Survival Story of a Sword King - Chapter 24

New Start (1)

Inside a magical tool shop at the eastern commercial district of Onpros City, a transaction was being processed.

The shopkeeper brought out a pouch of gold coins and handed it to the red-haired mage.

“The Devil’s Spirit Stone value measurement is over. Combined with the value of gold and jewels, the total is 12,830X.”

Artis sold the stones Ryu Han-bin obtained in the Alpha Dungeon in his stead.

After leaving the store, Artis handed the bag to Han-bin, who was waiting outside.

Han-bin laughed as he checked its contents.

“I won’t worry about money for a while.”

The Devil Spirit Stones prices were likely to be high since they were from monsters level 30 or higher.

The Lich’s gold and gems also gave him a significant sum.

“My savings have doubled thanks to that transaction.”

At Han-bin’s words, Artis asked in bewilderment.

“Wait, that’s already a lot of money, but it only doubled your savings?”

“I made quite a lot of money through manual labor.”

“What the hell did you do at the Civil Engineering Guild…”

The Fireball Bracelet was also sold off.

The mage, Artis, didn’t need it, and Ryu Han-bin couldn’t use it because of level limits.

He sold it off without regrets.

Artis shook his head.

“How come you can’t level up even though you’re already so strong?”

“I told you, my level system is broken.”

“I heard rumors that the aliens use a technique called Guidelines, but I didn’t know that’s one of its effects.”

They couldn’t sell the Water Flow Creation Staff, however.

Unlike the Fireball Bracelet, it was an Artifact.

“I’m not a dungeon closer. Selling Artifacts that came from unknown sources will raise suspicions.”

Kybriel’s Alien Interrogator was still in the city.

It was better not to do anything that might get their attention.

“No need to be sad about it. It’s not a very expensive Artifact.”

Contrary to what he heard from Buckman, the distinction between magic tools and artifacts wasn’t performance.

“The difference in value was decided by its permanence.”

In fact, some artifacts were exactly the same in terms of performance and abilities.

The only difference between them was the number of uses.

“In most cases, Artifacts perform better than magic tools. Buckman isn’t completely wrong.”

In any case, there was no need to sell the Water Flow Creation Staff.

Its ability was extremely convenient, and it was better to use it than to sell it off.

“The problem is that I can’t use it either due to the level requirement.”

Artis glanced at the staff strapped to his waist.

He tried to activate it as a test, but the result was as expected.

It required a level higher than 36 for it to be used.

“I don’t know its level requirement.”

Though he wanted to appraise the staff, it would risk him being caught with an artifact with no history of belonging to him.

However, Han-bin responded as if the answer was obvious.

“The requirement? It’s level 40.”

“How do you even know that? Oh, right.”

Artis quickly understood and stuck out his tongue.

“That’s quite a perk for an Alien. I can’t believe you can see its qualifications without using a measuring stone.”

The Thinkers managed the measurement stones in the Mage Guild Headquarters. They weren’t just sold off to anyone and were extremely expensive.

They could be seen in Guilds and Magical Tool Shops, but normal individuals couldn’t easily buy them off.

Now that he had Ryu Han-bin, his life felt a lot more convenient.

“Level 40. If I level up a little more, I’ll be able to use it. It would be better not to sell it.”

“Don’t you pass the level requirements in your dragon form?”

“I don’t know what level I am when I’m in that form.”

To fully understand his true strength had always been one of Artis’s goals. He couldn’t just use a measuring stone without revealing himself in front of other humans.

“I’ve always been curious, but I have no way of finding out.”

Ryu Han-bin gave him an answer with ease.

“You’re level 52 when you’re a Dragon.”

“…….”

His life-long problem had been solved out of nowhere.

“This just feels wrong for some reason…”

At the very least, he could turn into a Dragon if they really needed to use the Artifact.

“But let’s just carry bottles of water. I can’t do a strip show every time I’m thirsty.”

“Hey, are there striptease shows in this world?”

“Well, our worlds aren’t that different.”

They exchanged jokes as they walked down the street.

They headed to Artis’s house, which is located west of Onpros City.

Artis had taken the responsibility of taking care of Ryu Han-bin’s needs based on the premise that he saved his life.

Ryu Han-bin began to ask Artis a question.

“I really don’t have to pay a single penny? I should do some extra work.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s the payment for my life’s interest fee.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying your payment for the principal fee is different?”

Han-bin said it as a joke, but Artis’s expression became serious.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

With an arrogant expression, the Dragon replied pridefully.

“My life isn’t cheap.”

* * *

Artis’s house was a wooden structure located on the outskirts of the city.

It consisted of the ground floor, an attic, and a small garden. It was similar to a traditional Nordic house.

Ryu Han-bin had no reason to wonder why the whole Onpros City had such a design.

But he was curious about what it looked like from within.

He had only ever been inside poor accommodations that were almost no better than pig pens.

‘What would its interior look like? Will there be a fireplace and a carpet?’

This world’s civilization was roughly at the level of Europe during the years between the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution.

Imagining a lovely old-fashioned atmosphere, he followed Artis into the house.

And he was surprised.

“Huh?”

The interior design itself looked antique.

Upon entering the house, Artis turned on the lights using a switch on the wall then opened a fridge to drink cold water.

Gulps of water squeezed through his throat. He then took meat and bread out of it.

“I’ll prepare for dinner.”

He put the bread and meat in a box with a glass door and operated it.

The cold bread and meat slowly turned golden brown, giving off a savory smell.

‘Is that a microwave?’

With an ecstatic face, Ryu Han-bin opened his mouth.

“Why do you have those things? That’s ridiculous.”

Artis glanced back at him and tilted his head.

“Why are you so surprised? New to the cold storage room? I heard there are similar objects on Earth.”

“That just makes it more surprising to see it here!”

No matter how much he thought about it, such machines shouldn’t be found at the level of civilization in this world.

Artis frowned.

“You underestimate our world too much. The power of magic is greater than you think, Han-bin.”

As it turned out, all of those were magical items.

What he mistook for a light is a magic lamp that lit up with Mana, and the microwave oven was just an oven that heats up through magic.

The refrigerator was also a magical tool infused with freezing magic.

“The mages of Latna invented those.”

Due to the advent of the Dungeons, Latna’s magical science developed swiftly.

By studying the Dungeon’s magic tools, they unique to this world.

In some aspects, Latna’s magic tools were better than the Dungeons’ magical tools.

The power was weak, but the duration was long.

It wasn’t possible to burn a house down due to the shortcircuiting of an appliance from Latna.

They still haven’t discovered how to create such strong outputs.

However, they could start a small fire that would burn for the entire day. The dungeons’ magic tools didn’t offer the same abilities.

Besides, unlike dungeon magic tools with a fixed number of uses, Latna’s magic tools could be used for a long time and only needed to have their Spirit Stone changed to repair them.

Though they couldn’t be properly utilized as weapons, Latna’s magic tools served as great household appliances.

“I heard they haven’t been able to create Artifacts yet. Perhaps some of the Thinkers’ latest researches are based on that.”

Ryu Han-bin nodded with a stupid look on his face.

“Is that so…”

He still had a lot of questions left unanswered.

The standard of living in Onpros City was around the same as Europe during the medieval ages.

Due to the convenience of all the appliances, they should’ve been more common.

‘Their magical science development has advanced so far, but why is the overall level of civilization still look ancient? Is it because magic tools are too expensive?’

Considering Artis, who wasn’t really that rich, could buy the items, they didn’t seem that expensive.

Still mulling over his thoughts, he approached the fridge.

‘Being able to drink cold water is definitely convenient.’

He missed the cool freshness of drinking cold water during hot days.

He opened the refrigerator as his excitement grew.

But it didn’t budge.

Rap!

“Huh? Why isn’t it opening?”

A message popped up.

[Your level is insufficient.]

“Right! You can’t use it at your level, Han-bin. I’ll open it instead.”

With ease, Artis opened the refrigerator instead, took out a bottle of water, and poured it into the glass.

“Here, have a drink.”

Holding his glass, Ryu Han-bin stared at the refrigerator blankly.

An additional message popped up.

[Constant Cold Storage: Conditions of Use lv. 20.]

“…. This is!”

He finally understood why the world wasn’t riddled with magical household tools.

“The technology of this world cannot be used by commoners.”

The common people wouldn’t even be able to use low-level magic tools.

Only high-level individuals could enjoy the perks of the world’s technology.

It was only natural for the appliances to be rare.

The tools were created based on the Dungeons’ magic tools’ science. There was no way to remove the level requirements.

“We need a way to get rid of its limitations.”

In response, Artis asked as if it were strange.

“Is anyone on Earth able to use such convenient tools?”

“Of course!”

“Without any requirements?”

“For what reason would you need to be qualified?”

“Without qualifications, you won’t need to take responsibility for the convenience you enjoy. That doesn’t seem right.”

In this world, all magic tools and artifacts were subject to conditions of use.

The understanding of the people revolved around that notion.

“Well, some of the aliens sometimes carry a unique item with no level limit, but…”

Such taboo items were confiscated and sealed off by the Thinkers.

It was all for the sake of preventing the items from falling into the wrong hands.

“There is such a huge cultural difference between our worlds.”

Ryu Han-bin shook his head.

He wasn’t on Earth, after all.

* * *

After dinner, the two sat together in the living room.

Now that their stomachs were full, it was time to discuss their plans.

Their biggest problem was that Ryu Han-bin was only measured as a level 5 Swordsman.

Han-bin brought up a question.

“How can I fool the measuring stone, Artis?”

After contemplating for a while, Artis bowed his head.

“I’ve never heard of such a method. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t expect it to be solved that easily anyway.”

Ryu Han-bin sighed as he shook his head.

“Is there no other choice but to stop measuring the level itself? But in this world, if you refuse to measure your level, you can’t even work as a hunter.”

“Oh, did you want to work as a hunter while avoiding the use of measuring stones?”

Artis shrugged.

“If that’s the problem, then there’s a solution.”

Han-bin was surprised.

“There’s a solution?”