Report
Orca Dercia is a VIP in Lesayun. So, Elena’s group, who borrowed entrance tickets from her, was also treated as VIPs. The three of them entered with golden badges symbolizing VIPs on their chests, accompanied even by a senior manager.
“Ah, it’s so burdensome.”
Yuri felt that way, but Elena seemed relaxed.
“Have you been here before?”
“Yeah.”
Elena nodded as she handed the catalogue she received from the manager.
“I wanted to refer to the Othian Grimoire, but I couldn’t even find a copy, let alone the original.”
Elena slightly raised her head and looked at Yuri, then brushed her blonde hair to the side.
“So I asked Master Othian, and he said I could find it here, so I came.”
What’s the deal with Othian.
That thought lingered in Yuri’s mind, but he didn’t ask. Instead, Yuri pointed to the cataloge that Elena was examining so earnestly.
“Why are you looking so closely?”
“This is the catalogue for grimoires. Well, I’m not interested. The things displayed here aren’t even going to the auction.”
Saying that, Elena folded the catalogue and continued, “So, is there any good grimoire among the items for this auction?”
“While not a grimoire, there is a recipe for Harabel Ushia’s Flame Burst, a magic of intense flames.”
The manager replied with a smiling face.
“Ha… Harabel Ushia? The Flame Vermilion?”
“Yes. Oh, the seller of Flame Burst is Harabel Ushia himself, so you don’t have to worry.”
I’ve never heard of Harabel Ushia in the game. He seemed to be a magician who appeared in the past 30 years.
“Maybe Flame Burst will be the highest-priced magic among the items in this ‘public auction.'”
They have VIP badges, but in the end, they borrowed those badges. If it’s not themselves, they can’t participate in the secret auction.
They don’t have money to begin with. The items that appear in the semi-annual secret auction span the boundary of plenty, and even the lowest starting bid easily exceeds a billion sel.
“Other than that, are there any techniques that Elena Miss is interested in… Jang-Woon’s Thunder Seven Form?”
“Th-Thunder Seven Form?”
“Yes. It’s the Thunder Seven Form of Jang-Woon, a fifth Grade cerebral magic user who died three years ago. It’s not on par with Orca’s magic, but with Thunder Seven Form, Miss Elina might find it fascinating.”
“Uh… Can you estimate the starting bid?”
“At least 600 million Sil, I suppose.”
Elena’s pupils shook at the answer. The earlier nonchalant demeanour was nowhere to be found.
“Um, I’m curious, how much was Othian’s Grimoire?”
“…3 million sel.”
She was boasting, making Yuri think it might be 300 million sel. Yuri stopped asking further questions and turned his gaze to Haryung. She was right beside them, flipping through the catalogue as if she had never been concerned about Elena’s show-off earlier.
“Are there any worthwhile items?”
“There are many decent techniques more than you would expect.”
“Can’t you just buy them at the auction?”
Elena, who had been momentarily lost in her desire for Thunder Seven Form and the hefty price of 600 million sel, turned her head.
“Maybe there are hidden techniques in the catalogue.”
“But that’s unlikely.”
Elena raised her head as if she couldn’t believe it, but for some reason, Yuri found those words quite convincing.
“Just give it to me for a moment.”
“Do you think you’ll know if you look at it?”
“I am learning techniques, aren’t I? Even if I don’t know anything, I should at least take a look.”
“I’ll tell you in advance, these techniques often don’t live up to their names.”
Haryung, with a tsking sound, handed over the catalogue.
“Just look here, it’s the Suragwangsal Sword Technique. It’s like a sword technique of the Mage Guild, but the price is only 1 million sel.”
“Even a cheap sword technique can become the real Suragwangsal if you learn it earnestly, right?”
“Listening to your nonsense makes me want to use Suragwangsal on you, too.”
Saying that with an emotionless expression, it really felt like she might use Suragwangsal. Yuri cleared her throat and carefully examined the catalogue.
‘As if that’s possible.’
I was hoping that some of the skills classified as techniques in the game might be in the catalogue, but it turned out to be unlikely.
The techniques listed in the catalogue were mostly of the second and first tiers, with prices ranging from as low as 1 million sel to as high as 10 million sel.
‘I want Hyeollyun Swohunjang and Chil-Ya Yoo-Un-Jong…’
Those two were techniques I loved enough to put into my build every time I started a new character. But it was unlikely that I would find them in the catalogue until the later stages.
‘Should I really create them myself?’
Most possessors created techniques and magic after reaching a certain level of mastery, according to the majority of the possessed.
“So, did you find anything interesting?”
“There are quite a few decent martial arts techniques, surprisingly.”
They entered the auction house through a passage accessible only to VIPs. As they had heard, the “public auction” area was open and spacious, resembling an exhibition hall. Even though the auction hadn’t started yet, there were quite a few people present. A quick estimate revealed there were nearly fifty of them.
“Are all these people VIPs?”
“I guess so.”
“Why are there so many VIPs?”
“Don’t you know the population of Rootran? What a silly question. Plus, the Lesayun Auction House, which opens once a month, is famous in other cities too.”
Elena clicked her tongue as if pretending to know everything.
“And this public auction also serves as a social gathering. Wealthy VIPs come here to mingle, share information about auction items, and socialize.”
“You know a lot.”
“I told you, I’ve been here before.”
“300 million Sel, right?”
“You can also just come to watch.”
Yuri playfully nudged Elena’s side with his elbow.
“So, just act natural and don’t make it obvious. Got it?”
“It might look like you are trying too hard to fit in. Who was it that got all bubbly over a 600 million Sel price tag?”
“When did I get excited?”
Yuri wondered why Elena was looking at him so sternly. Elena’s expression seemed to say she was annoyed.
Yuri obediently nodded his head, not wanting to provoke Elena further.
With a teasing expression, Elena rolled her eyes as if she found Yuri irritating.
Seated in their assigned spots, they waited for the auction to begin. New catalogues were distributed among the VIPs. The catalogues contained information about the items up for auction that day.
“Ah…”
Haryeong gasped, scanning the catalogue with intense focus.
“The Nancheon Yuun Fist! This, this is it. We must absolutely buy this.”
“Nancheon Yuun Fist!”
Yuri was also surprised.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“It just seems familiar by name.”
That was a lie. Yuri knew what the Nancheon Yuun Fist was.
He not only knew the name but had used it extensively in the game for quite some time. While he eventually switched to a different martial art after diminishing its effectiveness, he was well aware of how powerful the Nancheon Yuun Fist was.
“Oh my god.”
Yuri clenched his fist in excitement. While there were many other impressive martial arts techniques, nothing else came to mind when he confirmed the Nancheon Yuun Fist.
“Is it a good martial art?”
“It’s really good. There’s no better martial art among the items being auctioned today.”
Haryeong asserted without hesitation.
“Even if it cost a billion sel, we must buy the Nancheon Yuun Fist.”
“Good, huh?”
“Very. Even if you spend all the money, you can buy other martial arts later. Since we will already have the Nancheon Yuun Fist so you can buy a suitable secondary technique and then change to a better one later when you have the opportunity.”
Haryeong’s firmness was a rare sight. Yuri, was not speaking out aloud but his mind was arleady set Nancheon Yuun Fist.
“…How much would it cost?”
“Probably around 700 million, I’d guess.”
Elena nonchalantly closed her eyes.
After all, this money wasn’t Elena’s, but rather the reward Yuri received.
So, she didn’t feel like it was a waste. The strange thing was that the name “Thunder Seven Form” kept flashing in her mind.
‘But still, roughly 600 million sil is the expected bidding price. So, about 400 million sil would remain, right? And maybe, just maybe, Nacheon Yuun Fist could be cheaper than 600 million sil. Then if…’
“Alright.”
Elena calmed herself and nodded her head.
“The Nancheon-Yuun Fist would be sold for 990 million sil.”
If, if…
The bidding amount she had in mind was around 600 million sil.
But why? Why did it end up being 990 million sil, just 10 million sil away from 1 billion? Elena lowered her trembling hand.
“Um, um…”
Elena hesitated to continue speaking and bit her lower lip.
The middle-aged man sitting across from her. A man who blatantly displayed his face and build as if to say “I’m mighty.”
If that man weren’t there, the Nancheon-Yuun Fist could have been won for around 500 million sil. If only that man hadn’t been incrementally raising the bid amount above Elena’s bid!
“I’m sorry.”
From the moment the bidding exceeded 700 million sil, Yuri, who had been watching quietly, slipped in a few words. Hearing that, Elena, who had been trembling, jerked back into an upright position.
“Yuri, what do you have to be sorry for?”
“It seems like I should be sorry…”
“Not at all! There’s no need to be sorry! Did you do anything wrong? you werent the one who pestered me to buy the Nancheon Yuun Fist? Wasn’t this whole thing because I wanted to come here?”
“Um, Elena. Even though the auction isn’t over yet, if you keep raising your voice, everyone might think you’re being uncultured.”
Elena’s face turned red. She looked around, and indeed, the nearby VIPs were giving her looks.
“Let’s go.”
Yuri grabbed Elena’s wrist.
“Anyway, we’re out of money, and we’ve bought what we needed. There’s no need to stay any longer.”
“But…”
“Surely you don’t think you could bid the remaining 10 million cells just to win the Thunder Seven Form, right?”
“About the Nancheon-Yuun Fist…”
Elena realized a moment too late that she was being held back. She looked back and forth between her held wrist and Yuri’s face with wide, puzzled eyes.
“Because…”
Slowly continuing her sentence, Elena stood up from her seat. Yuri who still sent a slight wink to the VIPs looking their way, exited the auction hall. Ha-ryeong, who had been quietly following behind, had her usual expressionless face, but her cheeks twitched slightly.
“But, Haryeong.”
“Yes? Yes.”
It felt like her back was growing eyes. Haryeong, with a thoroughly composed expression, responded.
“Who is that man?”
“Do you think of me as an encyclopedia or something?”
“Most people know you know when I ask. You even know about the Nancheon-Yuun Fist.”
“Basic information gathering is essential, especially for purchasing items.”
“So, you don’t know who that man is?”
“Correct.”
Really, huh? Yuri looked at Haryeong as if he found her fascinating.
“Kwon Lang Backward.”
The answer didn’t come from Haryeong.
Standing in the center of the corridor leading outside was the hulking man from earlier. Even from afar, he looked huge, but up close, he appeared even larger. His shoulders seemed to block half the entrance, and the arm he had crossed was as thick as Yuri’s thigh.
“That’s my name.”
Lips peeked out between his thick beard. Kwon Lang Backward…Yuri hadn’t heard that alias before, but the name itself felt strangely familiar.
“Backward, Backward…”
Digging into Soohyuk’s memories with all his might, Yuri managed to recall the name.
Backward. An NPC belonging to the guard of the city of Sairan near Rootran. Although he had a prominent name as a named NPC, his level wasn’t particularly high.
The reason Backward was a named NPC was different. He was a bastard of the prestigious Rasphion family, one of Sairan’s prominent families. When you kill Backward, there was a random chance for a Rasphion family key to drop, which could be used to invade the hidden field of the Rasphion family.
Though Yuri himself hadn’t tried this route, he heard about it from “FUCKINGSEXY,” with whom he actively exchanged game information. The Rasphion family was a deeply rooted swordsmanship school. A key was required to enter the Rasphion family. From there, you could obtain the confirmed Rasphion Visionsword technique by killing the family head.
Some of the Rasphion Visionsword’s skills were so valuable that they made their way into FUCKYSEXY’s final build.
“Fucking hell! That bastard Backward didnt the drop the key again!”
“Guess I’ll have to raise him again? Was all my effort in vain until now?”
“Shut up, you pervert! Why didn’t Backward drop it?”
“Why did you kill an innocent bastard?”
“Damn it! Damn it! I’m very angry. Why does he make things difficult for me?”
For being a prestigious family’s bastard, Backward didn’t even have permission to hold a sword. Now he had the alias “Kwon Lang.”
“Kwon Lang, what business do you have standing there? It looks like you’re blocking us as if we can’t leave.”
Haryeong spoke in Elena’s stead. While it was almost certainly an unlikely situation, Haryeong was standing there in case anything unexpected happened to Elena.
“A disciple of the Salmun.”
Backward stared at Haryeong with narrowed eyes.
“Elena’s Golden Chalice of the Dersia Tower…”
