Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

Chapter 21

Grin, grin.

Touch, touch.

I smiled brightly as I touched the red horn on top of my head.

The small horn that had adjusted to my petite frame poked out of my white hair, and I was very pleased with how it looked.

[Demon's Horn] [Head Decoration Item]

To commemorate my first dungeon clear, I had obtained a cosmetic item exclusive to elite dungeons, with a notoriously low drop rate.

Although cosmetic items didn’t fill my stomach, dressing up wasn’t so bad either.

Of course, I also got a weapon. Although, it wasn’t one for my class.

The elite weapon I obtained during this run, the "Sealed Demon's Yin-Yang Orb," was already up for auction at a decent price.

"That was close."@@@@

I took a few deep breaths to calm my pounding heart.

Luckily, I had checked the cash-to-gold ratio right before listing it in the auction house.

With a lot of people now entering the second region, quite a bit of currency had been circulating.

The gold price, which had been 1 million won per gold in the previous region, had already dropped to 200,000 won per gold.

If I hadn’t caught that, I would have sold that 1-gold item for way too little. The first weapon sale from the Orc King’s Cave elite dungeon had fetched 5 gold—equivalent to 5 million won in cash.

So, at this point, I calculated that I needed to get at least 25 gold for this weapon to break even.

Ding.

As I was admiring the "Demon's Horn" cosmetic item and taking a few screenshots with the lava lake in the background, I heard the notification sound from the auction house.

When I opened the auction house and checked the sale, a smile of delight spread across my face.

"Twenty-five gold...!"

Even after deducting fees, I still had 24 gold.

At the current exchange rate, that was close to 5 million won in cash.

A huge amount of money I hadn’t touched since my return!

But my joy was short-lived, and I let out a sigh.

"I was really hoping for a sword."

Just running this dungeon had drained so much of my energy. It had taken me a full six hours.

With the absurd HP of the named bosses and their relentless patterns, it was exhausting.

Would I really have to keep soloing for hours until I finally got my weapon?

"Huh?"

As I collected my earnings and blankly stared at the auction house, an item caught my eye.

[Sealed Demon’s Sword] [Elite Grade] [Attack Power 120] [Increases damage of linked skill 'Moonlight Slash' by 30% when a block is successful]

The price was set at 25 gold.

"Gasp...!"

A sword, my class's weapon.

And it even had an additional option that increased the damage of the swordsman's main skill, Moonlight Slash.

It seemed like another party had listed it after their clear.

"I want it...!"

With that sword, I could clear this dungeon twice as fast!

I had 25 gold.

The money I got from selling the Yin-Yang Orb, even after fees, was 24 gold.

It felt like a slight loss, but I could invest that extra 1 gold.

However... 5 million won in cash.

Could I really justify spending that much just to clear the dungeon a bit faster?

I shook my head vigorously.

Rain, think carefully.

It seems like I was able to clear this dungeon early due to my fast leveling, but remember what happened during the Orc King’s Cave.

Now that the Sealed Demon weapons have started appearing in the auction house, the number of listings will increase, and the prices will drop.

The parties running dungeons will farm much faster than I can solo, so the time I can profitably farm solo won’t last long.

With this weapon, I could increase my farming speed even more.

Wow! Skeletons!Sounds fake.Is this for real? Trying it right now.LOL, if this works, it's going to make things way easier. Only Chris’s raid group and the top few parties have been farming, and I heard the second and third bosses aren’t even that hard. Everyone gets stuck on the first boss. . . .Dude, it actually works! Hahaha!Wow, it really fell! To be fair, the difficulty of the first boss was insane.Look at the prices of Sealed Demon weapons dropping in the auction house, hahaha. I was so jealous of the top raid parties farming it.Well-made game, huh? Isn’t this the first object interaction gimmick we’ve seen?From now on, I’m going to mess with all the nearby objects when I enter an elite dungeon.

My 25-gold sword.

You're different from the other weapons.

Other Demon weapons are worth 50 silver, but you're a 25-gold weapon.

You’re fifty times more valuable.

Splash, splash.

I had already finished farming accessories after a few more runs.

But to make up for the gold I lost, I had been grinding diligently.

Solo play took a long time, so I hadn’t even made back the full 25 gold yet.

Feeling mentally exhausted, I was cooling off in the village oasis with my bare feet in the water, soothing my body and mind.

"...?"

I suddenly sensed someone nearby.

I turned my head and saw a woman approaching.

Flaming red hair, like it was on fire.

She was beautiful but had a somewhat cold, sharp look.

Contrasting with that, her lips were curved in a warm, pleasant smile.

Her pale skin and stunning waistline were revealed through her slightly daring outfit, which left her midriff exposed.

It was none other than Chris.

This was the first time I had seen her since receiving the Admiral of the Desert outfit.

Feeling a bit relieved from my mental exhaustion, my mood quickly dropped again when I noticed the Sealed Demon's Yin-Yang Orb hanging from her waist.

Was she part of the first group to clear it too? Did she farm it herself?

No, the price of the weapons dropped faster than I expected.

I bet her weapon is only worth 50 silver by now.

As I pouted, 50 Silver Lady sat down next to me.

I scooted a little further away from her.

I didn’t want to sit next to someone who only had a 50-silver weapon.

Whether she noticed my mood or not, Chris smiled brightly at me and started talking.

"Rain, why did you turn off your message reception?"

"...I was farming."

I had turned off all notifications except for the essential battle announcements and auction alerts while I was playing.

If unnecessary region announcements or system messages popped up in front of my eyes, it would break my focus and immersion.

Of course, I had also turned off message reception.

Still, this was the person who had given me a 1-gold outfit for free. It would have been one thing if I hadn’t accepted it, but since I did, ignoring her completely would have weighed on my conscience.

"You’ve already finished farming the demon, huh? I wanted to farm with you. I was so eager to run the dungeon with you that I gave my accessories to the party tank to graduate early."

"Th-That’s fine, you didn’t have to think of me..."

I felt burdened.

Why was she trying to be so nice to me?

Chris kept looking at me with a gentle smile.

I glanced at her from time to time before turning my gaze back to the oasis.

Swoosh.

"Ahh!"

"Oh, did I surprise you? Sorry."

Suddenly, I felt something strange on my head.

It was Chris’s hand.

Startled by the unfamiliar sensation, I flinched, and Chris quickly removed her hand from my head.

"That horn, it's the Demon’s Horn, right? Did you get it while farming? Haha, it’s cute."

"I-I-I need to go!"

She’s way too forward!

Stammering, I hurriedly slipped on my shoes and quickly fled.

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