Chapter 47: Magic Engineering Stone (3)

The three dwarf chiefs gathered in front of the cold storage door.

“Master Giant! Did you call for us?”

“Are you planning to make new equipment? What kind of item do you want to create?”

“Just say the word! I will craft the best equipment for you!”

Tarunga, Dalkong, and Blton spoke in turn.

Suho opened his mouth.

“This is the steel spear that Tarunga made before, but I’d like to have a few more items of this level.”

Suho transmitted the [Supply-Model Strong Iron Spear] to the dwarves.

Tarunga took the spear.

“Oh, this is the one I gave you before. But it looks like it’s been through quite a beating.”

Being a craftsman, he recognized it at a glance.

“Yes, it kind of happened that way. I want to make weapons, armor, and accessories around this level.”

The [Supply-Model Strong Iron Spear] is a high-grade item.

It’s a tier above what Suho had been selling at the store.

Of course, it wasn’t a difficult request for the dwarves.

“Of course, we’ll make them. We don’t even need materials with strong mana for something like this.”

“That’s right. We can produce dozens a day without any problem.”

“Accessories take a bit more time to process, but it’s still doable. We can allocate tribe members from construction work to help.”

The three chiefs shouted one after another.

Suho shook his head.

“There’s no need for that. I’m only thinking of selling about five per week. You can easily make that in a day.”

“Five? Two hours and it’s done, haha.”

“Two hours? Looks like your skills have rusted a bit, Tarunga. I can do it in an hour.”

“Ha! I’ll do it in 50 minutes.”

The chiefs bickered playfully.

Suho brought up a more important matter.

“Let’s put the items aside for now. Tarunga, how is the equipment repair and upgrade I mentioned a few days ago coming along?”

“The equipment you gave me for materials is too damaged, so I’m still in the extraction and regeneration phase. Sorry, but I haven’t been able to start full production yet.”

The materials were items Suho had stripped from Park Youngil’s main sword.

“I see. That’s actually good news.”

“Right now, with these materials, making items around the Red Gray Guardian level is going to be tough.”

“I’ll do my best, but I think Flame Thorn Magic Sword-level equipment is more realistic.”

Tarunga answered with an apologetic expression.

It couldn’t be helped.

Park Youngil’s equipment was mostly high-grade—and broken.

Extracting materials from that to make Flame Thorn Magic Sword-level equipment was already a huge feat.

The Red Gray Guardian could be made because of Ogre scrap parts.

“I thought so. I’ll get more materials for you. Until then, please stop production and just repair the equipment I have been using.”

“I can have that ready by tomorrow morning.”

Dalkong quickly chimed in.

“I’ll lend a hand with the repairs, too. That way, we can finish it even during the night.”

Blton joined in without losing face.

“Night work? The master should be sleeping. Start immediately! Let’s finish within two hours!”

Suho smiled at the dwarf chiefs.

“You have a day or two to spare. Don’t rush. I’ll get better materials soon, so I’ll ask you for some good items then.”

Suho stepped back from the refrigerator.

“Are you planning to take this seriously now?”

Balryong, who had been lying on the bed exhausted from the long conversation with Wilson, had quietly approached.

“Seeing this ruined world, I figured we need to hurry.”

“I thought so too. Hurry up and get strong so you can restore me to my original form.”

“Got it. Until then, listen to me well.”

“Brother? I am 760 years old.”

“In our terms, that makes you 15. But why are you rounding it up by 10 years when you’re 750?”

It was exactly like dealing with an immature kid.

Thus, the night before moving passed like that.

***

Tap tap—

Suho brushed his hands after finishing the move.

“It’s done.”

Moving wasn’t that difficult.

“Since I put everything into dimensional bundles, it was pretty simple.”

Not only the move but also setting up the refrigerator, suitcase, and TV was finished.

“This Barrier Generator is way better than I expected. Right, Balryong?”

Suho walked over to the wall behind the counter.

Swish—

Suho disappeared into the wall.

It was a wall made by the Barrier Generator.

A hidden space behind the wall.

The refrigerator, suitcase, and TV were lined up neatly.

“Heh! That’s godly magic. If I recover just a bit more mana, I can activate it with my eyes closed.”

“This isn’t magic but magic engineering, right? The fact that it requires mana to activate means I can’t use it now.”

“Eeek—”

Suho stroked the fake wall with his hand.

Since it was registered with the generator, Suho could pass through the wall and hear sounds from inside.

Balryong could do the same.

But to others, it looked like an ordinary wall.

“Thanks to the sensory stat, I feel a bit of a strange texture on the wall, but if I didn’t know about it, I wouldn’t have noticed.”

“With that level, most Hunters won’t realize it. They aren’t very sensitive to mana anyway.”

As Balryong said, most Hunters were not very sensitive to mana.

They used the power given by the System as is.

“You worked hard helping with the move. I’ll keep my promise.”

Balryong flew furniture with magic.

“Good. Bow your head to me in gratitude. And hurry up and pay tribute.”

“That sounds like tribute talk. Anyway, thanks for helping with the setup. I’ll order chicken right away.”

“A new neighborhood deserves new chicken. Hurry up and run the delivery app!”

Meanwhile, Balryong also enlightened Suho about the phone and the map.

“It’s the same neighborhood here and there. You choose the one you want, and I’ll order it.”

Suho threw his smartphone to Balryong and looked around the new store.

‘The Dimension Gate can’t be far.’

If he wanted to control the Dimension Gate anytime, its location had to be close to the business.

Because of that, Suho’s living space was again the back room of the shop.

Of course, it was several times bigger and had better facilities than before.

“I still have to stay in the back room, but the shop’s dimension has changed.”

The interior had grown several times larger.

Clean white decor.

Neatly arranged display shelves, tables, and a simple resting space.

‘The old shop was a hole in the wall.’

It couldn’t be compared.

With the increased size, there was much more space to fill with goods.

Naturally, many items were needed.

“I’ll be able to supply items soon.”

Not only the usual general-grade items but also high-grade ones could be made quickly.

“Should I start advertising before opening?”

Suho turned on the Hunter App and began writing a post.

[Shop Relocation and Grand Reopening Special Sale!]

• Hello, I’m the owner of Suho Item & General Store. We have expanded and relocated the shop, so I’d like to greet everyone. This is all thanks to our customers. To celebrate the move, we are offering discounts and starting sales of new products.
• 30% off all general-grade items for one month after opening!
• Launch of high-grade equipment!
• Detailed product specs will be announced later. We promise better cost performance than before.
• The new location is the same as the old shop’s area…

“Is this good enough?”

When the post was uploaded, Balryong shouted.

“Got it! Today I’m trying the chicken gizzard. It’s cheap but some say it’s better than regular chicken. I’ve been curious for a while.”

“You’ve already read the reviews? Impressive, Balryong.”

“Hmph! I’m a wise dragon who even considers the opinions of insignificant humans. Since I put in the effort today, get me some beer too.”

“That sounds like beer talk. You’re underage.”

“I’m 760 years old!”

“Hatchling.”

Instead of beer, Balryong ordered a large ‘Soul of Abyss’ drink.

Suho finished ordering and checked the Hunter App again.

Comments had piled up.

ㄴ Since you closed the old shop, you relocated and expanded! Look at that, boss! You should have told us sooner!

It couldn’t be helped.

It had all happened so quickly, like cooking beans on a stove.

ㄴ I thought you closed down, but thank goodness you didn’t.

ㄴ Closed down? The original closure? Your business was doing well.

ㄴ Cost-effective shops tend to go bankrupt often because their margins are slim.

ㄴ Is now the time for that talk? Look over there—high-grade!

ㄴ Hey boss! Why aren’t you posting the performance of the high-grade equipment? If you’re talking about it, you should reveal the options. It’s a warrior’s code!

ㄴ With this, you’re as good as a web novel author who doesn’t do paid conversions or 5-star reviews. Boss, want to fight me?

Suho wanted to reveal it but couldn’t.

‘The items haven’t arrived yet, so I can’t disclose details.’

ㄴ Great! Once you open, I’ll rush over. If the cost-performance is as good as the old items, it’ll be a huge hit!

ㄴ Even if the quality is a bit lower than before, I think the high-grade will be usable up to 3 stars.

ㄴ Hah!

ㄴ Hah is here lol! Looks like reviews will flood right after opening lol!

ㄴ Lol I’ll buy after reading reviews.

ㄴ Then it will be sold out lol

“That should be enough advertising.”

Since he was a well-known vendor in the circles, there was no need for heavy promotion.

Once word spread, customers would come naturally.

“Then next is getting materials, right?”

Suho picked up his coat.

“You’re going to eat the chicken you ordered, right?”

“Eathing together?”

“Of course. Can you properly choose good materials on your own?”

He seemed unexpectedly considerate.

Suho chuckled and put his coat down.

“Alright, let’s eat first.”

***

Jongno-gu, Insadong, Seoul.

The once crowded antique shops were gone.

In their place were item stores.

“Why are we here?”

“I’m buying materials.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to trade with Sangwangryeon?”

Sangwangryeon controlled 70% of South Korea’s item market.

The Insadong item street was irrelevant to Sangwangryeon.

Items with no commercial value.

Only items that were difficult to properly price circulated.

“I think I can get cheaper and better materials here.”

“Why is that?”

“I’m looking for something unusual. Those kinds of items aren’t handled by Sangwangryeon.”

“What exactly are you buying?”

“Things others don’t buy.”

Suho walked along the lined-up stores.

Balryong, who was bored, asked.

“What exactly do you want? Tell me clearly.”

“There are high-grade material items that can’t be processed. Those items are only useful for experiments or research, so there’s no demand. They don’t sell well. I want to buy those.”

“Now I get it. You plan to use the dwarves.”

“Hmm, the dwarves can process everything.”

“Then go into that shop.”

Balryong pointed to a shabby shop with a worn sign.

“….”

“There’s a pretty strong mana presence there. Since there’s no wave unique to living things, it must be coming from items.”

“Oh! Good job, Balryong. You’re nice.”

“Eeek! If you touch my head once more!”

Suho hurried toward the shop.

“Welcome. Look around and tell me if you want anything.”

The lazy-sounding owner said.

Suho started examining the displayed items.

‘Let’s see, if Balryong’s feeling right, I should be able to tell immediately.’

Suho was confident in his senses.

As expected, he soon discovered one item.

“That’s it, right there.”

Suho headed toward where Balryong pointed.

On the display were two lumps of metal.

A paper attached listed the material’s options.

[Iron Turtle Carapace]

• Shell of an Iron Turtle.
• Material Item
• Item Grade: High
• Durability: 370

“Sir, may I inspect this?”

Suho called the owner over.

He had to hold it himself to view the System description and verify the paper’s contents.

“You probably won’t find much difference holding it.”

The complaining owner lazily approached the display case.

At that moment, someone suddenly barged in.

While Suho covered the item he was inspecting with his hand,

“How much is this? I’ll buy it.”

It was a short elderly man with thick arms and legs and a somewhat familiar appearance.