#233 Karma Shopping (1)
‘I have a lot to do.’
Even ten bodies weren’t enough.
Ordinarily, that would have been nothing more than an idiom, but for me, who really did have ten bodies, it was an extremely realistic statement.
No—if anything, it felt like I was even busier because I had ten bodies.
‘Since every last one of them is playing in the big leagues, they naturally end up getting involved in major affairs.’
First, there was Harley, who had finally received the “Mark of the Fighting King.”
The shamans, who placed great importance on tradition, acknowledged him without much resistance and paid him respect, but that did not mean he immediately became the king ruling over the South.
After all, a long time had already passed since the last Fighting King appeared, and the system of electing a Great Chieftain by mutual agreement had firmly taken root.
No matter if it was a promise from the early days of the nation’s founding, there was no way the masses of the current generation would easily accept it… or so one would think.
But the current situation was proceeding far more smoothly than expected.
‘Well, it’s only natural.’
A member of the death-defying force that had defeated the Immortal King in the South this time, and a great warrior who had saved Calkos by executing Baltheon, the former Great Chieftain who betrayed humanity and committed all manner of atrocities.
On top of that, the current Great Chieftain, who had been imprisoned, was in no state to make a quick return due to the aftereffects. The masses had no choice but to respond favorably to the young hero who would become their new center—“Fighting King Harley.”
‘Once the South is somewhat settled, I’ll have to visit Patrick too. He kept whining for me to show my face at the Mercenary Guild someday, so I wonder if he’s doing all right now.’
Secretary-General Patrick had used his name to overcome the crisis of being ousted and safely hold on to his position in the guild, but to handle things with certainty, Harley needed to get a little more actively involved in the guild.
Since I had entrusted the work to him, cooperating to this extent was only proper.
‘Hans… will need some time for the time being too.’
Just in time, the Immortal King Hans was scheduled to recuperate in the Immortal Castle for a while.
Taking this opportunity, he went into seclusion with two major research topics.
The first was to use the metal fragment obtained from the Abyss Gate as a medium to track the “Seed of Madness” and find the revolutionary who would be with it.
‘He’s no ordinary bastard, considering he’s evaded tracking so thoroughly until now. If I make a clumsy attempt and he notices, there’s no telling what he’ll do next. This time, I’ll deal with him for certain.’
The second was to use Salma’s damaged thoughts to complete a method of traveling to another world.
‘The more sources of karma, the better. No matter how much I stir things up in Auterica, a limit will inevitably come in the end.’
That was especially true since I had no intention of milking the fight against the Immortal King forever.
Of course, I could exert influence through the avatars who had risen to key positions in each faction, but unless I deliberately encouraged chaos in the world, it was obvious that my income would decrease from what it was now as the situation stabilized.
‘Besides, the Ganghwan Realm is a murim world. It has a reputation for being one of the best dimensions when it comes to person-to-person combat, so I might be able to obtain something useful.’
With Hans’s ability to read memories, I had stolen the knowledge of several returnees from murim worlds, but because the fundamental system of power was too different, I could not fully grasp their essence.
Of course, even the forms and martial principles I stole like that had been a great help in Heinrich’s “Path of Martial Arts” growth, but to properly acquire true secret arts, I needed to go there myself and learn martial arts directly.
On Earth, a barren land for supernatural abilities, it was impossible to even take the first step into qi, while in Auterica, the very laws that composed energy were different.
Of course, whichever path it was, they both needed time to produce results.
‘I’ll think about the rest later since they’re not urgent right now. There’s something else I need to focus on immediately.’
Just as those words implied, at this very moment—
I was facing something greater than anything else.
“Whew—good. Then shall we begin?”
Amid my tension, I took a deep breath, rubbed my hands together, and glared sharply at the system window right in front of me.
『Karma Shop Ver.2』
Yes, at last, the long-awaited shopping time had come.
The ammunition I had prepared amounted to 5.3 million points.
‘First, to start with…’
With a light heart, I first bought two 『Elixir of Growth (7 Days) (200,000)』 and sent them to Howard and Hesperon.
For Howard, the dwarven craftsman who sweated away at the forge every day, of course, and for Hesperon, who was absorbed in all sorts of grimoires and devoted to training, this elixir that could save time would be more valuable than anything.
‘Let’s buy it just once, as if I’m being fooled. If the effect isn’t that great, then there’s no way I’m doing it again.’
At first, I intended to buy only one and test it, but for a more reliable comparison, I simply went big and purchased them.
One side involved training proficiency in techniques using the body, while the other involved accumulating knowledge and handling mana, so with this I should be able to judge its performance more clearly.
Now I had 4.9 million points left.
I hadn’t really done anything, yet the leading digit had already changed.
Feeling needlessly anxious, I glared at my next target.
『Random Miscellaneous Skill Acquisition (500,000)』
A random draw.
An object of both love and hate familiar even to gamers.
A demonic business tactic that endlessly sucked money from consumers whose eyes had gone blind after being bewitched by probability.
Normally, I would never have thought of touching such a highly gambling-oriented product…
‘But if I think about it carefully, it’s plenty profitable for me.’
“Avatar” shared the skills possessed by the main body.
In other words, strictly speaking, I was not drawing just one skill.
I was drawing a skill worth a whole ten copies, shared by the main body and all nine avatars!
‘In practical terms, the price is only fifty thousand! At this point, it’s so reasonable that it would be strange not to do it! …Let’s really try it just once.’
How much help had the first shared skill, “Super Recovery,” been in the early movements of my clones?
Not only had it simply helped, it had also greatly influenced the evolution of later skills, like Harley’s and Heinz II’s “Super Regeneration.”
‘Even if I get something with subtle performance like “Sturdiness,” it’s fine. If I have it, it’ll help in some way. And if I happen to hit the jackpot…’
I wasn’t asking for much.
It would be nice if something modest like “Physical Immunity,” “Resurrection,” or “Demonic Eye of Instant Death” came out.
Having already been thoroughly bewitched by a fantasy that did not even exist, I swelled with anticipation and boldly selected the draw—
《Forcibly blooming a random possibility. You have acquired the skill “Xenoglossy.”》
And at the same time, I obtained a skill with an incredibly cool name that seemed as though it had something to it.
“Ohhh—! Oh…?”
Xenoglossy.
It was certainly an amazing ability.
After all, it was a supernatural power that allowed one to freely use a language they had never once learned.
Reading, writing, listening, and speaking—every process could be performed more fluently than a native speaker, and it applied regardless not only of race but even of species.
Yes, just like—
How I was currently freely using the continental common language, Elvish, and so on in Auterica.
In other words, it was an ability that was basically installed by default in awakened ones transmitted to another world.
“…No, no. Let’s not judge too hastily. There must be somewhere it’ll be useful.”
If I thought about it carefully, it was a sufficiently useful ability on Earth.
How much trouble had Hahoe Mask gone through because of the language issue when he first operated in Japan?
Because of that, hadn’t I had to work hard for a while reading memories related to language and separately acquire Japanese?
…In other words, it was an ability Hans could replace without difficulty as long as he invested the time.
“Ahem. Hans is high-class manpower, after all. From now on, I won’t have to waste time on such problems for no reason, so it’s a good enough ability.”
Not only could I gather information more reliably during that time, but just the fact that I did not have to go through that troublesome intermediate process was a major advantage.
After desperately finishing my self-justification, I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head away.
…Vowing never to touch gambling again.
The remaining karma was 4.4 million.
My heart had almost broken, but as I looked at the still-abundant ammunition, I calmly collected myself.
‘As expected, the stable choice is strengthening my unique skill.’
The foundation that had made me who I was now, and a choice that, like a dependable bowl of gukbap, had never made me regret it.
I selected the 1.2-million-point “Unique Skill Enhancement.”
《The avatar’s potential has increased. The individual’s learning ability has improved further.》
《The unique skill has grown, expanding its possibilities. Related lower-level skills have been further strengthened.》
This time, no special ability appeared, but it didn’t matter since the number of avatars had increased.
And what followed next was—
『Gold Dragon Hatchling Hureione’s Dragon Heart (910,000)』
A race born with mighty power from the moment of birth, commanding mana as naturally as breathing, and reaching beyond the ultimate realm into transcendence simply by growing older.
Namely, the medium needed to imitate such an unreasonable existence.
‘Now that I can change into other races, shouldn’t I at least try becoming a dragon, said to be the strongest race?’
Of course, that was also my sincere feeling, but it was not simply for that reason.
I was the one who had taken avatars that began as ordinary races and ultimately placed them at the peak of the continent.
If someone like me took the body of a dragon, which possessed potential far superior to that of a human, and raised it with all my might…?
‘Perhaps it might truly be able to surpass even Hans, the Immortal King.’
Besides, it would surely be a great help when dealing with the leader of the Beoncheon Society.
Hans, my greatest fighting force, was at a disadvantage in terms of compatibility against that angel, so wouldn’t it balance things out only if a dragon stepped forward instead?
So, since I was going to use it as a medium anyway, I searched through the item list and chose the cheapest Dragon Heart.
Compared to the 1.83-million-point one I had first discovered, it was less than half the price.
It was horrifying that even though it belonged to a hatchling, a dragon in its infancy, the cheapest item still cost as much as 910,000, but even so, this much was fully bearable.
‘Dragons, which were thoroughly targeted and driven to extinction in the two great wars. In the process, most Dragon Hearts were either corrupted by the Immortal King, or the intact ones were used as war supplies by the continental side.’
In a war on that scale, where the life and death of every race was at stake, there was no way they could afford to spare anything.
Of course, it wasn’t as if there were absolutely no pieces of equipment made with Dragon Hearts as materials that had been passed down intact until now, but…
‘A split and processed Dragon Heart cannot satisfy the conditions.’
Even without relying on the Immortal King Hans, with the influence of Saint Heinrich or Heinz II, the ruler of a nation, I could easily obtain a few such magic tools.
But those were merely excellent magic tools, and unsuitable as materials for “Customization.”
‘To use it as a medium, I need an intact item. Not only uncorrupted, but also pure and unprocessed.’
It was different from creating ordinary races such as humans, elves, or dwarves.
And naturally, there was no way such a fine item would still remain somewhere easy to find.
That must be why even a hatchling’s cost 910,000.
‘For such unique items, maybe there are separate conditions, because it doesn’t seem like their prices fluctuate in real time depending on the situation. No, I’m not even sure if they truly exist on the continent right now.’
In truth, thinking about it, rather than wandering around indefinitely searching for an item’s whereabouts just to save a few points, it would be far more efficient to act actively during that time, grow my avatars, and earn karma.
Having concluded my thoughts like that, I forcibly stopped the worry that was beginning to drag on and decisively purchased the item before any more hesitation could arise.
Wooooong—
And at that very moment.
A fist-sized golden crystal that appeared by splitting through space gently settled on my palm, emitting a faint golden light.
‘So this is a real Dragon Heart.’
It was far smaller than the one Harley had seen when he burrowed into Heratos’s heart, but the aura it emitted was overwhelmingly pure.
“But… is it a little lacking?”
However, the moment I faced it before my eyes, I could instinctively understand.
This item was appropriate as a medium, but my level was still insufficient to use “Customization” on it.
‘It’s lacking? Then I just need to strengthen it!’
Having come this far, there was no turning back.
I still had 2.29 million bullets left anyway.
Using “Miscellaneous Skill Enhancement,” I spent 100,000 points to strengthen “Customization” once.
“Still?”
But even after that, it was still insufficient.
Forcibly suppressing the twitching corners of my mouth, I used 200,000 points this time and strengthened it once more.
The remaining points were 1.99 million.
Just as I was about to become depressed at the leading digit turning into 1, the points in the lower digits happened to fill up, and my balance became 2 million again.
At the same time, I became able to use “Customization”—
And the satisfaction swelling in my heart doubled.
‘There’s no need to hesitate.’
Although it was extremely stable and not much energy leaked from it, and although all sorts of barriers had been cast throughout the entire house, that did not mean I could leave an object containing such immense energy lying around for long.
Srrrrk—
And the moment I activated the skill.
The golden Dragon Heart in my hand slowly turned to powder and scattered.