Chapter 16: The Source of Your Luck

The sun was setting, dyeing the sky into a crimson red color.

Even knowing that this was merely a scene created by a computer system, its beauty still captivated Sila’s glance.

He had been at Bamboo Hut since afternoon. But his teacher was still meditating. As Sila hadn’t wanted to disturb his teacher, he circulated Recovering Qi to fully heal himself while waiting for his teacher to finish meditating.

Nevertheless, when he had reopened his eyes later, his teacher had already gone inside the hut.

Sila thought that his teacher must have some tasks to do. Hence, he went to the Card Shop to identify the Great Millennium Ape Card and unsealed the Cloud Roaming Hermit’s Clothing himself, which he later found out his rank wasn’t high enough to wear them.

[(A) Great Millennium Ape Card]

[Increases attack power by 20% when fighting against ape race’s monster.]

[Increases running speed by 20%.]

[Grants the user the item skill: Golden Needle [This skill will be lost if the card is no longer equipped.]

[Item Skill: Golden Needle]

[Generates golden needle at the size of a hair. Its attack power is 0, but it possesses a mini-stun ability. (*Mini-stun: Stop target from activating an active skill.) Cooldown time: 1 minute.]

[(A) Cloud Roaming Hermit’s Clothing]

[Increases physical defense by 3,000 points. Increases magical defense by 2,500 points.]

[Increases physical attack by 10%]

[Increases dexterity and running speed by 20%.]

[Increases agility by 30%.]

[Restriction: Knight Rank or above.]

[(A) Millennium Peach]

[Upon ingestion, increases maximum qi points by 50%]

[(S) Nameless Elder’s Secret Scroll]

[Upon giving it to the mysterious nameless elder, you can learn one high-tier qi-type skill.]

…These included all things he had done while waiting for his teacher to come out.

He kept watching the evening sunset while thinking about the items he had gotten in his mind, especially a secret scroll that included his teacher’s identity.

Meanwhile, his teacher finally came out of the hut. In his hand was a cup of soup with a pungent odor, causing Sila to furrow his brows.

“Oh, have you finished cultivating already? You returned quicker than I thought so I didn’t have time to prepare you this soup a while ago,” his teacher gave Sila the soup, “Here, eat it.”

Sila took it and stared at it. It was a dark green and condensed soup. Its smell was unlike anything Sila had ever experienced.

Sila raised his head to look at his teacher as if to ask ‘Are you serious?’

“Why are you looking at me like that? Hurry up and eat it while it’s still hot, or else its deliciousness will drop.”

Sila held his breath and swallowed it in one go. As soon as the soup touched his taste buds, every word except ‘delicious’ popped up in Sila’s head. Its flavor was so disgusting that Sila almost choked. Anyway, he forced himself to gulp it down in the end.

“Fufu, it’s so delicious that you can’t even describe its flavor, isn’t it? Good, good. Well, that’s aside, let’s get to the point,” said the old man, “How’s it? Fighting against the Great Millennium Ape, was it hard?”

The bitter taste was still lingering on Sila’s tongue. Nevertheless, he answered.

“It was so strong and quick, sir. I don’t have qinggong so I was at a very disadvantageous position. I’m lucky that I could still depend on the hidden weapon, though.”

“Indeed, I sent you there to make you realize this weakness of yours. I’m confident that you already knew yourself that you excel more in offence than in defense, but it’s better for you to know what you’re lacking from an actual combat. By the way, give me the secret scroll for now.”

Sila was right. This scroll was to be given to his teacher.

His teacher continued. “Okay, now, the current you are lacking in two … no, three aspects. Well, if you were given a choice to choose between a reliable defense and increment in speed, what would you chose?”

This question was somehow very difficult to answer as they were both important.

Moreover, his teacher said that there was another thing?

“What is the other aspect that I’m lacking, sir?” asked Sila.

“I won’t tell you. You have to figure that out yourself, that’s a part of your training. Nevertheless, if you truly wish to know, just try asking Divine when you arrive at the Slime Kingdom.”

“Slime Kingdom?” Sila confused. He had never expected that their conversation would link to something about the slime race.

“Huh? Why are you confused? You are in the slime race, right? I can know that much just by looking at you. Well, it seems that you still haven’t passed the Way of Slime’s ordeal yet.”

“Way of Slime? What is it, sir?” Sila asked again.

“Damn, you rascal. I don’t know, okay? I’m not a slime. I also have never been in the Slime Kingdom too. It’s just that in the past, I once had a good fight against Divine, one of the Slime Guardians. We fought for three days straight but the winner still couldn’t be decided. So, in the end, we shared booze and conversed together. That’s why I know a little about the slime race.”

The old man waved his hand as though he was telling Sila that he wouldn’t say anything more.

“You fought against a slime for three days and three nights?”

Sila furrowed his brows as he doubted it. Although his teacher hadn’t shown any superior ability yet, he could easily tell that his teacher was a very skilled person.

Such a skilled person as his teacher had to fight for three days straight against a slime? And ended up with a draw, even!

“Are slimes that strong?” Sila asked once more.

“Fufu. Yes, they are very strong – comparable to dragons, to be exact. Nah, if we’re talking about the three Slime Guardians or the Slime King, their ability might even surpass the dragon's,” the old man paused, “Well, I won’t talk about this topic anymore. You will experience it yourself when you visit Slime Kingdom… Yeah, if you want to know something, you ought to find it yourself. I’m not your encyclopedia.”

Sila was still only half believing. How could those cute liquid creatures be that strong?

“Now, let’s get back to the topic. Just answer me, defense or speed?” The old man continued.

Sila thought for a while before responding: “Speed, sir.”

“Fufufu. Prioritize polishing your strong point over fixing your weaknesses, I see.” said the old man while touching his white beard.

“I personally think that we should develop our strong point to a certain extent before fixing our weakness. With this, at least we will have something we excel in, sir.”

“I actually don’t agree with that. Anyway, since you choose it yourself...” the old man then put his hand on Sila’s shoulder.

The system sound alarmed.

[You have learned a passive skill: Qi of Little Bird (Intermediate) – Level 1.]

[(S) Qi of Little Bird (Intermediate) – Level 1]

[One of the Qi of Little Divine Beings that increases your speed. Enables you to perform qinggong and increase the ability to attack multiple enemies.]

Sila was surprised. If he remembered correctly, his teacher had told him that Qi of Little Bird was one of the Qi of Little Divine Beings which were hard to obtain.

The old man let out a sigh, “The hidden quest ends here. Now, my business with you is done.”

“Hidden quest?” Sila confused.

“Taking down the Great Millennium Ape, that’s the hidden quest. Upon defeating it, you will get a secret scroll. Then, if you give me that scroll, you will gain one high-tier qi-type skill; which you just have done.”

“Huh? Isn’t that the quest for me to do in exchange for learning Qi Concealment and Soundless from you, sir?”

“Nah, I’m your teacher, remember? Do I need to have a reason to pass down my skills to you?”

“But ...”

“It’s only that; I noticed that you wouldn’t like it if you gained the skill easily, so I ordered you to do something. By the way, it actually had no time limit for you to complete this quest; I’m just too lazy to wait,” said the old man without giving much attention to it.

“Then... what about the Millennium Peach, sir?”

“Hm? You have found it? It seems that you’re quite lucky. That peach tree doesn't normally bear fruit. I told you to get that just because the Great Millennium Ape will only appear when you approach the tree.”

“I see, however, would you like to have it, sir?” Sila handed the peach out.

“Nah, just eat it yourself. Its flavor doesn't match my taste,” the old man waved his hand as he refused.

‘What the... the flavor that matches your taste is something like that soup? …hmm? wait...’

“Teacher, what about the soup that I just ate?”

“Oh, that soup is cooked using a baby manta ray as an ingredient. It has a property to stabilize qi. Very well, listen to this, qi that is transmitted from other people is different from the qi you develop yourself. Self-developed qi is hard to earn, but it will completely be yours. Meanwhile, qi received from another person is needed to be stabilized before you can use it. The time to stabilize qi may be a day or even a year, depending on the aptitude of the receiving person toward that qi.

“However, baby manta ray has a special property to help people immediately stabilize qi. So, when you gain Qi of Little Bird, it then stabilizes itself to the same degree of other Qi of Little Divine Beings in your body. Well, I thought you knew about this and already eaten it once when you obtained Qi of Little Tiger and Qi of Little Fish.”

Sila thought of squid-like bento he’d taken from the Mansion of the Seven Deadly Sins. He took it out and showed it to his teacher, “Do you mean this food?”

“Oh, in a bento form, huh? It’s a rare sight to find it in the whole body like this. Well, I prefer it in a soup form more, as it tastes better.”

‘What the? This bento and that soup are made from the same ingredient? Why are their flavors different as night and day like this?’

“With the whole body of it like the one in your hand, it should be able to sell around this amount,” the old man held up all five of his fingers.

“Wow, it could be sold for 5,000 silver? That’s pretty impressive.”

“5,000 silver my ass. It’s 5,000 gold. By the way, your soup just now would cost around 500 gold, I guess.”

Sila was stunned to the point that he almost vomited the soup from his stomach.

‘That terrible soup’s cost is that expensive? And also, this bento... Urgh! Selling it will make me rich instantly.’

“You must be thinking that it’s very expensive, right? But it’s actually too cheap in my opinion, you know? With its property to let you use qi that you would otherwise have never know when you will be able to use it, many people would be willing to pay that much,” the old man continued, “Well, you’re very lucky, aren’t you? Having a baby manta ray’s bento, getting a Millennium Peach, and even meeting with me; that’s abnormal.”

“Meeting with you?” Sila didn’t understand why meeting with Wu Ming considered being lucky. Couldn’t anyone do that just by entering the Quest Building?

“Nah, you’re the first player who arrives at the Bamboo Hut without being invited.”

“How could that be, sir? Isn’t everyone choosing qi type able to arrive here via the entrance in the Quest Building?” Sila was stupefied.

“Oh, so you came from that door. I see, so that’s why you’ve always been thinking that this place is related to the Quest Building.”

“Huh? Isn’t it?”

“No, I’m actually not a Quest NPC. Well, I finally get it why you asked me for a quest when we first met.”

“What? Then, where is this place?”

“This place is the Bamboo Hut, home of the nameless elder, a special dimension that always randomly appear somewhere in the game for a brief period. The chance you can enter here is less than winning a lottery prize. So you’re considered very lucky.

“Did you think that the quest I order you to do is something I randomly pick up? You know what? No one in their right mind would want to bother taking down the Great Millennium Ape. Not only are its subordinates quite strong, but they’re also not giving out any experience points. In addition, it’s a monster in Knight Rank itself, which upon being defeated; it will not give you any item except one useless S-grade Secret Scroll. The funniest thing is – that scroll must be given to me for the holder to learn a skill. Hahaha, as I just told you how low of the chance this place could be found, I just hope that they could find this place within their lifespan.”

‘Oh man, now I can see how sadistic the quest is. It’s no wonder no one would be able to do it.’

“Wait... but I have obtained the clothes and its card. Isn’t this a contradiction of what you just said, sir?”

“That’s why I kept telling you that you’re lucky. There must be a reason, maybe something like a luck stat. You should check it”

Sila opened his system window and couldn’t find anything wrong.

Then, something came to his mind.

“Greed Card!”

[(S) Greed Card – Level 4]

[Increases the minimum drop rate of all items, including cards, to 30%.]

[Increases the minimum chance to come across a special situation to 30%.]

[Increases the minimum chance to encounter a hidden boss monster to 10%.]

[You will earn only 10% of all experience points from now on.]

‘Its level has increased. Its effect is also extended.’

“Well, well, just leave me alone already. I would like to continue weaving my basket. Just come to visit me later sometime. Don’t come too often, though,” said the old man.

Sila said goodbye and walked away. During his walk, he could hear the old man’s voice.

“Don’t forget to visit the Underwater Palace later. You’ll find a clue about Qi of Little Turtle there.”

At the time Sila arrived at the street, he realized he had been logged in for a very long time. Thus, he quickly went to a cheap hotel before logging out from the game.