Not Star Candy

"I can't believe it. You got me completely."

"Haha. Don't hate me too much."

"Hate you? Perish the thought. Not knowing something like this is entirely my own failing."

An Sa-hong handed the bracelet back to me. He leaned against the table, steadied his breathing, and slowly shook his head.

"Astonishing. How did you... More to the point, you could have ignored what I said and pretended not to know. Are you certain it's all right to share information this valuable with me?"

"Who can say. I had any number of reasons, but what if I simply wanted to get in the good graces of the finest merchant in Korea?"

"...I see. You've been calling me the finest merchant in Korea since we started. Where on earth did you hear that?"

An Sa-hong looked faintly embarrassed. Had he not grown that famous yet? Well, anyway. He was obviously going to become the finest merchant in Korea. That future was already written.

"And you want to get in my good graces, you say..."

A strange look crossed his face, nothing like his usual business smile.

Judging by that reaction, I've definitely made a good impression. And I still have more information on items with hidden abilities. If I keep introducing a few of them, I ought to be able to build a real rapport with An Sa-hong.

Gold Dragon's Sinew was not an item you could obtain without limit. Even after its hidden ability came to light, the price hadn't skyrocketed for some time, because people assumed that killing a gold dragon would yield as many as you liked. In truth, only twelve of them would ever exist in the entire world. About half would vanish without a trace, and the rest would end up on the wrong Awakeners—people with no lightning affinity at all—or be smashed beyond repair and discarded.

Be that as it may, what mattered was that our Gyeol had gotten his hands on this one.

I fastened the bracelet around Gyeol's wrist again and let out a short laugh. Yes. What mattered was that Gyeol had it—an item that, from here on, you would never find for two hundred million won.

"All right. I'll spend what's left on something for myself."

At that, An Sa-hong seemed to snap back to himself and straightened.

"Ah—yes, of course. What would you like this time? You have 4.18 million won remaining."

"Hmm... Could you show me something that raises mana, more or less?"

If I was going to gear up at all, what I needed right now was more mana, so I could fire off skills without immediately running dry.

"Within that budget, this is about what I can show you."

With a soft shimmer, two small rings and a silver bracelet rose onto the desk.

"The ring on the right is Mana +1. The one on the left is Magic Attack +2%. The bracelet increases mana recovery."

"Hmm. I'll take this one."

"The bracelet, then. Excellent."

With so little money left, none of them were impressive. Next to Gold Dragon's Sinew, they were downright dull. Most people would have chosen the ring with Magic Attack +2%, but magic attack had nothing to do with me.

If the bracelet's effect stacks with Will-o'-the-Wisp, spent mana should recover much faster. I won't be using it forever, but it'll do for now. My skills don't burn that much mana anyway.

I took the bracelet An Sa-hong offered without fuss, slipped it on, and looked it over. I liked it well enough.

"Feels like we matched, doesn't it? You know. Like those friendship bracelets."

Honestly, today's haul was too good. Warm with private satisfaction, I grinned and pressed my wrist to Gyeol's so we could look at the bracelets side by side. They looked similar enough that it almost felt like an anniversary. We'd never had much else in our lives worth commemorating. But if I thought of today as the day we swore to save humanity—and to be a little happier ourselves—my chest ached in the best way. Enough that I finally understood why people insisted on marking anniversaries.

"...When you put it like that, I feel even worse. I—I ended up with something incredible."

"Oh, come on. Since when do we apologize to each other over every little thing? And it's not like I bought it for you outright. More than half of it was your money."

Maybe because anyone could see my bracelet was far cheaper, Gyeol scratched his head, looking awkward—like a puppy convinced it had done something wrong when it hadn't. Still, this ought to kill his jealousy over my Will-o'-the-Wisp and the Hermes' Shoes for good.

"Haha, seriously. Don't worry about it, you brat. You're stronger now, so later I'm going to work you to the bone in the dungeons. Got it? Work hard and pay your big brother back. From now on I'm earning money just to gear myself up."

"...Yeah."

Gyeol nodded, docile as anything. I'd expected him to grumble again at being called big brother. The little punk. Was this what parents felt, raising a kid? Getting older seemed to mean my heart kept catching on nothing at all. And it made me swear it once more.

This is only the beginning. From here on, we're only going to get stronger.

I turned a bright look on An Sa-hong.

"I'd also like to spend what's left on a few consumables."

"What are you looking for?"

"Nothing impressive. A few health recovery potions, a few mana recovery potions, and some antidotes."

"Very well."

An Sa-hong waved a hand and summoned several items sealed in small glass bottles. I bought a handful of low-grade potions and four ordinary antidotes, and with that the deal was done.

"Then, is there anything else you're looking for?"

"Ah, no. I'm out of money besides. Thank you for doing business with me today."

"Not at all."

"There is... something I'd like to ask you personally, though."

An Sa-hong, who had been clearing the table, slowly lifted his head. I asked the question I had put off again and again.

"By any chance, do you know anything about an item called a Soul Stone?"

Please, I turned the word over in my head. Right now, An Sa-hong was the only person who might know even a little about Soul Stones.

"...A Soul Stone?"

"Yes. A Soul Stone."

"...I'm afraid I've never heard of such a thing. Are you certain the item is called a Soul Stone?"

"Ah..."

Disappointment washed over me. An item even An Sa-hong didn't know?

"What does it look like? Do you have one with you now?"

"Ah, one moment."

A few soft ticks, and I worked my inventory. Five Soul Stones appeared in my palm—stones I'd earned fighting a goblin unit. I'd deliberately held off eating them so I could show An Sa-hong.

"Hm?"

The moment he saw them, An Sa-hong arched one brow. Did he—did he actually know something?!

"Do you recognize them?"

"Well."

Thump. Thump. My heart pounded.

"...These are star candies, aren't they?"

"What?"

His answer left me utterly blank. I'll admit the Soul Stones look like star candy. I admit it. Honestly, they even taste similar. But if you're the finest merchant in Korea, shouldn't you take one look and know an item's true worth? ...Granted, he hadn't caught the hidden property of Gold Dragon's Sinew either, but that was a hidden setting! Was this guy even the An Sa-hong I knew?!

"...They're not star candy."

At my words, An Sa-hong's expression grew more and more puzzled.

"May I take a closer look?"

"Yes. Here."

I held out my hand without a shred of doubt. An Sa-hong pulled his gloves back on, picked up one Soul Stone, and studied it closely.

"...I'm sorry, but—"

"Yes?"

"Are you truly certain these aren't star candies?"

"They..."

"Candy like that doesn't just come out of an inventory."

An Sa-hong looked genuinely at a loss. Han Gyeol, who had been hanging back and watching, suddenly snapped at him. He'd clearly been in a good mood because of the bracelet—when had he gotten prickly again? Where was the bracelet's mental fortitude boost? It was supposed to be double!

"Aigoo, Gyeol. Easy, easy."

I stepped in front of him before he could pile anything else onto An Sa-hong, and with a gloomy face started to put the Soul Stones in my hand back into my inventory.

"Hmm."

But An Sa-hong reactivated the skill he had switched off over the table. He took a Soul Stone from me and set it lightly on top.

The information window that normally rose on its own when an item was placed stayed utterly silent. There wasn't even the sound of a skill activating. If An Sa-hong's skill couldn't recognize it, then as far as he was concerned, this couldn't be classified as an item at all. Even so, because of what I had shown him with Gold Dragon's Sinew, he didn't give up on the Soul Stone so easily.

Another soft series of ticks. He seemed to be using several more skills—item appraisal, most likely.

"There is definitely a presence coming off it, similar to a portal. The truth is, though, ever since the portals appeared, anything left near one for a few hours picks up about this much of a trace."

"Is that so..."

"Have you ever used it?"

"Ah."

For a moment, I had no words. I had used them, of course, but saying so would mean admitting they were items that raised my stats. ...I couldn't do that.

"I haven't tried using them yet. I don't even know how. They just show up in my inventory after a fight. I searched and nothing came up, so I thought I'd ask."

"If you'll allow it, you could leave them with me, and I could keep looking into them."

"Ah, no. That's not necessary."

"And why would we trust you."

Gyeol tossed out another sharp line, but this time he was speaking for me. I wanted An Sa-hong to look into the Soul Stones, and yet I couldn't hand them over completely. What if An Sa-hong could use them too? There was no way he wouldn't covet an item this absurd. He seemed to read that on my face as well.

"I understand completely. I failed to earn your trust in today's transaction."

"No, I was satisfied with the deal itself. It's just..."

I wanted to get closer to An Sa-hong, and things sliding this way left me in a rather awkward spot.

"It's all right. Working so that a customer returns, and keeps commissioning me, is simply what a merchant ought to do. You asked because you trusted my ability, and I'm sorry I couldn't meet that expectation."

He said it smoothly, as if neither Gyeol's reaction nor my hesitation had offended him in the slightest. To anyone watching, we must have looked like greenhorns who had only just awakened, and yet there wasn't a trace of condescension in him. Even with the gold dragon bracelet, he had only advised us out of concern. Thinking about it again, he had a gift for making any situation feel perfectly comfortable. A merchant truly skilled at handling people.

Someone else came to mind all at once. A soldier. A tired-looking face. A captain. An Sa-hong was nothing like that man. I think he and I get along.

"And since you showed me something interesting today, I'd like to return the favor. I'll look into those Soul Stones on my own, and if I find anything, I'll contact you at once. Here—I'll give it back."

An Sa-hong examined the Soul Stone once more, then set it in my palm.

"There's no need to pay me for the search. I've grown curious myself. Besides, I would also like to get in your good graces, Eun Ha-jun."

And for the first time since we'd met, he showed his teeth and smiled, bright and open.

"Why the sour face? Worried?"

"No, it's not that."

"An unverified dungeon can make anyone uneasy. I get it. But just trust your big brother."

"It's not that."

Gyeol sat on the rattling bus, scowling, and glared only at the window.

"Seriously, you don't trust me?!"

Han Gyeol didn't answer. Honestly, maybe because he was young, he sulked far too fast, and that was the problem. The age gap was wide enough that if he wouldn't say what was wrong, I genuinely couldn't tell—and that was a problem too.

I danced my fingers over my phone screen and finished locking in another appointment to trade with An Sa-hong. The gear was set. Today, I meant to clear an unidentified dungeon that nobody else even knew existed.