I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 187

187.

“Maker-nim.”

Seo-ah spoke first.

She moved closer to the Maker and sat down, immediately pouring the potion on the Maker’s injured ankle.

The Maker, who had been silently observing, asked in a gruff voice, “Why did you come looking for me?”

“Why were you collapsed there, Maker-nim?” Seo-ah countered with a question.

She intended to get what she wanted out of the Maker, one way or another. It would be ideal if their goals aligned from the start. That was Seo-ah’s original reason for going to the gate.

Even with the restraints on, [Emotion Transference] and [Genie of the Lamp] were functioning well as passive skills, so it was entirely possible if she played her cards right.

“I told you, I overdid it a bit… I tried to tinker with the options, but I couldn’t push it any further.”

“Hmm…” Listening to the Maker’s explanation, Seo-ah carefully chose her words.

“I also think the options attached to items are a bit limited,” Seo-ah said, feigning agreement. She subtly inserted what she wanted, then gauged the Maker’s mood before continuing, “It would be nice if more diverse options were available, like the hunters’ skills.”

The moment Seo-ah uttered that last word, she detected a flicker of curiosity from the Maker.

Until then, the Maker’s emotions had been dominated by irritation and anxiety. As if reflecting those feelings, the Maker narrowed her eyes at Seo-ah.

“You… do you know something? No, what are you trying to say?”

Judging from the Maker’s reaction, she was hitting the mark to some extent. Now, she needed to be more specific.

“No, it’s just that… legendary weapons have a lot of additional options. But legendary weapons aren’t that common, and it would be nice if special-grade items like shoes or clothes had those too.”

Seo-ah deliberately spoke at length, closely monitoring the Maker’s emotional changes.

For reference, the Maker’s intimacy level was 2. So, she could read superficial emotions, but not in detail.

It seemed an intimacy level of 3 would be needed to easily draw out [Genie of the Lamp].

“It’s impossible with current technology. If only it were possible. I already tried messing with the options earlier… It’s tricky. I even wasted materials trying.”

This was it. Seo-ah grabbed the Maker’s hands with both of her own.

“You do want it, don’t you?”

“What?”

“That kind of ability, it would be nice to have, right?”

She wondered if she had been too hasty, but perhaps because of Seo-ah’s earnest gaze, or because it was originally the Maker’s wish, the Maker readily agreed.

“…Of course, it would be great to have. If skills could be attached as options…” The Maker answered dazedly, and at the same time, a system window popped up. Seo-ah smiled brightly.

She thought it was a bit of a stretch, but it seemed to work this way too.

Now that she had figured out how to use it, she felt she could utilize it better in the future. If she could use [Emotion Transference] more skillfully, she might be able to create the desired skills faster.

Seo-ah was already holding the Maker’s hand.

‘Yes.’

Seo-ah answered in her heart, and the created skill was transferred to the Maker as is.

The Maker’s expression hardened, and she closed her mouth. Then, in the next moment, she looked at Seo-ah with a sharp gaze.

“You, what is this? Did you do this?”

Having achieved her goal, Seo-ah released her hand with relief and looked at the skill window that had appeared for her as well.

[Midas’s Hand: By melting a hunter’s skill into a magic stone, you can create the desired option. (However, the performance of the option depends on the grade of the magic stone, the skill owner’s ability, and the executor’s proficiency.)]

“Maker-nim.”

Seo-ah raised her index finger to her lips, signaling silence. Then, she quickly scanned outside through the window.

“Ha, what is this…” The Maker sighed in disbelief, but prudently kept her mouth shut and first examined the generated skill window.

Watching the Maker quiet down, Seo-ah first removed [Fist Jab] from slot 3.

And she put [Midas’s Hand] there. Since skills would continue to be created, it was perfect for storing discarded skills somewhere. She had to keep it.

However, it was a pity that this was also an active skill and couldn’t be used right now.

The Maker took out a coin-sized black magic stone from her inventory and placed it on her palm.

She clenched and opened her hand, and the magic stone shone briefly before fading.

“Oh, did it work? How?”

Wasn’t she unable to use active skills because of the restraints?

The Maker handed the magic stone to Seo-ah.

[Grade B Magic Stone]

[Option: Thermostat (Uses: 1)]

Checking the status window, Seo-ah glanced at the Maker.

It seemed the Maker had transferred one of her skills as a test.

“The amount of mana I can move is limited right now, so that’s the limit. I can only make a one-time use item.”

“Still, you’re amazing… even this much.”

Seo-ah’s active skills weren’t even thinking of budging. [Midas’s Hand], with its low proficiency, was not even worth mentioning.

“So, tell me, what’s going on?”

In this situation, she had no intention of hiding anything. And Seo-ah had something to offer the Maker.

Seo-ah briefly explained about [Genie of the Lamp]. The Maker listened seriously, occasionally making surprised sounds.

At the revelation that the same skill was created for Seo-ah, the Maker said, “Midas’s Hand will be a better skill for you than for me.”

“But I can only insert it. I can’t guarantee the quality. I hope you can refine it and turn it into a useful item after I insert it. If possible, make it last a long time.”

The Maker, who had been listening quietly, chuckled.

“So, that’s why you came to find me.”

Seo-ah smiled slightly.

She wanted to test the new skill more, but with the restraints and the limited number of magic stones, it was impossible.

“To do it properly, you need high-grade magic stones.”

“Magic stones…” After pondering, Seo-ah’s eyes sparkled as if she had a good idea. “The Japanese gate is S-grade, so we can get S-grade magic stones.”

“To do that, you have to go inside the gate…”

“I’ll go. Do you have any more empty magic stones? Just two more.”

“I don’t have any high-grade ones.”

“It’s okay.”

The Maker generously handed over 2 B-grade magic stones and 3 C-grade magic stones.

“Thank you.”

“Tsk, if I had known this would happen, I would have packed my inventory full. But I heard you’re weak in combat even though you’re S-grade. Can you handle it properly?”

Even while speaking brusquely, the Maker put down a few potions and an item that looked like a pickaxe, which she had made herself.

“I’m good enough not to fall behind. Ah, thank…”

“Enough with the greetings, hurry up and pack. Before those guys see us.”

Watching the Maker wave her hand, Seo-ah quickly packed what the Maker had given her into her inventory.

“The potions are a bit different?”

“They’re experimental. I tried to increase the efficiency, but the stable value hasn’t been determined yet. Try drinking one in an emergency, but keep in mind that it might have no effect at all.”

“…Ah, then what about this pickaxe?”

“Are you going to mine magic stones with your bare hands? But can you even recognize magic stones?”

“W-well, ah, I can’t do it with my bare hands, can I? I know what they look like.”

“You have to pick out the high-purity magic stones among them… I can’t help it. I don’t know if there will be enough time. Anyway, that pickaxe will be helpful. I use it myself, so you have to return it when you come back.”

Listening to the explanation, she became curious for some reason. Seo-ah looked at the pickaxe’s status window.

[Pickaxe_Special A-grade]

[Strength 100]

[Magic stones enter the inventory just by touching them. Can sometimes be used as a weapon.]

“This is practically a weapon? Strength is 100…”

“Well, if monsters attack while mining magic stones, I use it to beat them. There’s no time to switch weapons one by one. But don’t treat it too roughly.”

Seo-ah was able to borrow all sorts of strange things besides that. Most of them had the problem of being experimental, but anything was better than nothing.

“Is it okay to give me all this?”

“You gave me something even better, didn’t you? I can’t live owing someone.”

At the Maker’s answer, Seo-ah paused for a moment and replied softly, ‘I guess so.’

“Well, if you’re grateful, just keep your promise to supply magic stones with your skills in them.”

“Of course, or should we write a contract?”

“No, what’s the point of a troublesome contract… So, what are you going to do?”

“I’ll have to negotiate with them to be able to go to the gate first…”

As their conversation continued, at some point, the speed of the ship noticeably slowed down.