What? What do you mean level 18?"
Yang Joo Hyuk couldn't help but ask.
"Wasn't he level 10 just before?"
The levels of Tier 0 players were regularly checked, and the last time they checked, the Archmage's Descendant was only a level 10.
"Yes, he was...'
Jang Yool nodded. Yang Joo Hyuk then continued.
"Even if he can one-shot monsters around his level, this leveling speed still doesn't make any sense."
A day hadn't passed since the last check, it had only been a few hours. More precisely, only 2 hours had passed.
8 levels in a mere 2 hours? That could be achieved if he could hunt without any competition, but the beginner levels fostered the most competition in the game. So how did he raise his level by 8 in such a short amount of time?
"Did he go to a high-level hunting area?"
Maybe he went hunting in an area not meant for level 10s?
"No, that's not it."
Jang Yool shook his head at Yang Joo Hyuk's guess.
"Then how?"
"He hunted wolves."
"...Wolves?"
"Yes."
Jang Yool confirmed as he nodded once again.
"In Matab, because there are only Magicians the players don't tend to hunt in wolf territory."
"Ah…"
Yang Joo Hyuk sighed in resignation.
"Is he still hunting? If he's at level 18, then wolves won't grant much experience anymore."
He asked Jang Yool. Even normal jobs at level 18 found levelling through hunting wolves gruelling, but Soo Hyuk was the Archmage's Descendant, a job which required five times more experience.
"No, he's stopped hunting now."
"He hasn't moved anywhere else?"
"Well, he went to the library again."
* * *
"Magic Missile."
Bang!
The wolf was blasted away by the Magic Missile. Soo Hyuk turned his line of sight away from the dead wolf and scanned the surrounding area. After he confirmed that no more wolves were nearby, he collected the drops of the dead wolves.
– 14 wolf pelts
– 5 wolf paws
– 7 wolf fangs
Even though he collected the drops frequently while hunting, there were still many drops left. Soo Hyuk then opened his inventory to check how many pelts, paws and fangs he had gathered so far.
"Hmm, how much are these all worth?"
How much gold would he obtain after he sold them? With a satisfied expression, Soo Hyuk closed his inventory and opened his status window. Soo Hyuk's expression darkened instantly when he checked his character profile. More exactly, he was frustrated.
Occupation: Archmage's Descendant
Level: 18
Experience: 9%
Health: 5250 Mana: 36620
Strength: 15 Agility: 25(+6)
Stamina: 99 Wisdom: 1832
"Do I have to move to a different area now?"
When he hit level 17, he had felt the effect of the low experience that the wolves gave. Going forwards, Soo Hyuk knew that it would take even longer for him to reach level 19.
"Yeah, I even got a new title as well."
Soo Hyuk could easily pick off wolves now. He had gained another title while hunting wolves. It was 'the Scourge of Wolves'.
(TL: The name of the old title fit better. Sorry for the inconvenience as I'm translating on the fly right now. This kind of thing is exactly why I reduced the sponsored chapters. The title he got from killing the King Wolf will be changed to Conqueror of the Wolven Forest.)
-The Scourge of Wolves (Agility +3)
It increased agility by three, which Soo Hyuk thought was meaningless for him.
"Let's stop hunting wolves. I think it's better to move onto a new area."
He no longer had reason to stay here, as he had even gained the 'Scourge of Wolves' title. It was more efficient to go hunt higher level monsters.
Soo Hyuk closed his status window and started walking back to the city. His hunt had ended. It was time to go to the library.
"Who wants to hunt bears with me! I'm a level 25 Fire Mage!"
"I'm looking for a party! I'm a level 19 Healing Mage and I have experience hunting bears!"
Soo Hyuk arrived at the Eastern Gate not long after. The number of players looking for a party hadn't reduced since morning. Soo Hyuk passed them and entered the city.
"Let's sell all the drops first."
He had something to do before going to the library. It was selling the monster materials that he had collected from hunting. He was going to sell all the monster materials that he had obtained from his hunting trip.
"The wolf drops sell for more at the Earth Pagoda, right?"
He could sell items in places other than the Central Spire, and prices were different at every market. It was because different towers wanted different things.
The wolf pelts, paws and fangs that he currently had in his inventory sold for more at the Earth Pagoda. At least, that was what the internet said.
He would go to the Central Spire if he only had one or two drops, but with his massive stash, he chose to go to the Earth Pagoda.
"Welcome!"
Soo Hyuk had finally arrived at the Earth Pagoda.
'There are a lot of players here.'
The Earth Pagoda didn't just buy the wolf drops for more. Low-level monsters like foxes and bears were also sold at a high price. For that reason, the Earth Pagoda always had a lot of players visiting. Soo Hyuk got in line at one of the booths in the Pagoda.
"How can I help you?"
"I want to sell some materials."
It was Soo Hyuk's turn after a few minutes. He opened his inventory at the NPC's word and started taking out the monster materials, starting with the wolf pelts.
"It'll take a minute. There's a lot."
Soo Hyuk currently possessed 932 wolf pelts. Although his inventory had infinite storage, he could only bring out ten items at a time. Soo Hyuk unceasingly pulled out pelts in stacks of ten, but when he reached his 40th stack, the NPC hurriedly stopped him with a flustered expression on his face.
"...Wait!"
"...?"
Soo Hyuk stopped taking out the pelts and stared at the NPC Karl in confusion.
"How many more do you have?"
Karl asked when he saw that Soo Hyuk had stopped. Soo Hyuk checked his inventory at Karl's request. He had brought out a total of 400 pelts, so there was 'only' 532 pelts left in his inventory.
"532."
Karl choked when he heard the amount. After calming himself, he stuttered with a pale face.
"Kek...Y-you sure have a lot of wolf pelts. Can we move spots? This location isn't suitable for such a large deal."
"Sure."
Soo Hyuk returned all his pelts back into his inventory. Unlike taking things out, storing items in the inventory didn't have a limit. Soo Hyuk then followed Karl inside the tower.
"Those were wolf pelts, right?"
"..."
"How the f*ck..."
"Is he a high-level player?"
"Well even if he's a high rank player, he's a Poison Magician, so hunting monsters on the same level is impossible."
"Yeah, kekeke."
"But that's still amazing. I mean how many days would that take?"
The players around him whispered to each other after he left with Karl. Soo Hyuk managed to catch a few snippets as he walked away. It seemed there was a big misunderstanding. Of course, he didn't correct them, as he had no reason to. He just quietly followed Karl.
"Alright, let's start again here."
Karl said after he stopped. In front of him was a massive table. Soo Hyuk then started taking out his items again.
'Hah...taking items out from the inventory is also quite an undertaking.'
It wasn't easy taking out 932 wolf pelts. Plus, there were still paws and fangs left.
"That's all of them."
Soo Hyuk said to Karl after taking out the last 2 pelts.
"Ah, can you please wait a bit?"
"Sure."
Karl then began to check the quality of the pelts.
"Although some are a little burned, they are in a good condition overall."
Karl, who had been assessing the pelts for quite a long time suddenly said to Soo Hyuk,
"How about 700 gold?"
"...700 gold?"
Soo Hyuk couldn't help but do a double take.
'Isn't that too much?'
In the Central Spire, most people gave 1 gold for 2 wolf pelts. Using this exchange rate, Soo Hyuk would've gotten 466 gold.
'That must be why there are a lot of buyers and not many sellers there.'
The Central Spire had a lot of players who were looking to buy items. He had originally thought that coming here was a waste of time, but now he understood why people bothered to make the trip to the Earth Pagoda, even if they were on the other side of the city.
"Okay. I accept."
Soo Hyuk replied.
"Thank you for your patronage."
Karl replied back with a smile.
The table suddenly shone with a bright light, then all the pelts disappeared. A new message appeared.
[You have sold over 500 items at once.]
[Title: Peddler received.]
"Here you go."
Soo Hyuk turned away from the message and looked at Karl in response to his words. He was holding out a little pouch.
Soo Hyuk took the pouch from Karl. It contained 700 gold, but it was light. When he put the pouch away into his inventory, a message appeared.
[You have received 700 gold.]
The pouch disappeared the moment it entered his inventory, but he still received the 700 gold.
"Once again, thank you for your patronage."
Karl said. But Soo Hyuk wasn't done. While Karl was speaking he had brought out a stack of 10 wolf fangs.
"Then I look forward to...'
Karl suddenly froze when he spotted the fangs in Soo Hyuk's palm. Soo Hyuk then said to Karl,
"I still have more things to sell."
–
"Hahaha! Have a good day! Please look for me again in the future! Hahaha...'
"Yes, have a good day."
Soo Hyuk bid farewell to the ecstatic Karl and headed towards the library. As he walked towards the library, he checked his new title, 'Peddler'.
– Peddler (Strength, Stamina +5)
"Wow."
Soo Hyuk sighed in admiration when he checked the title's effects. It increased his strength and stamina by five.
"This title is no joke. I don't think it's recorded either."
Soo Hyuk didn't remember seeing the 'Peddler' title in the Pangea fan databases on the official website. If this information was made known to the general playerbase, then it would be sure to create a storm, considering how easy it was to obtain. At least, it was easy for him.
"Heh."
And as Soo Hyuk looked at the gold in his inventory, he couldn't help but grin widely. He had sold the wolf pelts for 700 gold, the fangs for 400 gold and the paws for 400 gold respectively. In total, he had received a massive 1500 gold for just 2 hours of hunting.
'The value of gold will fall at this rate.'
Soo Hyuk suddenly had the thought that the value of gold would fall as players discovered more and more things in Pangea.
'I can learn from this.'
Soo Hyuk closed his inventory. With 1500 gold, he could complete a few more skill quests. Although he didn't choose where to hunt next, more skills would be beneficial to him. While thinking about his future skills, Soo Hyuk finally arrived at the library.
"Here you go."
Soo Hyuk pulled out his 'Magician's Token' and handed it to the NPC librarian as he entered the library. Then, he headed straight for the bookshelves.
"...?"
Soo Hyuk suddenly froze when he saw the bookcase next to him. He had already read every single book on that bookshelf. He was sure of it, but...
"Blue?"
A book on the bookshelf was shining blue.