Chapter 13: Building a Study Villa – Construction (1)
“No! Why on earth did they pay 10 million liyan for that?!”
World Monitoring Team Branch 10.
The team leader there was fuming as he watched Kyung-joon’s monitoring screen.
On the other hand, Kim Bu-ha, who was sitting next to him, was looking at Kyung-joon in the hologram with envious eyes.
“He made over 10 million won in an instant. I’m so jealous……”
“No! What’s there to be jealous of…… Honestly, I’m incredibly jealous! I don’t even make that much as the team leader! That’s what’s so frustrating!”
Kyung-joon had earned close to 120 million liyan in an instant.
It was the equivalent of 8,600 US dollars, so everyone was going crazy with envy.
“How can he earn that kind of money just from studying? He’s only level 1!”
“Maybe it’s because he only studied? User Kyung-joon hasn’t done any hunting or quests for over a year and has only been studying. That’s how he got the hidden piece, and in a way, it’s the result of his consistent efforts all this time.”
“Hmm, well, that’s true… But it’s still too much to sell a chair for 10 million liyan.”
Even the team leader, who had seen countless monitoring screens, hadn’t expected Kyung-joon’s chair to sell for such a high price.
In his opinion, Kyung-joon’s chair should have sold for about 2 million liyan for the high-end version and 1 million liyan for the regular version.
However, Kyung-joon sold them all for five times the price he had in mind.
“He’s a total shark, a shark! Did you see him manipulating the NPCs to his liking?”
“Yes. He’s good enough to be recruited to our company’s management team.”
The management team of Seolha Group!
The very place where even half of the Seoul National University business administration graduates are eliminated!
It’s the dream of every humanities student in Korea right now.
Kim Bu-ha held Kyung-joon in high regard, comparing him to such a management team.
That’s why Kim Bu-ha didn’t like the team leader’s expression of him being a shark.
“And in a way, 10 million liyan might be a reasonable price. Doesn’t our company always release new products with new technology at absurd prices?”
“Hmm, well, yeah. What was it, that foldable phone from before?”
“You mean the foldable one?”
“Yeah, that one. When it first came out, it was over 2 million won.”
Kim Bu-ha nodded at the team leader’s words and manipulated the computer to bring up a window.
It was to show the team leader one more thing.
“What’s this?”
“I tracked the logs of the buyers to see how effective user Kyung-joon’s chairs really are.”
“Oh, really? That’s interesting. So how was it?”
“As you can see from this chart, beginners who purchased user Kyung-joon’s chair are growing about 50% faster than those who didn’t.”
“Wait, the guys who buy potions with real money are also at 50%? They’re the same? Is that even possible? Did you check it wrong?”
The team leader doubted the 50% figure.
To recover HP/MP with Kyung-joon’s chair, they would have to stop hunting and sit down for 10 minutes.
On the other hand, players who purchase potions with real money don’t have to stop hunting for 10 minutes.
But to say that the hunting efficiency of the two methods is the same!
It didn’t make sense.
“The figures are accurate.”
“Then why on earth are the two equally effective?”
Of course, there was an unexpected fact at play here.
“I’ve also given it a lot of thought, and I think it’s probably because they’re all beginners, right? Their stamina stats are low in the first place, so it’s impossible to keep hunting without resting.”
“Ah…! That’s right, even if potions recover HP, they don’t relieve fatigue.”
“Yes, so players taking breaks is unavoidable in the first place.”
After listening to Kim Bu-ha, the team leader continued.
“Hmm, looking at it this way, buying a chair for 10 million liyan isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Once you buy it, you can use it forever. Potions disappear once you use them.”
“That’s right. Plus, there are only 19 of them in the entire world, which makes them incredibly rare items. I’m sure the buyers are satisfied.”
“Tsk, is that so?”
The team leader awkwardly scratched his head, inwardly surprised.
Had user Kyung-joon considered all these factors from the beginning and decided to sell them for 10 million liyan?
He couldn’t erase this thought from his mind.
“This is why you need to be smart……”
“Right?”
“Do you think we’ll get smarter if we study?”
“Well, I don’t know about that.”
“Sigh… I should have studied harder when I was younger.”
“You can say that again. But didn’t you say it yourself before, Team Leader? What we’re doing is like studying too.”
“What? Ah, ah. That? Well, that’s true, but……! Hahaha!”
The team leader’s mood brightened slightly at Kim Bu-ha’s attempt to cheer him up.
“Alright! Since things turned out like this, let’s continue to study user Kyung-joon hard!”
Little did the team leader know at this time……
That he would end up rushing Kyung-joon to the hospital because of his studying.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Kyung-joon placed 『Steve Jobs, the God of Planning – Seolha Publishing』 on the bookshelf and continued reading the architectural skill book.
It was a skill book he had already read through several times, but he wanted to organize his thoughts before he went.
What kind of house he was going to build.
What he needed to prepare to do so.
And how he was going to build it.
“Okay. I’ve got a rough idea of how to do it.”
Thud.
Kyung-joon closed the architectural skill book and put it in his inventory.
[Mythical skill 『Dimensional Study Room』 has been turned OFF.]
▶ Accumulated Time: 63 hours 32 minutes
He originally only had 13 hours, but after studying the architectural skill book, his Dimensional Study Room time had increased by over 50 hours.
This was because the time gained through enlightenment was greater than the time spent studying architecture.
He had enough accumulated time, and with final exams a month away, it was the perfect timing to change his study location.
Of course, he hadn’t decided where to move yet.
“Teemo, is there a quiet and scenic place nearby with few people? A good place to study.”
<Then the eastern woodlands wouldn’t be suitable. Do you have any preferred features?>
“Preferred features?”
<Like the sound of rain last time, something that helps you focus.>
“Aha. Something similar to the sound of rain.”
Kyung-joon pondered for a moment with his arms crossed.
He couldn’t choose a place like London where it rained all the time just because the sound of rain was good for studying.
If it rained too often, the air would be too humid and the books would get wet.
“A place that’s similar to the sound of rain but doesn’t rain often… Ah!”
Kyung-joon seemed to have thought of something.
“The sound of a stream. It would be really nice to have a small valley or river nearby where you can hear the sound of water flowing.”
<I understand. I will search for suitable locations within a 50km radius of the Beginner’s Village.>
<Exploring…….>
Soon, a sign saying ‘Exploring’ appeared on Teemo’s crystal ball.
After about 5 minutes, the results came out.
<There are several locations in the southeastern part of the Beginner’s Village that perfectly match your description, Master. It’s a place where one of the tributaries of the river flowing from the forest passes through, and a vast meadow spreads out around it.>
“It’s not too far, is it? The system won’t let me go back to the Beginner’s Village if it’s too far.”
Kyung-joon needed to visit the library periodically to borrow books in order to obtain study materials.
If he went too far away, the system would activate and prevent him from returning to the Beginner’s Village.
Other villages had more difficult conditions for using the library, such as requiring a reputation of 1,000 or higher, or having a noble status.
For Kyung-joon, there was no better place than the Beginner’s Village library, which he could use indefinitely as long as he purchased an access pass.
<You don’t have to worry about that. It’s about 20km southeast of the Beginner’s Village, but it’s still within the system’s radius.>
“Good. Then, within that radius, mark a few places where there are the fewest monsters and that are close enough to a stream.”
<∑d (≧▽≦*)OK!!>
Teemo gave an OK sign and immediately started searching.
While Teemo was looking for a suitable location, Kyung-joon gathered books from the library shelves.
Korean, Math, Chemistry 1, Physics 1, English, Korean History, and so on.
Kyung-joon intended to borrow as many books as possible from the library.
It was when he went to the librarian’s desk with about ten books in his arms.
“Blah blah blah~ Blah blah blah~”
Burari, the new librarian, was still following the bizarre study method he had learned from his younger sister.
Of course, the source of that was Kyung-joon.
Surprisingly, this method seemed to be working quite well, as Burari had come to Kyung-joon once before to express his gratitude.
‘Studying while explaining it to someone is really effective for understanding. However, the biggest drawback is that it’s quite noisy and bothersome to those around you.’
Despite this, Kyung-joon didn’t say anything to Burari.
This was because Kyung-joon himself had been quite noisy while talking to Teemo in the library.
It was truly a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
<Master, I’ve finished.>
<There’s one 17km southeast of your current location, two 14km away, and about 17 more locations have been found.>
“Good. Let’s take a look at each one and build the study villa in the best spot.”
<Understood. Will you be leaving now?>
“Yes. But wait a minute.”
Kyung-joon wanted to do one last thing before leaving the library.
He opened his status window and went back to the section labeled ‘Customer Service’.
『Inquiry Subject: The new librarian of the Beginner’s Village, Burari, also requires attention.』
『……(Omitted)…… I’m leaving the library now, so it’s fine, but I’m submitting this inquiry for the sake of those who will use it after me.
Thank you for your hard work, as always.
Sincerely,
Kyung-joon.』
Kyung-joon finished his Customer Service inquiry, borrowed the books, and left the library.
Toward a place where he could study well and concentrate.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
The process of building the house went smoothly.
First, he went to Carpenter’s workshop and purchased the materials needed for construction.
Since he had built a high level of intimacy with Carpenter, he was able to get a discount and purchase the materials for 20 million liyan instead of the original 25 million liyan.
He almost had to go back and forth several times to move the materials because of his inventory limit, but Carpenter and his friends helped him finish it all at once.
“Phew. That’s all the materials moved.”
He had found a spot in the location Teemo had told him about, moved all the materials, and now it was time to build the study villa he had been longing for.
He had already learned the architectural skill.
And it was level 4.
Thanks to the countless times he had read the architectural skill book and his existing carpentry skills, it was level 4 from the start, not level 1.
[General Construction]
▶ You can construct buildings using building materials. The materials you can handle and the buildings you can construct vary depending on the skill level and rank.
▶ Skill Level: Lv.4
▶ Skill Type: Active
▶ Skill Rank: Common
[Starting construction.]
Kyung-joon proceeded with the construction alone.
It would have been nice to have Carpenter and his friends help, but he could gain more Dimensional Study Room time if he did it alone.
[You have gained some insight into construction.]
[5 hours have been added to Dimensional Study Room.]
Working alone was tough, but he gained a lot from it.
[Strength increased by 1 through continuous construction.]
[Stamina increased by 1 through continuous construction.]
[Dexterity increased by 1 through continuous construction.]
.
.
.
▶ Strength: 33→57
▶ Stamina: 34→53
▶ Dexterity: 42→57
His strength, stamina, and dexterity stats increased endlessly as he continued construction!
Normally, these stats wouldn’t increase this much just from construction.
However, Kyung-joon was an exception.
The mythical skill 『Infinite Reading』, which increased stats through studying.
Reading books wasn’t the only form of studying; experiencing firsthand the architecture he had learned from books was also considered studying.
[You have successfully completed your first construction.]
[Kyung-joon’s Study Villa]
▶ This is the first work of a novice architect. Although it still shows signs of clumsy craftsmanship, there are no architectural flaws to be found. It is imbued with the energy of the water spirits, providing a sense of peace and tranquility.
▶ Restores HP/MP by 5% per minute while resting.
▶ Building Grade: Common
[General Skill 『General Construction』 has leveled up to 5.]
[General Skill 『Basic Carpentry』 has leveled up to 6.]
[General Skill 『Basic Woodworking』 has leveled up to 5.]
[General Skill 『Basic Patching』 has leveled up to 5.]
[10 hours have been added to Dimensional Study Room.]
“It’s complete~!”
<You’ve worked hard, Master.>
<^O^>
“Yeah, you’ve worked hard teaching me this and that. Oh my~”
Kyung-joon collapsed onto the ground, exhausted from the hard work.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the clear blue sky and the vast meadow below.
And in between them was a cozy log cabin.
“This is my study villa.”
Kyung-joon looked up at his completed study villa with a proud heart.
Then, a status window he had never seen before appeared before his eyes.
[You have accumulated a certain level of knowledge through studying.]
[You have acquired 1 Mythical Skill Point.]
[You can choose one of the following Mythical Skills to level up: 『Infinite Reading』, 『Just A Rather Very Intelligent System』, 『Dimensional Study Room』.]
[You can preview the Lv.2 unlocked abilities.]
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