"Gute Nacht…[1] Congratulations on the level-up. Sleep well."

"No wait. Please don't lie down."

Perhaps Lee Shin-Woo had come at a bad time; from behind the counter, the merchant Pleine congratulated him in a nightgown and curled up to lay on her arms. Taken aback, Lee Shin-Woo hurriedly stopped her. Pleine sighed and looked back up as if she had expected it.

"I don't usually take customers when I'm about to sleep..."

"So you have times when you don't take customers, huh."

"But you're special, Mr. Lee Shin-Woo... Hoo."

She tapped her own cheek teasingly, but it seemed to work; she awoke slightly and barely managed to open her eyes.

"Thank you for the consideration."

"Haam[2]… You understand how I feel, right?"

As there was an empty wine bottle rolling atop the counter. Although Lee Shin-Woo didn't understand women very well, he could tell exactly how she felt. He was sure that she was a woman who loved her alcohol.

"It was such good liquor that I wanted to drink it with someone else. Would you like to drink with me? Ah, that's right. You can't, Dear Customer. Hehe."

She was always teasing him, let alone when she was tipsy. Lee Shin-Woo had a feeling this would take long. With a shrug, he approached the counter.

Still looking at him with bleary eyes, Pleine asked, "Is it urgent?"

"No. But since I’ve used one of my permits, I'd rather finish my business than let it go to waste."

"Are you saying you have some time? Then... Please listen to my story."

"?"

She wasn't asking him to tell her his story, but rather, she wanted him to listen to hers? What was this granny talking about? Lee Shin-Woo looked at Pleine vacantly. It seemed she'd discerned the doubt within his goblin fire, and she explained further.

"I'll give you a 20% discount on one item. In exchange, please don't tell this to anyone else."

"Please go ahead. I don't have ears, but I'm still a really good listener."

Getting 20% off for hearing her story? Lee Shin-Woo knocked on his chest like he was ready to lend an ear any time before sitting down.

Pleine chuckled at Lee Shin-Woo's imitation of a trustworthy figure. A pink sigh escaped her open mouth.

"You're fine in this regard, Mr. Lee Shin-Woo, but given the opportunity, the other male customers would’ve hit on me. You know that, right? You see, today..."

"Wait a sec. Where did you just look? What were you looking at when you said I was fine!? You know that's sexual harassment, right!?"

"I suppose you can't even sexually harass me. At any rate, that customer bought wine, drank it on the spot, and kept sticking to me; I should put up a sign saying no eating or drinking because seriously..."

Pleine completely ignored Lee Shin-Woo's protests and continued to speak. Pleine started with that drunk customer—Lee Shin-Woo felt like he knew who she was talking about for some reason—who had gotten drunk and attempted an unbecoming trick on her. She also told him about how much her usual customers pestered her, the fact that she couldn't meet with the goddess very much, and all the things she was trying to figure out, like the goddess’s intent...

"It's better above ground. Since I'm just one merchant amongst many up there. It's pure business..."

"...How is it up there?"

"It's completely unscathed. Resources abound, and it’s peaceful, excessively so. I wonder if they're even aware of their impending doom..."

She started by talking about business, but Lee Shin-Woo saw this as the perfect chance to hear about what was happening on the surface, as she had a link to it.

In a smooth tone, Lee Shin-Woo said, "I heard that there have been times when heroes were dispatched to the surface as well."

"It's only happened a couple of times. You should already be aware of this, Mr. Shin-Woo, but this curse that has completely devoured the Empire...hasn't invaded the surface yet."

"It'll invade the surface at some point though, right?"

"I believe the humans above ground won't allow it to."

"Excuse me?"

This was news to him. Lee Shin-Woo's nonexistent ears pricked up. Before going further into details, Pleine brought out a new bottle of wine and immediately bit her lips. Someone as beautiful as she still painted a pleasant picture even while drinking vigorously straight from the bottle.

"Gulp, gulp... Puu. You see, they're overconfident in their strength. After they received the first oracle, they sent heroes down underground a few times; when they didn't return, they simply decided to seal off the underground."

"So did they succeed!?"

"They thought they did, but no... At this rate, the curse will someday claim the surface as well. This is the price of their arrogance, and...their sin."

"Sin..."

"That's it with the bonus information. Mmm, paa..."

It ended at the most exciting part. Pleine could read Lee Shin-Woo like a book, though, and it didn’t seem like she would tell him anything more about the surface. While Lee Shin-Woo clicked his tongue, Pleine continued to curse at the secret shop customers.

"So, about the customer I had last time..."

"Who's your most handsome customer?"

"Lloyd H.K.?"

"Then what about the prettiest?"

"Seira... Von Retadane." She nodded to herself. "She's a beautiful woman, though she's quite rude."

"Really?"

"Hoo... I suppose it's time I let out all the curses I've been holding back."

Pleine cursed at Seira Von Retadane for quite a long time like she had been waiting for the opportunity. She looked so happy as she unleashed a litany of all possible curses; Lee Shin-Woo couldn't even think of stopping her, and just stood there listening to her. Two hours passed like that.

"Oh my. It's already this late? I'll be going to sleep now."

"Go after you've sold me something."

"Tch."

Pleine clicked her tongue. She seemed to be complaining that he could’ve just let her go without actually saying it, and Lee Shin-Woo shot her a look of disbelief. Before she could play another trick on him, Lee Shin-Woo firmly said, "Please give me the best charge skill you have."

"A charge skill? Are you saying that you haven't acquired a single charge skill, even though you have Bone Reinforcement, Dear Customer? All elite monsters have a couple of charge skills."

"I had two, but I fused them together, and it became a combat skill rather than a charge skill."

"You fused them!? ...Just for reference, what is that skill?"

Lee Shin-Woo conjured Shadow Horn with his bare hands and showed it to Pleine. It was a special passive skill like Bursting Thunder, and would buff all thrust attacks he made, making them faster and stealthier. However, it was also possible to physically manifest the skill with mana.

In doing so, shadows would envelop the weapon, turning it into the shape of a sharp horn. He could also activate the skill with his bare hands.

"...This skill. This wasn't gifted through the goddess’s grace, but was actually created by you, Mr. Shin-Woo?"

"Yes."

"There are some parts that are sloppy, but...this is tremendous. Divine skills that are recorded as legends are typically born this way. Like the Bursting Thunder you possess, Mr. Shin-Woo."

She clapped and made a suggestion.

"Would you like to reinforce this skill by adding in more skills? It'd definitely be possible with your ability, Mr. Shin-Woo!"

"I said I wanted a charge skill."

"I think it'd be better if you became even stealthier. In terms of power... The original skill used horns, so I'll go find some materials from other tough monsters. You'll be able to extract their characteristics."

She had already stopped listening to Lee Shin-Woo. Seeing Pleine rummage through her inventory here and there, Lee Shin-Woo felt like he was out shopping with his girlfriend—of course, he didn't have a girlfriend.

"Here, I picked two."

"What's this... Giant Growth. So that’s how you get it. Though it's only one part of it..."

Just from looking at them, Lee Shin-Woo could tell that the skill books Pleine had brought out were quite abstract. The first was 'Intermediate Horn Giant Growth', and the second one was 'Low Rank Shadow Extension'. The names of the skill books were unclear; he struggled to find a way to describe them.

"The first can only be learned by those with horns, but that shouldn't be a problem for you, Mr. Shin-Woo, as your Bone Reinforcement can absorb anything. The second skill is also a skill that is meaningless unless you can control shadows, but this should be no problem to you, either."

Pleine stressed that there were no defects in her goods, and Lee Shin-Woo's goblin fire softly blazed.

"How much are they?"

"Both skills are extremely abstract, but also extremely rare, which make them quite valuable. In total, it'll be 16 million Perium."

"You swindler."

"Since we agreed that there'd only be a 20% discount on one item!"

Lee Shin-Woo had thought they had gotten closer after he listened to her drunken rambling for two hours, yet she would still only give him a discount on one item.

As expected, he couldn't take this merchant lightly. He would've just asked for a charge skill, taken it, and then gone home, but...

"Don't you feel it? That you can strengthen Shadow Horn significantly with these skills!?"

"...Ugh."

She was right. As expected of an outstanding merchant; Pleine had presented Lee Shin-Woo items that he would want to buy.

Horn Giant Growth would increase the destructive power of his horns by increasing their size, and was a truly simple skill that was effective in an extremely limited range. On the other hand, he didn't know how effective the other skill would be, as it allowed him to disperse shadows and confuse his opponents. However, if he applied Shadow Extension to Shadow Horn, he would be able to create quite the versatile skill...

"Ugh..."

Because he'd gained so much money from going around the Empire, especially from cutting down the Forest of the Dryads, he had enough to buy both skill books. He now had 57.52 million Perium. It wasn't an easy sum to acquire for even the level 6 heroes who had been in the Empire for a few years.

Pleine must have expected that from him… Was her two hour long story a way to compromise his judgment!?

"...Probably not, but I'll take them."

"I love you, Dear Customer!"

Pleine beamed, and Lee Shin-Woo sighed as he accepted the skill books. He immediately learned the two skills. Pleine gazed at him with wide eyes.

"You're not going to try it out right away?"

"I'm not a genius, you know. I'll attempt it after I've studied both of the skills."

"In my opinion, being able to fuse two skills together makes you a genius... Here, this is the charge skill you were looking for. I think you’d like it."

She had probably prepared it beforehand, as she placed a book onto the table without delay.

It looked a lot different from all the other skill books he'd found or bought before. The edges of the book were decorated in gold, yet the cover was in tatters.

"This is... Keuk?'

The moment he reached out to the skill book, sparks spluttered across Lee Shin-Woo's hand. It was powerful lightning! The glitter in Lee Shin-Woo's eyes changed as he gazed upon the book. Pleine spoke with a satisfied expression.

"Spirit Arts - Lightning Sprint. It's a high rank skill, but... I believe you should be able to use it even without the help of spirits, Mr. Shin-Woo. What do you think?"

"I really like it. How much is it?"

Pleine smiled brightly, which made Lee Shin-Woo uneasy.

"With a 20% discount, it’ll cost you 41.5 million Perium, Dear Customer!"

1. T/N: Good night in German. ☜

2. T/N: Yawning sound. ☜