Chapter 94: Hot Springs (1)

Since the Territory Development Level has reached 2000, you have completed the 'Second Clue'

Second Clue: Meet the Mysterious Merchant and discuss 'Extraterrestrial'

Kim Hyunwoo, looking at the notification that appeared before his eyes, muttered to himself unknowingly.

"Mysterious Merchant, huh..."

He had heard stories from Elena and Adria about how the Mysterious Merchant completely disappeared a few years ago, but Kim Hyunwoo looked at the second clue with an expression that showed no particular emotion.

After all, he knew how to meet the Mysterious Merchant who was said to have disappeared a few years ago.

'If you buy a cash item, that is...'

Basically, in the setting of Arteil, the cash items available for players to buy are sold through three merchants, each according to the type of item.

The Blue Merchant sells basic in-game materials and gachas.

The Red Merchant sells items that are limitedly available through events or special occasions.

Lastly, almost all items that heroes or players can equip in the game are purchased from the Mysterious Merchant.

This means that Kim Hyunwoo, who can open the cash item window even now, can meet the Mysterious Merchant as soon as he buys something.

While the appearance of the Blue Merchant in the game is random, making it uncertain when they'll show up based on what item you buy, this isn't the case for the Mysterious Merchant.

Despite knowing this fact, the reason Kim Hyunwoo hesitated with a peculiar expression was,

'...Why does it have to be the Mysterious Merchant?'

The reason was that he was fully aware that the items sold by the Mysterious Merchant were all exceedingly expensive.

"Tsk..."

Nevertheless, since he was going to buy a cash item anyway, Kim Hyunwoo immediately brought up the cash item window.

[Soul of Chakram: 87,220 won (Stone)]

[Knuckles of North Mountain Work: 142,200 won (Stone)]

[Yallan's Necklace: 98,000 won (Stone)]

[Shallai's Armor: 55,500 won (Stone)]

"...Ugh."

Upon seeing the equipment list that could summon the Mysterious Merchant right after opening the cash window, Kim Hyunwoo unwittingly made a dizzy expression.

Naturally, Kim Hyunwoo, who had to exert all his effort just to earn 7,500 Stones, scrolled down immediately.

Swoosh-!

As Kim Hyunwoo lightly gestured, the scroll went down smoothly like a touchscreen, making him grimace.

'How many are there, exactly?'

The number of cash items had significantly increased compared to ten years ago.

Moreover, as he scrolled down, Kim Hyunwoo noticed that the prices of the equipment became increasingly outrageous, so he scrolled down patiently.

Soon, after several gestures, he had scrolled almost to the very bottom.

"Found it."

Kim Hyunwoo was able to find the cheapest item sold by the Mysterious Merchant.

Proposal Ring: 10,000 won (Stone)

"......"

Looking at the cheapest item sold by the Mysterious Merchant, which is said to be bought only by those who use magic in Arteil, Kim Hyunwoo made a thoughtful expression.

'Is this the right choice?'

Naturally, to meet the Mysterious Merchant, one must purchase an item, and among them, the Proposal Ring was the cheapest.

While scrolling down, Kim Hyunwoo hadn't seen any items priced below 10,000 Stones.

'Could there be any?'

He scrolled up to the top just in case he missed something, but then he scrolled down again soon after.

...Through that action, he realized not that there was an item cheaper than the Proposal Ring, but rather that the development team of Arteil was insanely obsessed with money.

'That the next cheapest accessory apart from the Proposal Ring costs 23,000 Stones... unbelievable.'

There were a tremendous number of items, showing many updates had been made after Kim Hyunwoo left, but since none were cheaper than the Proposal Ring, he looked at the ring with an incredulous expression.

'Even so... it's pretty useless.'

The item, known among players as a magic ring, was of no particular use to Kim Hyunwoo.

Actually, considering the setting where the Mysterious Merchant would announce throughout the area with fanfare that the Lord had bought a Proposal Ring, it was rather a negative.

'Well, there's nothing I can do about it.'

Honestly, since it was tough to collect enough Red Stones to maintain the Labyrinth city before diving deeper into its tiers, Kim Hyunwoo decided to buy the Proposal Ring.

'Well, I've made quite a bit of money with the Magnifying Glasses so far. I suppose it's inevitable to spend this much.'

With that thought, Kim Hyunwoo sighed and looked at his resource window.

Red Stones: 770

Blue Stones: 6,023

Gold Coins: 89,422

Magic Stones: 492,141

'...Gold Coins are getting dangerously low.'

Of course, the fact that Lartania's finances had dropped to 80,000 Gold Coins was largely Kim Hyunwoo's fault.

Even though he was steadily making a profit of about 10,000 Gold Coins a day thanks to the Magnifying Glasses, that significant amount of Gold Coins wasn't accumulating in the territory but was instead being reinvested back into it.

Of that, 60% was being used for the development of the territory.

The other 40% was used to purchase Magic Stones, so Lartania's financial situation couldn't be good.

Of course, when taxes, which are collected once a month, came in, the amount had grown considerably, nearing 5,000 Gold Coins, but the finances were still precarious.

'Maybe I should have gradually built up the workshop more methodically.'

Kim Hyunwoo found himself involuntarily smacking his lips.

The reason for Lartania's precarious finances was because Kim Hyunwoo hadn't followed a proper standard build.

Originally, in Arteil, when developing a territory, it's crucial to prioritize leveling up the various workshops regardless of the territory's layout.

This is because, naturally, as the level of every building increases, a tremendous amount of materials is required, and relying solely on purchasing these materials from outside becomes too costly.

However, Kim Hyunwoo ended up in this situation because he was investing all his available funds to accelerate the development of his territory.

'...Perhaps it's time to focus on strengthening the internal affairs of the territory rather than just its development.'

While contemplating the Gold Coins, which was precariously maintained despite the rapid decrease and subsequent increase due to the Magnifying Glasses, Kim Hyunwoo also looked at the Magic Stones.

'490,000...'

At the current rate, it would reach 500,000 by today, enabling a total of ten Labyrinth Breaks.

'Opening a total of twelve Labyrinth Breaks would yield... 15,000 Red Stones, right?'

To open the Labyrinth Breaks immediately, at least 100,000 more Magic Stones would be needed, but Kim Hyunwoo wasn't too worried about that aspect.

There was still plenty of time before he needed to use the Red Stones to maintain the next Labyrinth City, and the number of mercenaries was increasing even now.

'Actually, I should buy more skeleton scrolls when Adria comes next time.'

Kim Hyunwoo remembered that he had asked her to find skeleton scrolls before she left, and after a while,

'...Once we have 600,000 Red Stones, we'll start preparing right away.'

With that thought concluded, Kim Hyunwoo moved on to the next subject.

More precisely, he thought about the hot spring that had raised his territory's development level to 2000.

Although he had built the hot spring primarily for its development value, Kim Hyunwoo had no intention of letting it go to waste.

After all, the hot spring could be a new source of revenue as a tourist attraction for him.

'Of course, it's currently lacking a lot to be called a tourist attraction.'

Since the primary goal was to increase the development level by building the hot spring, the building had many flaws, but he thought it was fine as it was.

He knew well that it would take some time to turn the newly built hot spring into a 'landmark'.

Therefore,

'Now, while the hot spring is being remodeled, shall we try to make it into a landmark?'

With a confident smile, Kim Hyunwoo began to seriously prepare for something.

At that moment, as Kim Hyunwoo earnestly began to work on the hot spring,

"...Are the troops all ready?"

Duke Landaron nodded in response to Kelva's question, who had returned much later than the originally promised date.

"...All preparations are already complete."

In fact, Duke Landaron had a strong desire to reprimand Kelva.

He had mobilized the troops based on Kelva's words, but Kelva's failure to return had led to suspicions from the King of Norba.

Thus, he was very displeased that the difficulty had been unnecessarily raised.

However, the reason Duke Landaron hadn't voiced his complaints,

'...Was there some very bad news?'

was because Kelva's face, which usually carried a relaxed expression, was now so grim that even Duke Landaron was taken aback.

"Is it starting now?"

So, Duke Landaron asked without further comment.

"Yes, it's starting now."

Shortly after hearing Kelva's words, he saw something enormous, pulsating with dark magic, absorbing into Kelva's hand.

The next moment,

Crack-!

Along with the dark, pulsating mass, a black mist spread out.

Indistinct noises...

From within the black mist, beings with purple glowing eyes started to emerge.

And with them, as they walked out, emitting a chilling energy that made one's entire body shudder,

"Now, it's time to announce our arrival to the world."

In the middle realm, or intermediary realm, demons were being born.