#45
Episode 45
ego (2)
Hearing the voice again, Jeong-do looked at Hae-sik again. Haesik was looking at another store in admiration, as if he couldn’t hear his voice at all.
‘Am I the only one who hears it?’
Jeong Do narrowed his eyebrows and focused his attention toward the lottery room once again.
<Ah… How long do I have to stay here… >
I guess it won’t work. I felt like I had to go and check the source of the voice in person. As Jeong-do walked toward the lottery room, Hae-sik responded.
“uh? older brother. “You said you weren’t interested in that.”
“No, I’m not planning on buying anything, just looking around. Do you want to go too?”
“Uhm… ”
Haesik thought about the question for a moment and then shook his head.
“That sounds like fun, but I want to look around the armor first.”
“okay. After enjoying shopping and deciding what to buy, please contact me. “I’m going to look around too.”
“yes. older brother. Have fun shopping!”
Haesik said that and walked toward the escalator. Was the third floor the one that specialized in armor? Jeong Do laughed when he saw Hae-sik’s back and headed to the lottery room.
[Warehouse of all things]
That’s what it said on the store’s sign. It seemed that the name Lotto Room was a slang term among users. What kind of crazy owner would name a store like that?
rattle.
When Jeong Do opened the door of the store and entered, the bell on the door made a clear sound, indicating that a customer had entered. At the sound, the owner who was displaying goods came running out from somewhere.
“Come quickly. customer! “Is this your first time visiting our warehouse?”
“yes? Ah yes.”
I think he was in his mid to late forties? A middle-aged man with a slightly bald head but a good look spoke to Jeong-do in a friendly manner.
“Then let me explain in a moment. This is a place where only items that have not been appraised are collected and sold at a flat price. Although it looks clunky on the outside, there are surprisingly many useful items. Customers with good taste often pick up useful items. “I hope our guests become one of those people.”
“ah. thank you. “I’ll take a look.”
“yes. customer! Have fun shopping.”
The president greeted in a cheerful voice and left again, and Do-do began to look into the warehouse in earnest.
It was a much larger place than it looked from the outside. The display cases that filled the store were tightly packed with various types of equipment. And I couldn’t find any description of the equipment. As the president said, he had to judge his equipment solely with his own eyes.
‘… ‘The condition is much worse than I thought.’
A sword with a toothless blade.
Bow with drooping strings.
Even the shield was broken here and there and seemed unable to perform its function.
That wasn’t all.
The fishy smell of iron emanating from iron equipment.
The smell of oil used to treat leather.
A characteristic musty smell from old wood.
All of those elements, along with the slightly dark lighting, combined to create an eerie atmosphere. I thought it would be like this if a graveyard of equipment existed.
But ironically, Jeong-do became intoxicated by that atmosphere. I felt like a child visiting an old antique store for the first time. At some point, he forgot the purpose of coming here and started looking at his equipment.
About ten minutes.
For the first time, Jeong-do found an object with a plausible shape.
Gaiters.
They were leather gaiters that could be worn from below the knees to the ankles. I examined the gaiters meticulously.
The leather, which had been properly oiled, was soft and the seams were meticulously finished. To be honest, he looked so distant that I couldn’t understand why he was in a place like this. At least he felt like he had found the right piece of equipment, and his heart skipped a beat.
‘One would be okay, right?’
As a matter of fact, I had saved as much mana as possible during today’s expedition. The mana consumed in one observation was 1. There was still room to spare. To a certain extent, he wanted to appraise the equipment he had personally selected.
How effective will your insight be? Jeongdo used observation without hesitation.
Tiring!
<Leather Gaiters>
<These are neatly made leather gaiters. But that’s it. You cannot expect defensive power.>
Jeongdo calmly returned the gaiters to their original position.
“… … .”
The excited feeling subsided in an instant. Yes, that’s right. I was so absorbed in the atmosphere that I forgot for a moment that this place was called a lottery room. It’s called a lottery room because the odds of getting the right item are extremely low. If an item is useful despite its flashy appearance, who would give it a miss? Jeongdo shook his head and came to his senses. Thanks to this, he remembered the purpose of his coming here.
The woman’s voice, audible only to him, was clearly telling him to get out of here.
However, this is an ordinary equipment store. Unless this place was a den of human trafficking disguised as an equipment store, asking them to take it out was a strange story.
However, Jeong-do was also a person who once lived with comic books and novels. He was able to quickly reach a conclusion.
A voice calling to be taken out from a space where shabby equipment is piled up. Isn’t it too obvious?
‘Ego item!’
It was obvious why only he could hear the voice. This may be due to the effect of <Communication-lv.3>. Of course, I had never heard of an ego item being discovered until now, but I was 100% sure of that.
‘Then I realized I couldn’t hear my voice… ‘That’s not it.’
The voice was much quieter than when I first heard it, but I could still hear it. I felt like I would lose my voice if I was even a little distracted, so I tried to concentrate as much as I could and walked.
Just a few minutes.
<Black… No one came to visit me again today.>
The voice of a downcast woman was clearly heard. Jeongdo looked at the display cases around him.
‘Is it a type of jewelry?’
The display cases were filled with items that commonly come to mind when thinking of accessories, such as rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. The first thing I thought was that it was fortunate that it wasn’t a weapon.
‘Because weapons are the cure-all.’
There’s no way it’s not a scam for an ego item, but it’s still not as good as the panacea. In addition, the King of All Diseases is equipment made by the dwarves to perfectly fit Jeong Do’s fighting style. It will probably be difficult to find a weapon that lasts longer than this even if you last a lifetime. In that sense, it was very fortunate that the ego item was an accessory rather than a weapon.
As Jeong-do rummaged through the jewelry from where he heard the voice, he started hearing the voice again.
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<Huh…? uh?! No way?!>
The woman’s voice was fussing. She spoke to her degree in the loudest voice she had ever heard.
<No! Not that, it’s next to it! It’s a ring!>
‘ring? Is this it?’
Jeong Do picked up a ring in front of him. It was a plain ring made of iron. An ordinary ring made entirely of iron without any patterns or gems. No, it wasn’t ordinary. There were many minor flaws here and there, as if it had been handled roughly. Jeongdo spit out the words unconsciously.
“wow. “This is harsh.”
<It’s so bad! Even though it looks like this to me, it is one of the 13 weapons that Gold Dragon Ixia made herself!>
It seemed clear that the ring that Jeong-do had picked up was an ego item. Jeong-do picked up the ring and moved to a deserted place. Because I didn’t want to be treated like a crazy person who talked into a ring. When Jeong-do arrived at a deserted corner of the store, he spoke to the ring.
“ruler. “Then can you please introduce yourself?”
<Ouch!>
The ring screamed, as if it hadn’t even thought that Do-do was going to talk to him.
<No way? Are you talking to me?>
“yes. you’re right. As I was passing by, I heard a voice asking me to take it out, so I came… ”
<Meet the Great One!!!>
This time, Jeong-do was surprised by the ring’s violent reaction. A great man? What on earth are you looking at and talking like that? The degree asked the ring.
“excuse me. “What does it mean to be great?”
<Please speak lower! It is a stain on the prestige of the Great One!>
“No, but… .”
<Please!>
The degree was hesitant, but the ring was stubborn. In the end, Jeongdo sighed and let the ring do what he wanted.
“ha. okay. Anyway… “What should I call you?”
<Please call me Ixia. You are a great man.>
Ixia. You said earlier that the gold dragon that created you was Ixia. Did he give his name to the weapon he made? I was satisfied to this extent and asked Ixia again.
“okay. Ixia. “What does it mean to be that great?”
<It is the best living thing that God created. It means dragon. Ixia salutes the great dragon.>
“… … .”
What does this mean? There seems to be a big misunderstanding. Jeongdo corrected Ixia’s misconception.
“I am a human, not a dragon. No, I didn’t know that dragons even existed in the first place.”
<… Yes?>
This time, Ixia was taken aback by the moderate answer.
<Huh? That can’t be possible… The only ones who can talk to me are dragons! Ixia cast a spell like that.>
“ah… .”
indeed. So maybe he misunderstood himself as a dragon? Well, even that dragon called Ixia couldn’t have expected <Sotong-lv.3> to appear for the second time since the creation of the universe. I spoke once again to Ixia, who was somewhat confused.
“I am definitely human. The reason I can talk to you is because of my natural talent. “It’s a pity, but it’s not like a dragon.”
<That can’t be possible… So, am I going to be stuck among those junk again?>
“huh? Why does the story work like that? “Could it be that I can’t use you unless you’re a dragon?”
<That’s not it. To use me, all you have to do is be able to talk to me. However, it is currently under a seal… It’s not very useful. And with human understanding of magic, it will be difficult to break my seal.>
Since it can only be used if you can communicate, this ring should be considered a dragon-only equipment. In addition, they even put a seal on it using magic. The dragon Ixia must have really hated the idea of the ring being passed on to another being. A normal person would have stamped their feet when they realized that they could not use the ego item they had obtained.
however.
He was not an ordinary person.
The seal cannot be broken with human understanding? In that case, all you need to do is use a skill that transcends human understanding. Jeong Do had that skill.
<Observation>
Sealing is something done to ‘hide and suppress’ something.
And if you have observed and destroyed everything that has been hidden so far, you will be able to see through and lift the seal as well.
The moment when Jeongdo was looking forward to using <Observation> on Ixia. One possibility came to mind and he stopped.
‘Can I turn this off right here and now?’
Do you know what will happen the moment you turn it off? If even an intense light bursts out the moment it is released, it will attract the attention of everyone here. Jeongdo asked Ixia.
“What happens if you break the seal?”
<First, the appearance will return to its original state! And as the trapped mana spurts out at once, a brilliant light appears… >
okay. For now, releasing the seal right now is on hold. After purchasing Ixia, let’s decide to unseal it at home or in a place with few people. I made up my mind and took Ixia with me. And Ixia, who sensed that Do-do had decided to buy her from that action, spoke in a bright voice.
<Thank you. master! How should I repay this favor… ah. Master, is it because the reason you came to this building is because I have the equipment you are looking for?>
Before I knew it, the title had changed to Master. Jeongdo nodded and said in response to Ixia’s question.
“okay. “I came to buy useful items such as armor and accessories.”
<Then I will recommend some of the equipment here. I know some good kids!>
“… uh?”
It was something unexpected. Does Ixia also have the skill to appraise items?
<Hmm? Can you just tell? I can feel it.>
It seems like there is something in common between the items. Do-do believed Ixia’s words and chose a few items and stood in front of the cash register.
“Oh my, thank you. You bought a lot. see. 2 rings. 1 gaiter. 1 piece of armor. 1 necklace. 1 shield. 5 million won each, for a total of 30 million won. “If you’re going to get an appraisal done at an appraisal center right next door, we can get it done cheaper. What would you do?”
“it’s okay. “I will appraise it separately.”
“aha. It looks like this was an appraiser. Such people often win the jackpot here. I hope our guests do the same. Please wait a moment and we will pack it into a box. If you want it delivered, please tell me your address.”
“no. it’s okay. “I will carry it myself.”
After leaving the store, the packaged items were put into the inventory without being noticed. This allowed me to shop with a light hand again.
After leaving the lottery room, I went to Seoyoon first. Seo-yoon was deep in thought for a long time between the two gauntlets in the weapons corner. Jeong Do found her and approached her to talk to her.
“Seo Yoon. Have you decided what to buy?”
“Ah, brother. Actually, I narrowed it down to two, but I was wondering what to buy here.”
“hmm. “I’ll take a look for a moment.”
At least I looked at the two gauntlets that Seoyoon was thinking about. One was pitch black and the other was flawless white. To a certain extent, observations were used and abilities were compared.
‘indeed.’
Both were items worthy of the word luxury. Most of the information examined through observation was the same as the information provided in the product manual. However, of the two gauntlets, the pure white one had an additional effect that was not even mentioned in the manual.
‘Smoother operation is possible when using mana.’
The moment Jeong Do saw that phrase, without further ado, he recommended pure white gauntlets to Seo-yoon, and Seo-yoon nodded and purchased the item.
‘Observation is really a fraud.’
good. I need to help Haesik like this too. With that in mind, I set out to find seafood. And soon he found Hae-sik holding a bunch of things.
“… “Did you buy that much?”
“ah. I was debating because I like this and that, but now that I think about it, if I like both, I can buy them both, right? “After buying so many different things, it’s become quite a lot.”
“… … .”
Jeong-do was speechless at the idea, which was so gold-spoon-like.
The team spent the afternoon shopping and were able to purchase satisfactory equipment.
“older brother! Thank you for your hard work today. “You are probably the only captain who personally selects the equipment for your team members!”
“brother. Thank you for your hard work. “I will treat the items you chose with care.”
After two thank you notes, the team members each headed home.
‘good. Then, I have to check my equipment from now on.’
In fact, Jeong-do was anxious while choosing equipment for the two people. He had to quickly go home, unseal Ixia, and check the remaining equipment through observation.
I was somewhat excited, so I took Ixia out of my inventory and put it on my finger.
“Ixia. Should I be careful when I open the seal? .”
However, Jeong-do’s words did not last until the end. This is because a new notification window appeared in front of his eyes.
Tiring!
<The dungeon map has found a new dungeon! >
A new skill obtained from Jeong Yak-yong’s dungeon. <Dungeon Map>
That skill discovered a newly created dungeon around Jeongdo.
‘… The lifting of Ixia’s seal will likely be delayed a bit.’
Jeong Do activated the dungeon map and walked towards the place where the dungeon was displayed.
