Chapter 47: Teammate (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 47: Teammate (1)
I got 230,000 stones by exchanging raw mana stones. The cost of the equipment from the blond-haired party of four was just eight hundred thousand. I received five million in settlement money from the guild, and obtained one million through blackmail. In addition, I had the thirty thousand in compensation from the innkeeper.
The Golden Mask is worth about five hundred thousand stones, but... since I'm going to hold onto it, pass.
If I did the math, excluding the 300,000 I gave to Ainar and the 150,000 I threw down the drain, my current worth was...
6.61 million stones.
In truth, that number was huge. If I maintained my current lifestyle, that amount was enough for me to get by for the next three years without having to enter the labyrinth once. Of course, that calculation was based on the relatively low cost of taxes in the first few years.
If I subtract about seventy thousand stones for a sufficient standard of living, that leaves me a total budget of... 6.54 million stones.
I sped up my steps, recalling the items on the shopping list I had prepared last night. I didn't walk to my destination, though.
"Is this wagon heading to Sector Two?"
"That's right."
When I arrived at the shared platform, I paid the five-hundred-stone fee and got on a ten-person carriage.
The actual price per person was 250 stones, but the reason I had to pay this much was that a barbarian was too big for another person to sit in the seat next to them.
God damn it.
That enraged me for some reason, probably because it was a reasonable explanation.
"We're here."
After sitting in my seat and falling asleep with drool running down the side of my mouth, we arrived at Sector Two, the northern region of Kommelby, the commercial district. It took about four hours. If we had been able to cross through the royal capital of Karnon, that time would have been cut in half, but with my current reputation, that was impossible.
After a quick meal at a nearby restaurant, I headed to my destination using a map I had purchased in advance. Getting there was much easier than I thought. It wasn't long before I spotted a majestic building in the distance.
[Alminus Central Exchange]
This was one of my favorite facilities to use in the game, the Central Exchange. It gave you the advantage of not having to wander through the city to sell products, and instead allowed you to find specific items much more easily. But in return, you had to pay a fee to use it.
"Are you registered for licensed sales?"
"No. I'm here to search for stuff."
After taking a numbered ticket and waiting for a while, I submitted my pre-filled documents to the worker.
"There are a total of twelve items that meet your criteria. Would you like to check the list?"
"Of course."
The search fee for each item was three thousand stones. After paying this and waiting for a while, the worker pulled out some papers and brought them to me.
"Once you read through those, you can tell that employee back there which items you'd like and they'll take you to see them."
In the game, you just had to press the Buy button, but I guess this was how it worked in real life. It made sense why there would be a fee for this kind of system. It covered the cost of labor.
Anyway, let's read this first.
Like the other customers crowding the exchange, I sat down in an empty spot and read through the documents. Only twelve items met my criteria, so it didn't take long to read them all.
"I want to see this item here."
Having selected the item with the most reasonable price on the list, I headed to the storage area with the help of the staff. After checking for defects several times, I bought it with cash without hesitation.
[Expandable Backpack
Storage Area: 8th grade
Shape: Standard mid-size backpack
Enchantments: Automatic Organization, Individual Deposit, and Withdrawal, Lightweight (low)
Price: 2.5 million stones]
The expandable backpack was a little different from a normal subspace, but at my current budget, I was grateful to at least be able to get this. If the storage level was grade eight, it was already three times the size of my extra-large backpack.
And it comes with all three sets of magic enchantments.
All in all, it was worth it. Even if I could forgo the Automatic Organization enchantment, which stored items in the best possible arrangement, Lightweight was pretty much essential. Think about it. No matter how wide the space in the bag was, if the weight of the items inside remained the same, it would be useless.
On that note, it's the same for putting things in and taking them out easily.
This was an expandable backpack I had bought for convenience. However, if there were no way to put an item in and easily get it out of the bag, you'd have to do last-in, first-out and take them out in the order you put them in.
It was already so inconvenient in the game, but in the real world, it would be no joke.
It was a bit disappointing that it was a backpack and not another type of bag, but I shouldn't get greedy. I decided to be satisfied with this, and with the purchased backpack in hand, I returned to the spot I was sitting before. Then I continued to search for other items. My remaining budget was about four million stones.
[You are wearing an Expandable Backpack. Inventory has significantly increased.]
Now that I'd taken care of convenience, it was time to raise my combat power.
***
Four million stones. It was a huge amount, enough to fit you with a full set of iron armor or raise you to level three of the Immortality Imprint. Neither option was bad, but I didn't choose either of them. That was because the situation now was different.
[(P) Source of Darkness — Grants you the ability to resist death while your heart is intact.]
I now had the essence of a vampire that I had not been planning for. Thanks to that, I had a body that would not die as long as my heart was intact. In other words, strengthening the Immortality Imprint or buying things like fitted gaiters would inevitably have a low efficiency-to-cost ratio. After much deliberation, I made my final decision.
Raise the tier of the equipment instead.
In other words, instead of iron, which was a grade one metal, I decided to purchase equipment made from a grade two metal, commonly referred to as the upper tier.
[You are wearing a lithinum breastplate. Your Item Level has increased by +270.]
Lithinum: a grade-two metal that is two times lighter and stronger than iron. Its most notable characteristics were its white color and ridiculously expensive price.
Anyway, let's read this first.
Like the other customers crowding the exchange, I sat down in an empty spot and read through the documents. Only twelve items met my criteria, so it didn't take long to read them all.
"I want to see this item here."
Having selected the item with the most reasonable price on the list, I headed to the storage area with the help of the staff. After checking for defects several times, I bought it with cash without hesitation.
[Expandable Backpack
Storage Area: 8th grade
Shape: Standard mid-size backpack
Enchantments: Automatic Organization, Individual Deposit, and Withdrawal, Lightweight (low)
Price: 2.5 million stones]
The expandable backpack was a little different from a normal subspace, but at my current budget, I was grateful to at least be able to get this. If the storage level was grade eight, it was already three times the size of my extra-large backpack.
And it comes with all three sets of magic enchantments.
All in all, it was worth it. Even if I could forgo the Automatic Organization enchantment, which stored items in the best possible arrangement, Lightweight was pretty much essential. Think about it. No matter how wide the space in the bag was, if the weight of the items inside remained the same, it would be useless.
On that note, it's the same for putting things in and taking them out easily.
This was an expandable backpack I had bought for convenience. However, if there were no way to put an item in and easily get it out of the bag, you'd have to do last-in, first-out and take them out in the order you put them in.
It was already so inconvenient in the game, but in the real world, it would be no joke.
It was a bit disappointing that it was a backpack and not another type of bag, but I shouldn't get greedy. I decided to be satisfied with this, and with the purchased backpack in hand, I returned to the spot I was sitting before. Then I continued to search for other items. My remaining budget was about four million stones.
[You are wearing an Expandable Backpack. Inventory has significantly increased.]
Now that I'd taken care of convenience, it was time to raise my combat power.
***
Four million stones. It was a huge amount, enough to fit you with a full set of iron armor or raise you to level three of the Immortality Imprint. Neither option was bad, but I didn't choose either of them. That was because the situation now was different.
[(P) Source of Darkness — Grants you the ability to resist death while your heart is intact.]
I now had the essence of a vampire that I had not been planning for. Thanks to that, I had a body that would not die as long as my heart was intact. In other words, strengthening the Immortality Imprint or buying things like fitted gaiters would inevitably have a low efficiency-to-cost ratio. After much deliberation, I made my final decision.
Raise the tier of the equipment instead.
In other words, instead of iron, which was a grade one metal, I decided to purchase equipment made from a grade two metal, commonly referred to as the upper tier.
[You are wearing a lithinum breastplate. Your Item Level has increased by +270.]
Lithinum: a grade-two metal that is two times lighter and stronger than iron. Its most notable characteristics were its white color and ridiculously expensive price.
It's 1.91 million stones for one breastplate...
The breastplate I purchased through the exchange had the same shape as the iron half-armor I had sold for scrap metal, but the price was over five times higher.
True, I mean, you need to be at least a fourth-floor adventurer to use a second-grade metal, so that's pretty obvious.
Of the equipment for various body parts I could have purchased, my reason for choosing a breastplate was simple: the more my heart was kept safe and protected, the greater the benefit of the passive skill Source of Darkness. Either way, safety was paramount, so there was no debate about the breastplate. However, for the second piece of equipment, I was thinking it through until the moment I finalized the purchase.
[You are wearing a large battle shield made of lithinum. Your Item Level has increased by +315.]
Should I replace my weapon or my shield, which had been sold for the price of scrap metal? After much deliberation, I paid 2.1 million stones to purchase a shield. There were many reasons for that, but the main one was that I had no reason to deal damage now. So far, I'd only entered the labyrinth in duos. However, heading to a higher floor required team play with a minimum of four people. That meant it was far more efficient for me to hold a shield and become a human barrier that protected the party.
The vampire's essence is not the essence of someone in a damage dealer role.
Above all, unlike a weapon, a shield was a piece of equipment that I could continue to use even after obtaining that essence. And without a shield, I felt like something was missing.
At this point, my wallet was completely empty.
Hmm, the equipment is starting to shine now.
When I looked in the mirror, my heart was filled with a deep satisfaction. Was that also a change that came with becoming a barbarian?
***
[Bjorn Yandel
Level: 3
Physique: 155
Spirit: 90
Special Ability: 115
Item Level: 683 (New +585)
General Combat Power: 527.75 (New +146.25)
Acquired Essences: Corpse Golem - Rank 7 / Vampire (Guardian) - Rank 5]
***
By the time I finished my reasonable spending spree, it was already dinnertime. Having had dinner at the same restaurant where I had lunch, I took the wagon back to Sector Thirteen, where my inn was located. After that, the day was over.
It takes too long to travel...
Later, once I made a lot of money, I'd have to relocate to the city center. Living on the outskirts came with many inconveniences. Even though this new inn was a little closer to the center, I still had a long way to go to get to Dimension Square.
At the end of the day, everything is about money...
As I'd spent a lot today, I went to sleep with a determination to earn more money.
Then, the next morning, like a diligent barbarian, I went to the library first thing.
I've taken care of the things I need to deal with immediately, so I should head there again.
It was a habit of Korean gamers to do manual labor in their spare time. Well, this was manual labor that I could do because this was reality and not a game. I still lacked the common sense and common knowledge of this world.
On that note, it would be nice to find a house near the library, too.
Books were food for the soul. The reason I was able to make such smart purchases at the exchange in the first place was that I'd been reading about it at the library.
What was the title of that book?
I couldn't remember, but it recorded the average trading price of items on the exchange for the past ten years. It was hard to read because there were so many numbers, but there was no better textbook to learn market prices than that book.
As I walked around, my thoughts wandering, I arrived at my destination. Nothing had changed from my last visit: the scent of books emanating from the entire building, the skinny nerds who arrived even earlier than I did, and the librarian sitting at the counter with a sleepy look on her face.
"Long time no see."
As I greeted her just like I did the last time I saw her, the librarian glanced up and gave me a strange look. Then, she mumbled, "...How?"
Oh, did she notice this stuff? "Haha, it's a lithinum breastplate and shield. It came out to a total of four million stones. Ah, and this on my back is an Expandable Backpack—"
"Parsytiev."
Hmm, humorless as always. I left behind the librarian and her chronic fatigue. She started to doze off again after casting the spell on me, and I headed into the library. Because of the quality equipment I was wearing, I could feel more eyes on me than usual. Most of them had a look of awe. Well, actually, I couldn't be sure exactly what the looks meant, but any other possible looks were embarrassing, so I just decided to assume it was awe.
...Was coming to the library in full armor a little too much? Possibly. But who cares? I am a barbarian.
I decided to stop caring and do my own work. With some keywords in mind, I pulled out a bunch of books: Establishment and Development of the Adventurers' Guild, Casebook on the Judgment of Plunderers III, Reading Comprehension of Legal Vocabulary, Birth of Mozlan. After being framed and almost killed, my interest in the Adventurers' Guild, the institutions directly under the crown, and the law increased. There was a famous saying in the gaming world:
What you don't know gets you hit. So, you have to learn whatever you can.
Growl!
After going out to eat every four hours and returning to the library to read, another day came to a close. I decided to read the books I hadn't had a chance to read tomorrow, and returned to the inn. A letter had arrived for me, which had never happened before. The sender was the Adventurers' Guild. Inside, the letter said that Hikurod Murad wanted to meet with me.
I guess I can't go to the library tomorrow.
After wiping down my shield and breastplate with a dry cloth for about an hour, I lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
***
I had time to spare this morning, so I slept more than usual. It was a little past noon when I lightly bathed myself and headed to the meeting place.
Ding!
The shop doubled as an inn, a restaurant, and a tavern. Entering the hall on the first floor, I could see quite a few people having their meals and chatting. Scanning the interior for a while, I finally found the person I was looking for. Dwarfs were so small that they were hard to spot. I wished they would just eat standing up. Wasn't it the same either way?
"It's been a while, Hikurod."
"Ha! It really was you! The application was marked as rank seven, so I wasn't sure—" The dwarf, who had been in the middle of greeting me with a smile, was startled at the sight of me. "Wait, what is that equipment?"
Oh, so you noticed it too. I decided to reply like it was no big deal. "Oh, this? As you can see from its shiny brilliance, it's a piece of lithinum armor and a shield. And this on my back is called an Expandable Backpack. It's nothing. Just something I bought for next time."
Really, it was nothing.
It's 1.91 million stones for one breastplate...
The breastplate I purchased through the exchange had the same shape as the iron half-armor I had sold for scrap metal, but the price was over five times higher.
True, I mean, you need to be at least a fourth-floor adventurer to use a second-grade metal, so that's pretty obvious.
Of the equipment for various body parts I could have purchased, my reason for choosing a breastplate was simple: the more my heart was kept safe and protected, the greater the benefit of the passive skill Source of Darkness. Either way, safety was paramount, so there was no debate about the breastplate. However, for the second piece of equipment, I was thinking it through until the moment I finalized the purchase.
[You are wearing a large battle shield made of lithinum. Your Item Level has increased by +315.]
Should I replace my weapon or my shield, which had been sold for the price of scrap metal? After much deliberation, I paid 2.1 million stones to purchase a shield. There were many reasons for that, but the main one was that I had no reason to deal damage now. So far, I'd only entered the labyrinth in duos. However, heading to a higher floor required team play with a minimum of four people. That meant it was far more efficient for me to hold a shield and become a human barrier that protected the party.
The vampire's essence is not the essence of someone in a damage dealer role.
Above all, unlike a weapon, a shield was a piece of equipment that I could continue to use even after obtaining that essence. And without a shield, I felt like something was missing.
At this point, my wallet was completely empty.
Hmm, the equipment is starting to shine now.
When I looked in the mirror, my heart was filled with a deep satisfaction. Was that also a change that came with becoming a barbarian?
***
[Bjorn Yandel
Level: 3
Physique: 155
Spirit: 90
Special Ability: 115
Item Level: 683 (New +585)
General Combat Power: 527.75 (New +146.25)
Acquired Essences: Corpse Golem - Rank 7 / Vampire (Guardian) - Rank 5]
***
By the time I finished my reasonable spending spree, it was already dinnertime. Having had dinner at the same restaurant where I had lunch, I took the wagon back to Sector Thirteen, where my inn was located. After that, the day was over.
It takes too long to travel...
Later, once I made a lot of money, I'd have to relocate to the city center. Living on the outskirts came with many inconveniences. Even though this new inn was a little closer to the center, I still had a long way to go to get to Dimension Square.
At the end of the day, everything is about money...
As I'd spent a lot today, I went to sleep with a determination to earn more money.
Then, the next morning, like a diligent barbarian, I went to the library first thing.
I've taken care of the things I need to deal with immediately, so I should head there again.
It was a habit of Korean gamers to do manual labor in their spare time. Well, this was manual labor that I could do because this was reality and not a game. I still lacked the common sense and common knowledge of this world.
On that note, it would be nice to find a house near the library, too.
Books were food for the soul. The reason I was able to make such smart purchases at the exchange in the first place was that I'd been reading about it at the library.
What was the title of that book?
I couldn't remember, but it recorded the average trading price of items on the exchange for the past ten years. It was hard to read because there were so many numbers, but there was no better textbook to learn market prices than that book.
As I walked around, my thoughts wandering, I arrived at my destination. Nothing had changed from my last visit: the scent of books emanating from the entire building, the skinny nerds who arrived even earlier than I did, and the librarian sitting at the counter with a sleepy look on her face.
"Long time no see."
As I greeted her just like I did the last time I saw her, the librarian glanced up and gave me a strange look. Then, she mumbled, "...How?"
Oh, did she notice this stuff? "Haha, it's a lithinum breastplate and shield. It came out to a total of four million stones. Ah, and this on my back is an Expandable Backpack—"
"Parsytiev."
Hmm, humorless as always. I left behind the librarian and her chronic fatigue. She started to doze off again after casting the spell on me, and I headed into the library. Because of the quality equipment I was wearing, I could feel more eyes on me than usual. Most of them had a look of awe. Well, actually, I couldn't be sure exactly what the looks meant, but any other possible looks were embarrassing, so I just decided to assume it was awe.
...Was coming to the library in full armor a little too much? Possibly. But who cares? I am a barbarian.
I decided to stop caring and do my own work. With some keywords in mind, I pulled out a bunch of books: Establishment and Development of the Adventurers' Guild, Casebook on the Judgment of Plunderers III, Reading Comprehension of Legal Vocabulary, Birth of Mozlan. After being framed and almost killed, my interest in the Adventurers' Guild, the institutions directly under the crown, and the law increased. There was a famous saying in the gaming world:
What you don't know gets you hit. So, you have to learn whatever you can.
Growl!
After going out to eat every four hours and returning to the library to read, another day came to a close. I decided to read the books I hadn't had a chance to read tomorrow, and returned to the inn. A letter had arrived for me, which had never happened before. The sender was the Adventurers' Guild. Inside, the letter said that Hikurod Murad wanted to meet with me.
I guess I can't go to the library tomorrow.
After wiping down my shield and breastplate with a dry cloth for about an hour, I lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
***
I had time to spare this morning, so I slept more than usual. It was a little past noon when I lightly bathed myself and headed to the meeting place.
Ding!
The shop doubled as an inn, a restaurant, and a tavern. Entering the hall on the first floor, I could see quite a few people having their meals and chatting. Scanning the interior for a while, I finally found the person I was looking for. Dwarfs were so small that they were hard to spot. I wished they would just eat standing up. Wasn't it the same either way?
"It's been a while, Hikurod."
"Ha! It really was you! The application was marked as rank seven, so I wasn't sure—" The dwarf, who had been in the middle of greeting me with a smile, was startled at the sight of me. "Wait, what is that equipment?"
Oh, so you noticed it too. I decided to reply like it was no big deal. "Oh, this? As you can see from its shiny brilliance, it's a piece of lithinum armor and a shield. And this on my back is called an Expandable Backpack. It's nothing. Just something I bought for next time."
Really, it was nothing.