Chapter 528
“Legendary Blacksmith’s Appraisal.”
The walnut pouch in the corner of his inventory. Grid pulled out a single walnut from it and used his appraisal skill to determine the true identity.
[The blacksmith who became a legend can appraise items with an excellent discerning eye. If a hidden feature exists in the target item, it will be found.]
[6th grade illusion magic has been detected.]
[The illusion is useless in front of your eyes and scattered like a mirage.]
[The information about the walnut has been updated!]
[Golden Walnut]
Also called the blessing of nature.
It is a snack and remedy enjoyed by all nobles and royalty on the East Continent.
All stats will rise by 10% for one hour.
In addition, there is a very low probability of permanently increasing one stat by 5 points.
Weight: 0.1
[You have discovered a hidden feature!]
[Golden Walnut]
Also called the blessing of nature.
It is a snack and remedy enjoyed by all nobles and royalty on the East Continent.
Somewhere on the East Continent, there are creatures whose main food is this walnut.
All stats will rise by 10% for one hour.
In addition, there is a very low probability of permanently increasing one stat by 5 points. The better you shell the walnut, the more likely it is that your stats will permanently increase.
Weight: 0.1
This was huge. Grid’s mouth widened. He shook with joy at the huge value of this walnut. Grid smiled and shook his head.
“The more I think about it, the poorer they are.”
The golden walnuts were covered by illusion magic. They probably never knew. If they knew, they wouldn’t have considered feeding it to a monster.
Grid pledged. ‘They are pitiful pushovers. I should be nice to them.’
Grid was projecting his past self onto Mook’s party. He felt a great sense of sympathy when he thought about what they suffered on the East Continent. Then he thought about himself.
‘Who would’ve thought I would be so nice to people I met for the first time today? I am really too nice.’
Well, if he wasn’t nice then he wouldn’t sponsor X University 3,300 won a month. Grid truly believed he was nice.
‘I’m not good enough to return the walnuts, but I’m still an angel.’
Grid was proud in his heart. He refrained from eating another golden walnut.
‘Eat it sparingly. Before it’s an elixir, it is the strongest buff potion.’
Buffs that raised stats usually had a duration of 1~10 minutes. On the other hand, the golden walnut had a buff duration of one hour. In addition, Grid knew of only one other buff potion that raised ‘all stats’ apart from the golden walnut. That’s right, the Sweet Candy. A buff potion that could only be purchased five times per account from the Reputation Store, it was a fraudulent item that raised all stats by 30%.
‘It’s too precious to eat, unless I encounter a dragon. This walnut is the best buff potion. Therefore, eat it sparingly.’
Dragon! The strongest creature created by the S.A. Group that players couldn’t hunt yet. Grid didn’t want to encounter a dragon til his dying day. He planned to avoid it at all costs. But the world was still unknown. In particular, Grid had no luck. One day, Minerals Detector Minor might suddenly declare as he was searching around Reidan.
“I have found the best minerals in a dragon lair!”
“Then I can’t go to that place…”
Please don’t let that happen.
“Hmm?”
Grid was praying when he thought of something. Was there a way to secure a large amount of golden walnuts? His face suddenly darkened as he was thinking of a new plan. Before he knew it, the time for breakfast was approaching.
‘Ah, XX.’
Grid had improved greatly since he started exercising. In Satisfy, the maximum stamina would be temporarily lowered if a player didn’t eat three meals a day. They shouldn’t skip meals. But Grid wanted to skip today’s meals. His eyes were dark at the thought of eating Idan’s dishes.
‘No… Today will be different.’
He made it clear yesterday. He liked beef, chicken, and eggs. They would food ingredients that were delicious even when not cooked well. Grid planned to use these ingredients so that Idan could make a dish that was better than dog food.
‘Hurry. I will eat and then go watch the competition.’
Still, he was slightly concerned about Mook’s party.
‘Well, there’s no Queen Rat left in the community.’
Step.
Grid turned and left for Pangea.
***
Darkness encroached on the big poisonous rat community. Dawn started to reveal its grand scale. Mook’s group felt disturbed from where they were hiding like dead mice.
“This is the time that the hamsters will wake up.”
“What should we do? We’ll be isolated.”
“What else? We can’t run away anymore, so we can only wait.”
It had been 15 minutes since the masked man left. Soon, it would be time for the man to place the last walnut in front of the Queen Rat’s tent.
“One minute. Wait one more minute.”
“The moment that the masked man places the last golden walnut in front of the tent, the Queen Rat will wake up.”
“All the big poisonous rats will chase after him.”
The big poisonous rats had a funny habit. They had the ability to detect when the Queen Rat was in danger, even if they were far from her tent, and would chase after the intruder. That’s right. Mook’s group planned to escape while the Queen Rat and all the big poisonous rats were chasing Grid. Grid was the sacrificial lamb. However…
“Isn’t it strange?”
“Why is it so quiet?”
The expected time had passed and the big poisonous rats were still quiet. The health gauge of the masked man in the party window was still full. It meant the Queen Rat hadn’t appeared and the masked man didn’t fulfill his role properly.
“No, is he stupid enough to not place the walnuts properly?”
“Don’t tell me… He figured out the value of the golden walnuts and ran away?”
“Don’t speak such nonsense!”
“It’s impossible. My illusion magic might last for only an hour, but it can block the best appraisal skills. It boasts a tremendous sophistication.”
“Then what is this situation? Why are the big poisonous rats so quiet?”
If the masked man succeeded in attracting the Queen Rat as scheduled, all the big poisonous rats should’ve popped out by now. But the rats were dead silent. Surely the masked man hadn’t noticed their trap and ran away? Mook’s group came up with the worst situation and became nervous. They started to talk in the party chat.
-Excuse me… Half-face?
-Where are you?
-What happened to the walnuts?
-Don’t you need to lure the Queen Rat?
The person called Half-face! Grid belatedly replied to them.
-There is no Queen Rat, so you can move freely. I’m going to get some breakfast. Then I’m going.
[??? has left the party.]
“…??”
Mook’s party was stunned. They couldn’t understand Grid’s words.
‘There is no Queen Rat?’
‘He withdrew from the party to eat breakfast?’
First of all, it didn’t make sense that there was no Queen Rat. It was only possible if she had been raided in the past three days. The Queen Rat was raided? It was impossible. None of the players currently remaining in Pangea had the ability to catch the Queen Rat. There were four players still stuck in Pangea, which was Mook’s group.
Oh, there was the masked man who joined a while ago. However, it was impossible for him to raid the Queen Rat alone.
‘Dammit… What happened to the walnuts?’
It was extremely rare for a player to leave the party to eat food. Most of them cooked food and ate at the hunting ground. But this person withdrew from the party to eat breakfast. The situation was clear.
‘We’ve been tricked!’
They were ruined. The masked man deceived them. They tried to strike him in the back of the head, only to be struck themselves.
“That guy… He knew our ulterior motives from the beginning!”
He pretended to be deceived and acted at the crucial timing to hit them in the back of the head. Evil and smart.
“Shit…! Shit!”
They were completely abandoned. The golden walnuts they spend all their money buying had disappeared. In a nutshell, they were ruined. Everyone was feeling frustrated when Mook gave them hope.
“Hey, wake up. No matter how clever he is, it’s impossible for him to figure out the identity of the walnuts.”
“That’s right! He might think that the golden walnuts are ordinary walnuts and abandon them on the side of the road!”
“Okay! We’ll search for the golden walnuts from now on! We will get revenge after getting back the walnuts!”
“Ohhh!”
They regained their hope and morale, but it was only for a moment.
“…By the way, how many walnuts are there in this large community?”
“This is the time when the big poisonous rats are the most active… How can we deal with them if they leave the tent in a group? They might be weakened, but it will be hard to deal with a large number of them.”
“Above all, the biggest problem is the Queen Rat. She often wanders around the tents in the morning. We will die if we meet her.”
“…”
It was a continuous cycle of frustration. What should they do? Mook thought about it and found an answer.
“We… We’ll hide and wait until it is their nap time.”
They had to hide for 10 hours until it was time for the rats to nap. They couldn’t move a single finger.
“Once they go to sleep, we’ll start the walnut search operation.”
They could find the golden walnuts if they repeated this for around four days. Mook’s group breathed slowly as the hamsters left the tents one by one. There were tears in their eyes. It was the day they remembered that people shouldn’t do bad things.
***
“Right now, they should’ve passed on safely to the next hunting ground?”
Who would’ve known his raid of the Queen Rat would be a big help to Mook’s group? It was something he had never thought about.
“This connection is strange… Huhut.”
Grid was glad to help the poor people. He arrived at Pangea that was bustling for the festival and took off his mask. Then he was startled.
