Chapter 20

I looked at Lee Woo-jae because he suddenly told me to just buy it, and his face was very serious.

He even used magic so Kim Yu-yeon couldn’t hear us, that’s how secretive he wanted to be.

“What is that thing?”

It looked like a normal stone.
Even the auctioneer said it was just really hard, with no special power.

They said it was found in the sea… Was it some kind of treasure from Atlantis?

But Woo-jae didn’t answer. He just muttered to himself:

“That can’t be right… Why was that found in an A-rank gate? It usually only appears on floor 70 or higher with super low chances…”

“What even is that thing?”

Even while we talked, the price only went up to 15 million won.
Some people were bidding out of curiosity—some wanted to use it as a gem, others wanted to research it as a new mineral.

But it probably wouldn’t go over 100 million won.
There are so many strange minerals ever since the towers and gates appeared.

“It’s called Haemang Stone. It absorbs and deletes magical power endlessly. In raw form, it seems useless, but after a special process, its real effect appears.”

“Huh? That’s possible? That sounds crazy powerful!”

“Yeah, it’s OP, but also not really—because it absorbs the user’s magic too. So people mostly use it for training or fair one-on-one duels with no magic.”

So basically:
It’s a crazy item because it nullifies the opponent’s power,
but it’s fair because you lose your power too.

It wasn’t super useful yet, but I could tell it had huge value if used right.

“But that’s not even the best part. If it was just that, I wouldn’t have told you to buy it. The truth is, there’s a way to use your magic with it—and even steal someone else’s.”

“…!”

“Normally it just absorbs and deletes magic. But if you process it right, you can twist its power, make it store magic, and use it however you want.”

So in simple words:
You cancel the enemy’s power, use your own magic, steal their power, and even store it.

It was like the “Energy-Stealing Technique” in martial arts novels—crazy strong and sometimes even called an evil art.

I spoke right away:

“30 million.”

Some people turned to look at me, but no one made a big deal.
30 million wasn’t a big number in a Hunter auction. They probably just thought I was wasting money.

Only Kim Yu-yeon beside me looked surprised.

“Did that stone have some secret power?”

“I just have a good feeling.”

“Wow… rich people really do things differently. Spending 30 million on a feeling.”

Then another voice called out:

“40 million.”

I looked that way, surprised.
It wasn’t the same person who was bidding before. This person had a mask and a hood. I could see wrinkles under the hood—he was old.
A woman in a similar hood sat next to him.

‘Does he know what this is too?’

If he did, I was in trouble.

That stone was worth at least 10 billion won.
If someone else knew that, there’s no way I could buy it cheap.

I decided to test him.

“45 million.”
“50 million.”

The old man responded instantly.
It was clear he knew the stone’s real value.

But I wasn’t backing down.
I knew this stone was worth way more.

“100 million.”

The whole room went quiet.

It wasn’t just because I said a big number—
It was shocking that I bid 100 million this early in the auction, and on a random stone.

“Are you crazy? Even if the guild’s loan has no interest, this is too much!”

“What, is Hoyeon Guild poor? It’s the number one guild in the country. Can’t they handle 100 million?”

“No, that’s not the problem… Ugh, whatever. You do what you want. It’s not my money.”

“Exactly.”

While we chatted, the auctioneer shouted with excitement:

“100 million! We have a 100 million bid! Anyone else?”

The old man responded quickly:

“200 million!”

“200 million! The bid is now 200 million!”

No 150 million—just straight to 200.
He must be rich.
But could he win against me?

I had a no-interest, no-deadline infinite loan from Hoyeon Guild.

“1 billion.”

“1, 1 billion! Any more bids? 3… 2… 1… Number 325 wins the bid!”

People around me stared like I was insane.

And of course, they would.

I had just spent 1 billion won on a random stone at the very start of the auction.

Usually, good stuff comes later.

But I didn’t care.
I had infinite money now.

If something better showed up, I’d just buy it too.

“You’re nuts… I’m dead if the guild master hears about this…”

“Come on, it’s just 1 billion. You think the guild master will be stingy?”

“The problem is, it’s not going to stop at 1 billion. If you’re like this at the start, how much are you planning to spend?!”

Oops. She caught on.

But I answered calmly:

“Everything I buy has value. You’ve never seen me make a bad deal, right?”

“Well… no.”

“Exactly. I’ll only buy useful stuff. Don’t worry.”

“…I’ll trust you for now.”

But nothing ever goes as expected.

There were still many hidden treasures in this auction.

“Next is a skill book. It’s only C-rank, but what’s special is that there are 7 books total, and they all have the name ‘Horte’ in them.”

“Boss, you must buy that.”

“Got it. 1 billion.”

“Next is an inventory item…”

“Buy that too.”

“Bid: 10 billion!”

It was like I was a chimpanzee who figured out which button gave food.
Every time Woo-jae told me to buy something, I bought it.

By the time I snapped out of it—when the elixirs came up—I had already spent about 80 billion won.

People’s looks changed from curiosity… to concern… to awe.

Even the auctioneer was glancing at me like I was some legend.

“Oh, this is the last item of the day! A Soul Condensed Elixir that slows aging and increases lifespan! Starting bid is 1 billion won!”

“10 billion.”

Right after the host finished speaking, someone made a huge bid.

The person who called out 10 billion won was the same old man who had competed against me earlier for the Haemang Stone.

Maybe it’s because he’s old, so he’s really interested in living longer?

Unfortunately, I needed to get this elixir too.

“15 billion.”

The Hoyeon Guild said they could support up to 17 billion won for this elixir.

So I started with 15 billion.

Considering the usual winning price for an elixir is around 10 to 11 billion, it was clearly expensive.

But since the Association got one elixir from HP Company recently, supply would drop and the price would go up, so I offered a bit more.

Besides, it’s not even my money.

“15.5 billion.”

The old man immediately raised the price.

He must really want it.

He looked healthy based on how he moved, but since his face was hidden under a hood, I couldn’t tell for sure.

Maybe he’s sick.

But I was desperate too—because of Lee Woojae, who was slowly dying.

“16 billion.”

“Ugh, please! Can’t you raise the price more slowly? Do you know how much that is?!”

“He’s going to raise the price anyway.”

“Huh? Why are you so sure?”

“I can just tell.”

He had acted the same way before—calm and confident, like he was sure he could afford it.

“16.5 billion.”

Yep, right on cue.

I couldn’t back down either.

“17 billion.”

That was the maximum amount the guild allowed.

When I looked at the old man, our eyes met.

I could see quiet anger in his eyes.

Sorry, Grandpa.

But you still look strong, and I’m sure you’ll get another chance.

Elixirs aren’t only sold here—they’re also sold overseas.

“Any more bids? 3… 2… 1…”

“20 billion.”

Whoa.

He really called out 20 billion.

That’s almost double the usual elixir price.

“Whew… thank goodness.”

Kim Yooyeon let out a big sigh she had been holding in all auction long.

At least I didn’t get scammed into buying the elixir at a crazy price. That must’ve been a relief.

But what about Lee Woojae? He’s the one who really needed it.

I looked over, and he smiled calmly and said:

“Don’t worry. The Association is bringing one elixir, and that should be enough to help extend my life. Besides, the stuff we bought today was more valuable.”

“We missed out on the most important item and just bought a bunch of other things instead.”

“The elixir is important, but the other things are extremely valuable too. Some are worth even more than the elixir.”

“Even though I bought everything you told me to… what even are they?”

More valuable than the elixir? What the heck are they?

Other than the Haemang Stone, I didn’t know anything about what I had bought.

I naturally turned to look at the old man who won the elixir.

Huh? I think we just made eye contact. Or maybe not?

“This ends the auction! Winners, your items will be stored in your inventory in the vault room. Everyone else can go home!”

“First, we need to get out of here quickly.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because you bought too much. People might think you’re Midas. And that old man seems suspicious too.”

Now that I thought about it, it made sense.

Unless you’re a billionaire CEO, it’s not normal to throw around nearly 100 billion won in cash.

Even in a world where hunters make a lot of money.

“But that wasn’t your money. You used Hoyeon Guild’s money.”

“That’s not the point. People who are obsessed with finding Midas will definitely suspect someone who spends that much. Rich CEOs don’t even come here all bundled up like us.”

“That’s true.”

“We’ve arrived at the vault room, sir. Please disable any magic spells you’re using.”

The vault was heavily guarded, with so many layers of security that even I, a beginner hunter, could tell it was hard to break into.

But that wasn’t important right now.

The main thing was to get out quickly.

“Alright, here are your winning items. This is the exit.”

“Thanks.”

I stored the items in my inventory and stepped out of the vault room.

As soon as we were out, Lee Woojae put his arm around my shoulder and used magic.

Shwoop—

‘Sorry, Grandpa. No one’s going to come out of that room.’

But hey, you still got the elixir, right? I let you have it.