I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 213: Episode 45_SVIP (10)
Episode 213
Chapter 45: SVIP (10)
11.
CLANG! CLANG!
“...I’m hearing phantom sounds now.”
Even as he stared at the familiar interior of his home instead of a hard shell, he shook his head. He could still hear the ringing of pickaxes in his ears.
The reward he had gotten for breaking the final egg.
And the reality he had returned to.
After spending over a month in the same place, doing the same thing over and over, he had zoned out for a bit.
’At least there wasn’t some kind of boss raid at the end.’
He had to admit, the ending had been more anticlimactic than he expected. He had thought something would pop out once the egg broke—a scene where the thousands of monsters gathered for a massive raid, wrapping things up with a flourish.
How beautiful would that have been? Urgent, thrilling, and above all, the perfect final shot to end a video on.
’That was a boring video.’
It was inevitable, really. He had spent over a month running a mind-numbingly safe and stable strategy. He had known it would turn out like this. He had spent gold to make it this way, controlled the monsters, and thrown himself into breaking the egg.
He had no regrets. Not every video could be entertaining. Besides, watching fights every single day could be even more boring.
That wasn’t why he recorded videos in the first place. It wasn’t about looking cool in combat, but about leaving a record of experiences he might never have again. As the first human to experience content that humanity had never experienced before, he wanted to leave something behind for future generations. Or, if this era, this world, someday vanished like a dream, he wanted to be able to look back and reminisce by watching the videos.
That was its own kind of fun. It was probably why, even though the ending felt empty, he didn’t regret it and was left with a lingering aftertaste.
’This really does feel like playing a game.’
He was immersed. Whatever the process had been, this too had become the foundation of his growth, and there were visible results.
He had wanted this so badly when he was just a gamer. For five years, he had watched the players and envied them—the difference between a player, who could devote their life to effort and make everything truly their own, and a mere gamer, who was just raising a bunch of numbers in a chunk of game data.
Of course, it wasn’t like he had never considered that all of this might just be another game that could disappear someday. But it didn’t matter. Even if it all vanished, the game-like world implemented here felt so vivid and real that, at least for as long as he was alive, he didn’t believe it would end.
[Your Level (3) has increased.]
[You have acquired ‘SVIP Promotion Stone (1)’.]
’There has to be a reward.’
Above all else, the visible rewards were what made him feel satisfied. Ignoring the video he had saved to Mileage with no intention of ever watching it again, Kim Buja couldn’t hide the proud smile on his face as he stared at the reward holograms.
Fresh experiences like that were something he could save for fifty years from now, when he was smearing crap on the walls in a nursing home, after he had finished every drama and had nothing left to do. He could play them as a sleep aid before bed, mumbling, “Back in my day...” as he watched.
The important thing was the reward he had earned by enduring and overcoming the boredom.
Levels and a Promotion Stone.
’All that’s left is the Gold Mission and gathering the gold itself.’
He didn’t think Chapter 3-1 would take very long. While he let out a sigh when he thought about the Gold he had spent, he knew he could earn it back quickly. It was always better for something to be annoying than outright difficult.
Besides, the reward he had gotten from the Tower of Trials—a place he had gone to rest and ended up doing even more mindless grinding—wasn’t just a single Promotion Stone.
[You have achieved the Achievement: Hand in Hand (L).]
[You have acquired 200,000 Gold.]
[You have achieved the Achievement: We Are One! (L).]
[You have acquired 350,000 Gold.]
[You have achieved the Achievement: (Tower of Trials 3rd Floor) Pacifist (L).]
[You have acquired 500,000 Gold.]
[You have gained (15) Ability Points.]
[You have acquired Random Pet Summon Ticket (Legendary).]
Dozens of achievements. And the gold totals, even after being condensed. At a glance, it was over a million gold.
His eyes stung with sudden tears. The thought that he now had only two assignments left, and that the most annoying one among them was effectively gone, filled him with joy.
“Yeah, after running around like a dog for over a month, this is the least they could give me.”
He had gotten the Promotion Stone and refilled his gold. As he basked in this two-birds-one-stone situation, the faces of the monsters who had been with him floated up in his mind. It was clear now that his understanding of the 3rd floor’s clear conditions—balancing “competition” and “cooperation” and leading the way—had not been a pointless effort.
Every single achievement he checked said as much.
’“Complete the mission by joining forces with over 1,000 different species. Clear the mission alongside more than 2,000 monsters. Clear the mission with less than 3% total monster casualties.” These are some real bullshit conditions.’
In a way, these missions weren’t meant for him alone. The monsters dragged here from other dimensions and other worlds also had to break the egg to return home. Even if the missions had been designed for the Gold Maker, each monster still had its own will and acted on its own.
Could any other Gold Maker have pulled this off?
Hmm. ’Well, I would have cleared it even without the achievements.’
It didn’t feel like the most important part. After all, this wasn’t a floor he had cleared purely through his own efforts. He had only been able to do it because he was the first to reach the egg and had the advantage of picking up the pickaxe that dropped as a supply.
Whatever the case, what mattered was that he had led them well and produced the best possible result. And that he had proudly taken first place in contribution and received whatever had hatched from the egg.
When he held out his palm to Hwangdo, the dragon carefully placed the glowing red core it had been holding into his hand.
It was a small jewel. A ring set with a gemstone.
He was already wearing the Starlight Ring and it served him well, but he wasn’t disappointed. If this one were better, he would just wear this instead. He already carried the Ring of Glaciers around to put on from time to time.
No Ranker was ever locked into a single fixed item. They simply rotated through whatever was most efficient for the situation. Likewise, if this new ring was better, he could take off the Starlight Ring and use this as his main, or swap it in for specific dungeons.
So he let his expectations rise. The red jewel was so dazzling that just looking at it felt intoxicating, and despite being no bigger than his thumbnail, it was intricately cut.
“Looks like a Red Dragon, doesn’t it?”
“Kyuu!”
Tiny but with wings stretched straight out, a thick belly, and the roar of a beast. The gemstone was full of that kind of energy. He carefully slipped it onto his left hand, next to the Gold Ring and the Starlight Ring.
“Damn. I could wear this just for the drip alone.”
[Essence of the Red Dragon]
▶ Grade: Legendary
▶ Level: ★★★★★★★★
▶ All Stats +100
▶ When using Mana, a random Flame attribute spell is triggered.
▷ This is the hatched Essence of the Red Dragon. It recognizes its owner and becomes bound; the ring’s owner can use it regardless of level.
▷ This ring contains the soul of a Dragon. It ignores the player’s Accessory Slot Limit restriction.
▷ This item combines multiple powers. It cannot be destroyed.
An 8-star ring. +100 to all stats. A special ability. Bound. Indestructible.
And on top of that, it ignored the absolute law of accessories, the 1-1-1 rule.
“...That’s insane.”
Kim Buja spoke with confidence now.
“Gold Maker is a completely busted class.”
Late game? He didn’t even need to get there.
’If things keep going like this...’
Without hesitation, he took off the Essence of the Red Dragon. He took it off and swapped positions with the Starlight Ring.
“Starlight, you go over there.”
A broad grin spread across his face. This content had paid off far more than he expected.
’My stats have almost doubled.’
At his current level, this was an item he would have had a hard time even obtaining, let alone equipping. This was only natural!
“I’m in a good mood!”
A fat bundle of gold, freshly exchanged from his pocket, scattered through the air.
“Kyuuuu!”
With a joyous roar, Hwangdo quickly snatched the coins out of the air with his Mana. He liked gold even more than meat. And this time, it was a full 20,000 gold!
He rubbed his head against his master, making it clear this was his rightful reward for his hard work.
Kim Buja readily nodded. Hwangdo had played a huge role on the 3rd floor of the Tower of Trials. Without him, there was no way he could have communicated with and controlled the other monsters so easily. He might have been able to overpower them by force, but spending a whole month talking, breaking the egg together, and living alongside them would have been impossible.
“You did well too.”
That was why he was giving him a reward. Even though the achievements had pushed his gold far past his target, 20,000 gold was still no small amount.
“Give 5,000 of that to the Mimic.”
“Kyuu!”
He was a master who had left the Mimic alone for months and was only now sharing Hwangdo’s reward with it, but Hwangdo gladly nodded.
“Kyuuuu! Kyuu!”
“Yeah, go have fun. I’m going to see Seora for a bit.”
With his belly bulging, Hwangdo somehow found space to stuff in a pile of coins, then began taking them out one by one to eat as he saw his master off.
Once Kim Buja left, Hwangdo waddled over to the Mimic that was always in the same spot.
“Kyuuuu!”
An old friend he hadn’t seen in a while. The Gold Mimic stuck out its thick tongue in greeting.
Hwangdo pushed some coins toward it. One hundred gold. Hwangdo knew that if he gave it too much at once, the Mimic wouldn’t be able to eat it all and would spit it back out. Up until now, whenever there was gold, Hwangdo had shared it. Then the Gold Mimic would spit out something in return, and Hwangdo would stash all of it in his secret pocket.
In response to his symbiotic friend’s kindness, the Gold Mimic reacted differently this time.
“Kyuu?”
Instead of spitting something out after eating the 100 gold, it stuck its tongue out again and licked Hwangdo’s belly. It felt less like a greeting and more like a demand for more.
Hwangdo pulled out another 100-gold coin and held it out. The Mimic swallowed it as if it had been waiting.
Seeing this change for the first time in months, Hwangdo was delighted.
’The Mimic is growing too!’
His expectant gaze grew even more intense. What would it spit out? Hwangdo’s curiosity was driven more by wonder than by the reward.
But the Mimic didn’t spit anything out. Its tongue came out again.
Without getting discouraged, Hwangdo pulled out more coins. This time, it was five of them.
The Gold Mimic gulped them all down without hesitation. It took a bit longer this time. Hwangdo watched patiently, not getting antsy. Just in case, he pulled out even more coins and held them ready.
The Gold Mimic swallowed all of them.
1,000 Gold. 2,000 Gold. 3,000 Gold.
Even after the amount surpassed the 5,000 Gold he was supposed to give it and soared past 10,000, Hwangdo didn’t hesitate to hand over his own share.
When the total finally hit 10,000 Gold, the Gold Mimic refused to take any more.
“Bleh—!”
When it stuck its tongue out again, the bright red muscle was now faintly tinged with gold.
A tongue brushed with gold.
And on it lay a gift for its friend.
* * *
