Chapter 44: Awestruck (1)

“What is that?”

“Oh.”

Marie proudly held out what she was holding. It was a simple silver pendant with a green gem in the middle.

“It’s the ‘Seal of Jade’. This was what I had..”

Marie then took off the pendant she was wearing. It looked similar, but it was made out of wood with amber in the center.

“I didn’t even get to buy it yet, but I was given the seal that’s three ranks higher.”

“Does it represent your rank?”

“YEAH!” Marie shouted and changed the pendant. The change was immediate. The green light shining from the jade was overwhelming. That’s when Dohyuk realized her iris color was same as the pendant she was wearing. From orange, her iris turned green. Along with that, the equipment she was wearing changed as well.

“So…” Dohyuk began, “Are we ready now?”

“Oh, y-yes. Here’s your payment.”

She nodded as she opened up her trade cart.

“Here.”

<<Acquired 1,750,000 coins>>

-Current coins: 1901040

“Oh, and I can now handle items up to AAA+ rank… thanks to you.”

“Is S above that?”

“Y-yes. I would need to climb to a higher rank to trade for S rank though,” Marie said. According to the contract, Marie was bound to give Dohyuk the base price, and she would be giving up most of the profit.

“And I think I can give out one item from A+ to AA+ rank for free.”

“Free?”

Marie nodded, “I-it’s my way of saying thank you and asking you to keep the contract for the future…”

Dohyuk then glanced over items that Marie showed to him. Then he asked, “You don’t need to answer me if you don’t know, but-”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where those gods gain their power?”

Marie was puzzled by the unexpected question, but she answered, “Uh… I heard they get the power from their admirers.”

“…Even without having them as followers?”

“Huh? Erm… I think so?” Marie answered hesitantly.

“I heard that if a god, or any god for that matter, wants to gather power, they need to spread their fame or achievements or legends so that people can admire them… and be awestruck, I should say. I heard that gives them power.”

Marie then seemed to be interested in her own story.

“I mean, most of the recent gods have similar stories. I didn’t hear any spectacular ones. They all just fought someone, killed someone, and so forth.”

Dohyuk understood now. If being awestruck and admiring was the origin of the power, it was understandable as to why he had earned the power when he fought against the god. There were more people around him. And now, even though there was no one around-

<< The 1st Chapter>>

It was the story that was complete when Dohyuk sliced off Aruga’s head. Dohyuk now knew how this record was used. This was a story of a legend, written to tell people of one’s tale and gather admiration. The people that witnessed the fight were expelled, but they were still alive.

‘And they will spread the story.’

Dohyuk’s story, or the one that no one even dreamed about.

-Faith: 4021

He now understood why his rating was still going up. Dohyuk then picked out an item.

“I’ll have this.”

“This?” Marie asked.

<<Amulet of Evil Toad – A>>

It was on the affordable side from the list of items that Marie could give out, and the rating wasn’t that spectacular. And there was only one option.

Crazy lunch box(Lv.11)

“This… it’s not really a great option.”

The effect was to make the user’s mouth and stomach bigger, comparable to the size of the dimensional space, to be able to consume a large amount of food and preserve it. However, one could only ‘swallow’ with it.

“I just use it as a backpack or something like that.”

There were better items to store things for that purpose.

“I did hear someone used this to imprison an enemy but… isn’t it useless in your case?”

“Yeah.” Dohyuk agreed. But still, he asked, “Are there any other items with the same option? I will purchase them.”

“WHAT?”

Marie was shocked, but Dohyuk did not change his mind. So with the ‘discounted’ price, Dohyuk spent almost 600 thousand coins to purchase similar items, all with the option, ‘Crazy lunch box’.

“T-..thank you.”

These were items that would normally never be sold. Marie wasn’t sure if she should be happy or not.

“Oh, and-”

Dohyuk took the glass bottle out from his pocket.

“Can you purchase this too?”

She activated her now green examination eye. She knew right away that it was a Godly Item.

“O-of course!”

“You don’t need to pay me much for this.”

“NO! Of course not. I’m now a Jade-rank merchant!”

Marie then received the glass bottle. Dohyuk immediately saw Marie open her eyes wide in shock. He could easily guess that some words were now popping up in front of her.

“He-”

“Huh?”

“HEEEEEEEEYAK!!!”

She let go of the bottle, throwing it away frantically. Dohyuk quickly snatched it back.

“Wha-”

Before Dohyuk could speak, Marie had retreated to the corner of the room, under the desk, trembling in terror.

“H-H-H-HOW… HO-HOW…”

“Hey. Are you okay?”

Marie turned to Dohyuk. She was crying with snot running down her nose. She was terrified beyond reason.

“What did you see?”

“W-W-W-W-W-WO-WORD… L-l-lot of them… It-it’s…”

What word could make a person be so terrified?

“I’I’m s-s-sorry b-but I don’t think I-I can… purchase t-this…”

“If it harms you…”

“N-no. It c-can’t do t-that… at-at least th-that’s the r-rule, b-but…”

Marie couldn’t speak anymore other than apologizing to Dohyuk, so he put the bottle back in his pocket. After all, it was he who felt like he needed to apologize to Marie.

…

“…uk!”

Dohyuk woke up from his sleep.

“Dohyuk!”

Heeyun was looking at him. Dohyuk was sleeping by Heeyun’s side with his back on the wall after he had finished trading with Marie.

“It’s bad!”

“What are you-”

Before Dohyuk finished, he saw the messages popping up.

<<Detected individual breaking the 1st rule>>

<<Punishment – Expulsion>>

<<Detected individual breaking the 1st rule>>

<<Punishment – Expulsion>>

<<Detected individual breaking the 1st rule>>

<<Punishment – Expulsion>>

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