Hyper Luck

Toico, a city associated with art, is the best city to find arts and culture within <Circuit>. 

The flying watches stopped often to show their face to others, and houses were built in squiggly lines, making it seem impressive they haven’t toppled over yet.

People who roam the streets all wore distinct outfits, making it seem as if they were petals on a flower with different colors.

After looking around, I booked a room at a fancier inn than before. Which was all I did yesterday.

All the items dropped by Gilutin were amazing items.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the core of a monster contained all of their experience and possessions from their life.

Based on how I’ve gotten boots and swords from the core of a Black Mountain, it was quite clear to see how this core mechanism worked in the game.

Therefore, Gilutin must’ve gained a lot from his position as the commander.

In addition to his pillaging near the end of his life, it all would have filled up his core.

Despite the fact that he met his demise as a relatively weak skeleton compared to his former self.

Gilutin dropped a unique-grade weapon and three rare-grade items.

As well as other magic-grade items and various disposables.

The problem lies in the rare-grade items. Though I’ve fortunately gotten three rare-grade items, they were all in the “Skill Book” category. It seemed as though unique monsters dropped the skills they possessed in the shape of these skill books.

After I ambitiously opened up the first page of the skill book “Fast Heal,”

I couldn’t help but be disappointed.

Right from the start, with unknown images and letters, it seemed as if it were in a different language.

I desperately tried to comprehend the book until the very end, but after flipping the last page, there was no reaction.

I’ve heard this experience was common in other games,

But after experiencing it first-hand, I couldn’t help but be bitter.

It seemed having the slightest bit of knowledge in this field was required to use this skill book.

I jokingly thought that if this was a skill book related to slimes, I would have read it in an instant.

The bitterness didn’t last long.

In the first place, I was in contempt of obtaining a unique-grade item.

Since it’s a rare-grade item, I didn’t have to worry about losing its value as well!

With that positive mindset, I entered a small auction house in Toico to enlist my items. 

Feeling tired, I went back into my room at the inn and took a nap.

Shortly afterward, however, I had to get up from my bed.

***

***

Knock Knock

It was because of the noise that came from my door. 

“I’m a member of the Arantas central auction committee.”

With a clean shave and a fancy suit, the green goblin at my door greeted me politely.

In response, I also greeted him back.

“What’s the issue…”

“I’m here to talk about the books registered by Mose-nim.”

Right after he answered me, a scary thought was planted in my head.

“Umm, How did you…”

Right after the goblin cleared his throat,

“Mose-ssi is already a celebrity in Asparagan, as well as the VVIP of our information guild.”

He answered with a generous smile.

His smile, however, sent shivers down my spine. It was at this point I realized how powerful the information guild really was.

“I will inform you about the final offer for the three books titled, ‘Quick guide to healing vacation’, ‘My little friend’, and ‘Power of the prophet’.”

I tilted my head a little. It was because the names that he listed were quite different from the rare-grade item I’ve registered. But, I soon realized my foolishness.

He is an NPC in Circuit, meaning they are excluded from the systemic feature of this game. It would’ve been ridiculous for these NPCs to say things like “Skill Books” and such.

To the NPCs, including this goblin, the skill book will be just a book. It was perfectly normal for them to state the title of the books.

“The three books I’ve mentioned earlier were extremely rare and possessed vast knowledge, hence there were a lot of people who participated in the auction…”

The goblin paused for a second.

“After their fierce bidding, a buyer was decided. The said buyer won all three of your books, and the final bidding was 8,726 gold, 82 silver, and 11 bronze.”

He said calmly.

“Eight…Eight thousand…”

I unconsciously repeated what he said. The colossal price kept on ringing in my head. I fell down to my bed.

“Because of the high price, we will be issuing eight ‘Orumacon Token’, issued by the Arantas auction committee, along with 726 gold, 82 silver, and 11 bronze.

“Orumacon Token…? What are those?”

“To clarify, it’s a currency equivalent to a thousand gold. Since Arantas oversees all of the auctions in this continent, You’re free to exchange it anywhere at any time.

While I was staring off to a distance, the goblin gave another generous smile.

“Well then, we will transfer the tokens and the rest of the bidding at this location. May the light of Bellica shine on you.”

Right after the goblin left, a bigger goblin came in with a silver leather bag and a well-organized wallet. I just kept staring blankly until they left.

“E-Eight thousand…”

I carefully opened the silver leather bag. Inside was an item.

[Orumacon Token]

Grade: Magic

Weight: 0.01KG

It’s a token worth 1,000 gold.

History: A luxurious currency that resembles the legendary dragon Orumacon. It contains a minuscule amount of the infamous Oruma Coil Ore.

The token is a magic-grade item. I guess it did make sense, as a thousand gold was equivalent to a hundred thousand dollars in real life.

I suddenly felt a sense of disparity. I couldn’t convince myself that this token was worth a hundred thousand dollars. I calmed myself down and quickly put the bag in my inventory.

Now that I’ve thought about it, I’ve gotten my payment by in-game currency this time.

Meaning, the final bidder hasn’t bid in real life. There was a huge possibility that an NPC purchased all my skill books.

I’ve also questioned if the users would even try to enter this fierce bidding.

“I might be in trouble.”

That was the conclusion I’ve reached from sitting for a long time.

An astronomical amount of money just entered my inventory.

It was crazy to think that these in-game currencies could be converted into an unimaginable amount of money in real life.

The value of eight thousand seven hundred gold was also enormous, so it felt as if I'd won the lottery.

After a brief moment of happiness, what was left were worries and complexities.

There exists a group within this game, called the “Dark Guild,” that prey on the belongings of users and NPCs.

Knowing that my name was blatantly displayed on the auction house, despite not many knowing my appearance, they for sure knew my nickname.

In the end, I’ve arrived at the same conclusion as before.

To escape Toico and move further north. It will be beneficial for me to play more anonymously.

After quietly exiting the inn, the first place I headed to was the biggest smithy in Toico. It was nice to have this leather armor, but it could not protect me from my newest distress.

I needed a “Disguise.”

Preferably an armor that could cover my face!

“Welcome~ are you looking for something?”

A bulky man that had a big belly, but a bigger arm came to greet me.

“I’m looking for armor that could cover my entire body; a sturdy one.”

After a brief pause, he pulled out heavy steel armor from his storage.

“The only armor in my smithy that could cover all your body is this one!”

The blacksmith laughed as he showed me a piece of armor that reached up to the neck.

“This is a piece created from mimicking the heavy armor of the infamous ‘Rancacas Cavalier’. It’s my most precious wo…”

“How much for the whole set?”

I was immediately captivated by the armor. Since I was already planning to buy another set of armor, I was hoping to find something cool that could bring out the other-worldly theme of this game. This was a perfect choice.

Like the Black Mountain set, the armor was probably made with luxurious leather that latched onto the skin.

The glossy silver steel pad was thoughtfully placed as if mimicking the human’s muscle. Along with a golden flower pattern that was moderately engraved.

The best part was the full helm, which covered most of the face completely, except for the eye holes.

“This was the piece that I made in ‘King-Smith Contest’ back in…”

“So how much is it?”

To my immediate question, the frustrated blacksmith held up two fingers. Than,

“Woah…”

“Wow~ that armor was that expensive?”

The crowd, who’s been listening in on our conversation, started to cheer.

“You’ve gotta fess up 200 gold! Since this piece carries my soul as a blacksmith!”

Two hundred gold, it’s an extremely expensive item.

“Whoa…!”

“200 gold… my god, twenty thousand dollars?”

After the shocking price reveal, there was a wave of shouts that immediately followed. Soon enough, all of their eyes were on me.

For two months, well over half a year in Circuit, after a series of failures, I was fortunate enough to earn a rare-grade item.

And this opportunity could not be wasted.

For the first time in my life, I moved as planned, and now I’ve gotten myself a unique-grade item.

Along with an insane amount of wealth.

This, however, was not the end of my journey. I’ve already accomplished an amazing feat worthy of going from rags to riches, but I was thirsty for more.

As the saying goes, you’ve got to strike when the iron is hot. I couldn’t be satisfied with just this much!

Furthermore, when I’ve already resolved to buy my “Disguise,” an armor that’s right up my alley just appeared.

That same armor is worth a whopping 200 gold.

By buying this, would I be able to accomplish all I’ve wanted?

No, this was an investment. Although it may seem wasteful now, it may prove to be useful later down the line.

Or is this my narrow-mindedness?

After thinking it through, I finally nodded.

I deserved it.

That was what I thought. It was okay to make one radical decision in my life.

I raised my shoulders full of confidence, like that of a fledgling getting ready for its first flight.

Then,

“Inventory.”

I pulled 200 gold worth of leather sacks out of my inventory. The crowd around me went wild.

The surprised blacksmith took the sack and made a burst of robust laughter.

“As expected! You’re qualified to take my masterpiece! I like that confidence!”

He and the audience surrounding us started to clap.

Feeling a little awkward, I gave them unnecessary thanks and left the scene.

Though there was a hint of guilt from spending that much money in a short period of time, there wasn’t any regret.

To Mose that is.

This guilt was from Lee Ki-Ho.

But, to Mose, there wasn’t the slightest bit of regret.

Though I lived my youth doused in parental love, due to the lack of business, I’ve never lived in prosperity.

After fulfilling that sudden desire as Mose in <Circuit>, I started to laugh.

From now on, I had to work hard to feel as if these decisions were normal.

As Lee Ki-Ho, as well as Mose.

Like that, I strolled down the well-maintained dirt road up the hill.