Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: 13. Portals Open (3)
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Boltak's Wandering Merchant.
It was only after hearing the official name of "Breath Sound" through Kkubu that Young-woo realized.
The "peddler" that the Mirr Alliance had sniped earlier might just be his trading partner this time.
『The Mirr Alliance is a longstanding merchant guild that's been conducting interdimensional trade since a whopping 800 million years ago in Earth's time. They're on a completely different level from some peddler hawking war trophies they stumbled upon.』
'Its name is Wandering Merchant for a reason... High chance they're selling stuff they looted by chance. Could even be like bandits.'
The reason Young-woo thought of bandits was because of the "entrance sound" that was utterly different from the delicate image when it had only sent out its breath earlier.
Gaaaaah...!
This was already the second time this sound rang out, and no matter how he listened, it felt like a war horn.
'Unsettling.'
Gaaaaah!
Soon, with the third sound, the pillar of light fully turned a vivid purple, and something shot down from the edge of the sky.
Whiiiish... Boom!
In the blink of an eye, "Boltak's Wandering Merchant" had set foot on Earth's soil—three of them in total.
And as Young-woo watched the three otherworlders slowly rise to their feet, his eyes went wide.
"Uh...?"
Sure enough, the breath sound from earlier hadn't been a lie.
At the very least, their outward appearance was astonishingly human-like.
Two arms and two legs in the same positions as humans, similar lengths, and above all, fully formed eyes, nose, and mouth on their faces.
The only real difference was that their skin was nearly translucent, faintly revealing the blood vessels and nerve bundles inside.
But paradoxically, this made them feel even more human.
Didn't it mean they had blood flowing through their bodies just like us?
"......"
As Young-woo stared blankly at them, one of the merchants noticed his gaze and flashed a grin his way.
'My god. They're just humans.'
With what looked like scale armor covering their entire bodies, they almost seemed like a more primitive branch of humanity.
"Could I talk to them a bit?"
Young-woo's characteristic curiosity kicked in as he asked Kkubu, but as expected, he got a negative response.
―Contact outside of trading procedures is not permitted.
It then hurried him along as if to say follow the proper process.
―The brokerage fee for this trade is 10%, included in the item prices. The trading partner is Boltak's Wandering Merchant.
―Do you wish to proceed with the trade?
In the world... He'd found merchants who looked eerily similar to humans, and now he'd get to browse their wares...
Young-woo thought that if he were a scientist studying the universe, he might've had a heart attack.
"...Yes. Let's trade."
As Young-woo gave final approval, Kkubu rolled its white eyes.
―Item list complete.
Flash!
What happened next was at least a familiar phenomenon.
A blue blotch chaotically appeared before Young-woo's eyes, soon taking shape.
The shape of human letters, that is.
Sss, sss.
'Oh...'
As the Mirr Alliance had warned, the wares from these peddlers who sold random loot were a cut below, but they were plenty intriguing instead.
1 ― 「Morning Star」 - Ancient Certificate
【Activates in Gate Open state.】
◇ 80,000 Karma
2 ― 「Kekidite」 - Hero Jewel
【Slot: Psi Resistance 10%】
◇ 93,000 Karma
3 ― 「Golden Goblin」 - Relic Slave
【Stores items in sub-space.】
【Picks up valuables.】
◇ 350,000 Karma
4 ― 「Gray Rock」 - Unique Shield
【Reduces blocked damage by 40%】
◇ 510,000 Karma
5 ― 「Paradox」 - Saga Necklace
【Fire Resistance 50%】
【Cold Resistance 50%】
◇ 1 Legendary Achievement
Just like the previous trade, five items total.
Among them, what clearly caught Young-woo's eye the most were the "Golden Goblin" and the last item, "Paradox."
'Crazy. A single necklace giving 50% fire and cold resistance...'
Young-woo immediately thought of dragons.
Of course, anyone who'd been through the Reset would've thought the same.
The very first mutant type had been dragons, after all.
―A new monster type, 『Dragon』, has been added to this world.
―[Conglomerate Chairman-Kang Hong-tae] is now a Fire Dragon threatening you all.
And Kang Hong-tae, who would return someday, was a fire dragon, so he was bound to breathe fire nine times out of ten.
'If there's a fire dragon, there must be water or ice ones too.'
Thus, "Paradox" had to be gear for facing high-tier beasts that spewed fire or cold on that level.
The problem was.
'I don't have any Legendary Achievements left to sell now.'
He currently had three Legendary Achievements total.
But they were all part of the chained Golden Ratio series, so he couldn't touch them.
'Too bad, but nothing to be done.'
Young-woo stared long at the now-unattainable "Paradox," like a painting of rice cakes.
At least one gain was learning that Saga grade could have such absurd options.
'Should've saved one Achievement.'
Young-woo glared resentfully at the "Serpent of Greed" he'd bought last time with a Legendary Achievement.
「Serpent of Greed」 - Saga Compass
【Always gazes at rarities.】
The only gain from this thing so far was finding the lens that Geumgye Supreme Swordsman Jang Chun-yong had hidden under his eyelid.
Essentially, he'd shelled out a fortune for a white elephant.
'No refunds, huh...'
As Young-woo watched the Serpent of Greed flick out its tiny tongue, he suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
Because.
Sss.
This white elephant was facing a completely different direction than when the trade first began.
'What? Why'd it suddenly turn?'
As he thought this, Young-woo soon realized.
'Ah... the items.'
The snake had turned its head right after the alien merchants' item list appeared before him.
In other words.
'It's looking at the rarest item among these right now.'
And that was the problem.
Sss...
What the snake was gazing at now wasn't the highest-grade Saga necklace "Paradox," but the "Golden Goblin," which was a full two grades lower.
'...Why? It's not just turning based on absolute value?'
Young-woo tilted his head but instinctively trusted the snake's judgment.
And the basis for that trust was none other than this white elephant's origins.
'It's a Saga-grade item, after all.'
So its effect should be on par with other Saga gear?
The "Always gazes at rarities" option rivaling 50% fire and cold resistance—same grade, right?
'There's a reason it's ignoring Saga gear for a Relic... Maybe it's perfect for me, or insane value for money.'
Besides, he couldn't afford Paradox anyway.
'My total assets now... 894,000.'
Enough to buy the Golden Goblin and the Unique Shield "Gray Rock" with some left over.
'Golden Goblin first, then.'
As Young-woo eyed the goblin's tooltip on the list, Kkubu blinked.
―Purchase processing. Payment deducted.
Piiing!
Young-woo's body flickered for a moment, and his karma dropped to 544,000.
And at the same time.
Sss.
The Serpent of Greed turned its head again.
"......!"
Young-woo quickly shifted his gaze to where it looked.
'Huh?'
He was surprised once more.
What the thing judged as the second-rarest in this list wasn't the Saga necklace or the Unique shield.
1 ― 「Morning Star」 - Ancient Certificate
【Activates in Gate Open state.】
◇ 80,000 Karma
The lowest-grade item.
The Ancient Certificate "Morning Star."
'What is this?'
Ancient Certificate. Young-woo was mildly curious since it was a type he'd never seen.
But the price wasn't cheap, and buying it meant forgoing the Unique shield, so he'd had no intention to.
'Even excluding the unaffordable Saga gear... This over the Unique shield? You sure?'
Young-woo asked, but naturally, the snake didn't answer.
'Damn it.'
Choice time again.
Once a trade was done, you couldn't return for repurchases, so anything needed had to be grabbed now.
Follow the snake and buy the certificate? Lose the Unique shield chance. Buy the shield? Miss the mystery certificate.
'The shield's not a bad pick... But who knows when another shield shows up.'
Young-woo muttered inwardly but had already decided to follow the snake.
Not trusting the snake per se, but the power of its grade.
Like betting on intuition when he gave up 3 million karma for the Golden Ratio in his first either/or.
'Even if the bet flops this time, no big loss. Can improve stats or build with what's left.'
Soon, Young-woo confirmed the Ancient Certificate "Morning Star" purchase, Kkubu blinked again, and 80,000 more karma was deducted.
Piiing!
Now Young-woo had 464,000 karma left.
And what the snake gazed at was.
2 ― 「Kekidite」 - Hero Jewel
【Slot: Psi Resistance 10%】
◇ 93,000 Karma
A Hero-grade slot jewel.
And this confirmed it.
'It's not just looking at rarities—it's factoring in my situation too.'
The Serpent of Greed was basically a personal shopper.
'If I buy the Kekidite too, will it point to Paradox then?'
Next, Young-woo confirmed the Kekidite purchase, another line vanished from the list...
Sss.
And the Serpent of Greed turned its head as usual.
But.
"......!"
It still didn't look at Paradox.
'North again. Nothing more worth buying here?'
That's how Young-woo had to interpret it.
Meaning, in his current state, no gear was worth breaking the Golden Ratio Achievement chain for.
'Guess that's the trade done.'
As Young-woo signaled the end, Kkubu deeply closed and opened its eyes in farewell.
―Thank you! All trade procedures complete. Please step back.
Swoosh!
The broker Kkubu melted into the air and vanished swiftly.
However, since not all items were sold, Boltak's Wandering Merchants remained in the light pillar.
Of course, what they had left was the 510,000-karma Unique shield and the Saga necklace requiring a Legendary Achievement.
Practically unusable unless you were some other region's Supreme Swordsman who'd hoarded karma.
"Wh-what was all that?"
As Young-woo turned after finishing, the trio—who'd somehow stuck around—called out from afar.
They were people well-adapted enough to spar with Day 2 beasts, yet even to them, the scene they'd just witnessed was alien and frightening.
"Does this mean... we're going to war with aliens or something?"
Still, for humans who'd been commuting to offices just two days ago, that was remarkably forward-thinking.
To this, Young-woo watched as the merchants in the light pillar kicked out large stone crates with their feet.
Probably their version of product packaging.
"Who knows. My take is..."
Grind, grind.
Soon, the crates began slowly moving toward Young-woo amid eerie sounds.
"Looks like the portals are open right now."