Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 70

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 70. The Savior Batter
In the Abyss, Reputation can be obtained through various channels.
One’s Reputation rises simply by completing quests created by the Creator, or by breaking through achievements that must be accomplished.
Reaching a place for the first time, stepping into incomprehensible realms that no one has dared to challenge—it’s the same.
Should one be fortunate enough to obtain special equipment or tools from a box, Reputation rises according to its rarity or Grade.
Encountering tremendous beings and experiencing wonders are also ways to gain Reputation.
Thus, the methods of accumulating Reputation are endless.
And yet.
‘There are many ways to gain Reputation. But the amount? It’s hardly substantial.’
Dagon reflected on this.
The problem lay in quantity.
Reputation doesn’t rise dramatically all at once.
It climbs only when one experiences something far more intense relative to their Level or existing power.
‘A human at Level 1 would need to endure a Level 10 experience just to scrape together maybe a single-digit gain.’
It accumulates only in minute increments, making it difficult to build quickly.
Moreover, humans still don’t understand Reputation’s importance.
Not knowing its value, they don’t try to increase it.
‘Reputation is a crucial currency for navigating the Abyss, but in the early stages it doesn’t stand out much.’
Another name for Reputation is Karma.
It’s also called by the term ‘Karma’—the weight of one’s deeds.
It was one’s standing, and simultaneously a measure of an entity’s position within the Abyss.
Demon Kings, Demon Gods, the great Nine Lords… To enter the Abyss created by Creators of such supremely high tiers, a minimum threshold of Reputation is mandatory.
That’s not all.
The Twelve-Race War ahead, when humans face the Twelve Races, along with countless other events would require Reputation.
Shops like the Reputation Shop that Dagon now manages will continue appearing regularly, so there was no need to belabor Reputation’s importance further.
‘The human with the highest Reputation now probably has barely a hundred or so.’
What can be bought from the shop with 100 Reputation?
Nothing.
In the early stages, only single digits rise, but as one moves toward higher Levels, the rate of Reputation gain widens too.
Below 1,000 Reputation, the Abyss doesn’t even glance your way.
3,000 is the threshold before one earns the assessment: ‘Now that’s someone with skill.’
This is why demon merchants shunned the Reputation Shop.
They understood it well.
A world where the Abyss has only recently opened.
Inevitably, accumulated Reputation numbers must be scarce.
Even if one wanted to build it, there’s no easy way!
―For now, a human still wearing beginner’s tags can accumulate only a pittance of Reputation.
―There’s no one who can use the Reputation Shop.
―No matter how foolish, surely no one would pick the ‘Reputation Shop’.
A shop that requires only Reputation.
Demand cannot exist.
While every other shop is accessible, the Reputation Shop alone is inaccessible even if someone wanted to use it.
It’s only the Second Night now.
Most humans don’t even know Reputation exists.
But what of the other shops?
‘The upper-tier shops all use resources obtainable here as their currency.’
The Contribution Shop and the Marking Shop were prime examples.
Both used currencies obtainable through effort within the Second Night itself.
The Body Shop used one’s own flesh as currency, allowing access to premium goods.
Even the Coin Shop had demand.
All of them were shops one could use by acquiring resources within the Second Night itself, by having prepared them beforehand, or by leveraging what they already possessed.
But the Reputation Shop was the exception.
“A thousand Reputation? I don’t even have ten!”
“Even with my Reputation from ranking first in the Abyss, I barely have forty!”
“What is this? There’s nothing I can actually buy here…….”
“Reputation? That exists?”
“So am I supposed to buy or not?!”
People spilled complaints as they left Dagon’s shop.
The amount of Reputation they possessed was pathetically meager.
While Coin’s importance was so obvious that many had stockpiled it, Reputation was nowhere near the same.
Moreover, Dagon had brought only the finest items from the vault of Aeth, the Moon Lord.
Because the shop was small, the number of items he’d gathered wasn’t particularly large.
Yet each one was extraordinarily rare.
‘Park Chan-woo… Sephiro must come as a customer.’
Of course, it was a gamble.
Dagon chose the Reputation Shop for one reason alone: the existence of Park Chan-woo.
An exclusive contractor bound to him by contract, a creature Dagon was certain was the Dragon God Sephiro.
He seemed to be “playing” on Earth in human form, but Sephiro was a Twelve Master known for seeing anything through to the end once it piqued his interest.
‘One who has bankrupted countless Creators and accomplished feats no one else has achieved.’
How many miracles had Dagon himself witnessed?
Park Chan-woo was no ordinary human.
To the point of being called the bane of Creators, he had bankrupted every Abyss Creator he had challenged.
The bankruptcy of a Creator was one of the acts that could yield the most Reputation.
Walking paths others would not, seeing things imperceptible to them, he had even glimpsed the very edge of Pride that the Twelve Masters themselves dared not reach.
Naturally, the question arose.
……Just how much Reputation had Park Chan-woo accumulated?
‘Still, his Reputation must be at least 1,000.’
Anxiety crept in.
There was a strong possibility it was less than Dagon had anticipated.
It might be woefully insufficient to make use of the Reputation Shop.
Even if the Reputation were sufficient, there existed scenarios where he wouldn’t use the shop at all.
That was why it was a gamble.
If Park Chan-woo didn’t use the shop, Dagon’s performance would plummet.
‘If he doesn’t buy anything…… it’s not just a plummet. There would be no performance at all.’
You could only plummet if you’d climbed to begin with.
Since his performance had never risen, there was nothing to fall.
Zero performance.
The Second Night was like a festival for demon merchants.
If he failed to show results here, he had no excuse if his credentials as a merchant were stripped from him.
“Please, take your time looking around. If you need anything, just say the word.”
So Dagon spoke as politely and courteously as he could.
Park Chan-woo was a contractor before he was a customer.
The very fact of their exclusive contract was a secret.
In this place, Dagon and Park Chan-woo had to be strangers meeting for the first time.
Though no one was watching, showing their connection could result in a contract breach.
Sephiro was capricious. Survival meant adapting to his whims at all times.
“The items are decent.”
Seeing Dagon’s attitude, Park Chan-woo replied casually.
He too was acting as though meeting Dagon for the first time.
In truth, acknowledging that they knew each other wouldn’t have mattered.
There was only one customer, and no Creator was watching over this place.
‘No one is watching. But caution never hurt.’
The Abyss was a place where even a wooden bridge had to be tested before crossing.
Nothing here was 100% certain.
Park Chan-woo rubbed his chin as he surveyed the shop.
‘About twenty items or so.’
He hadn’t imagined Dagon might be the proprietor of the Reputation Shop, but thanks to that, the shop’s inventory was quite lavish.
Most of these items had likely been brought directly from Aeth’s vault by Dagon himself.
‘Each shop has a few items fixed to it from the start.’
He had come to see those few, but there were more worthwhile things than expected.
It seemed Dagon had procured better items with him in mind.
At Park Chan-woo’s compliment, Dagon nodded.
“Yes. They are nothing but treasures. The Reputation required is substantial, but…… I assure you each is worth far more.”
As Dagon spoke, his heart raced.
Park Chan-woo was examining the items carefully.
Which was to say.
‘D-does he have enough Reputation to buy?’
He might actually make a purchase at the Reputation Shop.
Even the least valuable of the twenty items required expending 1,000 Reputation points.
His lips had gone dry.
Even if he purchased just one item from this shop, Dagon’s performance across all the shops would settle into the top tier!
He wasn’t even hoping for first place.
As long as he cracked the top three, that would be enough—then he could finally shake off the endless mockery of being dead last.
“I’ll take this one.”
Park Chan-woo pointed at an item on the shop wall.
Dagon’s eyes went wide.
“Y-you mean the Holy Trajectory…?”
“It looks like quite a fine suit of armor, but there’s no price listed. How much Reputation does it require?”
Some items in the shop bore no prices at all.
It wasn’t that they refused to sell them—rather, they simply couldn’t be sold, so the prices went unwritten.
These were treasures among treasures, each demanding at least three thousand Reputation points to purchase.
The Holy Trajectory was one of them.
It wasn’t merely a fine suit of armor—it was extraordinarily magnificent.
Dagon stammered out his response.
“Th-three thousand five hundred points, sir.”
Park Chan-woo nodded at the price.
“A reasonable cost.”
“Sir?”
“I’ll purchase it.”
“What?! Y-you’re certain, sir?”
“Wait—actually.”
……
Was it not enough after all?
True, thirty-five hundred points was quite steep.
Perhaps it had been a mere whim.
Just like someone whose moods boiled and roiled without cease.
That was when.
Park Chan-woo pointed to an item on the opposite side of the shop.
“I’d appreciate it if you threw in that gauntlet as well.”
“The U-Ultimate Gauntlet…?”
“That’s the one. Though I notice it has no price marked either.”
“It’s also three thousand five hundred points.”
“I’ll buy it.”
“Y-yes?”
“Is it perhaps a display piece?”
“No, that’s not— I mean…”
Dagon couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.
The Holy Trajectory, the Ultimate Gauntlet.
Both were Legendary Grade weapons.
Together, they required a staggering seven thousand Reputation points.
At that level, even the Abyss itself might sit up and take notice.
But the surprises were far from over.
“And finally, I’d like to purchase a Masterpiece Map.”
“…C-customer?”
“What’s wrong?”
“The Masterpiece Map requires ten thousand Reputation points…”
“I’m aware.”
“Are you also aware that altogether, you’d need seventeen thousand points…?”
“Do I look like a fool to you? I can do that much arithmetic.”
Hold on.
Did he just say he could do the arithmetic?
No, wait…
Dagon must have misspoken in his panic.
He shook his head frantically.
In other words…
‘He did the math and still said yes?’
Could it really be that he possessed seventeen thousand Reputation points?
Dagon blinked.
By any rational measure…
‘…was that even possible?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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