Return to Player – Chapter 13

How to nurture your party members (4)

“By the way, Unni and Oppa are avatars…. right?

Lee Min-ah, who had been walking silently after almost getting her hand broken by Jisoo, carefully opened her mouth.

It seems that being thrashed by Jisoo has become quite traumatic to her.

“We’re not avatars. And stop being so awkward, just say it comfortably.”

“Ah, thank you. Then why are you so strong?”

“Becoming an avatar is definitely one of the ways to get stronger quickly, but it’s not necessarily to become one to get stronger.”

There are many benefits to becoming an avatar, but if you know how to become stronger, even a normal player could become stronger.

‘Avatars are definitely more favourable to get stronger when you put the same amount of effort as normal players.’

Even so, I had no intention of becoming an avatar of God.

Because Avatars had a huge flaw.

“O…. kay?”

Perhaps it was difficult to understand what I was saying, so Minah glanced up with a confused expression.

In that direction, an observer was following us.

The Jester’s observer.

‘About seven days left.’

There was still quite a bit of time left. It’s okay to go straight to Rome Tower, but….

“Equipment.”

“Yes?”

Jisoo turned to look at me, murmuring.

“I think it would be a good idea to get some equipment before going to Rome Tower.”

“But, isn’t the rusty iron sword that the goblins carry the only piece of equipment in this area?”

“Yeah, that’s if you only look for dropped items.”

Most of the monsters that appear in the streets are still low-level monsters.

Among them, the only monsters carrying weapons are goblins.

The weapons they have are of poor quality and cannot be used for a long time.

“Can’t we just use a kitchen knife from the supermarket?”

“Would that really help? Monsters each have their own magical fields, so it’s easy dodge with objects that are originally from this world.”

“…. Right. I’m not sure if I’m want to die holding a kitchen knife……”

“Since low-level monsters have very little magical power in their body. If a slightly stronger monster comes out, neither a kitchen knife nor a gun will work.”

Minah kept her mouth shut at my words and made a dissatisfied expression.

“Then where can we get weapons?”

“It’s simple. You just buy them.”

I pointed my finger at a roadside convenience store.

“We can’t even use kitchen knives. But in the first place, convenience stores don’t even sell knives, do they?”

Minah chimed in from behind, but I did not intend to explain anything to her.

Jisoo followed silently, even she looked a little puzzled, but as she familiar with this behavior, she did not ask.

And as I stepped into the convenience store, I heard a notification as expected.

[You have entered a safe zone.]

“There was a safe zone here?”

Minah’s eyes widened and looked back at me.

“How did you know this was a safe zone?”

“When you see the state of the store, you get a sense of it.”

“Ah.”

Jisoo slightly admired my words and looked around the convenience store.

At a glance, it was a mess like other stores, but there was a clear difference.

“There’s no sign that monsters have invaded here.”

“Then why is it messed up?”

“This place was ransacked by people. Monsters don’t eat these foods.”

Jisoo was quick to understand.

‘Lee Min-ah have been on the smart side from my memory…..’

It takes a long time before I met Lee Min-ah. At least 5 years later.

At that time, she was a little colder and had a deeper personality.

“But how do you buy weapons here?”

“Point shop open.”

Kugugung!

As soon as I finished my sentence, something like a giant vending machine sprang up from the ground.

“What, what is this?”

“Can’t you see? It’s a point store.”

Point shops can be used in safe zones created in general stages except for the main stage where the main quest is performed.

In the case of the DLC shop, you can usually get consumables, catalysts and materials that are usually hard to get.

In the case of the point shop, you can only purchase weapons or basic potions.

“I had no idea this existed.”

Seeing Minah muttering blankly, I stuck my tongue out inwardly.

‘It seems that her God didn’t tell her.’

Considering the character of the Jester, it was obvious that she knew it but didn’t tell her.

Since she’s a sadist.

She enjoys seeing things like that, seeing people with a sad expression on their face.

‘She is the one of the highest level god, and has certain abilities, but has a very weird personality.’

I sent my heartfelt condolences to Minah, who became the avatar of such a god.

“I found this out by accident too, so don’t blame yourself too much.”

“How did you find out by chance?”

“You can find it in the ‘Others’ section of the help.”

“You don’t see it?”

“Look carefully at the notes in small print.”

For reference, it is very difficult to find it, so it is not strange that Jisoo, who read the help thoroughly, to not be able to find it.

It’s in a position where you can feel the ill will of the GM trying to make the players suffer as much as possible.

‘Most of them are just basic weapons and equipment too.’

They don’t even sell good potions.

Probably because selling good potions in the early stages will greatly increases the chance of survival.

‘Still, there is currently no means to obtain high-quality equipment….’

After a while, players who can craft things will appear, and named monsters that carries proper weapons will appear.

But at least until then, we need a weapon to use.

I brought three daggers and one shortsword of moderate length. And purchased suitable armors.

The price was a little out of place, but I had a lot of points, so I didn’t care about it.

“Han Ji-soo.”

“Yes?”

“Here’s an armor. Save your points your points to raise your stats, so I’ll buy it for you now. Pay me back later.”

“Oh okay. Thanks I’ll pay you back.”

Originally, Jisoo was the type of person who didn’t like to be in debt to others, but the situation was dire, so she accepted it with no complaints.

‘He probably wrote all the points.’(T/N: Jisoo POV?)

Considering how he was able to kill some monsters while coming here, it seemed like he invested a lot of points in his abilities.

Obviously there won’t be any points left to buy equipment.

“What weapon are you going to use? A sword too?”

“Can I know what kind it is?”

There were quite a few different types of weapons. They also had swords and spears, and blunts and bows.

“I want to fight with a blunt weapon.”

After hearing the explanation, Jisoo asked for a blunt weapon.

Frankly, it was a little unexpected. People usually wasbt to use a sword first.

‘A blunt weapon is better for beginners to handle though.’

In the early days of poorly handling a sword, it is common to miss the sword because blood is clogged or the rigid muscles cannot be properly cut.

Jisoo had never made such a mistake before, but the blunt weapon was not a bad choice.

Thousand Deaths doesn’t even need a weapon, but it just works better with weapons.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

I bought a blunt weapon that could be used with one hand and gave it to Jisoo.

A weapon that is commonly known as a mace.

As I looked at Jisoo, who was spinning her mace around in the air and measuring the weight, I felt a gaze from the side.

“What.”

“I just thought that maybe you’ll buy for me too.”

Minah, who was watching me buy for Jisoo, asked in a slightly excited tone.

I didn’t even want to buy this one, but it seems like I was drinking a lot of kimchi soup.

“Why don’t you buy them yourself? You were the one who refused when Oppa offerd you points in the first place, right?”

“….Ugh.”

Minah glared at Jisoo with resentful eyes, but when she saw Jisoo swinging a mace, she quickly turned her gaze.

“Anyway, the price of each piece of equipment is at least 200 points. You don’t even have the points.”

“2…200 points? You…. No, Oppa where did you get that much points!”

“If you were smart, you would be rich by now too. Stop robbing banks and collect points.”

Mina’s shoulders dropped.

She looked a little pitiful, but what can she do? It’s all her own karma.

It wasn’t too far from where we are now to Rome Tower.

It only takes about four hours to walk there.

‘Let’s see….’

It’s not very good stuff, but I got the right equipment, and there was one thing to experiment with.

‘There was one thing I didn’t use from the Platinum rating reward.’

What I received as a reward were skills and points.

And it there was one more thing.

[Compressed Orihalcum:
A multi-purpose ore that can be used according to the owner’s will. Orihalcum coating can be applied to the desired equipment. If the coating is removed, it will return to its original stats and shape.]

“Hmm.”

I looked at the small bottle in my hand.

There was a liquid that was glistening gold.

Orihalcum is a metal with the colour of light golden tint.

It has no magic resistance, but in terms of strength, it is the hardest among all metals and is very light.

‘…..Wouldn’t it be a one-time use item?’

Since the classification is ‘equipment’, there will be no such thing.

Even the small print on the bottle is clearly stated that it can be retrieved.

Pong.

When I opened the bottle cap, I heard a clear sound.

‘Isn’t it better to coat it on a weapon?’

I took out my short sword and sprayed the deformed Orihalcum.

Then, the liquid that escaped from the bottle wrapped around the sword like a slime in an instant.

“Oh.”

The short sword, which had an ordinary appearance until recently, had the entire blade part changed to gold, the color of Orihalcum.

‘The weight remains the same.’

If it had been coated with Orichalcum as described, the strength and cutting power should have risen significantly.

“If I put the bottle close to it….”

The coating peeled off and turned into a liquid and bottled.

It was a lot more useful than I thought. If it is coated with Orichalcum, it can become a weapon that is several times superior to an ordinary sword.

It was the best equipment for me who did not buy a new weapon.

“I think it’s there.”

As I was experimenting with the variable Orichalcon on various equipment, Jisoo, who was walking next to me, raised her finger and pointed forward.

To the Rome World Tower.

“It’s funny to ask now after we finally arrive, but what is the second quest?”

“Kill the boss monster within the time period.”

“Boss monster? There was something like that?”

“What was your second quest?”

“It just told us to survive.”

Minah was talking about it casually, but her eyes were strangely empty.

It was probably not a good memory.

‘It’s understandable that the second quest ended quickly.’

It seems that the stage Minah belonged to was not quite fun.

Survival is a quest that forces people to ‘die’ until the number of players falls below a certain level.

A lot of people must have died, and Minah must have killed a lot of people too.

On the other hand, we moved on to a quite peaceful quest.

‘If it wasn’t for me, they would have been slaughtered by the sentinels.’

No, they would have been swept away by a horde of goblins led by the hobgoblin without any sentinels appearing like in my previous round.

GM Acartus, who manages this place, is such a bastard.

“Hoo….”

As I approached the Rome World Tower, I saw people in black roaming around.

It was a completely different scene from what I had seen here in my previous life.

“Those people…”

Jisoo frowned at the sight of men walking around with a bloody atmosphere.

“Why are they walking around like that?”

“It’s a boundry.”

“A boundary? There are no monsters around here though?”

“I am not for monsters. It’s because thay are being wary of people.”

Quests are not necessarily tailored to be completed by all players.

Like Minah’s survival quest earlier, there was clearly a structure that encouraged competition among players.

“Of course, we need to hear from someone who knows the details.”

I glanced at Minah.

I got a rough idea of why those guys were standing on the alert, but there was nothing wrong with hearing the details.

“Would you like me to go and find out why they are on the alert from these guys?”

“That plan is faster. So do you hate it?”

I smiled and looked to the side. Minah also followed my gaze and looked to the side.

Jisoo was wiping her bloodied mace with a handkerchief.

It’s the blood of the monsters we dealt with before coming here.

Jisoo was better at using the mace better than I thought, and went around breaking the heads of monsters that didn’t even get in our way.

If it’s me, the more she get used to it, the better it is for me, but for Minah, it would seem like a nightmare.

“I will go.”

“Okay.”

Minah, bowing her head politely, patted herself.

Mina released herself from the stress and moved at a quick pace.

Tatak!

“Huh?!”

She hid behind a telephone pole for a moment, and ambushed a passing man in black and knocked him out instantly.

It wass a clean, clutter-free operation.

‘In the end, Lee Min-ah is Lee Min-ah.’

In front of Jisoo, she trembles like a frog in front of a snake, but as a named player in the previous round, she is different from the others.

Especially in Minah’s case, she was used to dealing with people rather than monsters.

It’s definitely from the impact of the second quest.

Minah put the stunned man away somewhere, and then transformed into the man’s appearance.

Then she began to walk in the direction where the man had just walked before.

Even her gait resembled the man who had just been ambushed before.

Translator: Hannaz
Proofreader: Salty