The Healing Solaris Cleric

Chapter 87: Gambling Is The Shortcut To (1)

Kai bid farewell to Neil at the entrance of the Lizardmen Swamp.

“You’re going your own way from here?”

“Yes. I have a place to go straight away.”

“I see.” Neil revealed deep regret. Then he said with an apologetic expression, “Since this was your first mission, I wanted to teach you a lot... but I ended up learning a lot instead.”

“I’m flattered.”

“Ahem.” While saying goodbye to Neil, the Barbarian Warrior cleared his throat and slowly stepped forward.

What? What's he going to say now?

When Kai looked at him with a deeply dissatisfied expression, he just scratched his nose with a slightly reddened face.

He had been opening and closing his mouth, but then finally began to speak. “Uh... I'm sorry for looking down on you because you're an adventurer. And... thank you for saving my and my comrades' lives.”

“...Well at least you know now. Not all adventurers are the same, so I hope you won't generalize in the future.”

“Thank you for the advice. I'll keep it in mind.”

As the Barbarian Warrior was the first to apologize, the other hunters also started to apologize one by one with embarrassed expressions.

“I'm sorry for mocking you for looking weak. I shouldn’t have judged a person by their appearance.”

“Thank you for saving us earlier. And I'm also sorry for looking down on you.”

“Although it may not be enough as a token of our gratitude, I will record your achievements in detail and submit a report to Tardal.”

“Hm. Adventurers like you are truly suited for tracking Muldine. I wish you continued success. And lastly, thank you.”

Even if they were prejudiced against adventurers, they weren't bad people at heart.

Well, they are Darkness Hunters after all. They decided to oppose the Church of Muldine to protect something precious no matter what.

Kai readily accepted their apologies, slightly bowed his head, and turned away.

The hunters waved their hands until his figure became as small as a dot and he disappeared form sight.

***

“Wait here.”

“Slurp.” Blizzard, wearing a Cleric's robe, nodded while flicking his tongue.[1]

Kai, who patted the obedient creature's head affectionately, immediately left the inn room in Aquaria.

I need to get a summon/unsummon skill book first.

Skill books were usually sold at the Wizard’s Tower, but the only flaw was that they were expensive!

Of course, for a player like Kai who didn't worry about money, there was no place more convenient than the Wizard’s Tower.

“Welcome. What brings you here?”

“I'd like to purchase a skill book.”

“Please tell me the type of skill you want.”

“A skill to summon/unsummon a pet.”

“Ah! You want a skill book related to familiar spirit summoning. Please wait a moment.” The counter staff, who had ended the conversation cheerfully with a smile, immediately controlled a magical crystal ball, but soon looked troubled. “Uh... sir. I'm sorry, but currently all skill books related to familiar spirit summoning have been sold out at the Wizard’s Tower...”

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“Pardon? How is it possible for skill books to be sold out at the Wizard’s Tower?”

“Well... we tend to produce the skill books that adventurers frequently seek, so the stock of less popular skill books is not good. But if you order now, it will be completed within a week.”

A week wasn’t a long time but quite lengthy to keep hiding Blizzard every time.

In the end, Kai shook his head. “Then I'll look somewhere else.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Kai left the Wizard's Tower and headed to the auction house.

However, there was no sign of skill books related to summoning. In the end, Kai registered items for sale, including the Naga's Trident, and sighed deeply as he came out to the plaza.

Is there no other way?

Even though he had money, he couldn't get a skill book!

Scratching his head in frustration, Kai immediately logged onto the community.

The donations are still piling up well... but what's the use? I can't even buy a skill book.

However, harboring a bit of hope, Kai began to browse the community. Of course, the keyword he searched was skill book!

“Huh?”

Just then, a post written about a month ago caught Kai's eye.

『Title: Tip on Getting Advanced Skill Books

Author: MacHenro

Content: Want to get a skill book? Then head to the Old Bookstore! They sell something called a riddle skill book, which is like a random box in other games. The skills that come out are random, including the effect, grade, and usage restrictions. I got a Rare skill from it.』

-Yup, you’re just a bit late to the game, buddy.

-You just got lucky, idiot.

-With the money to buy three or four riddle skill books, you could buy a decent skill book. Who would buy that?

└ Who knows? Someone with overflowing money and confidence in their luck might.

-I bought seven of these and failed, never even looking at them again.

-Why is this in the tips and info board? Move it to the deal board.

-Huh? Wasn't this really popular a long time ago?

└ It was.

Oh right! There’s the Old Bookstore!

The moment he saw the post, Kai's forgotten memory was revived. The riddle skill books had caused a brief craze in the past!

Who was it again? One of the rankers pulled a Unique-grade skill book from here, and everyone rushed to the Old Bookstore. I remember now.

Of course, he also remembered what happened afterward. The riddle skill book craze didn't last long.

The ten days it lasted was called the Ten Days of Frenzy. During that period, thousands of posts about the riddle skill book results were uploaded to every board in the community daily.

However, due to the terrible drop rates and the trash skill books most players obtained, they flooded the community with curses never seen before, and eventually, it was concluded that the ranker who pulled the Unique-grade skill book had used up all his luck for life, ending the incident.

I actually wanted to buy one back then too...

A bitter smile appeared on Kai’s lips.

At that time, he didn’t have the money to buy one, even if he wanted to. As a level 20 Cleric with no allowance, his wallet was never full.

Recalling his past poverty for a moment, Kai got up with a smile. “An unfulfilled wish from the past. Let’s fulfill it today.”

***

A musty smell pricked Kai’s nose and he scrunched his nose a few times as he entered the Old Bookstore.

“Hm?” An old man with a stern face adjusted the reading glasses on his nose and looked at Kai. “It’s been a while since an adventurer visited. What’s your business?”

“I heard you sell riddle skill books here.”

“Hah, it’s been a while since someone looked for those too. They’re over there, pick one yourself.”

The place the bookstore owner pointed to was a dusty corner shelf.

People must not come here often.

Then Kai picked up one of the riddle skill books covered in dust.

[Riddle Skill Book]

Grade: Normal

Creates a skill book with random grade, effect, and requirement when used.

“Hm.” Kai shook the skill book and asked, “How much is one?”

If his memory was correct, it was about 10 gold per book.

That's why people said it was better to buy a normal skill book from the Wizard's Tower for 30 gold than buying three of these.

But an unexpected answer came from the owner’s mouth. “It’s been unsold for months. I was planning to clear out the stock soon anyway... so I'll give it to you for 6 gold each.”

That was 60,000 won per book!

Kai’s eyes widened at the surprisingly low price.

In that case... it might not be a huge loss, after all.

The riddle skill book often produced a variety of trash skill books. Skills like clearing a stuffy nose, increasing drop rate by 0.3%, and even an unexplainable skill where a fanfare erupted with a 1% chance upon attack to cheer the player on.

Those are skills that wouldn’t sell even if listed at the auction house.

However, if he could pull a decent normal skill book, selling it for 200,000 to 300,000 won per book wouldn’t be unreasonable.

And if I get useful skills, I can learn them right away.

After a brief contemplation, Kai counted the remaining riddle skill books and headed to the counter.

"Hm? Not buying anything?" The bookstore owner frowned as he looked at Kai's empty hands.

But Kai smiled and pointed to the shelf of riddle skill books. "Sir, if I buy all the skill books there, can you give me a discount?"

"...All of those?"

There looked to be at least fifty riddle skill books!

The old man, calculating in his head for a moment, shook his head first. "No. I used to sell them for 10 gold each. I’ve already reduced it by 4 gold, what more do you want?"

"But they haven’t sold, have they? For almost a year now."

MID Online’s time was three times faster than that of real life! It had been three months in reality since the riddle skill book craze, so nine months had passed in the game.

"Hmph... You're hitting where it hurts."

The bookstore owner readjusted his glasses and pondered.

Indeed, if Kai bought fifty at once, it wasn't a bad deal for him as he could consider it stock clearance for items that no longer sold.

After a moment, the bookstore owner asked in a slightly relaxed voice, "So, how much are you willing to pay?"

"I'll give you 275 gold for fifty."

"You're asking for a discount of 50 silver per book?"

"I'm buying a whopping fifty books, so you should at least do that much. And honestly, if it wasn't me, but another adventurer, wouldn't you still give them for 6 gold each?"

"Hmph..." The bookstore owner remained silent, merely grumbling. He had indeed considered selling the dust-gathering riddle skill books for 3 gold each anyway.

"...Alright. Take them."

The bookstore owner finally gave in, and Kai, with a broad smile, placed 280 gold on the counter.

"...That’s an extra 5 gold."

"I felt sorry for bargaining too much. Consider it my apology."

"Huh, funny guy."

The bookstore owner, who had seemed slightly annoyed, burst into a laugh at Kai's charm. Though he felt a slight loss, the unexpected 5 gold lightened his mood!

[Favor with the book meister increased.]

[Your successful haggling saved you 20 gold.]

[Bargain skill reached Beginner Lv. 3.]

[You will now roughly identify the other party’s feelings during any negotiation.]

Great.

Kai smiled at having completed a successful transaction.

His goal was to haggle the price down without greatly offending the other party! That was why he had added 5 gold at the end, even though it meant a slight loss.

In the end, it's a win-win.

Kai believed that the best outcome was a deal where both parties parted with smiles.

Oh, except for those in the top ten guilds, of course.

Kai suppressed a laugh as he thought of Sandro from the Black Market, who would’ve made a sour face when transferring the money.

"Since things have turned out this way, let me give you a piece of advice. If you use a Luck Potion sold by the Alchemist guild before using the books, you might get better results."

"Thanks for the tip. I’ll keep it in mind."

Smiling, Kai left the bookstore but didn’t head to the Alchemist guild.

I still have some.

He still had the luck-related equipment and Luck Potions he bought last time to get the best result from the Magic Conch.

1. Previously, the Black Lizardman was referred to as "it" since it was a monster and didn't talk, but we'll be going with "he" due to his pet status and to denote closeness to kai. ☜