Chapter 2 Part2 (1/2)
<chapter 2.=”” G.o.d's=”” secret=”” shop=”” -=”” 2=””>
When he came to, he was no longer in the Empire, but somewhere else. It was an enclosed s.p.a.ce, with silver walls emitting a delicate light on all four sides, and one of those sides was the 'store'. The secret shop permit gave him permission to come to this place.
”Why are you just staring at me? I'm sorry but I'm not for sale.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo tilted his head when he saw the woman behind the counter look back at him with a bewitching smile.
”... Have we met somewhere before?””Oh my, are you hitting on me? Unfortunately, your body's not my type.””I'm not hitting on you, you know. Even if I were, it wouldn't matter.”
She spoke while laughing annoyingly, and Lee s.h.i.+n Woo became short-tempered. He had accepted that he was an undead now, but he needed more time before he accepted his impotence! Even so, the woman, the storekeeper, giggled.
”Ah yes, you're right. Aw, how sad.”
The storekeeper was a remarkable beauty with burning red hair. Her red, bobbed hair trailed down to bottom of her neck, and slowly s.h.i.+mmered and swayed as if it were actually fire. Yes, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had seen that almost living red hair before; he had seen it just recently.
”Are you G.o.d?””There's no way G.o.d would be that free. Are all people with red hair G.o.ds, then?””Ugh...”
Indeed, she looked different from the G.o.d that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo remembered. By Earth standards, G.o.d looked both eastern and western, had truly strange physical features (ears, eyes, mouth, and nose), and looked like a 10 year old girl, and a 60 year old lady at the same time, such that it was difficult to tell.On the other hand, the woman in front of him was different. She looked energetic and in her early 20s, and had western physical features as well. Her hair was shorter, and her red eyes were different from G.o.d's (G.o.d's eyes glimmered in five different colors). But he was sure of one thing: she was an undeniable beauty. That was her only similarity to G.o.d.”If I were to explain... yes, think of me as a priestess. My role, given to me by G.o.d, is to supply my customers, that is, heroes, what they need in return for the proper price. I follow G.o.d's orders, so I'm a merchant and a priestess at the same time.””If a hero needs something, you should just give it to them for free.””Hehe.”
She'd probably heard that a lot from the other heroes until now. She narrowed her eyes and explained.
”You know the term 'karma', right? Karma exists in everything in this world. When you are accomplis.h.i.+ng a special feat, perfecting a special skill... or even killing others; you gain karma.””Then are levels and stats a kind of karma, too?””It's nice that you catch on quick. You're right, They are a type of karma. And customer, by using that karma as a price, you're able to receive a different 'karma' in return. The karma I receive in return for my items is... Perium.”
The explanation was long, but it just meant that achievements, skill training, and killing would allow him to raise his level and stats and that the Perium he received from killing monsters could be used to buy items. When Lee s.h.i.+n Woo heard that Perium was also a type of karma, he took out a portion of his karma from his inventory and looked at it thoroughly, but as expected, he couldn't figure anything out. It seemed as though the woman was used to it, and continued.
”Customer, you don't have the ability to process, or use it in another place yet. It will be much more helpful to you if you just buy items from me.””... Then, one more question. You said that levels are also a type of karma, but why haven't I leveled up yet when I've killed so many monsters?”
The merchant's smile thickened. Levels were a number that represented one's league and was also this world's standard of absolute strength. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo mentioned it so casually, so she pitied him.
”I don't know what levels you're talking about, but levels in this world aren't something that can be raised that easily. You have to gather an appropriate level of karma to level up. And the most typical example of that karma are stats.””Then to become level 2...” ”All your stats combined must become 200, solely from your body, excluding all items or temporary buffs. It's easy to understand, isn't it?”
'200? How and when am I supposed to get that much', is what he wanted to say, but when he added up all his stats, he was already at 186. That meant that he could raise his level when he raised his stats by 14 more.
”But you don't need to be in such a rush to level up. You see, what you did to get to that level is just as important as the level up itself. Whether it's by a special feat or a skill, other types of karma are important as well. Well, you'll see once you've experienced it yourself.”
It seems like level ups aren't simply a change in number in this world. That means that... it might mean a job change? In any case, it would happen soon, so just like the merchant said, he'd find out for sure once he experienced it himself.He was briefly lost in thought, and the merchant tapped the counter to snap him out of it.
”I think I've explained enough, back to the point that I should receive karma in exchange for goods. Would you like to buy something now, customer?””What do you sell?””I sell everything, aside from what I don't have. First off, potions.””Hmm...”
He really didn't feel like he needed potions, setting aside whether a skeleton could even drink a potion or not. That's because his injuries could be healed through Bone Reinforcement.
”Next are magic books.””Hm...”
Magic books, huh. Perhaps he might need them later, but not now. He didn't even have enough mana for the Shriek of the Dead and he could only use it once, so what would he do by learning magic? If he hadn't learned the Shriek of the Dead, he might've thought about it, but since he already had a skill that could turn the tides of battle, it didn't really feel very appealing to him right now.
”But you won't be able to buy them right now since you don't have enough Perium. Of course, we also have equipment that you can wear.””Equipment, huh. As I thought, I'd really like to see th...””Ah, and finally we have bones.””Bones!?””Bones.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, who was about to buy equipment, stopped moving and talking at once without hesitation. They sold bones? What if he was right, and they were the bones he was thinking about? He wondered why they sold such a thing and he tilted his head, while the merchant's expression remained calm.
”There are bones scattered around the Empire, so there's no way our shop wouldn't sell them. The other heroes don't have a Bone Reinforcement skill, so they would mostly sell them to me at a cheap price.””Of course.”
Since he didn't really have anything worth selling right now, this didn't mean anything to him right now, but it would change in the future. He had an inventory that could store pretty much anything now. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo decided that he'd pick up stuff he didn't immediately need in the future and nodded his head. And he told her the type of item he wanted.
”Please show me the bones.””Hehe, I knew you'd say that customer, so I had them prepared.”
He pondered between the equipment and the bones, but most of his strength came from his Bone Reinforcement skill, so he went with the bones.He simply thought that bones were, of course, better since they'd permanently increase his abilities, rather than equipment which he would have to change eventually, but it was mostly due to his experience with Bone Reinforcement, and the variety of abilities he could gain from it.
'There's, of course, the possibility of gaining skills, but I can't deny that the original owner's memories within the bones are greatly affecting my combat abilities.'