REAPER SCANS

Reincarnator’s Stream

[Translator – SCM]

[Proofreader –  ilafy]

Chapter 49

Omar Schneider was one of the rare players who was well-known without being a ranker. Though he was just on the 3rd floor, he was known due to his eccentric obsession.

A whopping 10 years… A talented player could have easily reached the 5th or even the 6th floor in that time, yet Schneider had decided to stay on the 3rd floor on purpose.

He'd long fulfilled the conditions to move to the next floor, but there was just one thing that kept him there—his obsession with conquering the Thunder Cave.

"Tomorrow, we're finally going to meet him." Don Zhao, a player who’d joined Omar on the carriage, chuckled. "That arrogant bastard."

"Right?” a Blue Zone player who’d also tried to clear the Thunder Cave along with Omar and Don replied. “Claiming he can conquer the Thunder Cave by himself, and on the first try, is ridiculous.

Among the Thunder Cave raid team, the hottest topic was undoubtedly Lee Su-hyeok's stream a few days prior.

Su-hyeok had said he would clear the Thunder Cave by himself. If anyone should have been enraged by that shocking statement, it should have been Omar.

"Isn't that right, Team Leader?"

"That guy has no idea what’s in the Thunder Cave. He wouldn't have said that if he knew. Team Leader, don't even worry about it."

"I don't care.” Omar, whom they thought would be the most agitated, seemed no different from usual. "He has the right to be arrogant."

The man’s eyes glowed blue like sapphire; he had a neatly trimmed beard; and he had a rounded face. "Even if his career is short, he possesses the Lightning skill. That very skill we so desperately desire."

"Team Leader, that's true, but hasn't he gone too far?"

"Exactly. Just because he got the Lightning skill, he thinks he's the real Lee Su-hyeok or something. Otherwise—"

"Enough." Omar shook his head at his team members' complaints. "What we need to feel toward him right now is neither envy nor jealousy. Dismissing or belittling his achievement is even worse."

"Are you saying we should admire him?"

"If necessary, we should, don't you think?" Omar turned his head toward the carriage window, signaling that there was nothing else to discuss.

His colleagues stuck out their tongues.

'Our team leader…'

'His pride is hurt.'

Although the man was saying otherwise, they could tell. After all, they'd been comrades for years. His pride had been greatly wounded.

It wasn't because Lee Su-hyeok had obtained the Lightning skill. What hurt Omar's pride was the mention of the Thunder Cave on the stream.

It was Omar’s lifelong goal and ambition. The moment Lee Su-hyeok mentioned it, Omar began looking forward to the upcoming competition.

'Lee Su-hyeok is in big trouble.' Don Zhao glanced at Omar, who was silently looking out of the window. 'I wonder what he was thinking when he uttered those words.'

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - SCM

Proofreader - ilafy

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'Omar Schneider…'

After returning to his lodging, Su-hyeok took off his mask and reflected on Un-hyang's words.

"Omar is probably stewing. Your declaration on the stream to solo the Thunder Cave was essentially denying and mocking his 10 years of effort."

That wasn't his intention. In fact, Su-hyeok hadn't even known that someone like Omar even existed. In the end, that was why he became interested in Omar.

"He's an interesting weirdo." There was no need to search for information through the kit; Un-hyang had already prepared everything. 

"I knew you'd be curious. Here." She was a surprisingly diligent manager and had handed him a file summarizing all the information on the man.

Rustle—

'He started to stand out about five years ago. It seems he joined Blue Zone around that time as well.'

The first article about Schneider was from exactly five years prior.

[A late-blooming player takes the lead in the Thunder Cave raid.]

Although ‘late-blooming’ sounded nice, it wasn't exactly a pleasant label to have.

'It means that he's the hardworking type.'

For players, talent was everything. 

Very few players could surpass the limits of their talent; countless others disappeared without ever making a name for themselves. 

In the end, very few managed to overcome their limits and become known. Just like the article described, they were known as late bloomers.

'So he surpassed his limits.'

[Omar Schneider. Reaching the end of the Thunder Cave. Only one step left?]

At the very least, Omar was unmatched on the 3rd floor. 

He was obsessed with conquering the Thunder Cave and had put a lot of effort into fulfilling that obsession. In fact, he had the lowest payout rate for bets, which meant that most people were betting on his victory.

'I was wondering why they would hold such a tournament.' There was a reason they had boldly offered a relic from Blue Eyes as a prize.

Blue Zone was certain their player, Omar Schneider, would win the tournament and that the prize would return to them.

"That's interesting, Ilsu…"

Would things really turn out that way? If Ilsu truly believed that, then Su-hyeok wanted to ask him if he’d think the same if he knew of his return.

* * *

On the 3rd floor…

Due to the Blue Zone tournament, the streets were far more crowded than usual. Players filled the streets—participants, acquaintances, and simple spectators.

Where players gathered, commerce naturally followed.

"Although it’s good, it's in terrible shape… It seems you've hunted too recklessly." 

The grandly-named Hephaestus's General Store, which took after the name of a god, was a place where all sorts of items were bought and sold.

Items acquired in such a way were either sold at higher prices to other players who needed them or handed over to a blacksmith.

"Let's see… This is worth about 1,500 points."

"What? That's all?"

"I can't go any higher. If you aren't satisfied, try somewhere else. I doubt anyone will offer more." The store owner, Gulrock, said as he scratched his ear. "You aren't happy with that? There's nothing I can do. I don’t think we can make a better offer."

"N-no. I'll just sell it."

Gulrock paid the price with indifference, although he was secretly laughing inside. The leather in question had been taken from a red troll.

'I hit the jackpot. Red troll leather regenerates itself over time, but most people don't realize that and think that it's done because it's dead.'

He could easily get three times the profit from the item. Gulrock inwardly cheered as he welcomed the next customer. "Welcome…"

He stopped in shock mid sentence. It wasn't because of the familiar mask the customer was wearing—he'd seen similar masks a couple of times already. Rather, the monster material the customer presented was that surprising.

"How much would this be worth?" the customer asked.

The smooth and shiny blue scales were a by-product of a creature called a ‘sky serpent’. Not only was it hard to encounter it, but hunting it down so cleanly was even more difficult.

'This is an S-rank item. It barely has any scratches. It's perfect.' 

It wasn't the first time Gulrock had seen a sky serpent's scales while running his shop, but he'd never seen ones in such pristine condition.

He gulped. Such a huge deal hadn’t appeared in quite some time.

"Ahem, let's see. A sky serpent's scale…" The key to business was having a proper blend of truth and lies. "Oh, the condition is excellent. It's an A-rank item. The person who hunted this must be a genius."

He continued. "Did you hunt it? It seems you came from a very high floor. The more ripples between the blue patterns there are, the older the creature is. The older it is, the higher the price. This one seems to be about 200 years old."

He built rapport and trust, but the main point was what came next. "But… I'm afraid the timing isn't great."

"What do you mean by that?" The customer, who'd remained silent through all the praise and sweet talk, spoke up for the first time.

He wasn't an easy customer. Gulrock spoke while hiding his tension. "I'm not sure if you know, but there's been a significant increase in the supply of sky serpent scales, so demand has decreased. Even kids know the law of supply and demand, right?"

"So you're saying I won’t get as much as usual?"

"You might not like hearing it, but yes."

Fearing the customer might leave, Gulrock hastily added more. "However, considering the condition of the item, I won't disappoint you. Normally, this should be about 10,000 points, so let me see…"

Gulrock took out his kit and tapped on the calculator. Although it wasn't that complicated, he pretended to be seriously doing math before speaking. 

"Alright, I'm going to offer you this much."

[11,000]

11,000 was displayed on the kit.

'He didn't offer a lower price than I expected.' Su-hyeok looked at Gulrock from behind his mask with a surprised expression on his face. 

From the way the man spoke, it was easy to see he was a scammer. Su-hyeok never trusted those kinds of merchants. To his surprise, Gulrock offered 11,000 points, which was slightly above the 10,000 he had expected.

'Did I misjudge the market?' If it weren't for the strange swindler vibe Gulrock was giving off, Su-hyeok might have considered sealing the deal.

During the moment of hesitation…

"You're really lowballing him." A man who'd been listening to the conversation from nearby clicked his tongue and spoke up. "For something in such a condition, you could easily get 5,000 more points."

Gulrock's eyes widened. He quickly tried to manage his expression, but he couldn't hide the look in his eyes. 

The man continued to explain. "The supply of sky serpents has really dwindled these days. It's a rare find."

"Wh-what do you mean by that?” Gulrock asked, clearly flustered. “H-haha… I really don't…"

The man’s words were the complete opposite of Gulrock’s, but the store owner reacted as if he’d been caught committing a crime.

Su-hyeok became even more certain. 'He was trying to lowball me.'

His eyebrows raised as he stared intently at Gulrock. He hadn't intended to sell at that price anyway, but the man had tried to lowball him too much.

'This guy…' Su-hyeok glanced at the handsome man who had interrupted his conversation. Although they had never met, he'd seen the man’s face in the materials Un-hyang had given him the day before.

'Omar Schneider.'

The hidden card Blue Zone was betting on in their tournament was standing right in front of him. 

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