𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒𝟒
[Emperor Guild Enters C+ Rank. What benefits await?]
[Real-Time Auction House Top Item. Winning bid price is a whopping 300 million won!]
[S-Rank Crafting Skill Appears in the Real-Time Auction House!]
[Bulgeun Taeyang Guild. Is this the end?]
[Increasing Number of Players. Is Twilight reaching saturation?]
[A Guild’s influence is determined by the number of dungeons it holds.]
Articles listed on the main page of the Twilight homepage. These articles, written by players, were being uploaded with different titles every day. Conversely, the fact that the articles changed daily could be seen as a testament to the peak popularity of Twilight.
Click━
[Real-Time Auction House Top Item. Winning bid price is a whopping 300 million won!]
[Content: The item that took first place in the Real-Time Auction House today was a Rare Armor Set. The winning bid price was a whopping 300 million won. Perhaps it’s the most expensive item in Twilight. And according to my own inquiries, the person who purchased the armor is a certain player in the Karzen Kingdom. Also, to the question of who could possibly obtain such armor, many people are pointing to Rudin, who received the Hero title……]
‘Even speculation can’t be ignored.’
Many people seemed to think I was the one who obtained the top item in the Real-Time Auction House. In fact, that was the correct answer, but since it would only remain speculation unless I said so myself, I decided to ignore it lightly.
‘The rest…… I’m not really interested.’
After skimming through the titles of a few articles, I decided there wasn’t anything particularly interesting and moved on to the bulletin board. Because I had earned an unbelievable amount of money from defeating Beksha, I was greedy for other raids.
“Here, raids that I don’t know about……”
Surprisingly, there were many. No, maybe not that many, considering it was around 15, including all the raids in other countries. Anyway, among them, I found a total of four raids that hadn’t been conquered yet.
[Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm]
[Heights, Cultivating Death]
[Deronak, Breathing Flames]
[Houron, Master of the Rotran Mountain Range]
“Oh, there are even pictures.”
When I searched and clicked on each one, I saw that someone had even uploaded pictures. Moreover, Arnela, Ruler of the Snowstorm, had an appearance that wouldn’t be outshined even compared to…… no, even compared to Yua.
Long, snow-white hair that reached her waist and flawless skin. And her blue eyes, staring coldly without any emotion, even gave off a mystical feeling.
Perhaps if Yua had a cold atmosphere, it would be similar to this?
‘What kind of guy is Heights?’
After taking in Arnela’s appearance one last time, I searched for a picture of Heights, Cultivating Death, and soon found a picture of him in a wizard’s robe, pulled deep over his head.
“He feels similar to Sina for some reason.”
Perhaps the picture was taken during battle, as Heights was holding a potion in his hand. Could he be recovering with potions? I don’t know what kind of raid boss fights with items, but he was also one of the unconquered bosses.
“The rest are……”
I was drawn to Arnela and Heights because they were humanoid, but that was it. Looking at the remaining two, one was a large red lizard and the other was a giant bird with feathers that shone like steel.
After looking through all the raid bosses like that, I couldn’t help but feel conflicted.
“Considering the auction house, I need to catch these guys within a week.”
Catching them aside, if they were stronger than Beksha, I thought it would be good to prepare myself accordingly.
‘Right, it’s time to think about Ust.’
The power enhancement I had in mind was simple. It was enough to just let go of Ust, who was relatively weak among the raid bosses, and choose one of the four raid bosses I had just seen to replace him.
Originally, I could have replaced him without hesitation, but the system that made one sealed raid boss absorb the power of the other bothered me.
‘What if I keep letting Ust absorb them?’
Ust’s biggest advantage.
It was that he had a means to protect me while I was sealed. So, if I used that advantage well, I could have Ust absorb several raid bosses. Also, if Ust, raised in that way, became stronger than other raid bosses, it would be worth trying.
“Phew, it’s a dilemma.”
There were two options: give up on Ust or keep him until the end. But I decided to postpone this worry for now and choose the next raid boss to conquer.
‘First, Deronak is too big. Houron is a flying monster, so it seems difficult to even face him.’
Of course, if I was planning to raise Ust, I could catch Deronak. But since I hadn’t decided yet, excluding Deronak left only Arnela and Heights.
Otherwise known as the Ruler of the Snowstorm and the Cultivator of Death.
I started to look into their locations, wondering which one to choose.
Click- Click━
“Hmm, I have to go to the Anis Kingdom for Arnela.”
To meet Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm, I had to go to the Anis Kingdom, famous for its cold weather. Come to think of it, wasn’t there a stamina decrease due to weather effects in the patch? I searched for it and soon found a way to reduce that stamina decrease.
[What kind of crazy patch is this! Why did they apply weather effects?!]
[Content: The developers have finally applied a crazy patch. Stamina decrease due to weather effects. It goes without saying that this makes hunting in the snowy fields of the Anis Kingdom even more difficult. However, there’s a way to reduce this stamina decrease: wear a thick coat. Your agility will decrease, but it’s much better than nothing, right? Alternatively, you can make and drink Cold Resistance Potions, but that will increase your expenses every time you go hunting, so I don’t recommend it. Ah, this is so annoying.]
“……Should I just decide on Heights?”
The thought of going to the Anis Kingdom brought up the problem of the cold. Even if I wore a coat, it seemed like it would only reduce the stamina decrease, not eliminate it. However, I searched a bit more and found a post saying that stamina could be recovered by resting by a bonfire.
‘So, I have to buy a coat…… and firewood too?’
On the other hand, Heights was in the Karzen Kingdom, but it was also difficult to go there.
‘Huh? The Yonggammusang Guild is occupying the hunting grounds in that area?’
What was this about? Were they monopolizing even the fields? I read on and it seemed to be true. They had taken all the dungeons from the Bulgeun Taeyang Guild and were even monopolizing the fields where the raid bosses were located.
“Even the Emperor Guild didn’t do this.”
On the other hand, there was no guild monopolizing Arnela, so if I wanted to go, I would have to go there. I didn’t want to risk conflict with the Yonggammusang Guild by going after Heights.
‘If only it was in the Harpe Empire, I would have half-killed them.’
By the way, this guild has been mentioned quite often since yesterday.
Anyway, to catch not only the raid boss I was currently looking at but also the raid bosses that would appear later, the help of the Card Summoning skill was desperately needed. And having decided on Arnela, who was relatively easy to meet, as the target for this raid, I prepared to log into Twilight and thought about ways to prepare for the cold.
‘I think I’ll need Cold Resistance Potions too……’
Coincidentally, there was one person who came to mind along with potions.
* * *
“Ugh! It’s cold! Why did you bring me here?!”
As soon as I logged into Twilight, I immediately contacted Sina and brought her to the Anis Kingdom with me. When I simply said let’s go gathering, Sina happily followed, but now she was howling with regret.
“I need Cold Resistance Potions.”
“You can just buy those with money!”
“They’re less effective than B-Rank Alchemy.”
For reference, Sina’s Alchemy skill was B-Rank. Moreover, with her Rare-grade crafting kit, it was clear to anyone that the potions Sina made would be better even with the same ingredients. Furthermore, it seemed like I would need quite a lot of potions to face Arnela.
“Let’s buy the coats those people are selling first.”
Even in the northern part of the Anis Kingdom, famous for its cold weather, Soronz Village, like other villages, had players selling items. I pointed to such a player and said,
Well, even so, having a bonfire next to them was unique.
Perhaps it was a sight that could only be seen in the Anis Kingdom.
“Come, come! Selling good coats! Magic-grade items!”
“Anyone there without a coat! I’m selling warm food to thaw you out!”
“Even just browsing is welcome!”
Despite wrapping her arms around herself due to the cold, Sina was impressed by the sight.
“Wow~ They’re popular here too.”
“They must have recognized at a glance that we’re from another country.”
Anyway, as we approached a nearby player to buy a coat, the player held out a coat as if waiting for us.
“Welcome! This is a coat made from Snow Bear leather. As you can see, it’s an incredibly good item.”
‘How confident are they?’
Thinking that, I grabbed the coat the player offered and checked it.
[Snow Bear Leather Coat] (Magic)
Description: A coat made from the thick leather of a Snow Bear. It plays a role in blocking the cold to some extent, but it also has the drawback of hindering movement due to the thick leather.
Durability: 45/45
*Cold Resistance increased by 25%.
“……”
“How is it?”
If they asked how it was, I wanted to tell them that I had never seen an item that reduced stats this much while playing Twilight. It wouldn’t affect my movements even if I wore this coat, but I thought it would be difficult for Sina, who didn’t have combat skills, to wear.
“If the Cold Resistance reaches 100%……”
“Of course, your stamina won’t decrease even in this weather. But it’s difficult to achieve that. Even with a coat, potions, and food, it’s not easy to exceed 70%.”
“Is there anything better than this?”
“Snow Bear leather is the best among leathers. You might have to pay several times the price to get a better coat than this.”
‘……Should I believe them or not?’
Feeling somewhat suspicious, I thought about looking around some more, but Sina, who had been listening quietly by the bonfire, spoke up.
“He’s not wrong. I’ve heard that even most players wear bear leather coats.”
“Really?”
Since it was Sina, who browsed the internet more often than me, her words were convincing. So, after hearing that, I decided to buy the Snow Bear Leather Coat, but I was a little surprised by the price.
“Just 1 gold.”
“For this thing?”
“What do you mean ‘this thing’?!”
Ignoring the indignant player, I paid 2 gold and bought two Snow Bear Leather Coats. Was I left with 25 gold now? Moving to another country with Sina and buying coats had cost more than I expected. But thinking that all this was to conquer Arnela, I didn’t feel bad about it.
“Here. Wear this.”
“Can’t we just go back?”
“No, we can’t.”
At my firm answer, Sina lowered her head and put on the coat I handed her. And just in case, I bought the maximum amount of firewood that could be put in the Item Storage and then went out of the village with Sina to look for herbs.
“Ugh…… But why didn’t you bring Yua?”
When Sina, still shivering despite wearing the coat, asked curiously, I answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
“How could I bring Yua to such a cold place?”
“……Then what about me?”
“I’m always grateful to you.”
“……”
Sina let out a sigh, as if giving up on everything, and walked toward a place where medicinal herbs were likely to be found.
‘But it is cold.’
Despite wearing a magic-grade coat, the cold seemed to penetrate my skin. Is there any good way? If I had learned cloth crafting, I could have made a coat, but that was just a futile thought now.
‘I’m sure the coat grade will be determined by the leather grade……’
Thinking about that, I had a good item. It was Beksha’s leather. Since it was a rare-grade material, if I made a coat with that leather, it seemed like it would be much better than the one I was wearing now.
‘The problem is that Sina hasn’t learned cloth crafting either.’
Should I ask Aizen? If there is anyone in the guild? Of course, there must be, but since we’ve already come to the Anis Kingdom, it was hard to go back.
“Uh, I’ve gathered them all. Now you just have to make one potion, right?”
“Please make at least 10.”
“10?”
Since we were going to face a raid boss that we hadn’t been able to conquer so far, it was better to have as many potions as possible. Also, the duration of the potion would only be 2-3 minutes at most, so wouldn’t we need at least 10? Therefore, I nodded, and Sina looked at me with puzzled eyes.
“Why do you need potions?”
“……I’m going to challenge the raid boss.”
Since it was Sina who was helping me, I decided to answer honestly, as it was hard to lie to her.
“If it’s the raid boss of the Anis Kingdom…… You’re not talking about Arnela, are you? It’s a raid boss that hasn’t been conquered yet, right?”
Sina, who knew that I had caught Beksha because of what happened at the auction house yesterday, immediately thought of Arnela. In fact, there are raid bosses that appear in the field every hour, but it wasn’t easy to challenge them because there were people waiting in advance.
In that sense, the raid boss that currently remains is Arnela. Sina seemed to know that fact well.
“Well, I have to catch a boss like that.”
“Catching it is one thing, but how are you going to get into the Ice Palace where Arnela is?”
“I have to proceed with the quest.”
There was no other way than that. And to my answer, Sina sighed and soon nodded, starting to look for more medicinal herbs to gather, and I, who didn’t have any skills related to medicinal herbs, followed Sina and looked around.
‘I don’t think there are any near the village.’
I conveyed that thought to Sina.
“Sina-nim. We should go further, right?”
“Probably. I can make it with the herbs here, but…… I’ll probably only be able to make low-quality potions, right?”
“Then we need to go far.”
However, Sina’s stamina bothered me. If her stamina continued to decrease due to the cold, she would eventually become exhausted and all skills would become unusable. Furthermore, in order to recover from the state of exhaustion, she had to refill her stamina to more than half, but it was highly likely that it would not recover due to the cold.
So I brought firewood as a means of recovering stamina…… Seeing the progress, I thought it might be insufficient.
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