NOVEL WEB Chapter 10 - Where Did That Come From? (2)
I Raise With In-app Purchases – 10
EP.10 Where Did That Come From? (2)
– Clang! –
“Kyaahhh!!!”
“Unbelievable! Congratulations!!!”
Finally.
“What’s going on?”
“I got an A-rank.”
“Wow! Really? I envy you.”
“After training so intensely, you finally did it.”
“Ugh… When will I reach A-rank? I can’t even get to B-rank.”
“Some are stuck at C-rank, and others are already at A-rank. Sigh.”
Some express envy, some show jealousy, and some genuinely congratulate.
Shine was more pleased with aligning her breath with ‘Flame Dragon’s Bloom’ and achieving good results than with the congratulations from people.
‘But isn’t the name of the weapon too tacky…? What’s Flame Dragon’s Bloom? Flame Dragon’s Bloom.’
Shine felt the need to come up with a new name for this child herself.
Although she could understand the meaning of Flame Dragon’s Bloom by watching the dragon imbued with blue flames shoot towards the enemy and explode like a flower, the name didn’t sit well with her.
“Did changing the weapon really lead to breaking the record?”
She hadn’t told anyone else, but even her closest friend couldn’t keep it a secret. Shine revealed what her record was all about.
Naturally, her friend, showed curiosity about the her weapon when she learned that Shine had truly set an A-rank record.
“Yeah, I felt a connection with this one through our souls. We’re destined.”
“…Ugh, even if that’s the case, no kissing.”
Her friend made a disgusted expression watching Shine obsess over the weapon like a maniac.
Seeing that reaction, she couldn’t bring herself to say what she had intended.
‘I was going to ask to borrow it just once…’
If her growth was indeed due to the weapon, she also wanted to try getting a weapon like that.
Her friend’s rank was also B-rank, just like Shine. However, unlike Shine, who had reached B-rank a year ago, her friend had just reached that rank.
In other words, she was not yet in a position to aim for A-rank, unlike Shine, who had been striving for a year.
‘She’s been saying she’s been a B-rank for a year, but for ordinary people, spending a lifetime at B-rank is more common.’
She envied her friend’s talent, and sometimes jealousy crept in, but seeing Shine, who had talent, putting in effort, made her want to follow in her footsteps the most.
‘Becoming Shine’s assistant, huh. Hehe.’
However, to become Shine’s assistant, she had to show enough skill. She couldn’t fall too far behind.
“If it’s about the weapon vendor guy, can I meet him too?”
“You too?”
“Yeah, my rank went up this time. I had to change equipment anyway, so I thought I might as well ask that guy you mentioned.”
“Well… it’s not a bad idea, but I’m not sure if it’s okay. I’m not close with that man.”
Shine couldn’t readily agree to her friend’s request.
“Is it difficult to introduce me to that weapon vendor?”
“That’s possible, but…”
Shine hesitated, finding her friend’s request awkward.
If she had purchased the equipment in a flashy manner, it might have been different, but asking for a favor after barely getting a loan was a different matter.
She knew that her friend’s family wasn’t wealthy enough to pay for the weapons sold by that man.
Moreover, her friend couldn’t support her with a lot of money because she had many siblings.
‘If I say it’s too expensive and you can’t buy it…’
She couldn’t outright say that to her friend, who was clearly unable to make such a purchase.
“I’ll ask about it for you. But I’m not sure if it will work out.”
“Can’t you just take me with you? Honestly, buying such things is impossible, and maybe I can borrow it like you suggested. I’ll handle the negotiation!”
From her friend’s perspective, she couldn’t miss this opportunity to follow Shine and improve her skills.
It was a bit shameless, but she had to make an effort to ask for a favor and improve her abilities.
If her family found out the person selling the weapon that could instantly raise B-rank to A-rank, they would surely be interested.
‘If I pass on this information, Father will surely reward me!’
Shine, unaware of her friend’s thoughts, felt burdened by the idea of introducing her to the man.
“You want me to take you without even asking?”
Even when meeting other friends, it was customary to seek permission before bringing someone, let alone bringing someone to meet an unfamiliar man.
“That won’t work. It’s rude. He might feel awkward. Wait a moment. I’ll ask him if he has other items.”
“Sorry, did I ask for too much?”
“In truth, carrying around multiple weapon like this is already unreasonable.”
“Oh! Right, it’s not easy to find such weapons.”
Fortunately, her persuasion worked!
Her friend didn’t take it too hard and understood Shine’s words.
“I’ll definitely request it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a secondary weapon.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Feeling the burden of having to ask for her friend’s equipment, she scolded herself silently.
‘I should have just kept quiet.’
Adding another favor on top of an already subservient relationship was quite a weight to bear.
If it were another friend, it might have been different, but this friend not only didn’t show jealousy or resentment towards her talent but even expressed a desire to become her subordinate later on.
‘Yeah, I should do this much for a friend.’
To fulfill her friend’s request, she needed to build a friendly relationship with the mysterious man.
“I wonder if that man eats well. He’s quite big in size.”
Last time, she was too absorbed in the weapon to think about anything else, but this time, she decided to mention wanting to treat him to a meal.
She also conveyed the news of setting an A-rank record hastily to keep the promise with the man.
Supporting him and delivering the news seemed to make Shine proud.
‘Now it begins. With this child by my side, we can reach even greater heights!’
Shine smiled brightly.
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***
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“Uncle!!!”
Fixing the general store and preparing various things kept me busy and distracted.
A week had passed, and it was time for the promised meeting with Shine. Once again, she arrived at the meeting place a little earlier than the agreed time.
As expected, Shine was already at the meeting place, waiting for me.
“Did you come early again?”
“I only came an hour early this time!”
If that girl had a tail on her behind, it would probably be wagging and making buzzing sounds by now.
“Do you like the weapon?”
“Absolutely absolutely absolutely yes! It’s insane! I became A-rank! Oh, it’s not official, it’s unofficial, but still, I achieved an A-rank record, and it’s not just barely. If I take the official test, I’m sure to move up to A-rank.”
The unique equipment effect must be tremendous.
“Here’s the contract. The lease period is three years, and if there are no major changes, additional contracts will be made year by year. I’ll pay the lease fee each year. But actually, within three years, I’m planning to make this weapon entirely mine.”
“Feel free to do that. Selling it cleanly is the best for me.”
If Shine hadn’t brought up the lease first, I would have casually brushed it off.
After completing the contract, I pondered for a moment.
It was because of the thought of whether or not to let Shine know about my general store.
My store was open, but it was a deserted place where not a single customer had come. It was intentionally designed that way, and without any promotion, the lack of customers was expected.
That wasn’t the issue.
‘There’s no way to bring the character I picked to my store.’
It was too artificial to pretend to coincidentally meet and sit idly, waiting to gently lure her with a weapon. Doing that once or twice was fine, but continuing such actions would lead to reporting.
‘Although I can buy the merchant qualification with money and suffer to sell good things, I don’t want to go through the trouble of doing that.’
So, I thought about it all of a sudden.
What if I left bringing in the hero to Shine?
Since she thought I suffered a loss by leasing the weapon and was also kind enough to do her a favor, she wouldn’t refuse my request.
‘I don’t intend to keep relying on Shine.’
What if she told the student who sells weapons to bring in the next student?
Considering Shine’s enthusiastic response, it might depend on the person’s temperament, but if I set it as a selling condition, they would likely agree.
“Um… Uncle.”
“Why?”
“Why am I saying something like this… but do you happen to have more weapons like this?”
“Don’t get greedy.”
“No no no! It’s not that I’m getting greedy. It’s because my friend is interested in your weapons.”
“Friend? Who is it.”
If it was an extra I didn’t know, it was regrettable, but there was nothing I could sell to that friend.
“She’s my best friend, and she plans to become my assistant later. Her skills aren’t bad either. She’s already B-rank.”
Being B-rank at her current age wasn’t bad at all.
However, compared to the SSR character I picked, her talent was somewhat lacking.
Although the natural SSR characters had stats that could break through to SSS, most of the extras were likely to have B-rank as their limit.
Selling my items to such an extra?
‘It’s like putting pearls on a pig’s neck.’
Still, since I couldn’t outright say I had no interest, I said, “If it bothers you that much, bring her here.”
I handed my business card to Shine.
“What’s this?”
“There’s a map on the back.”
“I drew a path from the academy to the general store to make it easier to find.”
Even though it’s a remote location, I think it’s easy to go back and forth since it’s near the academy.
That friend might boast, but if she manages to get good deals on the items sold in the general store, she won’t be disappointed.
“Uncle, were you a merchant?!”
“Does that mean anyone can sell things?”
“No, I thought you were acting suspicious, like an illegal street vendor.”
Even if someone doesn’t have the qualifications, selling goods secretly is referred to as being an illegal street vendor.
Illegal vendors, even if they sell goods, don’t pay taxes. If reported, they can face punishment, and in severe cases, they might be expelled from the city, a serious crime.
Given the situation of not wanting to be expelled from the city at all costs, I had purchased the merchant qualification first, even at an expensive price.
“It looks like this, but I live properly, paying taxes.”
Although I had just started the store and hadn’t paid taxes yet, I confidently pretended to be a general store merchant.
“I’ll make sure to bring my friend! I didn’t know there was a general store here. It’s closer to the academy than I thought. I’ve never been this way before, so I didn’t know what was here.”
If she had known, she would have visited earlier. Even if she had visited earlier, she wouldn’t have been able to meet me, but that’s beside the point.