Chapter 10: The Essence of Fireball (1)

He was still in disbelief as he checked the flashing information window. All he’d done was recharge his Parsley Coins using the essence stones. Could that really grant him a new skill?

“Still, if they’re giving it to me, there’s no reason to refuse.”

He immediately minimized the Parsley Market window and checked his personal information.

Wrinkling his nose at the somewhat unfair-sounding skill name, he checked its detailed description.

“Wow.”

I whistled.

This skill was far more powerful than its C-grade ranking would suggest, granting an exceptional level of performance. It also clarified why it was called “Growing Shopaholic.” The probability and ratio increased with each Coin Recharge.

But to grant a skill that directly interferes with the market system, just for a single recharge…

Inevitably, the doubt returned.

“Management Mi, there’s something I want to ask.”

I broke the silence between myself and Management Mi, who had been uncharacteristically quiet lately.

“You don’t know what triggers ‘Remarkable Growth,’ do you?”

Management Mi typed out a groan in the message:

“Hmm.”

I folded my arms and asked, “So you understand every other skill, but you can’t figure this one out?”

“Is it because there aren’t enough samples?”

Ah, that wretched bastard who put me through hell for seven years?

“Resigned? I thought they were fired.”

Anyway, what about the details? Are you saying nobody who manages the Status Window, including Management Mi, knows the full story? The only person who knows all the secrets is the employee who developed the skill.

“And you have no idea where that employee is now?”

I pondered for a moment, then shrugged.

“Then there’s nothing we can do about it.”

It was just a casual question that unexpectedly led to a deeper discussion than intended.

In the first place, the issue of remarkable growth wasn’t something that needed immediate confirmation. An opportunity to investigate it more thoroughly would arise someday.

“Enough with the boring talk. Let’s get back to shopping.”

It was time to return to the original plan.

As soon as I reactivated Parsley Market, a new notification popped up.

During the Coin Recharge process, the [ Growing Shopaholic ] feature was activated.

It had bypassed the initial 5% probability right from the start.

With shining eyes, I checked my Parsley Coins.

Five percent of the 1,050 coins I recharged was 52.5 coins.

Strictly speaking, I should have had 1,102.5 coins, but it seemed the decimal portion had been rounded up.

“Ugh, even rounding?”

It was just one Coin, but that amounted to 100,000 won in cash.

Moreover, the more Coins you recharge, the exponentially larger the amount you gain through rounding would become.

“Do I have to report everything now?”

Management Mi replied with a hint of displeasure.

Since there was no reason to hide it, Taejun answered.

“I’m planning to buy a Skill Book.”

Taejun nodded.

Currently, he lacked not only proper combat skills but even a usable weapon.

This made him vulnerable against any monster that wasn’t as easily overcome as the Venom Spore, which relied solely on Toxin immunity and raw stats.

A proper expedition was out of the question.

“So, I need to learn at least one combat skill I can rely on as my main weapon.”

That was certainly an option.

But it came down to efficiency.

Skills could be used simply by acquiring a skill book.

Weapons, however, were a different matter.

Merely obtaining a weapon wasn’t enough.

Proper training was required to wield it effectively.

No matter how superb the weapon,

if you didn’t know how to use it, it would be like putting a pearl necklace around a pig’s neck.

“I wasn’t just blindly following along as a porter without thinking.”

“Fire-type skills are the most efficient against monsters. I should look into that.”

Monsters are living creatures, after all.

Except for a few special cases, most are vulnerable to fire.

Plus, among the combat skill books available on the market, fire-type ones are relatively affordable.

Well, even at that, skill books themselves are so rare they’re still priced at over 500 million won.

“I wonder what the market prices are like here.”

I searched using the tags “#skill #spell #fire #fire”.

As soon as I filtered my search with these tags, a list of posts appeared.

“Oh.”

First, let’s filter out anything that looks like it belongs in a wuxia or science fiction setting.

Not only was everything unfamiliar, but the prices were outrageously high, making them utterly unaffordable for now.

So, the skill books I was looking for seemed to be sold under the name “scrolls.” But if they were scrolls, they must vanish after a single use, right? Like disposable magic items?

“Really?”

I quickly began scanning the list of sales posts.

“The problem is the price.”

As expected, the prices were far from reasonable.

Even the cheapest scroll cost 4,000 Coins—equivalent to over 400 million won in cash.

I spent three hours scrolling through sales posts.

“Maybe I was being too greedy.” I finally murmured.

Truth be told, trying to find a decent skill book with just 100 million won was an unreasonable expectation.

But just as I lowered my gaze in resignation and scrolled one last time, my eyes widened.

There, amidst the sea of posts, a single listing stood out.

More precisely, a single line at the bottom of the post:

The price was absurdly low compared to other listings.

Furthermore, the temperature in the Status Window next to the seller’s ID read 10°C.

The transaction reviews were equally unusual:

“It’s almost pitiful.”

Based on the reviews, he seemed like a scammer.

Still, I decided to send a chat message first.

The post had been bumped up 30 days ago, but a reply came almost immediately.

The rolled parchment scroll icon and its details appeared in the sales window.

Fortunately, the skill contained within the scroll was one I knew well.

It was magic that anyone who’d even briefly dabbled in games or fantasy novels would recognize, even from the pre-Cataclysm era.

“It’s Fireball.”

Fireball.

Fireball is a flame spell that conjures a ball of fire in the caster’s hand, then hurls it at the target.

While most flame-type Hunters could use it, it was still a fairly effective offensive skill.

I pointed to the parchment drawing in the chat window.

“Management Mi.”

“What do you think? Does this item look fake to you?”

Management Mi replied with firm conviction:

This meant no counterfeit items could even be listed in the first place.

In other words, this skill book was fully functional as intended.

Why are the reviews so terrible?

“You’re selling this for 1,000 Coins too?”

GeniusArkMage1004: “That’s right.”

“But I actually read your past reviews.”

GeniusArkMage1004: “Well, I’d expect so. There’s nothing particularly wrong with them. My magic scrolls are rather… special, you see.”

“Special,” he said.

As I paused mid-chat, the seller continued.

GeniusArkMage1004: “After attaining 10-circle enlightenment, I successfully created scrolls that apply a fundamentally different magical formula than before. Therefore, even with the same spell, acquiring it through these scrolls transforms it completely.”

“I see.”

GeniusArkMage1004: Naturally, because of their exceptional nature, some fools lacked the intelligence to properly understand the scrolls I crafted, leading them to implement skills incorrectly. Those are the ones writing the negative reviews later.

Hmm.

So, I sold perfectly functional products, but they broke them through misuse and then gave me terrible ratings.

After a moment’s thought, I typed into the chat:

I pondered for a moment.

There were many uncertainties, but this wasn’t an opportunity to pass up easily.

With the funds I had, buying another skill book was impossible anyway.

It was a gamble worth taking.