Chapter 182

“That’s a fucking gig.”
“Oh, my God. What the hell happened to change that there are so many?”
“If I’ve waited this long and you’ve reorganized like a piece of shit, I’m going to bomb your headquarters.”
“Oh, don’t poke around there!”
“You want to die? Get the fuck out of here!”
The line was very long indeed. The users in line were chatting with each other, waiting for their turn to get in. Ming Hu frowned at the sight.
“This… I’m not going to be able to get in for a couple days.
I’m not sure, but the speed at which the line was shrinking and the speed at which users were getting in line made it seem like the exchange would be unavailable for at least a few days without waiting.
“I can’t help it… huh?
Heading back to the forge, Ming Hu couldn’t help but frown momentarily at what he saw.
“Oops, it’s a goblin.”
“What is that? That looks like a boss goblin!”
“But why are you… Are you here?”
“Look above his head! That’s a pet sign! Whose pet is that?”
A goblin was walking toward us, tall enough to make us wonder if it wasn’t a goblin at all, but some other kind of monster. Above the goblin’s head was a peculiar symbol, and from what I could hear, it was a pet.
“Uh! Hey, look at that!”
“Huh, minotaur?”
“Awesome. That dog is cool.”
“Are they selling them on the exchange? Uh! Hey, there’s a kobold!”
“Whew, it’s Drake!”
It wasn’t just goblins. There were minotaurs, kobolds, drakes, and more. All of them had pet symbols on their heads.
‘No way. Is this what you meant by pick and choose?
As Myung-hoo looked at the pet symbol, he suddenly remembered Min-hyung’s words.
-Gold to Jungseok: Minhyung.
-Goldenstone: Uh, you’re in!
Ming Hu whispered something to Min Hyung, and as if waiting, Min Hyung answered.
-Gold to JungSeok: Did you use the exchange?
-Goldstone: Uh, it’s still an exchange!
Min-hyung’s comment about being at the exchange made Myung-hoo look happy for him, and he whispered back.
-Gold to JungSeok: Hey, how did the exchange get reorganized? They have pets and stuff, do they have pets?
Ming Hu whispered and waited a moment. Soon, the whisper he had been waiting for came.
-Goldstone: Uh, I got a pet. But it’s really expensive. The cheapest one costs 50,000 merit points, so I think only high-level people will buy it. They’re not exchangeable, so you can’t buy them with money. Unless you have a corpse.
“A corpse? No way.
Ming Hu had a sudden thought and whispered to Min Hyung again.
-Goldsmith: What do you mean, if there’s a corpse? What do you mean, you’re not selling a living monster, you’re selling a corpse? You’re resurrecting it with a life orb or something?
-Gold: Huh? I know! Is it an exchange? Where is it?
At first, Ming Hu thought they were selling live monsters as pets, but that wasn’t the case. According to Minhyung, the exchange was selling corpses, and it looked like they were using Life Orbs to turn them into pets.
“You’re selling the Orb of Life? That expensive thing?
The problem was the life orb. Judging from the pets roaming around, many people have used them, but as far as Ming Hu knows, it takes 15 million Merit to purchase a Life Ball.
‘No way. Is it cheap?
For the average user, accumulating 15 million merits isn’t difficult, it’s impossible. It was clear that the amount of merit needed to purchase Life Orbs had dropped. There was no other way to explain this situation. Ming Hu whispered to Min Hyung.
-GoldenStone: How much merit do I need to buy an orb of life?
-Gold: 5k for normal, 50k for magic, and I don’t know about rares and uniques.
“Oh, I see.
Ming Hu nodded in understanding that the Life Orb had grades. He then opened his inventory and looked at the huge number of corpses he had gotten from the Black Moon Tower. Ming Hu looked at the corpses and whispered to Min Hyung again.
-GoldenChoose: Okay, I’ll have to see for myself. But what about the elixir? What happened to the elixir?
Pets were pets, but most importantly, elixirs.
-Gold Crystal: Elixir? Gone.
-Gold to Jungseok: Gone?
-Gold: Uh, I don’t know if it’s gone up to the fourth floor or not, but it’s not on the third floor. They’re freaking out. Cackle.
-Gold to Chung-Seok: Got it. Take care.
With that, Ming Hu closed his inventory and looked at the long lines and the pets running through the streets. Then he turned and started walking toward the forge. As Ming Hu walked to the forge, he opened the quest window to check the quest.
<Damaged Equipment of the Knights of the Red Eagle
The equipment of the Red Eagle Knights was damaged during a cleansing. Currently, the Red Eagle Knights whose equipment is broken have stopped slaughtering and need equipment to resume slaughtering. Quickly craft equipment for the Red Eagle Knights!
Time remaining: 3 days
[Heavy Iron Longsword: 0 / 50]
[Heavy Iron Lance: 0 / 50]
[Iron Shield: 0/100] [Iron Shield: 0/100]
[Heavy Iron Armor: 0 / 50]
Difficulty Level: B
Quest Reward: Helioca Merit 800,000
"I'll have to do it soon.
I had three days to complete the task. Of course, it didn't take much time to create the items needed for completion, so this wasn't a problem.
"I need to get rid of these quickly.
After confirming the quest, Ming Hu closed the quest window and opened his inventory again. The inventory contained 40 million gold from the Black Moon Tower, as well as diamonds, rubies, Balrog Horns, and many other items.
'Sell the gold, sell the jewelry, sell the material items, keep the corpses… sell the corpse?
Ming Hu decided to get rid of everything except the material items and closed his inventory. A short time later, Ming Hu arrived at the forge, walked to his seat, pressed the red button to install the valve, and immediately began crafting the items needed to complete the quest.
Boom!
[You have successfully crafted a Heavy Iron Longsword].
Boom!
[You have successfully crafted a Heavy Iron Longsword].
I was making items like a machine.
[Karot wants to be summoned].
Stop!
"…?"
The message forced Ming Hu to stop his actions.
"What is this…?
What does this mean, Karot wants to be summoned? Ming Hu stared at the message, dumbfounded by what he was seeing.
Boom!
[You have successfully crafted a Heavy Iron Longsword].
After looking at the message for a moment, Ming Hu finished crafting the item and pressed the blue button to release the valve, then left the forge and walked to a nearby clearing.
"But… can I summon from here?
Reaching the clearing, Ming Hu frowned slightly as a thought occurred to him. Karot was a lich. He wondered if he should summon her here, in the outskirts but still inside the palace.
"I'll get a certificate and nothing will happen.
Karot wouldn't make a fuss, and he had the emperor's mark on him. Ming Hu decided to summon, and opened the pet window to summon Karot.
Siaak
Karot was summoned.
Sigh
The summoned Karot looked around, then looked at Ming Hu and said, "I'm sorry.
-Master, have you checked out the secret room in that tower?
"Secret room? Do you mean underground?
Ming Hu nodded at Karot's words.
"If it's underground, we've got it."
-Ah, no, that's not it, there was another room down in the basement.
"…What?"
Another chamber beneath the surface? Ming Hu looked puzzled by Karot's words. Then Karot continued.
-I realized after my awakening… there's definitely something down in the basement. I felt a very powerful aura, and it's not alive, so I assume it's a machine. It's… it's… please.
Karot trailed off as he spoke. Karot's words gave Ming Hu a clue as to why the message had appeared.
"…what item is this?
Karot is a lich. Not just any Lich, but an Arc Lich. Ming Hu was a little surprised that Karotte, now an Arc Lich, would want an item so badly, but he was also excited. Ming Hu looked at Karotte and said.
"How to get there?"
-There is a magic circle at the top of the tower that will take you there.
"Okay, I'll go over there and summon you back."
-Yes, sir.
Ming Hu summoned Karot back again.
'First… Complete the quest first.'
You haven't crafted all the items yet. Ming Hu has returned to the forge to finish crafting the items needed to complete the quest.
Boom!
[You have successfully crafted a suit of heavy iron armor].
After a while, Ming Hu had crafted all the items needed to complete the quest and headed to the warehouse to complete the quest. Upon arriving at the warehouse, Ming Hu immediately hands the equipment to Cannon and completes the quest.
"Let's go.
After completing the quest, Ming Hu left the palace again to get the item Karot told him about and headed to the Dark Forest, where the Black Moon Tower is located. Once in the Dark Forest, Ming Hu opened his pet window to summon Karot.
-Ah…
The summoned Karot suddenly shuddered and smiled. Ming Hu looked at Karot with a strange look in his eyes, then turned and started walking toward the Black Moon Tower.
"You said you were on the seventh floor, right?"
Ming Hu asked Karot when they reached the tower.
-Yes, sir.
Hearing Karot's answer, Ming Hu opened the door and entered the tower.
[You have entered the Tower of the Black Moon].
As I entered the tower, a message popped up. At the same time, Karotte raised her staff and said, "I'm sorry.
-Master, there's someone on the third floor.
"Third floor? Here?"