Chapter 164 - Chapter 166

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 166

Chapter Title: Guild Reward

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"You're here!"

Stepping into the [Forge], the owner greeted me with a grin.

The forge was a system facility for crafting custom items or repairing gear.

That said, with our [Fresh Core], we rarely had any reason to use it.

"Just like you wanted. This mystical metal was a real piece of work."

I eyed the oval bead about two finger-widths long, my gaze steady.

An Ancient God's Offering Stone—also known as a [Magic Stone]—passed from the blacksmith's rough hands into mine.

'Magic Stones are different from Mana Stones.'

Mana Stones held magical energy for mana recovery or magitech components, but Magic Stones were infused with a god's power. Simply carrying one granted its benefits.

In this case, just having it boosted Intelligence by 10.

No quantity limit, either—it was a total cheat item that made you stronger the more you carried.

I'd gotten it from Innofe.

—Please, just a short break! If you stop, I'll give you my greatest treasure! Please!

After stubbornly hiding it to the end, she'd begged for mercy and handed it over. It was worthy of being called her greatest treasure.

'Of course, it has its downsides.'

The biggest? They were ridiculously rare.

I didn't even want to think about the ordeal it'd taken to get this one.

The blacksmith eyed the Magic Stone with interest.

"I hammered it a bit, but not a scratch or hole in sight."

I nodded.

Magic Stones were [Divine Metal] infused with a god's power. Nothing short of a Transcendent-grade like [Primordial Flame] could damage it.

"So I had to bond it with other metals instead."

I'd asked for an accessory to carry it easily, so rather than drilling holes, he'd fused it with other metals.

I grabbed the cord attached to the Magic Stone and swung it around. It held firm.

"Perfect."

This would make it way easier to carry.

I pocketed the Magic Stone and turned to leave when the shop owner called out.

"?"

"Come on, how about it? Sell it to me, and I'll give you the ten best weapons and ten best pieces of armor in my shop."

I almost laughed.

"No thanks."

I turned down the blacksmith's offer.

"Too bad."

Every Rest Area shop owner who'd seen the Magic Stone reacted the same—desperately trying to buy it.

Probably because their value was so high. The Selection Process [Administration] might've set it up that way to reclaim items.

'Anyone clueless would fall for the sales pitch.'

Not me. Ten sets of weapons were worthless to me anyway. I spun on my heel and left the forge.

"I'll be back sometime."

"Take care."

"Dickhead's back?!"

"Oppa!"

Returning to the lodging, the two brats came bounding over.

No wonder—they were expecting the presents I'd promised today.

I'd been too busy with Barkus and Arknon to use the sub-space, so I'd promised compensation, and today was the day.

Thud thud thud!

Having put it off so long, their expectant faces looked just like kids waiting for Christmas gifts.

"Yeah, yeah. Got ten Letter Envelopes."

"That's it? No way!"

"Oppa, you promised presents today! You did!"

The two whined and begged for their gifts.

I waved them off with an "I know" and headed to the first floor.

"Let's settle up first."

Pitter-patter. Isera ran off to gather everyone. We sat around a table on the cafe-like first floor.

"First up, guild rewards."

"Guild rewards?"

"We ranked?"

I nodded.

Surprisingly, stopping by the guild office showed we were in first place. A full day's sales and the fame we'd built had skyrocketed our guild's status overnight.

'Black Wolf Guild dropping out helped too.'

Honestly, overtaking a Level 4 guild representing 3,000 people with just our five was a stretch. But them bailing made it easy.

That was the current guild rankings.

'And you get rewards just once for hitting the rankings.'

Rewards issued sequentially upon ranking, totaling for first place:

All guild members: Bonus Stats x10.

Stat Shards x100.

Guild Funds: 400,000 points.

Mana Stones x40.

Guild funds and Mana Stones varied. This Rest Area's personal reward was 400 points, so 1,000x made 400,000.

Whoosh—

"!!"

I spread the guild rewards across the table, and everyone's eyes lit up.

Who could blame them? So many Stat Shards?

"Jackpot!"

"Wow, that's a ton!"

"Way better than personal ranking rewards!"

Of course—a whole guild-level payout.

Normally split among 2-3,000 people. Us five monopolizing it caused this windfall.

"Hey, Dickhead. Is this the only reward?"

"Nah, every Rest Area."

"Whoa! 100 each per Rest Area?"

"Sweet!"

They already took first place for granted. I divided 20 shards per person.

"Thanks!"

"Oppa, thank you!"

Happy faces as they claimed their shares.

I gave Mana Stones to Rang, who was peeking at my side and tugging my clothes.

「Kyaaang!」

She beamed at her share, squatting beside us and crunching through the Mana Stones.

She devoured all 40 in no time.

'Big gains.'

Still weak compared to Innofe's 100+ in Strength, Agility, and Stamina, but enough to pull her weight in our Trials.

'Somehow pushed Strength past 300.'

Stat Shard farming gets brutal from the fourth Trial. 75% of the population's already gone after three.

Time to shift strategy—guild rewards and such over corpse looting.

And I already had countermeasures in place.

'Alright, guild rewards settled. Next up.'

I pulled out a Letter Envelope and used it to summon someone. A cute girl appeared in response.

"What's with her? Looks like a farmer's daughter from the sticks."

"Kinda, yeah."

"Auntie's spot on."

A cute twenty-something with freckles and a straw hat smiled and waved at us.

"Hi! I'm Merilly!"

"Merilly?"

"Daughter from the Monster Farm. That's the lore, so don't bother asking me for details—I can't answer."

Shin Seo-yeon started to protest but shut her mouth.

'Got fresh Letter Envelopes, time to offload the Ckel eggs.'

No need to delay.

Leaving them here just meant they'd be Rang's snack.

"She pays top dollar for eggs?"

"Yeah, double what other shops offer."

"Whoa!"

Plenty could buy monster eggs at full price—brokers, egg specialists who paid more than Merilly.

'But they're a hassle.'

Affection grinding and pointless chores.

No desire for that in a Rest Area. Merilly was best for convenience.

Plus, she was cute.

Fun to strip and fool around with when bored. Some even used her for stress relief.

...Only downside: zero reaction during.

'Anyway, let's sell.'

I laid out all 21 Ckel eggs.

2.05 million points each—total 43.05 million.

"Insane."

"No way."

Next, the Siren eggs.

'Siren eggs are pricier. 4.3 million?'

Over double Ckel's price.

No wonder they claimed so many lives mid-Selection Process.

Hundreds died for one—better to skip egg farming.

No risk for us with spare Envelopes, though.

"Dickhead, total haul?"

"Hold on, adding the last batch."

The 99 [Magitech Cores (Medium)] sold recently at 200k each—19.8 million. Plus snacks, drinks, gear.

Saintess even did healing gigs.

Total:

"71 million?"

"Yeah."

"..."

The girls stared blankly for a second before squealing and hugging.

"Huge earnings!"

"Jackpot!"

"Recouped the lost funds!"

Exactly. Back to square one.

"...But won't they confiscate it again for earning too much?"

Han So-hee pointed out—we'd had 78 million frozen recently.

"Ugh. Maybe."

The group looked worried.

"Yeah, kinda concerning."

"Totally."

But no goddess summon. I had a hunch why.

'[Blessing of the Ancient God Arseia]. Tribute 70% as payment.'

Of 71.6 million, offer 50.2 million, keep 21.48 million.

'Guess they deem that acceptable.'

Relief washed over them. Then Stat Shard haggling resumed.

"Unnie! No Intelligence shards?!"

"Back off, auntie! Unnie's trading with me!"

"Uh? Anyone got Agility or Stamina?"

The women bartered shards and stats. I cut in amid the chaos.

"Here's 1 million points each—spend it. Need more, come to me. I'll manage the rest."

"OK."

"Yup!"

"Got it, Min-jun."

Done.

"Hey, So-hee, how many you got?"

We'd made bank, but with Stat Shards distracting, money talk fizzled.

First big haul? Sure. But we'd done it before—interest waned fast.

Thus, I legally managed it all.

'That was the point of handing out shards first.'

Settling cash first? Endless squabbles over splits.

'For kids who can't handle money yet, I'll parent it wisely.'

Seemed like a loss, but best for everyone.

"Ahem. Settlements done. Departing tonight—prep up."

"Got it."

"Will do."

Standing to leave, someone grabbed both arms—Shin Seo-yeon and Isera.

"Oppa, where?"

"Presents when?"

"Oh, right—forgot."

"Don't 'forget' that!"

No more delaying.

With them clinging tight, I sighed "Fine" and led them to the bedroom.

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