Today, I Am Safer Than I Was Yesterday (2)
The loot mail was truly piled up to the brim.
There were so many that checking them one by one felt meaningless.
So Seon Yul first used the ‘Receive All’ option to claim everything at once, then placed all the loot out on the floor of Absolute Space.
After that, he began sorting them.
He divided the loot into four broad categories:
First, completed items.
Second, Enchant Souls.
Third, material items.
Fourth, magic stones.
As for the first category, completed items, he had obtained a total of four.
One Unique-grade, one Relic-grade, and two Magic-grade items.
The two Magic-grade items were things he would likely sell off moderately and convert into magic stones, but the Unique and Relic-grade items he obtained were quite decent.
[‘Mithril Camouflage Cloak’ <Unique>]
― A cloak made by hammering mithril extremely thin into scales, enchanting each piece individually, and attaching them. Somewhat heavy, but possesses excellent defensive and stealth capabilities.
[Base Effect] Defense +100
[Skill] Environmental Assimilation (Passive): The cloak changes its pattern and color to resemble the surrounding environment, greatly enhancing stealth ability.
[Additional Effect] All Resistances +20
[‘Talent Restoration Ring’ <Relic>]
― A crude-looking ring engraved with a magical power that restores talent. Its appearance is rough, but its performance is outstanding.
[Base Effect] None
[Skill] Talent Restoration (Passive): Suppresses one penalty applied to another item so that the penalty effect does not activate.
Both items were usable by Seon Yul.
Especially the Talent Restoration Ring, it could remove an extremely annoying penalty attached to his safety helmet, so he intended to use it without question.
Although users had ten fingers, the number of equippable ring items was limited to two.
If more than two were worn, only the rings with an even slightly higher grade would have their effects applied.
Fortunately, Seon Yul had only been wearing one ring, so he immediately slipped the Talent Restoration Ring onto his finger.
A message then appeared asking him to select which penalty to suppress. He promptly chose the movement speed restriction penalty attached to the safety helmet.
The combination of ‘Safety Helmet + Talent Restoration Ring’ was extremely efficient.
With the movement speed restriction lifted, Seon Yul finally felt like he could breathe.
Until now, because of that restriction, even when he tried to move slowly and normally, it felt like he was sprinting at full power.
That meant he had been constantly exhausted.
With just these two items alone, Seon Yul already felt considerable satisfaction.
But that wasn’t the end.
Next was the Enchant Soul.
This category was also highly satisfying, though he obtained only one.
But that single one was a Unique-grade.
[Endure It (Enchant Soul) <Unique>]
― Converts a single fatal blow into multiple non-fatal damage-over-time ticks.
[Base Effect] None
[Skill] Damage Dispersion (Passive): When receiving fatal damage, absorbs the damage instantly and applies it over 30 instances across 30 seconds. However, this passive can only activate once every 5 minutes.
[Penalty] While Damage Dispersion is active, stealth-type skills or techniques requiring mental concentration cannot be used.
“Ha… how wonderfully safe!”
Seon Yul admired the Enchant Soul.
This time, the Enchant Soul was clearly tailored for him.
“Where should I apply this?”
The passive effect would apply no matter where it was engraved, so choosing the item to apply it to required some thought.
Common sense suggested applying it to outerwear or something similar, but ordinary common sense did not apply to items used by users.
More precisely, ordinary common sense did not apply to users themselves.
The easiest way to understand users was to see them as game characters.
User = game player.
Gate = dungeon.
Monster = monster.
Simplified as much as possible, the equation looked like that.
Once someone awakened and became a user, they came under a different set of rules from ordinary people, collectively called the ‘System.’
According to the System’s settings, users possessed basic stats such as Defense, Attack Power, Strength, Intelligence, and Resistance, along with essential stats like Vitality and Mana. All of which were numerically quantifiable.
Users derived all result values from these numbers.
When Vitality reached 0, they died.
When Attack Power increased, their attacks became stronger.
When Mana was depleted, they could not use another category of abilities known as skills.
When Intelligence increased, they became smarter.
Since everything was determined by numerical ability values, some people claimed that users were no longer human.
This was the basis of the theory consistently argued by the organization known as Old Blood, that ‘users are ultimately just another type of monster.’
In any case, for this reason, the Enchant Soul Seon Yul currently held could be applied to any equipment.
As long as the item was classified as equipment, it would work.
“Well, I’ll think about that slowly.”
It wasn’t urgent, so Seon Yul set the Enchant Soul aside and moved on to the next loot category.
He had obtained a large variety of material items in significant quantities, but in truth, only one material mattered.
[Mountain Turtle’ Shell Fragments (SSS) × 1,794.]
He had obtained 1,794 pieces of a Triple S-grade material item.
Out of curiosity, he looked it up and found that this material was so rare that it was impossible to obtain due to scarcity.
There was another material item called ‘Iron Turtle’ Shell Fragment, which differed only in name but was otherwise identical in composition. That one traded at about 1 million won per piece.
That meant Mountain Turtle shell fragments, being even rarer, would sell for even more.
Even by simple calculation, selling them all would net him nearly 2 billion won.
“But I have no intention of selling.”
The reason was simple.
This was the main material required to craft the highest-grade defensive equipment obtainable through crafting.
“Let’s make a full defense set with this.”
The crafting cost might be somewhat expensive, but once completed, his survivability would rise dramatically.
After finishing checking the material items, Seon Yul finally looked at the pile of magic stones stacked to one side.
First, the biggest jackpot: one ‘Top-Grade Magic Stone’ earned from solo-killing the Mountain Turtle.
Second, two ‘High-Grade Magic Stones’ were received as bonuses for Most Gate Destructions and Highest Cumulative Damage.
Just those alone already made him feel full.
And when he gathered all the intermediate-grade magic stones from various minor rewards, the total came out to a staggering 164.79 kg.
“Wow… so this is what it feels like to become a millionaire overnight.”
After finishing the calculations, Seon Yul nodded repeatedly with a delighted grin.
He had spent a considerable amount of intermediate-grade magic stones during the Invasion Event, but he didn’t think about those expenses at all now.
“The more magic stones, the better!”
He had always needed magic stones, but now they had become truly critical.
Originally, Absolute Space had been a no-cost ability. But after the free service ended, Seon Yul discovered that its cost was magic stones.
While others used mana, Seon Yul used magic stones.
This had both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was that as long as he continuously met the condition of ‘not lacking,’ he could essentially use his abilities without limit.
When using abilities, other users generally had to consider their mana pool and worry about mana exhaustion. Seon Yul didn’t have to worry about that, so he could use his abilities much more comfortably.
The disadvantage was that every bit of consumption ultimately translated into hard-earned money.
Others lived comfortably using the magic stones they earned. No matter how much Seon Yul earned, he still had to conserve it.
But he didn’t find this disadvantage particularly uncomfortable.
“Magic stones can always be earned.”
His mindset was simple: as long as he put in the effort, he could earn more magic stones. If he accumulated enough, there would be no need to worry about consumption costs.
“Adding in the intermediate magic stones I already had, it’s around 170 kg… I could expand Absolute Space a bit.”
The cost to expand Absolute Space was 1 kg per pyeong, so Seon Yul planned to expand by about 10 pyeong.
“But first… let’s raise Absolute Space to level 10 before expanding.”
He immediately used 5 Stigma Points to raise Absolute Space from level 5 to level 10.
[Absolute Space ability level has increased by 5.]
[The size of Absolute Space increases, and its functions improve.]
[The maximum weight of external items that can be brought in increases from 3,000 kg to 16,000 kg.]
[Absolute Space has reached level 10. The second menu of the ‘Absolute Space Shop,’ the General Tool Shop, is now unlocked and available for use.]
At last, Absolute Space reached level 10.
[Absolute Space <EX> (Level 10)]
[You can create an absolute space of your own that no being can arbitrarily interfere with. This space belongs to no dimension and will never disappear under any circumstances. Once you close the entrance, it becomes perfectly isolated from the outside world, and no being can enter.]
[Space Size] Area 50 pyeong, Height 6.5 m (Maximum 200 pyeong: can be expanded to the maximum by paying 1 kg of intermediate-grade magic stone per pyeong)
[Number of Entrances] 3 (1 additional entrance at level 15) <Opening a new entrance consumes 10 g of intermediate-grade magic stone. The amount consumed varies depending on the entrance size.>
[Emergency Entrance] Set (Consumes 200 g of intermediate-grade magic stone per use)
[Allowed Import Weight] 16,000 kg [1,294 kg / 16,000 kg]
[Additional Function A] Structural Modification – By focusing your mind, you can alter the structure of Absolute Space exactly as imagined. More complex structures require longer concentration. If you cannot clearly imagine it, the structure will not change. After one change, you must wait 24 hours before modifying again. <Cost: 5 kg intermediate-grade magic stone per modification>
[Additional Function B] (Unlocked at level 15)
The area had increased slightly, but it still required paid expansion for significant enlargement.
However, the allowed import weight had increased substantially, and thankfully, that didn’t require magic stones to expand.
The number of entrances had increased by one, and he could now access something called the General Tool Shop.
There wasn’t a massive change overall, but Seon Yul found himself somewhat excited about the General Tool Shop.
He immediately clicked on the section labeled General Tool Shop.
A holographic message appeared before him.
[Please designate the item you wish to register as a tool.]
“Hmm… what’s this?”
He tilted his head and examined the message window more closely, but nothing special appeared.
“Well then, let’s experiment…”
Looking around, he noticed the kitchen knife he had left earlier on the kitchen table after testing.
“Designate tool… kitchen knife.”
When he designated the knife as a tool, the holographic message changed.
[The Dorco kitchen knife has been registered as a tool.]
[Beginning value assessment… Current assessed value: 0.1 g intermediate-grade magic stone]
[Value assessment complete. Would you like to register it for purchase in the General Tool Shop? Tool registration and cancellation are available at any time.]
[However, items purchased through the registered menu can only be used inside Absolute Space.]
After reading the message, Seon Yul registered the knife.
Then, just like the decoration shop before, a holographic window showing a kitchen knife appeared beside him.
Its price was 0.1 g of intermediate-grade magic stone.
“Ah… I get it.”
Through the process, Seon Yul realized what kind of place the General Tool Shop was.
“Wait… could this be…?”
He quickly checked online with his phone for the current internet price of the same Dorco kitchen knife model.
The result was astonishing.
Lowest price: 18,900 won.
Converted to intermediate magic stones, that was 0.189 g.
In other words, the General Tool Shop was cheaper than internet prices.
“Is this unlimited purchases?”
He immediately purchased a Dorco kitchen knife from the General Tool Shop.
Each time he pressed purchase, another knife materialized on the floor.
In an instant, he had bought ten knives.
“It’s unlimited….”
This could change many things.
Cheap, convenient, with no worries about stock shortages, a perfect supply route.
Who was it that said this?
That victory in war is decided by supply…
“This is insane profit!!!!!”
And just like that, Seon Yul shouted in triumph once again today.
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