"Guten Abend[1], Mr. Skeleton."

The red haired beauty sat behind the silver counter while eating an orange. She gave Lee Shin-Woo a wave when she saw him.

Lee Shin-Woo opened his eyes—he didn't have any, but that's how he felt—and asked, "In what time zone is that the standard way of greeting someone?"

"That obviously depends on how I feel. You're underground, dear customer, so you probably can’t tell night from day. But the passage of time differs in different regions; you should know that at least, right?"

"..."

Lee Shin-Woo was suddenly curious. He wondered where this merchant usually stayed. She said time’s different for me since I’m underground. Does that mean she’s above ground? She must have misunderstood the meaning behind his gaze, though, as the merchant hid the orange in her hand and spoke defensively.

"I'm not giving this to you. It's hard to obtain one in the Empire."

"I'm not interested. Plus, I can't eat it even if you give it to me!"

"Ah, right."

The merchant laughed while peeling the rest of the orange and throwing the slices into her mouth. Lee Shin-Woo promised that she'd get her just deserts someday, and asked, “I got a book for a skill I’ve already learned. Can I sell it here?”

He wanted to figure out what he should do with the 'Beginner Stealth' skill book he had been keeping in his inventory.

"I'd recommend that you read it."

"Even though I've already learned it?"

"While you've learned the skill, the experience within each skill book differs. Thus, the book would boost your proficiency in the skill. And... unfortunately, our shop doesn't take beginner skill books."

"It's such a great skill. Why won’t you take it!?"

The shopkeeper giggled.

"Beginner skill books are only good for someone in a peculiar situation like yours, dear customer. Most other heroes are higher than level 4. When do you think they’ll have the time to train such a skill while fighting monsters higher than level 4? It would just be another unnecessary weakness."

"Ugh..."

It was a reasonable argument. Lee Shin-Woo meekly retrieved the skill book and opened it. He didn't really need to read it. The moment he opened the book, all its contents entered his brain.

[Low Rank Stealth is now level 4. You can move without making a sound. Agility has increased by 1.]

The knowledge and experiences within the skill book were frustratingly opaque. Lee Shin-Woo, who had trained and familiarized himself with the skill, felt that especially keenly. By the time the skill book vanished into mana particles after doing its job, his skill level had gone up.

The merchant beamed knowingly and looked straight at him, while an irritated Lee Shin-Woo responded by proposing the next order of business with unnecessary curtness.

"Please give me a bone. The most expensive and worthwhile bone that I can afford."

"Hmm, you're at level 3, right, dear customer? Level 3 bones are quite cheap, but they probably wouldn't help you right now. You’ll need level 4 bones, but I’m not sure you’ll have the money... Oh my, you have more than 70,000 Perium already. How?"

When she checked the amount of Perium he had, her eyes gleamed with what appeared to be amusement.

"It's honestly not very surprising that you've reached level 3 in two weeks since you entered the Empire. You can be considered talented given the kind of power you were granted with. However, given the total amount of money you gathered in this short period of time, as well as the fact that your Invisible Heart is still at level 3... You’re an interesting one, dear customer."

"Didn’t you find me interesting the first time you saw me?" Lee Shin-Woo replied with disinterest.

The merchant burst out into an even louder laughter and clapped before making an extremely unexpected offer.

"Very well. I've become interested in your story. Would you like to tell me about your experiences thus far?"

"Are you going to give me something in return?"

"I wasn't planning on getting a tale from you for free. I'll reduce the price of your item by 20,000 Perium."

"Please have a seat."

In exchange for telling his story, she would give him a 20,000 Perium discount; there was no reason for him to refuse. He immediately straightened his neck and faced her. Her red eyes glowed with something like magic. It seemed that she couldn’t control her anticipation.

Damn it, she's extremely pretty.

It wasn't a problem that she was a beauty. The problem was that he didn't feel uneasy whatsoever when facing such a beauty.

"In the beginning..."

Lee Shin-Woo started his story with those dismal feelings. With a keen sense for the important throughlines, he concisely told his tale starting from his arrival at the Empire up to this point.

"So, I ended up finding the path that leads to a level 2 elite dungeon, and decided to drop by here first."

"Hoo, indeed."

The merchant breathed out, seemingly with satisfaction, and opened her mouth.

"That guile, that composure... Above all, your obsession over your survival has brought about a change, dear customer. Even though you possess 100 lives, you still place so much value on each and every one of them. Not even the goddess would have predicted this. Yes... You’re on your way to become the new Trickster by doing so, dear customer."

"Is that really important?"

"It is. You're walking a path no one else can walk in a world where everything is decided by karma. Moreover, you've already acquired 8 tokens at this stage? Ha, you're interesting. Really interesting. The Perium hasn’t gone to waste."

She clapped and nodded at the same time. Lee Shin-Woo felt like a performer of some sorts.

"If this information gets leaked to the others—" he started.

"It won't happen. I double as an information broker, but your secret will be safe with me. I won’t share it with anyone else, not even another hero."

"That's a relief."

Learning that she was an information broker was also a plus. Right now, he had a lot of things to do and didn’t need guidance, but further along the line, he might hit a wall in his progress. Then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pay her Perium in exchange for some advice.

Now that he was done telling his story, he went on to the next matter on his mental list.

"If you're satisfied, you're going to reduce the price by 20,000 Perium, right?"

"I'm not a Trickster, so I'll honor my part of the deal. Here, I've picked the most expensive bones that you can buy with 91,130 Perium."

She took out two bones from underneath the counter one after another and laid them on the counter. One of them was a blue bone, and the other was a red bone. Lee Shin-Woo was rendered speechless by the familiar sight.

"With a discount of 20,000 Perium... The red bone costs 67,510 Perium, and the blue bone costs 71,040 Perium."

"To think I'd have to pick between two bones again..."

There should be a limit to how bad one’s taste is! Moreover, the levels of the bones were different from the ones presented to him last time, so were the creatures the bones were from! Lee Shin-Woo checked the prices first while grinding his teeth together. If he bought the blue bone, he would be left with 90[2] Perium, which pissed him off even more since it was again the same as the last time.

"You obviously can't tell me what monster they came from, right?"

"Of course. Ah, you’re welcome to buy cheaper bones if you want to, but I wouldn’t recommend that."

The merchant snickered without even attempting to hide her intention. Perhaps she had offered the 20,000 Perium discount in order to present these two bones at the same time for no reason other than pissing him off! Lee Shin-Woo meticulously inspected the exterior of the two bones. He couldn't differentiate between them by their hardness alone, and the magic coming from them...

Wait a second, magic?

"...Hmm."

"Hoh."

The merchant looked amused while Lee Shin-Woo concentrated deeply on the two bones.

"You’re full of surprises. To think you'd awaken such an aptitude in magic from just the experience you acquired from that bone last time... Oh my, it seems that you’re no longer hearing me."

"Hmm..."

There was magic in all the bones he'd acquired up until now, but the property of the magic differed. Bones with deep and pure magic granted points to his magic. Bones that increased his other stats came with a variety of complex magical powers as well.

While it was alive, the owner of the bone had a special power, and that special power was wrapped in magic; through Bone Reinforcement, that lock was removed, and it felt like that power was transferred to me intact...

Of course, even though he didn't know what monster the bones in front of him belonged to, he had absorbed hundreds, if not thousands of bones that raised various stats. He might not know what skills the bone would give him, but he could read the pattern of magic and figure out what stat it would raise.

[Low Rank Magic Affinity is now Lv4. Magic has increased by 3.]

...Yeah, I feel like I get it now.

Of course, since they were both level 4 bones, the amount and quality of the mana contained differed from the other bones he had acquired, and the pattern boasted a complexity that was leagues beyond those lesser bones... Still, he could read the flow of mana within, and when he exerted himself, he was able to intuitively grasp the properties of the bones.

The red bone is clearly from a warrior, or an individual with similar characteristics. I can probably gain strength and endurance from that one. The blue bone is... purely magic. It's a mage. To think that the color of the bones are actually related to their nature...

He didn’t have to overthink this. Their colors indicated the power and characteristics of their original owner. Red corresponded to strength and endurance, while a glowing blue corresponded to magic.

Between the two, the one I need the most right now is...

What stats should he improve right before entering a level 2 elite dungeon? Judging from his stats alone, it would seem wiser to leave his almost excessive magic alone and improve his strength and endurance. Moreover, a warrior’s skill sounded appealing…

However…

"I'll go with the blue bone."

Despite all that, Lee Shin-Woo chose the blue bone, which would further increase the imbalance among his stats. Still, it was a no-brainer for him. Be it Regeneration, which he had made good use of in the Sewers Dungeon, Harden, the skill he would have to focus on training, or Flames of Revenge, all those skills require mana. For Lee Shin-Woo, who considered training his skills as important as gaining stats, the choice had been made from the very beginning.

"Haha, do you think I’ll say something?"

The merchant seemed satisfied with his decision. With a beam, she put the red bone away and passed the blue bone to him. Lee Shin-Woo tilted his head slightly towards the merchant.

"Are you telling me that’s an excellent choice?"

"Yes, you're right. You made a really, really good decision. You may be the greatest Trickster that the goddess has ever created."

She had been smiling nonstop since Lee Shin-Woo discerned the differences of the bones based on the magic they contained, and her smile deepened further after he made his choice.

"Magic is the basis of all strength. Choosing it will do you good as long as there isn’t so much that it’ll make your body break. After all, you can do everything with magic, including strengthening your body and the like. This is especially important to you, dear customer, since you’ve opened your eyes to magic at an early stage."

As he listened to her, Lee Shin-Woo had a hunch. He could heal his shattered body through Regeneration, and the Harden skill he had just received could strengthen his body. There must be another skill that would let him reinforce his body in a different way. Of course, strength, agility, and endurance were the fundamental stats that shaped the body, and they were certainly important, but even all three combined came after magic in terms of importance.

"Thank you. I've received your payment of 71,040 Perium."

"I'll get going now. I'll come back soon for that red bone, so please wait for me."

He didn’t regret his decision, but he did feel some attachment to the red bone. That was why he said something that a retreating enemy soldier would say. When he was about to leave, the merchant grabbed him.

"Ah, please wait just a minute," she said. “I didn’t get your name yet, dear customer.”

"...My name is Lee Shin-Woo."

He thought that the merchant would've already known his name by now, but Lee Shin-Woo still obliged. He would be seeing her a lot in the future, so it'd be better to formally introduce himself.

"My name is Pleine. As you can see, I'm responsible for the secret shop."

"I'll see you next time, Pleine."

"I hope you'll return to this shop stronger."

He didn’t think he was imagining it... Pleine seemed kinder to him than before. And that was all because he had proven his potential. The greatest virtue on this planet was none other than strength.

The sudden realization put a wry smile on his face as he left the secret shop. He then returned to the clearing, in front of the dark, lengthy passageway.

"Hoo, then..."

Lee Shin-Woo wasn’t shaking as much this time since he had a rough idea of what to expect. After making sure that there was no danger around, he activated Bone Reinforcement fearlessly. He had figured out that the bone was part of something else, and it turned out to be a piece of bone from the skull, the sphenoid bone.

[Reinforcing the sphenoid bone. Your compatibility with the target is incredibly high, and you have acquired a skill with great success! Magic has increased by 24. You are now absorbing ???'s experiences and memories more fully.]

"Hey, wait...!?"

Lee Shin-Woo flailed around as soon as he realized that the absorption would go differently from last time, but it was obviously to no avail. An enormous amount of information and a concrete will intruded upon his mind, and for a short time, his consciousness was completely locked away. A different world unfolded before him.

1. Good evening in German.

2. T/N: Toika wrote 90 Perium last time when it should've been 70, but he counted correctly this time.