Chapter 105: The 1 Shop
I stared at the ssage with an expression full of emotion.
[With the disappearance of the ‘Poison Mist,’ the clear condition has been t!]
[Ending Trial ‘The 1.’]
[You will be transported to the location of ‘The 2’ in 30 minutes.]
It was proof that I had defeated the poison mist and survived.
A wave of pride surged through . My chest felt tight, and my heart was still pounding.
Ah, this—is this what it feels like to be alive?
But…
I furrowed my brow.
Thirty minutes? Sothing felt off, knowing I’d be transported to the next location so soon. What was this feeling? A vague sense of unease, like sothing was left unfinished.
If I had to describe it… It felt like walking out of a bar on a rainy day, beer in hand, only to realize after boarding the bus ho that I’d forgotten my umbrella.
“Ah?!” I suddenly gasped, the realization hitting like ice water. “That’s right! The shop!”
When I move to The 2, the location might change entirely. It would be better to use the shop while I could.
According to the information tickets, shops in The 1 appeared in the area after the poison mist erged.
“Ah.”
Then it hit —I didn’t need to worry about it at all.
[Judges are appearing throughout the area.]
With the Great Blue Heart Technique, I could sense judges revealing their presence, no longer hiding while observing us. These judges must have been the shops ntioned in the information.
—Whoosh!
Just then, soone appeared beside .
“Wow, you lunatic! Freaking maniac! You unbelievable bastard!”
The person yelling curses right from our first eting was soone I’d seen before—Rank 84, Floa the Thundercry.
“I should’ve realized when you found earlier! Of course you’re an overpowered character. Hah, I’m speechless.”
“…”
And again, I couldn’t help but be surprised. Just as I had changed after dealing with the poison mist, Floa’s strength felt entirely different from before.
She’s strong.
She was incredibly strong. You only find what you’re capable of when you have the right knowledge. She was nauseatingly strong. Unlike the poison mist, which felt like an untad force with exploitable weaknesses, Floa exuded controlled, polished power. She was invulnerable and powerful.
“Seriously, how does soone take down sothing like the poison mist alone? Are you really just a regular participant? Are you a hidden ranker? Or, wait, are you so kind of monster spat out by a dungeon?”
“Of course not,” I muttered curtly.
She was a 23-year-old from Germany, the sa age as . Since we had already spoken informally during our first eting, I decided to keep it that way. Switching to formal speech just because soone was strong would make seem spineless, wouldn’t it?
“Damn it! No matter how I think about it, this is so unfair!”
Of course, Floa didn’t seem to care about that at all.
“With this montum, I guarantee it! Once you leave this place, you’ll be able to climb to a single-digit rank within three years! Ugh, I’m so jealous I could die.” Floa scanned curiously as if I were so exotic creature.
I endured her gaze for a mont before speaking. “What is this? Why aren’t the other judges here? Why are you the one who ca?”
“What? Do you have a problem with that? I called dibs on you, that’s why. What, you don’t want here? I already got penalized because of you; I might as well satisfy my curiosity.”
“…”
How is your penalty my fault? You should bla yourself for getting caught.
I swallowed my retort and got straight to the point, “Alright, fine. Whatever. What I an is, what are you doing here? If you’re here, do your job, or at least tell why you’re here.”
“To work?”
“Hah, to sell shop items, of course.”
“Oh, right! That’s what I’m here for!” Floa clapped her hands as if she just rembered.
I was dumbfounded. Why is her character so scatterbrained? Is she really even a judge?
“Ahem, well! You must’ve racked up a lot of points, right?”
“Of course. I ate so much poison, after all.”
How much had I accumulated? I wondered.
I opened the status window I had set aside.
[Current trial points: 2,100,500]
“…!” My jaw dropped.
What the hell? 2.1 million points?
“What is it?” Noticing my stunned expression, Floa asked curiously, “How many points did you rack up?”
“First, show the shop list. Let take a look.”
“Huh? Give a sec…”
—Whoosh!
Monts later, the shop nu appeared in my view.
—Ring!
[Judge ‘Floa’ has opened the ‘Shop.’]
[The currency for this shop is trial points.]
[Each item is limited to one per person.]
[List – 10/10]
[1. Grade A Antidote – 1,000 points]
[2. Grade S Antidote – 3,000 points]
[3. The 1 Pass Ticket – 5,000 points]
[4. The 1 Information – 10,000 points]
[5. The 2 Information – 10,000 points]
[6. Elixir – 10,000 points]
[7. Grade A Random Box – 10,000 points]
[8. Grade S Random Box – 30,000 points]
[9. Root of the World Tree – 50,000 points]
[10. Wish-Granting Scroll – 100,000 points]
“What? This is it?”
I was baffled to find out that the most expensive item was 100,000 points. There was no way to spend all 2.1 million points!
“What do you an, this is it?” Floa glared at as if she couldn’t believe what I just said. “Oh, you little bastard! Look at you boasting about your points! Judging by your reaction, I’d say you’ve got 100,000 points or sothing. Do you even realize? Since Lady Delilah created these trials, not a single participant has ever purchased item number 10, the Wish-Granting Scroll. Sure, you ate a lot of poison and earned points, but try to be a little humble, will you?”
“…?” Only 100,000?
At that mont, I was reminded of just how absurd my actions had been. Eating the poison mist itself was beyond comprehension.
“Phew,” I let out a light sigh. “Alright, alright. You’re right. Anyway, just give everything on the list.”
I had more than enough points to spare, and the shop’s prices were ridiculously low. Plus, I had no choice but to buy it all with the one-item-per-person restriction. Honestly, even if I bought everything, it wouldn’t put a dent in my points.
“What…?” Floa seed to be taken aback. She stared at as if she hadn’t heard correctly. “Everything? You want everything? What kind of nonsense is that?”
It was clear what she ant—how could such a request make any sense?
“How many points do you even have?”
“About 2.1 million,” I answered honestly.
“What the fuck?” She was visibly shaken. “Don’t lie to ! That’s a completely insane number!”
“Why would I lie? I was surprised too. Now hurry up and hand it over. I’ve got 30 minutes left.”
“Y-You’re serious?” Still dumbfounded, Floa checked the points herself. “Holy crap. It’s true. Excluding what you’ve already bought, that’s 209,000 points. Damn it, no one’s going to believe when I tell this to everyone.”
[209,000 points have been spent.]
[Remaining trial points: 1,891,500.]
At the sa ti, items began to float in the air before —antidotes, pass tickets, random boxes, and even the Root of the World Tree and the Wish-Granting Scroll. Honestly, I didn’t even need the The 1 Pass Ticket anymore, but I bought it just in case.
[Hidden condition achieved!]
[You purchased all items in the The 1 shop.]
[The ‘The 1 Exclusive VIP Shop’ has been unlocked.]
“…?”
“…!”
Both Floa and I stared at the ssage in disbelief.
“VIP Shop?” I asked.
“I-I don’t know either. This is the first ti I’ve seen it too. Damn it, I’m as confused as you!”
“I’ve been aning to ask this since before… Are you really a judge?”
“Shut up! Do you have any idea how complicated Lady Delilah’s dungeon is? We’re just here to provide oversight and receive so rewards, nothing more! Besides, I just told you that you’re the first person in history to buy that 100,000-point item! You’re the crazy one, not !”
“Fair enough.”
“Yeah, that’s right! Let’s see what this shop has.”
—Ring!
[The currency for this shop is trial points.]
[Each item is limited to one per person.]
[List – 1/1]
[1. Reward Probability Amplification Scroll – 1,000,000 Points]
“…Reward Probability Amplification Scroll?”
I wondered what that was. And why was it so expensive?
“Hmm, let read you the description.” Floa scanned the air, reading sothing visible only to her. “Lady Delilah’s trials offer rewards in the next location based on personal preferences. This scroll seems to increase the probability of getting better rewards… But damn, this wording is ridiculous.”
“What do you an?”
“I don’t know. It’s complicated. You’ll figure it out soon anyway. My advice? Buy it. You’ve got so many points, there’s no reason not to.”
“That’s true.” I nodded.
There was no alternative. If it was this expensive, it had to be worth it. I handed over the points without hesitation.
“Good choice.” Floa snapped her fingers with a grin.
[1,000,000 points have been spent.]
[Remaining trial points: 891,500.]
—Whooosh!
A golden scroll appeared in my hand, radiating a brilliant white light. Unlike the elegant silver Wish-Granting Scroll, this one had a more regal aura.
“Wow.” Floa shook her head in disbelief. “Honestly, this is insane. Flexing a million-point item purchase? I don’t even feel jealous anymore. I just want to see how far you’ll go. Watching you might actually be fun.”
Ignoring her, I ticulously organized and inspected my items: Grade A Antidote, Grade S Antidote, The 1 Pass Ticket—mostly useless to now.
[Item: Elixir]
[Rank: S]
[Description: A legendary potion.]
[Effect 1: Cures all illness.]
[Effect 2: Removes adverse status effects.]
[Effect 3: Highest-grade healing effect.]
[Effect 4: Cannot be used on the dead.]
Elixirs were well-known. They occasionally appeared as rewards in S-rank dungeons and sold for exorbitant prices.
I’ll hand this over to Kim Jinah later.
In an auction, it would fetch at least 10 billion won. There were plenty of wealthy people desperate to stave off death.
[Item: A-Rank Random Box]
[Rank: A]
[Type: Box]
[Description: A box that randomly produces an A-Rank item.]
[Effect: Generates an A-Rank item of any type.]
[Item: S-Rank Random Box]
[Rank: S]
[Type: Box]
[Description: A box that randomly produces an S-Rank item.]
[Effect: Generates an S-Rank item of any type.]
Next were the random boxes. The A-Rank was okay, but the S-Rank was the real jackpot. Especially if a weapon ca out—it would be an absolute windfall. An S-Rank weapon would hold greater value than even the elixir.
Well, I’ll open this one later.
I shifted my attention to the next item.
[Item: World Tree Root]
[Rank: S]
[Type: Root]
[Description: A fragnt of the World Tree’s root.]
[Effect: Unknown.]
It was a mystical-looking blue root with no listed effects.
I’ll keep this for now.
[Item: Wish-Granting Scroll]
[Rank: S]
[Type: Scroll]
[Description: Use in monts of crisis, and it will provide exactly what you need.]
[Effect: Ancient magic will aid you in critical monts.]
“And what is this?”
[Item: Reward Probability Amplification Scroll]
[Rank: S]
[Type: Scroll]
[Description: A scroll that amplifies reward acquisition probability.]
[Effect: Increases the probability of obtaining the selected reward to 100%.]
“And this too…”
I kept reading through the descriptions. Reading them over and over again, I had just one thought.
I don’t get it.
I could interpret what the effects might be. But they didn’t resonate with clearly.
As I was organizing my items and fiddling with the scrolls…
[30 minutes have passed.]
[You will be transported to the location of ‘The 2.’]
At last, the ssage marking the end of The 1 appeared.
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