NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17
Episode 17
“Hey, look at this!”
The female user tossed the inventory list aside and walked away. She never wanted to see it again.
“……!”
Seven master items?
There are the same seven master items in every class’ master quest. You usually choose the one that benefits your class, but this Karen (as it says on her inventory list) has all of the master items that benefit all classes. It’s a scam.
“Wow, I don’t have any items that I don’t have, and this inventory has all the items that every class can use until they’re mastered.” Amazing. Item cheating and skill cheating. Is this a bug character?”
Bam!
The user sitting next to him slapped his friend on the head.
“You idiot, Middle-earth is known for being the most bug-free place in the world; do you think there’s such a thing? And if it is a bug, do you think the admins will let it go?”
“Phew.”
If it’s not a bug, then that user will continue to exist, and before long, he’ll level up. He’ll be an item, money, or skill, making the party almost pointless. As long as you have a cleric next to Karen, his rapid levelling is guaranteed. As two of the biggest powers on the Human Server, the odds are stacked against them.
They’re competing with a lot of big guild factions, and if Karen is interested in building, a lot of factions will rally around him. Middle-earth loves the strong. The strong hate the strong. They don’t like competition. It wants a monopoly.
The Assassins are the most vocal in their hostility to the powerful, and their guild is the only one because they’ve been oppressed by many other classes of players for being Assassins.
It wasn’t until they banded together that they were able to escape persecution from other players. However, they are still a huge faction that has been persecuted by other guilds and is in seclusion.
If you’re an assassin, you’re a PK. You’ll never be able to lower your rudeness rating.
Such is the woe of the Assassin.
But when a new master comes along, they assassinate him so he can’t oppress them.
Being the best secret society and the best intelligence society, they can find out where any user is. There’s a trail for him somewhere.
An inn, a restaurant, a store, somewhere. It will take a long time, but for a single guild with many assassins, it’s only a matter of time.
And if you kill him until he drops at least 50 levels, he’ll take care of himself. Other guilds are not much different. They just do it in secret.
“What should we do?”
“Should we kill him?”
“What if he hides?”
“Hmmm…….”
If he catches on to the two of you, he’ll probably go into hiding and build up his power or level up. If he starts to grind his teeth, you might be in for a surprise.
“Do you think we’ll join him?”
“Will he approve?”
“Isn’t this the main battlefield?”
“Yes. With your Templar Guild and my Mage Guild together, we can convince him.”
To become an archer, you can join any archer guild. As soon as you create an archer guild, you’ll have the ability to appoint archers and give them jobs among your players. The idea is to put all the power in Middle-earth in the hands of the players.
In the next few years, NPCs will disappear, the chairman announced.
“Would you like to become an archer?”
The Archer Guild building has a separate room for archer appointments. It’s an essential element for the creation of an archer guild. Only those who are at least Archer level 80 can appoint a user as an Archer.
“Yes.”
Hearing my answer, he unfolded the papers.
“What’s your name?”
“Karen.”
He wrote my name on the paper and closed it.
“You are now an archer. Whether it’s your second job or your third, you are an archer. If you look in your skill window, you’ll see that you have the skills of an archer, and your agility, blood, and mana should have gone up a bit. You may go now.”
I walked over to where Ren was waiting and opened his status window.
“Character: Karen
Strength 500
Agility 550
Intelligence 230
Luck 10
15,000 Blood (15,000)
5,000 Mana (5,000)”
I didn’t use much swordsmanship, so my strength didn’t increase much. If I had used a lot of swordsmanship, my strength would have naturally increased a little bit due to the system in Middle-earth, but only a little bit.
My agility was in the 400s, but I think it naturally increased after I switched to being an archer.
As your strength goes up, your endurance goes up, and your HP goes up. The more agility you have, the faster you move and the higher your hit rate. The more intelligence you have, the more mana you have, and the more mana and focus you have.
It’s a combination of everything that adds up.
“Did you change jobs?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to organise your items?”
“…For what?”
“…….”
“What, he doesn’t realise the value of his items?
* * *
“Hmmm, Chief. I’m guessing that Karen guy is a newbie to the game.”
“Finally, you’re making some good deductions.”
“…….”
Well, he’s finally right: he’s a newbie to online RPGs. He just happens to have the best skills, the best blessings, and the best items—a literal scam character.
“Could this be a good thing?”
“Maybe.”
“This is what you’re going to tell your boss!”
“I don’t know.”
“Crap!”
Ever since Mr. Park got on his tail, he hasn’t been polite to himself. Maybe she should be grateful for the grudging respect he always gives her.
Anyway, Karen doesn’t have any information. She doesn’t know any “common sense” about online RPGs beyond the basic information given on the homepage. This can work out surprisingly well.
He doesn’t know how good his items are; he doesn’t know how good his current state can be; he doesn’t know.
* * *
Ren pondered as he dropped Karen off in front of the Warehouse NPC.
If he played his cards right, he could give her all of these items. He’s a funny user, trying to sell everything but what he needs in the shop.
He doesn’t realise the importance of his items, nor does he feel the need for them.
The big question here is: should you tell him about his items, or should you just let him eat them?
Humanly speaking, he wants to take the item instead, but he knows that his boss is monitoring him.
To steal in front of his boss? No way. It could cost him his job.
Sure, if he sold all of Karen’s items, he’d have at least a billion dollars in cash. But her salary is also about a billion, so she might as well give up.
* * *
“Mr. Park, do your best to help Ms. Shin get her hands on those items!”
“It’s illegal.”
“That Karen bastard is illegal too!”
“Where are you going?”
“…….”
I lost again.
In my heart, I prayed that Shin Eun-Kyung would snatch that bastard’s item, and if she did, I would increase her bonus to $100 million. I was starting to hate Karen enough to want to do that.
* * *
“Phew… Karen, I’m going to give you a good description of her item.”
“……?”
Give up.
You’re going to regret it terribly. But you’re not alone. Mr. Park is watching, and the boss is watching. You’re not so stupid as to commit fraud in front of your boss.
“Karen. You know all about Unique, Master, and all the other ranks, right? You know that you can transmute at a 10:1 ratio, right?”
“Yes.”
“How much gold do you have right now?”
“Roughly 50 million gold.”
“And you also know that if you turn it into gold, it will be worth $5 million, right?”
“Yes!”
I answered vigorously. I’m not broke, but money is good.
“Do you know how much one of the lowest-grade Uniques sells for?”
“……?”
The only thing I hadn’t thought about. The value of the item. But I thought, “At least a few tens of thousands for one? I thought to myself.
“Shit. This reminds me of the item room and the jewellery room. That’s a shame.’
If I had an infinite inventory, I could have picked up at least a few thousand. Couldn’t I have made at least a few hundred million more?
“Don’t you know, the lowest-grade one is at least 10 million won?”
“Not barely… but at least 10 million?”
You realise that your unique items alone are worth more than $50 million!
“That’s a lot of money.
I’ve earned a billion in three days. I start to like this game more and more. I can’t believe how easy it is to make money.
I listened to her, thinking that I should continue playing.
“Karen’s items are mostly mid- to high-tier, with a lot of top-tier. She can’t sell master items, but the submissive set you have now is comparable to a master item. At least one of her items is selling for around 50 million won, and it’s going up.”
“……!”
* * *
“…Ms. Shin doesn’t seem to like bonuses.”
“……?”
“No, I was just muttering to myself.”
I prayed in my heart, but Shin Eun-kyung seemed to be more honest than I thought. She’s a fraudulent character who made $5 billion in three days. That’s the kind of boss I’d want to go and kill in person.