novelStar of the Absolute (3)
| ← Ch.078 | Ch.080 → |
"Talk."
He hated when people beat around the bush.
As Muyoung coldly replied, Bug gulped down his saliva.
"Then, I will get to the point. Please join our party."
"The reason is?"
"Isn't it better to fight with five people than alone? Currently, one spot is vacant."
Muyoung thought over what happened a few hours ago.
Bug and his other 3 comrades were stirring up the arena.
It wasn't five people but still that was enough.
Their coordination was enough to call them veteran explorers and they also had the fighting power to back it up.
At the very least, they had 5 years of experience.
On top of that, all four people seemed to have a distinct class.
They should be able to easily clear the 5th floor and go to the floor below.
"You probably don't see me as a human."
"You are different from other monsters. And even Alice said okay."
"Alice?"
"Ah, she's one of my party members. She is a master at detecting danger. She even has as support ability that allows her to recognize an opponent's habits or their fighting power."
It was a dangerous to just tell someone your companion's abilities.
It was a gamble since he was exposing a part of his power.
It just showed how badly he wanted to recruit him.
"The reason is?"
"Oloness, we don't have the confidence we will win when we face him."
"You can just forfeit, can't you?"
"See... We can't forfeit or lose even once."
He replied very cautiously.
Right away, Muyoung knew what Bug was talking about.
"They are aiming for Solomon's Hall of Fame."
They were trying to break a record and earn a reward.
They were thinking the same thing as Muyoung.
However, there was a limited number of people who could leave a record on Solomon's Hall of Fame.
'It's better to do it alone."
If he was to join these four, it might be possible to overthrow Oloness. They were strong enough.
However, if Muyoung joined them, Oloness would forfeit again and wait for his chance.
Since he felt awkward coordinating with others and as the conditions of the arena kept changing, he couldn't say how long they would be comrades for.
"I refuse."
"Please, think about one more time. You are really strong but Oloness is stronger."
Bug said it with certainty.
It seemed like the girl called Alice had compared Muyoung and Oloness's fighting power.
'Is she a recruiter type class?'
Occasionally, there were special recruiters who could see how strong a person was.
Fighting power was literally referring to the power Muyoung could produce using his stats and skills.
Even after realizing and awakening his purity, he was still weak compared to Oloness.
However, he never thought he would lose.
'Fighting power isn't everything. '
A fight was made up of continuous minuscule judgements.
Even a small mistake could produce critical results.
One's experience was the same or perhaps even more important than one's fighting power.
Experience allowed you to reduce the number of mistakes to a minimum and understand your opponent.
And Muyoung could be called experience itself.
Few thousands or tens of thousands of fights were enough to make simply comparing stats invalid.
"I will not lose."
"...Ha, I understand. It doesn't seem like I can change your mind alone. I won't ask you to fight as my comrade anymore."
Bug led out a big breath.
Muyoung joining them was like gaining a warrior who could do the work of a hundred men.
Although his other comrades opposed, Bug already knew.
That fighting power wasn't everything and that Muyoung was much stronger than what others thought.
When he first met him, he disregarded him as he was a dokkaebi but after witnessing all his fights, his thoughts about him changed.
He was strong.
He was a truly strong individual who continuously got stronger as he fought.
His goal was to recruit him no matter what but he had failed.
Bug turned his gaze and looked down.
"Then could you lend us the dwarf for a moment instead? We will pay a price. As you can see, our equipment have become tattered."
"20, 000 onz."
"What?"
"Per person, if you pay 20, 000 onz, I will let him fix it."
"That's too expensive. Wasn't the price of that dwarf 50, 000 onz?"
Muyoung shook his head.
"Kalmooh isn't a slave but an expert blacksmith. If he concentrated and fixed the equipment, the stats of the equipment also increase. It was a benefit only the ones who gained his favor can enjoy."
It meant Muyoung was willing to share this benefit.
Kalmooh was moved by the fact Muyoung said he wasn't a slave and on the other hand, Bug couldn't help but be surprised for a moment.
It was especially rare to find an expert blacksmith. They were normally part of huge guilds and only high ranks were able to use them.
If they could even momentarily borrow an expert that great, the price wasn't a problem.
On top of that, Bug thought that he could buy even a bit of Muyoung's favor through this deal.
Gulp!
"Please wait for a moment. I will come back after discussing the matter with my comrades."
Bug hastily ran out the door.
Muyoung pondered as he watched him leave.
'Just in time."
He lacked onz to buy the items Kalmooh needed.
80, 000 onz was enough capital.
'It could be used as a trump card when keeping Oloness in check. '
There was another reason for lending Kalmooh to them.
To keep Oloness in check and if it was those four, they would fight well against Oloness and he was planning on collecting data from this.
"Are you really okay with this? You might be fighting with them."
"I don't mind. Do your best."
Muyoung was calm.
If those four were monsters, no matter how much he needed the onz, he wouldn't have lent them this kind of help.
However, all four of them were human.
And when fighting against humans, there was no one who could catch up to Muyoung.
* * *
Thump!
They were the messages that appeared at the same time he finished off the wood golem.
15 wins 0 draw 0 loss.
It was Muyoung's current record and due to this, there was a bounty.
'Oloness is 500, 000 onz. Even though our records are similar, it just shows how great Oloness's influence is. '
He was also famous on the 4th floor.
It was because he had already competed in this arena a few times.
From what he heard, it seemed like this was his 7th.
There was no one who knew why he continued to participate in this arena.
He received a reward as he continued his thoughts.
About 700, 000 onz.
This was the amount he earned after five rounds.
Unlike the 5th floor, the monsters on the 4th floor were more assertive.
If the goal of the monsters on the 5th floor was to survive, the goal of the monsters on this floor was to escape.
However, the escape ticket was a large sum, a staggering 1, 000, 000 onz.
So obviously everyone lacked onz and perhaps it was because of this that another facility besides the arena existed.
It was the 'market'.
At the market, everyone was a customer and a merchant.
A place where people could purchase and sell items by setting them out and bargaining.
Muyoung was walking around this place.
"Silver-light cross ring. 100, 000 onz."
"Sooty battle boots. Selling for 200, 000 onz."
Unexpectedly, there was a constant supply of new items.
People took items from the opponents they killed and sold them like this.
The size of the arena exceeded his imagination and hundreds of monsters died every day.
That was why so many items were on the market.
And Muyoung didn't miss a day to roam around the place to see if there was anything he needed.
'Normally, they are things that aren't worth buying. '
Almost 9 of out 10 items weren't in good condition. They were mostly worn or rusted.
What was more, these items were expensive.
Monsters knew this as well but they were never willing to cut the price.
Most monsters didn't understand the economy very well and even if they knew it wasn't going to sell they were still firm on the price.
However, Muyoung had the blacksmith Kalmooh.
A treasure that returned equipment to their original state and with a low chance to increase their efficiency.
'The fact that both good and bad items are the same price meant that as long as a person has a good eye, they could profit. '
It was so.
Monsters had very little understanding of the economy.
They sold good equipment and the bad equipment at the same price.
Those who didn't know would probably get ripped-off but Muyoung had a skill that could show the details of any item.
'Eye of the Sky. '
A skill that allowed him to use all the knowledge inside the Sky Library!
There was an endless use for Eye of the Sky which had become a C rank.
Like now.
Name: Old earring
Rank: F
Classification: Equippable type
Effect: An earring so old that its abilities have changed. Be careful when putting it on as you can get tetanus.
** Secret Name: Contempt for the Weak (A++)
** Secret Effect: Extorts vitality from a wounded opponent.
It was possible to look at its secret name and effect.
What was more, he was even able to know the original rank.
'A rank item that's also unique!'
Muyoung's pupils widened for a moment.
A rank items that were identified as unique were almost nonexistent.
There were up to 3 '+'s which indicated rare, unique and epic respectively and would display strong abilities relative to their rank.
These were things normal recruiters couldn't see with their skills.
It was possible for the Eye of the Sky skill that Muyoung possessed as it was a skill that contained all knowledge.
Though even this would have been impossible if its rank was low but the timing was just too good.
"I want to buy this earring. How much is it?"
"Sheeck, It is, 200, 000 onz."
An orc spoke without even looking at Muyoung.
There was no one in front of the stall.
Who would buy an old earring like this for 200, 000 onz?
Even the orc probably thought that there was no way Muyoung would purchase such an item.
If he really bought it, it would mean he was crazy.
And Muyoung became the crazy guy.
"I will purchase it."
"Sheeck. 200, 000 onz. I won't reduce the price."
Muyoung shrugged his shoulders and took out a piece of paper.
The orc nodded as Muyoung wrote a number on top of a paper made out of special material.
Muyoung slowly held the earring.
"Contempt for the Weak. I got a good item. '
If it was old, he just needed to repair it.
He never thought he could earn such an item at a place like this.
It was an earring he really liked after coming to this place for a few days.
As Muyoung turned his body and started to leave, the orc tapped his belly and smiled.
"He's a tool, a tool. Sheeck."
Rumors about Muyoung quickly spread.
A tool who buys anything expensive!
Many laughed at him for buying strange items whenever he earned onz.
However, Muyoung didn't care.
Muyoung wasn't the type to be swayed by such rumors and unlike their remarks, Muyoung was certainly gaining benefit.
'Kneeguard of Fresh Blood, Sly god's Sword, and Contempt for the Weak. '
Among them, he chose three.
No matter how great the secret names and the effects were, there were quite a few that originally didn't have good stats.
So, the good equipment that Muyoung could put on and use were only these three.
But, that was enough.
Just with these three, Muyoung was able to gain quite a bit of strength.
'I shouldn't have been given time. '
Even inside the arena, Muyoung was quickly getting stronger.
On top of that, even his equipment were developing gradually.
If Oloness decided to fight him on the 5th floor, he would have had much higher chance of winning.
However, he gave Muyoung time and that would act as a critical factor.
Oloness's chance of winning was slowly and continuously getting smaller.
On the other hand, Muyoung was steadily eating up everything from the bottom.
| ← Ch. 078 | Ch. 080 → |