"OMG."
It was the Lion King's Armor! And it was unsealed! However, the strange thing was that this item wasn't listed in the official Lion King's Armor quest.
"It wasn't just the tops, bottoms, shoulder blades, and shoes."
Nevertheless, it was a 'Set' item, and it had a profound Hold Effect. Only a few of the game's best items had this feature, which applied the effect simply by possessing the item, without having to equip it. For that reason, even a small stat boost would be valuable, but the Mark of the Lion King was giving a whopping points to Health and Intellect. This was the equivalent of raising his level by about tiers in terms of stats alone.
It was only natural that the corners of Lokan's lips curled up.
"I came to get Five-Colored Pearls, and I got a jackpot."
The increase in Health was great, but the boost to Intellect was the real hit. He had been concerned about his mana consumption with Wheel Wind, even without using Berserk. To suddenly find a way to greatly increase his Intellect was unbelievable luck.
"Oh, this is…."
Lokan, still smiling brightly, noticed something else. A light reappeared from the box where the Lion King's Token was taken. If it wasn't a hidden device, what was inside the box? He tried to open the wrapping material under the Lion King's Seal, but there was nothing.
'The light is gone.'
The light had already disappeared.
'That means the hidden device has been unlocked... Huh.'
Lokan glanced down and noticed the packaging material in his hand. It was a velvet-like fabric, but when he turned it over, he saw some strange pictures and letters.
"This…"
He couldn't read the text. He could find out if he went to the Linguist or Archaeologist NPCs, but the accompanying picture provided a clue.
"Lion King."
The crudely drawn picture seemed to refer to the Lion King Gaokan. It seemed to depict the story of the Lion King saving the Murlocs, as the description in the Lion King's Token had said. But that wasn't the only thing.
"Uh…"
What he had thought was just a 'sign' was drawn in the center of the Lion King's chest, like Iron Man's arc reactor.
"Breastplate Decoration."
No, it looked more like a key component than a decoration. Like Iron Man's core, it seemed designed to fit in the center of the breastplate. But what was more surprising was the next panel.
"I gave you this."
The Lion King was drawn taking off his breastplate and handing it to the Murlocs. Perhaps it was after retiring, but it was still incredible to pass on the weapon that symbolized him.
'That's not important.'
The important thing was: where was the breastplate now?
"Did I not find it?"
Lokan's eyes rolled quickly. Was the Lion King's Breastplate somewhere he'd missed? He quickly looked around and inside the wreck, but nothing was found or resonated.
"Ah!"
Then he remembered the lore related to these monsters.
"Is it the Pirate King?"
The Murlocs had been attacked by the Pirate King and lost many treasures. If so, perhaps the Lion King's Breastplate was also stolen at that time? That was highly plausible.
"That was good."
Lokan's expression slightly frowned. If the item was with the Pirate King, that monster wasn't in this area. It was over Level 300, and its base was an island, making it difficult to approach. Hunting it and recovering the breastplate would have to wait for a long time.
"I'm glad I knew the location though."
Fortunately, he had found the location of an object he had no way of knowing where it was sealed.
"I look forward to it."
Organizing his thoughts, Lokan left his regrets behind and started hunting Murlocs again. Time had become a blur after starting the unexpected shipwreck attack. He spent the rest of his time plundering the farm and starting to level up, and he leveled up so quickly that it couldn't be compared to anyone else.
"What else is this?"
After logging out, Youngmin (Lokan's real-life identity) accessed The Road homepage as usual. He saw that the bulletin board was in an uproar, all because of the shops that supposedly existed in the tertiary city.
Burning Quail: Why is the visitor's shop only on the Crossroad? The area is also random, so are you discriminating now?
└Balokdam: It's not that you can't find it.
└Saga: No. I've looked all over the city, but nothing. It seems to be a crossroad preference.
Dacapo: Oh, I arrived at the Crossroads just in time, so it's worth it.
Kritz: Maybe someone solved the quest or something like that. Even the kids who are based in Crossroads can't do anything except use the shop because they have a low reputation.
└Hashu: There is definitely a high probability of that. Lokan got this.
└Flozi: Shout out Lokan God!
The Lokan's shop, the only visitor's shop, received much praise and jealousy for its guide, which made it easy to build a reputation compared to other cities. Some questioned the shop's unique existence in the Crossroads, but no one imagined that it was opened by a user. Such a quirky idea was unimaginable to most, especially since few people had even used the store or properly spoken to other NPCs.
"Anyway, good."
The result was a huge advantage for Lokan. Later, if the purchase price of certain items was found to be absurd, public opinion might change, but by then, it would be enough to adjust the price appropriately, as if it had been planned. Even if there was a small price difference, users would consider it a setting. In the process, there might be users who would try to resell Gyropole's leather, but it didn't matter. Gyropole leather was just one of many items. By that time, it would be easy to buy and sell other items. Although he did not know the detailed prices by period, he remembered which items were important and which were useless in great detail.
"Is everyone still shoveling?"
The next thing that caught his attention was Combination Skills. Because this was a new concept, many people were struggling. Right now, they had to anticipate that such a skill could be created just by imagining it. However, to run a simulation, they had to buy a skill book first, limiting their ability to try various tests. At most, only some wealthy teams or guilds were purchasing skill books for testing. Even so, they were having a hard time because their classes were all different. Once a skill book was combined, it didn't come back.
"It would be nice to be able to sell the combination skill book as well."
Lokan, who knew a fair amount of good combination skill recipes, found this both interesting and disappointing. He couldn't handle the combination skill book itself, and selling the recipe would only spread the information. If it was a truly incomparable skill, they might only want to know about it, but it was foolish to reveal such a skill and increase the strength of his competitors.
"Anyway, these guys will learn on their own…"
Of course, those with a natural sense for the game would find a good combination skill on their own.
"Then let's play some pranks."
Youngmin's expression changed like a bad boy. He accessed the website with an anonymous ID to leak false information and started creating various posts. Among them were posts for ordinary or lesser combination skills. He began to unravel false combinations, including simple ones that would soon be discovered anyway, and wrote plausibly that the power increased the more skills were combined, thereby encouraging the consumption of funds. Since the skill book was not easy to resell, they would incur losses proportional to the money they spent.
After having his fun for a while, he connected to The Road just in time.
'Wow!'
Returning to his vending machine to replenish items and collect money, Lokan had no choice but to cheer inside. A large amount of money and items were piled up, a testament to how many people had arrived at the Crossroads. Even the consumables he thought were well-stocked were mostly exhausted. It was all thanks to word-of-mouth.
Lokan, who happily collected and refilled them, then headed to the garrison.
"Wrong! I will never make a fuss again!"
"Please take a look!"
There were quite a few users in the garrison building. Those who made a fuss or were rude to the NPCs were being arrested.
'Stupid bastards.'
A minor mistake would end with writing a statement of remorse, but if they were unlucky, they would be detained for several hours to several days, incurring significant damage by not being able to hunt.
Lokan passed them and went upstairs to Garrison Captain Malkin's room. After knocking, Malkin greeted him.
"I mean, it's already happened."
After completing the mutated monster quest, Malkin's expression was darkened. There were already so many mutated monsters. The cause was unknown, and he was worried.
"Do you have any guesses?"
"I don't think it's time to talk yet. But it seems that some force has intervened."
Malkin seemed to have guessed something or had information. However, perhaps because of Lokan's level, he did not reveal the details.
'I can't tell you this.'
Lokan already knew the answer, as this was the main scenario quest he had considerable experience with. But he couldn't say it, so he just listened quietly.
"If I learn anything else, I'll let you know. In the meantime, you will build up your strength. At the current level, even if you meet them, you won't be able to survive."
[Time for Training] [Quest]
You are too weak to access the secret. Let's cultivate the power to handle the secret by training.
-Completion condition: Reach level 150
-Completion Reward: Crossroads Guard Captain Malkin's Trust
"All right."
Even if it was a quest to get something or hunt, the level limit was something even Lokan could not ignore. After nodding in agreement, he took out a simple hunting quest dedicated to garrison members and headed to the Wizards' Guild.
"Buy goods."
There were now quite a few people in the Wizards' Guild. The wizards, who had struggled with the difficult one-on-one mission against Level 100 monsters, had found a strategy and were beginning to advance to the 3rd city. In fact, wizards, who could create many variables, could complete the 3rd job advancement more easily than melee classes if they found a good spot.
[You have purchased the Magic Resistance Scroll.]
Thanks to this, what Lokan bought in a place full of wizards was a scroll. These expensive consumables allowed non-mages to use magic. Even the cheapest was equivalent to the price of a skill book, but he had no choice but to invest today to recover later with Life Charge.
The next place he found was the Temple. It was the same place as the Priest Class Occupational Guild, but Lokan was not aiming for an item.
[You have donated 3 gold.]
[You have received the Priest's Blessing.]
[All stats are increased by 1% for 6 hours.]
[Defense and resistance increase for 6 hours.]
It was a buff. If you donated to the Temple, you could get different buffs depending on the amount. Although it only lasted a few hours, it would become a must-have element before going on an important hunt, along with buff food.
The reason he absolutely needed this buff was simple: it was necessary for the private dungeon he was about to attack.
'If I attack here…'
And the reward for the investment would surely follow.
What do you think Lokan is planning to do with the Magic Resistance Scroll and the Priest's Blessing for his new private dungeon attack?