The Price of Legend
"Why is your face bare today?"
That was the first thing Rackcho said the moment it saw me.
"It broke."
"Are you okay?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You didn't want to reveal your face when you were Intruding, did you?"
"That's true. But things just turned out this way."
I replied calmly. It wasn't what I wanted, but what was done was done. It was only one person, anyway. The fact that I was the 'Wandering Merchant Rabbit' was something only Seo Ian knew, and as long as she kept her mouth shut, there wouldn't be any problems... Seo Ian's mouth, it’s tight, right?
A sudden wave of anxiety washed over me. My breath hitched.
"Meow? Why are you acting like that all of a sudden?"
"Rackcho. Do you know Seo Ian?"
"How could I not? Ber is so busy bragging about her that my ears are bleeding!"
Rackcho, whose ears drooped as if they were aching just from the thought, made a cat-like grimace. I could see its molars slightly. No, now wasn't the time to be admiring that.
"Is Seo Ian's mouth tight?"
"I don't know about that, but she's someone you can trust."
"Why?"
On what grounds? In my memory, Seo Ian was... uh...
"You just have to tell her beforehand! For example, if you input a command like 'Never tell anyone else about that!', she'll follow it!"
"How are you so sure?"
"Tower Merchants are assigned according to the Awakened's tendencies! And Ber is the type of personality who performs commands 'well' if you input them 'well'!"
"...It's something I can trust, right?"
"Of course!"
I decided to bet on the rule that Tower Merchants do not lie.
"Anyway, are you going to buy something?"
"Is there anything worth buying?"
My income today? It was insane. With the 25 percent encouragement effect and the 10x multiplier from opening the hidden dungeon reward basket, I’d received 250,000 T.C. I wondered if it was a bit stingy for a 10x multiplier, but after seeing my level go up, I decided not to complain. Anyway.
"I'm a rich man today!"
"...The loot box is the main event for hidden dungeons."
Rackcho, who quickly averted its eyes, threw a wet blanket over me as if it had seen right through my rewards. Is that why its name is Rack'cho'?
"No, why do you have to be like that..."
It hurt my feelings.
"Anyway, for the first time in a long while, a Legendary-Grade piece of equipment has come in!"
A person can be a little upset, right? Rackcho, without me even asking, popped the sales window in front of me. Next to the usual recovery potions, a sparkling black glove caught my eye. It felt like a black leather glove with a blue stripe as a point, and it was sophisticated enough to be called stylish even if worn in reality.
"But Rackcho."
"Meow?"
"What is Legendary-Grade?"
"They're items you can only get after 10 stars~."
There was a reason Rackcho was so triumphant. It must have been hard to hold back showing me this until now.
"Our Rackcho. You really are amazing. Out of all the Tower Merchants, you must have the best business sense!"
"Isn't that obvious~? Don't compare me to others! It's unpleasant!"
As it said that, its tail was wagging. And for someone who said it was unpleasant, it was grinning incredibly wide. Its eyes and mouth were curved into a beautiful half-moon shape, but I decided to play along and pretend not to notice.
"But this is..."
◈ Gloves used by a legendary hero!
As expected, the description didn't disappoint. I tilted my head slightly and met Rackcho's eyes.
"First of all, it has a huge defense boost, so you won't die in one hit until the 50th floor!"
Defense. Seeing it today, I realized that was quite important. After getting hit by the boss earlier, whew. I only survived because it was a basic attack; if the boss had used a skill, I don't know what would have happened to me by now. But since I was stuck on the word 'one hit', I wanted to be sure, so I asked Rackcho one more time.
"But I could die if I get hit twice, right?"
"That's right!"
That wasn't very comforting.
"Is that really the only effect it has?"
"How could that be? It's a Legendary-Grade item, after all!"
I didn't know what Legendary-Grade meant, but it seemed better than items with star ratings. "For these kinds of things, the item skill attached to them is what's important!"
"What's the glove's skill?"
"You'll have to wear it to find out!"
A rather irresponsible answer came back.
"No, didn't you just say it would have something good? You sounded like you knew."
"The details depend on the first wearer's traits or tendencies, so I can't know. But the skills attached to 'Starless' equipment are never useless!"
I wondered if it was sincere. Rackcho clenched its two cotton-candy-like fists tightly.
"...How much is it?"
Buying it wouldn't be bad. Even if I failed the gamble on the skill, I could sell the unenhanced item. If worse came to worst, I could dismantle it and use it for materials. But the question of whether that gamble was 'reasonable' remained deep in my heart. When I asked how much it was, Rackcho smiled bashfully instead of answering, and I had a hunch.
"Shall I take a guess?"
"If you guess right, I can't increase the discount rate, but I'll throw in a bonus item."
"250,000 T.C."
I answered boldly. Because that was exactly what I had gotten from the hidden dungeon rewards. Items that came out with the momentum of taking all the rewards I'd earned from that floor so far. Would this be any different?
And my prediction was beautifully...
"Wrong."
It missed.
"Oh, is it cheaper?"
For once? Ah. Is it because the rewards were 10x due to the hidden dungeon? Did it not calculate that? But it had the nuance that 'Starless' items were incredibly good. Didn't it just say it was an item that only appeared after 10 stars?
...A stream of thoughts followed in an instant. Cold sweat began to bead on the back of my neck. Perhaps-.
"Is it more expensive...?"
I asked, glancing at Rackcho's eyes.
"You got it right this time!"
An answer that didn't make me happy at all returned. "It's 1,000,000 T.C."
1,000,000 T.C. Good grief, this was the first time in my life I'd felt a cat lacked a conscience. It wasn't even a weapon, just a pair of gloves? No matter how legendary or starless it was, wasn't this too much? Why? Should I ask it to write up a slave contract instead?
"Rackcho."
"Meow?"
"You seem to know exactly how much I earn and how much I have, so to call out an amount like that..."
"But once you buy it, you only need to enhance and repair it until you reach the high floors, so you won't need to change it!"
It would have the condition 'as long as it isn't destroyed', but Rackcho didn't bother saying such nonsense.
"No, I know that's good, but I don't have enough T.C. right now."
I put my hand into my inventory and touched the advance payment Seo Ian had given me in the bundle. It was exactly 50,000 T.C. Even combined, it was 300,000 T.C. and some change. It meant I was short by a whopping 700,000 T.C.
"Rackcho."
"Don't keep calling my name. I'll get attached."
"It is a 50 percent discounted price, right?"
"Of course!"
I confirmed that it wasn't because the hidden dungeon was a special floor where the 50 percent discount effect didn't apply. If so.
"Rackcho, are you busy?"
"Why would I be busy? Tower Merchants are only busy in the morning when they're stocking items, and after that, I have plenty of time~."
"Then wait a moment."
I saw Rackcho's tail bend into a question mark, but I didn't care and took my phone out of my pocket. Then, I accessed the Awakened community. I set the search filter to 'Apply All'. I searched for 'Starless' and 'Legendary-Grade' in order. ...As expected, nothing came up. Given the nature of the community, which enjoys spreading other people's stories, if it wasn't in the domestic community, it meant it wasn't in the overseas community either. Because of that, even more so.
"Tsk. That's a shame."
It was a shame. Truly. An item that would be good to buy. It would be the icing on the cake if I used it, and even if I didn't, it would be easy to sell and exchange for other items. To have to miss out on that because I lacked T.C.! And I didn't know when the hidden dungeon would appear again!
I thought that from now on, I should 'think' a little more before converting things to cash.
"Is it because you're short on T.C.?"
"Yes."
"Credit is also possible!"
"Haven't you never done that before?"
"There is a credit rating between Tower Merchants and the Awakened. Your credit rating with me has increased a lot, Uju, so it's possible up to a certain amount!"
"Our Rackcho!!"
As I danced with joy, Rackcho also stood up on two legs and started dancing along. I didn't know if I was laughing because I was happy or because that sight was cute. Well, it could be both. Anyway.
"Then I'll take it on credit!"
"Interest is 0.01 percent per day!"
"Interest?"
Snap. As I stopped my dancing shoulders, Rackcho also stopped dead in its tracks, then lowered its front paws and stood on all fours.
"It used to be 1 percent per day, so it's gone down a lot!"
Its bright blue eyes looked up at me. 1 percent of 700,000 T.C. is 7,000 T.C. per day. Even if 1 T.C. is 10,000 won, that's 70 million won a day! Looking at it that way, the 0.01% Rackcho suggested was certainly low, but... thinking about it carefully, this was also 700,000 won a day, and over 20 million won in monthly interest! 'Ah, is this really the "I'll lend it to you!" feeling between friends? Besides, the method of calling out a high amount first so the later conditions feel okay is...'
I looked at Rackcho, who was beaming, with a sense of unease. Was it just my imagination that Rackcho felt like a loan shark from a movie today?
I asked cautiously.
"By any chance... it's not compound interest, is it?"
* * *
"Whoa! You startled me!"
The large house, which I still hadn't fully adjusted to, welcomed me. "Anyway, now that I look at it, it's a bit desolate."
Whether it was because of the height that seemed to reach the sky like a skyscraper, or the vast floor space that reminded me of a school auditorium, the house I returned to after a full day felt a bit lonely rather than peaceful.
"Should I fill it with more furniture? I already have everything I need, so maybe something like a giant plastic model."
Then, suddenly, I realized the fact that I had no money. It was because the fact that I had emptied my entire fortune and even gone into debt to buy the Starless gloves just a moment ago flashed through my mind. It was a relief that it wasn't compound interest, at least.
"Inventory first."
I had leveled up, and I would distribute the stats later. That wasn't important right now. "Look at how beautiful the form is."
It was worth the high price. When I took it out and placed it on my hand, the luster was something else. The blue string near the wrist, which served as a point, also had a different shine. The material didn't seem to be leather, and I didn't know what it was, but as I turned it this way and that, it emitted different, brilliant blue lights, so it didn't seem like fabric I could easily find. Instinctively, I knew it was a class I had never seen in my life.
"You said I'd know if I wore it, right?"
The skill attached to the 'Starless' item. Rackcho said I'd know if I wore it. It said the skill would be generated according to my traits and tendencies, but in my heart, I was praying desperately that it would be based on my tendencies. Because if it was based on my trait (Intrusion), I had no idea what would come out. Of course, in the cases where something was attached based on my trait so far? Nothing useless had ever been attached. However, they were always things that showed the extreme of 'depending on the user'.
I hoped for something intuitive, rather than something that required me to rack my brain. In fact, what I wanted most was a powerful and flashy one-hit skill, but there was no way such a thing would be attached to gloves. Holding the gloves, which were worth far more than a high-end apartment, I picked up my phone. Wishes or hopes are better the more specific they are. Let's at least see what kind of skills can be attached to gloves!
...There were no posts. I refrained from posting and asking like last time, because I remembered the burdensome attention I'd already received from others, starting with "This bastard, he's hit it big! He's hit it big!". I didn't know if I would have sold it, but I didn't have any intention of selling it right now.
"God, Buddha, ancestors, Allahu Akbar... is that not it? Anyway, many gods, please, something good!!"
With my eyes tightly shut, I quickly put on the gloves. However.
"Ah. Does this also only show the skill if I wear it inside the Tower like a weapon? Tower Intrusion Window."
Strike while the iron is hot. If I didn't check the skill today, I wouldn't be able to sleep from curiosity. Since I had just returned home after working myself to the bone in Seo Ian's hidden dungeon, my fatigue was at its maximum, but I found a spare rabbit mask I had prepared at home without hesitation and pulled up the Tower Intrusion Window.
As always, not a high floor, but a low floor. I intended to pull my contribution with a 'sub-dealer effect' rather than an 'encouragement effect', and come back out as quickly as possible! No, I'm human too, multiple runs in one day? Honestly, it's painful.