Editor: Cherish
— And if I don't? — Kang Yu said it in a mocking tone.
In the heated atmosphere, Moon Yeon Ho suddenly reached for the knife hanging from his waist.
— Yeon Ho! — Chae Young-ju shouted out when she saw him reaching for the knife.
The girl didn't look pleased.
— What the hell are you doing? — He didn't answer her. — Answer me!
— How dare that newbie talk to the head of the guild like that?
— So what? If I don't care, then you shouldn't either.
He didn't say anything.
— If he's being impolite or swears, that's my problem. Don't interfere if you're not asked to, Moon Yeon Ho.
— I got it. — Yeon Ho shuddered and he nodded slowly with resentment.
Chae Young-ju took a deep breath and looked at Kang Yu.
— Kang Yu, don't snap at me too. If you were at the party, the whole group would have been offended by your skirmish.
— I'll keep that in mind. — Kang Yu nodded and turned towards Yeon Ho, who was trembling with anger.
'Is this normal for him?'
Actually, if Kang Yu put himself in Yeon Ho's position, as a member of the guild and someone was being impolite to the head, he would have been hurt too.
Chae Young-Ju, who was the head of the guild, personally went and recruited a Player herself, and that itself was already enough to upset him. Not only that, she and that Player were talking with the informal 'you' as if they're old friends.
'It's hard to make a reasonable judgment in a situation like this.'
On the contrary, it's stranger that Park Hyun Woo, who they met on the ground floor, wasn't angry.
'But their guild looks pretty reliable.' It was obvious, with how faithful the underlings were to their guild and their head.
Seeing Moon Yeon Ho act like this, Kang Yu was able to see that this guild's members were loyal to what they were doing and to who they were working with.
— Well, let's continue. — Kang Yu shifted his gaze from Moon Yeon Ho's clenched fists to the equipment.
[Information]
Name: Shadow Armor
Type: Epic
Effect: Resistance to Physical Damage +40, Resistance to Magic Damage -10, Movement Speed +10, Physical Strength -2.
Feature: Instant speed up to 50%, can be used once a day.
— Mm-hmm…
Unambiguous characteristics.
Enhancing physical resistance is not bad, but the rest…
He was particularly not pleased with the reduction in physical strength.
'And the feature is useless for me.' Kang Yu already had a huge amount of strength, so an instant speed boost wouldn't be something new to him.
'It's better to pick something with no special abilities, but with a good effect.'
Looking at the equipment in the warehouse, Kang Yu turned to Young-ju:
— Isn't there anything here that increases physical strength?
— Not the normal ones. But there are some among the high-end equipment.
— Do they have good effects? — Kang Yu asked, tilting his head sideways.
'How much will it cost…?'
Considering the lowest equipment was as 'cheap' as 50 million won, Kang Yu couldn't even imagine how much it would cost to have equipment that increases strength.
— Of course they would. You know that the higher your level, the better the equipment must be to best assist your skills. Only high-end equipment is good enough to achieve that.
— Oh, I see. — Kang Yu nodded in understanding.
Now that he has 50 units of Magi, it was much harder for him to raise his level than at the beginning.
Of course, he surpasses Players with the same level of Magi in terms of strength, but that didn't change the essence of the problem. The equipment would hardly increase his physical strength considering the actual level of his abilities was already so high.
So he wasn't going to be able to increase his physical strength any faster with equipment.
Kang Yu looked around again and asked:
— Then, how about equipping with no special abilities but with a good effect?
— Wait a second, I do think we have something like that.
He and Young-ju went through the warehouse and she pointed out a few options.
— We'll permit you to borrow three sets from us, so choose carefully.
— Okay.
Kang Yu analyzed the items she suggested: handcuffs, a pendant and a black coat.
They all gave no special abilities, but had good effects.
[Information]
Name: Black Handcuffs
Type: Epic
Effect: Resistance to physical damage +50, Resistance to magic damage +30.
[Information]
Product Name: Storage Suspension Maryok
Type: Epic
Effect: Resistance to magic damage +60
[Information]
Product Name: Ogre Coat
Type: Epic
Effect: Resistance to physical damage +80
Kang Yu tried putting on all the equipment that he looked at.
'You can't tell the difference right away.'
Resistance to physical damage was supposedly +130 and magic damage was +90, but to be honest, the guy couldn't feel a difference even after wearing the equipment.
'Probably because I don't know what my original numbers are.' Since the total wasn't displayed anywhere, it was hard to check what had actually changed.
— If the physical damage resistance is 130, how much does it actually affect things?
— Ah, it's hard to understand at first. — She nodded in understanding because she had gone through the same confusion before. — 130 resistance damage is about 5 millimeters of steel over the skin. —
— Oh. — Kang Yu nodded his head with great interest. — Does the equipment only work in the area of the body where it's equipped? —
He assumed that the equipment was limited and that it would only work where it's equipped.
Just like with a bulletproof vest: the chest is protected but the head is not.
— No, thanks to the imprisoned Maryok, the power spreads all over the body. However, in areas further from the equipment, the defense does work at half the strength.
— Then, if I have 1,000 units of physical defense and I get shot, say, in the eye, the bullet will just fly away?
— I haven't experienced that, but in theory, yes.
— So that's what equipment is for. — Players with powerful equipment couldn't be easily destroyed even if you launch a rocket at them.
'I underestimated the practicality of equipment.' Listening to Young-ju's explanation, he looked at his own body with amazement in his eyes.
With this equipment, Kang Yu could save many times more Magi than he originally thought.
'I think I want to get high-quality equipment.' Kang Yu looked at her with hopeful eyes.
If epic outfits are like this, then what would happen if Kang Yu possessed high-class items?
— Young-ju noona…
— What is it?
— Remember the other day we were talking about a new car? Can I have one high-end item instead?
She didn't say anything.
— If you trust me to borrow it, I'll pay its worth back to you one and a half times, — Kang Yu said as if he were in a gambling house.
Chae Young-ju took a deep breath as if she had a headache and said:
— It's going to be difficult now, but we'll decide at the meeting…
The dark noises started to sound again from beside them.
Kang Yu and Chae Young-ju turned their heads towards the source.
There was a pale and shaky Moon Yeon Ho standing there.
— N-noona, you said?
— Yeon Ho…?
— You… how dare you?!
He was overwhelmed with anger, and he pulled out a knife without a hesitation and threw himself at Kang Yu.
— Moon Yeon Ho, what did I just say? — Chae Young-ju growled, grabbing the point of his knife with her bare hands.
She got angry again, and the flow of Maryok coming from her was so strong it took his breath away.
— Take your knife and get out of here. If this happens one more time you will face punishment.
— I'm sorry.
Moon Yeon Ho, with an impenetrable expression on his face, removed the knife and pressed his lips firmly to make it clear that what was happening was gravely upsetting.
— Hah… I'm sorry. That wasn't planned. We'll punish him.
— No, that's okay.
— Anyway, what kind of equipment do you want? We'll discuss it at the meeting.
— Mm-hmm… it'd be great to have armor that's easy to move with. If I may, with good specifications.
— Armor, huh… — Chae Young-ju thought about it for a moment.
Moon Yeon Ho, who was listening to their conversation, directed a look at Kang Yu.
— You said you need armor?
— Yes, I do.
— If you really need it, I have a proposal. Let's fight and if you win, I'll give you mine. I have exactly what you're looking for.
— Moon Yeon Ho, I think I've told you to get out.
Chae Young-ju loomed in front of Moon Yeon Ho, who had disobeyed her orders and even initiated conversation with Kang Yu.
This time, she was even angrier, and the anger manifested itself in Maryok wrapped around her.
— No, wait.
— What?
— His proposal sounds tempting.
Young-ju didn't know what to say.
Kang Yu looked at the armor that Moon Yeon Ho was wearing with great interest.
He'd grant Yeon Ho the fight he wanted, as long as he could get that equipment.
— Are you out of your mind…? — Young-ju looked at Kang Yu with a fierce look.
She knew that he had outstanding abilities.
Neither she nor Baek Kang Hyun could get to the Level C Gate in just two weeks.
Not only did Kang Yu accomplish that, but he'd been hunting alone at the Level C Gate.
And that's not because he has a special ability in Level S, but because he's naturally talented. The last time she ran into him at PC Bang, she had made sure of that.
'This man is as strong as me. No, even stronger.' She was convinced he was strong enough to rewrite Korean history.
That's why she decided to ally with him.
'But this is different.' It wasn't a question of having or not having abilities.
Moon Yeon Ho is strong.
He was at Level 67 with 6th rank. A little more and he'll move up to rank 7.
A hunting dog can't defeat a powerful tiger. A player who's only two weeks old could never defeat Moon Yeon Ho.
'Crazy idea.'
Kang Yu had to be stopped.
He's the one who's going to be the most powerful player in the near future.
If they screwed up their relationship now, the sponsorship wouldn't do any good.
— Don't talk nonsense and go away. Kang Yu, you too…
— It's a deal. — Kang Yu interrupted Chae Young-Ju's words.
When she saw Kang Yu's bloodthirsty smile, she shuddered without understanding why.
'It'll be fun.' Kang Yu looked at the equipment again and licked his lips as if he had seen a delicious dessert.
'You have to take any opportunity you're given.'