Chapter 234

Ming Hu was a bit taken aback by Choco’s words and actions.
“What the hell is this?
An interview? It was sudden and too sudden.
‘Shaking hands… I’d rather not.
Somehow, he felt that if he shook her hand, he would be interviewed. Ming Hu, who had no intention of doing an interview, looked at Choco, who was slightly embarrassed when he didn’t accept his handshake, and opened his mouth to speak with an apologetic smile.
“Oh, I see, but… I have a very urgent quest, so I won’t be able to do the interview, sorry. Have fun!”
With that, Ming Hu quickly turned around and started walking toward the stairs.
“Oh…there.”
He heard Choco’s voice behind him, but Ming Hu didn’t seem to hear it, so he kept walking and went up to the fourth floor. Once on the fourth floor, Myung-Hoo listened to the stairs in case Choco followed him. To his relief, he didn’t hear any footsteps, and he looked around the interior of the fourth floor with relief.
“It doesn’t look like much has changed here…
The fourth floor didn’t seem to have changed much from the lower levels. Ming Hu slowly began to explore the interior of the fourth floor, looking for materials for the Alcandeum Golem that he hadn’t been able to purchase.

The tendon of Malpasta, king of the Endless Meadows. It is hard, tough, and has a powerful restorative aura that is unmatched by the tendons of ogres.
Merit required: 350,000
“Found one!”
Ming Hu picked up the tendrils of horse pasta and walked straight to the counter in the center of the fourth floor.
“The sinews of horse pasta, merit 350,000. Would you like to buy it?”
“Yes.”
Ming Hu nodded in response to the counter NPC’s words, and a message began to appear.
[You have purchased the tendons of horse pasta].
[only 350,000 fewer merits].
When prompted, Ming Hu opened his inventory and placed the tendon in it. He then started searching for ingredients again, starting from where the tendon had been. As he searched for and purchased ingredients, Ming Hu soon stopped walking and stared at a particular ingredient.
<Hot Heart of Pasta
The heart of the king of the 'endless meadows'. It is the source of the power of horse pasta and makes you stronger when consumed. It is said to be good for virility and is in high demand.
300 Strength when taken
Merit required: 700,000
Ming Hu picked up the Heart of Malpasta, which is both an ingredient and a consumable item, and opened his character window.
Nationality : Helioca [Empire]
Titles: Count
Age: 22 Occupation: Blood Knight/Strong Smith
Reputation: 4606000 Achievements: 22007770
Title: Hidden Hero (Effect: +50k Health, +50k Mana)
Level: 323
Vitality: 18897550
Mana: 2508420
Stamina: 7870
Strength : 787030 [78703(+7200)] Dexterity : 61715 Stamina : 62157(+500)
Wisdom: 61370 Wisdom: 61041
Dexterity: 370
Contribution: Elgav – 1000000
You've spent 3 million Merit to purchase the material items needed to build the Alcandeum Golem and now have 22 million Merit remaining.
"I've got enough credit."
There was no other place to use the public map, so the public map was good enough.
"What a waste."
The problem was that it was quite wasteful to buy them. Ming Hu thought for a moment, recalling the required merit points for elixirs sold at the old exchange and elixirs purchased from the treasury.
"I have no use for it, but let's keep it just in case."
The Heart of Malpasta was both a consumable item and an ingredient item. There was no need to consume it. Since there was nowhere else to use it, Ming Hu decided to make the purchase and turned his gaze away from the Heart of Pasta in his hand to look at the place where the Heart of Pasta was displayed.
"Five in total."
There were four more on the shelf where they had been. Ming Hu picked them all up, walked over to the counter, paid for them, and put them in his inventory. Then he started searching for ingredients again.
"There are no… two… types."
Scanning the shelves of ingredient items, Ming Hu purchased the ingredients for the Alcandeum Golem and frowned slightly when he realized he was still two types short.
"It should be in the treasure trove."
Ming Hu walked down to the third floor, remembering the treasure trove of material items that were incomparable to this place.
"No…"
But even then, Ming Hu soon stopped walking and turned back around.
"I'll stop by the fifth floor while I'm at it."
The exchange didn't end at the fourth floor. Ming Hu decided to check out the fifth floor while he was here, so he approached the stairs leading up to the fifth floor.
Jumbled
Soon, Ming Hu reached the fifth floor via the stairs and began to look inside.
"Nothing's changed on the fifth floor… Huh?"
Looking inside, Ming Hu's gaze was soon fixed on what he saw. There was something on display that hadn't been there before the update.
"Is that… a pet? A pet?"
Ming Hu walked toward it. It had a body shape similar to that of a human. Of course, it was not human.
"I see you've got wings. Celestial?"
The reason Ming Hu was sure it wasn't human was the white wings on its back.
"But there's only one of them… and I don't think there's another one…"
But it only had one wing. Ming Hu checked it out.

Sealed.
Merit required: 100 million
“What?”
After checking its information, Ming Hu couldn’t help but panic.
“100 million?”
He had a whopping 100 million merit points to work with.
“No way… Is it all up?”
Wondering if the update had increased the required merit of the corpses on the fifth floor, Ming Hu checked the information on the corpses around him.

It is the Death Knight. It is currently in a deep sleep.
Merit required: 9.5 million

The corpse of the king of the Hop Goblins.
Merit required: 7 million
“I don’t think so.”
The corpses’ required merit did not seem to have increased the merit required to purchase them. Ming Hu looked again at the thing that bore the name Shard of Agatha.
“I need 100 million, that’s very unkind.”
The required merit was a whopping 100 million, but the information was very unkind to the 100 million required merit. All it said was that it was sealed.
“I’m guessing you’re at least a Legendary, given that your achievements are also a Legendary and your rank is a question mark…”
Still, given the 100 million merit required and the question mark on the rating, it didn’t seem like a unique tier pet.
Sigh
After looking at Agatha’s fragments for a moment, Ming Hu turned away. It wasn’t enough, and it wasn’t like he could learn anything from looking at it. Turning back, Ming Hu resumed his inspection of the interior of the fifth floor.
“Not much has changed…”
After exploring all five floors, Ming Hu found nothing much different from before the update, and once again looked at Agatha’s shard. After staring at Agatha’s shard for a moment, Ming Hu turned on his heel and began to walk back down to the first floor.
Stop!
After passing through four floors and reaching the third floor, Ming Hu had no choice but to stop walking. Choco, who he thought would have turned back, was standing in front of the stairs.
“Oh, my lord!”
Choco, who was waiting in front of the stairs, spotted Ming Hu and smiled broadly before continuing.
“By any chance, may I ask what quest you were referring to earlier?”
At Choco’s next words, Ming Hu opened his mouth to reply as he resumed walking.
“Sorry, it’s a secret quest.”
“Oh, it’s a secret quest!”
“…Okay. Then.”
Ming Hu increased his pace and began to close the distance between him and Choco. Just then, Choco called out.
“Hey, Minghu, do you mind if I write an article about this?”
Stop!
Ming Hu paused slightly at Choco’s shout, and could only shake his head.
“…what are you writing?
I didn’t understand what he was writing about. All he told her was that he was on a secret quest.
“That’s what you write about?
Ming Hu had a feeling that he was probably right.
“It’s nothing, I’m just going to write that I met Ming Hu on a quest, and if you don’t tell me, I’ll take that to mean it’s okay to write it!”
Choco continued when Ming Hu didn’t say anything.
“Huh, that’s real.
At Choco’s subsequent shout, Ming Hu realized that he was right, and he smirked and kept walking.
“I sell exploits! I sell Red Goblin corpses!”
“Buying buff scrolls. Only those who drill to the third floor!”
“Buy merit badges, but only if you have at least 30,000!”
Once outside the exchange, Ming Hu opened his inventory, checked the two remaining ingredients for the Alcandeum Golem, and began walking toward the imperial palace.