Chapter 360: Being Superior 3
Junhyuk instinctively felt that he had to purchase that book from Bebe. The ingredients were attainable, and if he could manufacture magical items, he would be able to rake in gold coins.
He placed his hand forward and said calmly, “Give it to me please.”
Junhyuk tried to grab the book from Bebe, but the merchant raised his hand and said, “Wait! There are a few warnings!”
“What warnings?”
Bebe smiled and continued, “The manufacturing of magical items requires technology, yes, but it also requires creativity. Intelligent people might follow the recipe to make items, but the creation of new items requires innovation.”
Junhyuk frowned and stared at Bebe.
“Does that mean I can’t make good magical items?”
“You understood it correctly. One like yourself, who carries strength runestones, can’t make good magical items. The success rate will also drop, so you should only gather the ingredients for someone else.”
Junhyuk sighed heavily. Someone intelligent? Among humans, that would be Sarang. But Bebe had emphasized creativity, and that meant Elise.
“Why can’t I read it first?”
Bebe laughed and answered, “As you open it, the information will be stored in your brain. There are fifteen recipes in total, and they all get stored at the same time.”
“Is it like the language pill?”
“Of course! I sell them both at my store, so isn’t it obvious?”
In a word, if he had opened the book, he would have wasted 300,000G. He heaved a heavy sigh. Junhyuk had decided to give the book to Elise.
However, he had one more thing to do before that, and that’s when he pulled out a promise ring.
“I have a question.”
Bebe inspected the promise ring and said, “This is a Ring of Promise. Where did you get it?”
“A friend of mine bought it for me. He said he would never be able to betray me with it. I want an explanation of the effects.”
Bebe lifted the Ring of Promise and said, “When two wear this ring, they can’t betray one another under any circ.u.mstance. Betrayal is uncommon in the Dimensional Battlefield, so why don’t you use it in your own dimension?”
“We can’t harm each other?”
“If one tries to harm the other, that person will experience the most grueling pain.”
“What if you just take off the ring?”
Bebe laughed loudly and answered, “When you put it on, you can never take it off.”
“What?”
Bebe explained further, “When you put this ring on, it means you are giving up one finger out of all ten fingers you can equip rings to. However, you will gain absolute trust in all dimensions.”
“So, by giving up a ring finger, I gain a relations.h.i.+p of absolute trust?”
Bebe nodded and continued, “One wearer will be the body, and the other a limb.”
Junhyuk stared at the merchant, and Bebe clarified some more, “Look inside the ring. This mark tells that this ring is to be worn by the body. The other ring will be for the limb. The body and the limb may never split, under any circ.u.mstance.”
“Why the cla.s.sifications?”
Bebe was flabbergasted and annoyed by Junhyuk’s question.
“If you form a bond with me, and I form another with someone else. Can you trust things between that someone else and you?”
“Not really.”
“The body ring and the limb ring will form a lasting bond, but the limb ring can’t form other bonds.”
Junhyuk thought about Jeffrey, thinking that Jeffrey had probably tried to give him a limb ring. He couldn’t really trust Jeffrey yet, so he asked calmly, “How many limbs can the wearer of the body ring have?”
Bebe raised both hands and said, “Ten.”
Junhyuk looked down at the Ring of Promise. It was stronger than he had expected.
“Can you put it on somebody forcefully?”
“Not possible. One has to wear it intentionally.”
Junhyuk put the Ring of Promise away and said, “I’ll buy more rings. How much are they?”
“The body ring is 3,000G, and the limb ring is 1,000G.”
“That’s very cheap!”
Smiling, Bebe said, “I told you this before, but if it serves no purpose in the Dimensional Battlefield, it is a useless item.”
Junhyuk agreed.
“Discount?”
“Sure. How many do you want?”
“One body ring and ten limb rings.”
“The original price is 13,000G. With the 15 percent discount, it goes down to 11,050G.”
He paid for the rings and took them. On Earth, he had to be able to completely trust Elise first. Once he could do that, he would give her the book on manufacturing magical items.
His business with Bebe was almost over, so he smiled and said, “I am curious. I heard I can place bets on the Champions’ Battlefield. Where can I do that?”
Bebe answered nonchalantly, “I am not involved in that. Ask your helper when you pick up your victory reward.”
Junhyuk wanted to bet on Gongon. Sarang was extremely squishy, so he was worried about her, but Gongon could defeat anyone in any battlefield.
He nodded and said, “If I can come back here during this round still, I’ll do it.”
“You do that.”
Junhyuk had spent more than he had wanted to, but he had to prepare for the future. He walked through the portal and started moving with the allied minions.
The buff was already gone, and Junhyuk turned to look at the peak of the mountain. He could see that the enemy heroes hadn’t taken the buff tower yet. On the allied side, Malone refused to go up the mountain, and the enemies would take at least three hours to reach the top, even if the killed heroes headed straight there.
Junhyuk, who was already moving left, contacted Balonte.
“Balonte, how is it going over there?”
“Who the h.e.l.l is this old man? He was so brazen, but after he got hit once, he won’t leave the watchtower.”
Junhyuk sighed and asked, “What about the enemy forces?”
“Another hero showed up. He’s made of ice.”
After hearing that Mantes was there, Junhyuk thought he was heading to the right place. “I’m on my way. Hold on.”
“We are just staring at each other. Anyway, shouldn’t we reoccupy the buff tower?”
Junhyuk shook his head.
“We wouldn’t be able to take the tower now, even if we moved to it right away. If the enemy is headed there already, they’ll be an hour ahead of us.”
“Then, we are giving up the buff?”
“There’s nothing we can do now. Malone refused to go to there.”
Balonte, who remained silent for a while, murmured, “I won’t be in the same team as that old man.”
“Sure. I’ll get there quickly.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Junhyuk looked at the minions. They looked nervous, and he announced, “Now is not the time for rest. Run! Run as if your lives depended on it!”
He started running, and the minions, still nervous, followed him.
“If you lag behind, I will leave you!”
The minions didn’t know where they were, so they ran diligently after him, toward Balonte.
—
Balonte and Malone were waiting for him inside the watchtower. The enemy watchtower was just ahead of them, and on his way, Junhyuk decided to leave his forces waiting in ambush in the forest.
He could see a human-looking lobster by the enemy tower. He had to be the hero version of the minions. He was three meters tall with one-meter long claws.
“Looks st.u.r.dy. He’s a tank.”
Mantes was dense, but the human lobster looked even more so. Both sides were at full health, so there had to be a deterrent.
Junhyuk contacted Balonte and said, “When you start fighting in the middle of the towers, I’ll ambush them.”
“You are here already? Let’s do it!”
Balonte walked forward, and Malone shouted after him, “Where you going?”
Balonte ranted and chewed out the old man, but continued stepping forward. He only had one eye, and he gripped his sword tightly. The human lobster and Mantes stared at him at first, but decided to slowly head out as well.
Hiding in the forest, Junhyuk watched as the enemies stepped forward. They remained within range of the watchtower, and as he continued watching, he swallowed his saliva.
Balonte shouted, “You two losers can’t defeat me!”
As he did, Mantes looked at him, measuring the distance between them, and rushed.
Boom!
Mantes’ rush stunned the opponent, so Balonte was paralyzed. At that moment, Junhyuk ran toward Balonte. When he showed up, Mantes frowned and shouted, “Rockbell! Kill this loser first!”
As he shouted, the human lobster stepped forward. Rockbell used his increased movement speed to close in on Balonte and pincer him.
Balonte was stunned and couldn’t move, so the enemies started dragging him toward their watchtower. The allied hero was losing health quickly, and Junhyuk frowned.
Rockbell had used a high-ranking power, so Junhyuk raised the force field around Balonte. The wall of the force field covered the hero, and the claw got expelled. Rockbell stared at Junhyuk. Just like a lobster, Rockbells eyes were on the sides of his head.
Junhyuk was looking for an opening in Rockbell’s defenses for a critical hit. Seeing as Rockbell was a lobster, Junhyuk thought the connections between the segments of his body might be a weak spot.
The enemies were running away from him, toward their own watchtower, and Junhyuk used the Spatial Collapse on them.
Mantes was bringing up the rear, so the Spatial Collapse started from his back. Rockbell was in the air, but still within range.
It was his first time trying the Spatial Collapse on multiple enemies, and both of them were tanks.
Craaack!
The empty s.p.a.ce appeared on Mantes, and he was seriously damaged, losing 84 percent of his health in one go. Even though Mantes was a tank, he was still critically wounded, which was a shock.
Junhyuk did not have the chance to rejoice, however. When he checked on Rockbell, he saw that the hero had only lost 38 percent of his health.
It looked like the Spatial Collapse dealt the most damage at its point of origin, and those sucked by it received only 50 percent of that damage. However, it was better than the Spatial Slash. It was a heavy ultimate.
Junhyuk used the Spatial Slash on Rockbell. The power hit one of the connections, piercing it.
“Arrgh!”
Rockbell lost the rest of his health, and a b.l.o.o.d.y shockwave swept through Mantes. They both disappeared.
The ultimate followed by the Spatial Slash had taken care of the two tanks, leaving Junhyuk shocked by his own power.
He walked forward nonchalantly and picked up the dropped items. They wouldn’t be much, but he was a penny pincher.
As he was picking up the items, Balonte regained his movement and stared at him.
“What the h.e.l.l did you do?”