Chapter 31
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Modern Item Purchase Level 3
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To my question, Ice Queen answered readily.
Yes.
In short, blocking the channel had been Ice Queen's intention.
I figured there had to be a reason, so I asked about it.
Can I ask the reason?
To become stronger than anyone else. If I supply the items myself, my faction will grow too.
Can you really build that just from supplying items?
If you monopolize the items, people will gather, and when people gather, it naturally forms a faction.
I wondered if just supplying items would be enough, but Ice Queen seemed confident it was.
Do you think I'm being selfish?
Selfish...
Well...
Conversely, what if you flooded the market with items, Castaway?
Wouldn't survival get easier?
That might be true for most. But many would forcibly conscript civilians to farm points for them.
Points?
The moment you supply unlimited items, the value of points will skyrocket.
Ice Queen said that to earn points, people would resort to somewhat unsavory acts.
So points could lead to evil deeds.
I think I've mentioned it before. People are scarier.
She had said something like that.
But honestly, it hadn't really sunk in.
Kidnapping women for prostitution is just the tip of the iceberg. There were people using others as bait to attack rival groups or kidnapping families to threaten them into burning down their own camps.
"......"
Personal experience, maybe?
Hearing about these incidents from Ice Queen made her words about people being scarier start to make sense.
Ice Queen seemed convinced that if I started posting items seriously on channel 3, things would get even worse.
Plus, if you post items, you'll get flooded with chat requests and DMs just like during the auction.
Chat requests and DMs?
Yes. I guarantee you'll get all sorts of offers, requests, and demands.
Recalling the chat requests and DMs from the auction, it seemed plausible.
They'll come nonstop, 24/7. You'll probably end up blocking chat requests and DMs in the settings.
Then isn't that fine? No problem there.
As long as you don't use the Gallery, it should be fine.
Gallery?
Does using the Gallery cause problems?
People will stir things up. "My kid's sick, but chat blocked so no help." "I'm hurt and can't get treatment in time." Stuff like that.
I doubted it would go that far, but considering the possibilities, it didn't seem impossible.
Anyway, what I'm saying is the current setup isn't so bad.
Ice Queen said her monopolizing the items wasn't a bad arrangement.
Thinking about it, I just had to send her the items she requested, so it was actually more convenient for me.
'Though I'd earn fewer points.'
But right now, there wasn't anything I particularly wanted to buy with those points.
Channel 4 had weapons, but I knew they were all scams.
Oh. Ice Queen, have you ever bought weapons from channel 4?
Don't even mention channel 4.
"......"
So she had bought some.
It was bitter knowing the victim was someone I knew.
Anyway, having heard Ice Queen's honest intentions, I decided to go along with her plan.
'I owe her personally, too.'
Thanks to Ice Queen, I'd gotten A-grade Telekinesis from a 200,000-point Superior Ability Awakening Stone.
To reiterate, I'm not the type to ignore a favor, no matter the circumstances.
Got it for now. Lots of people on channel 3 want weapons too. Will you handle those sales?
Are there guns among the weapons?
No guns. Bows and crossbows, though.
I see. If it's okay with you, let me handle weapon sales too.
From her response, she still had some leeway.
'Even the Zombie Queen doesn't move right away.'
Oh, and the Incheon Alliance asked if they can trade items for Awakening Stones.
Awakening Stones?
I already had Telekinesis, so I didn't need one, but having extras wouldn't hurt.
'I could give one to the Hero Party right here.'
Or send one to Quick Fix Doctor☆ on channel 4.
Especially since he'd gotten a Plasma Pistol for free.
If I take an Awakening Stone, do I need to give points in return?
Since it's instead of Bloodstones, no points needed. But you'd have to increase the tradeable points limit.
Just like with Bloodstones, no loss for me.
What do you think is fair, Ice Queen?
They're giving both an Awakening Stone and points, so... three times the usual seems fair.
Three times?
A lower-grade Awakening Stone is worth about 10,000 points. So allow trades up to 30,000 points worth of items.
30,000 points.
In Korean won, that's 30 million.
That's a huge amount.
It has to be that much to make it worth trading. Plus, you might need Awakening Stones too, Castaway.
Me?
I told you, at level 10 you can specialize an ability. The problem is reaching level 10.
Then Ice Queen explained about level 10.
After filling EXP at level 9, consuming a Bloodstone gives a 1% chance to reach level 10.
1% chance... worth a shot.
For reference, level 20 is 0.1%. Level 30 is 0.01%.
0.1%? 0.01%?
The odds drop that low?
Yes. That's why you need Awakening Stones. If someone who's already awakened consumes one, it boosts those odds.
To push Telekinesis to level 20 or 30 later, I'd need Awakening Stones.
Level 20 might be doable with just Bloodstones, but 0.01% at 30 seemed impossible.
How much does it boost at level 19 with a lower-grade Awakening Stone?
I hear it raises it by about 0.05% to 0.1%.
What about mid-grade or superior?
People usually can't bear to use them. There are rumors of people doing it, but I don't know details.
Ice Queen hadn't used mid or superior ones either.
Got it. Oh, last thing—when are you heading to the Incheon Alliance?
Scheduled for three days from now. I'll send you their shopping list then.
Anything I need to do separately?
Send back the list with prices—exchange prices.
She meant mark up the prices a bit from what I paid.
Will do.
Thanks. And... thank you.
[1:1 chat has ended.]
Right after ending the 1:1 chat with Ice Queen, I told Elisicia.
"Hero, go into Gallery settings and block channel 3."
"Block it? To stop purchases on channel 3?"
"I'll pass items through someone later for channel 3."
She nodded and seemed to block the channel.
On the other hand, Rubyel blocked it the moment I mentioned it and grumbled.
"Should've done it sooner. Chat requests and DMs kept coming."
"Even across channels?"
"Yeah. They were sending picture-like text things since words don't work."
Since channels differ and communication fails, they sent emoticon-like scribbles.
But right now, it made sense to prioritize channel 2 people just starting to move.
'Channel 3 still has leeway.'
With that thought, I decided to buy more items.
"I'll pass you the items, so relist them."
"Oh, points from this round first."
Thus, the entire Hero Party, including Elisicia, transferred points to me.
Receiving them, I confirmed the total well over 300,000 as expected.
'Anyway, buy items with this.'
Pass them to the Hero Party to list again.
While diligently buying items like I did that morning.
Congratulations.
The ability 'Modern Item Purchase' has leveled up.
'Huh?'
A notification appeared that Modern Item Purchase had leveled up.
'Product Repair' has been added to the Modern Item Purchase menu.
'As expected, buying items levels it up.'
Probably when the purchase total hits a threshold.
'Now Modern Item Purchase is level 3.'
Level 1: Item Purchase.
Level 2: Resource Charge.
Level 3: Product Repair.
How high does this go?
Anyway, seeing 'Product Repair' added, I paused to think.
Taken literally, it repairs broken products, so channel 4 items came to mind first.
'Can it fix channel 4 stuff too?'
To test, I pulled the flail weapon, Thunder Bolt, from my inventory.
"Castaway? Why pull out a weapon suddenly?"
"New function added to Item Purchase."
I went into Modern Item Purchase and tapped [Product Repair].
Please place the product to repair here.
Resource Charge used a camera format, but Repair seemed like a slot.
Either way, I placed the broken Thunder Bolt in, and immediately the cost popped up, checking if it worked properly.
Product placed.
Repairable components confirmed.
Repair Cost: 6,819 points.
"......"
But the cost was no joke.
'Because it's channel 4?'
Modern Item Purchase was based on modern standards.
Tossing in a futuristic weapon probably required tech it lacked, hence the high price.
'Still... gotta repair it.'
There was no alternative to repairing.
Carrying a broken weapon around was pointless.
"Repair."
Using 6,819 points for repair.
Product repair complete.
Pulling out the repaired Thunder Bolt...
"......"
It had transformed into a gleaming weapon, like brand new.