Building Connections

You there! You look like you have a lot on your mind!

The bespectacled white woman in her twenties smiled brightly at me.

Her blonde hair, blue eyes, and smile curling around her lips radiated positivity.

It was an innocent smile pure enough to make anyone who saw it smile back.

I looked her up and down for a moment before speaking.

"I don't believe in cults."

"No, no. I'm not with a cult."

The woman thrust some kind of potion in front of my eyes.

"I prepared this especially for you, since you look so troubled. This is a miracle elixir that raises your Strength by 10% the moment you take it! How about it? You want to buy one, don't you, Druk?"

"……."

Tsk, was she a snake-oil peddler? Or was this multilevel marketing?

Network marketing, also known as 'multilevel marketing,' had begun with twentieth-century vitamins, continued through cryptocurrency until Earth's destruction, and then made it through the Selection Process without disappearing, causing trouble here too.

There were all sorts of methods, but I waved my hand dismissively to show I wasn't interested.

"This is genuinely good stuff. I promise. You really need it."

And she still wouldn't let up.

"Phew."

I sighed at her persistence and looked away, then happened to notice my own appearance and immediately understood why she was acting this way.

Everyone else had bought armor and equipped weapons, but I had left my luggage at the lodgings, so all I had on me was a single sword and modern clothes.

If she'd been settled in the shelter for a long time, she could even have guessed that I was a newcomer who had just cleared the first trial and crossed over.

So she was trying to sell to me, a complete novice, by any means necessary.

I snorted and asked,

"How much?"

"100 points each. What do you think? Isn't it cheap?"

The woman brightened at my positive response.

"It's not a permanent increase, right?"

"Ah, haha! W-well, of course not…."

She immediately backed down. In other words, it was a buff potion. Since it raised Strength by a percentage, it would become fairly useful later.

'There wouldn't have been any opportunity to learn alchemy separately this early in the Selection Process…. Even so, if she can already make potions like that, her Unique Ability must clearly be related to alchemy.'

It might amount to something later, but unfortunately, it wasn't useful right now. In the second trial, the average player's Strength would probably be around 20, so 10% of that was 2.

It only raised it by 2.

It wasn't permanent, either, and lasted only for a set period. The duration probably wouldn't be more than an hour at most.

"I hope you sell a lot."

"W-wait. Then I'll sell it for 50 points."

"Yes, yes. I hope you sell a lot."

"30 points! 20 points!"

"……."

"One, 10 points!"

She had finally dropped all the way to 10 points.

I couldn't help laughing. Just how much had she been planning to charge me at first?

When she realized I wasn't biting at all, the woman said,

"Th-then I'll sell you all the potions I have. There are eight in total! All eight for just 30 points! It won't be a loss for you either, Druk!"

I felt sorry for her and asked,

"Why are you trying so hard to sell those?"

"A-actually…."

The woman turned her gaze toward one side of the street. About twenty people had gathered there, talking noisily.

Naturally curious, I walked over to take a look.

"Y-you'll really guarantee our safety, right?"

"I told you, don't worry. You just have to follow along behind us. I mean, think of it as being hired as a porter."

"W-what if you take the advance payment and run off…."

"If you're really nervous, you can move on to the next trial and decide whether to support us after seeing how things go. If you're confident you can survive alone, just run it yourself. If you want our protection, pay up and join us."

It was a familiar sight.

'Ah, I see. They're recruiting for a party.'

Since they were charging money to let people join, it wasn't strictly ordinary party recruitment.

Things probably hadn't properly settled in yet, but various money-making professions would emerge in the Selection Process.

For starters, in shelters—

"H-hey, Druk. These potions really do work well."

There were also people who manufactured and sold potions, like the woman following me around.

"Hey, handsome, how about spending a hot night with me? I'll give you a discount. You can even finish inside."

There were prostitutes all over the streets, covering only their private parts and luring men.

On the other hand, there were ways to make money in trials too, such as guides, guards, and bounty hunters.

The party recruiting there was what would later be called a 'bus': taking noncombat ability users through trials in exchange for money.

I watched them with interest, then widened my eyes.

'Oh, that's the Black Wolf Guildmaster.'

Lee Jongcheol, the Black Wolf Guildmaster.

Black Wolf was one of Korea's leading guilds, and Lee Jongcheol was its leader.

We had never had any meaningful contact in my first run because he and Shin Seoyeon had gotten along poorly and kept their distance.

'It never hurts to build connections, so maybe I should at least make an introduction.'

Connections were best built when you were still at rock bottom, with nothing to your name.

So I figured I might as well approach him and at least say something.

"Hello."

"……."

"Excuse me, but could I speak with you for a moment?"

I spoke to him, but he ignored me. He glanced at me, then leaned against the building wall and continued chatting with his party members without answering.

"Excuse me…."

"Hey, who the hell are you? Quit bothering us and get lost."

"If you want to join the party, talk to him."

The people who appeared to be with him stopped me from speaking to him directly and establishing a connection.

'Damn, now that I think about it, the circumstances aren't exactly ideal.'

Passersby moved around eyeing one another warily, and corpses lay strewn throughout the alleys. The shelter as a whole wasn't relaxed enough for people to stop and chat; this spot was merely less hostile because everyone had gathered here to recruit party members.

Normally, they should have drawn their swords the moment I approached, but the Black Wolf Guildmaster and his party had looked me up and down, apparently concluded I was a nobody, and didn't even bother being wary.

'If I'd been properly equipped, I might at least have been able to make a real connection even if they were wary of me…. It wouldn't be wise to go back to the lodgings now, gear up, and come back.'

Unfortunately, my attempt to make contact had failed.

The chance to build a connection had slipped away.

Then again, did anything in the world ever go according to plan? I stepped back regretfully, and a man who appeared to be the party recruiter approached and asked,

"So, what abilities do you have?"

Luck and Bond? I didn't exactly have many combat skills at the moment. The man who had looked me up and down said,

"Judging by your clothes and the fact that you couldn't answer, I take it you're a noncombat ability user. If you want to join the party, bring 200 points. Then we'll take responsibility for you and escort you through the next trial."

Hah, 200 points as a service fee.

In other words, since the reward for clearing the trial was 200 points, he meant that I had to bring my entire fortune if I wanted them to bus me through it.

I thought I understood why the foreign woman had been so desperate to make money earlier.

"H-here's the money. I sold all the equipment I was carrying to get it."

"Yeah, good work."

"I brought exactly enough too!"

Even so, people continued to gather and the place grew crowded because the Black Wolf Guildmaster and all his party members were fully equipped.

The contrast with me, who had only a single sword hanging from my waist, couldn't have been greater. They looked like the real deal. You could say they inspired trust.

"We depart in 30 minutes!"

In the end, I returned to the front of the lodgings without gaining much.

"Ahhh. If I miss it this time, who knows when I'll get another chance…."

When the Black Wolf Guild announced that they would be leaving soon, the foreign woman beside me looked frantic, not knowing what to do.

It seemed she had already missed the bus several times.

I held out my hand to her.

"Give me all of those. I'll buy them."

"Huh? Y-you really will?"

The restless woman visibly brightened.

I looked up at the foreign woman in front of me—or, more precisely, at a woman who looked as though she had come from abroad as an exchange student.

Again, her smile was radiant. If the Saintess was kind and innocent, this woman overflowed with positive energy. She was that lively.

Unfortunately, her looks were nowhere near as outstanding as her smile. She had the nose of an old witch, a broad, oversized chin, and crooked teeth jutting out in every direction. Her face looked slightly crushed and misshapen.

'With looks this bad, her strengths and weaknesses are obvious.'

She couldn't make money by selling her body, but neither would she be raped by men.

The proof was that even when she walked alone down the street so conspicuously, men merely glanced at her once and never looked back.

"Huh? Then why are you paying 100 points?"

The amount she had offered earlier was 30 points.

But the amount I entered in the trade window was 100 points.

I merely smiled. The woman's face lit up.

"Bolshoye spasibo! Thank you so much! You're my savior!"

I paid 100 points and received eight buff potions.

The reason I had helped her was simple. Maintaining a connection with someone in a noncombat field could be useful for years to come.

'These potions will probably come in handy in future trials too, and I have more than enough money anyway.'

More importantly…. I had used [All-Seeing Eye] to peek at her Unique Ability.

<Unique Ability>

Name: Breath of the Ancient Alchemist

Grade: Mythic

Description: Generates a random potion once a day. Once a day, generates a potion of her choice with a {level × 5}% chance. The effects of all generated potions are proportional to Intelligence.

Health increases by 10.

'If it's a Mythic-grade ability, she's worth investing in.'

This may sound harsh, but because she was so unattractive, I didn't think she'd get caught up in anything bad and die.

In short, I thought she would survive without trouble and that I'd be able to see her again later.

"Thanks. I'm Natasha. Tell me the name of my benefactor."

"I'm Kang Minjun."

"Kang Min-jjoon…! Yes. Then see you again. Kang-Min-jjoon!"

I gave the departing Slavic woman a casual wave in return.

'Come to think of it, her name was Natasha Dragomirova. It's strangely the same as the Golden City Lord's.'

The owner of Golden City, who would burst onto the scene like a comet, amass the greatest fortune in the Selection Process, and serve as the backer behind Arcane Sanctuary, a secret organization.

Natasha Dragomirova.

I recalled her face for a brief moment, then shook my head vigorously.

The Golden City Lord was so stunning in appearance that she could easily outshine even the Crimson Flame Witch on looks alone. She was universally acknowledged as the most beautiful woman in humanity.

She was this woman's complete opposite, worlds apart in appearance.

'The fact that I'm having pointless thoughts means I've relaxed a little. It's not as if there are only one or two people with that name. Let's see, it should almost be time for the others to come out.'

As expected, someone suddenly wrapped their arms around me from behind with thirty seconds left before our appointed time.

"Oppa!"