“Hassan, no! This is the last one—!”
Luna floundered her hands, seemingly trying to keep me away from her and the wildling, but my hand had already grasped the last wildling clinging to Luna’s chest.
And then, I drank it in one go.
Gyu—
『You have consumed the breast milk of the Queen of the Sky.』
『Task points +100.』
『Current task points +279.』
Fucking hell, by drinking these strange liquid creatures, I was able to gain a whopping 200 task points! Holy fuck! I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality anymore.
With 200 task points, I could raise my level at least twice in quick succession. Since my current level was around 19, consuming all these points would push me to level 20.
That meant achieving the standard for advancing to a silver-tier adventurer, which was designated as level 30 at the minimum, would not be a dream any longer.
“Hehehe—”
“Hassan, you idiot! You ate all of my wildlings! I told you to only eat one—!”
However, Luna was clearly angry at me for devouring all of her wildlings. Well, they were incredibly valuable creatures, worth 2 pieces of gold each after all.
Hence, it was only natural for her to be angry when someone took and ate those creatures just like that.
I knew that fact very well. Yet, the moment I tasted those creatures, I couldn’t think of anything else, as if my body automatically desired those monsters. Why did I act like that?
“I’m sorry, Luna. I didn’t do it on purpose. Here, I’ll pay you back for the ones I have consumed.”
“…Okay!”
As I handed Luna the four pieces of gold to pay for the wildings I had consumed, her expression instantly brightened. Although it made me feel a bit unsettled, her quick changes in emotions proved to be helpful in their own way.
“Hihi, now I own more pieces of gold again. What should I do with them? Mauve there are more wildlings?”
“Hehe, it seems that both of you have already adapted to the underground market. In that case, I’ll go see the Dragon Beard Mandolin that I’ve wanted to buy for a while now.”
“Well, then I’ll go too… There’s something that has caught my attention over there—”
And so, we split up to spend our money.
Thanks to that, Luna and I were able to explore this underground market together, looking for a place where we could buy more wildlings like the ones that we had eaten just now.
However, no other place sold those liquid creatures like the previous shop.
The three wildlings Luna bought earlier were the last ones that were present in the entire market.
“We don’t get much stock. It’s uncertain whether we’ll get even one per month. Also, we never know when they’ll come exactly so it is hard to tell.”
“Maybe if you gaze at the Milky Way, you might get lucky to find one falling on your lap.”
Even the underground merchants spoke of the scarcity of wildlings. They were indeed very expensive and rare creatures.
It almost felt like finding the white snake that had turned pale after eating wild ginseng. White snakes that had eaten wild ginseng were a valuable medicinal ingredient. My father would be pleased for at least one month whenever he discovered such creatures back in my world. 1This a story that made the news in Korea.
Thus, we spent about half a day wandering around the underground market just like that.
“My legs hurt.”
Luna sat on top of an old wooden barrel nearby, probably due to the exhaustion of walking for a long time throughout the day. I also sat next to her to take a short break.
Luckily, I brought the two totems Luna had made before with me, so I used them to quickly level up. Of course, there was no need to hesitate about the allocation. I would invest everything into strength regardless.
One out of the two upgrades gave me additional stats, so my strength increased to a total value of 3.
“…Long Live Chaos.”
Ding—
[Stats] Name: Hassan
Level: 19 → 22
Strength: 9 → 12
Agility: 4
Stamina: 6
Task points: 179
Blessings: Blessing of Chaos 》Imperfect Dexterity 》Night’s Cloak』
“Hehe.”
My strength stat was now 12.
12…
It was not much different from the Hippolyte’s strength stat of 15. Also, I remember Elfriede’s strength stat was 12 as well.
Tighten—
I tightened my fist, exerting strength in my hand. I certainly felt an unparalleled sense of omnipotence coursing throughout my body.
I felt like I could accomplish things that were previously deemed impossible for me. In fact, I’d been feeling this way because my stat exceeded 10.
How much stronger have I become?
While thinking with a hint of regret that it would have been really nice if there was a bench press machine to measure my strength, by chance, I noticed Luna’s gaze directly staring at me with intent.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Just because.”
Luna continued to stare at my face without properly replying to my question.
How long has it been since I felt such a penetrating gaze from someone else? Even though it was only between Luna and me, or rather, because of that, it felt even more embarrassing to
“Hassan, you’re indeed ugly.”
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
“Your hair is black and your eyes are also black. Black is an ominous color. But I like it, though.”
Why did she suddenly criticize someone’s appearance? Did that mean she suddenly had become aware of how ugly I was? I worried that Luna was no longer blinded by love while looking at me.
“However, I like you because you are ugly like that. I thought, other than me, there would be no one out there who would like you.”
“Huh, that’s… What kind of reasoning is that?”
Did my appearance still strike a niche somehow? Luna started liking me because I was ugly. Then, I’m glad I’m ugly.
However, I’d never really heard anyone say that I was ugly before. It was just in this world that people like me, who were considered barbarians, inevitably faced the prejudice of being ‘strange looking’ as a basic assumption.
Then Luna spoke again.
“But if you look good in my eyes, maybe others will too see you in the same light someday.”
“…Really? Why are you suddenly saying that? Who likes me?”
“No, I just think it might happen in the future. If Hassan continues to get stronger and become more and more famous, there will surely be many followers. And among them, there might even be women.”
“Why are you worrying about that already?”
In response to my light retort, Luna responded in her own way.
“Hassan, I do wish that you become more and more famous and reach the gold tier as soon as possible. But, a part of me still wants you to be my own little hero, who can roll around on the dirt with me as you are doing now till the very end.”
I could instinctively sense that Luna was feeling anxious right now.
It was something I had heard before that women often worried about their partners getting involved with other women.
In severe cases, they even went as far as to prevent them from being in the presence of or having any contact with other women. My friend’s girlfriend was exactly that type of person. She even erased all the female names from his phone contacts once.
Of course, my friend was so popular and sociable that I could totally understand why his girlfriend would feel insecure. But I was just an unpopular barbarian hovering at the bottom of society in these barbaric lands.
Luna seemed worried that something like that might happen to me too, that some other woman might approach me and steal me from her. And surprisingly, Luna’s intuition sometimes hit the mark with sharp accuracy.
So, with the image of Hippolyte’s face in my mind, I decided to ask her nonchalantly, as if it were just a passing question.
“Hey, Luna. I’m really just asking this out of boredom, but what do you think about polygamy?”
Luna immediately frowned at that question of mine.
“Why are you asking about something like that?”
Huh? How could she turn the question back on me? It was such a sharp counterattack which was totally unlike Luna who usually answered all of my questions with ease.
My stomach felt numb, far more than when I got hit in the solar plexus by Elfriede earlier.
“Well, I’m just curious.”
“Why are you curious all of a sudden? There must be a reason.”
“It’s really only just because I am a bit curious.”
“… And why are you curious about that again?”
Luna raised her claws like a fierce dinosaur and growled menacingly. It was intimidating to see her sharp fangs being out in the open.
“Just answer honestly, or I’ll bite you, Hassan!”
“No, it’s just… uh, well…”
Damn it. I wish I had someone I could consider as a friend to help me speak in these types of situations. At least, I wondered what Marco would have said in a situation like this.
“Brother, you’re being evasive.”
He would have said something like, “Brother, you’re being evasive.” No, wait. I did hear something that almost sounded like Marco’s voice right now, though.
So I turned my head and there, at that very moment, I saw Marco walking towards us, practically half-naked.
It seemed like that punk finally caused some trouble. Starting from dine and dash, then causing a commotion with his singing, and now he had added another charge of obscene behavior to his name.
“Marco, you bastard! What’s going on?”
I rushed towards Marco with all my might. It was like an intense moment where I was about to get hit by Luna’s counter question, but the intrusion of a third party disrupted us, finally saving me from that tricky situation. Anyway, I was relieved.
“Marco, you bastard! Nice to see you!”
“I must say, it feels great to be welcomed so warmly. It’s as if a small ray of sunlight is shining through my frozen heart. But the fact that I’m screwed right now still remains.”
Marco was only wearing underwear without his usual ridiculous hat and the instrument he always awkwardly carried around. What could have happened within half a day to make someone go broke to this extent?
“What the hell happened to you?”
“I was robbed by thieves. Can you believe that they even stole the clothes I was wearing?”
“The hell, someone stole your clothes?”
If they had the skill to steal the clothes someone was wearing, they should be called something other than thieves. Maybe like an artist or some other similar title. The king of thieves, perhaps?
Then Marco added a few more words.
“Actually, I lost in gambling. I was just a step away from winning big. Oh, Mercury, why do you put me through these trials…”
“What the fuck. I thought you were actually robbed for a second there.”
If they could steal the clothes Marco was wearing, I was sure that they were an incredible individual, perhaps even associated with the Thieves’ Guild or something.
I even thought for a moment that tracking them down might help me dismantle the Thieves’ Guild, as they wouldn’t be easy to catch.
But I literally had no idea where or how to start finding information about this “Thieves’ Guild” in this vast underground world.
On the other hand, asking around in the underground, “Do you know anything about the Thieves’ Guild?” wasn’t a feasible plan either.
So when I was slightly disappointed by our helplessness in this situation, Marco suddenly grabbed onto my collar.
“No, it’s really a theft. It was undoubtedly a scam. Those punks tricked me into a gambling scheme. If this isn’t being robbed, then what is?”
“Damn it, gambling losers always say something like that. Anyway, let go of me. Why does a half-naked guy like you—”
The only physical contact permitted between men was when performing first aid or engaging in violence. That was the common sense in any and all worlds. Any other form of touch? That was simply out of line.
“Let go of me, you bastard; before I hit you!”
“I-I really was robbed. My gold. They stole my gold! Oh, Mercury!”
But Marco seemed completely out of his mind right now.
From his story, it was no wonder that he seemed to have gone insane, considering he had lost all the gold he had in just half a day.
If I lost all of my money through gambling, I, too, would have no confidence in maintaining my composure.
“Mr. Hassan, Ms. Luna! Mr. Marco! There you are—! I’ve been searching for so long!”
At that moment, I saw Paranoy, the nymph proselyte, approaching us from a distance, waving her hand in our direction. She had a strange bone in her hand.
“Hehe, I got lucky—! I could buy the hand bone of a nymph for seven gold! They say wands made from these have a great efficacy—!”
I simply couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A nymph came over while holding another nymph’s bone in her hand. I felt like all the thoughts in my brain got tangled all of a sudden as I witnessed this scene. I wasn’t sure how to explain this peculiar sensation that was coursing through my mind.
“Isn’t that very nymphobic?”
“It’s okay among fellow nymphs…!”
It was okay to say it among fellow nymphs, huh? Was it like how black people could mock each other with racially discriminatory terms, but it was not okay for someone of a different race to do it?
As I tried to convince myself of this absurd phenomenon with that logic, Luna, who had been quietly biting her lips by my side, spoke up in a cheerful tone.
“The hand bone of a nymph! Wow! Let me see it! Show it to me!”
As always, Luna had the talent to quickly forget her anger and frustration. Her life must always be filled with immense joy.
Ssk— Clack—
Luna received the bone from Paranoy’s hand and exclaimed, “Ohh!” with admiration.
“I-Is this the famous hand bone of a nymph…?”
“Ms. Luna, isn’t it
“…It’s really cool. You have two of these amazing things, too, right?”
“W-Well, that’s right—”
“Paranoy, I love it so much!”
“Hiiiik!”
Luna enthusiastically hugged Paranoy’s waist.
She was totally out of her mind.
Well, today we just came to the underground market for a preliminary survey. The real mission would start tomorrow with the accompaniment of Hippolyte. So it was okay to relax like this for a day.
Balancing work and rest was really important, after all.
So, let’s summarize the events of today. Marco lost everything in gambling.
Paranoy spent all her money on that bone or whatever it was.
Luna and I had 4 and 6 underground golds left, respectively. We definitely earned over 30 pieces of gold, so where did it all go all of a sudden? It was so difficult to earn that much money, but we managed to spend it all in merely half a day.
But that was how life was for Iron and Bronze tier adventurers.
They couldn’t save money because they’d never earn a large sum. And even when they got the chance to earn money, they would end up spending it all at once, like a one-time binge. Many of them were in debt here and there too.
They would be living a relatively diligent life for lower-tier adventurers if most weren’t debt-riddled.
“But Paranoy, this looks fake.”
“T-That can’t be—!”
“No, it’s really fake. It looks more like the handbone of a monkey. Look, the joints and segments here are slightly different. I know a lot about the skeletal structure of monkeys because I’ve handled them before.”
Luna had an excellent eye for examining materials. As a result, the hand bone Paranoy brought turned out to be a fake, not the hand bone of a nymph as she had claimed.
Therefore, Paranoy screamed in agony.
“Hiiik! M-Mr. Hassan! What should I do—!? I-It seems I’ve been scammed—! A-All my
“Fuck, what can we do then? Of course, we should go for a refund.”
Seven pieces of gold were indeed a significant amount of money. Losing money in gambling could be considered one’s own fault and could be overlooked. However, selling fraudulent items was an entirely different matter.
“Where is it? Let’s go.”
“T-There, over there—”
We were led by the disoriented Paranoy through the underground market, wandering through alleys and corners in search of our destination.
And deep within the market, we discovered a shop filled with peculiar bone sculptures, plants growing in pots, leather pouches, and miscellaneous items of unknown purpose lined up in an orderly manner.
What should we call it? An underground general store? Yeah, that was more or less the right term.
“Welcome, come on in.”
The shop owner was a man wearing an eyepatch with a black bandana on his head.
His beard made him appear to be in his late thirties or early forties at least, but in this world where age was hard to determine, it was difficult to say for sure how old he was.
“You don’t seem like regular customers.”
Perhaps he noticed Paranoy’s disheveled appearance? The man smiled mischievously and pointed to a corner. There was a wide metal plate with a sign attached to it.
“Our shop is under the protection of Hydra. We don’t do refunds, so you’d better leave.”
The metal plate depicted a nine-headed lizard. Could this shop be affiliated with the Thieves’ Guild? That would explain how they could sell scam products so daringly while conducting their business.
What a perfect timing!
If I interrogate this guy, I might be able to obtain information about the thieves that I’d been looking for. So, I decided to try the intimidation skills I had honed in the slums to intimidate and interrogate him.
“It would be best if you obediently return the money. Otherwise, you won’t like what happens next. I’ll strip you of your skin right here and now.”
“What? S-Skin?”
The eyepatch-wearing owner started to flinch at my threat.
There were four of us in our entourage.
Meanwhile, this man was all alone.
It seemed inevitable that he would be taken aback. However, he suddenly burst into laughter soon after.
“Well, you surprised me for a moment there. As expected, wild barbarians like you are overflowing with savagery. Threats, huh? Threats are very amusing. But this is not my first time doing business here in the underground.”
Could this guy also be as cunning as a fox? So, it seemed like there was a limit to what I could do with my growling and roaring, honed over the past month, to intimidate him.
The man spoke up.
“If you want to show off your strength, try breaking that hydra’s steel plate over there. Then, maybe I’ll consider giving you your money back.”
The one-eyed shop owner pointed his finger toward the metal plate while putting on a mocking smile on his wretched face. Feeling slight anger rise within me from being disregarded, I approached the wall and pulled out the metal plate to break it.
It was a solid and chilling piece of metal. It was quite thick too. From the quality, this plate seemed worthy to be called a steel plate.
“I also want to see how strong I’ve become. What a good timing.”
“You want to try it for real? You won’t even leave a scratch on that metal. It’s made of titanium. It won’t bend even if a bear steps on it.”
Squeak—
“See; it won’t-. Why… why is it bending now?”
“Here, return the money now. And you have to spill out some info too.”
Squeak— Squeak—
I threw the metal plate that had been crumpled like a ball before the man.
He was greatly shocked, not knowing how to react to the scene before him.
…I, too, was secretly quite surprised.
Holy fuck. Unexpectedly, my strength had risen far more than I initially thought.
Footnotes:
1This a story that made the news in Korea.
