Chapter 85

Ming Hu was walking out of the imperial palace to the public exchange. For some reason, Ming Hu’s expression was not good as he walked.
“Ha.”
With a short sigh, Ming Hu opened the quest window.
<Emperor's Golden Hammer
Tilto demands that you bring him the Emperor's golden hammer as proof that you smashed the noses of the court smiths flat. Take the Emperor's Golden Hammer to Tilto and prove that you smashed the noses of the court smiths flat!
Difficulty Level: S
Quest Reward: ???
"What is the symbol of the court smiths…"
The Emperor's Golden Hammer, which is required to complete the quest, was apparently the symbol of the court blacksmiths, according to Tilto.
But when you ask Nerfai, the head of the forge, he knows nothing about the Emperor's Golden Hammer. The emblem of the court smiths didn't exist in the first place, meaning that the Emperor's Golden Hammer was not the emblem of the court smiths and didn't exist in the forge.
"Does it look like a report?"
However, it is an item with the word Emperor on it. It must have been in the imperial palace.
"…"
Ming Hu looked at the quest for a moment, then closed the quest window. He then opened the Character window.
Nationality : Helioca [Empire]
Age: 22 Occupation: Blood Knight/Strong Smith
Reputation: 105000 Merit: 80410
Level: 230
Life: 1548950
Mana: 6420
Blood power: 759
Strength : 75930 [7593(+1090)] Dexterity : 165 Constitution : 607(+500) Intelligence : 10 Wisdom : 311
Dexterity: 210
Bonus stats: 710
He had a little over 80,000 Merit Points. While 80,000 merit points may not seem like a lot, considering the time it took to earn them, it wasn't a lot either. A wide grin spread across Myung-Hoo's face, which had been unhappy because of the convoluted quest.
"I wonder what I can buy…"
I couldn't wait to get started.
"Oh, that's pretty big."
Ming Hu soon found the public exchange and was a bit surprised at the size of the exchange: it had five floors, and each floor wasn't small in size.
"Looking to buy proxy, lots of gold."
"I want a buffed tank with 50k life and 1500+ water to go hunting!"
"That's more than I thought.
There were more players outside the Exchange than I expected. Some were buying Merit, some were selling Merit, and some were looking for party members to go hunting with buffed Merit.
Jumbled
Ming Hu pushed past them and entered the exchange. Inside the exchange, there were also many users, but unlike outside, it was quite quiet. Ming Hu looked at the items lined up inside the exchange and thought to himself.
"That's a lot.
There were countless items on display. Ming Hu began to wander around and check out the items.

Limit: 150 Strength, 50 Dexterity, 50 Wisdom
Physical Attack : 95-100
Dignity +20
It’s shiny and looks great. You can use it for decoration.
Merit required: 500
<Normal
Limit: Force 100
Physical Attack Damage: 40-50
It's old, but it works.
Merit required: 100
'Is it just Normals or Magic on the first floor?'
When I looked at the tiers of the items, they were all either Normal or Magic. I didn't see any rares. But that wasn't all.
"I don't think that's a good thing.
The options weren't all that great. That was the moment.
"Scroll?
Ming Hu's vision is drawn to a display case with a large number of scrolls. Ming Hu walks over to the scrolls and reads the information on the first green scroll.

A scroll imprinted with a buff that increases the user’s agility for a period of time. However, the effect isn’t that great.
Effect: +20% Dexterity for 30 minutes
Merit required: 50
“…huh?
After checking the information on the scroll, Myung-Hoo couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
“Buff scroll? No way… that’s it?
Ming Hu put down the agility scroll he was holding and picked up the blue one next to it to check the information.

Scrolls imprinted with buffs that increase the user’s Wisdom over a period of time. However, it’s not very effective.
Effect: +20% Wisdom for 30 minutes
Merit required: 50
Sigh
Without another word, Ming Hu put the scroll down. He checked the other scrolls, one after the other, until he found the one he was looking for and smiled.
<Scroll of Power
Scrolls imprinted with buffs that increase the user's strength for a period of time. However, the effect is not that great.
Effect: +20 Strength for 30 minutes
Merit required: 50
"Yikes."
He looked at the Scroll of Agility, and sure enough, there was a Scroll of Strength. Ming Hu muttered to himself as he looked at the scrolls of power on display.
"Is there a magic level on the second floor?"
The scrolls here were all normal-grade scrolls. On the second floor, there was the possibility of Magic-ranked scrolls, which are one level higher than Normal.
"Let's go!"
Ming Hu walked toward the stairs to the second floor on the other side. When he reached the stairs, he stepped onto them. That's when it happened. A transparent curtain appeared, blocking his path, and a message appeared.
[You will need a '2F pass' to get to the second floor].
["2F access passes" are sold at the counter].
"…um"
Ming Hu looked at the transparent curtain and the message, but eventually turned and walked to the counter in the center of the first floor.
"I'm trying to get to the second floor, but they said I need a pass."
At Ming Hu's words, the NPC at the counter smiled broadly.
"Do you want to purchase a one-time pass or a permanent pass?"
"How much is each?"
"A single-use pass requires 5,000 merit points, and a permanent pass requires 50,000 merit points."
"…"
Ming Hu was speechless for a moment when he realized that he needed merit, not gold, to purchase the pass, and the amount of merit required to purchase it. It cost 5,000 merit points to get in once, and 50,000 merit points to get in permanently.
"What's this?
But the high cost of the merit points didn't stop me from making a purchase. There was nothing worth buying on the first floor anyway.
"…Let's buy it for once.
While it would be beneficial to purchase a permanent pass now, there was no point in spending 50,000 merit points when I didn't know what items were on the second floor.
"One-time use, please."
"Here it is."
Ming Hu hands the NPC the pass.
[Buy a single-use 2F pass and lose 5,000 Merit].
When Ming Hu saw the message about the decrease in merit, he grabbed his pass and walked to the stairs. As he stepped onto the stairs, the pass disappeared in a flash of light, revealing the message.
[The single-use 2F pass has been consumed].
"I can't believe I'm going to lose my credit for nothing."
Muttering to himself, Ming Hu arrived at the second floor and looked around. Smaller than the first floor, but still spacious, the second floor was once again filled with an enormous number of items.
"That's lame."
However, unlike the first floor, I didn't see a single user on the second floor.
"Let's start by scrolling!"
Ming Hu began to look around for the scrolls, and soon found a shelf with them on display, so he walked over to the shelf and checked them out.

A scroll imprinted with a buff that increases the user’s strength for a period of time. It has a moderately useful effect.
Effect: +100% Strength for 1 hour
Merit required: 500
“You’re not up to par.”
Magic-class scrolls had twice the dwell time and five times the lift compared to Normal-class. Of course, it wasn’t just the effects that increased. The amount of merit required to purchase them was also 10 times higher than normal scrolls.
“On the third floor… Are there any rares?”
Ming Hu muttered to himself as he looked at the stairs to the third floor, a short distance away. He walked up to the counter and asked for a pass.
“A single-use pass requires 50,000 merit points, and a permanent pass requires 500,000 merit points.”
“…”
Ming Hu heard the price of the pass and checked his merit.
“75,000…
You reached the second floor and earned 5,000 merits. He had 75,000 merit points left. Ming Hu looked at the stairs to the third floor and thought.
“What the heck is there?
I wondered. What in the world are these items that require so much merit to buy a pass?
“…buy a disposable and see what it’s like?
I looked around the second floor and didn’t see anything worth buying except scrolling.
“One-time use, please.”
Eventually, Ming Hu bought a one-time pass and went up to the third floor. Once on the third floor, Ming Hu turned his head to the right to see what was inside. But as soon as he turned his head to the right, he saw an item that stopped him in his tracks.
“…”
Ming Hu looked at the items on display to his right. It was a very familiar item.
“…No way.”
Ming Hu had a look of disbelief on his face and picked up the item to check the information.
[Not Tradable]
Limitations: None
Permanently +10 Strength when taken
Merit required: 4000