Item (2)

“What are these?”

“They’re help items. Some of them are pretty useful.”

“Where did you get them?”

“I didn’t tell you anything before, but in fact, right after the incident, I accidentally found a box.”

“Box?”

“It would be appropriate to call it a treasure chest. It was like a wooden box that people used in the past.”

“Oh, it looks like they’re really special Hyung-nim, doesn’t it?”

The authenticity of such a claim could not be verified, but since they were in a dungeon, there was a high possibility of a treasure chest containing such items here.

Personally, I was thinking of the possibility of whether these were items that Kim Hyunsung owned personally, but I found no valid reason for him to share his own things with us.

What items Kim Hyunsung currently had and what we could get from him were what really mattered right now.

“This is amazing. If there are more such boxes around here, I would love to find them… Perhaps the number of chests spread throughout the dungeon is limited and the box that Hyunsung found could be the first and last of its kind. But, who knows? There can also be similar things underground…”

“Yes. That’s right, Kiyoung-ssi. I had already searched around there, but this was the first time that I found a box. I couldn’t search any further, but… Anyway, let’s take a look at these.”

“Yeah, sure.”

I was definitely going to see what we had on our hands.

There was no need for me to trigger the Mind’s Eye. As soon as I lifted them up with my hand, information about them poured into my mind.

It would have been nice if I could check the items’ detailed stats, but I sighed in regret when I went through them.

[Iron Dwarf’s Steel Bracelet – Common Grade]

[This is a trinket made by the fallen iron dwarf race. Unlike its crude appearance, it is a bracelet with very technical work done on it. When it is worn, the stamina, endurance, and strength increases by 1 point each.]

The owner of the bracelet had already been decided. It seemed that Park Deokgu was the right wielder for this.

The total number of stats that were raised by this item was 3. It was almost equal to the stats you got when you acquired a class.

This was a normal grade item.

Then a thought came to my mind. Maybe heroic and legendary equipment that was even better than this would have features that I could not even begin to imagine.

“Oh, oh…”

My expression was the one someone would make when receiving money from their grandmother.

The problem was what came right after this.

[Magic Shield Ring – Rare Grade]

[It cannot be confirmed where it was made. This item is ancient. It is an accessory that can be used to create a magic shield by storing magic power in the ring twice a day. You must recharge its power yourself. (2/2)]

[Sacred Healing – Rare Grade]

[It can not be confirmed where it was made. This is a ring that contains divine magic powers and healing abilities on a smaller scale. It can be used once a day. (1/1)]

The other two items were Rare-Grade rings.

As soon as I checked them, my eyes widened unexpectedly.

‘I love this.’

I thought that by following Kim Hyunsung, I would be able to get some bean sprouts, but I couldn’t even imagine that I would get to eat a whole feast instead.

These were Rare-Grade rings!

I was also surprised by their functions that seemed excellent.

They didn’t raise the stats directly like Park Deokgu’s item, but these items were much more valuable than his.

For example, assuming that the magical power consumed to memorize the magical shield ring’s spell and form the shield was about 4, this item gave an efficiency of +8 to the stats. They could not be compared with any ordinary Common grade item that had an efficiency of +3.

‘I’m in luck.’

The same was true for divine healing.

Seeing that the item was Rare grade, this item would also have at least +6 stat efficiency. They had the ability to protect yourself with a shield twice a day and also cure wounds, which served as insurance.

When Kim Hyunsung chose to go down to the dungeon, he made sure he was well-prepared for any and all unforeseen circumstances.

‘Preparing for everything beforehand is a smart move.’

As I was nodding my head, Park Deokgu slowly touched the bracelet.

“I think it’s too precious… Can I really have it?”

“You don’t have to worry about it.”

“Great… Well, then, the bracelet is mine. Thank you, Hyung-ssi. I haven’t done much around here, and I’m sorry for that…”

“Oh, you don’t have to say that.”

“No. I should repay you.”

“Alright, then thank you in advance.”

The owner of the bracelet had been decided, but the problem was with the other two rings.

In fact, it wasn’t a bad idea to have any one of these rings, but if I had to choose between them, then self-protection obviously came first.

If Hayan wore the divine healing item, there was a high probability that she would be able to use the divine magic inside properly.

‘I sure can’t use it.’

I felt like totally useless trash, but I couldn’t help it.

Unlike her, who could use various magic types, I usually got exhausted just by using the same spell twice.

When I was struggling with these thoughts inside my head, it was Hayan who spoke first.

“Well, I’ll take this then.”

What she chose was the divine healing item.

I didn’t know if she noticed my reaction, but she definitely did what I intended for her to do.

“Then I will take the item that is left.” The corner of my mouth rose up into a smile. I couldn’t get in a bad mood after being blessed in such a way.

I had obtained a life-saving trump card that could be used twice a day. Without making any effort or taking any risks, I acquired an item of the Rare grade.

‘This is awesome!’

“But can we really accept something like this…?”

“It’s fine. I also have one… In the case of accessories with special stats, it seems that the amount of items you can equip is limited. If it could be helped, then of course I would have worn more of them, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

That was useful information.

“Do you mean to say that the ability of only one ring can be activated at a time, even if I wore two rings?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

I thought I needed to experiment with this later.

I then smiled a little and expressed my gratitude again.

“Thank you so much, Hyunsung-ssi. As Deokgu said, we haven’t done anything to deserve this…”

“Oh, thank you…Hyunsung-ssi.”

“No, no. You don’t have to thank me Kiyoung-ssi and Hayan-ssi as we are friends after all.” He was wearing a big smile.

Perhaps he thought that he had indebted us all in a way. He seemed really convinced of that, after seeing the expressions on mine, Park Deokgu’s and Jung Hayan’s faces as we all looked at him gratefully.

He seemed to think that he could have faith in us and trust us totally. Sensing that, I was a little relieved. In fact, it really helped boost my confidence.

‘We’re going to go together underground.’

Because we were friends.

Kim Hyunsung was planning to go with me, Park Deokgu and Jung Ha-yan. In the case of Jung Hayan, she was a talent that Kim Hyunsung wanted to win over to his own side the most.

She was a wizard whose future was already known to him. It could be said that any effort put into winning her confidence was worthwhile.

Then there was Park Deokgu. He wasn’t that bad either.

As was the case in almost every game, a strong tanker was always helpful.

The judgment, stability, and ability potential that had been shown by him in hunting so far could be said to be lower compared to those of Jung Hayan or Jung Jinho, but his current stats were still very good.

Park Deokgu’s growth limit could easily be surpassed by real fighters such as Kim Hyunsung, Jung Jinho, and Jung Hayan, yet he was still quite good enough.

The only oddball around was me.

It could even be said that I had entered Kim Hyunsung’s group by mistake.

Kim Hyunsung had developed close relations with Park Deokgu and Jung Hayan, with Park Deokgu relying on him and thinking of him as a brother.

For Jung Hayan, he had feelings almost similar to a lover’s.

If someone wanted to take away Park Deokgu and Jung Hayan, they had to take him too now, for they were inseparable.

Thus, it was a good performance on my part that I did not make any mistakes while hunting and that my brain worked better than others. However, people like me were scattered all across the continent.

I should probably earn myself a good position in Kim Hyunsung’s kingdom, which he would obviously establish in the future with the pace he was growing.

Of course, I did not want to live a puppet’s life like that of Lee Jihye, but sometimes you had to lower your head in order to move securely and protect yourself.

‘It may not be that hard to follow him.’

I thought I had to go ahead and take advantage of this situation. And so, I opened my mouth to speak.

“That’s right, we are colleagues.”

We were companions who protected and cared for each other.

It felt a little odd to say that aloud.

“That sounds wonderful, Hyung-nim. Yes… colleagues! Ah. So when do we go down to the dungeon?”

“I think maybe quite soon. I haven’t told ‘them’ yet… Maybe they’re willing to go hunting with us.”

“Well. Yes, there were times when I also wanted to go hunting together, but I refused because Hyung-nim had told me to be aware of them…”

“Alright.”

Kim Hyunsung looked at me once again.

He had adequate vigilance for newcomers. That was confirmed, but I still thought he was quite satisfied with me.

“Well, that’s a story for another time, so… lets focus on the other things.”

“Well, you sound the same as Hyung-nim now. Hm, yes, there must be all sorts of smart men in this world.”

“Even if we are attacking the dungeon together, we must be on our guards to some extent. As we don’t know what may transpire at any moment, so it’s definitely the right thing to be cautious. There is also the possibility that something may happen to us as it did to Park Hyaeyoung, so let’s just be a little more careful this time.”

“Yes, I understand what you mean.”

After I said that, not only Hayan but also Kim Hyunsung himself nodded.

“Kiyoung-ssi is right. But if we really have to be cautious…”

“Yes?”

“I want all of us to consider that we may be facing them as an enemy there.”

Everyone nodded.

“An enemy?”

“Yeah.”

Kim Hyunsung nodded once again and finally seemed to decide to tell us some more things.

“You don’t have to worry too much about that right now. Still, it would be better to prepare yourself. I don’t know what will happen in the dungeon with all these new people.”

“It would be correct to assume that the level of difficulty would be higher than the first floor.”

“Yeah. That’s right. It’s probably like this, but I have to go tell Jinho now. We have to leave as quickly as time permits us.”

“Why hurry so much?”

“We can also prepare on the way to the dungeon.”

“Ah. I see.”

Jung Jinho would not refuse this either.

If their purpose was to survive here or start some other secret and evil plans or whatever, it was advantageous for them to go out together with us. Jung Jinho was already aware of the difference between his level and Kim Hyunsung’s to some extent.

That’s why he kept agreeing with him.

Only

Variables were the most important in a fight, especially if you knew they were inherently disadvantageous for others.

The dungeon attack expedition was likely to create the variable Jinho wanted. It could lead to a situation in which a different future may unfold if Kim Hyunsung was somehow removed.

If he really was a killer, this shelter was the happiest place for him, so there was a high possibility that he would gamble and take this risk.

If I was in his position, I would want to kill Kim Hyunsung and the rest of us at any cost. It was a good opportunity for him that had been provided by Kim Hyunsung himself.

I kept putting up a faint smile on my lips.

Kim Hyunsung was going to be used anyway, either by me or Jung Jinho.

It was the best choice to make the most out of him in every way possible.