172 Stealing Casually
Hiro immediately turned around and walked over to the Dwarf who had just said something about his sword.
He was a male Dwarf who looked very old. He wore an eye patch like a pirate.
“Do you know anything about my sword?” Hiro took out his sword and showed the Blood-Eater Vampire in front of the Dwarf, letting the Dwarf observe and assess the exquisite detail of the sword. The Dwarf kept nodding his head as scrutinize it.
“I see… I see. The object to forge this sword has been nowhere to be found for thousands of years. Ahh—I saw something missing here.”
Hiro furrowed his brows in confusion. He had been with the sword for more than a month, but he didn’t even notice that there was an empty semicircular hollow right at the base of the blade. Hiro thought that the sword model was like that. However, after hearing what the NPC said, he realized that it must be related to the Stage 1 Legendary Weapon upgrade quest.
“Do you know what kind of thing should be in that place?”
“Hmmmm… from the diameter and depth of the basin. It looks like a 2-inch Hell Stone Glass Gem. You know that gem, right?” The NPC returned Hiro’s sword and Hiro nodded as he accepted it.
“Great! If you have it, the power of your sword will definitely increase.”
“Do you know where I can get that gem?”
“Of course. The Hell Stone Glass Gem is a magic stone that is essential for preserving life in the Voiceless Abyss.”
“The Voiceless Abyss?”
“You can find it at the base of the Tower of the Death in the Underworld City. Found a succubus to gain access to the place. Usually, they gather at the Hellfire Tavern every midnight.”
The information Hiro had obtained was sufficient. He rushed back out of the mine. However, he still had to wait until midnight to be able to find the succubus.
Hiro decided to continue grinding monsters in order to increase his progressives stats again while relaxing his muscles.
The monster that Hiro targeted was the centaur monster that occupied the desert in Vul Faldur City. The monster used a large sword as a weapon so that Hiro could practise his sword technique at the same time.
Hiro spent time in that place until the day turned to night and he was already exhausted.
Then, he decided to head towards the Underworld City. In two hours, it would be midnight.
That night, the Underworld City seemed busier than usual.
After the sale of VR helmets for Last Shelter Online was re-opened with an infinite number, even accepting pre-orders, the number of players had increased. And since Hiro won the launching event, most of the new players decided to choose the same job and bloodline as Hiro because they believed that the job and the bloodline were very strong.
That was why the Underworld City looked even busier than before. Even so, most of them were low-level players who had just reached the level to travel around all the cities in the world of Last Shelter Online.
In all the cities, there must be a space to sell any kind of item and it could be done by anyone who had a merchant certificate. Even so, the sellers in the Underworld City weren’t as many as the sellers in Vul Faldur.
Hiro decided to check the market where the players were selling while waiting for midnight to come. However, he had no interest in checking out the players selling on the side of the city’s main street. Hiro knew hidden places where he could find items at bombastic prices due to their rarity.
In a place that not many players knew about, the sellers didn’t have to pay for the tax at all, so it could be said that the system allowed illegal buying and selling.
The place was hidden inside the Hellfire Tavern. Precisely, the underground of the Hellfire Tavern. Not just anyone could enter it. The first time Hiro entered the place was because he managed to defeat the NPC bartender, who was an incubus. The access to go to that place would only be granted if the player was stronger than the NPC bartender. Although Hiro was able to defeat him easily back then.
The black market under the Hellfire Tavern was very quiet. The people who came could be counted on with fingers. Even so, the secret underground warehouse seemed to be packed with all kinds of items.
“What are you saying? This thing costs 30,000 LSC? Have you gone mad? Do you really have any intention of selling or not?”
A bloodline demon thug-looking man was seen cursing a merchant who covered his face with a bandage like a mummy. He was a player too.
Even though he was being shouted at like that, the player who was selling the item did not budge from his spot as if he didn’t hear it.
Hiro sighed. There was always a commotion every time he came to this place. However, because Hiro was curious about the item that was valued at 30,000 LSC, he decided to go to the source of the commotion.
Hiro could feel the seller’s eyes who were being cursed, glancing at him briefly before averting his gaze as if he wasn’t interested in Hiro in the slightest.
The items that the man sold were not many. They are all stones with different functions. From what Hiro had got from fighting monsters to the stones that Hiro had never seen before.
There were 12 stones in total and they were neatly arranged on a wooden table covered with a shabby cloth.
“Don’t buy from this person. He had no intention of selling at all. How could he sell a stone for 30,000 LSC?” the thug-looking man grumbled in annoyance to Hiro, who had just joined him.
Hiro wasn’t interested in hearing that. He was more interested in seeing the stone which sold for 30,000 LSC. And because he knew a trick that many people didn’t know, Hiro observed the stone with the help of [Demon’s Eyes].
The stone that was sold for a high price seemed to have a swirling aura within it. A magic power. Hiro was sure that he wasn’t wrong. The magic power swirled within the stone. He still didn’t know its function, but there seemed to be a reason why it cost 30,000 LSC.
There was something more appealing to him than that stone. It was four pieces of stone that looked like they had been crushed by an explosion. The stones emitted a purplish glow that was exactly the same color as the Blood-Eater Vampire every time Hiro activated his unique skill.
Out of curiosity, he picked up one of the stones and suddenly, his left hand felt very hot.
Ding!
[The curse power detected]
[Initiate to absorb the power of the curse from the object]
“Wait a sec, it doesn’t seem right.” Hiro glanced at the seller, who he couldn’t see his face was, to make sure that the person wasn’t aware of what Hiro was doing.
[The power of the curse has been absorbed]
When he looked at it again, the purplish light that he could only see with [Demon’s Eyes] on that one piece of stone had gone.
Hiro swallowed hard. It seemed like he didn’t have to pay to get extra power in that place.
Hiro pretended to ask the price of each stone shard while taking it in turn to let his cursed sigil absorb the power in the stone until all four of them turned into ordinary stones.
“10,000 LSC each,” replied the seller curtly.
Hiro smiled faintly after stealing unnoticed.
“Ahhh—it’s just an ordinary stone. Too expensive,” he said casually and turned away.