Emperor of Solo Play Chapter 104:
Chapter 104- There is No Free Lunch (1)
In Warlord, one could transfer an Item from acquired watch through the fence NPC .
Of course, the fence NPC was located in a neighborhood with a menacing atmosphere . It was common to see Users, who lost tehir items through PK, to stake out near the fence NPC . This was why sometimes one might meet one’s enemies near the fence .
Of course, fights didn’t occur around the NPC . There was a tacit agreement that forbid PK near the fence . If one broke this unwritten rule, the User would suffer much more damage than actually losing a single watch .
This was the reason why everyone kept their manners . The only thing they could do was glare at other Users with murderous intent . This worsened the menacing atmosphere around the fence . There was a saying in Warlord that said, ‘If you want to experience an intense atmosphere, go near a fence instead of going to a Boss Raid!’
“My commission is 1 gold . . ”
In such a rough atmosphere, those who can’t keep their cool became the prey .
Hyrkan knew this better than anyone . However, Hyrkan’s expression indicated otherwise .
“The commission fee is 1 gold . Are you perhaps trying to cheat me out of my commission?”
The fence NPC continued to speak in a threatening manner . As if he finally came to his senses, Hyrkan put his hand into his pocket . When Hyrkan finally took out a coin, Hyrkan’s expression changed . It was as if he had a couple screws loose . He had a silly smile on his face .
In the end, Hyrkan handed over the gold coin to the fence .
“Huh?”
The coin wasn’t engraved with the number one . It had the number 10 imprinted on it .
It was worth 10 gold .
This wasn’t a small amount of money . In real money, it was worth around 100 dollars . No one in the right mind would pay 100 dollars for a 10 dollar service . Moreover, this fence NPC didn’t give back change .
Didn’t Hyrkan put his life on the line for . 1 gold before?
Something extraordinary was going on here .
“My commission is one gold . ”
This was something that could be corrected immediately .
“It’s a tip . ”
However, Hyrkan left the 10 gold in place . He immediately left after taking the Item .
The fence looked at Hyrkan with its head tilted in confusion . The fence NPC didn’t chase after a User if they overpaid . This scenario hadn’t been programmed .
The fence’s expression immediately reverted to its normal expression, and it got ready for the new customer .
[Helm Imbued with the Greenstone Imoogi’s Soul]
*Main Properties
– Unique-rank Item
– Strength +144
– Stamina +144
– Required Level : 150
*Sub-properties
– The Wearer’s Stamina recovery speed is increased by 5%
– If one equips set items‘Imbued with the Greenstone Imoogi’s Soul’, class-specific stat increases
– If three parts of the set item ‘Imbued with the Greenstone Imoogi’s Soul’ is equipped, all Stat will be increased by +50
– If five parts of the set item ‘Imbued with the Greenstone Imoogi’s Soul’ is equipped, all Stat will be increased by +100
– If five parts of the set item ‘Imbued with the Greenstone Imoogi’s Soul’ is equipped, the ‘Greenstone Imoogi’s Curse’ is activated
*Miscellaneous
– The essence of a Greenstone Imoogi with a vengeful spirit is dwelling with the Item .
He looked at the Stat of the Item stored in his storage . Ahn-jaehyun checked the Stats once again, and he let out a sigh that was filled with mixed emotions .
‘Wow . ’
He had read the Item’s Option so much that it had been imprinted into his brain . However, his heart started pounding when he started reading the Item’s Option once again . Even if his heart suddenly came to a stop, his heart would probably start back again if he saw the Item’s Option .
This was how incredible the Item he possessed was .
Ahn-jaehyun once again let out a sigh admiration .
‘It feels akin to buying a 1st place lotto ticket that I know will be a winner . This is really incredible . ’
It was a level 150 Unique Item .
Moreover, this particular one was produced and circulated solely by the V&V guild . They went as far to never selling it to the public . They dealt this Item only within their guild .
This was why one couldn’t even put a fair market value of the set .
Ahn-jaehyun was well aware of this fact . Moreover, this fact brought Ahn-jaehyun’s heart back to its normal rhythm .
The pounding died down . Ahn-jaehyun drank a sip of his coffee .
‘It’s a jackpot, but the problem is I can’t sell it to anyone . ’
As Ahn-jaehyun surmised, he couldn’t sell the Greenstone Imoogi Helm to the public .
‘Wouldn’t the V&V guild try to fight me, while foaming at the mouth, when they realize I sold this piece?’
When the helm appeared in the auction, the V&V guild would immediately take action .
‘If you purchase the Imoogi helm, our guild will declare war on you as a service!’
He was sure that was how the guild would react . As a customer, one would probably be too afraid of the V&V guild to purchase this Item .
Moreover, if it was a full set, there might be a User, who might risk the danger of crossing the V&V guild . However, he didn’t have the full set, and the Greenstone Imoogi Helm could only show its true worth when it was in a set .
A single piece wasn’t that popular .
This was why his potential customer was already predetermined .
‘I have no choice, but to return it to its owner . ’
He had no choice, but to sell it to its original owner .
The thought brought a smile to Ahn-jaehyun’s lips . Ahn-jaehyun found the current situation to be quite humorous .
The thief was basically selling the goods back to the owner . It was most definitely a ridiculous situation .
This was a given, but when the owner receives the purchased Item, the owner will step forward to try to kill the thief . However, Anhn-jaehyun wasn’t too worried about that part .
The **** would have tried to kill Ahn-jaehyun even if this incident never happened .
He was going to **** over the **** one more time, so it made Ahn-jaehyun smile .
Also, from Ahn-jaehyun’s perspective, the owner of the Item wasn’t the one, who had attacked him . There was a possibility that Sinclair had been been gifted the Item or the Item had been loaned to him by the V&V guild .
This was why Ahn-jaehyun thought a deal could be struck . Whether it was a present or a loan, the V&V guild would want to recover something that had been lost . It would be tough to see the Item in the hands of another person .
The problem right now was the fact that he didn’t know the identity of the person, who had ambushed him . Also, he didn’t have any contacts within the V&V guild . It wasn’t as if he could just search out the V&V guild then ask for a deal from them .
There was only one answer left .
‘I’ll contact the V&V guild through the Red Bulls . It’ll allow me to make some kind of bridge with them . ’
He had to exploit a personal connection .
‘I never expected the Red Bulls to be so helpful like this . ’
Ahn-jaehyun felt that it had been worth the effort to develop this personal connection .
“I heard you got spanked by the Hahoe Mask, Sinclair? How can you lose against a User, who is 30 levels below you? It doesn’t make any sense . ”
A woman wearing a robe made out of snake leather spoke . She spoke in a sarcastic manner, and it inevitably brought out a reaction from Sinclair .
“Shut up . The **** ran away . I didn’t lose . ”
It was a reasonable reaction…… He reacted in a temperamental manner .
“I heard he stole your watch? That means you got spanked . ”
“I got hoodwinked by the **** . He didn’t steal it from me . ”
“Whatever . So which Item did you lose? Don’t you usually fill all three slots?”
An answer came out from another source .
“He is wearing that armor, yet he doesn’t have that idiotic helmet on his head . The answer can be easily deduced . ”
When a stolen watch is re-issued to the User, everything was given back to the User except a single Item stored in each slot . Since he wasn’t wearing his helmet, it meant the helmet had been taken from Sinclair’s watch .
“Is it perhaps the Greenstone Imoogi Helm? My **** . ”
The woman had been speaking playfully until now, but her expression became genuinely worried .
“Of all the… . Didn’t the V&V guild loan that out to you?”
The woman’s reaction made Sinclair’s feelings fall off a deeper cliff . Sinclair gritted his teeth instead of answering . He didn’t want to speak any further . He thought it was fortunate that he was inside a game . If this had been reality, his face would have been beet red as if it was about to explode .
‘Shit . That mother **** Hahoe Mask . ’
Naturally, Sinclair though about the Hahoe Mask, and he chewed on his lips .
‘Watchman Style? Son of a **** . ’
In truth, he was in a state of disbelief . He had fallen for a scam called the Watchman style . When he searched for the Watchman style online, it returned no result .
This might be a unique method developed to hoodwink a dumb User . Sinclair had probably been the first sacrificial lamb for this method .
It didn’t matter how he spun it . This was a bad look for him .
‘I’ll kill him no matter what . ’
The humiliation didn’t end there . Sinclair was in a much fouler mood, because the much anticipated watch of Hyrkan only yielded a Normal Rank robe .
Even if they weren’t on a similar level, he had expected a level 120-130 Unique Item . It was known that the Hahoe Mask was always equipped with expensive Items .
Basically, he had stolen the Item of an owner, who owned a masterpiece . However, when one opened the wallet, the only thing inside was two 20 dollar bills and couple coins .
‘Hahoe Mask . I’ll kill you every time I meet you in this game . ’
Sinclair had to pay the penalty for losing the Greenstone Imoogi Helmet, and his organization was taking care of the aftermath .
First, he would have to have a conversation with the V&V guild . Sinclair would have a clear idea where he stood only after he ended his talk with the V&V guild . It was best to take all the beating in one sitting . It would be the worst if his punishment came consecutively in multiple parts .
‘Shit . ’
Above all else, Sinclair had never experienced failure, so his pride had been hurt .
His organization contacted him at that moment .
– The Greenstone Imoogi helm that was stolen by the Hahoe Mask was recovered by the V&V guild . For awhile, Sinclair is in charge of any business related to the V&V guild . During that time, Sinclair is going to act as a member of the V&V guild . Try your best to think of this as a volunteer service, Sinclair .
“Yes . ”
Sinclair planted the sword of revenge inside his heart .
After the Corrupt Count Raid, the Red Bulls and Stormhunters maintained a close and friendly relationship .
Of course, this relationship was unofficial . They were two of the top guilds fighting for the top spot within the 30 great guilds . If their friendly relationship was made official, the other guilds would become alarmed, and they would act accordingly .
Since this close and friendly unofficial relationship had to be maintained, the existence of a hotline was needed .
The Storm Queen and the Matador had established a hotline where they could contact each other unilaterally .
It sounded pretty good saying it like thatl, but it basically meant the two of them knew each other’s phone number .
Currently, Che-sulyun was calling Chev . As she was calling him, Che-sulyun’s face was covered with some unknown face pack .
“Chev . ”
– I’m in a Raid right now . If you want to talk to me, you’ll have to keep it short .
Chev was the recipient of the call, and he was in a tense situation . He had picked up the phone during a battle . Of course, Chev would be in a foul mood .
Of course, Che-sulyun wasn’t someone, who cared about Chev’s mood .
“I heard a transaction was made between the Hahoe Mask and the V&V guild . I acquired information that the Red Bulls acted as an intermediary . ”
Che-sulyun’s voice was calm, and her expression didn’t change . This was the effect of the face pack . If she got angry or frowned, the pack would be rendered useless .
Of course, Chev didn’t know about this, so he was a bit surprised at her reaction . He asked her a question .
– Your intelligence capabilities is impressive . I never realized it was at such a level .
In truth, Chev had expected a call from Che-sulyun . One of the main sponsors of the V&V guild was run by Che-sulyun’s family . A deal had been conducted between the V&V guild and the Hahoe Mask . Of course, she would hear about it . It would have been more suspicious, if she hadn’t heard about it .
When Chev received a call from Che-sulyun, he had expected her to yell at him with a thunderous voice . Unlike how she looked, she was incredibly terrifying .
“I thought I made myself clear last time . ”
Of course, Che-sulyun had called to give a warning .
“The Hahoe Mask is ours . Don’t touch him . ”
Chev smirked at the warning .
– I didn’t touch him . He’s the one, who suggested the deal . Since I’ve had couple dealings with him, he wanted me to put down a bridge for him .
“You are lucky I have my pack on . If we were holding this conversation inside the game, I would have already killed you . ”
Face pack .
Chev finally realized the reason why Che-sulyun was speaking so calmly .
– I guess I am very lucky that you have your pack on . Which part of your sentence should I reply to?
“Give me all the information you have on the Hahoe Mask . ”
Her voice was still calm .
However, Chev had a feeling that her calmness had reached its limit .
He wasn’t going to mince his words .
– I’ll put this out in no uncertain terms . I won’t lie . I have great interest in the Hahoe Mask, and I want him on my team .
“Hmmm . ”
– If this results in my guild warring with the Stormhunter guild, I’m willing to put up with it . I want the Hahoe Mask to enter into my team .
“Is that so?”
– However, even after such a resolve, I wasn’t able to recruit the Hahoe Mask . You may glean what you may from my answer .
“Hand over the info . ”
– I have no information regarding the Hahoe Mask . I just have a route I can use to make a deal with him . The trade route I am talking about is the Information Merchant, who revealed the identity of the Corrupt Count .
Che-sulyun’s brows twitched at his words . A very small wrinkle formed on her pack .
– That is all the information I can give you . You should consider it a present . The fact that I’m even telling you this much is, because I’m taking into account our relationship . Red Bulls are in a cooperative relationship with the Stormhunters . We aren’t in a master and servant relationship .
Che-sulyun didn’t give an answer . Chev was waiting for her to answer, but words weren’t coming easily to her .
In the end, Chev continued to speak .
– I’m not speaking as the guild master right now . I’ll give you some personal advice . Hahoe Mask only does deals . He gives only as much as he receives . If you really want a closer relationship with the Hahoe Mask, you should try getting him in your debt .
Che-sulyun still hadn’t answered him .
– If needed, I can act as an intermediary . I plan on contacting the Hahoe Mask soon . Are you still on the phone? There’s no answer . Huh? Did the call get cut off?
Che-sulyun was finally able to open her mouth . She had a big frown on her face .
“Are you telling me to become his Daddy Long Legs?”
It seemed she would have to buy a new pack .