3 Chapter 3 - Artifact Hall

Crunch!

"This Pikoo is so delicious. It taste just like an apple but has a weird taste in the end which I can't seem to recognize. But either way, it has an amazing flavour. I like it." Yu-min commented after a taking a small bite out of the fruit he bought just a moment ago.

While walking around the streets, he got to know different things about the city from the pedestrians.

First of all, he learned that the city's name is Ruby Kingdom and it is located on an isolated land on the sea called 'The Heart Island' since the island is shaped like a heart.

Also, the Ruby Kingdom is governed by the head of the Gang Family, Gang Oh-chul and he's the owner of all the mines that produces bloodstones, for which the city is famous for.

'Bloodstone', it is a precious gemstone which is dark reddish in color and used for cleansing one's body by removing the impurities in it while increasing the individual's martial energy to a massive amount every time it is consumed.

Since it is a limited resource and not many places in the world produces these types of gemstones, it is pretty expensive for a common men to afford it.

Only the noble and rich families can afford to buy it in order to increase their cultivation faster than anyone else. Due to the fact that this type of material is scarce and very costly, the Gang Family has a monopoly business over it.

They even exports these types of precious goods to the outside world and earn profit from it. Therefore, the Gang Family are the richest in the entire Ruby Kingdom.

There are other prominent families in the city but they're no match for Gang Family. Hence, they have to obey Gang Oh-chul as he is the ruler of the entire city.

Since it's an isolated island and no one can approach them from sea, the grandmasters of cultivation set up a teleportation array device in the central district of the city which can only be operated by cultivators of certain levels.

The device consists of two huge pillars placed on a platform which is a little bit higher than the surface and the pillars are positioned in a way that they face each other to create a passageway in between.

The pillars are made up of stone and there are some sort of ancient inscriptions drawn on them. Some folks say, it's a teleportation spell written there and some say, it's a protection spell so that the device won't get destroyed that easily by external force. But, no one knows for sure what those inscriptions are, except for the person who build it.

After the activation of spell, the inscriptions on the pillars are brightened and a black portal takes a form inside the gap where the passage way was and once people entered through it, they get teleported to their fixed destination, Supernova Continent.

Upon hearing all this, Yu-min was amazed and excited to see the outside world for himself. But for now, he was planning on getting used to the daily life of this world and learn more things along the way so that he may survive on his own while venturing the new world he was excited about.

As he kept walking for a while, he reached the central district where the teleportation device was build.

"Let's go and see how this device looks like according to the descriptions." He grinned.

On the way to reach the place where the device was, he saw various taverns, sweet shops and two-story buildings which was constructed in a traditional manner that It felt like he was visiting a historical place which never aged a bit.

Even the vehicles used for transportation were mostly carriages with two horses pulling the ride.

While he walked around the street for a while, he came across a pagoda tower which had a circular shape structure like a dome and it was the highest building in town compared to others.

According to what's written on the name tablet at the entrance, it was called the 'Artifact Hall'.

"Artifact Hall? What an interesting name... Let's check this place out first! I still have time to check the device later." He mumbled to himself with a curious gaze in his eyes.

As the name intrigued him, Yu-min immediately went inside without thinking much.

Upon entering the hall, he saw lots of people irrespective of their gender, roaming around here and there, looking at the items displayed on the walls and beneath it, there was a horizontal display cases where the items were kept in an orderly manner and they were all covered by a glass-type of a material. Moreover, on each display cases, there was a small service counter with an employee of the hall standing behind the desk and a strange crystal was placed on it.

The crystal stone radiated a holographic screen as it showed a list of items which were displayed and their names in the screen along with the prices on the sides in terms of the world's currency – martial notes.

There was not a single place where there were no items to be displayed. In all three directions, one could see the products with a display case on it and a service counter with an employee supervising and doing transactions with the customers in that area. Every employee wore a same black outfit to be recognizable by the staff members of the hall and the customers themselves.

As for the rest of the area, it was occupied by stairs to go up and reach the second floor where other pedestrians were viewing the items displayed there.

To Yu-min, it felt like he was inside a museum and different types of strange things were on display for everyone to watch.

There was even an eyeball on display for some reason and it even moved a little as if it was alive.

Kang Yu-min went to the east side of the area and started observing the things on display with an awe and amusement in his expression. He couldn't take his eyes off the things that was shown there and the items were very tempting for him to buy it immediately. One of them even had the ability to cure diseases like cancer and much more.

"Dear customer, may I ask what you're trying to find? I might be able to help you." A female behind the service counter desk asked Yu-min in a polite way.

"No, no. I'm just window shopping right now. I'll buy something later." he replied with a smile.

The female twitched her eyebrows and spoke. "Window shopping? Dear customer, what does this word mean? I don't understand. Can you please explain?"

'Oh, shucks! I forgot I was in a different world and these kinds of slang terms are not spoken here. What do I do?' Yu-min sighed inwardly.

"Uh... I mean that I'm just here to look around for the time being. If I found something interesting, I'll buy it later."

"Oh, I see." the female employee narrowed her gaze.

'Is this guy some sort of bum trying to steal our items? If so, I need to report him to securities immediately. But wait, his attire doesn't look like he's poor nor rich. What do I do? This young boy is so mysterious... I can't guess who is he. What if he belongs to a prominent family? If so, I might dig my own grave angering someone superior. First, I need to check who he is. Let's ask him politely for now.'

"Dear customer, is this your first time coming here?" she asked in a serious tone.

"Yes. I'm an outsider after all."

"Oh! That makes sense then." Upon hearing Yu-min's reply, her tone suddenly change into a polite one and her suspicious face revert back to normal. "Sir, welcome to our artifact hall. We have different kinds of things available in our store. From a normal grade herb to a legendary grade item. Please take a look around more. If you need anything, just call me right away."

"Uhh... okay.." After seeing her over-the-top treatment towards him, Yu-min was a bit flustered about it. He felt like he became a vip customer in an instant as soon as he mentioned that he was an outsider. "It's strange… I only said I'm an outsider and people started treating me with so much respect. First, it was that old man and now, this young lady. What's going on?"

With a confused look on his face, he went to another section of the area to take a look at their products.

"Woah!"

"Awesome!"

"Did you say it can prolong life? What an interesting pill!"

"This sword is thousands of years old? Are you kidding me? How come it is still in good shape?"

Yu-min visited different areas and learned a lot about the things that he wasn't aware of. However, the customers and the staff members were looking at him differently since he was getting excited over a mere pill that anyone can buy and a sword that has a spiritual energy which maintains its durability for a long time. They had a perplexed look on their faces whenever Yu-min acted that way and they all wondered one doubt towards him.

'Why is this guy acting like he just came from a cave?'

"You bastard, know your place! Don't think I'll be lenient just because you're from the Song Family. "

A loud voice came from a certain service counter which caused everyone to look at that direction. A young boy who had red hair and a frail body fell on the ground while he got punched in the face by a certain individual standing in front of him.

In a matter of minutes, a massive crowd started gathering around them and were looking at the situation from the sidelines.

Even Yu-min became curious about the commotion going around there as he went to check what was happening.