“Huh? Does it just end like this when I pass the test?”
“Pass the test? W-what are you saying?”
“Didn’t I bring you the goods?”
“What, what the?”
Kuronil flinched and turned his head. The man flashed the item. It was a piggy bank. No, to be exact the item Kuronil stashed in the cave was the ‘Bold Golden Pigs.’ Kuronil looked at the gold pig with disbelieving eyes and grabbed the man’s collar before shouting.
“H-how did you……? This guy, what on earth did you do?”
“I just entered the examination room and took it out?”
“You just entered and took it out? Then the tests didn’t work?
“Tests? Did you mean the 3~4 strange wooden dolls? Well, I hit it and it broke. Ah, was I not allowed to do that?”
“It broke when you hit it?”
Kuronil couldn’t understand so he ran towards the cave. The man’s words were true. The remains of the smashed wooden dolls were scattered around the cave. The even more amazing thing was when the man rummaged through the remains of the doll.
“It’s a pretty interesting toy. It was a little short so I feel a bit regretful…..”
The man smacked his lips together with a regretful expression. Kuronil looked at the man blankly before he realized he didn’t even know his name.
“W-who are you?”
“Me? I am called Isyuram.”
The man grinned and replied. Yes, that person was Isyuram. Isyuram had received the quest after selling the stolen goods from the branch manager of the merchant’s guild. The quest was to meet the legendary merchant Kuronil and become his heir. Isyuram was actually worried about completing the quest.
‘Ark said it is likely to be a change profession quest so wouldn’t it be really hard? If it is a merchant’s profession quest then obviously it will deal with making money…..’
Isyuram was a level 300 merchant but he hadn’t really engaged in business yet on his own. The fact that he managed to gain 11,028 gold as profit was just due to luck. If Isyuram had to do something like that again then the quest would be impossible. But fortunately Kuronil’s test was simple clearing a dungeon.
‘I’m glad it isn’t to do with trading but it is impossible for a change profession quest to be simple. Does a monster live in the cave? Sheesh, that won’t be good……’
If the quest required beating a boss monster then it would be too hard. It didn’t matter if Isyuram was a level 300 or 400 merchant. It wasn’t even easy for him to deal with general monsters alone. But an unexpected message appeared when Isyuram entered the cave.
-You have entered the Cave of Trials
The Cave of Trials is a place where the user’s abilities are tested. When a challenger enters the Cave of Trials, all stats will be set at a certain amount and skills will be blocked. All weapons and armour will also be invalidated. You will have to depend on your techniques, senses and reflexes to pass the test. There is no time limit or restrictions on the amount of attempts. But if you die during the test then the death penalty will be applied. If you give up the challenge then your lost abilities will be restored.
* Equipment dismantled, skills are blocked, the level is fixed and consumables are prohibited.
* Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence, Wisdom and Luck are fixed at 100.
‘Eh? What is this?’
If other users saw that message then they would be unwilling. But after reading the information window, Isyuram cheered instead. All stats were fixed at 100 with the equipment and skills blocked. In other words, wasn’t this the best conditions for Isyuram? In this condition, the only thing needed was the users’ combat capabilities! And it was unnecessary to explain again but Isyuram’s occupation was the captain of the police’s SWAT team. His combat skills were top class!
‘I don’t understand, but if the test is like this then I have confidence!’
Isyuram jumped into the Cave of Trials without any hesitation. There was no need to explain after that. When he entered the pitch black cave, 3~4 wooden dolls instantly began attacking Isyuram. If an ordinary user had entered the cave then they would be turned into a bloody rag. But the opponent was Isyuram. He had experience fighting against dozens of gangsters in the darkness. Obviously he was capable of receiving the attacks in the Cave of Trials. No matter how realistic it was, New World was still a game. Even if he was stabbed with a sword, he wouldn’t really die. After experiencing real threats to his life, this degree of difficulty was only like a joke to him. No, it was even easier than when he fought against monsters with a merchant’s body.
‘What the? Why do they feel so weak?’
Since Isyuram was a merchant, the monsters wouldn’t receive a lot of damage even when he attacked the weak point. However, everybody who challenged the Cave of Trials was in the same state. In other words, Isyuram was able to deal as much damage as a warrior when he hit the wooden dolls. So Isyuram felt like the Cave of Trials was a lot easier than fighting monsters outside. In fact, Isyuram was totally unaware that dozens of merchants had challenged Kuronil’s test. But most of them gave up when they couldn’t even pass one checkpoint. To be honest, what normal user could pass the test where wooden dolls attacked in the darkness? Additionally, most users who chose a merchant had no experience in battle. So Kuronil’s test was impossible for merchants. That’s right. This was the reason why the quest had a difficulty of +A.
‘This is a good place to train the children.’
On the other hand, Isyuram was just thinking about the possibility of training there. It was natural. Even if it had a high level of difficulty, what SWAT team member wouldn’t be able to pass the test? Thanks to that, Isyuram passed all checkpoints and even destroyed the huge robot at the final checkpoint before grabbing the golden pig.
“Honestly, this test is really difficult for a merchant!”
Kuronil exclaimed after hearing Isyuram’s explanation. Then his attitude changed 180 degrees and he grabbed Isyuram’s hands.
“I’ve really despaired of the merchant’s these days. The merchants today are mistaken. A merchant is not a weak existence. We have to be strong to defend out property from the warriors. If the merchants are stronger than the warriors then we can maintain our money. That is the way of a real merchant taught to me by my master……”
Kuronil started a heated lecture.
‘The way of a real merchant’, ‘following in the footsteps of the senior merchants’, ‘must be prepared to do things as a merchant’, ‘future of a merchant’ and so on. He found Kuronil’s chattering more difficult than the Cave of Trials. So 30 minutes passed like that.
“…… Now do you understand?”
When Kuronil’s lecture was over, an information window appeared in front of Isyuram.
-You have received information from the retired merchant Kuronil about a ‘Battle Merchant’.
Therefore you’ve earned the right to change to the dual profession ‘Battle Merchant.’
A dual profession is like a magic warrior or archer who has two attributes at the same time. Having two attributes halves the available skills but it has endless possibilities depending on the way it is utilized. In other words, it can be a great or incompetent profession depending on how it is raised.
A ‘Battle Merchant’ has the dual properties of a fighter and merchant. Thanks to the nature of the profession, a bonus won’t be applied to any business dealings unless it involves weapons or armour. Instead, it is possible to acquire battle skills unique to a Battle Merchant. When hunting, the penalty to power will be reduced by 50%. However, a penalty of 50% will be applied to the experience received from the trading of goods instead.
Would you like to change your profession?
“Ooh!”
Isyuram felt completely refreshed after the boring lecture. Like Ark said, it was indeed a profession change quest. And it wasn’t an ordinary profession but a dual profession! Isyuram’s eyes lit up at the description for Battle Merchant. His gaze focused on the part where Isyuram could learn combat skills! In fact, Isyuram had recently been worried about New World.
‘Don’t the battles become harder as the level increases?’
When the level rose then everything was stronger. It was natural since this was a trick of the game publishers. Anyone who played a game had experienced it. Hunting a level 1 and level 100 was completely different. It was common sense for hunting at level 1 to be more difficult. But in fact, hunting at level 100 was the more difficult experience. That’s because the monsters became stronger as the level increased. The reason why users could fight against those monsters was because they received various skills and additional stats. But Isyuram was a merchant so even if his level increased, Isyuram would obtain any additional battle skills or stats. So he felt like he was actually becoming weaker as his level increased. It was the thing he was most doubtful about.
‘But now I can learn combat skills and the penalty has decreased by 50%…..!’
Of course, the merchant’s ability decreased at the same time but he had no interest in business anyway. It wasn’t a problem he had to think about.
“Change! Change!”
After Isyuram changed professions, a new skills list appeared. The combat