Chapter 21

This time, the auction was held in the basement of a department store in a busy shopping district that always attracted crowds.

Since many hunters participate in the auction without wanting to reveal their identities, it’s better to be somewhere crowded where they can blend in with people rather than in a remote area.

And at the entrance of that department store, some people were waiting like stone statues, hoping for someone to appear.

They were guild members looking for Midas.

“Seriously, that person still hasn’t come out?”

– We found someone with a similar body type, but they were all ordinary people.

“Bring them anyway. They might have an item that hides their magic.”

– Well… if they had a high-end item that hides magic, wouldn’t they use something to change their appearance or body shape first?

“What? Are you talking back to me?”

– N-No, sir.

With hundreds of people participating in the auction and even more crowding the area around the department store, finding one specific person was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

On top of that, this auction was a big one where even the Soul Concentrated Elixir was released.

Since it was such a large-scale auction, it was held at the biggest department store in Seoul, making the search nearly impossible.

That’s how desperate the guilds were to recruit—no, even just to meet—Midas.

Just like how the Association and the guilds had searched Majang-dong like they were hunting rats.

“I’m telling you, that person was definitely Midas. He had a body type I’d never seen before, was with people I’d never seen, and he didn’t even look that old. He’s definitely not some rich chairman.”

“That’s true. Even a third-generation chaebol wouldn’t spend that much money. Besides, they don’t even need to hide their identity.”

“But couldn’t he be a guild master? If he’s one of the top 4 guild leaders, he could afford to spend that much.”

“Sure, he could afford it. But even then, he wouldn’t spend close to 1,000 billion won on seemingly useless stuff. There’s never enough support funds for guild members.”

“Good point.”

“The problem is… since he still hasn’t come out, I think he’s already gone.”

It had been nearly six hours since the auction ended.

The department store was already closing.

Even if he had stayed and shopped around with that much money, he’d be tired and ready to head home.

They had no choice but to assume he had already left the department store somehow.

Most of the shoppers had already gone home.

“Hey, old man. What’s wrong? Your eyes look strange.”

“…”

And it wasn’t just the guilds who were waiting.

“You think someone as smart as Midas would walk out here? Waiting at the front is such an outdated idea.”

Crack!

There was a cracking sound from the cane the old man was holding.

Lucy flinched when she saw it, then smiled again and said,

“Wow, Grandpa, you’re strong. Isn’t that thing really expensive? I heard it doesn’t break easily.”

“Shut up…”

Nothing had gone as planned.

He lost the Sea Fog Stone, which he had only seen in texts before, and even had to buy the elixir for 200 billion won.

That was nearly double the market price.

Because of that, he was only able to buy one elixir, which was critical for the mission.

Going to another country to buy more would take a lot of time.

And then there was the problem of identity.

To participate in a hunter auction, you needed a fake identity.

“That… bastard…”

Ever since he came to Korea, his plans had been going wrong.

Everything had been going smoothly, step by step.

But then, a Gate Break ruined the soul-harvesting plan because of a guy named “V,” and now some rich guy, who was probably Midas, bought the important item and caused the elixir price to skyrocket.

“I will definitely kill that bastard…”

If he had been standing in front of him, he would’ve killed him on the spot.

If he was Midas, even better. If not, it didn’t matter—he still ruined the plan.

“Getting obsessed when you’re old… how pathetic.”

“Shut your mouth. Do you truly wish for his return? Or are you just playing around?”

“Playing? I’m dead serious. I’m just calmer than you, old man. What do you want me to do—he’s already gone.”

Wheeler clenched his teeth.

But she was right.

There was no turning back now.

The only thing to focus on now was his return.

“Tsk. Then we change the plan.”

“What? How?”

“Korea’s not the right place. The luck here is strangely bad. We’ll continue with what we’ve already set up, but start working in another country first.”

“Aww~ do we have to go again? I liked Korea.”

“Shut up and follow me.”

“Yes~ sir.”

As if they had never been there, they disappeared without a sound.

* * *

The place we returned to using teleportation was a cozy penthouse.

It wasn’t planned, but I brought Kim Yuyeon here like a surprise housewarming, since this was the safest place anyway.

“Ah~ That was a smart purchase.”

“Smart purchase? I’m dead now because of Uncle Hoyeon…”

“What? The Hoyeon Guild doesn’t have that much money? It’s one of Korea’s top four guilds.”

“It’s not that… It’s just that they already spent a lot of money supporting me.”

Well, companies can’t always spend cash freely.

A business can collapse from a small amount of financial pressure.

Though of course, a company that would falter from 80 billion won wasn’t exactly stable anyway.

From a guild leader’s point of view, it was probably quite a burden.

Especially since they had to keep my identity a secret too.

“It’s fine. Since they recruited Midas, 80 billion is nothing. That ability is like having a one-man company.”

“That may be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m the one getting scolded! Aaaagh!”

“Myang!”

“Myangmyang says not to raise your voice in front of the master.”

“Ugh… Whatever. I didn’t buy it anyway. Myangmyang~ I’m sorry~”

Kim Yuyeon quickly forgot the bad feelings and returned to her usual cheerful self.

“Anyway, what are the items you bought? I just bought them because Wujae told me to.”

“Now that you mention it, I’m curious too. Why did you buy so much?”

Lee Wujae grinned and opened his mouth.

“There was more treasure than I expected. If you consider the value of everything I bought, it’s worth over 500 billion, not just 80.”

“What even are they?”

“First, this skill book.”

He showed us the skill book he had purchased.

It was a plain, shabby-looking C-rank skill book.

[Radiance of Horte (C)]
[Lightning of Horte (C)]
…

The strange thing was that unlike normal skill books, which only have the skill name, these had the name “Horte” attached like a series.

That was why a normal C-rank skill book that usually sells for 100 million was sold for 1 billion.

“It may look ordinary, but the name Horte refers to a figure from the 66th floor of the High Tower.”

“The High Tower? On the 66th floor?”

Kim Yuyeon gasped in shock.

I was surprised too.

The 66th floor of the High Tower was a level that easily surpassed even S-rank hunters.

Just look at Wujae himself on the 90th floor. Even his puppets show power beyond S-rank.

“Right. Horte, the demon mage. He was talentless, so he made a contract with a demon, but eventually broke the contract and even turned the demon into his servant. A late-blooming master magician boss monster.”

That… is that even possible?

Yuyeon and I were shocked for three reasons:

First, that it’s possible to make a contract with a demon and break it.
Second, that such a terrifying floor exists in the Tower.
Third, that Wujae climbed all the way to the 90th floor past such levels.

Unable to hide her shock, Yuyeon muttered,

“I’m so glad I didn’t go to the High Tower…”

“Yeah. I am in the High Tower, and I’m screwed…”

Damn. Maybe I shouldn’t have decided to enter the High Tower?

Wait. I can enter any tower I want, can’t I? That’s actually overpowered.

If it gets too hard, I can just switch to the Advanced Tower.

I’m not someone with natural talent like Wujae, and I don’t have that kind of grit either.

But Wujae promised to help me rise easily, so I had to believe in him.

And worst case, I could just escape the tower.

While I was justifying to myself about the High Tower, Yuyeon asked again.

“Why are the skills of such a great magician only C-rank?”

“Maybe because he’s a late bloomer, and they’re growth-type skills?”

Wujae smiled and nodded.

“Exactly. He didn’t have talent at first but eventually awakened it. So in the beginning, his magic was C-rank, but a few years later, he conquered demons and became a grand magician.”

“So… in short, these are growth-type skills?”

“Correct. At least S-rank potential. And the boss can grow fast inside the Tower.”

“Ah…!”

Growth-type skill books are super rare.

Because they can turn a C-rank skill into an A-rank, or even S-rank.

Even a C-rank one like this would cost more than 10 billion—easily above A-rank prices.

But they were also a gamble.

You never knew how long it would take to grow or what the final rank would be.

There were people who bought a D-rank growth skill book hoping it’d become S-rank but it stopped at C.

Or spent a fortune on a B-rank that never leveled up in decades.

Worse, some books like this one don’t even say they’re growth-type.

But for me, it didn’t matter.

Because I had the Tower, where every cleared floor boosts my skills and magic.

“Every time you clear a floor, your experience points for the skill level-up will rise fast. Your power will grow two or three times faster.”

“So while climbing the High Tower, the skill book levels up too.”

“Exactly.”

It was like a triple EXP event.

Even I let out a small laugh, and Yuyeon next to me was frozen in disbelief, her mouth hanging open.

“Wow… Seriously, this is ridiculous. Leeching off this well is practically an art.”

“Hey now, leeching? Acquiring good skills is the most important thing. You got into the Advanced Tower thanks to your ability too, right?”

“Well… that’s true. But still, even for a lifesaver, I’m kinda jealous.”

“Don’t be surprised yet. There’s still more leeching to come.”

“…Ah.”

He was right.

So far, we’d only seen about 10 billion won worth out of the 80 billion.

He did say this one gave the most value for the least money, but still, 70 billion wasn’t a small amount.

He pointed to another item.

“This one’s the 30 billion won inventory item. Unlike regular ones where time stops for items, this compresses space instead. No limit on how much you can store. You can even build a house or a building inside.”

“I guess that’s good. I do have to go places alone sometimes. Myangmyang attracts attention. Now it can be more comfortable.”

It was way more expensive than a penthouse, but unlike normal inventories, it had no space limit.

You wouldn’t need to go back and forth selling or retrieving items from the Tower.

And it could be used like a portable home while traveling or camping.

“Next… this is a dimensional stone.”

Wujae lifted a vacuum case that hovered above his hand.

Inside was a pitch-black stone. Or rather, it looked more like pure darkness than an actual stone.

At the auction, it was described only as an unknown material.

Its only known property: it erases anything it touches.

The problem was, to refine it, it had to come into contact with tools—yet tools vanished the moment they touched it. So it was almost impossible to work with.

“This is another item like the Sea Fog Stone that shouldn’t even exist in this world. I don’t know why it’s here.”

“What is it, really? You spent 40 billion on it?”

“Even 100 billion wouldn’t be too much. Because it ignores the concept of dimension.”

“Ignores… dimension? What does that mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. If you make a sword with this, it can cut space. It doesn’t matter how strong the opponent’s defense is.”

“Is that even possible?”

That was a totally broken ability. Ignoring defense entirely?

“It’s possible. Depending on the size of the stone. It can even slightly ignore time. That means you can freeze time and attack so the opponent can’t react.”

“…Huh.”

“I saw this once on the 90th floor but couldn’t even touch it. But because this one is smaller, I might be able to use it. Of course, the effects won’t be as extreme as what I saw. Maybe it’ll ignore armor completely, but it can only stop time for like 0.1 seconds.”

0.1 seconds might not sound like much, but for hunters, that was the difference between life and death.

‘Leeching at this level really is an art.’

Kim Yuyeon’s words echoed in my mind.

She was right.

Wujae and I… we were masters of the leech life. Artists of easy gains.