Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Legendary
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Busan, Hwaryeon Guild Master's office.
Flashy, shining blonde hair. And a contrasting hideous burn scar around one eye.
A skin-tight black suit fully revealed the lines of her ample bosom.
Jeong Tae-yeon rested her chin on her hand, staring at the monitor on her desk.
Today, too, the gallery was peacefully going insane.
[Title: Just looted this item— is it good?]
Author: ㅇㅇ (V33.332)
(Magic Cutter Old Man's Robe photo.jpg)
A bizarre IP.
It was a post from the newbie she'd been paying the most attention to lately.
The robe in the photo was clearly no ordinary item at a glance.
"This is... a Magcutter drop item. How the hell did he get something from the 30th floor?"
It was an item Tae-yeon had seen before.
A unique-grade robe with a low drop chance from defeating the hidden boss on the 30th floor, the Magic Cutter Old Man.
But the robe in the newbie's photo was somehow different.
It emanated a much darker aura than the one she knew.
"Is it a higher grade?"
No way. Tae-yeon shook her head.
That couldn't be.
Magcutter raids had already been run multiple times around the world.
If there was a higher-grade item, it would've been known long ago.
Tae-yeon scrolled down to the comments.
As expected, everyone else thought it was unique-grade too.
"Well, that's not the important part."
What mattered was the fact that the newbie had achieved another massive growth spurt.
Tae-yeon felt inexplicably proud of that.
Yes, Korea needed a superhuman.
A superhuman to conquer the Tower alongside her...
Tae-yeon's gaze shifted to a box sitting on one corner of her desk.
It contained the "Robe of the Tranquil Sage," which she'd won at auction for a huge sum not long ago.
An item specially prepared as a gift for the mage newbie.
"...Ha."
Her mood suddenly plummeted.
The gift she'd prepared was merely rare-grade.
A mundane item that only slightly boosted mana recovery speed.
But the newbie had somehow gotten his hands on a unique item.
Handing him a rare-grade item as a gift in this situation?
"Damn it."
Tae-yeon realized she'd made a mistake.
She'd underestimated the newbie's growth rate.
Undervalued his talent.
If she was going to give him a gift, it shouldn't have been something this pathetic—it should've been something better.
Giving him mere rare-grade trash? Ridiculous.
"...It's turned into garbage. Annoying."
Tae-yeon snapped her fingers toward the box.
Whoosh—
A small flame sparked inside the box, instantly reducing the robe to a handful of ash.
She watched the burning flames for a moment, then immediately summoned her subordinate staffer.
"Guild Master, you called?"
The vice guild leader who entered through the door gulped involuntarily at Jeong Tae-yeon's icy expression.
"Right now, check every mage item listing on the market. Unique-grade only. Oh, exclude robes."
"Pardon? Right this second?"
"Yes, right now."
The vice guild leader gave a curt reply and pulled out his phone.
A few minutes of silence. Tae-yeon silently drummed her fingers on the desk.
Soon after, the vice guild leader turned to her with a troubled look.
"Um... Guild Master. There happens to be a unique-grade staff on the market right now, but..."
"Really? Perfect. Buy it."
"The price is beyond imagination. Even guild funds would struggle with it..."
"No, I'll buy it with my personal funds. How much?"
The vice guild leader quoted the price in a trembling voice.
It was certainly an amount even Tae-yeon personally couldn't ignore.
But she didn't hesitate.
"Buy it."
A short, firm command.
The vice guild leader bowed his head, unable to say another word.
"Understood."
Tae-yeon turned her gaze back to the gallery screen.
The newbie was excitedly chatting away in the comments.
"Hehe..."
Just watching him made a smile creep onto her face unbidden.
She could only imagine how thrilled the newbie would be to receive this staff. The thought alone was delightful.
The vice guild leader tried to quietly close the door as he left.
Right then, through the narrowing gap in the door, something caught his eye.
A faint smile on Jeong Tae-yeon's lips.
He froze mid-close without thinking.
Had he seen wrong?
But no, she was definitely smiling. Gazing at the computer screen, genuinely enjoying herself.
"Would've never thought the guild master could make that kind of face...?"
The vice guild leader hurriedly shut the door the rest of the way without a sound.
Even as he walked down the hall, his mind was in turmoil.
***
Having finished showing off in the Hunter Gallery, I returned to the Mage Gallery.
This time, I planned to share more intimate info that only this place could handle.
"Which photo will give the biggest shock..."
I carefully selected a photo.
Magcutter—no, Young Magcutter—with my arm around his shoulder, throwing up a V-sign. That seemed like it would get the best reaction.
But it showed my full face and body, so I passed.
Too bad, but unavoidable.
For the same reason, I scrapped the hand heart and thumbs-up ones too.
"This one's the safest."
In the end, I went with the very first photo I'd taken.
[Title: Magcutter Double Peace Proof.]
Author: ㅇㅇ (D55.555)
(Young Magcutter awkwardly smiling with double Vs photo.jpg)
Comments started pouring in the moment my post went up, like they'd been waiting.
ㄴ Pkkachuu: What kinda hate pic is this....
ㄴ Fridge: Never seen that NPC before. What floor?
Everyone reacted with confusion at the unfamiliar face.
I grinned and revealed the answer.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (D55.555): Young version of the Magic Cutter Old Man. Young Magcutter.
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: That's the Magcutter???
ㄴ Dung Beetle: Can't process this. What's with that pose?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (D55.555): I told him to.
ㄴ Fridge: Making the Magcutter do double peace...
ㄴ Pkkachuu: Got any more pics? With your newbie personality, no way you only took one.
"Too sharp."
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (D55.555): Got more, but my face is in them.
ㄴ Pkkachuu: Time to reveal your face already. It's unfair—we newbies have our info doxxed, but not you.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (D55.555): Hey, I'm not A-rank.
"No, wait—actually, what's stopping me...?"
Now that I knew the Magcutter's VPN was practically invincible.
Sometimes I even felt like pulling aggro with some proof.
Full face or body shots were obviously out, but maybe just a hand...
"Galleries lose their minds over anything that looks remotely female anyway..."
The aggro effect would be guaranteed.
Internet's full of hopeless types.
I got down to business.
[Title: But anyone know about this robe?]
Author: ㅇㅇ (D55.555)
(Magic Cutter Youth's Robe photo.jpg)
Sure enough, the Mage Gallery veterans knew this item well.
ㄴ Fridge: Magcutter raid reward. Wait, why'd it drop on 15F?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (D55.555): Dealt with Magcutter directly, took the one he was wearing.
ㄴ Dung Beetle: ?????
ㄴ Pkkachuu: (brain explode)
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: What kinda deal makes him hand over the clothes he's wearing?
ㄴ Fridge: Not selling? Wanna investigate it. Rental's fine too.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (D55.555): Obviously I'm wearing it.
ㄴ Fridge: Tch.
"Come on, at least explain the options, people."
Soon, the gallery's sole S-rank, Dung Beetle, spilled the info.
ㄴ Dung Beetle: But not sure you'll get much use outta it. Stats are solid, but special option's just summoning one meat golem.
ㄴ Fridge: You already make golems outta sand. How 'bout selling?
"No way, it's my first mage gear. Plus, it's Legendary?"
Dung Beetle's description matched what I'd seen in the Hunter Gallery.
Decent stat bonuses.
And summon one meat golem as a meat shield.
But there was still something off.
I reopened my item description.
[??? 's Robe]
[Grade: Legendary]
[Effect: Artificial Mana Core Production.]
No stat bonuses, no golem summon.
Yet the grade was one step higher: Legendary.
At a glance, the options looked worse than unique.
"No way that's right."
Which meant, conversely, there had to be something to this option.
Something big enough to skip stat bonuses entirely.
"The reason it's Legendary instead of unique? Probably the extreme effect."
I didn't know the details yet, but it was definitely good.
It's Legendary—gotta be something.
"Instead of this, I should just try it on right now."
I slipped on the new robe.
But there was a problem.
"Why is this so... big?"
The robe didn't fit my body at all.
Way too large for a child's frame.
The sleeves swallowed my hands completely, and the hem dragged on the floor.
Pulling down the hood covered my face entirely.
Couldn't see a thing.
I took a few experimental steps.
Thud—!
"Uwack!"
Didn't even make it a few paces before I tripped over my own hem.
Sitting on the floor, I muttered.
"Don't these things usually have auto-size adjustment as standard...?"
I pondered for a bit but eventually gave up and decided to wear it anyway.
Instead of walking with my feet, I could shift the sand on the floor to move.
Didn't love the hem dragging, but oh well.
Mages had robes and staves.
Couldn't give up on my dream.
I folded the sleeves up three or four times to finally expose my hands.
Standing before the mirror, I gazed at my new mage self.
"...Ah, this looks so sloppy."
No matter how I looked, it was like a kid who'd stolen and worn his dad's clothes.
I deflated.
I'd imagined myself dramatically swirling a cloak while casting spells, oozing coolness.
Reality: elementary school Halloween costume.
Still, I didn't give up.
"Yeah, what matters isn't the looks—it's the item effect!"
I reread the item description.
Artificial Mana Core Production.
What the heck was this?
How do you use it?
"Artificial Mana Core Production, activate!"
But nothing happened.
Even focusing my mind like casting a spell yielded the same.
Weird. The unique-grade description clearly called it a summon skill.
This damn Tower never gave proper explanations.
I tried a bunch of different things, but all failed.
Then, it hit me—the "summon" word attached to the unique option.
"Don't I have a summon skill too?"
I created a small sand clone on my palm.
A cute, palm-sized miniature of myself, perfectly scaled down.
First time making a clone this tiny.
It stood there blankly, and I ended up staring at how adorable it was.
"Hah, not the time."
I snapped out of it and applied the new robe's skill to my clone.
The result exceeded my expectations.