[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
Chapter 14
"Huff, huff, I-I almost died!!!"
Thanks to the users' quick thinking and Seonghyun's actions, Marlen regained consciousness.
She trembled, saying she could have been in real danger.
"Wow, I've never seen an NPC collapse before."
"Yeah, wasn't that dangerous?"
"Puhaha, come on, who dies from seeing a mountain of meat and hides?"
They laughed and joked it off.
'As if an NPC would die from seeing a huge amount of items in a game.'
That's probably what they were thinking.
However...
'It really was dangerous.'
Her soul had been half-way out of her body; it was truly dangerous.
Only Seonghyun could see it, so no one else knew.
Once the commotion subsided, Marlen marveled at the unbelievable mountain of hides and meat.
'A-amazing.'
Many newcomers hunted a lot of rabbits and sold them before leaving the village.
But a newcomer who amassed such a mountain of meat and hides?
She had never seen such a thing in her life.
And he even hunted a green deer and a tiger.
This was no small feat.
'I should inform the village chief.'
That a great newcomer had arrived in Hindel Village.
As Marlen thought this, she suddenly noticed something strange.
'Wait? Did that mage really open the Hunter's Forest so quickly?'
The Hunter's Forest was originally a hidden dungeon that could only be accessed after befriending the sole mage of Hindel Village.
But Seonghyun ignored that and went there after hearing about it from a ghost.
He had skipped the process and obtained the result directly.
The mage had a rather picky personality and wouldn't have given in so easily, would he?
But what did it matter?
How Seonghyun persuaded the mage wasn't important.
What mattered was that he had succeeded.
Looking at it again, the mountain of meat and hides was overwhelming.
'I thought something had changed...'
She had thought he was an unusual newcomer, but she hadn't expected this.
Never in her wildest dreams.
Although she was flustered by the sheer quantity, she was Marlen.
She quickly assessed the piled-up rabbits.
"One hundred... thirty... two rabbits. Plus, ten green deer and one tiger. Since Seonghyun is a regular, I'll give you 10 silver per rabbit, 100 silver per green deer meat, 300 silver for the hide, and finally, the tiger... the meat is unusable, and the hide is 3,000 silver, so..."
A total of 9,640 silver.
100 silver equaled 1 gold.
Converted to gold, it was 96 gold and 40 silver.
But Seonghyun was a regular customer.
"Here! 100 gold! You won't find a better price anywhere else!!!"
"Oh!"
"Ehehehe!!!"
Seeing Seonghyun genuinely surprised, which was rare, Marlen let out a hearty laugh.
She had already given him a discount as a regular customer, but she added another 4 gold on top of that.
She wouldn't have done that if she wasn't truly impressed.
Seonghyun felt grateful.
"Thank you."
"Ehehehe! No, no!!! I'm the one who's grateful!!! Even with the extra, the quality is excellent!!! I'm not losing out at all!!!"
[You have earned 100 gold by selling items at the butcher shop.]
Marlen, the bold woman, still spoke with passion.
He had felt it before, but despite her outward appearance, she was quite warm-hearted.
While he was feeling grateful, the other users erupted in shock.
"No way?! Did you hear that? 100 gold?"
"Wow... I've seen people trying to complete the 50 gold challenge in the beginner village, but 100 gold is a first."
"Wait, is that even possible to earn...?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Even if you catch over 100 rabbits, you can't make that much... Where did he even hunt the deer and tiger?"
"Wait, is that even possible? At level 1?"
Everything seemed impossible to them.
Perhaps this was the realm of geniuses that ordinary people couldn't comprehend.
They all gulped and made way for Seonghyun.
When the difference was this significant, they couldn't even feel envious, let alone jealous.
That's how the users gathered at the butcher shop felt.
"Wow, he even got the Steel Sword and defeated the Scarecrow in one strike..."
"He's truly amazing."
"It's like we're witnessing a future ranker."
"Right!"
They couldn't have been more excited.
Embarrassed, Seonghyun fled the butcher shop as he had done before.
He understood that they were acknowledging him, but it was still awkward to hear such praise to his face.
It was understandable.
Watching Seonghyun's retreating figure, Marlen chuckled at his impressive yet shy demeanor.
Perhaps that was his charm?
Anyway, that wasn't important right now.
Marlen turned to Hans, another butcher shop employee, before attending to the next customer.
"Hans, please take this to the village chief."
"I'll be back soon."
Hans nodded in understanding at Marlen's unusually quiet and serious tone.
He figured it must be important, even though he didn't know the details, and headed towards the village chief's house.
Hans would at least arrive faster than Seonghyun.
With that out of the way, she felt relieved.
Thinking she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore, she shouted in her usual manner,
"Next!!!"
1.
After leaving the butcher shop and running for a bit, the heat in his face subsided.
Had he ever been showered with so much praise in his life?
He had received quite a bit at the training ground and the butcher shop earlier, but he still couldn't get used to it.
If he had been focused on something else, he could have ignored it.
'But it's a bit awkward in situations like this.'
It wasn't a bad feeling, but he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
He had finished his business in the beginner village, where he had maximized his earnings from selling hides and meat.
As Seonghyun smiled in anticipation, Village Chief Pam said something unexpected.
"It has been a long-standing tradition in our village to give a gift to adventurers who clear the Hunter's Forest. Since you are a newcomer, I wouldn't hesitate to offer you an heirloom of our family."
"An heirloom...?"
It sounded familiar.
'No way, it can't be.'
Seonghyun waited with bated breath.
Village Chief Pam continued,
"It's a Green Deer Leather Gloves, a part of the Forest Hunter set that doesn't drop in the Hunter's Forest. I'll tell you where it is."
"Ah."
He couldn't bring himself to say, "But I already know where it is."
'To think that the old ghost was the previous village chief's ghost...'
'Should I ask for a different reward?'
Caught in this awkward situation, Seonghyun felt a cold sweat trickling down his back as Village Chief Pam's long eyebrows twitched and his eyes seemed to widen slightly.
And then...
"...Those gloves you're wearing... they look familiar..."
Seonghyun, usually calm and composed, felt a cold sweat trickling down his back.
Gulp.
'What should I say?'
That was the only thought that filled his mind. Thanks to his normally calm nature, his mind raced.
He recalled Helena's memories, a lifetime spent on the run as the Demon King.
Helena, a master of escaping difficult situations, would have been able to smoothly talk her way out of this.
As he delved into her memories, a brilliant idea surfaced.
'As expected of Helena!'
"I can't simply accept a precious family heirloom like that."
"...Hmm."
A tactful refusal.
He had phrased it politely, so as not to offend the listener.
Village Chief Pam nodded in agreement.
"...Since you say so, I understand."
"Whew."
"Well, it seems you already have something similar."
"..."
'So he did recognize them.'
“...”
'But it's a relief that he's letting it go.'
It was a bit disappointing to miss out on the reward, but he should be grateful that the village chief wasn't pressing the matter.
Seonghyun certainly thought so.
However, Village Chief Pam surprised him with an unexpected offer.
"Then I'll compensate you with something else."
"Huh?"
"Why? Are you surprised?"
"...A little."
"If the heirloom is too much of a burden, I must offer something else. That's how our family has always done things."
'What a noble upbringing.'
Seonghyun felt both admiration and joy, his anticipation growing.
Village Chief Pam's eyebrows twitched again, as if glancing at Seonghyun.
After a moment of contemplation, Village Chief Pam rose from his rocking chair.
Seonghyun wondered if he should help him up, but the chief walked with surprising vigor.
'Don't judge a book by its cover.'
Village Chief Pam walked steadily to the fireplace and opened a box beside it. His movements were confident, as if he had already decided what to give.
He pulled out a staff.
A staff that looked like it belonged to a mage.
"Judging from your appearance, this staff seems like a perfect fit for you."
With a chuckle, Village Chief Pam handed him the staff.
As Seonghyun received the staff, which seemed to possess a strange power, a message appeared.
[You acquire 『Staff of the Forgotten One』 from Village Chief Pam of Hindel Village.]
'Forgotten One?'
As soon as the question arose, Seonghyun opened the item information.
『Staff of the Forgotten One』
→《Rare+》
→A staff whose user has been forgotten over time.
→Although the owner remains unknown after all these years, the faint power lingering within suggests that the previous owner was a formidable black mage.
→Slightly increases mana regeneration after using black magic skills.
→Slightly increases the power of black magic skills.
'Wow.'
It was the perfect staff for Seonghyun, now an Overlord.
Although it was a bit disappointing that it only offered a slight increase instead of a percentage-based boost, that was to be expected for a Rare+ rank item.
It was an item he could be satisfied with.
He had thought he had already received all the rewards for the Hunter's Forest.
It felt like receiving a gift from Santa Claus.
'But how did he know?'
That this was an item he desperately needed?
'Does he know I'm a black mage?'
As this thought crossed his mind, Village Chief Pam changed the subject.
"Where are you planning to go?"
"Huh?"
Lost in thought, Seonghyun didn't understand the question at first.
Then, realizing what he meant, he immediately replied,
"I'm planning to go to Perthville."
Perthville was one of the villages that followed the beginner village, Hindel.
It had several advantages, but his sister had highly recommended it.
Had she mentioned that the instructors there were excellent?
Seonghyun had also researched it and found it to be a recommended village, so his decision was swift.
Village Chief Pam slowly nodded at his answer, with an expression that seemed to say, "As expected."
Seonghyun felt a strange dizziness from the village chief's reaction and gulped.
'Is there something more?'
"Find the gravedigger, Garrick."
"Ah."
[You have obtained a clue about Gravedigger Garrick.]
That was all he said.
But with just those words, a message appeared, stating that he had obtained a clue.
And this clue was something he had already heard about from his sister.
'Is this... a clue to a hidden piece?'
It felt like he was being given too much.
[Translator - Prøks]
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