Chapter 42

Max Talent Player

Chapter 42: Speak, Pygmy (2)

I knew as well as anyone that there was nothing on the 2nd floor.

‘But the fact the 2nd floor has been opened…’

Meant that someone had opened the 2nd floor. I knew who the first person to open the 2nd floor was. The Demon King—the Player Seo Joohwan had served, whose identity had still not been discovered after ten years. No one knew if he was even Korean, only that he started Playing in Korea and later became the leader of the ‘Demon King Army’, aka ‘Nightmare’.

‘Not much is known about the Demon King.’

It was known that he had the capability to easily face the 8 Heroes all on his own, and he was always involved, in one way or another, in wars, gate breaks, and big incidents like large-scale massacres.

‘One thing that is known… is that he was the very first person to open the 2nd floor of the Beginner Tower.’

The bonus he received from doing so was also public knowledge.

‘The first three Players to enter are given a bonus.’

It could be that the Demon King was still somewhere on the 2nd floor. When that possibility occurred to me, my heart began to thump. What did the current Demon King look like? I already considered Yoohyun and Yeonseo as genius enough, but the supreme commander of the Demon King Army far outstripped them. Could it be that he really was on the 2nd floor?

‘Could it be… that I’m stronger than the current Demon King?’

Suddenly, Eye of Perception picked up on something, a feeling different from usual. It felt like something heavy was going over my eyelids.

[A powerful presence has been detected.]

[Eye of Perception has been temporarily disabled.]

‘My eyes… hurt.’

I closed my eyes. Or rather, my eyes closed involuntarily.

‘I feel like I saw someone just now.’

What I remembered was only a black afterimage, the mere feeling that a black fog appeared before my eyes before disappearing. If not for Eye of Perception being ‘disabled’, I would have thought that I had only imagined it. But I could tell.

‘I came face to face with someone just now.’

It was just my hunch, but I had the feeling that ‘someone’ might be the Demon King. I didn’t know who the Demon King was, but what I did know was that he definitely existed in this world, somewhere. If that pressure I felt just now really was from the Demon King, then…?

‘If we faced off, what would happen?’

I didn’t know yet. While a thousand thoughts went through my head, the status abnormality faded.

‘Will I ever end up confronting the Demon King?’

That didn’t have to happen. Even if we never met, I could live perfectly well.

‘Let’s think about it later.’

I decided to focus on what I could do right now.

I went up to the 2nd floor with the escalator.

* * *

[You have entered the Beginner Tower 2nd Floor.]

The 2nd floor of the D-Tower, which was now the Beginner Tower, was once the place where I fought the magic troll. But now, there was nothing. It was just a dark and empty lot. Even though it wasn’t underground, the air was humid and damp. The whole place gave off the impression of an empty underground parking lot.

‘Item Shop.’

[Item Shop – Beginner – Potions & Return Scrolls]

Currently, I was on the ‘Potions & Return Scrolls’ tab. That wasn’t important. The important thing was that right now, I was on the 2nd floor of the Beginner Tower.

“I wish to open the Hidden Item Shop.”

“…” The Streamer Senia stared blankly at me. “The… Hidden Item Shop?”

She was staring at me with no expression, but the tips of her wings were trembling. Though she appeared expressionless on the outside, it seemed she was extremely flustered on the inside. My Eye of Perception couldn’t read Senia’s state yet, but despite that, it was as clear as day to me.

“Looks like you’re very taken aback.”

That my low-proficiency Eye of Perception could read her shock indicated the degree of her emotional upheaval, the degree to which her emotions were showing.

“Look carefully through the manual.”

Such cases, where Players shared tips and strategies amongst each other and knew something the Intermediate Administrator in charge of them didn’t, happened occasionally. I understood. Senia was a beginner. It was because she was a beginner that it was easy for me to manipulate her. But as easy to manipulate she might be, she also had disadvantages like this.

“…”

Several Guardians seemed to find the time it took for her to read the manual boring.

[The ‘Nameless Observer’ is observing.]

[The ‘Lady of the Scales’ is waiting.]

[The ‘Courageous Lion King’ is impatient.]

I was idly wondering when that courage-lover would leave this channel when Senia opened her mouth again, five minutes later.

“A Hidden Item Shop exists.”

Yes, and it could only be accessed here. It required 50k Coins to open, an impossible hurdle for a real beginner. It was out of the question for a beginner to have 50k Coins.

“It requires… 50k Coins.”

“Those 50k Coins, I’ll give them.”

[You have requested the opening of the Hidden Item Shop.]

[Opening the Hidden Item Shop requires 50k Coins.]

[Will you open the Hidden Item Shop?]

[The Hidden Item Shop can be accessed for 60 seconds.]

[All items in the Hidden Item Shop are limited to 1 in stock.]

Before you could even peruse the items, it required 50k Coins simply to open the shop for a pathetic 60 seconds. As long as you didn’t have bricks for brains or had a crazy amount of money rotting in the bank, not going ahead with such a cost was the right call. In addition, there was only one of each item. Even if the item I wanted was there, it was over if someone had already purchased it.

[Opening the Hidden Item Shop.]

[The Hidden Item Shop has been opened.]

In addition to this, the bonus for the first three was applied.

[You have succeeded in being the second to open the Hidden Item Shop.]

[You are given an opening bonus.]

[The opening bonus ‘Bargain Sale’ is taking effect.]

The Bargain Sale took effect, halving the prices of the items.

[Hidden Item Shop – Beginner – Assist Scrolls]

The shop was beginner grade, and within the Assist Scroll tab, there were only three items that could be purchased. This was what I had thought long and hard about.

“High Advancement Assist Scroll.”

[Purchase the High Advancement Assist Scroll?]

[20,000 Coins will be used.]

My original plan was to have 70,000 Coins. Thanks to reaping an unexpectedly large harvest from the ‘Turtle Nest’, I still had 13,000 Coins left, even after purchasing the ‘High Advancement Assist Scroll’.

‘I have more left over than expected.’

I felt like I’d profited greatly somehow, seeing as I had 13k Coins left over when I had expected 0.

There was no time to look through the other tabs. Sixty seconds had passed in a flash.

[High Advancement Assist Scroll]

A scroll enchanted with magic that assists in advancement. Has a high chance to increase the grade of the ‘class’ the Player advances to.

Used: 0/1

After confirming the item, I shared all of the information to my Intermediate Administrator, Senia, telling everyone that I had just purchased a ‘High Advancement Assist Scroll’. In other words, I was considering ‘advancement’.

“My level is currently 26. As you know, it’s about time for me to start considering my advancement, right?”

I said last time that I would advance at level 30.

‘That’s why I’m trying to Play with a slightly more advantageous method.’

There was, of course, a method behind the madness. When I reached level 30, it would be time to choose the Guardian I would contract with. Through this contract, a close relationship would be established between me and the Guardian, and I would be able to receive a great deal of support from this Guardian.

“Though you said you would be waiting last time… What is your reasoning for waiting? That Players advance at level 25 is a universal process. Just what kind of belief is behind your actions?”

I grinned on purpose, knowing that many Guardians had their eyes on me.

“A feeling? Or maybe a dream?”

If Players advanced through their Guardians, they could get a class of at least rare grade.

‘For them, hypotheticals aren’t important, anyway.’

To the Guardians, things like how I knew all of this, or whether it really was a feeling or a dream, weren’t very important to them. What was important was how fun and enjoyable a Play I could show them could be. That was what mattered to them.

‘That’s why—’

The Guardians would overlook my current actions. But just then, I heard a notice.

* * *

* * *

[The Intermediate Administrator Neptune’s ‘Bug Investigation Request’ has been received.]

In this dark place where only Senia and I were standing, someone else appeared.

‘The Intermediate Administrator Neptune.’

He was a pygmy with skin somewhere between green and emerald. The one-eyed Streamer was So Yoohyun’s Intermediate Administrator.

“It really is too strange. Don’t you think so too, great Guardians? This Player, something’s fishy about him for sure. Even for a Precognitive Dream user, this is simply too much. There’s a high chance of a System bug or error. That’s why I have submitted an Investigation Request. Oi. Is your name Kim Hyukjin?” Staring at me, Neptune continued talking with an overbearing attitude. “Come closer.”

A feeling similar to what I felt in front of the escalator earlier washed over me.

[Eye of Perception is temporarily disabled.]

[Intermediate Administrator Neptune’s coercion is activating.]

[The ‘Forced Submission’ power of the Intermediate Administrator Neptune is taking effect.]

I was forced to walk to Neptune, regardless of my will.

Thud.

And then, I knelt. Like the name ‘Forced Submission’ implied, it was a humiliating power.

‘Senia, you dunce. Say something, goddammit.’

Senia wasn’t able to say anything to Neptune. As one would expect from a real beginner Streamer, she couldn’t handle Neptune’s unexpected actions.

‘That’s why she’ll be eliminated.’

She was being suppressed by Neptune’s aura. He likely held a far higher rank than her in the Streamer world.

‘You won’t survive like this, Senia.’

I decided to speak for her.

“Feel free to scan me.”

I didn’t do anything that was forbidden by the System. To begin with, there was no way a Player barely in their mid-level 20s could use the ‘bugs’ that would appear only five years from now. Neptune had to know this fact very well. This was what was commonly called ‘stirring the pot’, or ‘aggroing’.

‘Probably to promote his channel.’

Since he couldn’t independently stream me, he was slandering with me, the center of attention for the Guardians right now, as his target. You could think of it as something like marketing buzz.

‘And the current me is an easy opponent.’

I was way weaker than him. That was an undeniable fact.

“But.”

If marketing buzz was what he wanted, and he was trying to use me for his own gain, then he should have looked a little more into the person he was trying to use.

“What is your reasoning for accusing me of using a bug? How do you plan on paying the price for threatening and treating a completely innocent Player like a criminal?”

I might be kneeling under the effects of Neptune’s power, but I was confident I could overcome this situation ‘better’ than anyone else. There was no need to cower. I already knew about Neptune, as well as why he was doing this.

On top of that, I even knew Neptune’s weakness.

I said one more thing.

“Speak, pygmy.”

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