Chapter 139 - How To Be Perfectly Prepared (3)

The party soon returned to the magic circle.

Fwoosh! A few members were covered by a light that showed they'd leveled up.

Hyun smiled in satisfaction while seeing that his experience bar was half full.

'There isn't anywhere better than here for simply leveling up.'

It wasn't that there wasn't a more effective hunting ground, but he couldn't think of anywhere you could level up and grow as safely and comfortably as there.

'Why isn't she leveling up?'

Hyun tilted his head while looking at Louise.

It wasn't that all NPCs had fixed levels, but it didn't matter how much Louise hunted, her level didn't increase.

'Well, she's a Transcendent, so it really doesn't make sense that she's only level 200.'

He thought that he had no other way than to gather hints about her while doing the main quest.

[MVP Hyun] : 50.2% (Main Dealer 2, Commander, Buffer, Assist, Strategist, Playmaker)

[Ain] : 27.1% (Main Dealer 1, Playmaker)

[Salon] : 12.7% (Main Dealer 3)

[Louise] : 7.8% (Backup Dealer, Evasive Tanker)

[TarrTarr] : 2.2% (Crowd Control Assist)

Once again, they reacted differently after checking the contribution rate.

"Why can't I reduce the distance?"

"I… Went down from 2.3%, I think…?"

"Haha! I'm finally a main dealer! This probably means I've gotten better!"

Only Salon seemed satisfied.

"How about it, Hyun? I did pretty well just now, right?"

"Well, it wasn't bad."

"Fufu. I'm already looking forward to the moment we upload the video. How will my role be edited…?"

"What? But we aren't going to upload this…"

"Wait, what?"

Salon was shocked at Hyun's sudden words.

"You aren't going to upload this incredible hunting footage? Are you serious?!"

"It's a video where we all appeared."

"What about it?"

Hyun answered Salon's question while smiling awkwardly.

"Many things that wouldn't be good if they're shown have been recorded."

For a hunting video of all five of them, they would've inevitably had to use footage that showed different points of view, and there would be many things that hadn't been made public.

Ain, TarrTarr, and Salon's relation…

Louise’s existence…

And his skills like «Assimilation» and «Shadow Shield».

Hyun was afraid that information about the guild members would be leaked.

Salon, who was preparing a counter-argument, remained silent after hearing the explanation.

He bit his lips, disappointed that he couldn't act like he used to do.

'Ugh… Isn't there anything I could do? But…!'

Salon got close to Hyun and asked in a low voice.

"Is it okay if other people don't appear?"

"What…?"

"If I edit and make sure that only I appear, my job and skills are already known, so I don't think it will matter…"

After saying so, Salon took a glimpse at Hyun.

He was worried he'd look too pathetic while asking that.

"Ah, if it's only that, I think it will be okay."

Thankfully, Hyun accepted.

The moment Hyun said ‘yes’, Salon clenched his fists excitedly.

"Nice!"

"Ah. But I «Assimilated» for a short while… You know… Right?"

"Hmm…?"

At that moment, there was a weird atmosphere between Hyun and Salon.

But that lasted only for a few seconds. Salon soon laughed out loud and nodded.

"Haha, of course…! There's no way I'd forget about that condition!"

"Right? I thought that you may have forgotten about it."

Salon and Hyun exchanged a short laugh.

Next to them, Louise was looking at them in confusion.

* * *

It had been two weeks since they’d begun frequenting the experience dungeon.

All of them were around level 140 ~ 160.

'This is enough.'

Other people might’ve been surprised if told that, in two weeks, they’d gone from level 100 to 160 because it would be impossible for most parties.

But Hyun felt that the leveling-up speed had decreased.

The maximum level of the dungeon was 200, so they wouldn't be able to level up faster.

It was about time they graduated from it.

'We've also more or less practiced everything.'

They'd practiced and leveled up enough.

'It's about time we change items.'

The last needed preparation was to get new equipment.

Once they bought new equipment, he wasn't planning to get new gear until he leveled up a hundred more levels, so he had to be serious.

He checked the community boards.

'They're too expensive. The options are quite bad, too.'

Few users had finished the job ascension, so it seemed like there weren't many items for players over level 100 yet.

Hyun wasn't planning to buy items that the price would go down on soon.

'Rather than buying… It seems like crafting will be cheaper.'

Hyun looked at his inventory.

He'd gained many materials while hunting named monsters with Ain, and among them, there were quite a few special ones.

The leather of a high-ranking devil! The core of a devil!

The items he'd obtained after hunting Betty had been gathering dust on one side of his inventory, but they still hadn't lost their shine.

'Yes. There's no need to buy from other users.'

Hyun thought about where he was in the ranking.

He was at level 160 and was one of the top rankers.

When there wasn't anyone in front of you, you had to solve things on your own.

'Let's make them!'

Hyun had decided on it when he suddenly heard Ain's voice from behind.

"Hyun, aren't we going to the dungeon today?"

"Eh? Yes… TarrTarr can't come, and Salon said he would hunt alone."

At that moment, Ain's eyes shone.

"Then we're alone today?"

Ain had some complaints she couldn't say out loud after the guild was created.

In the past, they were always alone… but a few weird guys had begun wandering around them recently.

It wasn't that she hated how things had become, but it was true that she missed the past when they were alone.

"No, I'm planning to take a break from hunting today. If I want to make new items, there are a lot of preparations I must do beforehand. I think I'll have to visit the city…"

"Then, shopping…? Are we going right now?!"

"Well… I guess so?"

"Great, let's go together!"

"Why are you two going alone? I want to go, too!"

Louise, who was hearing Hyun and Ain's conversation, stood up. At that moment, a deep smile appeared on Ain's face.

"Stay home."

"What…?"

"Don't follow us all the time."

"…?!"

Ain said the last thing in a low voice so it didn't reach Hyun's ears.

* * *

Sadly, it was daytime outside. Since the sun was still in the sky, Louise had to stay home.

Hyun and Ain went to the teleporter.

The biggest city of the Magic Country, Loupra, was covered in magic circles, which gave it a mysterious atmosphere.

Ain looked happier than usual while walking through the roads of Loupra.

"Hyun, do you remember we came here before when we just began to play Asrian?"

"Of course I remember. It's only been three months."

"It's only been three months? It felt like it was a long time ago."

"Well, a lot of things have happened since then."

Loupra was the first city in which he met with Ain and the first place he’d bought items.

He still remembered blowing up lots of gold and items while trying to enhance the equipment.

…Although that became a good memory since Ain managed to succeed two consecutive times.

'That robe was created back then. Is she still wearing that…?'

Hyun looked at the 'The Ghost Commander's Robe' that had become her signature cloth.

He also looked at the 'Black Half-gloves.'

The gloves had been enhanced with Leopard's Wand, and their specs were quite good, so maybe there wasn't a need to change them… but wouldn't it be better to change the robes?

"Ain, about your cloth—"

"Yes?"

"Although it has some rare options… Is it necessary to wear it over other good items?"

Ain reacted weirdly to Hyun's question.

"But there's left…"

"What?"

"Durability…?"

"It doesn't matter. We don't need to save up on repair costs."

"R-really…?!"

Ain was about to say something when Hyun confidently spoke.

"If we make a new one, I'll buy it for you."

"You'll buy it for me?!"

"Yes. After killing Betty, I feel like I'm the only one who got something… So I was bothered by it. Also, it would be great if you had something like this."

Hyun showed her his clothes while smiling.

The Robes of the Praying Priest.

The unique item he'd received after killing the level 235 Betty. Its specs were so good that he might not even need to change it out for the rest of his life.

It reduced your death penalty by half, and when you received fatal damage, you became immortal for three seconds.

There was also the fact that it would unlock a new ability when «Pray» reached level nine.

Not only that, but he still hadn't unlocked all of the options.

He'd been so busy that he didn't have the time to «Pray», but he could probably get it to nine if he took a week off.

His «Pray» level eight was at 73%.

"Really? Are you going to buy it for me?"

"Why are you so surprised?"

"That's because… It would be your first time buying me something"

"Really…?"

Hyun tried to remember.

Had he really never bought anything for her…?

He reflected on it.

Since he didn't have any money or gold issues, he could perfectly use some money in situations like that.

He thought that he would get Ain new clothes with the best specs possible.

Hyun and Ain visited the blacksmith on the Magic Guild's lower floor.

There, they saw one blacksmith working hard.

He thought he had to be better than the NPC who blew his ‘The Sword of the Supreme Being’.

"A user? I don't deal with cheap ingredients," he said after seeing how Ain looked.

But his attitude changed after seeing the items Hyun took from his inventory.

"Even this?"

A high-ranking devil's leather, a devil's core, and fabrics that had magic circles infused in them…

The blacksmith's eyes shone after seeing them.

"Woah, not bad."

A magic country's blacksmith was different from a normal one who just created items with a hammer.

It would be better to call them magic engineers who used numerous magic circles to cut and combine different ingredients.

"Would this be okay?"

He checked out the ingredients and created an image of a completed piece of armor.

Because the size was different at first glance, Hyun shook his head.

"No, it isn't for me… but for her."

"Ah, it's for a girl. Haha, then I'll have to focus more on the design."

The hologram's form began to change as the blacksmith moved his hand.

Thanks to the system that allowed you to see the finished item, the blacksmith could easily create the item just as the client wanted.

Although it took them more than an hour to find a design that Ain liked…

As the appearance was defined, creating the item didn't take even five minutes.

Recard's Devil Armor (Unique)

Minimum Requirements : [Agility 120], [Magical Power 250]

Durability (440/440)

Defense: + 154%

- If an attack brushes past you, the damage received gets significantly reduced.

- When your HP is lower than 20%, you receive 80% less damage.

- Lava Resistance +99%

'Good!'

He was expecting the item to be unique.

After all, he'd used quite valuable ingredients. If the item were just rare, that would mean that his skills were just as good as that 'bastard.'

After checking its stats, he saw the value of the item.

'I was right. He's an artisan with great skills.'

Not only was the item a unique…

But the blacksmith had managed to put all the options he had asked for on it.

The damage would be reduced when an attack barely touched you, and it increased defense at low HP!

Ain’s movement skills were great, so even if she received attacks, they brushed past her most of the time, which made the first option very useful.

Secondly, the increase in defense when your HP was low was probably going to show great synergy with her skills «Latent Potential Increase» and «Vitality Absorption».

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