Chapter 91: Jackpot, Jackpot, and Another Jackpot
Chapter 91: Jackpot, Jackpot, and Another Jackpot
“…For some reason, they all look so worn out.”
“Yeah, they do.”
I heard Yoojung and Ahn Hyun’s disappointed voices. But with my Third Eye activated, I was picking out weapons one by one. Most of the weapons, scattered about after so much time had passed, were useless. And since the others had just gotten new gear not long ago, it was true that these items looked a bit shabby in comparison.
However, even among these, items imbued with powerful magic tend to retain their form over long periods. I was even picking up the items the others had casually tossed aside to inspect each one carefully.
“Oppa. What’s this?”
At the sound of Sol’s voice, I whipped my head around. I had a feeling that an item picked out by Ahn Sol, with her 100 points in Luck, would be something extraordinary. The others must have felt the same, as they all turned to look at her. As all eyes fell on her, Sol flinched and took a step back.
“What is it?”
“This…”
The item Sol held out was none other than a bracelet. It was covered in rust, but my own senses picked something up from it, so I took it from her immediately. After examining the bracelet for a moment, I looked at Jung Hayeon.
“Hayeon-ssi, can you use Restore?”
“A Restore spell? Of course. But it can only restore its appearance and internal functions. I can’t guarantee anything about its durability or other aspects.”
“That’s a job for blacksmiths. That’s more than enough.”
“Then please give it to me.”
When I handed the bracelet to Jung Hayeon, the eyes of my bored party members lit up. Unable to wait, Ahn Hyun asked me.
“Hyung. What is that bracelet?”
“I don’t know yet. I want to take another look after the Restore spell.”
Of course, having seen it with my Third Eye, I already had a rough idea of what it was. And I had already decided to give it to Ahn Hyun. I’d asked for the spell because it was a bit much to use as it was, and I wanted to at least get the rust off.
Jung Hayeon held the bracelet and quietly chanted the spell. Then, when she lightly tapped the center of the bracelet with her slender finger, the entire thing was engulfed in a bright light. Soon after, the light faded, and the surface of the bracelet was revealed as rust flaked off in showers. The restored bracelet glowed with a soft moonlight. Seeing this, Jung Hayeon’s eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me this is…”
“Hehe. Looks like Sol really found something.”
Everyone else looked curious. Jung Hayeon held the bracelet, looking it over for a moment, before returning it to me with a face full of envy.
“Congratulations. Its mana utilization rate is much higher than ordinary steel. This is just my guess, but… I think it contains a small amount of Mithril. Which means, depending on how you use it, it could probably be used to track mana.”
“Mithril? Unni, is that good?”
Jung Hayeon nodded at Yoojung’s interruption.
“Of course. Mithril is an extremely rare mineral. Not only is it lighter and stronger than ordinary steel, but… well, its mana utilization rate is incredibly high.”
“Is it expensive?”
“…It probably sells for whatever price the seller names.”
I hooked my finger through the ring and spun the bracelet around. To be precise, it was a bracelet containing 5.7% Mithril. It didn’t raise the wearer’s stats, but just equipping it increased one’s mana utilization rate. It was safe to say it had a higher efficiency than any other piece of equipment we were currently wearing. I handed the bracelet to Ahn Hyun, who was practically drooling.
“Try it on.”
“Me? No, hyung. You should have this, not me…”
“Really? Fine by me.”
At Ahn Hyun’s refusal, I coolly took the bracelet back. His expression turned strange, and I could see his eyes endlessly following the bracelet. I chuckled once, then handed it back to him.
“Just kidding. Don’t say things you don’t mean. If you don’t want it, I’m giving it to Yoojung.”
At that, Ahn Hyun snatched the bracelet. As he put it on under the envious gazes of the party, we watched it automatically adjust to fit his wrist. Oho. So it had an auto-adjust feature, too.
“…How is it?”
“Hmm.”
Ahn Hyun tilted his head for a moment, then tapped the bracelet with his finger.
“I’m not sure yet… but I feel more energetic. The flow of my mana seems to have gotten faster, too.”
That was good enough. Finding it fascinating, Ahn Hyun stopped searching and kept fiddling with his new bracelet. We left him to it and resumed our search. The group, having scored a win thanks to Ahn Sol, began to rummage through the items with even more enthusiasm than before. Even Sol was licking her lips as she looked at the items scattered everywhere.
At first, they had been tossing things aside, but now it was the opposite; if they found anything that seemed even slightly promising, they would bring it to me. However, whether it was due to their low luck or lack of a discerning eye, everything they showed me was nothing but lumps of scrap metal.
They kept shoving things at me until I finally got annoyed, which made them quiet down. My plan was to gather anything that looked decent and check it all at once later.
In any case, because we had splurged on equipment before this expedition, I found no useful gloves. The chest protectors, plate armor, and shields we saw were likewise inferior to what the kids already wore.
Since it seemed like this would take a while, I decided to take a long rest right here. After doing a wide scan of the area and confirming we were alone, I called Shin Sangyong over. He refused once or twice out of politeness, but when I insisted, I saw him scurry over. He hadn’t said anything, but it seemed he’d been dying to join in. And so, for a full 30 minutes, we sorted through the items we needed.
“Whew. I guess this is about it.”
“Unni. Hurry, hurry.”
“Hey, now. Just wait a moment.”
A little later, we tossed the scrap metal far away and gathered the decent-looking items in the center, sitting in a circle around them. Jung Hayeon was casting the Restore spell on each item, one by one. While she worked, I counted the gold coins and gems first.
The money was a decent haul: 32 ten-gold coins and 58 one-gold coins. A total of 378 gold. As for the gems, there were eight large ones in total, all of them rubies. Each one looked like it would sell for at least 100 gold.
We needed a lot of money to register as an official clan, and I was relieved that we wouldn’t have to touch the pouch of gems Vivian had given me. The others all stared at the gold and gems with dazed eyes. These items were a reward for all their hard work.
When I turned, Jung Hayeon was catching her breath. She appeared to have just finished Restore and gazed at the items with distant eyes. Before her lay one dagger, one cloak, and two rings—four items in total. Including Ahn Hyun’s bracelet, we had found five useful pieces. I quickly activated Third Eye just as Jung Hayeon began to speak.
“I’m not sure what to say, but I want to congratulate you first. This dagger, though just a single blade, seems to be enchanted with magic that increases the wearer’s attack speed. Hmm… but it doesn’t seem suitable for combat. It’s more for decorative purposes.”
She lifted the dagger. It closely resembled a stiletto—a slender dagger with a sharply pointed blade—and frankly did not look suited to ordinary combat. It might have been useful to an Assassin, however.
“Unni. Is it good?”
“Technically, this is valuable too. Weapons with permanent special abilities like this aren’t something you can find just anywhere.”
“Ah…”
Yoojung immediately looked at me. I answered calmly.
“What.”
“Aww!”
Unable to ignore her sparkling eyes, I managed a nod. With the speed of a hawk snatching its prey, Yoojung took the dagger. Its blade was much shorter than the one I had gotten for her, but she still looked quite satisfied as she tucked it away.
Jung Hayeon then pointed to the cloak and spoke.
“This cloak looks like an ordinary, faded cloak, but I think it’s enchanted with magic resistance. I’m not sure to what degree, though. We’ll probably have to get it appraised back in the city to know for sure.”
“Hmm. That’s good enough.”
Taking the cloak from Jung Hayeon, I smiled faintly. I knew this cloak well. It was a specialized cloak that defended against flame-elemental magic. If I remembered correctly, it was called Block of Fire.
In terms of damage, it could block magic up to a certain level, and even if it was hit by magic that exceeded that limit, it could still reduce the damage by 40%. That wasn’t all. Though it looked like a simple cotton cloak, it was also enchanted with physical resistance across its entire surface, making it far more durable than ordinary cloth. An item like that would cost at least 600 gold, even at a bargain. This cloak was probably for…
“Vivian.”
“Wow. Thank you.”
As Vivian excitedly took the cloak and wrapped it around herself, Jung Hayeon gave a look of envy. But she quickly composed herself and picked up the two remaining rings, placing them on her palm.
“These two rings are probably the best items we’ve found so far. These are truly…”
Jung Hayeon paused, looking at the two rings. I smiled faintly. Beside me, I heard Shin Sangyong gulp. Finally, one of the rings I had been looking for had appeared. Unfortunately, that ring had no effect on me.
Jung Hayeon looked at the ring I had my eye on, then turned her gaze to me.
“Soohyun-ssi, would you try this ring on? I can’t be certain, but it may raise the wearer’s Magic Power Stat. I sense no other magical ability from it, yet the mana in my body reacted the instant I held it. I had only heard about cases like this; this is my first time experiencing one.”
Everyone gasped. They had learned at the User Academy that items capable of raising Stats sold for whatever price the owner demanded. I took the ring Jung Hayeon offered and slipped it on, then immediately checked my Player Status. As expected, my Magic Power had not risen. I sighed in disappointment.
The ring definitely raised a Stat, but like Vivian’s core, it worked only for Users whose Magic Power was 90 or lower. It also bound itself to the wearer. The clever part was that if I had equipped it at 89 Magic Power, it would have raised me to 90. Even if my Magic Power later grew past 90, the already-bound ring would continue granting its increase.
However, for me, whose Magic Power was already 96, it was a different story. I sighed in disappointment and removed the ring. Since I wasn’t eligible to use it, there was no risk of it binding to me.
“Soohyun-ssi…?”
“Sol-ah, come here.”
I heard Jung Hayeon’s questioning voice, but I called Sol over in a gentle tone. Ahn Sol, who had been quietly watching, jumped when I called her. She then trotted over and stuck close to my side.
“It’s better if you use this.”
“Eh…?”
I saw everyone staring at me with surprised faces. I just shrugged at their piercing stares.
“Soohyun-ssi, there’s something I didn’t mention because I wasn’t certain: the ring may bind itself to its wearer. Choose carefully. Will you still give it away, or…?”
So she knew. But since I had already made up my mind to give it away, there was nothing to hold me back. I shook my head firmly.
“It’s fine. A User whose Class depends on Magic Power will benefit from it more.”
“…If you sell that now, you could get at least 20,000 gold for it.”
“We have enough money. It’s better for Sol to use it. Sol, hurry and put it on.”
“O… Orabeoni…”
“Wow… Leader. You’re really something else…”
I heard Shin Sangyong’s admiring voice from the side. Jung Hayeon was also looking at me with a newfound respect. According to the principles of an expedition caravan, the best item goes to the leader. That was the unspoken rule. But seeing me hand it over to Sol, even giving up a stat increase, must have made them see me in a different light. The truth was that it was useless to me, so I was just giving it away, but I figured it was better to let this positive misunderstanding continue.
“O… Orabeoni… I don’t know. You should just put it on for me, Orabeoni… I can’t do it myself…”
Hearing the mention of 20,000 gold, Sol looked anxious and fidgeted, staring at the ring. I let out a short sigh, took Sol’s left hand with one of mine, and held out the ring with the other.
“Sigh. Here, give me your finger. You’re not a baby. When are you going to grow up?”
Sol kept trying to pull her hand away, but the more she did, the tighter I held on. As I tried to force her delicate fingers open, Sol finally offered her left ring finger.
“Should I put it on here?”
Sol gave no answer. She simply looked away and nodded once or twice. When the ring slid onto her small, pale finger, it adjusted automatically, just as the bracelet had when Ahn Hyun put it on.
Soon after, Sol checked her Player Status and quietly announced that her Magic Power had increased by one point. A chorus of gasps shook the room. Everyone envied her.
“Alright, the ring is settled. As for the rest…”
I didn’t think anything of it. But for some reason, Sol’s face was redder than usual, looking like it was about to explode, and she was desperately trying to avoid my gaze. Could she be acting this way because I did something similar to what couples do, or what people do when they get married?
I thought it was cute and dismissed it. But back then, I had no idea what consequences this act would later bring.