Ch.76Uljin

“Hmm…”

“You don’t like it?”

I nodded at Aurel’s question.

What I wanted wasn’t this symbolic structure but rather a definite reward that would help with survival.

When we caught Fenrir, they added a Blood Fruit Tree, but this time all we get is this useless altar and statue.

Why create a Safety Zone if this is all there is?

“Certainly disappointing…”

Prix also nodded, seemingly sharing my sentiment.

Even Hwang-gu nodded in his wolf form.

Only Aurel seemed to like this altar.

“Ah, should we offer a prayer?”

Aurel changed the subject, seemingly trying to lighten the mood.

I frowned and asked her.

“A prayer? To a god?”

“No. This is Charlotte’s altar, right? So praying here means offering prayers to Charlotte.”

“Hmm…”

I’m not particularly keen on this. What’s the point of praying to myself?

But without me asking, Aurel approached the altar and knelt down.

She looked like she was praying to a deity.

Then Hwang-gu, who had been sitting nearby, approached the altar and raised his front paws.

He seemed to be trying to pray in his wolf form.

Now only Prix remained.

But he just wrinkled his expression without approaching the altar to pray.

After some time passed, I was about to suggest we leave.

Flash-!

The Charlotte statue, with hands stretched toward the sky, suddenly emitted light and dropped a small potion and a Blood Fruit in front of Aurel and Hwang-gu.

“Gasp…!”

“Woof…!”

Hwang-gu and Aurel looked surprised at what they saw.

They began eagerly munching on the Blood Fruits that had fallen before them.

A sweet fragrance spread with each crisp bite.

Prix, who had been watching from the side, swallowed dryly and approached the altar, kneeling down.

Once again, the Charlotte statue emitted light.

When the flashing light disappeared, Prix received a large Blood Fruit and potion, just like Aurel and Hwang-gu.

“It seems everyone can receive this reward once a day.”

“If they pray…?”

Prix nodded silently at my question.

He stood up and bit into the large Blood Fruit.

“Is that all?”

Prix shrugged at my question.

He shook the potion in his hand and said:

“This seems to be the only reward, and considering the entrance fee, it’s not good value.”

I agreed with Prix.

While Aurel and Hwang-gu were delighted, was it really worth paying an entrance fee of 1,000 credits for just this reward?

Moreover, since the entrance fee was deducted hourly, if this was the only reward, there seemed no need to give up Seoul to claim the Uljin area.

“We should look around elsewhere.”

I led Aurel and Hwang-gu, who couldn’t take their eyes off the Charlotte statue, out of the altar.

Did they think I would be happy because they prepared these things for me?

I glared at the large moon hanging in the sky and then turned my head away sharply.

And so our exploration of Uljin resumed.

I climbed onto Hwang-gu’s back along with Aurel.

“What were you expecting, Charlotte?”

“Well… new items or dungeons…?”

“I see?”

“I was hoping for things that would help improve specs rather than useless structures like that, or if not that, then more Blood Fruit Trees than in Seoul.”

“Do you dislike that altar so much?”

“I don’t hate it terribly. It’s just really disappointing.”

As we were talking while walking, Hwang-gu, who had been moving smoothly, suddenly stopped and began sniffing.

Seems like he found something again.

Prix, who was walking beside us, carefully observed Hwang-gu’s reaction.

“Woof!”

Hwang-gu, having detected something unusual, started running.

We arrived at a building that didn’t fit with the ruins at all.

Among the collapsed buildings, only this one remained intact.

It had an imposing presence.

Moreover, bright light was leaking from inside the building.

“This is…”

“A shop?”

As Aurel said, the imposing building was a shop.

When we came to hunt the Gorgon, there was no such shop on the surface.

It must have appeared after the Gorgon was defeated.

This was a new building. There was a high probability it sold items not available elsewhere.

I pulled Hwang-gu’s leash and approached the door.

Creeeeak-

As we approached the shop, the large door began to open by itself.

Inside, as always, a black NPC was sitting in a chair reading a magazine.

“Oh-“

Though they might look the same, this must be a different NPC from the one in Seoul.

I pulled Hwang-gu’s leash and approached the NPC.

“Looking for something?”

As soon as he finished speaking, an item list appeared before my eyes.

I gaped at the item list the NPC showed me.

As I expected, this shop was full of items that couldn’t be obtained in Seoul.

Higher-grade equipment than what was available in Seoul was just the beginning.

There were explorers that could locate dungeons, disposable radios for communicating with distant targets, and more.

There were many diverse items, but what caught my eye was a large box.

[Random Item Box]

A box with unknown contents.

A good opportunity to test your luck.

Price: 10,000 credits

Daily purchase limit 5/5

“T-This…”

“Interested?”

“Give me two!”

When I came to my senses, two large boxes were in my hands.

Aurel and Hwang-gu looked surprised at my sudden purchase.

Prix also looked at the large boxes with an intrigued expression.

“You bought that…?”

I nodded at Aurel’s question and opened the large box.

Bright light poured out from inside the box, and a small item rose from within.

[Twig]

A common twig found on the street.

“Gasp…”

What popped out of the box was a twig.

I glared at the twig that fell onto my palm with a thud.

So this is what they meant by anything could come out?

I had only one box left.

While I was hesitating whether to open it or not, Prix, who was watching from the side, purchased new boxes.

He received five boxes, seemingly having spent 50,000 credits.

He glanced at me and then opened the boxes without hesitation.

Flash-!

[Pebble]

[Blood Fruit]

[Bandage]

[Basic Swordsmanship Vol. 01]

[Elegant Cape]

After drawing duds in succession, Prix finally got a win on the last one.

He put on the sophisticated black cape without hesitation.

[Elegant Cape]

Level Requirement: 20

Defense 20

All Stats +5

Reduces ranged damage by 10%

Prix smiled with satisfaction as he examined his cape.

I bit my lip watching him.

“Woof!”

At that moment, Hwang-gu also purchased random boxes.

Five boxes fell in front of the barking Hwang-gu.

He tore into the boxes without hesitation.

Flash-!

Hwang-gu wagged his tail and his eyes sparkled with anticipation.

But not everyone can be a winner.

[First Aid Vol. 02]

[Worn Bandage]

[Canned Peach]

[Old Cookie]

[Cat Food]

Hwang-gu had drawn a bunch of useless items.

Now it was Aurel’s turn.

She also received five boxes, seemingly having purchased the daily limit.

“Yah!”

Aurel began opening the boxes with a short shout.

Light flashed and five items popped out.

[Worn Sneakers]

[White Underwear]

[Dungeon Explorer]

[Elegant Couple Ring]

[5,000 Credits Voucher]

“Gasp…”

Aurel held up a small box from among the five items.

[Elegant Couple Ring]

Level Requirement: –

All Stats increased by 10%

Can summon partner once a day

A ring that can be worn on the left ring finger.

If you wear the ring and enter the username of the user you want to be with, you can gift them an identical couple ring.

Aurel carefully examined the small box.

Then she approached me cautiously, checking my reaction.

“Um, Charlotte…?”

I didn’t need to hear the rest to know what Aurel wanted.

Before, when I gifted her a dropped ring, she had extended her left ring finger.

This time, she must want to wear matching rings with me.

I extended my left hand without any hesitation.

The performance of this item was too good to refuse wearing the ring.

If this ring didn’t have special abilities, I wouldn’t have worn it.

“Gasp…”

Aurel covered her mouth with both hands, seemingly moved by my response.

Without hesitation, she put the silver ring on her left hand, then placed the other ring on my left ring finger.

Aurel blushed at the sight, but I didn’t feel anything special.

“Are you that happy?”

“Yes…!”

Aurel smiled happily at my question.

She seemed so overwhelmed she collapsed onto Hwang-gu’s back.

I shook my head at the sight.

Now only one box remained.

I had been postponing opening the last box, just in case.

I carefully opened the final box.

Flash-!

Of course, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

I sighed deeply at the floating item.

[Cat Underwear]

The underwear that had been floating in the air lost its strength and fell onto my head.

***

After confirming the existence of the shop, we immediately left the Safety Zone.

The one-hour entrance time we had purchased for 1,000 credits was running out, and the humans were starting to move.

After rejoining the main vampire force, we shared all the information we could gather from inside the Safety Zone with the clan leaders.

Firin, who had been listening quietly to the story.

She asked me with a tired-looking face.

“Are we going to fight?”

If we hadn’t discovered the new shop inside, I wouldn’t have bothered fighting.

But we discovered the existence of random boxes.

Perhaps they might contain extremely powerful items not currently obtainable.

Just looking at the items Prix and Aurel drew, they had very powerful stats.

What if they fell into human hands?

“We have to fight.”

Firin nodded at my words.

And so the battle with humans was decided.