Ha ha ho ho!
The laughter of the Elves never ceased around Jaeho.
“Are you not envious? What exactly makes Alicia and us live such vastly different lives?”
“Now, think about it. The future where we stand together in that place, talking!”
“Ah!”
Ziant couldn’t help but let out a breath of awe, lost in his own imagination for a moment.
“Ah, beautiful… and warm…!”
“That’s exactly it! That’s why you must not give up! Summon your courage!!!”
With his resolve strengthened, Ziant approached a nearby Elf.
“Ah, hello!!!”
He greeted just as Breeze had done before… only to be coolly ignored.
[The Two-Dia Tribe Elf Warrior has ignored your greeting.]
[Your likability slightly increases.]
The notification sent other information as well.
“?!!!”
Giant’s trembling pupils fixed on Breeze.
“Se… Sir…!!!”
Breeze looked at him with pity.
And Samantha, who had been watching them since the beginning, smiled quietly.
“Crazy bastards.”
***
Kruwa Sang, having returned to the guild, quickly and elegantly packaged the sample products and sent them as gifts to the nobles of Yeongji, with whom they had an exclusive trade.
At first, the nobles were hesitant, but after tasting, their attitude completely changed.
“Though it looks a little odd… it has a very unique flavor.”
“The scent is great, too. It feels like taking a nap in the shade of a tree.”
As the positive feedback returned, Kruwa Sang immediately started work.
“You see, eating this improves health and skin, no need to worry about the Dream Demon anymore…”
Rumors of these new snacks, unlike anything seen before, began to spread among the nobles.
However, the hottest response was, of course, the potions.
Once listed in the Public Auction House accessible only to Players, it became a hot topic even in the Community.
ㅡ Isn’t the price insane? 10 Gold for a high-grade potion? Nah, no thanks~
ㅡ I think it’s super cheap? The stats are crazy. The percentage recovery alone is a mid-tier option, and this even recovers over time. At this rate, even if the rank is listed as high-grade, it should be considered semi-legendary.
ㅡ They say it’s the Spirit Essence of the Epfeltz Flower. Is that the same Epfeltz Flower I know? Like a dandelion?
ㅡ System bug, maybe? I’m an herb specialist class, and the Spirit Essence of the Epfeltz Flower doesn’t have such effects.
ㄴㄴ Rookie. Didn’t you see ‘Spiritizing Agent’ before the name? Of course, it’s different from what some unknown herb specialist would make.
ㄴㅇㅇ Exactly. Usually, when the creator’s title is attached as a suffix, it means they’re pretty capable.
ㄴ Then what’s a Spiritizing Agent? Isn’t that unknown stuff too?
The price set by Kruwa Sang was 10 Gold, but in the end, they sold for 30 Gold each—triple the price!
Considering that a similar healing potion costs 40 Gold, it was still quite affordable.
ㅡ Amazing!
ㅡ ?
ㅡ These are potions made by Alicia!!
At Kruwa Sang’s words, Jaeho rubbed his head.
He didn’t feel much excitement.
ㅡ The price tripled and sold out. Hey! Of course, the nobles loved the snacks, too. Many nobles wanted to buy more.
Kruwa Sang kept babbling excitedly after that, but Jaeho’s only interest was one thing.
The Gold earned from the potions!
“How much would it be converted to cash?”
Jaeho asked Mei.
“Uh… hmm… I don’t really know well, but… I think about ten thousand won?”
“Hmm?”
A suspicious amount.
He had emptied the warehouse, and all the cash amounted to only ten thousand won?
“If potions are that cheap to begin with, wouldn’t that be a problem?”
There had been games in the distant past that failed because of selling paid potions.
“Sigh… scholarship money, my ass. I should ask around for a loan or something.”
Jaeho muttered bitterly.
“Whoa?!”
At that moment, Mei dramatically threw her arms up.
“Hmm? Why?”
“Oh, no. It’s just… Alicia… was a college student too, haha!”
Jaeho thought he understood at what point Mei was shocked.
“I’m 24 years old.”
“Eh? Hahaha!”
Mei laughed loudly, clutching her stomach.
“Come on, that makes no sense. Even for a game, you can’t just throw around stuff like that…”
But Mei suddenly realized something.
Still serious (as always), and the fact that Jaeho never really joked first.
Gulp.
Swallowing the dry saliva, her face turned pale.
It wasn’t fear born of a mocking smile.
“I… I’m your older sister…”
A 26-year-old unemployed person.
That was Mei.
***
Additional orders poured in for Kruwa Sang.
Thanks to that, Jaeho was busy every day.
Cutting flowers, boiling them, and simmering them a bit…
“Is this a flower shop or a mill?”
It was a situation that suited the name “mill” better.
Though such work ultimately helped increase the progress of the Flora Compendium, it was impossible to ignore the exhaustion.
“Well… it’s ridiculous to run a flower shop in this wasteland.”
After all, there was no way people needing flowers would be here.
Moreover, most of the people around were Elves.
They did like flowers, but it wasn’t quite the way Jaeho expected.
The Elves didn’t even buy flowers out of pure love as they were.
Or rather, it was hard to tell if the Elves even had money.
“Judging by the Elf Territory, even if a proper city formed here, it seems difficult for people to come and live.”
It was a complete mistake.
[ <Spirit of Vitality> says, ‘You’re just realizing that now?’]
“Here we go again, spirit of persistence. Did you think the Elves would just gather like this?”
Jaeho paused his work and fell into deep thought.
How could he sell flowers?
“Can’t I use the auction house for flowers?”
But when he asked Kruwa Sang’s opinion, the answer was negative.
ㅡ As I said before, the Public Auction House installation is only possible if our guild sets it up, so it’s not like it can happen immediately…
The system auction house requires a guild of a certain size to exist to be installed, and Kruwa Sang had promised to handle that.
ㅡ Also, system auction houses don’t allow one-on-one trades. Sellers hide their identities and just post items to lure buyers. Even if flowers were posted… how many would buy them? People only look for flowers on special occasions.
In other words, even if there are buyers, they’d trade one-on-one, so the auction house isn’t suitable, according to Kruwa Sang.
ㅡ So… you’re seriously going to run a flower shop? For real?
ㅡ Yes, I’m serious.
ㅡ Then, under what item category does it fall? Equipment? Or accessories?
ㅡ Uh…
“Yeah, better check that first.”
Jaeho cleared the potion-making equipment scattered on the table and prepared for a new experiment.
Namely…
“Let’s try flower arrangement.”
[ <Spirit of Vitality> says, ‘You’re only doing that now?’]
***
Jaeho prepared a small vase he got from the Elves and a few Epfeltz Flowers.
“Hoo.”
Surprisingly, even though he was running a flower shop, he had never tried flower arrangement.
Feeling strangely nervous before his first attempt.
“For now…”
Jaeho tried placing the flowers one by one into the vase.
Using leftover flower stems, he tied the flowers together, roughly shaping the arrangement…
“My hands are too big, which is inconvenient…”
Still, Jaeho’s concentration and delicacy were unaffected.
[You overcame difficult conditions and succeeded after long focus.]
[ <Immersion> skill acquired.]
[<Immersion Lv.1> ]
[Entered Immersion state.]
[Earn 10% additional related experience.]
[Success rate of tasks during Immersion slightly increased.]
[Stamina decreases by 5 per minute.]
“?”
Though there was a very annoying debuff, the skill itself looked quite good.
“Alright. With this momentum…”
[ <Apprentice Flower Arrangement Artist> title acquired.]
[You gain additional effects when arranging flowers.]
[ <Flower arrangement> skill acquired.]
[<Flower arrangement Lv.1>]
[Flower arrangement skill improved.]
[Flower arrangement proficiency increased by 1%.]
“Done!”
Finally, he neatly arranged five Epfeltz Flowers and completed it.
[ <Awkward but Affectionate Epfeltz Flower Vase>completed.]
[Great Success!]
“Great success?!”
There was no time to be surprised.
[Observation Progress of <Epfeltz Flower> reached 100%.]
[Communication with <Epfeltz Flower> enabled.]
[A weak healing Buff will be applied to nearby party members for a limited time.]
[From now on, <Epfeltz Flower> will show absolute affection toward you.]
While the other progress was stagnant, this single flower arrangement hit 100% progress!
Plus, a real-time healing Buff appeared.
“So flowers have spirits too?”
[ <Spirit of Vitality> says, ‘It’s like a medal of recognition from the Epfeltz Flower.’]
It was a far greater honor than expected.
Suddenly, Jaeho recalled Eldar Jangro’s words about being able to hear the voices of flowers.
Perhaps that was what it meant.
[ <Spirit of Vitality> graciously adds, ‘But dogs are fools and can’t communicate like us.’]
“…Is that so?”
Leaving behind the pride of the Spirit of Vitality, Jaeho confirmed the compendium.
[Epfeltz Flower]
[Observation Progress: 100%]
[A flower commonly found throughout Luxi Forest. The Epfeltz Flower has… (more info)]
[(Omitted)]
[Discovered hidden effects of <Epfeltz Flower>]
[*Effects]
[1. Provides a slight health regeneration effect.]
[2. Has the <Weak but Strong> effect.]
“Weak but Strong?”
A pun-like option.
[<Weak but Strong> : When stamina drops below 5%, damage received is reduced by half for 3 seconds.]
“Uh… half damage reduction sounds pretty good…”
It didn’t sound too bad.
After all, this was probably only useful in potions.
But after checking his first flower arrangement work, he realized his mistaken assumption.
[<Awkward but Affectionate Epfeltz Flower Vase>]
[First work made using Spiritizing Agent. The roughly trimmed Epfeltz Flowers will soon wither, but it is satisfied knowing they were loved.]
[Special effect applied due to 100% Observation Progress of <Epfeltz Flower>.]
[<Weak but Strong> : When stamina drops below 5%, damage received is reduced by half for 3 seconds.]
[Great Success Additional Effect: Increases HP regeneration rate by 1 (+1) percent to targets within a 5 (+1) meter radius.]
Surprisingly, special effects occurred just by arranging flowers.
“This is good enough!”
Jaeho felt it instinctively.
His own uniqueness!
He needed advantages to justify using this remote place, and these special effects could cover that.
“Ultimately, the key is to maximize observation progress.”
Only then could he create products with more diverse combinations and options.
“I need more varied flowers…”
His technical skills to overcome the location’s limitations were desperately needed.
***
“Hey, I’m here!”
The loud shout caught the Elves’ attention, all turning to one spot.
There stood a towering man with imposing muscles!
“Hey! Hwang… no, Alicia!! Hey, Alicia! What’s up? Ugh, who gave you such a pervy name… Huh? What’s going on here?!”
A group of Elves suddenly appeared from somewhere.
“How dare you speak about Lady Alicia that way…!”
“We will not forgive you!”
They grabbed the man’s arms tightly.
“What?! Let go of my brain! Ugh! Why are you so strong?! Kyaa?! Wait, wait!!!”
He couldn’t finish his words.
The muscular man began to be mercilessly beaten by the Elves, screaming, but no one intervened.
“Ugh.”
He was left barely conscious, blood oozing and body trembling.
That man was none other than Muscle Taengtaeng Ham Wansik.
“What on earth is his level?”
Considering level 185 Wansik was no match and got beaten up badly, it was easy to guess his opponent’s level was enormously high.
“Are you coming to your senses?”
“Hmm?”
At that moment, a Player approached Wansik, who was lying on the sand.
“Elves harbor extreme hostility toward humans but rarely kill them. Especially here, because of Lady Alicia’s words.”
The person speaking extended a hand to Wansik.
“Nice to meet you later. I am the Elf Counselor, Breeze.”