I Became a Prisoner in the Game After Defeating the Final Boss Chapter 23
Originally, all the equipment and items I had used disappeared as the price for using the Ascension Stone.
It should have been so…….
What did it mean that the equipment I used was being openly traded in the auction house?
‘No…… wait.’
Come to think of it, during the fight with the Destruction Dragon, quite a few pieces of my equipment were destroyed and scattered on the ground.
I obviously didn't have the leisure to collect the broken or lost equipment, so of course, when a piece of equipment broke, I took out a new one, and when the storage ran out, I bought new ones even if it meant emptying all my assets.
The battle with the Destruction Dragon was like that.
It was a feat that seemed absolutely impossible, achieved only after pouring out everything I had accumulated over several years, and then some more, when coincidences piled on top of each other.
At the time, I didn't pay much attention to it since it was destroyed equipment anyway, but what if some of it hadn't been completely destroyed?
Even if it was broken and rusted to the point of being unrecognizable, what if it wasn't completely destroyed?
‘Is that pendant one of them?’
Needless to say, that pendant, being equipment I used myself, possesses performance that is beyond ordinary.
Not only was it impossible to even face the Destruction Dragon with mediocre equipment, but in the first place, I didn't even handle equipment below a certain standard.
It meant that even if the pendant was currently broken and rusted and couldn't exert its full power, its essence would be maintained.
In other words, if I could somehow fix it, it would be possible to restore some of its original performance, even if not completely.
‘I have to buy that, no matter what.’
Currently, the minimum bid price for the pendant was set at a mere 30 Gold.
I didn't know who picked it up and put it on the auction house, but looking at the bid price of 30 Gold, it was right to assume they didn't know the pendant's true value.
The true value of that pendant was something you couldn't get even for thousands of gold.
However, there was one problem.
It was the fact that I had almost no money on hand right now.
I did have the money that Aichuwong possessed, but it wasn't a large amount.
And since it wasn't Imperial Gold Coins but gold coins issued by minor kingdoms, its actual value would be even lower by the standards of the auction house system, which used Imperial Gold Coins as its key currency.
‘30 Gold…….’
It was an amount that could be considered small or large.
In the past, it would have been money that couldn't even buy a single potion, but to me now, it was like a fortune.
Of course, my salary would come out after a while, but thinking rationally, it was highly likely that it wouldn't even be 1 Gold.
‘Umm.’
I needed money.
A large sum of 30 Gold.
‘Should I try asking Edric to lend me some?’
For some reason, I had a feeling Edric would lend it to me generously, but I soon shook my head.
「“You……”」
「“Is there something you wish to say?”」
「“……No, it's nothing.”」
Because I remembered Edric's strange gaze that I saw a while ago.
‘It's better not to do anything that would make me look more suspicious than this.’
I was well aware that I was already suspicious enough.
Within the World of Justice, mages who randomly fired off magic like this were very rare, except in a few special cases.
I was already deeply involved with the 4th Special Task Force, but I had no intention of staying in Winter Castle forever.’
Of course, that didn't mean I was thinking of doing something foolish like deserting.
This world was where I had to live from now on, and so I didn't want to have an unnecessary tag attached to me.
Although it would delay my departure from Winter Castle quite a bit, it was always better to be certain about things.
‘That aside…….’
The story came back to the starting point.
How to raise 30 Gold.
The biggest possibility right now was the reward DoDo promised for clearing the 2nd floor of Akiro's Labyrinth.
I didn't know how much he would bid for the reward, but it was still the most likely source of money in my current situation.
‘Still, it seems unlikely to reach 30 Gold…… Should I go hunting separately?’
If I were an ordinary soldier, I would have gone on guard duty even after my work hours or training ended.
However, the 4th Special Task Force, befitting its status as a special unit, had the privilege of being excluded from such guard duties, and thanks to that, there was free time called personal maintenance time after work hours.
In other words, if I could negotiate well with Edric during that time, I should be able to do some outside hunting.
‘The problem is that the value of demonic beast materials isn't very high within Winter Castle.’
No matter how much I raised my Weapon Summon level to Lv.2 this time, allowing me to summon the B686 Double Barrel Shotgun, considering stability, the demonic beasts I could hunt now were bound to be limited.
And the materials from such demonic beasts are not very valuable.
To obtain demonic beast materials that would be worth a decent amount of money within Winter Castle, I would have to take a corresponding risk, which was practically impossible considering the given time and danger.
‘What should I do…….’
If there was one silver lining in this misfortune, it was that besides me, no one else had recognized the pendant's value.
No, even I would have just passed it off as an old pendant if it hadn't been mine.
Therefore, it wasn't that I didn't have time, but I couldn't be completely complacent either.
Because even though the amount of 30 Gold was large for me, for those who had money, it was nothing, so they could buy it out of curiosity.
‘On top of that, there's a possibility the seller might change their mind and take the item down.’
The possibility was low, but I couldn't rule it out.
It meant I had to hurry and get the money one way or another.
‘Hmm.’
While I was worrying like that, going back and forth between the Anonymous Bulletin Board and the auction house.
The news I had been waiting for so long arrived.
[+1]
Finally, a new comment was posted on DoDo's post.
└DoDo : I've confirmed the wooden spoon! I'll bid on it right away!
Unlike my inner worries, DoDo did not betray my expectations.
If DoDo had just wiped his mouth clean at this point, I would have gone beyond simply exposing him on the Anonymous Bulletin Board and would have gone looking for him myself.
That's how important money has become to me right now.
‘Let's see…….’
I logged into the auction house with a slightly excited heart.
──────────
[Ongoing Auction List]
──────────
──────────
[Auction Item]
◆Wooden Spoon
[Bid List]
◆10 Gold (10 Imperial Gold Coins)
◆-
──────────
10 Imperial Gold Coins.
In other words, 10 Gold.
It was a number that far exceeded the amount I had expected for a simple information fee.
However, despite that, if there was one disappointing thing, it would be that it fell short of the 30 Gold I desired.
‘I should accept the bid for now.’
There was no way anyone else would bid on a wooden spoon like this anyway, so I accepted the bid for the wooden spoon at 10 Gold.
[The auction has been completed.]
[You have sold the ‘Wooden Spoon’.]
[The bid amount, ‘10 Gold (10 Imperial Gold Coins)’, will be transferred.]
With that, a small halo of light appeared, and 10 Imperial Gold Coins appeared on my hand.
“Hmph.”
As I looked at the gold coins in my hand, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Information, isn't it quite profitable?
***
A return to daily life.
If there was one small change in that daily life, it would be that Conlan, who hadn't been seen for a while, had finally returned to the barracks.
He still had bandages wrapped around his body here and there, but it seemed he had mostly recovered.
However, Conlan was the only one who returned.
“What about Albino?”
“They said his condition is not good, so it will be difficult for a while.”
“Still?”
“They just said to accept it as is?”
“Really?”
The reason Albino was still in the care of the medical unit was obvious.
The price of magic.
And on top of that, he had overused magic that took his lifespan as a price, so there was no way he would be okay.
“If you're really curious, you could go and see. He looked to be in bad shape.”
“There’s no need for that.”
Even though we were fellow members of the 4th Special Task Force, I had no obligation to go on a hospital visit.
Especially in Albino's case, until he made a gesture of reconciliation a while ago, he was a guy who was always trying to hit me from behind.
Shouldn't he be grateful that I'm not taking this opportunity to take a gun and pull the trigger between sleeping Albino's eyes?
“Everyone's here.”
In any case, with Conlan's return, the training of the 4th Special Task Force also resumed.
Today's training was basic weaponry skills training.
In a way, we had finally started training befitting a true soldier of Winter Castle.
“Some of you possess powerful magic, and some do not. But for a soldier, handling a weapon is just as important as magic. You must not be lazy in your training. Therefore……”
Edric said with a smile.
“Everyone, come at me. Ah, you can use magic if you want.”
Although Edric said it was okay to use magic, I had no intention of shooting a gun in the face of my superior, no matter what.
The external reason was also sufficient.
If I said that there was no need to pay the price for using such powerful magic in training, no one could say anything.
Also, I had temporarily deactivated the Orb of Water.
As I myself was feeling the need to become stronger, I intended to engage in today's training with all my heart.
“Uooooh!”
As if they had a lot pent up, the members of the 4th Special Task Force, led by Conlan, rushed towards Edric.
I can roughly get a sense of it in my head.
How Edric will move, where he will attack, how to dodge.
But unfortunately, my pathetic body couldn't even follow half of my thoughts.
Thwack!
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
It hurts.
It hurts so much.
As I was getting beaten indiscriminately with a wooden sword like that, I naturally started trying to block the attacks with my own wooden sword.
“Your waist is open.”
“Shoulders too.”
“Oh dear, isn't your head open this time? The head is the most important part.”
Such times continued for several days.
“Ugh……”
“Captain, let's stop now. Please?”
I tried to counterattack, but of course, the attempt was futile.
However, it wasn't entirely meaningless.
“Vell, you're a little better than at first.”
Right at that moment, when I received recognition from Edric for the first time, a change occurred.
[You have found a new sword path that has never existed before!]
[The art, ‘Swordsmanship(F)’ evolves.]
[Swordsmanship(F) → Survival Swordsmanship(D)]
“…….”
It was swordsmanship that I was even seeing for the first time.
And for good reason, the swordsmanship I was currently displaying was a heterogeneous swordsmanship created by awkwardly imitating Cain's swordsmanship that I had seen from outside the monitor with my current weak physical abilities.
It meant swordsmanship that couldn't have existed before.
‘Survival Swordsmanship…….’
But it wasn't an entirely wrong name.
As the name implied, it was a swordsmanship for surviving right here and now.
Perhaps one day, this swordsmanship with its rootless name would save my life.
In that groundless belief, I endured the pain, and endured it again.
“That's all for today's training. Everyone worked hard.”
“Ugh……”
“……I'm going to die.”
Due to the continuous arduous training, no one in the 4th Special Task Force was in a good state.
Even Alicia was gritting her teeth and letting out small groans, so there was no need to even mention how merciless the training had been.
“Dismissed!”
Finally, today's training was over.
But unfortunately, there was no time to rest.
Because the most important task of the day still remained.
“Hmm? Where are you going?”
“There's a place I need to stop by for a moment.”
“Well, okay.”
Leaving the members of the 4th Special Task Force who were returning to the barracks behind, I found a quiet place within Winter Castle.
It was because accessing the Anonymous Bulletin Board inside the barracks would obviously look strange to anyone watching from the side.
[Connecting to the Anonymous Bulletin Board.]
And as planned, I started searching the Anonymous Bulletin Board.
It was a routine I hadn't forgotten even amidst the arduous training of the past few days.
-GoodLuck : Does anyone know the location of Blue Dust Herb? Reward offered.
Found it.
My cash cow.