Chapter 10 – The Preparations Are Complete

“Though it’s a bit sooted, this much Troll leather is to be thankful for! I’ll purchase all of them!”

Pointy nose, flat forehead, and protruded front fangs, the dwarf looked carefully at the leathers I’d brought.

Upon inspecting the stacked leather, the dwarf lifted up his golden eyeglass with his fingers.

“Anyhow, it should be hard to come by this much troll leather within these parts? Perhaps you’re an adventurer around here? Or part of a large guild?”

“I’m an adventurer…”

When he heard my answer, he smiled as he caught my arm. Relative to his small hand, I could feel vast strength compared to his small stature.

“You must be an expert adventurer. If you could continue to acquire these items, would you sell them to me? Shouldn’t you know by now that my prices are very reasonable?”

To be honest, before selling the leather, I did much prior research on the current exchange rate of these items, and the price the dwarf offered was perfectly reflective of the trends.

“Sure, anytime.”

Satisfied with my answer, the dwarf pulled out a small bronze flower within his pouch and handed it to me.

“I’m the Ramzbush Merchant, Yotun. This is my business card.”

“This… is a business card?”

Upon accepting the flower, I looked at him with a confused expression. He hinted at me to look carefully at the flower stem.

I followed his instruction, and after pressing on a button-like figure near the stem,

I’m the Ramzbush Merchant, Yotun.

I’m open to buy and sell each and every item.

The bronze flower bloomed to spout a misty smoke and showed a smaller replica of Yotun bowing as if he were an English gentleman.

The smoke transformed once more to the location of this store.

“Thanks for everything.”

“Likewise!”

Like that, the trade has been successful.

Coincidentally, all the tension melted off of me as if snow in the heat.

4 large troll leather. That was equivalent to a whopping 45 gold.

Due to the extra rewards based on contribution, I’ve made a huge profit.

Truth be told, due to the panic at the time, I’ve completely forgotten about the two bonus loot boxes from the party heal and damage contributions.

Only after inspecting the two loot boxes in my inventory, I hurriedly opened them.

Inside, there were materials you usually get from hunting trolls.

In the box I’ve gotten from contribution in damage, there were 4 large troll leather. In the box from healing contribution, there were 3 large glass bottles of Troll’s blood.

Who would’ve thought I would be handling these luxury materials ever in my life?

Cautious of selling these luxury materials in Asparagan, I moved all the way to a relatively secluded town “Ramzbush” to sell my belongings.

“Okay, next up is…”

Satisfied with the way things were going, I moved quickly on my feet.

Ramzbush was a rural town with slight smells of compost all over the city.

The treehouses built from the tough grass each stood with their distinctive features. But rather than being frail, they actually looked quite sturdy.

Passing by an elder sweeping grass, I headed over to a place with black smoke puffing out of the chimney; The Ramzbush’s smithy.

As I’ve made my way in,

“A little bit more! That’s right!”

“It’s my first time touching Black Mountain’s leather! It’s so damn tough!”

“Hey! We’re going to thread this part now!”

“What! Are you not ready yet?!”

Inside, five bulky men were moving frantically whilst sweating.

This was the first place I’ve visited upon arriving at the Ramzbush, and they were working on the request I’ve made before.

“Who’s this! If it isn’t our client!”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

A man with soot all over his face smiled at me. As if to follow suit, all the other men also smiled at me.

As their faces twisted from their facial expression, the beads of sweat made their way around the cracks on their faces.

The reason as to why they were working this hard, was because I requested them to make me armor with the Black Mountain’s leather. With curiosity and passion, they continue to hammer down the leather with their hot hammer.

“It’s thanks to you we’ve gotten the opportunity to refine such a material! Wait there, we’ll make you the perfect armor!”

The aggressive man who first greeted me started to hammer down with a hammer nearly the size of his forearm.

As I watched them work, I turned my attention to the text above me.

< 4 hours and 51 minutes until completion. >

“I’ll be back soon.”

I gave them a farewell, though it seemed no one heard it. So, there were nearly 5 hours of time before completing everything on my to-do lists.

I should spend that time efficiently.

As I pondered on what I should do, I got goosebumps over realizing that I’ve been ignoring the most important task.

“I never checked my stats.”

After talking to myself, I perked up.

Virtual reality was very different from a normal game with a mouse and a keyboard, that I failed to appreciate the game system features.

“Status screen.”

Soon after, I was face to face with my new status.

[Lee Ki-Ho]

[Nickname: Mose]

Class: Adventurer

Lv: 9

Vitality: 280/280

Mana: 60/60

Strength: 12

Health: 8

Speed: 7

Intelligence: 6

Abilities:

[Polorun’s Star] – Health regeneration per second +101

[Polorun’s Star] – Health regeneration in party + 43 (Form: Aura, Max range 250M)

Certainly, the stats I’ve gained were drastically increased thanks to the single rare item. To begin with, <Circuit> did not implement the common feature in many games such as level limitations, or required stats on any items.

It just states that if the item is in your possession, you should be able to equip it straight away.

But, unlike the games where if you equip a good weapon, you could be an expert in that field, <Circuit> made you adjust to your items and train yourselves with it.

Moreover, since one stat difference in this game was very difficult and painful to do, the stat bonus this item gave was more than it seemed.

My level was at nine, which is pretty common, but my stats were arranged in a way that it was four times my actual level.

This was demonstrated at the time where I knocked down the humongous Black Mountain with a body bash. I dare to say that I might be the most powerful user within my level range.

However, amongst the waves of satisfaction, there was still something that made me feel a bit useless, and that was the absence of my class.

Every user is compelled to find their class that is reflective of their own playstyle.

Some people join the infamously hard paladin class factions to live out a life with more sense of duty for the world than the NPCs.

As a warrior, they would be looking to fight, and through furious battles, they would level up.

Or others will live a life unlike any other, like specializing in alchemy, or through otherworldly powers such as divination to experience the sense of transcendence beyond the mortal realm.

I was also in need of a class.

The conclusive reasoning behind my gameplay was possible to be described in one word, which is “Rags to Riches”.

But if I play this game just for money, what would be different from how I’ve played when I was only hunting slimes!

I needed to find my goal.

As I’ve determined to enjoy a better life through this game, whilst enjoying the game myself!

As I contemplated how I should play this game, I noticed that the sun was setting with a dazzling orangish glow.

“It’s the sunset of Belica. I should prepare dinner soon.”

Perhaps she has just finished her groceries, a middle-aged woman walked across while carrying two full bags of food.

She made her way into her home. As I blankly stared at that scene, I quickly got up from my seat after remembering something.

It’s already near dusk.

I even forgot that I was hungry.

Since my equipment should be nearly done, I made my way over to the smithy.

But maybe it was due to seeing those groceries earlier, it was only after purchasing some grub to eat from the Ramzbush’s eateries that I knocked on the smith’s door.

As I let myself in, I was greeted with the dissipating heat of the smithy, but also the intensity of all five blacksmiths’ passion. Feeling the burning passion these blacksmiths radiated, I gave my thanks.

“Thanks for your hard work.”

They all looked a bit out of it, but they all radiated a sense of ferocity. They had confidence on their shoulders, and all of them looked proud.

“It must’ve been hard, I’ve brought some food…”

As I lifted the basket full of food, the blacksmiths suddenly started to surround me.

“The matching Bashakura Spider String for the joints of Black Mountain’s leather!”

First, the blacksmith with a black mustache declared, as he fitted a gauntlet my size on both of my hands.

It was a splendid black leather glove, made with a spider engraving.

“By feeding the wax made from the essence of a 100-year-old Numal Tree, the Black Mountain’s heart could block even the strongest of steel swords!”

The blacksmith with a golden beard equipped me with a chest plate behind my back.

Also in perfect tune with my body just like the gauntlet.

“Made from Lashmo’s fur, Belica’s blessing during the winter, Valus’s blessing during the summer!”

Finally, the blacksmith with brown pupils equipped me with greaves.

As if following a single line down my body, the armor that seemingly fitted me perfectly, was extremely well-refined.

“To think we’ve made a masterpiece like this!”

“It’s my first time in my twenty years of smithing to make a piece like this!”

All the blacksmiths near me looked emotional. They’ll never have the opportunity to recreate this type of armor in the town of Ramzbush that they live in.

I also was overwhelmed by emotions upon wearing the armor.

“Thank you very much. To think I have the opportunity to wear such magnificent armor…”

The brown-eyed blacksmith gave a horselaugh.

“Thanks to you, all our tools have been worn out. To people like us, who’ve only made tools for farming, we didn’t have the proper tools to cut the leather of a troll that pulls out a hundred-year tree by the roots.”

“I can’t thank you enough.”

Feeling their puffs, I bowed my head over and over again.

“Well, it was indeed a nice experience, but it’s a bit troubling to not be paid…”

The man with the black beard checked my reaction. I immediately handed them the 20 gold fee.

“This amount pales in comparison to what I’ve gotten, but please accept.”

Upon accepting the fee, they all made a satisfied expression and laughed. After exchanging a deep handshake with each one of them, I left the smithy.

It was only after that I could express the emotion of happiness deep within my chest.

“This… This is really…”

[Black Mountain Full Armor Set]

Grade: Magic

5/5

The essence of Black Mountain (Leather Full Helm)

The heart of Black Mountain (Leather Chest Plate)

The muscle of Black Mountain (Leather Brace)

The Strength of Black Mountain (Leather Gauntlet)

The remnant of Black Mountain (Leather Greaves)

Effect:

Strength + 8

Health + 9

Speed + 3

Protection + 118

[Set Bonus]

3 Set Bonus – Health Regeneration per second + 14.4

5 Set Bonus – Strength + 11

Five magic-grade items. On top of that, even without the set bonus, this armor gave an enormous stat increase.

Including the stat bonuses, this set piece was nearly equivalent to equipping another Polorun’s Star. As soon as I was equipped with the armor, I felt I was stronger than before.

“Now…”

All preparations had been made. Personally, it was my first time to set up such a plan and follow through with it accordingly.

“Should I get started?”

What should I be afraid of with all these magic items!

I started to sprint without hesitation towards the outskirts of the Ramzbush town.

From now on, it will be a journey to level up as fast as possible.

I skipped towards the dense forest, whilst keeping high hopes of obtaining an item nearly as wonderful as Polorun’s Star.