Chapter 28: Too Pricey to Equip

“Let’s go already!”

“Hey! Let’s get moving!”

The carriage quickly made it past the wall and disappeared, and the people blocking the road scattered just as fast.

Kang Juho and Kim Seokju also exited through the wall and left the city hall grounds.

“You’re heading to the Magic District first, right?” Kim Seokju asked.

“Yeah, I need to buy some accessories.”

Juho was already wearing decent enough armor (though it was standard-grade), so his first priority was filling in the empty accessory slots.

As they headed to the Magic District, they stopped by a general store to sell off all their monster loot.

Normally, they’d just buy potions, but today, there was one more item on the list.

“Twenty Passion Stones, please.”

Juho bought them to unlock a skill.

He immediately acquired the skill “Relentless.”

[Skill Quest ‘Relentless’ completed.]

[Skill ‘Relentless’ acquired.]

Reading the message, Juho smiled in satisfaction.

‘I want to level this up fast.’

He was eager to see how this skill would evolve.

Before long, they arrived at the Magic District.

“There, that’s the shop,” said Kim Seokju, pointing at the accessory store.

“Alright, see you later!”

“Yep, I’ll wait at the North Gate!”

Only Juho was buying accessories, so they split up after agreeing to meet again at the gate.

As Juho entered the store—

“Welcome!”

He was greeted enthusiastically by the shopkeeper.

“What are you looking for today?”

“I’ll just browse.”

The owner nodded and returned to the counter, letting Juho peruse freely.

The first thing to catch his eye was a ring with an emerald inlay.

Before checking its stats, Juho looked at the price tag.

And then… he was speechless.

5,000 gold.

He thought he had misread it. But no—

Even after rubbing his eyes, it still said 5,000, not 500.

‘What kind of crazy stats does this thing have to be worth that much?’

He looked at the other rings—

‘They’re all expensive!’

The prices ranged from 3,000 to 6,000 gold.

‘I can only buy two rings?’

Juho had 10,532 gold on hand.

Two rings and he’d be broke.

Still, curious, he checked the emerald ring’s details:

[Ring of Vitality – Special Grade]

Requirement: Level 70

Durability: 100%

Magic Defense: 200

HP +20

“…?”

Not bad, per se. +20 HP and 200 magic defense.

But… for 5,000 gold?

That felt underwhelming.

‘Should I just buy armor instead?’

With 5,000 gold, he could buy multiple special-grade armor pieces.

‘No, maybe this ring is just a bad example.’

So he checked others:

[Ring of Wisdom – Special Grade]

Requirement: Level 45

Magic Defense: 250

INT +15

[Ring of Valor – Special Grade]

Requirement: Level 100

Magic Defense: 500

STR +30

HP +30

Good options, but most of them required high levels that Juho hadn’t reached yet.

‘Guess I need to level up first.’

Everything he could equip now felt overpriced and inefficient.

‘Are the other accessories the same?’

He checked bracelets, necklaces, earrings—even facial ornaments.
Yep. Same story.

So in the end, Juho left the shop empty-handed.

“Accessories are for level 130 and up.”

That was his final verdict as he walked away.

Next up: food and gear.

There were food vendors everywhere, so that could wait.

Juho decided to hit the Production District first for equipment.

‘The forge should be up north.’

He navigated through the alleyways, eventually arriving at a large street filled with forges.

Unlike Villemé, which had only one forge, Boredos had several—

Each specializing in certain gear: weapons like swords and spears, or specific armor pieces like helmets or shields.

Juho started with shields.

His weapon and helmet were already special-grade, but the rest were standard.

The closest forge dealt in shields.

[You have entered Ragoal’s Forge.]

Shields were displayed right at the entrance, with prices: 1,500 gold, 2,300, 3,000—much cheaper than accessories.

He began examining them.

Eventually, he found one he liked:

[Shield of Valor – Special Grade]

Requirement: Level 60, STR 50, HP 150

Durability: 100%

Damage Reduction: 55%

Physical Attack: 270

Physical Defense: 450

Movement Speed: -10%

With a damage reduction of 55%, it was top-tier (max was 60%).

Its stats were vastly superior to Juho’s current Iron Shield of Toben.

He kept checking others, but most required even higher levels.

The best he found was the Black Iron Shield:

Requirement: Level 300

Physical Attack: 1700

Physical Defense: 3400

Damage Reduction: 60%

It made even other special-grade shields look pathetic.

“1,800 gold,” said the blacksmith.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you!”

Juho paid and equipped the Shield of Valor.

He sold his old shield for a measly 250 gold.

Then, off he went to the next forge.

“Hooah…”

***

Meanwhile…

Yu Janghyuk stood and gathered reports before heading to Kim Yuri.

Her desk was stacked high with paperwork, and she was silently focused.

“Here it is!” he said, placing a report in front of her.

“What’s this?” she asked, glancing at the cover.

“The main episode. I’ve started working on it.”

It was the report for the first main storyline event.

“Already?” she replied, setting aside what she was reading.

“Wasn’t it supposed to launch with the auction house opening?”

“Yes, that’s when it goes live—but I needed to prep behind the scenes.”

“Ah, groundwork. Got it.”

“Paraville Kingdom… starting in Boredos, huh.”

“That’s near the starting city, right?”

“Yeah, one of the adjacent cities.”

“Perfect.”

A main episode starting close to where users gather?

That would boost engagement and promotion online—raising both player count and retention.

“What are the special-case players doing?” she asked.

“…”

Yu Janghyuk thought a moment.

No one was doing anything particularly unusual.

“They’re just grinding. I expect some changes once the episode begins.”

“No one’s created a guild yet, right?”

“Right. You need to be level 200 and pay a fee.”

Joining a guild was open to any level, but creating one required level 200.

Currently, the highest-level player was only level 82.

Guilds would take time.

“Okay,” she said, putting down the report.

“Let me know the moment anything unusual happens. And keep sending progress updates.”

“Understood!”

***

Back with Juho…

“Hyung! Over here!”

At the north gate, Kim Seokju waved at him.

“Sorry I’m late,” Juho said, out of breath.

“No worries! Haha.”

“Did you finish gearing up?”

“Yeah, I spent all my gold.”

Juho had replaced everything—starting from the shield to armor, boots, gloves, and greaves.

“Whoa, all 10,000?” Seokju was amazed.

He still had 3,000 left after his own shopping.

“Show me your gear info!”

“I’ll show you while we walk.”

The two exited the city and headed north toward the Coban’s Marsh.

As they walked, Juho started sharing his updated gear stats, starting with his chest piece…