“......These are absurd items to have obtained from Floor 3 of the Labyrinth.”
Jerik let out a deep sigh as he looked over the junk materials I had spread out.
He seemed to have gone beyond surprise and simply accepted it.
“You said you have an ability that improves items?”
“Yes. When I hunt normally, much higher-grade materials occasionally come out. The probability is low, though.”
“Is that why you learned butchering? And why you came back so late?”
“......Yes.”
“I suppose there was no way a Summoner’s entire ability would amount to being better at appraisal. So there was a hidden ability?”
“Yes.”
That was true in a different sense,
which made my conscience sting.
“But it is a very dangerous ability. You did not know about it until you actually started hunting in the Labyrinth, correct?”
“......Yes.”
“Is that why you kept hunting for so long?”
“Yes. I wanted to see just how far it could go.”
“Hmm. As I thought. So...... does that mean the orange Ability Stone from before too?”
“......Probably.”
One lie naturally gave birth to another.
But if this was enough to convince Jerik,
then at least the problem in front of me would be resolved.
“......Good grief. If the Royal Palace found out, they would try to drag you back. You would be perfect for raising just enough to reach floors where upper-grade materials can be farmed, then forcing you to run them endlessly.”
Ugh.
“......Yes. That’s why I hesitated.”
In truth,
even that was probably the optimistic scenario.
“Yes. You did well not to go around talking about it carelessly. As for disposing of these items...... I could sell them in your place once or twice without drawing attention, but I cannot keep doing that forever. I do not enter the Labyrinth anymore.”
“I know.”
“What you need is a buyer who will purchase things without asking questions. But those people usually slash the price. You know the type. Black-market dealers.”
“......I’ve heard about them. Merchants connected to villain organizations and things like that.”
“Yes. And with people whose backgrounds are that dirty, it would not be strange for them to sell your information at any time. You lose money on the sale while the danger keeps piling up. Getting involved with black-market merchants is an extremely foolish thing to do.”
Listening to him,
the problem sounded even worse than I had expected.
“But letting an ability you possess go to waste makes even less sense. You cannot deliberately throw away good items just because they happen to appear.”
“......Of course not.”
“Hmm. The best option, honestly, would be to sign an exclusive contract with a highly trustworthy merchant and sell everything through them......”
“Do you know a merchant like that?”
“That is the problem. A trustworthy merchant is about as contradictory as a wealthy beggar or a kindhearted murderer.”
Jerik looked troubled.
‘That seems a little excessive.’
His distrust of merchants might have been somewhat extreme,
but this was not the time to argue.
“For now, I will sell these for you. But going forward, we will need to look for a merchant we can trust. You should search on your own as well.”
“......Yes. Thank you.”
Jerik disposed of the items for me.
And with nothing but junk materials,
I earned more than 300 gold.
Even after keeping things like the Concentrated Mana Dew for myself.
So I handed half of that income to Jerik.
“What is this?”
“Payment for saving my life and taking me in. I know this does not even come close. Please just think of it as room and board.”
“Hmm. This would cover thirty years of tuition at our martial arts hall. Fine. I will consider it payment in advance.”
Jerik’s answer was practically a declaration that he would not accept another payment like this in the future.
‘Then I’ll repay you some other way.’
I simply nodded while making a different vow inside.
“Are you going to train more before heading to Floor 4?”
“No. I’m resting for one day, then going immediately.”
“Immediately? Tomorrow?”
“Yes. I’ve confirmed that my current specs are definitely excessive for the lower floors.”
“......Fine. That is not a bad idea either. Be careful.”
“Yes.”
The very next day,
I entered Floor 4 of the Labyrinth,
a high-altitude region.
Twelve days later,
I returned once again with piles of junk that I had carefully butchered and synthesized.
My Level did not increase,
but my footwork, spear art, and Mana Cultivation Method each gained one Level.
I also got lucky with the random Stat reward for clearing the floor,
which landed on Mana and raised it by 1.
Naturally,
I also secured the 1 Level-Up Point from the Perfect Clear.
More surprising than anything else,
my Butchering Skill rose by a full nine Levels,
reaching the limit of High-grade in one go.
‘Why does this rise so fast? As long as I have enough things to butcher, it feels like I could reach Highest-grade without much trouble.’
Apparently,
my Trait had absurdly good synergy with Butchering.
[Name: Go Cheol-woo]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 10]
[Stats]
Strength: 14(+1)
Vitality: 17(+2)
Agility: 10(+3)
Mana: 16
Physical Resistance: 3
Magic Resistance: 4
[Mana Skills]
Resonance Spear (High-grade-Lv.5), Cheol-woo Mana Cultivation Method (High-grade-Lv.3), Volante Footwork Stage 2 (High-grade-Lv.2), Butchering (High-grade-Lv.10).
[Level-Up Points: 11]
[Ability Slot (Full)]
Multiple Spirit Command.
[Trait]
-Additional Information Check.
‘Whatever. Good. Very good.’
It was not just my improved abilities.
The junk I had spent twelve days synthesizing was worth nearly 400 gold.
On top of that,
I had collected twenty top-quality red Mana Stones (Common),
worth around another 200 gold by themselves.
‘If orange Mana Stones were worth 300 gold instead of 30, I’d synthesize these and sell them too.’
I entertained a thought so greedy it was practically bursting at the seams,
then started walking.
Jerik would probably have been even more dumbfounded if he knew what I was thinking now than by that previous thought.
I intended to spend most of the fortune I had just earned
on ‘underwear.’
***
I had often talked about this with people.
About what had been most inconvenient after falling into this savage world,
aside from the problem of survival itself.
Daily necessities.
Broadly speaking,
it was probably homesickness for the mass-produced goods of modern Earth.
And among everything I missed,
shoes and underwear were always fighting for first place.
I had already solved the shoe problem.
Now only underwear remained.
‘I’ve put up with this for way too long.’
Just how uncomfortable was underwear in this insane world?
For starters,
the very concept of underwear made to fit my size did not exist.
You wore what amounted to a large pair of linen sack-pants designed around huge men,
then folded the excess cloth around the waist by hand and secured it with a belt.
Tie it too loosely,
and it would constantly start sliding down while you moved.
Tie it too tightly,
and the rough cloth and cord would dig into your skin until you bled or leave you raw from chafing.
And then there was hygiene.
The rough fabric did not absorb sweat at all.
The fact that it barely breathed was honestly the lesser problem.
The real problem came when relieving yourself,
or after wearing it for a long time.
‘Especially cleaning up afterward......’
Just remembering that problem was horrifying.
‘......Ugh. Stop thinking about it.’
Fortunately,
this world also possessed magical civilization,
which meant substitutes existed.
They had only one downside.
They were absurdly expensive.
Of course,
I was not about to spend money merely for comfortable underwear.
The most important point was that this was the ‘cheapest Artifact for its Grade’ because the Magic Tower here in Bartus mass-produced it.
“Four hundred pairs of Klinsmann Leather Briefs, please.”
“Pardon? How many?”
“Four hundred.”
“You mean the Artifact, correct?”
“That’s right. The Artifact underwear made here at the Magic Tower.”
“......Ah. Yes. P-Please wait a moment!”
Uniquely,
this was an item sold directly by the Magic Tower in Area 1 near the Royal Palace.
More precisely,
because the Magic Tower manufactured it itself,
this was the cheapest place to buy it.
It was one of the few everyday necessities the Magic Tower sold directly.
Servants from noble houses,
the main customers,
came here frequently as well,
so they did not overcharge Novices.
Of course,
I was probably the only Novice buying hundreds of ‘consumables’ that cost 1 gold each.
THUD.
“H-Here they are. Will you be paying by check......?”
[Klinsmann Leather Briefs (Highest-grade)]
-Automatic fitting.
-Self-repair.
-Automatic hygiene management.
* However, all effects disappear 48 hours after equipping.
That was right.
A consumable made exclusively for nobles.
“No. Cash. Here. 400 gold.”
THUD.
After quickly checking the mountain of underwear the Magic Tower’s apprentice Mage had brought out,
I handed over the money pouch.
“Ah. O-One moment, please.”
While the apprentice Mage counted the gold coins,
I counted the underwear.
Fortunately,
there was nothing wrong on either side.
I took the goods and immediately returned to my room.
“You said you were going to buy something important?”
“I bought it!”
“Oh. Then are you almost ready for Floor 5?”
“Yes. Almost.”
“Good. Tell me when you are ready. I will see you off.”
“Yes!”
After greeting Jerik,
I entered my room and immediately took out the underwear.
‘Additional Information Check.’
HUMMM.
-A consumable Artifact created by Klinsmann, the eccentric of the Magic Tower.
-Highest-grade briefs whose unit cost was drastically reduced through Mana consumption and mass production.
‘Nothing special. Of course there wouldn’t be. Ah. Come to think of it, Klinsmann...... wasn’t this the guy who made that Ability Stone back then? What the hell does this man even do?’
I was briefly curious about the person who had created this advanced consumable.
But the important part started now.
“All right. Let’s do this.”
First,
I threw twenty pairs of underwear into the Goblin Basket.
A moment later.
FLASH.
“Oh!”
[Klinsmann Leather Briefs (Rare)]
-Automatic fitting.
-Self-repair.
-Continuous Purification (Highest-grade).
-Strong Defense (Defense +20).
* However, all effects disappear 960 hours after activation.
“Hmm.”
The Grade increasing after twenty pieces was exactly what I had expected.
And Continuous Purification was precisely the effect I had hoped for.
On top of that,
getting a Defense option was better than expected.
The problem was that the penalty had not disappeared.
My ideal result had been losing the penalty without gaining Defense.
‘It only extended by the combined duration of the twenty pairs. If that’s how it works...... Ah. Does the duration just keep increasing if I keep synthesizing? Then even with the penalty, this might be fine.’
This alone would last forty days.
On top of that,
‘hygiene management’ had turned into ‘purification.’
It felt like something beyond merely staying comfortable and clean.
There was also the Defense.
This was better than expected.
‘What happens if I raise it one more Grade?’
FLASH. FLASH.
Driven by that single thought,
I upgraded twenty sets of twenty pairs one after another,
then put all twenty upgraded pairs back into the Goblin Basket.
And after quite some time.
‘What the hell? Why isn’t anything happening?’
Just as I started getting anxious after about an hour—
FLASH.
Light burst from the basket.
One pair of briefs remained inside.
“Oh......!”
[Klinsmann Leather Briefs (Super Rare)]
-Automatic fitting.
-Self-repair.
-Powerful Continuous Purification (Rare).
-Defense +30.
-Fatigue Recovery Speed +30.
* However, all effects disappear 19,200 hours after activation.
The result exceeded my expectations.
Super Rare.
A full two Grades above Highest-grade.
‘Powerful Continuous Purification. And powerful Defense.’
The plate armor I wore as equipment normally had around 10 Defense.
If the Attack Power displayed on an item meant adding that much Strength on top of the weapon material’s natural offensive power,
then Defense meant adding that much defensive power on top of the original material’s durability.
In other words,
Defense +30 meant that as long as I wore these briefs,
most ordinary attacks should pose very little danger to that area.
And then there was ‘Powerful Continuous Purification (Rare).’
‘An effect beyond hygiene management. I can expect something from this, right?’
Part of this purchase had been driven by my longing for modern civilization.
But I had invested in it in the first place because I knew that ‘hygiene management’ was essentially a downgraded version of purification magic.
‘There’s no way something with the word “Powerful” attached to it ends with nothing more than cleaning.’
On top of that,
it had gained unexpected Defense.
There was still a time limit,
but it was a staggering 19,200 hours.
In other words,
the full combined duration of all four hundred original pairs.
Eight hundred days.
‘And when the time starts running out, I can probably synthesize it again.’
It would cost money,
but I could basically treat the penalty as having disappeared.
The Fatigue Recovery Speed option was excellent too.
As far as fatigue recovery alone was concerned,
it meant the equivalent of increasing Vitality by 30.
That was far too good to call a mere bonus.
“Yes!”
I immediately stripped off the underwear I had grown sick of wearing.
I threw away the rough, rag-like medieval undergarment,
then slipped into the briefs,
which snapped comfortably into the perfect size the instant I put them on.
I felt like I could fly.
The refreshing sensation spreading through my body the moment I equipped them was an added bonus.
“This is good. This is so damn good.”
The words escaped me automatically.
The pleasure of experiencing comfort beyond even modern conveniences
inside this crude, savage world.
The liberation and catharsis from that extreme reversal.
‘This is fucking amazing.’
There was no better way to describe the tingling sensation running through my entire body.
And the source of that almost euphoric freshness was obvious.
‘Powerful Continuous Purification.’
If my guess was right,
this would be a huge help in my future Labyrinth expeditions too.
‘Jackpot. A real jackpot.’
Once again,
I found myself grateful for the luck that had led me to the Goblin Basket.
To think I could turn a luxury product for nobles into something like this.
‘Wait. Aren’t there a few other luxury goods for nobles that are small enough to fit in the basket......?’
Even in the middle of my satisfaction,
greed rose again,
along with a new idea.
“Char! You have a visitor!”
A visitor?
I tilted my head at Jerik’s voice.
No one had ever come here specifically to see me before.
“Char!”
“Yes! Coming! I’m getting dressed!”
I hurriedly put my equipment back on over my glorious new underwear and stepped outside.
A cold-looking punk was standing there with a grin,
offering an absurd greeting.
“Ah. Mr. Go Cheol. Woo? Long time no see. You remember me, right?”
“......Kim Hyeon-sik?”
It was a face I had never expected to see.