Chapter 38 – Floor 6. Thanks for the Donation

Creak – Clunk.

When the cart opened, I saw items completely different from what I’d seen on Floor 3 filling the display, and as expected, the price tags were much higher than on Floor 3.

Healing potion personally picked up by the Suspicious Merchant from the ground, now only 219 GOLD if you buy it now!

Considering the healing potion’s price was around 140 GOLD on Floor 3, it had become about 1.5 times more expensive.

The rest had increased by a similar ratio.

More than that, I felt like reporting him for embezzlement of lost property for selling items he’d just picked up.

He sure earns money easily. Not real money, but still.

“Well, customer. Is there anything you want? Of course, a merchant’s display always has what the customer needs.”

‘You never give me what I need.’

Looking at the Suspicious Merchant proudly making such statements while refusing to sell key build items no matter what, I felt a strong urge to give a knuckle tap to that tiny head.

“Hmm…”

I scanned the display thoroughly, but as expected, there was no “Tactical Command Spellbook.”

Well, complaining that he doesn’t sell that consecutively wouldn’t indicate a lack of conscience, but rather a lack of home training.

Since there weren’t any spellbooks particularly useful to me, my attention naturally shifted to potions and scrolls.

“Your pockets look quite empty, customer. Without these children, your journey will surely be difficult and arduous.”

“It’s already fucking difficult and arduous, you know?”

“That’s precisely because you don’t have these children.”

As soon as I showed interest in buying items, the Suspicious Merchant, sensing an opportunity, began soliciting more aggressively than on Floor 3, recommending various items and explaining them in detail.

“Speaking of this child, it’s a scroll containing magic written by Ubrique himself, once called a great mage. It’s magic that grants what you desire most right now.”

“That’s a Twisted Wish. I’m not going to make a wish only to pay some price later.”

The scroll the Suspicious Merchant was holding was a Twisted Wish scroll.

It certainly contained wish magic, and using it could earn you quite a lot of points, a substantial amount of GOLD, or even an artifact.

This might sound like an excellent item, but as the word “twisted” before “wish” suggests, there was one problem.

Namely, it required a corresponding price.

If you gain points, your maximum hunger and thirst decrease; if you receive GOLD, one of your stats stops functioning.

And if you receive an artifact, it becomes bound to you with a random curse, meaning you must always carry it around even if it’s an artifact you can’t use—a scroll of pure luck.

‘I sometimes see this while watching streams, and when it appears, people spam “gay” in the chat.’

An item where benefits and drawbacks coexist.

It could be a jackpot if you’re in a state where you don’t need to worry about hunger and thirst, or if a non-essential stat gets locked, or if you get a usable artifact despite the curse, but naturally, the probability of a loss was high.

That’s why it’s treated as a streamer-exclusive roulette item.

In simple terms, it’s like a monkey’s paw.

“Besides, this costs 3,500 GOLD. I don’t have that much.”

“Just for you, as a one-time special, I’ll let you pay in installments. You’re my first.”

I shook my head at the Suspicious Merchant, who had the audacity to recommend such a garbage item yet remained incredibly shameless.

Shaking off the merchant’s temptations to push expensive items to plunder my precious GOLD, I finally purchased a healing potion, a floating potion, and a scroll of detection.

I thought I bought only what I absolutely needed, yet nearly 700 GOLD vanished.

‘So I’ve used about 2,000 in total.’

As I calculated in my mind, I briefly stopped the Suspicious Merchant, who was naturally pulling my hand to take the GOLD.

“Hey, I’m curious about something.”

“Information is also precious to a merchant. However, since we’ll likely see each other often, I’ll give you one answer for free.”

“…Money-grubbing bastard.”

“Customer, what did you say?”

I wanted to proudly declare that he was a money-obsessed freak, but this tiny merchant who looked like a little kid was far stronger than someone like me.

“Nothing…”

“So what did you want to ask me?”

His attitude left me with no choice but to reconsider. I hadn’t planned to ask about anything particularly important or extraordinary anyway.

Since I knew almost nothing about the background to begin with, I’d probably learn more from getting a basic knowledge lecture from Severa.

“Uh… I was just going to ask if you’re not hot all wrapped up like that. How many layers are you wearing exactly?”

A mask covering the entire face with strange patterns drawn on it, a robe with a hood over the head, and underneath, thick clothing with no exposed parts visible.

As if trying to live up to the name “Suspicious Merchant,” he had suspiciously concealed his identity, but my first thought was: isn’t he hot like that?

In this humid, tropical rainforest zone where sweat pours down even when standing still, such an outfit looked suffocating just to look at, so I had to ask.

The Suspicious Merchant seemed caught off guard by the unexpected question, freezing while still lightly holding my fingertips.

After a moment, the Suspicious Merchant, seemingly having regained his senses, pulled my hand and sucked on it directly.

Slurp–

Along with the sensation of a small mouth sucking on my flesh, I felt a loss as if my soul was being torn out and sucked in.

“Wh-what?! You f-fucking bastard! Turn on your blinker before you suck!!!”

Worried that he might be taking more than I’d paid for in this addictive yet destructive pleasure where soul, memories, and experiences all fell away, I opened my status window, but fortunately, he took only the exact amount before the Suspicious Merchant’s lips detached from my wrist.

“Hmm… You really are peculiar, customer.”

“Is it weird to worry that you look hot, you double bitch!?”

Crack!

A pain like being hit with a hammer on my right leg. And that on a broken leg!

Foam bubbled up from my mouth involuntarily, as if I were a child being lifted by the back of my neck.

“ARGH!!! Slime!!! Severa!!! Wanderer!!! This damn kid just kicked my leg!!!”

“Other customers don’t show friendly interest in the merchant. Most have hostility toward the unknown, greed for valuable items, and pleasure when paying the price.”

“Y-you, you little shit… Ow… my leg.”

The Suspicious Merchant was saying something to me, but the shock of having my cracked leg kicked made me unable to care about anything he was saying.

As a result, all I could do was hug my leg and groan.

“But you’re different, customer. You’re not curious about my identity, nor do you fail to appreciate the value of the goods. Do you perhaps know me?”

“ARGHHHHHHHH.”

Maybe if I roll my eyes back and make a happy double peace sign, I could escape this pain.

“You’re interesting, customer. Different from the others. Please don’t die. I want to see you for a long time.”

“Ungh…”

“Thank you for your concern, customer. As an answer to your question, this robe is an artifact, so it’s neither stuffy nor hot. Here’s a reward for your concern.”

The Suspicious Merchant put something down on the ground, and my vision cut off.

***

When I came to my senses, the Suspicious Merchant had disappeared somewhere, and a potion was placed at my head.

『Merchant’s Favor』

【Recovers status effects when used】

“What’s this now?”

The bottle filled with sparkling liquid was an item called “Merchant’s Favor,” a potion name I’d never seen before in 3,000 hours of playing D.D.

It must be an item that exists in ㅇㅇ’s world that was patched into the DunGal Pack… or rather, cut from D.D.

‘Does it recover all status effects? That’s good…’

It seemed like a very useful potion to save for treating Soulmarch or severe injuries.

The problem was…

Status: Severe Fracture

Was it that my leg, which had merely been cracked before, had now become a reverse joint that would drive fuzzy-hair-loving people crazy?

“Huh?”

In other words, my shin was folded.

“AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!”

With no choice but to use this precious cheat item that could cure all status effects on fixing a fracture, I swallowed my tears and downed the potion.

If tear-soaked fish-shaped bread is so delicious, then the taste of a tear-soaked potion scores 3.7418 out of 5 points.

Neither tasty nor distasteful, just average.

At least it wasn’t like the healing potion that tasted like hastily crushed weeds mixed with water, so it was somewhat better.

“Hmm… Medicine isn’t meant to be enjoyed for its taste.”

I wasn’t really looking forward to finding out how interesting other potions might taste, but this one could probably rank in the upper tier.

‘I’m saying exactly what my mom used to say whenever she gave me herbal medicine.’

My folded leg had healed perfectly. If this potion existed in reality, it would have put all bone-setters out of business, it was that flawless.

I probably would have fully recovered after just one more day of rest, but it’s not a bad thing to heal faster, so I decided to adopt a positive mindset.

When the situation is difficult, you should have a positive attitude—isn’t that what they say in Korean Aikido? (Though I’m pretty sure it’s not.)

Though my condition couldn’t be called perfect, it had improved enough to explore without issues.

I got up, dusted myself off, and opened the map to head in the direction of the room with the box I had teleported from.

The terrible smell of grass stung my nose again.

As I slowly moved forward, crushing the ankle-high grass underfoot, I saw something large that had fallen in the distance.

The silhouette looked unmistakably like equipment, making my steps considerably lighter.

This was because I hadn’t found a single proper weapon or armor even after revealing about 30% of Floor 6.

‘Please be something useful. Please be something useful. Please be something useful.’

So, in my heart, I prayed in turn to Yahweh, Allah, Buddha, Brahma, Ahura Mazda, Zeus, Odin, and Tezcatlipoca as I approached it.

I’ll believe in whichever god wins.

Whether a tournament was held in the heavens above or not, I had no way of knowing, so I ignored that thought and examined its appearance.

A gleaming surface without a speck of rust, a lion’s head intricately crafted on the chest, and curved grooves that could deflect incoming attacks smoothly.

I swallowed hard at its sparkling appearance.

“Holy shit! Who won?!”

『Unappraised Lion Knight Armor Chestpiece』

【Activates Lion’s Roar when used】

【Requires Strength 11/Defense increases by 8】

My reaction was to do three somersaults in the air.