Episode 166: The bustling market (3)
As I entered the wizard’s corner, I saw a familiar face.
Guild Union, Park Na-ri, a promising prospect from the Nature Club.
A miniature tiger named Beom-i sits on his shoulder.
Our eyes met and I waved lightly, and the other person returned the greeting.
“Oh, hello.”
“Meow.”
The tiger also shook its front paws, jumped down from Park Na-ri’s shoulder, and came towards me.
And then he started rubbing his cheek and forehead against my knees again and again.
When Ko Hyun-woo saw that, he reached out and tried to stroke it, but
“What a cute cat.”
“Haaak—!”
A tiger that immediately stands on end and reveals sharp claws.
Go Hyun-woo looked embarrassed, put his hand away, and stepped back.
Come to think of it, we fought in a 2v2 duel.
There’s no way they’d get along if they beat Cheongryu so mercilessly.
“Hey, Beom-ah. Come back.”
As Park Na-ri hurriedly took out the [Cube of Life] and opened it, Beom-i went inside and curled up into a ball.
I had a feeling that this would be a private villa for the tiger from the time we made the deal, and it really turned out that way.
It’s also full of scratches.
“Still, it’s good to see that you’re using it well.”
“Oh, yeah. Oh, thank you… … . Are you using it well too? What did you learn from the blank skill book… … .”
“Then, you’re writing really well.”
It was so well-written that it became the number one most hated skill for many people.
Dang Gyu-yeong trembles whenever he hears Windforce, and Hong Yeon-hwa’s face turns pale even when the wind blows.
“Ah, ha, haha, I see… … .”
Park Na-ri is smiling so timidly,
Another familiar face appeared.
“Nari, who’s here… … . Oh my, it’s been a while.”
“It’s been a while, senior.”
The head of the Nature Club, Ha Su-yeon.
I followed along because I was curious about who the timid Park Na-ri was talking to like this.
“Is there anything in particular you’re looking for? I can help you with that.”
An attitude and tone full of kindness.
It’s no wonder, because thanks to the Cube of Life, Park Na-ri is well ahead in the race among the promising candidates.
‘1.3x the effect of all stored life items’ is enough to widen the gap.
It seemed that after witnessing the duel between me and the Emerald Tower, we decided to maintain the best possible relationship.
‘That’s a very good mindset.’
If we continue to trade favorably in the future, it will be better for both of us.
So, I decided to accept Ha Su-yeon’s help without hesitation.
“If there is a skill book, I would like to get one.”
“What kind of skill book is it?”
“It’s [Airburst].”
Ha Su-yeon’s face became slightly hazy.
“Are you thinking of learning it yourself?”
“yes.”
“… … I see. The more skills you have, the better.”
Ha Soo-yeon didn’t ask any further questions, perhaps because she thought I might have something else in mind, but instead called over two second-year seniors who were managing the stalls nearby.
“[Airburst] Has the skill book been uploaded?”
“… … .”
The two seemed to be reminiscing for a moment.
Then, a second-year student answered while looking through the ledger.
“There aren’t any on our side. It’s still morning, so the seller might not have shown up yet… … .”
He adds somewhat uncertainly that if you come back later, there might be a skill book there.
Meanwhile, another second-year senior was still deep in thought, his brow furrowed.
And then, as if something came to mind, his face brightened and he clapped his hands!
“Ah! Myunghoon oppa probably has it?”
“He is a graduate.”
Ha Su-yeon added her explanation.
What it means is that graduates have skill books.
“I guess I should go to the alumni sales area.”
“Okay, I’ll send you a message.”
“Thank you. I’ll be right there.”
“Oh, just a moment.”
Ha Su-yeon stopped me for a moment as I immediately turned my back.
Then he took out a small piece of paper, wrote something on it, signed it, folded it carefully, and handed it to me.
“There’s going to be a long line over there too. Go and show them this.”
The line at the alumni sales area will likely be longer, if not longer, than the upperclassmen section.
There is a perception that the quality of items sold by graduates is higher, and indeed, that is true.
So, just like Jegal Soso let us in through the side door, Ha Suyeon also uses the club’s vested interests to let us pass through without waiting in line.
“I want you to remember that the Nature Club is friendly to you.”
“How could I forget? Thank you.”
Ha Su-yeon and I looked at each other and smiled.
* * *
The three of us made our way through the crowds of the downtown area to the graduate sales area.
Likewise, in front of a large building that resembles a shopping mall, there is a long, winding line like an earthworm.
As we circled the building and headed toward the back door, a third-year senior who had been waiting in front of it stopped us.
“This isn’t the entrance. Go to the front and stand in line.”
“I know. Just take a look at this once.”
The senior quickly read Ha Su-yeon’s note, checked the faces of the three of us, and then opened the back door.
“… … Come in.”
“thank you.”
As soon as we entered, we headed straight to where ‘Brother Myung-Hoon’ was.
Since I had already given notice before leaving, he recognized me at a glance.
“[Airburst] Are you buying it?”
“Yes, I would like to buy it.”
“It’s 4 thousand points.”
I quickly finished the deal with ‘Brother Myung-Hoon’.
My point situation is not as relaxed as Go Hyun-woo or Seo Ye-in, but it was a necessary expense.
‘And if the skill book is 4,000, it’s a steal.’
Considering that decent skills are traded in units of 10,000 points, the price of the [Air Burst] skill book is set quite low.
A low price means low demand, and low demand means the skill’s performance is questionable.
That’s why when I said I was looking for this skill book, Ha Su-yeon’s expression became strange.
Airburst.
A wind-type magic that blows away compressed air masses and causes them to explode.
The power is decent and the explosion range is quite wide, but it has one fatal flaw.
‘It’s hard to match.’
The speed at which the projectile flies is so ambiguous that it is practically impossible to dodge it if you have both eyes and legs.
The nickname given to him by players after seeing him blowing the air like that is,
‘Air bang.’
In other words, it is a skill that is perfect for being laughed at just by learning it.
But this ridicule quickly disappeared when the true nature of the Airburst was revealed.
To be exact, since the power of the powerful skill linked to Airburst became known.
‘Spiral explosion.’
The airburst was the third and final piece of the spiral explosion.
Completion condition is to achieve C rank in the prerequisite skill set.
[Twister] and [One Point Explosion] have completed preparations through mentoring,
[Airburst] The rank is quite easy compared to the previous two.
I put it off until last because it goes up quickly even without the event bonus.
‘Complete before the midterm exam starts.’
There isn’t much time left, but it will definitely be possible.
Afterwards, I took a quick look around the graduate sales area, but there wasn’t anything that particularly caught my eye.
To confirm, we also asked the Hidden Peace Radar and Calligrapher.
“Is there anything? Something feels off.”
– Dori dori,
I don’t know if there are really no good items or if my luck is just running out for today, but I think this is enough.
Each of us got one thing we wanted.
“I can go now.”
“Game Center?”
The calligrapher’s eyes were starting to look a little bored, but they quickly brightened up again when he heard it was over.
But I shook my head for a moment.
“Let’s eat first. You have plenty of time.”
Originally, I had calculated the time spent waiting in line, so I thought it would all be over by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, but thanks to Jegal Soso and Ha Suyeon, it was just about lunchtime.
The game center isn’t running away, so you can fill your stomach first and then take your time.
So we walked around the downtown area and looked at the street vendors lined up here and there.
“What do you want to eat?”
“I’ve always wanted to try something called ‘churosu.’”
“Are you talking about churros?”
“Bead ice cream.”
“Okay, you guys eat whatever you want.”
* * *
Same time.
A three-story building located a little away from the downtown area.
Although it looks like an abandoned building, it is actually the control tower of a thieves’ club.
When you enter the building and climb the stairs, you will come across a fairly large room, and the entire wall of that room is covered with numerous monitors.
And each monitor shows scenes from various parts of the downtown area, stealing the view of the security cameras installed in the downtown area.
Several members of the Thieves’ Club were watching the monitors one by one, and at the center of the room was Chae Da-bin, who held the actual command of this control tower, and next to her was Dang Gyu-yeong.
Cha Da-bin said, repeatedly tapping on her tablet.
“So far, everything is going smoothly.”
“huh.”
Around the same time that the marketplace opened, the Black Market also began to receive customers.
The customers were very cautious for fear of being caught, but one by one they entered Exchange A and B through the contact points.
And little by little, trading of banned items began to take place.
“The vanguard doesn’t seem interested in us.”
Several monitors were keeping an eye on the movements of the leader, but no suspicious activity was seen near the contact point or the exchange.
I haven’t figured out yet how the Black Market will be held this year, or
In the beginning, the focus was on maintaining security in downtown areas.
Of course, this is just the beginning.
As the number of active exchanges increases, the situation will only get more difficult, so we will have to keep an eye on it without letting our guard down.
While tapping away at the tablet and flipping through the screens, Chae Da-bin discovered something.
“Isn’t this Kim Ho?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
The screen showed Kim Ho’s figure cutting through the crowd.
With the handsome warrior who always walks around with me, and the pretty girl with gray hair.
The three of them each held a ball of ice cream in their hands.
“You’re cute.”
Dang Gyu-young chuckled and looked away from the monitor.
‘But you still let it go so easily.’
The distance between Dang Gyu-yeong and Kim Ho is too close to be considered a typical senior-junior relationship.
At least that’s what it seemed to Cha Da-bin and her teammates.
In that case, it would have been understandable for Dang Gyu-yeong to feel uncomfortable with Kim Ho and the gray-haired female student hanging out together.
Not only was her beauty something that even other women would admire, but the distance between the two of them seemed too close to be just classmates.
So I was worried about how Dang Gyu-yeong would react when he saw them, but it seems like he is being generous and accepting.
Chae Da-bin let out a sigh of relief.
‘thank god.’
however…….
Maybe it was Cha Da-bin’s mistake.
– Glance,
Dang Gyu-yeong, who was naturally looking at other screens, glanced at them.
And then, as if nothing had happened, I moved on to other screens, and soon after,
– Glance, glance,
He keeps glancing at one of the monitors out of the corner of his eye.
Just pick the places where Kim Ho is shining.
“… … .”
The more this happened, the more Dang Gyu-young’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and he felt his annoyance gauge rising little by little.
When Cha Da-bin secretly exchanged glances with the other members, it seemed like they too had sensed the strange phenomenon that was happening.
A tense atmosphere began to build in the control tower.
