378 - Hammer, Anvil, and Enhancement Stone 3
378 - Hammer, Anvil, and Enhancement Stone 3
TL/Editor: raei
Schedule: 5/week
Illustrations: Posted in discord
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From securing the mansion plot to assembling dozens of artisans to meticulously construct a two-story mansion, we had everything lined up. Ironically though, we couldn't find the equipment enhancement stones - our main objective.
"Hm? Aren't you the Squishy Hero? ...Enhancement stones? Those are all sold out."
"Flappers wouldn't use enhancement stones. We were short on stock when the Squishy merchants came and bought everything."
"Crystals that enhance equipment? Those weird cone-hat wearing Squishies bought them all up."
They'd already been hoarded.
Of course, Heroes Chronicle was a virtual reality game. The NPCs inhabiting this world were so lifelike that ridiculous theories - like BB Games' headquarters being a UFO or the CEO being an interdimensional traveler - actually gained traction online.
In such a fantasy world, if enhancement stones appeared that could upgrade weapons just by applying them, would people really leave them be?
Various gems for upgrading melee weapons like swords, brilliant crystals for ranged weapons like staves and bows, even meteor fragments that could enhance cloth and leather armor. Not only were they potent, but supplies were limited. Everything had sold out.
"Damn. I guess the proper way is to stock up and enhance on each floor before reaching the 50th?"
-Haha, you messed up again trying to cheese it? Always buying bombs, now you've got nothing to buy?
-Isn't it about time you developed some learning ability? How many times are you going to repeat the same strategy? lol
-So you're saying you rushed with the Roland catapult strategy instead of enhancing items on each floor, and now you're screwed because of the patch?
-Se-ah, I have a request. I don't care if you use bombs or not, but please take care of our sister's equipment properly. It's still an RPG after all, you need to enhance equipment.
-If you'd enhanced equipment before going to the 51st floor, you could've easily taken down the ogre, right? Seems like it's balanced for 5★ gear + enhancements.
What Han Se-ah couldn't have imagined was the Empire's appearance.
While the tower's monsters popped out of thin air, so mana stones wouldn't be scarce even with more people, that wasn't the case for enhancement stones. After all, it was the stone dwarves who mined various types of enhancement stones... but now it wasn't just the Kingdom buying them, the Empire had joined in too.
Moreover, this was the underground of the 50th floor system. Since this was the Harpy Empire that was only interested in luxury goods made by stone dwarves, there were bound to be fewer enhancement stones than in the underground of the 41st-45th floor Harpy Kingdom. Wasn't this city rebuilt less than a month ago anyway?
The supply remained the same, or rather decreased, while customers increased 4-5 fold. No wonder the stone dwarves were shaking their heads everywhere we went.
"I can promise to pass some along when the next shipment arrives, but there's nothing now."
"Then could we at least make a reservation..."
"That much I can certainly do for you."
Hero of the race who killed the giant underground monster and liberated the stone dwarves from the harpies. The stone dwarves' gaze at the player was almost at the level of worshipping an idol, so we were promised unconditional priority sales without any conditions, but even that was only after the goods arrived.
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No matter how much of a hero I was to the stone dwarves, they couldn't create something that didn't exist. And going down further wasn't an option given the considerable distance between cities.
"What should we do? Should we check out the 49th floor or lower cities using the connected underground passages?"
"No, we'd better make other preparations today, check on the mansion, and then explore the 52nd floor. There's no guarantee we'll find enhancement stones even if we go down."
After being mercilessly roasted by viewers for skipping even enhancements - like a pot that forgot to turn off the heat - Han Se-ah desperately tried to change the subject. But anyway.
The suggestion to check out the temple and royal knights while we were down in the underground city was received positively by both viewers and party members.
Grace tended to follow whatever the genius mage Hanna suggested. Katie was full of boyish enthusiasm, so she wouldn't object to seeing Temple Knights and royal knights. Irene, being a nun, naturally wouldn't refuse a trip to the temple.
An Irene who disliked going to temples would be as nonsensical as a terminally ill Roland.
I wondered if the temple or royal knights bought enhancement stones?
"If the temple or knights bought enhancement stones, we might be able to negotiate and get some from them."
"Ah, that's true. They might have bought some to enhance the knights' equipment."
Who were we if not the hero party exploring uncharted areas in the name of the Goddess? Surely we could 'receive donations' of about three people's worth of enhancement stones, or generously four if we could enhance Irene's nun outfit and symbol too.
Muttering this quietly, Katie chimed in with a bright smile. The way she was caressing the long dagger at her hip suggested she was a bit fixated on the idea of equipment enhancement.
Well, she was already sparkling with excitement just seeing the royal knights' war supplies. Given how much she loved swords and armor, if they could be further enhanced with special magic from another race, she'd probably die of happiness.
It was like the law of combining, enhancing a high school girl by feeding her mala tang[1] and then handing her tanghulu - it became a mala tanghulu set menu. Though she was technically college-aged... but her hobbies were more like a middle school boy's. You know, exactly like an 8th grader.
-You bastard... asking for donations again!
[Chat deleted by mod]
-Hankkiyaaaaak, a person died making a joke
-So Se-ah needs money to protect the Se-ah World. Does Teacher mean he'll transfer the temple and knights' funds to his own inventory?
"Tsk tsk, 'transfer' indeed. It's voluntary offerings from believers to protect the world. As for the royal knights... maybe we could use the princess's name? But then again, if we slip up peddling the princess, we might end up dangling from the gallows."
Perhaps it had turned into a day of exploring the underground city, feeling like a holiday outing. Grace and Katie naturally took up positions on either side of me, beaming from ear to ear.
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[1. raei: mala tang is a common type of Chinese street food, while tanghulu is a chinese treat.]
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