Chapter 268

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 268

Chapter Title: Hunter Auction Launch

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The military generals had been thrilled.

Until that extravagantly rich nation—mockingly dubbed the "Squad Leader's Cheat Map"—swept up every last explosion potion and gas potion on the Hunter Auction.

"General, sir. I'm terribly sorry, but it seems..."

"Hah hah hah... Korean weapons, and the Korean military can't even use them? Contact that company right away. And get in touch with the National Assembly's Defense Committee secretaries too. Tell them we've got something that needs to be urgently designated as a strategic material. I'll report directly to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Chief of Staff myself. Then they'll brief the President personally."

"Yes, sir!"

If the seller had heard that, he would've snapped, 'What the hell have you contributed to call this a "Korean weapon" and claim it for yourselves?' But fortunately, everyone here believed it was a domestically produced weapon from a Korean company, so of course it was "domestic hardware."

Domestic weapons? And they're good?

Then we have to buy them.

If we didn't, those damn hack journalists might spin some trash article later.

-Pew pew. There's a Korean military unit that won't use its own world-famous weapons that even the US military raves about?! Corruption in military procurement? Who's responsible?-

A star-wearing man in Korea.

If you couldn't predict even this amid the political games, you'd get naturally weeded out.

I stared at the glittering gems and various items in front of me, lost in thought.

"...Hmm. Keeping the charms, gems, jewels, and runes to sell feels off. I'll hang onto these myself."

In Diablo, just carrying certain charms (talismans) in your inventory granted buffs.

There were all sorts of buffs, but my favorites were things like "increased magic item drop rate."

"I can always sell them later if it makes sense. For now, these are on hold."

I decided to hold off on selling the charms, socketable gems, runes, and jewels, stashing them away for now.

Beyond that, I had plenty more to sell.

Following my second sister's advice, I created an account on "Hunter Auction" and started listing all the plain, low-quality gear with zero magic effects, one by one.

Honestly, who would even buy this junk...?

Still, I listed them anyway.

As a selling point, I noted: "Mysteriously, item descriptions appear like holograms."

And surprisingly, buyers actually showed up.

Since I'd priced them all under 100,000 won, folks wanting them as decorations or gifts probably bit. Sure enough, a few sold, bumping my membership rank from Iron 5 to Iron 4, with a 0.1% fee discount.

Ranks went Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Emerald, Diamond...

"Whoa, hold up. This ranking system feels just like... that game... Second sis wouldn't have micromanaged it this detailed, so one of the devs must be a player."

My second sister probably just told them to tier fees by rank to hook users on climbing the ladder.

The vibe when she explained it to me screamed that.

"Nice. Heh, this is fun. Time to list some real gear?"

I put up normal items around the 1-million-won mark.

These had no "low-quality" tags.

Actual usable weapons and armor, but oddly, their popularity matched the damaged junk.

If anything, they sold even slower?

"Hmm... Makes sense. Regular folks have no reason to buy this stuff. Demand's similar. ...And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seeing reviews like 'Bought the damaged ones 'cause they look cool'—man, normal items just don't pop."

Next, I listed normal items with premium prefixes like "Superior" around 10 million won.

No magic effects, but solid stats earned those labels.

Still, not huge demand.

Even modern hunters preferred cutting-edge lightweight stab-proof suits over this.

"Tch. Can't be helped."

So, I finally started listing the star attractions: magic items.

I kept a few top-tier ones for myself and dumped the rest I didn't need.

Like the flame magic dagger I'd just uploaded.

Magic items would sell like hotcakes.

Why? Because a single enchanted magic attribute let them damage ethereal monsters.

But most magic items had restrictions.

Meaning, regular people couldn't use them properly.

No scamming civilians either—the hologram descriptions showed everything.

So, list honestly and wait.

"...This time, no day-long auctions that flop into instant-buy. Wait out the full duration. Hmm... a week? Nah, wanna test prices quick, so 24 hours like before should do."

I had time to burn, but curiosity about pricing won out—I set them to one day.

Plenty more magic items stacked up anyway.

Kim Cheol-su, a level 30 awakener and hunter, logged into the buzzing "Hunter Auction" site to snag a healing potion when he spotted an account presumed to be a blacksmith awakener freshly listing weird items.

Having blacksmith skills was rare enough, but the listings? Meh.

"What the hell's with this blacksmith?"

A weirdo dumping pure trash.

"Oddball. Why list this crap? Scrap it for metal value, right? ...Oh, says item descriptions pop up like holograms if you stare? Wild. Cheap too—not even 100,000 won. Reviews ain't bad... Huh, need decor and a nephew gift anyway. This could work."

As a high-earning hunter these days, pocket change. He bought on a whim, assuming the description was legit.

And it was.

Just like the sales blurb, staring at the item conjured a holographic description.

Same region shipping meant quick delivery—under four hours.

"Whoa... For real? Damn, that's cool. Actual hologram overlay on the item? How? Special ability? Sweet—no way this is fake. Feels straight out of Diablo item tooltips."

Now he wondered: "Not just a regular blacksmith—maybe a mage or alchemist?"

Blacksmithing sucked, but enchanting prowess was top-tier?

He revised his low score on the anonymous blacksmith upward, browsed the listings, then bam—a fresh upload.

"...Flame Magic Dagger?"

The photo showed the telltale hologram description, just like the others.

'This could become a trust badge... Like a luxury weapon brand.'

Kim Cheol-su envisioned the future.

These items were reliable buys, so prices would climb.

The hologram gimmick alone was brand gold—unique tech no one else had.

Plus, graduating from trash to solid gear, now magic items? ...

'Skill leveling up? Early listings were prototypes? Yeah... My collector senses are tingling. This guy's stuff is gonna blow up.'

He jumped into bidding.

And snagged all the "trash" at rock-bottom prices for keeps.

Early holograph-items from a mystery blacksmith? Prime rarity bait.

'Like limited-edition ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠early Chanel, Louis Vuitton, or Hermès drops. Flawed tech or finish? Doesn't matter—irreplaceable founder-era relics handmade in the grind.'

Collector-worthy.

Just like practice sketches from master painters fetching absurd sums.