Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Soulstone (2)
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The price for drawing soulstones was the same as before.
『Would you like to purchase 1,000,000 tickets?』
― 1,000,000,000 Cash will be deducted.
Drawing on my previous memories, I bought 1 million draw tickets.
For legendary-grade soulstones, you had to pour tens of millions of won into getting just one you wanted.
After purchasing the tickets, I pressed the 10-draw button.
Flash!
A plain light burst in front of my eyes, and ten icons appeared.
『Low-Grade Strength Soulstone x1』
『Low-Grade Agility Soulstone x3』
『Low-Grade Vitality Soulstone x6』
All of them were the lowest grade: low-grade soulstones.
They held no meaning for me now, but they weren't completely useless.
【Disassemble】
― Disassembling soulstones yields soulstone fragments.
Even low-grade ones could be disassembled for fragments.
Those fragments could then be used to enhance soulstones.
Alright then.
Flash!
『Low-Grade Mana Soulstone x6』
『Mid-Grade Strength Soulstone x1』
『Low-Grade Intelligence Soulstone x3』
This time, one mid-grade was mixed in.
It still held no meaning for me right now.
I pressed again.
Kaboom-!
A vivid golden radiance, different from before, filled the entire room.
No way, already?
"Huff!"
Just 30 draws in since starting, and the first legendary soulstone popped out.
When I drew 1st Circle magic before, I had to pull all night, but now my luck seemed back to normal.
The Pulsing Life Soulstone focused on HP, but it was a soulstone that every class equipped at least one of.
Its presence or absence drastically changed survival rates, so it was always checked before big raids.
Dungeons especially had a lot of poison and curse afflictions.
With the Pulsing Life Soulstone, as long as sustained damage didn't kill you, it could eventually heal.
I immediately held the Pulsing Life Soulstone to my chest.
Vmmm-
A sensation spread deep inside me, like something melting and fusing into my soul.
Then, from that spot, a pulsing began, like a heartbeat.
At the same time, my whole body heated up as if thrown into a furnace.
"Did it work?"
The pulsing sound and body heat stopped as if they'd never been there.
However, if there was a change...
"The scars faded."
The scars on my foot from stepping on the spike trap on the 1st floor last time.
They had lightened a bit.
At this rate, the scars might naturally disappear over time.
【Disassemble?】
― Selected soulstones: 99
I ground up all the other soulstones except the Pulsing Life Soulstone.
『Soulstone Fragments』
― 2,100 shards
Soulstone enhancement went up to a total of +10.
There was no destruction risk, but failure reset it to +0.
Because of that, even after graduating with five legendary soulstones, people often kept drawing for enhancement materials.
"This comes after drawing everything."
Enhancements later. I still had a long way to go now.
I needed to finish drawing soulstones quickly and draw legendary 2nd Circle runes too.
I reached for the soulstone draw again.
"Sigh."
Two hours into soulstone drawing.
Had all my luck been used on the first legendary? No more legendaries no matter how much I drew.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
【Disassemble?】
― Selected soulstones: 100
『Soulstone Fragments』
― 919,100 shards
Soulstone fragments piled up insanely.
My button-pressing finger ached.
"Can't someone do this for me?"
Back then, I couldn't understand bosses with money asking for proxy draws.
Drawing is just spending money, right? Why pay someone else? I'd thought.
But now I got it.
Like last time, staring at the same screen for two hours was maddening.
Then.
Rumble-!
"It... it came out!"
As the status window blazed with brilliant golden light, I shot up from the bed and yelled without thinking.
The fatigue I'd felt until moments ago vanished like it'd been washed away.
Beyond that, dopamine surged through my head.
The Soulstone of Enlightened Insight was the endgame soulstone for mages.
It amplified magic power by percentage, so plenty of mages drew solely for it.
I equipped the soulstone immediately.
Something circulated from my chest through my body, power gathering in my head.
My body slowly levitated from the immense force.
Brilliant radiance burst from my head, which felt ready to explode.
My floating body descended to the floor, and the emitted light faded.
The second soulstone seemed stably settled inside me too.
"Ugh......"
A sharp headache throbbed in my head.
The mental exhaustion symptom I'd felt before.
I endured the headache forcibly, waiting for it to calm.
"Whew...."
As I slowly composed my mind and body, the pain gradually subsided.
There was still much left to do.
I couldn't sleep yet.
Drawn back into the flashing status window, I reached for the draw button again.
"Ah."
The popup message snapped me back to reality.
I'd definitely started drawing soulstones in the middle of the night, but now it was bright outside.
I'd ended up using all 1 million tickets.
I did a light splash of water on my face to clear my head.
My under-eye bags looked a bit depressing, but aside from that, my condition was at its peak.
Thanks to my soul growing stronger with each legendary soulstone equipped, naturally enhancing my body and mind.
First, I called up my equipped soulstones.
Thanks to drawing all night, I'd gotten all the soulstones I wanted.
The Overflowing Mana Soulstones were basic stat boosters from the so-called Overflowing series.
Two passive soulstones and three basic stat boosters.
This setup was the standard peak for mages.
Going further might mean swapping the survival Pulsing Life Soulstone for another mana one.
But that tanked stability massively, so it wasn't recommended.
Not particularly efficient either.
『Soulstone Fragments』
― 52,819,400 shards
Disassembling soulstones all night had piled up over 50 million fragments.
Especially from unwanted legendary soulstones, which gave a whopping 3 million each, so they stacked fast.
"...Should I take a break for now."
I needed to enhance soulstones now, but there was no food in the house.
Better to pause here.
Also needed to sell some mana stones.
I chugged a glass of cold water to clear my head and headed out.
First, some food.
"Urp."
In the city's bustling district, I stuffed myself with meat until my belly nearly burst.
Now I felt alive.
I paid 10 platinum coins and left the shop.
"Thank you! Come again!"
The owner uncle, who'd scowled when I came alone, beamed after seeing how much I ate.
I hadn't planned to eat this much either.
Grabbing whatever was at hand, 10 platinum's worth of meat vanished in a flash.
"...Did I grow taller?"
Now that I looked, my line of sight was subtly higher, and the once-loose robe felt tight.
The soulstones had grown my body.
Might as well get a new robe while out.
"Alright then."
Food done, next up.
Ding-a-ling-
"Welcome— Oh!"
I arrived at the city hall to sell mana stones.
As I entered, a familiar clerk waved.
"Rain! Long time no see! ...Huh?"
She sidled up next to me upon seeing me.
"Have you grown taller...? Now that I look, your build seems sturdier too...... Ah! Sorry."
She poked my arm a few times before returning to her station.
I took mana stones from my inventory and handed them to her.
"Wow! Even more than last time?"
She weighed the mana stones on the scale and started logging them.
"All together... 325 platinum coins! Shall I pay it all?"
"Yes."
Clink-
She huffed and puffed, dragging out the heavy bag of platinum coins.
"Whew! Here you go!"
"Thanks."
Taking the platinum bag, I left the hall.
Adding the mana stone sale, I now had 800 platinum coins total.
I swept up non-perishable, low-moisture breads and such, enough to stay indoors for a while.
"This should do it?"
Inventory full of bread, I headed back to my lodging.
"Whew."
Back home, I flopped onto the bed.
Then brought up the soulstone screen again.
『Soulstone of Enlightened Insight』
【Grade: Legendary】
― Enhancement consumes 100 soulstone fragments.
【Success: 70%】 【Failure: Stage Reset】
『Held Soulstone Fragments』
― 52,819,400 shards
Soulstone enhancement consumed 100 fragments per step.
It doubled each subsequent enhancement.
The expected fragments for +10 on one soulstone: 9.5 million.
Calculation-wise, all five could reach +10.
No telling how long it'd take though.
"Whew."
I first pressed enhance.
Clang!
A sound like a hammer striking the soulstone rang out briefly—
"Huh!"
Good start.
I reached for enhancement again.
Then.
*Knock knock.*
Someone knocked on my lodging door.
...Was I too loud?
"...Who is it."
I rushed to open the door immediately.
I swung it open.
"Greetings, Rain. I'm Humphrey of the Dawn Guild."
"......"
A face I'd seen before.
Definitely... from the Dawn Guild.
"What do you want."
"In three days, the 2nd floor boss monster will respawn. Are you considering joining Dawn's subjugation party?"
Boss monsters on each floor typically respawned once a week.
For the underground 1st floor, they formed parties for beginners, but beyond that, you had to assemble your own.
In other words, unlike the 1st floor with knight escorts, from the 2nd floor it was total wilds.
It involved pride battles between guilds and mercenary corps too.
Thus, subjugation parties ran closed off.
No room for independents.
"I'm not joining Dawn."
"As I mentioned last time, you don't have to join if you don't want. Independent is fine. This is a benefit from Dawn, Rain."
Humphrey spat it out fast, fearing another refusal.
"Just show up. If you miss this chance, seeing the 2nd floor boss will be tough."
Humphrey exuded odd confidence.
From his words alone, it sounded like they'd rigged it to keep outsiders from the boss room?
But... I could guess the method.
"I'm good."
For bosses, the final blow taker monopolized items.
But joining a party meant sharing them.
Why would I?
"This is truly a huge opportunity, Rain. Unlike search parties for treasure chests, boss raids always drop artifacts or equivalent items!"
Rejected, Humphrey pleaded urgently.
...No, I'm good.
"Dawn Guild boasts high artifact monopoly rates even in boss raids. If you join our subjugation party, I'm sure you'll see it's a great chance."
"I'm good."
I said no.
I gently pushed aside the still-pitching Humphrey and closed the door.
I need to enhance, and he wasted my time.