I placed the Silver Pendulum, the Cold Stone, and the Whispering Mask on the table and examined them one by one.
First, when I picked up the Silver Pendulum, a strange chill ran through my body. A description appeared, just like with the Dew of the Ghost Flower.
**[Hidden Value of the Hooked Pendulum]**
**This item is a substance containing the power to control time. If used as a material, an acceleration-related skill will manifest.**
“Acceleration? Does that mean it grants a speed-related buff?”
I couldn’t quite grasp the concept.
Skills like Haste were popular due to their high versatility, but since they were basic buffs that supporters usually learned, it might not be a very attractive choice.
‘It might be mediocre as a material.’
**[The Steel Blacksmith Garnet is showing interest in the Hooked Pendulum]**
“Huh? What is this message?”
This was a first.
I hadn’t opened a separate bidding notice like I did for the World Tree’s branch, and I had only just acquired the Silver Pendulum. How did Garnet know of its existence to send such a message?
It didn’t take long to solve the mystery.
**[Rocket Store Level 3 reached!]**
**Different races who have traded at least once can check Rocket Store promotional flyers at any time.**
“Promotional flyers?”
In the flyer, there was an announcement about the bulk stock of Pirabambusa fruits and a note saying that an item I had just acquired through a trade with Han Seo-yeon had arrived.
“Ho. It even handles the advertising for me.”
This worked out well. I was having trouble figure out its use anyway.
**[Emergency Request Updated!]**
He certainly was impatient.
**[Emergency Request: Supply the Hooked Pendulum]**
**Requester: Steel Blacksmith Garnet**
**Content: I saw the existence of the Hooked Pendulum in the flyer. As soon as I saw that Anomaly material, a bolt of lightning struck my mind. If you hand over the material to me this time as well, I will give you the finished product. The opportunity to work with such an unfamiliar material is a more than sufficient reward.**
**Reward: The finished product made using the Hooked Pendulum as a material.**
‘This time as well?’
Just how interested was this Dwarf in new materials?
The proposal was so radical that anyone else might mistake me for an exploitative boss.
“I have nothing to lose. There couldn’t be a better deal than this.”
I didn’t even feel the need to contemplate it. It was an item I didn’t know how to use anyway. If Garnet could prove its value himself and I could receive the result for free, there was no better trade.
I accepted the request without a moment’s hesitation.
**[You have accepted the emergency request from Steel Blacksmith Garnet. Rocket Delivery is sending the Hooked Pendulum.]**
“This makes me look forward to the other two items.”
Next was the Cold Stone, which felt chilly to the touch. According to Han Seo-yeon’s explanation, these stones appeared in places where a shadow Anomaly had lingered.
“This one is also quite unsettling. But after seeing Garnet’s request, it feels like a treasure.”
If Aria had seen my current smirking face, she might have been startled. Fortunately, she was in the living room watching TV, claiming she was bored.
**[Hidden Value of the Cold Stone]**
**This item is a substance that inherently possesses the cold attribute. If used as a material, a cold-related skill will manifest.**
“An attribute skill? This is a jackpot.”
Various attributes were always loved by Hunters. Being able to exploit a monster’s elemental weakness was a factor that could provide a massive advantage in battle. Unlike the pendulum, this was an item that would be popular just as a material.
“I hope she encounters that shadow Anomaly often—as long as it’s not dangerous for Han Seo-yeon.”
Finally, the Whispering Mask.
**[Hidden Value of the Whispering Mask]**
**This mask contains the fundamental power of sound and language. When worn, it possesses the function to translate unintelligible languages into the wearer’s language.**
It was exactly as Han Seo-yeon had described. She mentioned that while wearing the mask, one could understand the incomprehensible words of the Anomalies. Of course, she also said it only increased her mental contamination levels without allowing for any real communication.
“Hmm… This is a bit subtle.”
Perhaps because the mask itself was treated as a finished product, it was the only one that lacked information about manifesting a skill if used as a material.
‘Is this a dud?’
Just as I was about to feel disappointed, a past memory flashed through my mind.
**[???]**
**Requester: Slime**
**Content: Squish… Glub glub… Squish… Squish…**
**Reward: ???**
It was the very first request from the Slime race. The request where I had to use a reroll coupon because I couldn’t understand anything. If I had this mask, wouldn’t it translate similar requests into human speech?
“It’s not a dud. It’s a jackpot!”
It wasn’t an item for combat. Instead, this mask was a means to communicate with different races who couldn’t speak my language.
‘I should use this myself. It will be a great help not only for Slime-related requests but also for interacting with other races whose languages I don’t know.’
I set the Whispering Mask aside for my own use. The other items were all special items with immense value. I planned to use them later as auction items or mission rewards to motivate the Hunters.
“I should take this chance to manage the Rocket Store as well.”
Lately, I hadn’t paid much attention since I didn’t need to get involved directly, but perhaps because the Rocket Store’s level had risen, small changes had appeared in the requests.
**[Exchange with the tenth new race has been confirmed! A request from a special target has been received.]**
“A request from a special target?”
Since it wasn’t explicitly labeled, I checked the three newly updated requests in order. The first request was from a new Lamia, not Narcia.
**[Purchase of Sandalwood Chips]**
**Requester: Lamia Perfumer Carmina**
**Content: I need ten sandalwood chips to purify the air in my perfumery workshop. Since I will be using them for incense, please collect them carefully so that no impurities get on them.**
**Reward: General membership for Carmina’s Perfume Shop.**
“A perfumer?”
That was a profession that researched fragrances to add scents to products, right? I was curious about how this would help Hunters.
‘I can just finish the request and look around the shop.’
And one more thing.
‘I wonder if Carmina is as suspicious as Narcia?’
If she was, I could conclude that the reason the Lamia race still hadn’t officially entered the store was simply because they were a suspicious race. It wasn’t self-justification at all. While Carmina’s request was small in scale, the perfumer class certainly piqued my interest.
However, I was even more surprised when I saw the second request.
**[Living Armor Maintenance]**
**Requester: Training Tower Manager Hatz**
**Content: Busy, busy! The Living Armors in the Tower I manage are creaking, and their exteriors are rusting. Bring me twenty gelatin lumps from Mucus Slimes and five containers of oil from Friction Bugs. I need to maintain the Living Armors with these immediately to welcome new challengers!**
**Reward: Living Armor Rental Service unlocked.**
“Training Tower? Is that different from the Black Tower in our world? I didn’t know there was such a thing as a Tower Manager…”
It was news to me. Just as the system said, I felt like this was truly a special opponent.
However, I tilted my head at the next word. The request itself wasn’t difficult. Mucus Slimes and Friction Bugs were common monsters found in low-grade Rifts.
‘The quantity is a bit high, though.’
But what concerned me more was the Living Armor. If he needed five containers of Friction Bug oil, just how many Living Armors was he managing? They were monsters that appeared as bosses in low-level Rifts.
I couldn’t quite imagine what a Living Armor Rental Service would be.
‘Is it like a mercenary?’
If so, I knew that Living Armors had very low cognitive abilities. Or could it be that they were worn like actual armor?
… No way, really?
Sentient armor. It felt like a mass-produced version of a cursed sword. I wasn’t sure if Living Armors were that good at fighting, but I was certain it would become a huge topic of conversation outside.
“Is the last one a bulk request?”
**[As the Rocket Store’s level and the number of members have increased, bulk order requests have been unlocked.]**
I checked the next notification. Following Hatz’s emergency request, it was news that a new format of requests had appeared in the Rocket Store.
**[Bulk Purchase of Pirabambusa Fruits for a Festival]**
**Requester: Pydo, the festival manager of the city of Rowden**
**Content: Hello? I am contacting you after seeing the promotional flyer! I heard you have a large stock of Pirabambusa fruits? I was looking for special food to use for the festival! Please provide them in the highest quality and as fresh as possible!**
**Required Items: 300 Pirabambusa fruits**
**Reward: Regular supply of lunch boxes from the city of Rowden.**
“300 pieces?”
It truly was a bulk order; unlike previous requests, the number of digits had changed. It seemed the flyer had played a big part in catching Pydo’s attention. As always, the reward was what I looked forward to most.
“If I succeed in this request, they’ll supply lunch boxes made by Halflings to the Rocket Store?”
Until now, Halfling cuisine had been popular, but because it was only provided through limited items and expensive on-site services, it hadn’t been able to satisfy the members’ demand.
“But if we sell lunch boxes, that’s a different story.”
The quality might be slightly lower, but I was certain that even then, Halfling food would explode in popularity.
‘It’s right to temporarily suspend the sale of Pirabambusa fruits in the Rocket Store and prioritize this request.’
Some Hunters might complain, but it didn’t matter because their reactions would flip once they saw the Halfling lunch boxes.
“Guardian! Guardian!”
“What’s wrong?”
I turned my head at Aria’s urgent cry from the living room, where she had been watching TV while I managed the store.
On the TV screen, I saw the outskirts of a city transformed into ruins. Not only the military and special task forces but also people in hazmat suits were moving busily.
— This is a breaking news report. Runaway monsters have appeared in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do. Authorities estimate that these monsters flowed in from the fallen lands of North Korea. Although the Association, which responded to reports from residents, succeeded in killing the monsters, they are struggling to remove the large amount of contaminated mana they left behind. To make matters worse, it is reported that purification work is facing difficulties due to accompanying monsoons.
The anchor’s voice continued urgently. I clicked my tongue while watching the news. Back when I worked as a porter, I often took part-time jobs as a purifier because the gaps between team assignments were long.
Even though it was just a part-time job, having done related work, I knew better than anyone how serious this situation was.
‘Runaway monsters certainly seem to need a solution.’
Runaway monsters referred to creatures that lost their reason and became extremely aggressive. While monsters were inherently hostile toward humans, there was a reason why runaway monsters were classified separately.
‘They’re like a kind of berserker.’
Monsters have instincts. They fear opponents stronger than themselves and feel a sense of crisis when injured, but this does not apply to runaway monsters. If you were to artificially create an undead that attacks humans indiscriminately and has a blind animosity toward them without any regard for its own safety—that would be a runaway monster.
Because of these traits, they caused many civilian casualties once they appeared, and Hunters found them particularly difficult to deal with.
‘The reason why they run wild hasn’t even been properly discovered yet.’
An even bigger problem was the contaminated mana they left behind after death. This mana, flowing from the carcasses, blood, and body fluids, contaminated the surroundings and turned the land into a place where humans could not live. Most of the land in North Korea was currently in this state.
To purify such contamination, one had to sprinkle purification powder, which was made by grinding refined mana stones into an impure mana state.
“Guardian! Look… Look at that!”
Aria’s voice was trembling with anger and despair.
“Terra, where I lived, also had its World Tree wither and die because of the contamination created by those frenzied monsters! You must not let that contaminated mana spread further!”
“I know that, but… wait!”
Hearing Aria’s words, I suddenly remembered the existence of the Purifying Censer that Priest Marco had sent me. It was an item that could provide a wide-range purification effect just by putting mana stones inside and burning them, without having to go through the refining process of grinding pure mana stones into fine powder.
If I had that, it would be a huge help to the Association currently cleaning up the scene.
‘The problem is how to deliver it.’
I began to ponder a method.