I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 35

35.

“Why did Hunter Yoo Ji-an give us all of this?”

Seo Ah-hyun, who had gathered all the potions, whispered to Baek Eun-hee.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? What else could it be?”

“Ah.”

Baek Eun-hee pointed at Park Seo-ah with her eyes, and Seo Ah-hyun nodded as if she understood.

Seo-ah looked around for Yoo Ji-an, but he was already gone.

‘He could have just said he was giving it to me. He hasn’t said a word since earlier.’

“100 Healing Potions, 100 Mana Potions, 20 Antidotes. The Maker [a craftsman specializing in magical items] has reduced the quantity he’s putting out compared to before.”

“…At this rate, there wouldn’t have been enough to share in the first place.”

“It’s 3,000 gold in total. I’ll pay for this first.”

Seo Ah-hyun brought up her hunter credit card on the terminal and scanned the barcode on the nearby machine. It seems even the payment is self-service.

Seo-ah found that amazing, but she was even more surprised by the price. A healing potion typically costs 0.5 gold, about 5,000 won [approximately $4 USD], in the store. But the potions made by the Maker were 10 gold each, 100,000 won [approximately $80 USD] per potion, making them 20 times more expensive.

Even the antidotes were 500,000 won [approximately $400 USD] each.

Beyond the price of the potions, she was also amazed by the people who could casually pay 30 million won [approximately $24,000 USD].

Seo-ah realized once again that these people really were from a different world.

“All done.”

“Okay, it’s a bit expensive, but the effects are definitely worth it.”

With those words, Baek Eun-hee grabbed Seo-ah’s hand and pulled her along.

“Shall we start shopping in earnest then? It was around here.”

“What are you looking for?”

Seo-ah asked, following her closely, and Baek Eun-hee smiled brightly.

“Equipment for you to wear in the raid. What do you have right now?”

“Uh, well, I have the armor Hunter Yoo Ji-an gave me…”

“What grade is it?”

“Um, well… Special C-grade?”

Baek Eun-hee frowned and waved her hand.

“C-grade? What kind of trash did he give you?”

Yoo Ji-an would feel wronged if he heard that. He had hurriedly prepared it when he suddenly had to go to the tutorial gate.

Most equipment has a set wearing grade, so among the ones without grade restrictions, it was one of the better ones he could find in a hurry.

Seo-ah couldn’t say anything and scratched her head. She had received help from the armor in the tutorial gate, after all.

“How are Normal, Special, and Legend divided?”

“Most of the weapons sold in stores are Normal, usually mass-produced by gathering junk items from factories and selling them.”

“You can’t even call those weapons; they’re trash.”

Seo Ah-hyun lowered her voice at Baek Eun-hee’s ruthless assessment.

“It’s true that they’re trash, but most hunters have no choice but to use Normal ones.”

“Really? I don’t have anyone like that around me? At least Special A-grade.”

While Baek Eun-hee was making statements like a high-ranking noble who doesn’t know the lives of the lower class, Seo-ah continued her questions.

“But it seems like there are ABC grades even within Special?”

“Special is when someone with good craftsmanship makes something carefully with decent materials. Sometimes rare items come out. The A, B, C grades are determined by the material grade or who made it. All the things made by the Maker here are ‘Special A’ grade.”

“Legend is always a rare item. It occasionally comes out when you catch boss-level monsters. It’s quite rare. There aren’t many in our country either…”

“Ahahaha, Ah-hyun? Isn’t this not the time for this? We need to pick out items quickly. We have to meet the Maker later too.”

Baek Eun-hee quickly changed the subject, interrupting Seo Ah-hyun’s words.

Seo-ah looked at Baek Eun-hee with a subtle expression. It seemed she was conscious of the toy hammer she had given her.

She was surprised and burdened that she had lent her such a rare Legend-grade weapon, but she didn’t want to mention it since she was going to such lengths. Still, she thought that she must return it someday.

Pretending not to notice, Seo-ah picked up a colorful item while looking at the items.

[Ladybug Hat (made by Maker)_Special A

A hat made from the shell of a monster ladybug. 100 ladybugs are needed for one hat.

Mental Strength +20

Defense +15

Additional Function: Head Impact Relief]

As soon as she touched it, the item’s stats appeared in the system window. It did say ‘Special’ grade, but Seo-ah, who was seeing something like this for the first time, had no idea if it was good or not.

“How about something like this?”

“Hmm? Let’s see. Oh, that’s good. You chose well.”

“Don’t worry about the price, Hunter Park Seo-ah. Safety is the most important thing.”

At Seo Ah-hyun’s words, Seo-ah paused for a moment before nodding.

“Okay.”

After that, Seo-ah faithfully played along with Baek Eun-hee and Seo Ah-hyun’s doll play [dressing someone up]. Seo-ah was surprised that there were more items to wear from head to toe than she had thought.

“By the way, there isn’t much suitable armor. It would be good for Seo-ah to have fixed stats attached right now.”

“Or there are grade restrictions. This is really good, but it’s a shame it’s from C-grade.”

Seo Ah-hyun muttered regretfully, holding up a fluttering chiffon dress. Items could be made visible or invisible depending on preference.

Seo-ah watched them silently, when a black vest flew over her head.

“Oh, oh?”

Seo-ah quickly grabbed it and turned around, seeing Yoo Ji-an passing by on the other side.

“What, suddenly?”

Baek Eun-hee picked it up, annoyed, but suddenly her face brightened. At the same time, the vest’s stats appeared in Seo-ah’s eyes as well.

[Drook’s Vest (made by Maker)_Special A

A vest made by weaving the hair of the monster Drook strand by strand. It has strong elasticity and is excellent for defense. Drook’s strong stamina is added.

Defense +30

Stamina +20

Additional Function: Temperature and Humidity Control, Waterproof]

“Wow, this is amazing. Where did Yoo Ji-an find this?”

“There are no level restrictions either. The attached stats are quite high too.”

“I know, right? Seo-ah, you absolutely have to use this.”

“Ah, yes.”

Seo-ah glanced in the direction Yoo Ji-an had passed. It seemed like he had been helping her all along, but she couldn’t bring herself to approach him.

“Hmm, it’s roughly about 5,000 gold in total.”

“Really? That’s reasonable. Go pay.”

“5,000… gold?”

Seo-ah’s eyes widened at the staggering amount, and before Seo Ah-hyun could say anything, Baek Eun-hee spoke first.

“It’s a loan, Seo-ah. Use it as much as you want and return it when you graduate from hunter life.”

“But, still. Eun-nee.”

5,000 gold. Converted to Korean won, that’s 50 million won [approximately $40,000 USD].

Beginner hunters don’t usually have a full set of equipment from the start, but even if they do, they usually spend around 100-200 gold, so this was truly an enormous amount of gear.

“Still, you probably won’t die even if a B-grade rhinoceros rams you with this much.”

Seo Ah-hyun said, trying to reassure her, but Baek Eun-hee’s face turned pale instead.

“A B-grade rhinoceros? No, this won’t be enough. There are much more terrifying guys in the gate.”

“Eun-nee?”

“If I’m lending it anyway, then it’s mine. I’m choosing my stuff, so Seo-ah, you just stand still.”

“Ah… um.”

Before Seo-ah could stop her, Baek Eun-hee chose even more powerful items and re-equipped Seo-ah.

The total amount increased even further to 7,800 gold.

It was a secret that the most expensive item among them was [Drook’s Vest], which Yoo Ji-an had chosen. It was worth 4,000 gold alone.

Seo-ah’s mouth dropped open, but Seo Ah-hyun shrugged and silently paid again.

“Phew, but I wonder if that person will show up today.”

“Do we have to meet him? We’ve already bought so much.”

“Well, Seo-ah, your mace. It needs some work to be used properly.”

“R-really?”

Seo-ah took out the toy hammer from her inventory.

“What needs to be fixed?”

“Well, Legend-grade weapons must…”

“Uh, um. Ah-hyun, shall we walk around and look for him?”

Baek Eun-hee linked arms with Seo Ah-hyun and walked forward, and Seo-ah chuckled and followed behind.

‘It seems like there’s something else you have to do with Legend-grade weapons.’

Seo-ah had actually looked it up separately after hearing about it from Choi Seok-hoon.

[As the name Legend suggests, it is a legendary weapon and only appears as a rare item. The initial stats are insignificant, but it has endless potential because it grows with its owner.

Yoo Ji-an’s ‘Ruin Blade’ and Baek Eun-hee’s ‘Splinter’ are representative Legend-grade weapons.]

Seo-ah looked down at her toy hammer.

‘Is this really that great?’

[Mace Toy Hammer (LV.1)

An item containing the memories of the boss-level monster ‘Hammer’ in his childhood. You can become invincible anytime with the ‘뿅’ [sound effect for ‘poing’ or ‘boing’] sound.

Strength +10 Agility +5 Mental Strength +10

Additional Function: User can choose between lethal/non-lethal, Duration of all buff skills increased by 10%.]

Of course, it was quite useful in the tutorial gate. It was just amazing that the weapon leveled up.

Baek Eun-hee and Seo Ah-hyun, who had been wandering around the maze-like store, stopped in front of a small door.

“Hmm.”

“There’s about an hour left. He’s definitely inside. Should we just bring him out?”

“Tsk, I was going to coax him gently since he’s a grumpy old man.”

“Um, it doesn’t have to be this time, does it? Or someone else… there are more weapon artisans.”

Baek Eun-hee shook her head firmly at Seo-ah’s words.

“Other people can do it, but not as well as the Maker. He’s the only S-grade [top-ranked craftsman]. This is something that has to be done right the first time…”

While Baek Eun-hee was explaining, the door suddenly opened with a thud.