CHAPTER 106: A GOLD COIN?!

Riley’s eyes lingered on the armour before him, a subtle gleam of light dancing across its metallic surface.

For a long moment, he simply stared at it, saying nothing, letting the weight of what he was seeing sink in.

The dullness that had once clung to its plates was gone.

What lay before him was no longer the battered and worn set he had dragged into this tiny forge—it was something else entirely, something revitalized.

Slowly, he extended his hand and let his palm rest against the chest piece.

The familiar mechanical chime rang in his ears.

[Champion Armour Set (Rare)]

[Description: An armour set crafted by the best blacksmiths of the novice village, meant to be given to the champion who defeats the village boss. When equipped, Strength is boosted by 30%, and all other attributes by 20%. Automatically reflects damage below 700, and grants a 20% boost in attack damage.]

Riley’s eyes widened as he read the description.

He froze, staring at the words for a long, unbroken stretch, as though his mind was struggling to truly process what was written in front of him.

"...It doubled," he muttered under his breath.

His fingers clenched slightly against the chestplate, tracing over the smooth polish that gleamed with renewed luster.

The armour almost looked alive, as if it carried a heartbeat, pulsing faintly with power that hadn’t been there before.

’The effects when equipped basically doubled!’

His thoughts raced, his chest tightening with excitement and disbelief.

Now he finally understood why Terry was so powerful even at the early stages of the game.

The Champion’s Armour set was already a powerful rare rank treasure, but with Koel’s talent, it was upgraded to a whole new level.

The strength boost was higher. The attribute bonuses were more balanced, stretching across every corner of his abilities.

And the reflective defense—damage below seven hundred would bounce back automatically.

For someone at his current level, that was practically invincibility against most threats.

And then, on top of it all, the twenty percent boost in attack damage doubled from the previous ten.

For someone like him with huge attributes, this was a huge increase!

It was like stepping into a battlefield armed with not just a shield, but a fortress strapped to his back.

He could feel the edges of his lips twitching, though he forced himself to keep his expression controlled.

His heart thudded hard against his ribs, and for the briefest second, he was almost tempted to laugh.

Instead, Riley turned his gaze away from the armour and onto the boy who had repaired it.

Koel stood a short distance away, hammer still in hand, though he now leaned on it casually, his posture smug, his lips curled into a smirk that looked far too proud for his young age.

His eyes shimmered with unrestrained delight as they lingered on the armour he had just restored.

The expression on his face told Riley everything.

This wasn’t just work to the boy—it was joy. It was a passion so deep it spilled out from him and filled the room.

He was still practically a child, yet his entire being radiated with a sense of purpose, of belonging, as if the forge and hammer were the only places in the world he was meant to be.

Riley’s gaze lingered on him for a long time, his mind drifting back, pulling him unwillingly into memories of his past life.

’So this is why they called his skills otherworldly...’

The realisation carved itself deep into his heart. By merely striking the armour a handful of times, Koel had taken what was already rare and exceptional and made it twice as powerful.

Riley’s eyes narrowed slightly, but not out of suspicion. It was awe—an awe tempered by the cold bitterness of knowledge that no one else in this life yet knew.

’Too bad... you died in my past life.’

The thought twisted inside him like a knife.

His gaze sharpened, the corners of his lips curving into the faintest, almost imperceptible smirk.

’I won’t let you die this time... I won’t let anything go wrong.’ he thought, clenching his fists in determination.

The boy didn’t know it, but his very presence here, his existence, was proof that things could be different.

Riley had taken the chance that Terry once had. By stepping into the forge first, by claiming Koel’s trust before anyone else, he had already rewritten one of the pages of history.

And he would keep rewriting them. Again and again, if he had to.

He looked back at the armour, then at Koel again. The boy’s smirk hadn’t faltered, and in his eyes there was something almost fierce.

He was proud—not arrogant, not boastful, but genuinely proud of what his hands had created. It was a pride born of love, not vanity.

Riley let out a quiet breath.

And it begged a question that lodged itself firmly in Riley’s mind.

’What if he had proper tools?’

The thought burned like fire.

Here Koel was, working in a small, half-forgotten shop, with tools so crude they looked as though they might break with one wrong strike.

And yet, even with these, he had created something that shouldn’t exist in the hands of a novice. Something bordering on legendary.

If given the right hammer, forged from ores beyond this village... if given the right anvil, crafted from stone imbued with enchantments... if given fire hot enough to rival a dragon’s breath...

How far could he go?

How much higher could humanity climb with him at the forefront?

He just might be enough to bridge the huge power gap between humans and demons.

Riley’s lips curved upward, a smirk breaking through at last. He nodded once, slowly, to himself.

It didn’t matter that he had stolen the chance meant for Terry, because this was all for the better.

Or at least, that was what he thought.

’Equip.’ he mumbled inwardly, letting out a low exhale.

The armour shimmered faintly, dissolving from where it lay on the table and vanishing from sight.

A breath later, it reappeared directly onto his body in a perfect fit.

He looked down, running a hand along the chest piece, and felt the snug embrace of metal wrapping around him as though it had been forged exclusively for his frame.

The difference hit him immediately. His muscles seemed to tighten and pulse with raw energy. Strength surged through his veins, the sensation so vivid it was almost like lightning crawling beneath his skin.

His breaths came steadier, deeper. His vision sharpened, his body felt lighter, faster, sturdier.

Even his stance grew firmer, as if the weight of the world pressing against him had suddenly halved.

He clenched his fists and nodded, satisfaction flashing across his expression.

The sheer boost was undeniable. It was like stepping out of a dimly lit room into the brilliance of the sun.

For a heartbeat, Riley simply stood there, basking in the newfound power radiating from within him.

Then, with a faint ripple of mana, a gold coin materialised in his right hand.

The light in the room reflected off his edge, sparkling like a miniature sun in the old, rundown shop.

Riley didn’t hesitate. With a casual flick, he tossed it across the room toward Koel.

The boy’s eyes widened like saucers. His body stiffened in pure shock as the coin spun through the air toward him.

His reflexes, dulled by disbelief, failed him completely.

The coin slipped past his fingers and clattered to the ground with a sharp ting! that echoed against the stone floor.

"Wha—!" Koel stammered, staring at the gold piece as if it were something sacred, his face caught between disbelief and panic. His heart pounded in his chest.

Bending down quickly, he scooped the coin into his trembling hands.

He turned it over, confirming what his eyes already screamed to him—it was real. Genuine. Solid gold.

His gaze flicked back to Riley, and his lips parted slightly, hesitant, before finally speaking.

"I... I can’t accept this."

His voice cracked faintly with emotion. He stepped forward and extended his hand, holding the coin out with visible reluctance.

Inside, his mind was a storm.

’He... pulled that from thin air...?’ Koel’s thoughts raced, his wide eyes flicking between the coin and Riley’s calm expression. ’That means... he has a storage ring! He—he must! That was the only explanation...!’

Storage rings were the stuff of legends to him, items he had only ever heard whispers of but had never once laid his eyes upon.

A single ring was worth more than his entire life’s savings could ever amount to.

Nobles hoarded them, but to commoners, they were as unattainable as the stars themselves.

Yet here stood this man, this mysterious figure who had wandered into his dilapidated workshop, casually drawing out gold from a ring as though it were nothing.

Koel’s lips pressed into a thin line, his thoughts spiralling further.

’Just who is he?’

Still, even with that revelation shaking him, one thing stood out above the rest. He looked down at the coin again, the heavy weight pressing into his palm.

’But... a gold coin... this is just... too much.’

He bit his lip. A single gold piece could feed him and his dog for months, perhaps even longer if they lived frugally.

It was wealth beyond anything he had expected, especially for such a simple job.

’I had only planned to ask for twenty copper coins,’ he admitted to himself bitterly, his chest tightening. ’Just twenty. That would’ve been enough for me and Rusty to eat for the day. Maybe even have something left for tomorrow if we were lucky...’

And yet here was a gold coin—a fortune beyond what he had ever dared to dream for such work.