Chapter 119

Jun-sang leaned back against the seat, and Seo-yoon and his guild members remained silent for a moment, lost in thought. But in truth, there was nothing to ponder. While it was true that various events had kept them busy lately, the ultimate goal for all returnees, including Jun-sang, was to survive until this cursed game ended.

“We’ll do it. If the outcome were uncertain, it’d be one thing, but with someone who’s already succeeded, giving up makes no sense,” Seo-yoon said first, and the rest of the guild members nodded with determined expressions.

Jun-sang quietly looked at them, then spoke again. “As I said before, it’s hard for me to help with the specific training process.”

“No, you’ve been a huge help already.”

Jun-sang thought for a moment, then asked Seo-yoon, “Is there a place nearby where I can put out a container house?”

“A container house?” Seo-yoon stroked his chin for a moment, then cautiously replied, “The rooftop would be dangerous… a vacant lot near the lake would be better.”

“Wouldn’t it be crowded after yesterday’s incident?”

“That’s…” Seo-yoon frowned, then said again, “If we’re assuming it needs to be out of sight, there really isn’t a suitable place nearby. In the evening or at night, we could use a nearby elementary school or riverside park, but at this time of day… unless it’s the suburbs.”

“I see.” Jun-sang slowly stood up and said, “Then I’ll go out for a bit. Get some fresh air.”

“Understood.”

He went into the bedroom, got dressed, and came out to find a pile of shopping bags on the table.

“What’s this?” Jin Se-ah quickly answered Jun-sang’s question. “They’re the things we bought yesterday. I forgot to hand them over.”

“Right.” Jun-sang immediately took out the cabinet, put the shopping bags inside, then went down to the underground parking lot with everyone.

“Just in case, I brought the car I used to drive instead of the Humvee.”

“Thanks.” Jun-sang took the key from Seo-yoon, got into the silver-gray sedan with Henes, and followed Seo-yoon out of the parking lot.

They drove for about thirty minutes and entered a quiet country road in the suburbs. After stopping the car at the bottom of the mountain and climbing for about ten minutes, they found a secluded open space. Jun-sang looked around and, after confirming there were no people around, took out the container house from his inventory.

The guild members, except for Seo-yoon, gasped when the large container house suddenly appeared out of thin air. “Wow…”

Jun-sang slowly opened the door, went inside, and turned on the lights. “Seo-yoon.”

“Yes.”

“Take out some chairs and sit down comfortably.”

“Understood.” Jun-sang turned his back as Seo-yoon took out folding chairs from the cupboard, then opened the inner door and went into the utility room, opening the cabinet he had placed there. Inside, it was filled with the Seeds and items Jun-sang had acquired so far.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang examined the Seeds and items for a moment, then quietly summoned Mong-mong. As soon as Mong-mong appeared out of thin air, it scurried up Jun-sang’s body and settled on his shoulder.

“Here, take these.” Jun-sang handed the pouch of Seeds and items to Mong-mong on his shoulder, and Mong-mong took them and stored them in its pouch. Jun-sang quickly gathered the necessary items, closed the cabinet, and returned to the living room.

The people were huddled around the living room table, looking around the inside of the container house with curiosity, but when Jun-sang reappeared, they quickly straightened their posture and focused on him. Jun-sang, looking at them, who somewhat resembled clumsy new recruits from a movie or drama, placed Mong-mong on the table.

“Take them out.” At Jun-sang’s command, Mong-mong poured the items from its pouch onto the table with a clatter. The first thing that caught their eye was a large sack. The people looked at it, wondering if it was some kind of medicine, but when Jun-sang opened the sack, their eyes widened.

“Gasp!”

“I-is all this… Seeds?”

“No way…”

Seo-yoon and his companions’ mouths dropped open at the monstrous quantity, enough to make one wonder how many things he had to kill to get that much. For them, who had thought the amount of Seeds previously purchased by the alliance was a lot, this situation was simply incomprehensible.

But Jun-sang ignored their surprise and picked up one of the items next to the sack. It was an unsightly, dark-colored staff. Jun-sang handed it to Jung Da-bin.

“What… is this?” Jung Da-bin hesitated and asked Jun-sang, as a somewhat unsettling staff was suddenly handed to her. But Jun-sang replied with a calm expression, “Check it.”

“…” Indeed, what was the need to ask? Even if the item identification function hadn’t been unlocked before, she now clearly had the ability to identify items. Jung Da-bin, feeling a bit awkward, took out her phone and activated the item identification. And a moment later, when the item’s information appeared on the screen, her mouth dropped open.

“Gasp! Th-this is…” Jun-sang quietly said as Da-bin looked at him with a surprised expression, “It’s an advance payment.”

“Huh?”

“An advance payment.”

“…”

Da-bin initially thought Jun-sang said “gift.” But his subsequent words were “advance payment,” not “gift.”

“H-how much…”

“We’re not strangers, so I’ll just charge the original cost.”

“Original cost… what?”

“The calculation method. Have you forgotten?”

“…”

The Staff of Lightning handed to Jung Da-bin had the effect of reducing the cooldown of lightning magic by 10 percent. Applying the calculation method Jun-sang had presented when purchasing Seeds before, it would be 2 to the power of 9 multiplied by one hundred thousand…

“Fifty-one million two hundred thousand won…” Jung Da-bin despaired at the astronomical price that made her feel faint. It was certainly something she wanted to buy, even if it meant overspending, as a lightning magic user, but fifty million won was an eye-watering price for someone with no income at the moment.

“C-can you give me a small discount?”

“Impossible.”

“Ugh…”

“But since we’re not strangers, I’ll let you pay in 48 monthly installments.”

“…”

Jung Da-bin quickly tapped on her phone’s calculator. But the despair was the same. Even divided into 48 months, she would still have to pay over 1 million won every month.

“Ugh…” Jung Da-bin groaned. In the past, she wouldn’t have spent such a large sum to acquire an item. Because a mere 10 percent cooldown reduction could be compensated for by simply enduring it. However, the situation was different now. If a monster like yesterday’s reappeared, 10 percent cooldown could mean the difference between life and death.

Jun-sang, seeing her conflicted, delivered the fatal blow. “If you buy it now, I’ll throw in two Magic Attack +3% Seeds.”

Magic attack increase! Were there even such Seeds? According to Jun-sang’s calculation method, they were only 400,000 won each, but Jung Da-bin had never even seen such Seeds before. Two 3% increases meant a whopping 6%! Considering their rarity, their actual value could jump several times higher than Jun-sang’s calculation. In the end, Jung Da-bin succumbed to Jun-sang’s temptation.

“I-I’ll buy it.”

“Good thinking.” Jun-sang inserted two Mind Seeds that increased magic attack into the Staff of Lightning and handed it to Jung Da-bin.

The others, who had been watching the scene from the beginning, unconsciously gulped. Jun-sang then picked up a dagger about twenty centimeters long and looked at Im Seo-yoon and Seo Yoo-mi, saying, “This is a dagger that increases critical hit chance by 10 percent. Who wants it?”

“…” Instantly, sparks flew from Im Seo-yoon and Seo Yoo-mi’s eyes.

Im Seo-yoon. Age 27. The youngest son of the XX Group, second in the business world. Since childhood, he had shown great interest in weapons, possessing extensive knowledge that few could match, from modern firearms to ancient weaponry. In short, a military enthusiast. His current combo card was Carcass’s Weapon Master. At first glance, Im Seo-yoon, being the youngest son of a chaebol family, seemed overwhelmingly advantageous, but in reality, Seo Yoo-mi was also the daughter of a chaebol chairman, even though it was hard for her to openly admit it. She wasn’t particularly keen on spending her father’s money, but even in this situation, she wouldn’t refuse.

“Ms. Yoo-mi, you already have your favorite kitchen knife. Just use that,” Im Seo-yoon subtly suggested, but Seo Yoo-mi shook her head and replied, “No. I… need it too.”

Immediately, a hot, swirling atmosphere enveloped the two.

“I’ll offer sixty million,” Im Seo-yoon said first. According to Jun-sang’s calculation, the base price of this dagger was 51.2 million won, just like the staff Jung Da-bin bought. Considering Jung Da-bin almost fainted when she heard that price, Seo-yoon’s action was nothing short of extravagant spending.

Then, Seo Yoo-mi, as if she couldn’t lose, hesitantly countered. “Seventy… million.” But no sooner had she spoken than Seo-yoon immediately raised the price as if he had been waiting.

“Eighty million!”

“Ugh…” Seo Yoo-mi had to bite her lip. She had saved every penny of her allowance until now, but even combining it all, it was difficult to exceed the amount Seo-yoon had offered. It would be possible if she sold her house in Pyeongtaek, but she couldn’t do that, thinking of the elderly couple who had raised her. In the end, this confrontation ended anticlimactically with Seo-yoon’s victory. Seo Yoo-mi touched her clothes with a gloomy expression.

Then Henes, who had been quietly watching, spoke to Jun-sang, who was handing the dagger to Seo-yoon. “Um… Jun-sang.”

“What?”

“That dagger. You gave it to me recently, but…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Henes smiled brightly, then leaned her head on Jun-sang’s lap while he was sitting on the sofa and lay down. Jun-sang stroked her brown hair cascading over his lap and quietly watched TV, then realized that the acquisition deadlines for the Quest to Guard the Heavenly Bridge and the Quest to Subdue Krollobagan were approaching. After pondering for a moment, Jun-sang decided to claim the rewards now.

Immediately after claiming the rewards from the three quests, white light, signifying a level-up, emanated from Jun-sang’s body.

“Jun-sang?” Henes, who had been quietly resting her head on Jun-sang’s lap, was startled by the sudden light emanating from his body and tried to get up.

“It’s fine, stay still.”

“Okay…”

Jun-sang stroked Henes’s head and checked the reward boxes. Due to the accumulated quests, there were quite a few reward boxes to open. There were six additional reward boxes from completing hidden quests, one Triple S-rank reward box, and then a Savior-grade reward box and a special mission reward box, totaling nine. On top of that, there was a random card and the Savior of Eshtal title as level-up rewards. The Savior of Eshtal title, like previous Savior titles, had the effect of increasing experience rewards when completing quests in the Eshtal region.

Jun-sang first opened the additional reward boxes.

Congratulations! You have obtained the special card 'Inventory' from the additional reward box. :Acquiring a special card allows you to unlock sealed special functions. -Since the special function 'Inventory' is already unlocked, your Inventory capacity has been expanded by 2 slots. -Currently, you can register and use 17 different types of items in your Inventory.

The first reward box immediately yielded an Inventory card. Unlike Inventory cards obtained when reaching a certain rank, this one was only for two slots, but more Inventory space was always a good thing. Feeling that it was a good start, Jun-sang opened the second box.

Card Info Name: Pierce Level: 1Lv Experience: 0 Grade: Uncommon Category: Skill Growth: Normal (Medium) Attribute: None Effect: Ignores 20% of defense when a critical hit occurs. Cost: 15 Seed: 2 slots

A new skill appeared, but it felt somewhat subtle. The effect itself was very good. Although it had the condition of a critical hit, being able to ignore a certain portion of the opponent’s defense meant dealing more damage. But the problem was the limited skill slots. Considering Jun-sang’s primary card combinations, equipping this instead of a Hero-grade Bloodbath card or a Super Rare-grade Dual Storm card wasn’t a good choice. For now, he could only hope for a new combo card combination to appear. Jun-sang clicked his tongue and opened the third box.

Card Info Name: Firefly Level: 1Lv Experience: 0 Grade: Uncommon Category: Summon Growth: Normal (Small) Attribute: Light Effect: Summons 1 twinkling light spirit. Cost: 10 Seed: 2 slots

This time, a new spirit appeared. Just by the name, he could roughly guess what kind of spirit it was, but he summoned a Firefly just to test it out. A blinking ball of light appeared before Jun-sang’s eyes. It was a gentle, subtle light, more soft than dazzling, similar to the light phenomenon of a level-up or a summon.

Henes, who had been quietly resting her head on Jun-sang’s lap and watching TV, was curious when she suddenly saw a small ball of light appear above his head.

“What is this?”

“A light spirit.”

“Oh… it’s really pretty.”

As Henes reached out her hand, the Firefly began to dance and sway around her hand, scattering white dust of light. Jun-sang watched Henes play with the Firefly and opened the fourth box.

Card Info Name: Stealth Level: 1Lv Experience: 0 Grade: Uncommon Category: Skill Growth: Precocity (Medium) Attribute: Shadow Effect: Conceals your body from enemy sight. (Immovable upon activation) Cost: 15 Seed: 2 slots

Then, the Stealth card, which had appeared before, reappeared. The only difference was that it was now Uncommon grade, unlike before, and the effect description hadn’t changed. Unlike the previous one, which had no attribute, this one had a Shadow attribute, and the cost and Seed slots had slightly increased, but the visible differences were limited to that. Compared to the Grunwald’s Cloak‘s invisibility effect, it still felt insufficient. Unless a higher-grade card appeared later, it seemed unlikely to be used for now.