4.

The moment he entered the Point Dungeon, Kim Buja understood why no additional information about the Point Shop had been released. A remote, uninhabited island. A single large palm tree planted in the middle of an island that would look full if barely a hundred people stood on it. Wide cloths spread out on the white sand and various items placed upon them.

Dozens of players were busy browsing the items. And even more people were in the emerald sea. The ocean stretched out to the horizon. There were players swimming far out with the determination to check where the end of the world inside the dungeon was, and others pulling fish out of the water. Although their actions were different, one thing was certain.

"It's beautiful."

A sea spread out so bluely that the word "beautiful" came out naturally, despite the footprints of humans—hundreds of them—trampling over it. The clear water at a moderate depth revealed the bottom, and the never-before-seen fish swimming there were colorful enough to make one want to put them in a tank and watch them forever. It was beautiful enough that Kim Buja's first thought, without much consideration, was that if he moved this entire place to an aquarium and started a business, it would become a famous spot visited by people from all over the world.

Other players were likely thinking the same. These were people who would pick up and sell even the stones of a dungeon to earn a penny more. Half the mindset was to throw their bodies into a sea they couldn't see on Earth, and the other half was the competitive spirit realizing that this place, too, was a dungeon. Indeed, most of them were busily packing away the fish they had caught.

"Tsk, tsk."

Isn't that why the Earth is rotting away? Anyway, the tyranny of humans who exploit anything that looks like money. Since Kim Buja had no interest in installing an aquarium in his home, he headed straight for where the bundles were spread out. Items were distributed unevenly on thin cloths laid over the bumpy white sand, but the prices were clearly marked.

"Ha."

The problem lay in the prices, which were written neatly without room for misunderstanding.

"200 Points, 300 Points, 500 Points?"

At the insane prices, he checked his possessed Points once more. 10 Points. With the paltry Points remaining after the entrance fee, he couldn't purchase a single one of the miscellaneous items scattered about.

"No, why is this stuff so expensive?"

Just how good were they? They looked more worn out than the assortment of junk piled up in the recycling bin in front of his house. Out of curiosity, his hand naturally reached toward an item. Since they were thrown around so carelessly, he felt no hesitation in thinking to pick one up to check it.

"Uh-uh!"

Smack.

"Ouch!"

Except there was a hand blocking him. Feeling the pain in his hand, he looked up to see an old man lying in the shade with his legs crossed. What blocked him seemed to be the long tobacco pipe held in the man's hand. Kim Buja frowned at the dignity of the old man with a white beard and black sunglasses.

"Hey, I need to see it to know if it's good or not before buying, don't I?"

As a descendant of the courteous Eastern nation, politeness came out naturally, making the old man chuckle.

"You punk. You look like you don't even have the inspection fee, let alone money to buy. Tsk!"

"……There's an inspection fee?"

"Of course!"

He sneakily reached out again to confirm the fact, but he couldn't be faster than the movement of the old man laughing while leisurely looking at the sky.

"Ack!"

"If you don't have money to buy, scram!"

Only then did Kim Buja understand the reason for the bizarre behavior shown by the players on this island. Why were they all just standing there staring blankly from a certain distance instead of thinking about buying the scattered items? With Korean characteristics, it would be normal for the items to have been touched, bitten, seared, stir-fried, and passed around until they were tattered.

Even then, seventy percent of the players weren't even paying attention to this side and were in the sea, weren't they? He had thought they were just making supplementary income after finishing their business early, but that wasn't it. Most of the players were in the same situation as Kim Buja.

Those who luckily got an entrance ticket from the Special Mission, or had Points to buy a ticket, but lacked the Points to buy the goods here. It was a shame to just leave, so they had the will to take at least some decent-looking fish to make up for the wasted Points and ticket while waiting to see if any crumbs would fall. Kim Buja also wanted to squat here and take a few flimsy items if the opportunity arose. But he quickly abandoned the thought.

"Tsk, to be assigned a dimension teeming with beggars like this. I thought I'd make some sales after a long time."

It was due to the skill of the entity—originating from who knows which dimension—grumbling while wiggling his crossed leg.

'Let's not act up for no reason and just come back next time.'

He hadn't even felt the pipe flying at him. No, he realized it the moment the pain was transmitted after being hit. That he had been hit. It meant the old man hit him and retracted the pipe faster than his vision could perceive.

If that old man hadn't revealed his presence, he might not have even known who hit him. This was the decisive reason why honorifics slipped out naturally. Although he looked friendly, with stats like that, strictly speaking, even if the hundreds of players gathered here attacked at once, the old man could kill them all without blinking an eye. He couldn't even be sure if the old man was human.

Let's not trip up by messing with an old man whose personality is unknown, and just promise for the next time. If he came as a customer, at least the man wouldn't harm him.

"Then sell lots."

As he turned his back cleanly and moved his feet, the old man's voice came from behind.

"Hey, young man."

Kim Buja froze.

Since he turned quickly not wanting to get involved, he tried to pretend not to hear and walk away. But he couldn't. Because the Magic Power contained in the old man's voice grabbed him by the ankles.

'That is one scary old man.'

Wasn't this a situation that would appear in a novel? A reclusive old master selling items to players on a deserted island. Kim Buja had achieved a dramatic growth in stats, enough to take down monsters of about 5-star rank. But here was a master with such overwhelming stats that Buja couldn't even see his movements, capable of stopping him with just words!

Even in martial arts novels, he hadn't seen a master like this. Wasn't this too much of a game-breaking balance?

"Yes? Me?"

Furthermore, the highest stat among Kim Buja's abilities was Magic Power. It was just that there were few places to use it, but in terms of Magic Power value alone, he thought he wouldn't lose even when compared to decent ranker mages. Yet, he failed to ignore it and move, so he turned his head and asked back as if nothing was wrong.

"Heh heh, yes, you punk. You have the face of someone who will earn quite a bit."

"Yes, next time I'll make a lot of money and buy a lot."

He bowed at the waist with a more polite demeanor than ever. He felt the curious gazes of the surrounding players, but becoming a monkey in a zoo wasn't what was important, so he slightly stepped back. Of course, the probability of that old geezer harming him wasn't high.

And just avoiding him unconditionally because the opponent was overwhelmingly strong was also overreacting. But from the perspective of Kim Buja, who had even been to a fantasy continent, this was a person he had no reason to get involved with. Especially with a personality like that, getting involved wouldn't bring anything good. That was why he showed this attitude. Though it was already too late.

"Pick one."

"Pardon?"

"It's a gift for a regular."

"Wait, you scolded me earlier saying I didn't even have an inspection fee?"

"You don't want it?"

Kim Buja remained silent.

At the question asked while still lying down and half-turned away, thousands of thoughts raced through his mind in an instant. What should he answer? If a hologram popped up in the form of a quest, the decision would be much easier, but that wasn't the case either. Fortunately, the old man narrowed down the scope of the decision.

"If you don't want it, forget it. I said it to recruit you as a regular since you seem to be born with money luck. I won't give you any benefits in the future, so..."

"Oh my, thank you, sir."

No one knew what would happen in the future. There was no guarantee that this Point Dungeon was the only one, nor was there a guarantee that this old man would appear every time. Since this place was a Point Dungeon created by a 4-star Fused Dungeon Break, if a Point Dungeon appeared in a higher or lower place, the map itself might be different. Even so, he couldn't ignore it.

It was just a hunch. A hunch that he shouldn't ignore this. Besides, even if that happened and seeing the old man this time turned out to be the last, it didn't matter.

"I don't have to write a contract or anything like that, right?"

"Tsk!"

"Can I really pick anything?"

"I only brought antiques anyway, so go ahead."

The old man definitely called it a gift.

Gifts received without a price were often traps, but Kim Buja wasn't the type to turn one down.

In fact, he figured he could just take the gift and make sure he never ran into this person again.

With that mindset, he scanned the antiques with sharp eyes.

No matter how hard he looked, they all appeared to be miscellaneous junk, more or less of the same quality. The variety was wide, ranging from items that looked like weapons, armor, and accessories to things that resembled consumables.

It seemed difficult to judge them by appearance alone, so he categorized them by necessity.

'I'm set on weapons, and I've fully kitted out my accessories with Legendaries, so I just need to fill in the gaps later.'

The best choice was armor.

It would be even better if a Legendary grade popped up, especially a growth-type item like the Gold Ring.

Before he knew it, his wariness of the old man had been replaced by thoughts of which piece of junk to choose. There were several items that looked like armor, so the moment of decision had arrived.

The conclusion was simple.

"I'll take this one."

"Heh heh."

"What?"

"Heh heh heh."

"You told me to pick anything."

"You little rascal. That isn't just anything. Isn't that the most expensive item here?"

"You never said I couldn't pick the most expensive one."

The most expensive thing.

There had to be a reason for the high price.

The old man pondered for a moment before turning his back again.

"Tsk, you cheeky little… Fine, take it!"

"Really?"

"Yes. In exchange, whenever you get Points, you must come here and spend them immediately."

"Of course. If I get them, I'll definitely come and spend them whenever I can."

Buja didn't know why the old man agreed.

Roughly inferring, the only logical conclusion was that the old man had recognized Kim Buja's class. Considering the incomprehensible gazes of the other players, if one thought of this as a story quest, it could be interpreted as a Hidden Piece.

The important thing was that an armor piece worth a staggering 3,000 Points—though it looked like a tattered t-shirt here and there—had completely passed into Kim Buja's hands.

He moved away, avoiding the old man who no longer spoke to him.

This time, no force blocked his path.

Not even when he exited the Point Dungeon.

After Kim Buja disappeared, the old man slightly lowered his sunglasses and let out a chuckle.

* * *

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