Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Making Money Strategically (1)
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“Crazy.”
The gear acquisition quest. And the stats of the first sealed gear he’d ever obtained. Rokan's expression went blank for a moment as he checked them over.
To think even the sealed version had stats like this.
No matter how he sliced it, this was an item you’d only see at level 100 at the earliest—no, level 150. And there were no equip restrictions, either. Even if he wore nothing else for armor, just this one piece would match or exceed the total defense of any average warrior build.
“I never imagined it was this good…”
Come to think of it, the guy who’d cleared this quest had made a real name for himself, even though his control wasn’t anything special. Rokan didn’t know how many pieces he’d collected, including the Sealed Lion King’s Helmet, but judging by that, it had to have been a set.
“The lack of hints is the problem, though…”
He had no clue where to find the remaining pieces or how to get them. But Rokan wasn’t too worried. If that guy could do it, so could he.
What piqued his interest more was whether the set effects would activate without gathering the full set. That was the defining trait of set items—the more pieces you equipped, the stronger the bonuses got.
“Either way, it’s better than I expected.”
[The Hero's Trial has completely ended.]
[The Lion King's gear possesses a power that draws the pieces together. You will sense it when near other gear.]
[The Instant Dungeon 'Lion King's Tomb' is vanishing.]
[Teleporting to the outside shortly. 5, 4, 3…]
While Rokan marveled, the system diligently carried out its duties. The door he’d opened by touching the wall must have actually been the entrance to the Instant Dungeon.
A moment later, the surroundings dissolved into particles of light, and Rokan's body was forcibly teleported outside.
* * *
Rokan returned to the same plaza where he’d first encountered the Lion King statue.
“Back to the plaza, huh?”
That was when it happened.
Crack, craaaack!
“Whoa, dodge!”
Right on cue, as Rokan arrived in the plaza, the statue crumbled on its own.
But no one suspected him. Plenty of other players were returning to town amid bursts of light.
It looked just like the effect from using a return scroll, so the statue simply appeared to have collapsed by itself.
‘Next up is the ‘Messenger of Love’ quest, right?’
Ignoring the chaos, Rokan simply recalled his next plan.
His next target was a chain quest that started with delivering love letters. You could only pick it up after raising your reputation to [Friendly], and it involved a whopping twelve minor delivery steps before the two lovebirds finally confessed their feelings.
‘Ugh, what a pain.’
The problem was that the woman already had a fiancé.
Well, not quite a fiancé—it was just a recent marriage proposal. There was plenty of room to interfere, but the issue was that the guy pursuing her was a total nobody.
He could make a living, sure, but her family was among the wealthier commoners, and the suitor was from a similar background.
Even though both were commoners, their families opposed the match fiercely.
Who knew commoners could be so picky.
In the end, they pushed forward with the marriage to the other guy. The woman couldn’t bring herself to betray her family’s expectations.
Tearfully sending her lover away, she left him one final letter—and a gift.
[Tear Emerald Necklace][Magic]
A necklace made from an emerald resembling a woman’s tears. It embodies longing for a loved one and prayers for their well-being.
- Hemostasis effect
-Basic HP regen +50%
-All recovery effects +20%
“Is it really okay for me to accept this?”
But the man refused the gift after reading the letter. He said having it would keep him from ever forgetting her, trapping him in self-loathing and torment. He might even be tempted to sell it someday—something that would take him years, decades to afford on his own.
Thanks to that, it became Rokan's.
‘It’s good, but…’
The Tear Emerald Necklace’s effects were incredible. It was hard to believe it was just Magic-grade. He could keep using it right up until he got its superior version, the ‘Elf’s Tear Necklace.’
Especially for Rokan, who needed to rapidly boost his HP within five seconds after Berserk’s backlash, it offered top-tier efficiency. No matter the form, nothing else with these effects would make him consider swapping it out—it was that appealing.
But it left a bitter taste.
“Whew, reality or here, life’s a bitch either way.”
Truth be told, Rokan didn’t know the full story after that. There were tales of the man gritting his teeth and succeeding, others of him killing himself out of despair over his pathetic self, and some saying he married just anyone to forget her and regretted it forever.
Even though the quest had appeared in game broadcasts as a tearjerker that left everyone bittersweet, the player who cleared it never revealed what happened to the man afterward.
So Rokan could only hope the guy didn’t take the extreme route. He’d love to stick around and watch, but sadly, he didn’t have the time.
“Busy, so busy.”
Instead of tailing the man, Rokan moved on to the next quest.
He’d planned a ton of things from the start, but thanks to his title effects giving him [Friendly] reputation right away, he skipped all the reputation-grinding quests entirely.
In their place, he cherry-picked every high-value quest available at [Friendly] or higher.
Quests with great rewards, tons of EXP, or handy little titles. Rokan snapped them all up.
Some were one-time-only, like the love letter chain, and there were quite a few of those.
A few had already been cleared by others, but he managed to first-clear most of what he’d planned.
“Nice.”
He’d spent the full three days playing errand boy, but the results were satisfying. He leveled up once from quest rewards alone, and his title effects boosted his main stats by over 10 each.
Plus, he snagged useful special effects like resistance boosts. No losses there.
But apparently, Rokan wasn’t the only busy one. As he paused to listen, all sorts of chatter flooded in.
“Did you hear? Someone’s already hit 70.”
“70’s nothing. I heard there’s an 80.”
“No way, I’m so jealous. When am I gonna hit 50?”
“Yeah, ‘tank up’ already. Why do you always go down after a few mobs? We can’t farm properly because of you.”
“Ugh, that wasn’t my fault yesterday. Blame those damn PK assholes.”
“Sigh, when’s someone gonna clean up those pricks? Dying and running all day—we’re always in the red, man.”
Level milestones, hot job trees, auction house jackpots. He didn’t even need to check the forums; the info flowed freely.
‘Time for me to pick up the pace, too.’
Absorbing the gossip, Rokan steeled his resolve once more. His own leveling speed was impressive enough, but Koreans’ ‘power-leveling optimization’ was world-famous.
To claim the big prizes ahead, he needed to crank up his speed.
Still, he hadn’t left town yet for one reason.
‘It’s about time…’
He remembered an update hitting around now.
He couldn’t recall the exact time or date, so he was hanging out in the city, waiting.
‘Not bad for a noble.’
And right then, a new announcement popped up.
[Notice 1. Guild system has been updated.]
[Guilds can now be created by purchasing a ‘Guild Stone.’ Guild Stones can be destroyed by attacks, so install them in safe locations or pay a fee to store them at a Guild Management Office.]
[Notice 2. Housing system has been updated.]
[You can now buy empty houses in cities, purchase real estate, or build your own homes. Owning a house requires monthly taxes. If taxes are overdue for 3 months or more, the house may go to auction or be automatically demolished. Please take note.]
[Notice 3. New items have been added. Added item list: Contracts, silk bandages, dyes…]
“Finally.”
The guild system update. No more pretending to be a guild while clumping together—now they’d get official system recognition.
“Those bastards are gonna freak.”
Confirming it matched what he knew, Rokan grinned. He already knew the price of a ‘Guild Stone.’
A single scroll to summon one cost a whopping 50 gold. Way too much for casual guild play, so half-baked groups would likely disband and join the first real guilds instead.
“The MP Guild’s gotta be sweating now.”
Funny enough, it matched the exact amount he’d made selling that secret dungeon. He couldn’t help a chuckle.
Of course, he had no plans to make a solo guild or anything right now. But watching others squirm was always fun.
The second update, though—that had his full attention. The ‘Housing System.’ Buying empty houses, renting, or even buying land to build fresh. The future it promised was simple.
Real estate prices skyrocketing!
Limited supply, endless demand—prices had to explode.
“Investments are all about real estate.”
With that, Rokan bolted to the auction house and collected payment on his listed items. They were bound to sell fast anyway.
[Funds: 65 gold 32 silver 63 copper]
A full 65 gold! At current rates—20k won per gold—that was over 13 million won in cash, a fortune. But to Rokan, it felt woefully short.
What he had planned next would cost far more.
* * *
With every coin scraped together, Rokan found the estate executor faster than anyone and declared his intent.
“I want to contract some houses.”
“What kind of houses, and what contract terms?”
“I’d like to see as many 3-room houses and two-story homes as possible. Long-term lease preferred.”
The fun part? He was renting, not buying.
Simple as the difference between buying and renting. You could own a home without outright purchasing it.
Most players wouldn’t know this right after the housing update, but Rokan was the exception.
‘65 gold. Tight, but if I can snag them first, it’s free money.’
After touring the city’s empty houses with the executor, Rokan nodded in satisfaction and confirmed the contracts. Terms: long-term lease, as discussed.
Pay monthly rent for a year in exchange for temporary ownership rights. Plus, as the first contractor, he’d get first dibs on renegotiating after.
“Very well. But… you’re contracting all of these?”
The sheer number shocked even the executor. Long-term leases cut the monthly rent some, but it still started at gold per month. 4 gold for a 3-room house, 5 for a two-story—ten houses alone would run 40-50 gold.
But Rokan had picked fifteen total. Ten 3-room houses, five two-stories. Basically every available 3-room and two-story in Trinsic.
It tallied exactly to 65 gold—a massive deal. The executor double-checked.
“Yes, all of them.”
“Understood. First month’s rent upfront, please.”
Rokan’s firm tone ended the questions. The executor took the prepayment—plus a 32 silver 50 copper fee. Rokan was left penniless.
[Funds: 13 copper]
“Heh heh heh heh!”
But for some reason, he laughed like a madman.
“Flip ‘em for double easy? Nah, gotta aim for triple. How high did prices go again…”
Rokan planned to resell the lease rights to guilds. They were hyper-focused on Guild Stones now, but once they had those, houses would be next.
A guild house was power, prestige. No warehouse meant inventory overflow for spare gear and stones, and single rooms were too cramped.
They’d have no choice but to rent Rokan’s 3-rooms or two-stories.
Classic real estate speculation—profiting off others’ land and money!
The golden goose had just landed in his hands.