament.
He’d thought they’d oppose vigilante justice.
Why?
Because this was straight-up a crime.
“I’ll come too.”
“I was directly involved. I won’t let you shoulder this alone.”
“Uh, sure.”
Kang Hyun-soo nodded awkwardly at their words.
Yet a strange pang of guilt hit him.
‘Have I corrupted these innocent kids?’
“Let’s hurry. I’ll keep watch. Unlike players, with regular folks, you have to handle the body disposal separately.”
“I’ll get my hands dirty.”
At Song Ha-na and the Fist Emperor’s words...
“No, I’m not killing him.”
Kang Hyun-soo replied weakly.
“You weren’t going to kill him?”
“Isn’t a life worth a life?”
‘Were these kids always this extreme?’
Song Ha-na especially—the gap between her tutorial days and now was huge.
The Fist Emperor, still young, also acted more emotionally than he would pre-regression.
‘Well, not a bad thing.’
To survive in the Atlantis Dimension.
To have the Death Emperor and Fist Emperor as reliable allies.
Their current attitudes were better.
“He sinned with his mouth, so he’ll pay with his mouth.”
That was Kang Hyun-soo’s plan and conclusion.
“Let’s go.”
Kang Hyun-soo, Song Ha-na, and the Fist Emperor prowled the night sky.
* * *
The next morning.
Overnight, the martial arena’s loose-lipped employee had his tongue cut out, turning him mute.
The arena launched an investigation and manhunt.
But it was all for naught.
They announced they’d catch the culprit, suspecting personal grudge.
Instead, the investigation was suspended.
Too many suspects to pinpoint anyone.
The sole witness was the victim himself.
But it happened so late at night that he couldn’t identify the perpetrator.
The employee had racked up tons of grudges with his poor behavior.
He’d caused plenty of incidents with his mouth before.
Even his colleagues at the arena thought poorly of him.
Customers betting at the arena had lodged countless complaints too.
“I knew that jerk would get his someday.”
“Yeah, the money I lost falling for his bullshit!”
“I almost got robbed and killed because of him!”
“Heaven’s vengeance, heaven’s vengeance!”
“Whoever did it, good riddance.”
“Why just cut his tongue? A scum like that deserves death a hundred times over!”
The public didn’t pity the newly mute employee.
They called it well-deserved or said he should’ve died.
No evidence on the culprit, tons of suspects, bad public opinion.
The arena gave up on catching them.
And.
They fired the victimized employee.
Citing his poor track record and inability to work the desk without speech.
‘The Atlantis Dimension really defies Earth common sense.’
Kang Hyun-soo had expected them to drop the manhunt.
But not to fire the guy.
‘There’s plenty he could do mute—cleaning, paperwork, even odd jobs.’
They just cut him loose to avoid the controversy.
‘Whatever he does next, he’ll have to hustle to save up.’
The Atlantis Dimension had players, including healers.
With a high-level healer’s treatment?
Regrowing a severed tongue was entirely possible.
‘Though finding one would be tough.’
Since arriving in Atlantis, Kang Hyun-soo had used Replica nonstop whenever stacks refreshed, chasing healing skills.
Yet he still hadn’t gotten one.
Simple reason.
‘Healers are insanely rare.’
Especially high-level ones who could regenerate lost body parts.
Even in Gula, capital of the Mulan Kingdom, they were hard to find.
Even if you did.
‘Treatment costs a fortune.’
Healers are rare, so their fees are steep.
Atlantis natives among them often held noble titles too.
So healers had attitudes to match.
To humble a healer enough for treatment?
You needed serious cash, naturally.
‘If he saves up diligently to regrow his tongue, he’ll watch his mouth from now on.’
Fear of the cost alone would do it.
* * *
Kang Hyun-soo, Song Ha-na, and the Fist Emperor repeated the same routine daily, like hamsters on a wheel.
Wake up, spar.
Hunt.
Return to lodgings, spar.
Sleep.
A mechanical existence of nothing but training and hunting, without deviation.
As a result, Kang Hyun-soo, Song Ha-na, and the Fist Emperor grew stronger at a rapid pace.
They also built some camaraderie.
The Fist Emperor in particular treated Kang Hyun-soo quite warmly.
One problem, though.
‘Song Ha-na and the Fist Emperor show no signs of getting along.’
Far from it—their growling matches were increasing daily.
‘I can’t ignore it anymore.’
He’d let them be, figuring kids bond through fights.
But that had reached its limit.
Left alone, they’d become mortal enemies.
‘First, analyze the cause.’
Best to probe them separately, subtly.
They were always together, so one-on-one talks were rare.
‘Start with Song Ha-na.’
After wrapping up the day with sparring training as usual.
“Let’s grab a drink tonight.”
Kang Hyun-soo spoke up.
“A drink?”
The Fist Emperor looked reluctant.
He’d been roped into drinking with Kang Hyun-soo before.
But he didn’t enjoy it.
‘What’s the point of that bitter, nasty stuff?’
He didn’t want any.
But refusing might earn him teasing about having a kid’s palate.
“If you don’t want to, no big deal. Some people like booze, some don’t. The real adults are those who know how to enjoy it but can hold back.”
“Ahem, right? I like it fine, but I’d rather train than drink. You two go ahead—I’ll train more.”
The Fist Emperor fell for Kang Hyun-soo’s sweet talk and excused himself.
“What about you?”
Kang Hyun-soo asked Song Ha-na.