Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Ice King's Necklace
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“Ice King's Necklace”
“B-But still, we haven't had even a single day of proper rest.”
“Your physical fatigue is building up. Don't we need to relieve the mental strain too?”
Song Ha-na and Tu-hwang pleaded with miserable expressions.
‘I have been pushing them pretty hard.’
Kang Hyun-soo took in the sight of Song Ha-na and Tu-hwang.
Both had dark circles under their eyes.
Their cheeks were so sunken that their cheekbones were visible.
Song Ha-na and Tu-hwang had a strong desire to grow stronger.
They were fiercely competitive.
Someone once said effort is a talent too.
And Song Ha-na and Tu-hwang possessed that talent for effort as well.
Yet Kang Hyun-soo had driven those two to the point where they sounded like they were on the verge of death.
‘I should give them at least one day off.’
If he kept grinding them like this, they wouldn't die as Tu-hwang said.
‘But they might turn into living skeletons.’
With their stamina and mental stats nearing a thousand, they looked gaunt.
If they were low-level players?
They might have actually died from overwork.
“Alright. Let's rest for today, then.”
Kang Hyun-soo declared a day off.
“You mean it? You're not gonna change your mind later?”
Song Ha-na asked with a desperate look.
“If you say rest's over in a few hours, I won't forgive you!”
Tu-hwang growled, threatening Kang Hyun-soo.
‘Have I really been that harsh?’
Seeing their reactions made him think, ‘Yeah, I've been working them too hard.’
“I won't change my mind. I won't say rest's over in a few hours either. So rest up properly today.”
“Woooo!”
“I'm free!”
Song Ha-na and Tu-hwang vanished from Kang Hyun-soo's sight in an instant.
‘What should I do?’
Kang Hyun-soo pondered.
But nothing came to mind.
Then he made a decision.
‘Guess I'll go hunting.’
Unlike Song Ha-na and Tu-hwang, Kang Hyun-soo was fine both physically and mentally.
No need to waste time resting.
‘With my summons, safety's not an issue.’
He needed to hunt monsters, create new summons, and use up the charged brigade composition stacks.
Before heading out to hunt, Kang Hyun-soo went to the shop district.
To restock potions.
‘Better buy them before they run out completely.’
The small city of Sok had a low population and treacherous roads leading to it.
As a result, item stock was extremely limited and prices were high.
Potions especially were 1.5 times more expensive than in big cities, yet they sold out the moment they hit the shelves due to shortages.
‘Didn't expect potions to run short.’
Knowing Sok's situation, Kang Hyun-soo had stocked up heavily before coming.
But even that stock was running low now.
The constant marches had Song Ha-na and Tu-hwang getting injured almost daily.
The intense sparring sessions that mimicked real battles every day accelerated potion consumption too.
As a result.
‘Time to restock.’
If he wasn't careful, he might end up unable to hunt due to no potions.
‘Should've stayed longer in Gula?’
He might have gotten a healing skill then.
‘But maybe not.’
Even in Gula, the capital of the Mulan Kingdom, healers were rarer than hen's teeth.
‘Might've lost out even more.’
If he'd stayed longer in Gula and still didn't get a healing skill?
Just a waste of time.
‘Gotta tough it out like this for now.’
Kang Hyun-soo entered the first shop.
“Got any potions?”
“Nope.”
Strike one.
Before leaving, Kang Hyun-soo casually browsed the items.
In case there was a skillbook with good options for his Ring of Guardianship.
But nothing caught his eye.
And the prices were outrageously high compared to big cities.
‘Cost-performance is terrible here.’
Kang Hyun-soo left the first shop and headed to the second.
“Potions?”
“Nope.”
No luck.
Kang Hyun-soo diligently visited shop after shop to buy potions.
Fortunately, some had stock left.
The problem was.
“Only two left?”
“Yeah, that's it.”
The quantities were too small.
‘Might have to hit every shop in Sok.’
And not just today, but every day.
‘Even daily runs might not keep up with consumption.’
With no big stores and mostly small ones, he'd have to visit too many places.
‘Doing it alone takes forever.’
But he didn't want to drag Song Ha-na and Tu-hwang away from their rare rest.
‘I'll make them do it starting tomorrow.’
Kang Hyun-soo went around small shops, buying up potions.
Of course, he didn't forget to check for skillbooks with options suitable for the Ring of Guardianship.
Then.
‘Didn't know there was a shop here.’
He spotted one in a dingy alley.
The shop itself looked rundown.
‘Let's check it out.’
Creak!
Kang Hyun-soo opened the door and entered.
“Welcome.”
The elderly shopkeeper greeted him.
“Potions?”
“Three mid-grade ones.”
Jackpot.
“How much?”
“13 gold each.”
A bit pricier than others.
“Pass.”
Kang Hyun-soo turned to leave without hesitation.
No matter the shortage, he wasn't paying that rip-off price.
“12 gold!”
Kang Hyun-soo didn't stop.
“11 gold!”
Only then did Kang Hyun-soo pause.
“Here you go.”
He handed over 33 gold and bought the three mid-grade potions, then habitually scanned the shop's items.
That's when.
‘Huh?’
His eyes landed on a familiar necklace.
‘The Ice King's Necklace?’
It was the real reason Kang Hyun-soo had come to the small city of Sot: the Ice King's Necklace.
Kang Hyun-soo approached as if drawn to it and examined the Ice King's Necklace.
[Ice King's Necklace F-Rank]
-Can use F-Rank skill Ice Arrow.
‘What the hell?’
It was the Ice King's Necklace, alright.
But not the one Kang Hyun-soo knew.
The one used by Ice Queen Jena.
For starters, its rank was F, not EX.
And it only had one option: F-Rank Ice Arrow.
‘What happened? Isn't the Ice King's Necklace supposed to be complete?’
The Ice King's Necklace Kang Hyun-soo knew was a complete EX-Rank item with four EX-Rank skills.
But the one before him was merely F-Rank.
‘And only one skill instead of four.’
His mind reeled.
“Buy it?”
The shopkeeper spoke up.
“If you do, I'll give you a deal. Options aren't great, but the design's top-notch. Worth it as jewelry alone.”
“How much?”
“20 gold.”
Kang Hyun-soo's face twisted slightly.
Average market for F-Rank items was around 10 gold.
20 gold was a huge rip-off, even accounting for Sok being a small city.
“That's the list price, but for you, specially, 15 gold.”
The shopkeeper quickly dropped it after seeing Kang Hyun-soo's expression.
“Still too pricey. Especially with such crap options.”
The Ice King's Necklace's sole option was F-Rank Ice Arrow.
But monsters around Sok had high average levels.
An F-Rank attack skill like that wouldn't work at all.
And not just that.
They lived adapted to the north's harsh cold, so they had massive resistance to ice skills.
In short, the Ice King's Necklace with its F-Rank Ice Arrow skill.
Was worth no more than jewelry in Sok.
“Ahem, alright, specially for you, 14 gold.”
14 gold was still too much.
Kang Hyun-soo stared silently at the shopkeeper.
“Argh! 13 gold! Can't go lower! I'd rather not sell! My purchase price was 13 gold! I'm basically giving it away!”
The shopkeeper made a last desperate stand, glaring at Kang Hyun-soo with a resolute expression.
“Fine. I'll take it.”
The shopkeeper's face lit up.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Kang Hyun-soo pulled out 13 gold and handed it over.
“Here you go.”
The shopkeeper took the money and passed the Ice King's Necklace to Kang Hyun-soo.
“Sell a ton.”
Kang Hyun-soo pocketed the Ice King's Necklace and left the shop.
‘What an idiot, paying 13 gold for that.’
The shopkeeper chuckled to himself after selling the Ice King's Necklace.
Finally rid of that long-stuck inventory.
‘Everyone lost interest once they heard the price.’
Even this morning, a female customer asked, then left without haggling.
‘Made 8 gold.’
He'd told Kang Hyun-soo the purchase price was 13 gold, but it was actually 5.
He'd haggled down the player who sold it, citing Sok's peculiarities.
‘Buying cheap from suckers and selling high to suckers is the real moneymaker.’
The shopkeeper felt proud of his eye for suckers.
But moments later.
The female customer from that morning returned.
“Where's that Ice King's Necklace from before?”
“Sold.”
“Oh no. I wanted it—the design was so pretty. What a shame.”
“Huh?”
“You said 20 gold this morning. Didn't have the cash then, so I hunted monsters, scraped together 20 gold, and now it's gone. Damn.”
“Gahk!”
The shopkeeper clutched his throat at her words.
He inwardly shed bloody tears of regret.
‘Shouldn't have sold it.’
His sucker-spotting skills failed him—he sold something worth 20 gold for 13.
But the shopkeeper didn't know.
The true value of the Ice King's Necklace he'd sold.
It wasn't worth a mere 13 or 20 gold.
It was a treasure among treasures, priceless even at thousands or millions of gold.
If the shopkeeper knew?
He wouldn't just clutch his throat—he'd foam at the mouth and collapse.
But sometimes.
Ignorance is bliss.
* * *
Kang Hyun-soo examined the Ice King's Necklace closely.
‘Definitely the one owned by Ice Queen Jena.’
The design, the Ice Arrow option.
It matched the one he'd seen before regression.
‘It was known as complete, but maybe it's a growth-type?’
Jena earned the Ice Queen title and the necklace gained fame three years from now.
Most info back then came from Ice Queen Jena herself.
‘Makes sense she wouldn't spill the full truth.’
In fact, getting Guardian God Lee Cheol-min's Ring of Guardianship and Sword God Lee Gwang-ho's Sword of Gluttony from pre-regression info was pure luck.
They might have hidden or twisted how they got them.
‘Even if it's growth-type, no problem.’
What mattered was acquiring a top-tier item that could grow to EX-Rank.
One issue though.
‘How the hell do you grow this thing?’
He had no idea how to evolve the Ice King's Necklace.