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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Building Connections
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"Hey, you there! You look like you've got a lot on your mind!"
A bespectacled white woman in her twenties flashed me a bright smile.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile hanging from her lips that radiated pure positivity.
It was the kind of untainted smile that made anyone who saw it smile back.
I gave her a quick once-over from head to toe and said,
"I don't buy into cults."
"No, no. I'm not with any cult."
With that, she thrust some kind of potion right in front of my face.
"I prepared this specially for someone with such a troubled face. It's a miracle potion that boosts your strength by 10% the moment you drink it! What do you say, dude? Don't you wanna buy some?"
"...."
Tsk, a potion peddler, huh. Or maybe MLM?
Network marketing, aka multi-level marketing, which started with 20th-century vitamins on Earth, carried on through crypto before the planet bit the dust, and somehow survived into the Selection Process to keep causing trouble.
There were all sorts of methods, but I had zero interest, so I waved her off dismissively.
"This stuff is seriously good. I promise. You need this."
She clung to me relentlessly.
"Sigh."
I let out a sigh at her persistence and averted my gaze, only to glance at my own outfit and instantly understand why she was so desperate.
Everyone else had geared up with armor and weapons, but all I had was a single sword and my modern clothes since I'd left my stuff at the inn.
And if she'd been holed up in the Rest Area for a while, she could've guessed I was a fresh face straight out of my first Trial.
So, she was trying to offload on a total noob like me.
I snorted and asked,
"How much?"
"100 points each. Pretty cheap, right?"
Excited now that I'd shown some reaction.
"Not permanent, is it?"
"Ah, haha! W-Well, of course not…."
Her tail deflated immediately. Basically a buff potion. Percent-based boosts were pretty useful later on.
No chance to learn alchemy separately in the early Selection Process… But she's already brewing stuff like this? Must be a Unique Ability in that direction.
She'd make it big someday, but unfortunately, it was useless to me right now. Average player strength after the second Trial was around 20, so 10% was just +2.
A measly +2.
And not permanent—just for a limited time. Probably an hour at most.
"Good luck with sales."
"W-Wait! Fine, 50 points."
"Yeah, yeah. Sell a ton."
"30 points! 20 points!"
"...."
"1—10 points!"
She finally dropped to 10 points.
I couldn't help but chuckle. How much did she think she could squeeze me for at the start?
Seeing I wasn't biting, she said,
"F-Fine, I'll sell you all the potions I have. Eight in total! Just 30 points! You won't lose out, dude!"
I felt a pang of pity and asked,
"Why are you so desperate to sell these?"
"W-Well, actually…."
She glanced off to one side of the street. A group of about twenty people were gathered, chatting away.
Naturally curious, I wandered over to check it out.
"Y-You're really gonna guarantee my safety, right?"
"Ah, don't worry about it. Just follow behind us, bro. Think of it as getting hired as a porter."
"B-But what if you take the advance and ditch…."
"If you're that nervous, you can wait till the next Trial and see how it goes before signing up. If you think you can survive solo, go for it. If you want our protection, pay up and join."
It was a familiar scene.
Ah, yeah—party recruitment.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't your average party since they were charging for entry.
Things weren't fully settled yet, but the Selection Process spawned all sorts of jobs for making points.
In the Rest Area, that included—
"H-Hey, dude. These potions really work."
—women like the one tailing me now, brewing and selling potions.
"Hey, handsome, wanna spend the night with me? I'll give you a discount. Creampie's on the house~?"
There were also hookers scattered around, barely covering their privates and tempting men.
On the Trials side, you had guides, escorts, bounty hunters, and the like.
This party recruitment was what later got called a "bus"—carrying non-combatants through Trials for a fee.
I watched them with interest, then my eyes widened.
Oh, it's the Black Wolf Guild Leader.
Lee Jong-cheol, leader of the Black Wolf Guild.
One of Korea's top guilds, and he was its lord.
In my first run, we had zero connection—he was distant because of his bad blood with Shin Seo-yeon.
Connections are better the more you build 'em early. Maybe show my face?
Real networking happens when you're at rock bottom with nothing.
So I started to approach, thinking I'd at least say hi.
"Hello."
"...."
"Excuse me, could I ask you a quick question?"
I tried talking, but he ignored me. He glanced my way but didn't respond, just leaned against the building wall and chatted with his party members.
"Hey…."
"Oi, who the hell are you? Piss off and quit bothering us."
"If you wanna join the party, talk to him."
I wanted to build a real connection through direct talk, but his crew blocked me.
Damn, now that I think about it, my situation ain't great right now.
Pedestrians eyed each other warily, corpses littered the alleys. This spot felt less tense only because of the recruitment, but the whole Rest Area wasn't leisurely enough for chit-chat.
Normally you'd draw a blade just approaching someone, but after scanning me, they pegged me as "sword fodder" and didn't even bother staying alert—the Guild Leader and his crew.
If I'd been properly geared, I'd at least get some caution and a real chance to connect… Too late to go back to the inn, grab my gear, suit up, and return now.
Regrettable, but connection attempt failed.
Opportunity down the drain.
Well, when do things ever go your way? I stepped back with a sigh, and the recruitment guy approached.
"So, what abilities you got?"
Luck and Binding? No real combat skills to speak of. The guy eyed me up and down.
"Judging by your clothes and how you can't even answer, you're a non-combatant, right? If you wanna tag along, bring 200 points. We'll take responsibility for you through the next Trial."
Ha, 200 points as the fee.
Basically, the reward for clearing a Trial was 200 points, so they'd bus you if you handed over your entire fortune.
Explained why that foreign woman was so desperate to make a sale.
"H-Here's the money. Sold all my gear to scrape it together."
"Yeah, good job."
"I got exactly the amount too!"
Still, people kept trickling in because the Guild Leader and his party were fully geared.
In stark contrast to me with just a sword at my hip. They looked legit. Trustworthy, you know?
"Departing in 30 minutes!"
In the end, no gains, back at the inn.
"Agh. If I miss this one, who knows when the next…."
The foreign woman beside me was panicking hard as the Black Wolf crew announced departure.
She'd already missed several buses, it seemed.
I held out my hand to her.
"Hand 'em all over. I'll buy."
"Huh? R-Really?"
Her fidgeting face lit up visibly.
I looked up at the foreign woman before me—strictly speaking, the exchange student type from abroad.
To reiterate, her smile was innocent. If the Saintess was kind and naive, this one brimmed with positive energy. That kind of vibrancy.
Unfortunately, her looks didn't match the smile. Witch's nose, wide and heavy jaw, crooked teeth sticking out every which way. Her face was kinda squished, like it had been crumpled.
With looks that bad, the pros and cons are clear.
Couldn't sell her body for cash, but wouldn't get raped by guys either.
Proof was how she strutted alone down the street and guys only glanced once before looking away forever.
"Huh? Why 100 points?"
Her original offer for the lot was 30.
But I'd put up 100 in the trade window.
I just gave her a small smile. Her face lit up like fireworks.
"Thank you so much! You're my savior!"
100 points for eight buff potions.
Reason was simple: non-combat types like her made great long-term connections.
These potions'll come in handy in future Trials too, and I've got points to spare.
Most importantly… I'd used Full Appraisal to steal a peek at her Unique Ability.
Myth-grade Ability? Worth the investment.
Harsh to put it this way, but she was a woman who wasn't pretty enough to get dragged into some mess and die.
In other words, she'd survive steadily, and I'd see her again later.
"Thank you. I'm Natasha. What's my benefactor's name?"
"Kang Min-jun."
"Kang Min-jooon…! Got it. See you next time, Kang—Min-joon!"
I waved casually back at the Slavic woman waving as she walked away.
Speaking of, her name's Natasha Dragomirova. Kinda same as the Golden Citadel Lord.
She burst onto the scene like a comet, amassing the Selection Process's greatest fortune as the Citadel's lord and backer of the secret society, Arcane Sanctuary.
Natasha Dragomirova.
I recalled her face for a split second and shook my head.
The Golden Citadel Lord was a knockout beauty who outshone even the Crimson Flame Witch—humanity's undisputed number one.
The polar opposite of this woman.
Making pointless fantasies means I'm relaxing a bit. Names like that aren't exactly rare. Anyway, the kids should be here soon.
Sure enough, with 30 seconds to spare on our meet time, someone tackled me from behind in a hug.
"Oppa!"
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