Luck Has Its Price
Yoon Sang-hyuk was walking through the construction site of the new city district.
“It’s almost finished,” Jey said, looking around as she walked beside him. As she said, the district was nearing completion.
There were no modern high-rises here, only quaint little buildings. None of them rose higher than three stories. Their exteriors weren’t painted in a single uniform color, but in a mix of different shades. Even the roads between the buildings had been paved the old-fashioned way, with stones set into the ground instead of asphalt.
Taken on its own, the district looked less like the capital of South Korea and more like some provincial city in Europe.
“The land acquisition is finished, right?”
They had taken over every building and parcel of land that had belonged to the Yuseong Group. Once the permits came through, construction would begin there too.
“What do you plan to use that area for?”
“I haven’t thought too deeply about it yet.”
“The Dark Merchant Guild would like to buy a little land there. Would that be possible?”
“Nothing difficult about that. But what would you use the land for?”
Jey glanced at the Masked Castle and said, “You know why. The Masked Castle may be safe, but it’s inconvenient in all the ways that matter.”
In truth, that was the biggest reason the city district was being built in the first place.
“So I’ll have to overcharge you.”
“Go ahead. If I buy it now, the land price is only going to go up. I never make a deal that loses money.”
Once complete, the district would become a center for players from all over the world. Even now, famous players from around the globe were flocking to the Masked Castle to buy armor, weapons, and potions.
For that reason, companies and franchise chains that wanted a foothold in the district were already lining up. But Yoon Sang-hyuk had no intention of giving them a chance.
The district existed solely for the people of the Masked Castle and their families. Even if shops and businesses were allowed in, the highest priority would go to the families of those belonging to the Masked Castle.
“See that biggest building over there?”
“Yes. What are you planning to use it for, that you built it so much larger than the others?”
There was one building that occupied a lot more ground than the rest, more than three times as much as the neighboring structures.
“The first floor will sell weapons and gear for players. The second floor will be for accessories and potions, and the third floor will be an auction house.”
“You’re planning to steal our rice bowl too?”
“I’m planning to leave the auction to the Dark Merchant Guild. Even just taking the commission should bring in a serious amount of money, wouldn’t it?”
“As expected, you’re a considerate lord.”
Then Jey continued casually, “The atmosphere has been getting ugly lately.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk knew exactly what she meant. Several countries had been denouncing South Korea, or more precisely, the Masked Castle. Those were the countries that had been barred from entering the Steel Mountains.
Leading the charge in attacking the South Korean government and Yoon Sang-hyuk were Britain and the countries around it. Day after day, they were blasting South Korea’s government and the Masked Lord, accusing them of giving the Steel Mountains raid rights to certain countries and player groups in order to freeze out everyone else.
When the local thug next door was more frightening than the nationwide gang leader on the news, the neighboring countries that had to worry about Britain had no choice but to fall in line.
The opinion campaign that began in Britain spread quickly to other countries. Naturally, these were the countries whose top guilds had not been granted permission to attack the Steel Mountains.
Japan, their neighboring country, was watching South Korea’s mood and quietly joining in the criticism.
“Let them bark through their holes all they want. They’ll pay the price for it.”
“That sounds like you. If they wait quietly, you’ll give them a chance anyway. Still, they really don’t understand the lord’s deeper intentions.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk gave a short laugh.
“You want something from me, don’t you? Why are you being so nice about it?”
“The Chaos Box.”
“Persistent, aren’t you. Can you even be sure the Chaos Box drops from the Castle of Chaos?”
“No.”
“Then why do you keep saying that?”
The Chaos Box itself carried enormous significance. If word got out that the Chaos Box dropped in the Castle of Chaos and that the Masked Castle had exclusive access to it, the uproar would make the Steel Mountains issue look trivial by comparison.
The Chaos Box was the means by which one could obtain mythic-grade items, which stood above even legendary grade, the strongest items known in Eternal World.
“I don’t know for certain whether the Chaos Box comes from the Castle of Chaos. But hear me out anyway.”
“I’m not very interested.”
“Listening doesn’t cost money.”
“It does cost me something else, though. My precious time. There’s a joke in Korea that says time is gold.”
“Luck stat.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk, who had been walking on as if ignoring Jey, stopped at once.
“Luck stat?”
“You’ve heard of luck stats too, haven’t you, lord?”
There were countless bits of hearsay floating around Eternal World. The luck stat was one of them.
At one point, the story that some player had “completed a certain quest and received a luck stat as the reward” became a hot topic in Eternal World.
But whether it was true was never confirmed. No one ever came forward as a player who actually possessed a luck stat. Over time, a few players who liked making things up bragged that they had a luck stat, but nobody believed them.
“There’s a player who has a luck stat.”
“Hah. That’s an interesting claim. A luck stat, huh.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk laughed and started walking again. But soon he had to stop once more.
“He’s one of the people in the Dark Merchant Guild.”
Seeing that Yoon Sang-hyuk seemed interested in what she was saying, Jey moved closer to his side and went on, “His name is Lee Jae-sung. As you’d guess from the name, he’s Korean.”
“Lee Jae-sung has a luck stat?”
“To be exact, it isn’t a luck stat. He has a skill related to luck.”
“Then say it simply.”
“Lee Jae-sung was a member of the Dark Merchant branch in the capital of the Amalon Empire in that other world. He was obsessed with gambling. He showed up at the casino every day like it was his workplace. As a branch manager, he earned a fair amount of money, and then threw every last bit of it away at the tables.”
Jey kept talking.
Lee Jae-sung had been addicted to gambling.
In real life too, he had ruined his family by going mad for gambling. Apparently, even in Eternal World, he gambled away everything he earned.
After more than ten years of living in the casino and losing himself in the vice, Lee Jae-sung was one day given a quest by a gambler in the casino.
The quest was simple enough. He had to play a dice game with the gambler who gave it to him and win 777 times.
It sounded like an easy quest. But the gambler who issued it was the best gambler in the casino, and beating him was no simple matter.
Still, true to the stubborn spirit of a Korean who loved gambling, Lee Jae-sung eventually cleared the quest with enough time and money.
“The skill he got from that was Miracle Dice.”
“Miracle Dice? That’s a strange name for a skill. What does it do?”
“When he activates it, he can roll special dice. He rolls three seven-sided dice, and the higher the numbers, the more his luck rises. You know those events where they sometimes give out random boxes? Lee Jae-sung always got surprisingly good items from those.”
“So what you’re saying is that this Lee Jae-sung can boost his luck with a skill, then open the Chaos Box?”
“Exactly.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk started walking again.
“How is it? Tempting, right? Good thing you listened to me, isn’t it?”
* * *
His forehead was narrow, and his eyebrows were thin. His small eyes slanted sharply, and his front teeth jutted out. His jawline was narrow too, the kind of face people commonly called a “rat face.”
Standing a little apart, Yoon Sang-hyuk watched the man looking around nervously. More than ten members of the Masked Mercenary Group were lined up around him.
“Mr. Lee Jae-sung. Say hello. This is the Masked Lord.”
“Ah, h-hello. I’m Lee Jae-sung from the Dark Merchant Guild.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk gave a slight nod.
“You have a skill called Miracle Dice?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Can you explain the skill in detail?”
“It’s simple. I roll three seven-sided dice, and the higher the total, the more luck I gain. If I go over 10, it’s a small boost. Over 15, a medium boost. Over 20, a large one. And if all three dice land on the same number, it’s a jackpot. Of course, 7, 7, 7 is the best luck of all.”
“Have you used the skill recently?”
Lee Jae-sung nodded vigorously.
“Do you know I hit the jackpot on the slot machines at Jeongseon Casino last month?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk shook his head. He had never been interested in gambling. He only watched the news that mattered, so he hadn’t heard about what Lee Jae-sung was talking about.
Then Ice Flower, who stood beside Yoon Sang-hyuk, spoke up.
“It was a big issue for a while. The winnings were enormous.”
“Really?”
Lee Jae-sung grinned and said, “That lucky man was me. Hahaha.”
“All right, then. What’s the skill cooldown?”
“Well... one day.”
“One day? That’s an awfully long cooldown.”
“Miracle Dice is a really great skill, but the one and only downside is that the cooldown is long.”
“How likely is it to roll a high number?”
Lee Jae-sung scratched his head.
“That’s... there’s no real standard for it.”
“How many days did it take you to hit the jackpot at Gangwon Casino?”
“That time I was really lucky. It took exactly twenty-seven days before I rolled 6, 6, 6.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk shook his head with a quiet sigh.
“So normally, it takes even longer to get a high roll than that?”
“That’s right. When it doesn’t come, it just keeps being a bust for two months, three months...”
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked at Jey. Jey gave an awkward smile and shrugged.
If Lee Jae-sung was telling the truth, then Miracle Dice was undoubtedly an excellent skill. It meant that at least several times a year, one could gain extraordinary luck. But from Yoon Sang-hyuk’s perspective, waiting months just to open one box was a terrible waste of time.
Of course, if that led to a high-grade item from the Chaos Box, then even if it took a long time, it might still be worth the investment. But if the Masked Mercenary Group kept clearing the Castle of Chaos, the Chaos Boxes would slowly pile up anyway.
“It’s not efficient.”
“I-is that so?”
Lee Jae-sung trembled, afraid that the verdict might somehow come back to hurt him.
“Let’s take a look first, anyway. You haven’t used the skill today, have you?”
“No, not yet. Should I do it now?”
When Yoon Sang-hyuk nodded, Lee Jae-sung immediately shouted the skill name, “Miracle Dice!” Mana gathered in front of him. The skill was activating. But whether it was only visible to Lee Jae-sung, Yoon Sang-hyuk couldn’t see the dice at all.
Lee Jae-sung’s expression hardened. Even without asking, Yoon Sang-hyuk felt like he already knew the result.
“What did you get?”
Lee Jae-sung scratched his head and answered in a tiny voice, “Well... 1, 2, 3.”