The Ring of Revival

The Ring of Revival carried only a single option.

Revival — a skill that perfectly restored not only every wound its target had taken, but stamina, mana, and mental strength drained down to nothing. For a Player, it was a cheat of an item, no different from walking around with a spare life in your pocket.

If I'd had that, I wouldn't have died on Floor 2,222 before the regression.

With the Ring of Revival in hand, he would have cleared Floor 2,222 without trouble.

But it didn't look this plain back then.

The simple design and the shape were the same. The exterior, though, differed slightly from the Ring of Revival Jin-soo remembered.

Information first.

That's the one.

Unique grade, and a bind option on top of it. It was the Ring of Revival he knew.

So it was a growth-type item.

Like the Blood-Sucking Sword, the Ring of Revival was the kind of item whose level rose.

Does the wandering merchant know that?

Probably not. The odds were high she didn't.

Even just getting my hands on the Ring of Revival is a win.

On the off chance, Jin-soo looked more carefully through the goods the merchant had laid out. Unfortunately, there was no other jackpot on the level of the Ring of Revival.

Still, the quality overall isn't bad.

The weapons, armor, and accessories — and the class-change tomes and skill books as well — were things you absolutely could not obtain at the standard of Floor 12.

A class-change tome is essential.

He needed to confirm whether Status Window Switch would let him change into a Holy-affinity class.

This one's the best.

Flame Battle Mage. A class that held only fire-type attack skills specialized for combat, more tightly than an ordinary mage.

No need to force a change into a warrior class.

The Dark-affinity class, Blood Demon Swordsman, already covered that.

And if I'm going to clear that alone, a mage class is mandatory.

With his thoughts in order, Jin-soo started shopping.

"This. This. And this."

He swept up every item he had already marked, the Ring of Revival and the Flame Battle Mage class-change tome among them.

"Huh? Huh? What do you think you're doing!"

The merchant, who had been staring blankly, let out a shriek.

"What?"

"The sword you picked, the staff, the armor, the accessories, and the class-change tome alone come to over ten million points! And why are you choosing two of the exact same skill book!"

"Because I feel like it. The sword, the armor, the accessories, and the class-change tome alone are over ten million points?"

"Yes!"

"Doesn't look that way to me."

"The price is set by the one selling, not the one buying, isn't it?"

"I'm not interested in getting gouged. Add just a million points on top of everything I picked, and I'll trade you the two-handed axe."

"What on earth—!"

The merchant's voice climbed, a fit about to break loose—

"This one's worth about 1.5 million points. This one's seven hundred thousand. And this one..."

The moment Jin-soo began reciting a price for each item he had chosen, the merchant's body locked up like stone.

"Add a million points to that and it's exactly a fair price. No?"

"That's the wholesale cost! I need a margin too! I'll give you every item you picked! So please, the two-handed axe!"

"Wholesale cost, please. Honestly, you'd still come out ahead with a million on top. Let's just settle this cleanly."

"I absolutely cannot do it that way."

"1.1 million points."

"What? What is that supposed to—"

"1.2 million points."

"What are you doing right now!"

"1.3 million points."

"Stop! All right! I'll give you 1.3 million points!"

Jin-soo kept raising the number, and at last the merchant raised the white flag.

"Hand over the points."

At his words, the merchant's hands trembled and her head dropped low.

There was something like this?

Before his regression, Jin-soo had only been able to convert the merit he had accumulated into points once he reached Floor 50. He hadn't known an Impossible Feat like this even existed. This time, too, the titles vanished in an instant.

But the blessings aren't growing. Because they grew a moment ago?

It stung a little, but the blessings had surely banked a fair amount of experience, so he decided to take it as a win.

"Here. Take it."

Jin-soo handed over the two-handed axe with a pleased smile.

"This is a scam."

The merchant sounded ready to cry.

"Even like this, you've still got plenty of margin. Don't look so wronged."

"It is not plenty at all!"

"And why are you still wrapped up in that robe? Is it a concept?"

"I was being considerate, in case you'd be startled!"

"I don't need consideration like that."

Jin-soo already knew what race the merchant was. There was nothing here to startle him.

Well. Players from Earth might be surprised.

Most wandering merchants were beastfolk.

"Hmph. Then don't be startled."

The merchant pulled off the robe. In the same moment a cute little dog appeared, brown fur fluffy, walking upright on two legs.

"So you were a dog."

"I'm a fox!"

The merchant flared and shouted.

She threw the robe on so she wouldn't look easy to look down on.

If the merchant in front of him had been some fierce predatory mammal, or an amphibian or reptilian beastfolk, he might have believed the talk of consideration...

She's just cute.

Cute enough that even an ordinary Player from Earth — not only Jin-soo — would have rushed in on the spot to rub a cheek against hers and pet that head without a second thought.

"What's your name?"

"It's Lucy."

"All right, Lucy. See you next time."

"I would rather not see you."

Lucy gathered what remained of the goods spread across her stall, then melted into the empty air and vanished.

I'd like to run into her again.

From Jin-soo's side of the deal, the wandering merchant Lucy was an excellent sucker. If his trading partner had been a veteran merchant?

I'd have walked away with a modest profit at best.

He never would have scored the real gain — buying a pile of items at cost.

Skills first.

Of the skill books he had bought two of each, he learned only one of each for now.

Time to change class.

Jin-soo picked up the Flame Battle Mage class-change tome and tried.

It failed, of course.

Saw that coming.

Jin-soo used Status Window Switch. Then he tried the class change again.

The change succeeded with ridiculous ease.

Done.

Jin-soo's face brightened. While already holding a Dark-affinity class, he had used Status Window Switch to take a Holy-affinity class on top of it — and not just any classes, but warrior and mage, polar opposites.

The skill window is clean.

Aside from the new class skills born of the change to Flame Battle Mage, not a single skill existed.

The level's the same as ever.

His class level, and the levels of the class skills created after the change, were all locked at 2.

Stamina and mana are being kept separate, too.

The Dark-affinity status window had already spent a fair amount of both. The moment he switched to the Holy-affinity window, stamina and mana were completely full.

I should test whether stamina and mana recover while a status window is inactive — and whether wounds heal when I switch.

Status Window Switch had enormous advantages. That didn't mean it came without drawbacks.

Shame, though.

Inventory, Goblin's Calamity, Master of Twin Swordsmanship, Master of Throwing — and every skill he had just learned from the skill books — had vanished without a single one left behind.

Well. I changed into Flame Battle Mage, so it isn't that much of a loss.

And he had a countermeasure of his own.

I didn't buy two of each skill book for nothing.

Jin-soo used the skill books he had left over.

Rise. Rise.

As he learned them, he waited for his guess to land. And around the time the skill books he had bought ran out—

The blessings had grown.

Just as I thought.

The status window was split in two, but the blessings were shared. Skills were not.

Use that, and I can learn the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same skill twice.

Jin-soo had predicted that learning the same skill twice could also serve as a foothold for the blessings' growth. The prediction had landed exactly.

But what grew this time?

If the stats themselves ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had risen, or the increase percentages, there was no way he wouldn't have noticed. Right now, though, everything was far too quiet.

Blessing information first.

Jin-soo opened his status window and checked what had changed.

It locks two active class skills and two passive class skills at level 22?

Jin-soo opened the status window and checked his class skills.

Both were still 2.

Let's try.

The moment he willed Fire Arrow and Mana Amplification locked at level 22—

They actually went up.

Fire Arrow, the class active skill that had been level 2 a moment ago, and Mana Amplification, the passive, had both climbed to 22.

Grow the blessings, and the number of skills I can lock at 22 will increase.

He would also be able to raise ordinary active and passive skills — not only class skills — to 22. But it wasn't without regrets.

The class level doesn't rise?

A higher class level was what birthed new advanced class skills, and of that there was no sign. On top of that, no method had yet appeared for raising the level of Status Window Switch, the skill exclusive to the blessings.

I'd like to raise this one's level, too.

The cooldown on Status Window Switch wasn't bad as it stood. Still, it left him a little unsatisfied. If he could switch status windows freely, unbound by that cooldown, his combat power would climb by a wide margin.

I'll learn the order skills level in once I grow the blessings.

Jin-soo equipped the armor and accessories he had just bought.

The real jackpot is this one.

He stroked the Ring of Revival. Right now it was only level 1, so the cooldown was long and the skill's effect nothing special.

Once it grows, it's as good as gaining another spare life.

For Jin-soo, it was no different from a windfall he hadn't seen coming.

The other items perform well enough, too.

With resale in mind, he had picked only the ones that offered good value. From his side of it, the shopping had been extremely rational.

Things you could never obtain on Floor 12.

Thanks to Lucy, that sucker of a wandering merchant, he had bought what he needed at a cheap price, in a place where buying it should have been impossible.

Climb to Floor 50 as fast as I can.

Only then could he use the auction house.

I've got enough points.

Sell the merit he had already piled up, the merit he would pile up from here, and the elixirs he had been stockpiling, and he could make a considerable sum.

I have to buy it before that person does. No exceptions.

The Shining Longsword.

By name alone, it looked like just another mediocre low-level weapon.

But like the Blood-Sucking Sword, it's a rare growth-type weapon.

In the end, the Shining Longsword grew into Baekcheonsingeom. Baekcheonsingeom was the supreme divine weapon that had stood as an equal to the Heukcheon Demonic Sword Jin-soo had wielded before his regression.

Before the regression, I never got my hands on it. Not once.

Baekcheonsingeom had been the cherished blade of that person, who had always climbed the Tower one step ahead of Jin-soo.

Before the regression, I was always one step late.

That person had always ascended faster than he did.

This time, I'll get there first.

The first condition for that was obtaining the Shining Longsword.

Even now, no one knows what it's really worth.

On the surface, the Shining Longsword was nothing but a mediocre low-level weapon. That was why it had kept going unsold and lingering in the auction house until that person bought it.

In truth, he had time to spare. But the thought that he could obtain Baekcheonsingeom — a sword he hadn't even been allowed to look at before his regression — made him restless all the same.

I just have to keep going the way I am.

Monopolize the titles and the hidden dungeons, hold to twenty-two hours, twenty-two minutes, and twenty-two seconds, and reach Floor 50.

That was Jin-soo's first goal.