The Master of Strength

<Striking Gauntlets [Unique]

Restrictions: 2500 Strength

Physical Damage: 2300~2400

+300% Damage

Put your everything into a single punch. – Raberu (Martial arts expert)

He remained rooted in place, impressed by the gauntlets which he immediately compared to his current knuckle braces.

<Icy Knuckle Braces [Rare]>

Restrictions: 600 Strength

Physical Attack: 550-560

Physical Defense: 200

Ice attribute, 20% chance to stun nearby enemies for 1 second. (The higher the level difference with the enemy, the lower the probability of success.)

Are you ready to scream? – Raberu (Martial arts expert)

Was that the difference between a Rare and Unique item? Although one couldn’t say that the damage of the Icy Knuckle Braces was low, the Gauntlets had more than four times as much attack power.

“How much are they?”

Myeonghu asked nervously as he held the Gauntlets in his hands, but as soon as he heard Tilto’s answer, he dropped them like a hot potato.  

“Five thousand gold.”

“…five thousand?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“….”

At first he thought he had heard wrong so he confirmed the price, but it was indeed the case. He had no choice but to give up on them after hearing the high price.

‘5 thousand gold, that’s like 50 million won….’

It was too much money, he didn’t have nearly enough gold, and was not in a financial situation to spend it on such luxuries even if he did.

“…”

He gave the gauntlets another glance before reluctantly looking up at Tilto.

“I’ll come back for them next time.”

After which he turned back to look at the other items in the store. The gauntlets were the only items he could use which were superior to his knuckle braces, so he had no reason to look at weapons any longer. He instead walked towards the armor section.

“Let’s try to find a decent pair of gloves.”

He decided on first checking out the gloves section, but after just a few moments of sifting through them, he began to worry. There were some pairs of gloves which he like, but their restrictions were too high. Others he could use, but wouldn’t be very helpful considering his current level and power.

“I guess it’ll be the same for other equips as well.”

Having come to that conclusion, he dragged his feet back before the rack filled with swords.

“At least I can make more money off these swords.”

He still had about 950 gold on him, so he began to go through the swords one by one.

Since it wasn’t possible for him to carry 950 gold worth of swords at a time. He had to do several trips back and forth between the weapons rack and the counter.

“So far I’m at 850 gold.”

That was the total value of the swords he had brought to the counter so far. After learning the price of the swords, he felt sad that he couldn’t eat up all of them.

“There are still so many….”

He looked back staring at the many swords still on display. He quickly chose another four and brought them to the counter.

“930 gold.”

Tilto quoted him the new price which included the four new swords. Upon hearing the amount, Myeonghu was struck with indecision as he wondered if he should buy one more sword with the last of his money.

‘Nevermind If I buy one more, I’d be completely broke.’

“Here you go.”

Eventually he chose to simply pay the 930 gold to Tilto and then began throwing the swords one by one into his inventory.

‘A total 50 swords.’

Seeing his inventory full of so many swords gave him a special feeling, it was different than just seeing an inventory full of loot.

“Goodbye”

He walked out of the Blacksmith’s shop and headed straight for the Village Chief’s home.

“If I can only sell these off….”

He smiled to himself as his mind was on the many swords in his inventory. The 50 magic swords, 6 rare, 2 unique as well as his remaining Monstrous Fox Pelts all added up to and incredible wealth.

“Huh?”

He suddenly stopped at the sight of a middle aged man and woman whom he had never seen before just walk right past him.

‘Players?’

He was certain that they weren’t NPCs.

“I never thought that there would be other players in this village besides myself.”

Himise was such a remote area surrounded by the dangerous Boros mountain range which was home to several Boss monsters. Even if you weren’t aware of this fact, it was unlikely for someone to choose it as their starting location due to the shabby town description.

“I actually feel like saying hi.”

He had previously met other players in the Nine Tails Forest, but somehow seeing them in his very own town was far more refreshing.

“Nevermind let’s keep going.”

He left the duo behind and walked towards the Chief’s house, before opening the door.

“Hello Chief!”

“Oh, come on in! But why is it that you’re so late? Just give me a second.”

After saying that, he hurriedly went into the back room, leaving Myeonghu wondering why he would say that he was late?

Kiiic

Ga Dogu soon came out from the back room, holding a ring in his hand.

“Here you go!”

“…?”

Out of nowhere Ga Dogu simply handed it out to him, causing Myeonghu to humbly accept.

[You have obtained the Token of Himise]

“If it weren’t for you, then Hamuru might not have recovered. This is a small token of the town’s appreciation, please accept it.”

After Ga Dogu finished explaining, Myeonghu went ahead at confirm the ring’s stats.

<The promise of Himise [Rare]> [Bound]

Restrictions: None

Physical Defense: 5

Magical Defense Rating: 5

(Portal: Himise)

You can open a portal from anywhere to Himise. (Twice a day)

With this token which represents the respect of the village, you can enjoy a 10% discount on all goods sold in Himise.

“…”

Myeonghu could only think of the 50 plus swords he had just purchased. Still, that was already in the past so he could only move on now.

“I’ll be sure to treasure it, oh and Chief?”

“Yes?”

“I have a question.”

He smiled warmly.

“What is it that you are curious about?”

“I would like to visit a city.”

Ga Dogu simply looked at him with an understanding smile.

“…so I would like to know if there is some way to arrive at one.”

“There is.”

“Oh, then….”

Ga Dogu paused before looking at Myeonghu with a difficult expression.

“The problem is that in our small town we don’t have any Warp gates. That means that the only way to arrive at a city is to physically travel there. Unfortunately we are surrounded by the Boros Mountains, and I’m not sure if you know this, but this are teeming with incredibly strong monsters.”

“…”

“It’s the best way through the Boros Mountains.”

So far he hadn’t told me anything I didn’t already know.

“Although it isn’t easy to traverse these mountains, there are some paths which a relatively less dangerous, such as the Blue Wolf Forest

“Blue Wolf Forest?”

“Yes, it is the habitat of the Blue Wolves, which also happens to be the weakest monsters in the entire mountain range.

‘Blue Wolf Forest…’

Since it sounded like his best bet, Myeonghu decided to take this path through the mountains.

“Where can I find this place?”

“Have you explored the Wolves’ region?”

“I seen quite a bit of it yes.”

“Then do you know about the river in it?”

Myeonghu shook his head as he had never encountered such a river.

“Well there a rather large rivers which cuts right through their lands. Follow it and when the trees begin to thicken, you’ve arrived at the outskirts of that forest.

It was a simple and straightforward explanation. Myeonghu nodded back, and Ga Dogu continued talking.

“Oh, and if you simply walk into there without any preparations it would be quite dangerous. Although I previously said that Aqua Wolves were quite weak, that was only in relation to the other monsters found in the Boros mountains. If you wish to safely pass through their, go see Teren and he can sell you a special kind of meat which they very much love. Eating this meat will cause them to fall asleep, so by using this method you should be able to cross the forest without too much difficulty.

“Thank you.”

He thanked ga Dogu for his detailed explanations, before exiting the house.

“Time to get my promotion class!”

He passed by the butchers on the way, but decided that getting his promotion class was more important. On his way there he was thinking that he wouldn’t need to rely on the special meat. After all regardless how strong this Aqua Wolf was, how could it compare to a Monstrous Fox.

“I also have the Stunning Ring.”

It was the powerful item that allowed him to freely hunt the Monstrous Foxes in the first place.

“… I’ll think about it some more before leaving.”

As he arrived at the Warrior’s Guild he still hadn’t come to a decision, but simply put it to the side and walked in. Once inside, he approached the NPC behind the counter which had allowed him to gain the Warrior class.

“Hello, I am here to get my promotion class.”

“Promotion class?”

“Yes”

“Hmm…I am really to be the one to inform you, but you can’t get your promotion class here.”

“Why?”

Myeonghu was really confused by the NPC’s answer.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No, it has nothing to do with you. It is just that Himise is too small a village. Only Warrior guilds in big cities have the ability to give promotion classes.”