Skeleton Master Chapter 023
That evening.
Despite crafting for over 10 hours, unfortunately, no sword comparable to the Twilight Longsword was created.
However, a sword with an attack power exceeding 28 and one option was made, so it seemed to have been worth the effort.
The remaining dozens of swords had low attack power and no options, so they were sold cheaply to the blacksmith.
He decided to give this to his summons.
Since the skeletons could only wield swords and shields, they needed to use swords and shields with the best possible options.
So he handed over the two crafted swords to Sword Bones 5 and 6, whose stats were a bit weak.
He would have to get the rest slowly.
As it was getting late, he logged out.
After showering, Moo-hyeok took a can of beer from the fridge and lay down on the bed. He turned on the TV in front of him.
Various broadcast programs.
Of course, most of them were related to Illusion.
He changed the channel.
[We mentioned this last week. Do you remember? Today, finally...]
It was the World of Illusion.
He put down the remote and focused on the screen. It was a story related to the number one ranking.
[Then shall we take a look at the video first?]
The screen changed.
A man wearing leather armor appeared.
He was wearing a hat and had his mouth and nose covered with a hood, so his face wasn't visible.
As his figure recedes, the monsters surrounding him are zoomed in. At a glance, there seemed to be at least ten of them.
Despite being surrounded by them, the man looked calm.
Swoosh.
As he slowly raised his sword, a pure white light descended and enveloped him.
With a subtle energy flowing throughout his body, he kicked off the ground and rushed towards the monster in front of him.
Slash.
With a single sword strike, the monster's arm fell off.
Huh, doing that to a Rakum...
Rakum, the rat-shaped monster.
It's a powerful creature with a level of 55. He dealt with such a beast far too easily.
Of course, it wasn't easy after that. He managed to kill one with a surprise attack, but the remaining nine were quite fierce.
The armored man staggered after being attacked by one of them.
At that moment, he struck the ground with his shield.
Kwagwagwang!
The ground shook and an electric current flowed.
Kieeek!
While the Rakum was howling, the armored man raised his sword to the sky again.
This time too, light descended, and as it touched him, the man's wounds healed rapidly.
As expected of a paladin...
He must have used healing magic on himself.
His close combat is good too.
Moo-hyeok's eyes shone.
He's definitely strong.
But there was one question.
During the time when Moo-hyeok was bedridden with full-body paralysis, there was no paladin named Dark.
That's how the paladin class is.
It's truly ambiguous.
In one way, they're versatile, but in another, they're neither here nor there. You really need to put in a lot of effort to make a proper character out of it.
But now he's number one?
And versatile too?
It's strange.
As time passed, he might have ended up being neither here nor there and dropped in rank, or he might have gained a new job, or he might have even quit.
He might even maintain the top rank.
It's impossible to be certain about any of it.
Because Moo-hyeok's actions would certainly influence the world of Illusion.
Even right now, that's the case. As he starts selling Hallucination Poison and Slow Poison, they'll become known to users much faster than before.
It might be a very small change, but in the future, it could lead to unforeseen events.
By then, the battle had ended.
Swish.
An arrogant man looking down at the dead monsters, his sword lowered.
Rank 1, Dark.
His face is zoomed in.
The video ended.
Moo-hyeok turned off the TV and put away the beer can.
Dark, Dark...
*
The Illusion homepage became more overloaded than usual.
[Anyone see the Rank 1?]
Comments were quickly added.
└Aru: It was amazing.
└Girin: He was doing everything by himself.
└Ali: He used healing, and seemed to have many strong skills too.
└Gabel: Paladins must be the best?
Not just comments.
Posts were uploaded even faster.
[Let's raise a Paladin!]
[Paladins are overpowered. They need to be nerfed.]
[I'm going to raise a Paladin too!]
[Rank 1, so intimidating.]
In less than 30 seconds, the page turned over and more posts related to Dark poured in.
Nevertheless, when a new post appeared, it would get hundreds of views in less than 10 seconds.
The number of comments also exceeded dozens.
This phenomenon intensified as time passed.
It even rose to first place in the portal site rankings.
While everyone was focused on Dark.
He was actually using the auction house.
"Hmm."
Dark waved his hand in the air, wearing equipment completely different from what was shown in the video.
"Slow Poison..."
"It's truly an amazing item."
"How did they figure this out?"
"Who's the seller?"
Dark's eyes narrowed.
Moo-hyeok.
Not just that.
He was also selling Hallucination Poison.
And even swords.
Of course, the swords weren't tempting.
They were only usable for around level 30.
But Dark remembered.
Was it two weeks ago?
He knew about the sword that became a small issue then.
That sword was usable for levels 10 or 20.
However, he had checked it out of interest when a guild member mentioned there were no usage restrictions.
He clearly remembered the name of the person selling that sword.
Moo-hyeok.
The same name as the current seller.
"He grew this much in such a short time?"
"Interesting."
A smile appeared on his lips.
One rarely seen.
The next day.
As soon as Moo-hyeok logged into Illusion, he checked his messages first.
['Cold Iron Sword' sold for '55 gold'.]
['Energetic Iron Sword' sold for '34 gold'.]
['Light Iron Sword' sold for '33 gold'.]
['Slow Poison (x10)' sold for '12 gold'.]
['Hallucination Poison (x10)' sold for '11 gold'.]
['Slow Poison (x55)' sold for '83 gold'.]
['Hallucination Poison (x55)' sold for '65 gold'.]
Moo-hyeok's mouth fell open.
"Wow..."
The total was 293 gold.
2,930,000 won...
He had earned a month's salary in just one day.
Moo-hyeok immediately scanned through the weapons.
He should buy a bow first.
The bow bone's weapon was the weakest.
A good sword would be nice too, but honestly, he judged that the current sword bones were sufficient with the sword they were using.
Many weapons were visible.
Swish.
As he lowered the hologram with his hand, other weapons revealed themselves.
That's when it happened.
Hmm, a black bow?
When he pressed on that bow, information popped up.
[Black Bow]
Attack Power 31
Strength +1
Durability 115/115
Usage Restriction: Strength 15
[Instant Sell Price: 40 gold]
The usage restriction was Strength 15.
It was on the high side, but fortunately, since the bow bone had only invested stats in strength, he could use it right away.
The price was a bit burdensome, but with no suitable bow at the moment, buying just one decent one would allow him to use it for quite a long time.
[Do you want to purchase?]
[Yes/No]
He selected Yes.
[40 gold will be deducted.]
At the same time, the item entered his inventory.
Good.
After investing about another hour, he purchased one more bow.
Its options were good enough to use up to level 40 without being lacking.
Now it was time to make poison.
He checked his remaining gold.
[516 gold 17 silver 23 bronze]
With dungeons not yet discovered, they could only use monster materials to craft items, and since options appeared randomly, it was truly a gamble.
Because there's a high probability of getting low-grade options, one has to attempt crafting repeatedly many times.
To do that, one needs to repeatedly hunt the same monsters, and naturally, the leveling speed slows down.
People who dislike this have to buy items with real money, and honestly, most adults were choosing to spend money rather than grind.
In such a situation, Moo-hyeok had matched all his items solely with his own strength and also saved over 500 gold.
Of course, it was possible because he knew information others didn't, but no one could deny that this information was Moo-hyeok's. That's why he was satisfied.
Originally, he had planned to sell combat videos or information for a fee, but it seemed there was no need for that for a while.
Right now, just selling hallucination and slow poison would be enough.
Swish.
He turned and headed to the general store.
"Give me 1,000 each of Slow Potion and Tears of Confusion."
"That'll be 10 gold."
After paying, he stopped by the herb shop.
"Give me 100 bundles each of Molly, Creas, and Bir."
"It's 2 gold per bundle. Would you like to buy?"
"2 gold?"
"Yes. The price has gone up recently due to shortage of supply."
"Ah..."
His brow furrowed involuntarily.
50 silver items now cost 2 gold.
It seemed the alchemists had already started to make their move.
He had to buy now and maximize his profit before it was too late.
"I'll buy."
"Please wait a moment."
He put the herbs handed by the owner into his inventory and headed to the Alchemist Guild.
After renting a room with a magic cauldron, he began to produce Slow Poison and Hallucination Poison there.
[Molly, Creas, and Slow Potion are mixed.]
[The magic cauldron reacts.]
[Slow Poison is created.]
The production time was short.
But it was labor that had to be repeated.
[Molly, Creas, and Slow Potion are mixed.]
[The magic cauldron reacts.]
[Slow Poison is created.]
It would take a few days.
Let's think of it as an investment for the future.
He could earn considerable money with that time, and that money would help accelerate his growth even further.
Meanwhile.
While Moo-hyeok was making poison, the two types of poison had already become a hot topic among Illusion users.
[Slow Poison is the best item that combines steady damage with slowing down movement. I was lucky enough to buy 10 and use them, and the hunting time was noticeably reduced, making threatening monsters feel too easy. Thanks to this, I was able to hunt monsters a level above without much difficulty, which increased the rate of experience gain. As expected, in Illusion, items are hard to obtain, but when you do get them, their efficiency is tremendous.]
It was frequently mentioned on the site as well.
└Ila: I want to try using it too.
└Kiddo: My job is an alchemist. I'm currently using my skills to try and match the mixing ratio of the ingredients mentioned in the description.
└Tofu: Kiddo, please let me know if you figure it out!
└Kiddo: Tofu, am I a fool? If I find out, I need to make money.
└Tofu: Wow, that's mean.
└Kiddo: Then why don't you become an alchemist too?
The comments were heated as well.
And when another day passed.
[Title: I've figured out the mixing ratio for Slow Poison!]
[After continuous attempts with alchemist skills, I got similar figures and kept experimenting, and finally figured out the exact mixing ratio for Slow Poison. Of course, I don't intend to reveal the ratio. I need to make a living too, after all.]
Just the fact that someone had figured out the mixing ratio caused a great reaction among users.
[If we could just figure out the additives...]
Thanks to this, countless users shared their opinions.
└Drug: Well, it's about slowing, right? From what I can see, it seems herbs are mixed to become poison. So, shouldn't we look for something that might have a slowing effect? Like fairy's cut wings, or sloth flesh, something like that...
└One Point Four: That makes sense.
When another day passed.
Slow Poison began to appear occasionally in the auction house.
