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Chapter 42

Having entrusted the weapon crafting, I returned to Dmitri Square.

While I was wandering around the square to buy mage robes, a woman\'s back suddenly caught my eye.

She was a woman dressed in red equipment from head to toe.

"Hmm?"

Strangely, she seemed familiar.

Soon the woman turned around, and I realized why I felt a sense of incongruity.

"Yuhan?"

The woman who made me wonder if she was obsessed with red was none other than my companion, Kayla.

"Fancy meeting you here?"

Kayla approached me with a bright smile, as if she was glad to see me.

I carefully examined her.

With her new equipment and her hair dyed red, Kayla had changed so much that I almost didn\'t recognize her, and it suited her quite well.

But there was one thing that bothered me.

\'Isn\'t it too flashy?\'

It was too flashy, even for just being flashy.

It seemed impossible to infiltrate the demons or do anything like that with that appearance.

"How is it? Not bad, right?"

Kayla, unaware of my thoughts, showed off, flipping her hair.

I instinctively nodded, about to give her my honest opinion.

"...It suits you well. There\'s no way I\'d ever lose you in a crowd."

"Hehe, right? I\'ve always wanted to dress up like this once we got out of Sector 7."

Kayla smiled brightly, as if she was truly happy.

Seeing that, the thought of saying something to her completely disappeared.

I realized how much Kayla was enjoying this moment.

Walking around freely like this without any threat was probably something she had dreamed of her whole life.

\'Well... it\'s not that big of a deal.\'

Considering that, I could turn a blind eye to her flashy attire any number of times.

Coming to that conclusion, I deliberately changed the subject.

"So, where are you going now? It seems like you\'ve almost finished getting your equipment."

"Ah, I was going to stop by the artifact shop one last time."

"Artifact shop?"

"Yeah, I thought it would be good to get a few protective artifacts. It\'s a dangerous place after all."

She was right.

Outside the borders of Asternon was a veritable den of demons.

It was a place where you never knew when, where, or how you might be in danger, so having artifacts to prepare for variables was a very wise choice.

But apart from that, what I was wondering was.

"You mean you still have money left to buy artifacts?"

How could she still have money left for that?

With that question in mind, I scanned Kayla once again.

A red robe that clearly used high-quality fabric, a hardwood wand with a fist-sized red jewel embedded in it.

Combat iron shoes that helped maintain balance, gloves that allowed for more efficient handling of mana, and so on.

No matter how I looked at it, it was clear that she had paid a hefty price for her equipment.

But to buy artifacts on top of that?

It was absolutely impossible with the gold coins I had initially distributed.

Unless she had gotten lucky and multiplied her gold coins several times over with some kind of gambling game.

"Don\'t tell me..."

Perhaps noticing my suspicion, Kayla hurriedly said in a defensive tone,

"What are you thinking? No! It’s not what you\'re thinking!"

Right, it wasn\'t gambling.

"Then what is it?"

Kayla let out a deep sigh and started to explain.

"You know the unidentified artifact I received earlier? I had it appraised and it turned out to be heroic-grade."

"What? Heroic-grade?"

"Yeah, so I immediately sold it."

This was an answer I hadn\'t expected at all.

I calmed my surprised heart and recalled the list of artifacts I had distributed to Kayla.

There was only one unidentified artifact I had given her.

\'Surely that was a trash item.\'

It was an object that looked like a rusty iron ring, something that looked insignificant at first glance.

At least, I was sure of it.

That\'s because I had memorized all the useful artifacts in [Demon Fantasy].

That rusty iron ring, which I had never seen before in my life, was definitely a trash item.

But to think it was appraised as heroic-grade?

"...What kind of effect did it have to be appraised as heroic-grade?"

"Don\'t worry. It was a useless effect. Something about raising soul power?"

"...Soul power?"

I couldn\'t help but lose control of my expression at Kayla\'s words.

This was because there was only one thing that was referred to as \'soul power\' in this world.

"...Where?"

"Huh?"

"Where did you sell it?"

"To that peddler with the hat over there..."

Whoosh-!

As soon as I heard Kayla\'s answer, I kicked off the ground with all my might.

The most necessary item for me right now...

To retrieve the \'Experience Ring\' that Kayla had unknowingly sold.

***

Dash! Dash! Dash!

While moving my feet quickly, I calmly organized my thoughts.

\'...I was naive.\'

Thinking about it, it was only natural.

This wasn\'t the setting where I played the game, but the future, a whole 100 years later.

There was an overflowing possibility that new artifacts I didn\'t know existed.

Countless new artifacts must have been created during that time.

"...I just need to get it back."

Muttering those words, I arrived at the alley Kayla had pointed to.

However.

"...Am I too late?"

I was greeted by an empty alleyway, not even a single rat in sight.

It seemed the peddler who bought the ring had already left.

Clutching at straws, I looked around.

Flare!

It felt like my eyes were widening.

I summoned all my concentration and carefully examined the surroundings for any traces of mana.

If the peddler had awakened magic, they might have unknowingly leaked their mana.

In fact, in the game, most peddlers had awakened to magic, and their level wasn\'t that high, so it was a plausible story.

However,

"...Damn it. That precious thing."

There wasn\'t a single trace.

All I felt was deep disappointment.

There was no trace of mana in the alley.

"...Sigh."

My heart was heavy.

There was no one to blame. This was entirely my fault.

It was my fault for not considering this kind of variable.

The result was the loss of the \'experience\' artifact, the most necessary thing for me right now.

...Damn it.

"...Let\'s think positively."

I decided to look on the bright side as much as possible.

There were actually two positive aspects.

First, it might have been a cheap lesson.

I could have lost a legendary or even mythical artifact like this instead of an experience artifact.

If that had happened, I wouldn\'t just be feeling regretful like this, I would have been clutching my stomach and rolling around for days.

Yes, it was a blessing in disguise.

And second...

\'If there are artifacts I don\'t know, then there must be equipment too. Maybe my specs will rise much higher than I expected.\'

The fact I learned today would have a huge impact on my future growth.

In a way that would benefit me.

"Hmm, I might need to revise my build."

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Maybe it was because my gamer\'s heart still remained.

My heart was pounding.

Because I was incredibly curious about the new artifacts and equipment I would encounter in the future.

And the results they would create.

What would be the limit I could reach in this world?

Would I be able to completely surpass Baal?

...Even though I was running such happy circuits.

"Sigh."

The image of the rusty iron ring kept flickering in my mind.

It seemed like I couldn\'t erase the feeling of regret.

Well, it was understandable since I was planning a long-term hunt soon.

"Even a 10% bonus would have a tremendous effect..."

The lowest value among heroic-grade experience artifacts was a 10% experience bonus.

Even that alone would tremendously accelerate leveling up.

It was obvious even with simple calculations.

Instead of having to kill 100 monsters to level up, I could level up after killing only 90.

In [Demon Fantasy], where the amount of experience required increases exponentially as you progress, it was an essential artifact.

"How many will I end up killing...? 500? 1,000?"

If it was the former, it would be a loss of 50, and if the latter, a whopping 100.

"...Forget it, let\'s forget it."

Doing those calculations only made my stomach ache.

In the end, I stopped thinking about it and turned away with a lingering feeling of regret.

"Did she go to buy artifacts?"

When I returned to where we were, Kayla had already left.

It wouldn\'t be a problem since we were supposed to meet again at the appointed time anyway.

I, too, moved to take care of the remaining tasks.

The first place I stopped by was a clothing shop that sold mage-specific equipment.

"You\'re here again."

"I\'m here to buy what I saw earlier."

It was the place with the mage robe I had my eye on before meeting Kayla.

"You\'ve made a good decision. The design is simple and the price is reasonable. Missing out on a robe like this wouldn\'t be wise for a mage!"

\'Simple?\'

I listened with half an ear to what the clerk was saying and examined the robe once again.

It had a calm atmosphere overall due to the use of black fabric, but it didn\'t look monotonous thanks to the gold band and chain around the outside.

Rather, it was a design close to flashy by my standards.

It definitely wasn\'t my style.

But the reason I chose this robe despite that?

Because I had no other choice.

"...Ugh."

Turning my head to look at the other robes, a heavy sigh escaped me.

According to the clerk, these were the most common mage robe designs...

\'Are those clothes or wings...?\'

The colors, the patterns, the densely embedded jewels.

They boasted the utmost flashiness, to the point where I wouldn\'t be able to walk around with my head held high if I wore them.

They were so flashy that they wouldn\'t lose out to Kayla\'s red robe, which was painful to look at.

No, it even made me wonder if the red robe Kayla chose wasn\'t the most ordinary design among the robes in that store.

I turned my gaze back to the robe hanging in front of me.

"Well, this is decent."

Having briefly looked at the other robes, the robe in front of me started to look incredibly beautiful.

I was confident that I could at least wear this robe without feeling embarrassed.

"I\'ll take this one."

In the end, I bought the robe in front of me.

It cost 100 gold coins.

It wasn\'t a small amount, but it wasn\'t a waste since mage robes were imbued with many useful special functions.

After purchasing the robe, I immediately scoured the square to buy the next piece of equipment, and I gradually geared up piece by piece through a similar process.

As I did so, my coin pouch became lighter, and soon the sun began to set.

It had been more than half a day since I visited the blacksmith\'s workshop when the sun was high in the sky.

The time I had promised to meet my colleagues was also approaching.

"Shall we go now?"

Now, only one piece of equipment remained.

The most important thing in battle, the \'weapon\'.

It was time to welcome the reborn [Holy Staff].

Thud, thud.

My footsteps towards the blacksmith\'s workshop were light.