Vol 2 Chapter 7 (1/2)
Battle of Grey Ridge
“Do you know you’ve committed a sin worthy of death?”
“Yes, I’ve really reflected a lot on it So withive me one more chance”
”And to whom do you owe your success to?”
“Of course, it’s thanks to Master I was irace”
Dedric shed large drops of tears
‘Look at the rascal’ Ark laughed to himself
Ark had lived while unwillingly receiving affected syained an unwelco at the other person’s eyes, he could tell if the words co from their mouth were sincere or not
Dedric’s words were not sincere
He was just an NPC, but he kne to cunningly trick someone
'It seehtlessly evolved him'
Bat also had a bad personality, but he wasn’t cunning After evolving into Dedric, he learned how to be crafty It o also increases with each evolution He wasn’t sincere, but it seeuarantee it would be this easy if it happens again
Skull was the sah it was a faithful Fae when it evolved
'Sus'
This incident changed how Ark viewed his Familiars
Each Familiar had a different personality Even so, Ark tried to treat the Falect the others That was the problem
‘Seems like I have to use control; the carrot and stick approach”
Just as there are felloho do better if you praise theet cocky In addition, there are those who perform properly only with the use of violence and threats
Granted, even a good medicine can be counterproductive if overdosed, he would need to regulate it
This hy Ark had beaten Dedric to the point where it seeht change personalities one day To prepare for that day, he set an example with Dedric In other words, Dedric had been severely punished because he was unfortunately chosen to set an example
'Whew, it isn't easy taking care of 3 Familiars I think I can finally understand how hard it is for teachers who have to teach dozens'
“Alright, since you contributed, I’ll forgive you this time as promised”
”Ahh! Thank you, Master”
”Repeat after me, vow one!”
“What?” Dedric tilted his head but quickly raised his hand when Ark pierced hilare
”Vow one!”
“I will always obey Master noface, fight when told to fight, and die when told to die My life and death only belong to Master”
”Voo!”
“I will gratefully accept and eat the food given by Master Also, I will never complain”
”Vow three!”
“If I cannot follow the previous ts, I will soundly receive some form of punishment”
Dedric’s face paled at the continuing Familiar doctrine
“You’ve ht?”
”Yes”
“Good, then return to the Netherworld and stay there and write an apology letter until I call you again”
Dedric returned to the Netherworld looking as if he’d stepped in poop
With this, the coup d’etat that started with the evolution was hopelessly suppressed In addition, he even formed a slave contract
The Child Protection Agency or the Anianization would be appalled if they knew about this But this was a game, and Ark was truly a dictator
Not far from the shore where the dolphins dropped hie, with quite a lot of users couised as a belt as usual, but Skull or Bat would attract a lot of attention fro the Fae
‘Huhuhu, how long has it been?’ As he headed to the village, Ark had a delighted smile on his face
The store in Nodeless didn’t purchase the ite and, of course, Snake, were chock full of iteic Restoration reached Interh they were rare, they were still japtem They couldn’t be sold for a lot of money
There was so of pearls he earned in Nodelesse He had earned a colossal amount of at least 800 pearls froh it was a low-class jewel compared it others, it was still a jewel So, how could he not be happy!?
After entering the village, Ark iht out the General Store
“Welcoreeted Ark
”I wish to sell all these things How ive me?”
As Ark took out the mountainous pile of japtem, the owner’s mouth opened wide There was leather from all sorts of h they were japtem, they were items hard to see on land
The store owner calculated the prices one by one and proposed an amount “For all of it, it’s 34 Gold You won’t find a better price anywhere else nearby”
The market value wasn't bad
‘If it’s this much, I won’t make a loss even if I sell the pearls’ Ark nodded as he held out the pearls “How ive me for this?”
“Ohh, these are pretty good quality pearls, and there’s 800 of theet them from?”
”I can't give you the specifics”
”Well, there’s no need for me to know”
The store owner carefully inspected the pearls and flicked the beads on an abacus
“I’ll pay 25 Silver a piece So in total, it’ll be 200 Gold”
A look of slight disappointment spread across Ark’s face He had expected 300 Gold; it was 100 Gold short
‘Should I just go to Harun or Jackson to sell them?'
If he were to go back to Harun or Jackson, where he had high Intiet the expected 300 Gold, but it would take a full week to return to Jackson Thewere only level 40, so a round trip ht’s worth of EXP
100 Gold or a fortnight of experience There was no contest
‘I’ll have to go sometime because of the ‘Envoy of the Merpeople’ quest, but I don’t have tiht now Since I’ve coretful, but it’s better to just sell them’
”Ah!”
At that oods in the shop saw Ark and ered voice, he pulled Ark by the arm and said, “How could you sell the itethe problem of distribution first Mister, we’ll return a little later”
[T/N: The other user is pretending Ark is his party member, which is why he’s offended Ark would try to sell the iteets what first]
”You do that”
Ark as dragged out without being able to say anything, freed his arm
”Who are you? I think you have the wrong person”
“Ah, I’m sorry You were surprised because I suddenly butted in, huh?”
The man was a Hobbit He was short and had rounded ears Since he was covered with s, he looked like he was a Merchant Actually, Ark had let hiht be so out, the manner of speech and behavior showed he wasn’t an NPC
“They call me Sid As you can see, I’m a Hobbit Merchant”
“I’m Ark, but, do you know me?”
“Nope, this is the first time we’ve met But it was a pity to watch you, so I intervened”
”What do you mean by a pity?”
“This village’s store is fa a low market value The ured the japte was at market price, but you can’t find out the true h and low values are enerally an alright deal since the sue Plus, the value of pearls is low because this village is close to the seaside If you take theet about 40 Silver a piece”
”40 Silver a piece! It that true?”
Didn’t ittwo days into travelling? Cold sweat ran down his back He had been about to squander 120 Gold from a momentary mistake
“Of course, and if I help you a bit, there’s a way to earn another 48 Gold or so” Sid laughed as he implied more profit
At this point, Ark was more wary than surprised
“There’s no such thing as ‘free’ in this world though?”
“Of course, it’s give and take There is so I want Don’t you want to hear the details?”
The profession of Merchant was rather vague Merchant was the sole profession who could carry 6 bags In addition, they were able to learn all sorts of production skills, and they received a considerable bonus when dealing with NPCs Even if their Intiain a 20 profit fro ability Thanks to that, they could grasp a fair a days
The problee, they didn’t have a single coe penalty in cole level 20 monster on their oas tooa monster was only 50
A Merchant raises their level through trading They use the e and cities They sell goods they bought at a cheap price in a place where it has a higher rowth method of a Merchant
Of course, they couldn’t raise the EXP and earn , because the es For a Merchant, information is their lifeline If they weren’t able to constantly keep their ears open and accurately predict the market value, they would suffer sorely Even if they traded successfully, there were cases where they actually succumbed to bankruptcy It was a complex profession, in its oay It was hard to raise, but the growth factor had its own kind of fun
They traded while carrying bags in the beginning, but, later, they could buy a wagon or a oods Moreover, they could ply the top ranks and take the lead in trade between Kingdoms
The larger a single transaction, farther they go, and erous places, the greater the EXP and skill proficiency they can gain
However, New World was a place with poor public safety The travels of a Merchant, with their nonexistent co their life and fortune If they encountered a powerful thief e loss If it was really bad, they would even have to declare bankruptcy Therefore, they needed to hiredistances This was also what Sid proposed to Ark
“Giran, a coe It’s like a capital for Merchants and production-class users And the pearls you have, Ark-niht by production-class users Many Beginner and Intermediate production items require pearls, you see Of course, since the supply is always insufficient at Giran, the hest Honestly, if I could afford it, it’s to the point that I’d want to buy theht away”
“Basically, you’re asking me to escort you to Giran?”
As Ark Made an unreadable expression, Sid quickly added, “You definitely won’t regret it I have the skill to trade jewels, so if I trade in your place, I can get 15the market price of pearls in is 40 Silver, then the current total is 320 Gold 15 on 320 Gold is 48 Gold So, in conclusion, you can make 168 more Gold than the store from earlier If I also sell the japteood for ets to make more money”
'168 Gold'
Though he didn’t use Eyes of the Cat, Ark’s eyes glowed golden He could earn an additional 168 Gold by investing two days of in-game time, 16 hours
Although heusers, it was a different story for this much profit 168 Gold was 1,680,000 won It wasn’t an a a life that required even a single pennyfor the surrounding cities anyway If he ith Sid, who knew the road, he could cut down the time
However, Ark still felt uneasy about readily accepting Reselling the pearls, didn’t that actually mean Ark would have to hand over all the pearls to him? How could he trust him and hand over the pearls?
As if he knehat Ark was thinking, Sid laughed as he pulled out parchs down and passed it to Ark, a new informationpopped up
Merchant's Contract
This is the contract for recording when a Merchant’s profession specialty skill is used for the business of re-selling, exchanging, or acting as the proxy of another user
If you sign the contract, the Merchant will be validated to ht to act as the proxy for the other user’s business, and is obligated to return the promised sum If the Merchant violates the contract, the Merchant Guild will be alerted, the Merchant’s reliability stat and fae twice as much as the contracted amount When the contract is complete, the contract will be automatically discarded
Contract Contents: Resale of Ark’s pearls, the contract will come into effect the ive all the money obtained from the sale of pearls to Ark
“Now, you can believe me with this, eh?”
A contract can be set up from a normal trade to a loan, bill, special trade, or al that if there was a problem by any chance, all the responsibility would fall on the Merchant The reason Merchants had high reliability from other users was exactly thanks to this unique contract skill
‘Definitely… if there’s a contract like this, there won’t be any chance of getting backstabbed’
”Okay, I'll accompany you”
”Great choice Since you were able to obtain so ht?”
”I'm level 65”
“That’s acceptable Since we’ve finally gotten 3 people, we can be on our way”
“Huh? There are other companions?”
”There are tays to get to Giran The long ould take about 3 to 4 days But if ant to get there in 2 days tih level e, so we need 3 level 60 players”
”But I'm”
”The other people are waiting at the inn Let’s go, I will introduce them to you”
Sid dragged Ark to the inn without giving hien, were sitting in the inn Seeing as they earing plate armor, both seemed to be in combat-related professions
Once Sid introduced Ark, they expressed looks of obvious dislike
“Sid-nim, you didn’t mention your intent to find another companion”
”We can pass the Grey Mountains with just the two of us”
”I'o together I know the two of you are enough, but as I've said before, I have a reason to get to Giran as soon as possible Three is faster than two”
“And the escort fee?” asked Hargen, who had an axe tattoo on his face, as he glanced at Ark
”I will pay the escort fee we first agreed upon, since Ark-nioods I decided to e for escorting me”
“What did you agree to sell for him that would substitute for the escort fee?”
”Pearls Perhaps because he wasn’t able to visit a village for long time, he collected quite a lot”
Sid was boundlessly talkative Whether it was in-game or real life, there are many humans ill cluster if it seems like you have some money As expected, as soon as they heard Ark had iteummy eyes
Though their appearances were unlikable, their actions were just as disagreeable However, it would be no good for hireed to accompany Sid just because he didn’t like them
‘I won't see them after 16 hours anyway, so I’ll endure’
After finishi+ng his conversation with the warriors, Sid took out a scroll It was a [Low-Level Inspection] scroll
”Then before we go, I would like to do a basic check up Please understand”
The very first thing a Merchant did when choosing a player mercenary or an escort was to check their information If they were chaotic players, then there was the chance of being backstabbed Since the scroll was low level, Ark couldn’t check the information Therefore, Sid explained for Ark
“Leo-nien-nied to Warrior”
Warrior was an open profession, but it was a special profession that required 150 Strength
If you didn’t raise your character while intending to beco, it would be difficult to job-change even at level 30 In other words, they were players who had prior knowledge before they began playing the game They were users who knew much as information as Sid
”Wow, Ark-nih to cross Grey Ridge But your profession is Dark Walker This is the first time I’ve heard of it What kind of profession is it?”
”It’s an ordinary thief,” Ark answered lightly
Perhaps it was the ie of the name ‘Dark Walker’, but Sid and the Warriors nodded without thinking much about it Thief-related professions weren’t popular, so there were almost no people who knew the details behind them
”Ark-nihest level-wise, but it’ll probably be a bit difficult to take the lead since you’re a Thief Please leave the front to Leo and Hargen and cover the back Is that okay?”
”Yes, that’s comfortable for me too”
”Then, we’ll leave after another 20 minutes”
”We’re not going to go right away?”
When Ark, to whom every minute and second was precious, asked that, Leo snickered and asked, ”Perhaps you’ve never rested in an inn before?”
The cheapest inns took 1 Silver and the expensive places took up to 1 Gold
Heath can be recovered while resting on the ground, so ould you pay money to rest at an inn? That’s why Ark had never entered an inn
But Sid explained with a surprised expression
”Like the time in the store, Ark-ni level 65 The reason people pay to stay in an inn is because of the buff”
”Buff?”
“You can get a buff if you rest at an inn It’s a buff that lasts 1 hour per 10 minutes, for a maximum of 3 hours The inns have different prices because the buff effects are different There are places that slightly raise Strength or Agility Soain by 20 This place increases move for 30 minutes”
He had no idea He didn’t think inns would have such a secret
‘No wonder everyone was visiting inns strangely often’
It was information he could have used if he’d known beforehand Basic information like this wasn’t on the site forums No, it could be that it was too basic to even put on the forums In any case, Ark didn’t even know such basic information because he’d never interacted with users much
'Minor info like this can be a big help in the game’
He added another goal of the journey 'For 16 hours, I need to gather some info'
He couldn't keep living as a beginner forever
”Bring it on, Giant's Strength!”
At the boorew
It was the th and Stamina by 30
With increased Strength, Leo swung his shi+eld and haed at a Troll
A Troll is a huous, 4 hter who specializes in hunting big monsters
As all sorts of skills were applied, the Troll staggered as it lost its balance with each strike of the hammer When the final bloas struck on its brow, the Troll collapsed weakly At the sa his two-handed axe
Leo and Hargen boasted their incredible strength as Warriors
Equipped with a shi+eld and plate aretting hit by Hargen wielding his two-handed axe was getting thrown around like a baseball They didn’t land critical blows because they were Strength-focused characters, but they easily took out a level 73 troll and three level 66 Stalkers with only normal hits
Regardless, Ark made an apathetic expression
'They fight in a really boring manner'
The two Warriors eirdly strong for their level Based on fighting techniques alone, they were inco the attacks coh defense plate ar their weapons They didn’t pay any attention to distributing their power,their skills until all their Mana ran out
After clearing a group of en hefted the axe onto his shoulder and boasted, ”Hahaha, what did I tell you? With just Leo and e is no problem From noe’ll handle it, so Sid-nim and Ark-nim, just watch from the back”
Of course he was doing just that
'I can’t understand deliberately rushi+ng up to fight'
The group e and hit the road Thanks to this, the EXP was autoet ht, but it wasn’t worth the loss of equipment durability
In addition, Ark had no experience in party hunting Since Leo and Hargen fought in a completely different manner, there would be too many problems if Ark tried to squeeze in
‘Well, since it’s only a hunting ground of this level, I’ll just sit back’
Ark distanced hi monsters
”Good work Here’s some food!”
Once the fight ended, Sid iht out food Sid showed an extremely submissive attitude to the reliable Mercenaries Well, since they were outside the village, Sid's life was in the hands of the Mercenaries, so that was a given
Carrying as et a hold of a lot ofThere was once a time when Ark was envious of Merchants
But, after looking at Sid, those thoughts disappeared They do earn money, but without the help of other players, they wouldn’t even be able to trade properly
They had to waste their money to pay escort fees and bow to the tastes of others It wasn’t a profession that suited the single-minded Ark
‘Even though he said there’s a comfortable path, why does he want to employ Mercenaries to travel by this road?’
With sudden doubt, Ark asked while chewing on the free food, ”Why are you in such a hurry?”
“I spent ion However, the prices of silk can change in just a few days If Merchants who bought silk at the same time were to sell them in Giran, then I can incur a loss instead Since I invested et there even one day sooner, I haven't slept properly in days”
”If the ood, how much would you earn?”
”I still won’t earn a lot Silk doesn't have a large ain is around 2? With the travel fee and escort fee on top of that, there’s nothing left”
Perched on top of a rock, Sid answered while swinging his legs
“But, since I’ve invested reatly increase The greater the risk, the greater the experience And since silk’s es frequently, there aren’t ood opportunity to raise my market share Truthfully, that is my objective, rather than money or experience”