Selling Feathers and Scales on the Hell Market

“Wait, you're just letting them walk out of there!?”

“Yep. Why not?”

Jin Seo-yoon stared at Ji-hoon, who had come out without so much as a single interrogation of Bae Yu-na and the cameraman, and let out a scoffing laugh, utterly dumbfounded.

“You were ambushed and kidnapped by that woman, and you're just letting her go!?”

“She didn't do anything to you, did she? What, you want me to get revenge on your behalf?”

“What!? Kidnapped!? What on earth are you talking about, Guild Master Jin Seo-yoon!”

“Eep!”

Jin Seo-yoon hastily clamped a hand over her mouth at Lee Kyung-moon's reaction, but it was too late.

News of Ji-hoon's kidnapping had officially reached the Commissioner.

“Orpheus is getting its management rights revoked. Revoked! I said REVOKED!!!!”

“Th-that is, Commissioner, it was truly a small mistake on my part—”

“A mistake? A very small one? You knew what it was and went and pulled that stunt anyway!”

Gah! Gah!

The Commissioner was now screaming at her without any honorifics at all, and Jin Seo-yoon could only flounder helplessly under the barrage.

It was quite a rare spectacle, so Ji-hoon watched the two of them with interest.

“Could really use some popcorn right about now.”

“Would you like some?”

Yoon Do-ha held out a bag of potato chips.

“Thank you.”

After all, nothing would change even if he did interrogate them. Bae Yu-na wasn't going to open her mouth. She'd probably just spit curses. The cameraman would be the same.

So Ji-hoon simply tossed the items aside.

Coolly.

Pretty stylish, right?

He may be F-rank, but he's a cool guy.

“The Vomit Hunter, tsk tsk.”

Crunch—

“Kids, what did you feel back there?”

“Right, as I thought.”

Crunch—

“Can you tell whose mana it is?”

Ddubu bowed her head deeply. Ji-hoon stroked her head gently.

“It's fine, you did well.”

Either way, it meant this incident was connected to Hell as well. The Gates and Hell. And the Gate incident from ten years ago. What could possibly tie them all together?

[There is one more thing I know, Elder Brother.]

At that moment, Poppi flapped his beak.

[That cameraman is going to die soon.]

“...What?”

[The mana of Hell is something humans cannot endure. He drew on it to its very limit, and so—]

“When did he draw it to its limit?”

[Probably when he was trying to escape from me, it is certain. I crushed him flat right then, it is.]

Oh, so that's when it happened.

Ji-hoon patted Choco's chest, which was puffed out with pride.

“We can't let him die, though.”

[Perhaps it's time to raid the Hell Market properly, Elder Brother. Ddubu's scales will fetch a fine price as well.]

“Oh right, we should sell Poppi's feathers too.”

[B-Brother, I have little siblings now, you know...]

“We're selling. You weren't seriously planning to let your little siblings' fur and scales go to waste, were you?”

[W-well, that's...]

Choco made big, watery puppy eyes, playing the victim. Ddubu's eyes blazed with fury, insisting it be scales only, nothing more.

Poppi looked back and forth between the two of them and let out a long, deep sigh.

[Please be gentle with him, I beg of you...]

Of course, the plucking would come later. There were far too many watching eyes right now.

“Branch Chief.”

“Yes, Mr. Ji-hoon.”

“That cameraman's mana is dying out.”

Ji-hoon relayed what he'd heard from Poppi and Ddubu.

“What do you mean by that... no, wait a moment.”

To hunters, who lived and breathed mana, it was no different from life itself. And that mana was flickering out in real time. Not only that—Bae Yu-na's mana was steadily draining away as well.

“Guild Master Yoon Do-ha.”

“Yes, I suppose we'll need to take measures.”

The Administration would find a way to keep them alive for now. In the meantime, he had work to do.

“Well then, I'll be off...”

Behind him, Jin Seo-yoon was still getting torn apart by the Commissioner, Lee Kyung-moon was threatening penalties against the Orpheus Guild, and Baek Kang-hyun and Yoon Do-ha kept close watch over Bae Yu-na and the cameraman. Ji-hoon returned to the camp.

And then—

Thwack thwack—

[ELDER BROTHER, IT HURTS!!!]

“Bear with it, Poppi!!”

The Dephor-earning operation had begun.

Having harvested the griffin feathers, Ji-hoon got up with a bright, beaming smile.

“Alright, shall we get to it?”

[Sob, sob...]

“It doesn't even hurt, you big baby. Enough with the drama.”

[My heart is wounded, Elder Brother. Sob, sob...]

Choco and Ddubu, watching from the sidelines, shook their heads too.

[Choco understands Poppi's big brother's pain, it does...]

[Honored brother, you... you wouldn't do anything that barbaric to me, would you...?]

These kids, honestly.

When Ji-hoon shot them a glare, they all whipped their heads away and pretended not to notice. Fine, fine, whatever.

“Hell Market, open.”

“Let's see...”

Before posting anything, he'd scope out the atmosphere first. It had been quite a while since his last visit, so he browsed other users' listings and the community boards.

“Whoa...”

Ji-hoon let out a wry laugh as he clicked through the posts one by one.

Ever since that day, the boards had been in an uproar—people whining that Ji-hoon hadn't registered any new items and begging him to hurry up and sell more griffin feathers.

With trembling hands, Ji-hoon operated his phone and uploaded a listing.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Last time, twenty of them had sold for 100,000 Dephor. So what would happen this time?

The very second the listing went up—

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. ...

Chats came pouring in like crazy.

Trade-is-Credit, DemonRealmCollector, Anonymous Imp, and the others who had reached out last time were all there. Ten buyers in total—and the number kept climbing.

“Whoa...”

What on earth was going on?

Come to think of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it, wouldn't Poppi's feathers be worth not 10,000 Dephor each, but closer to 100,000?

And on top of that—this one:

If he listed the A-rank feather instead of a B-rank one, how high could the price possibly go?

“Poppi, do feathers like this come out often?”

[Sniff... No, Elder Brother. They only form when I swallow mana of very high density. I believe one came about last time, when Ddubu's mana flared out of control.]

So it was incredibly rare, in other words. This one was off the table. Just in case, he decided to hang it around his neck on a cord.

“Ddubu, this is a really rare thing, right?”

[A maiden's scales can only be obtained when she sheds, you see. Naturally, they are most rare.]

Decision made. First, sell off all the B-rank feathers from Poppi's collection.

At that, the bids came flying out of the gate starting at 120,000 Dephor.

200,000!?

Don't get excited yet. Let's wait a little longer.

210,000. 220,000. 230,000. ... 290,000. 300,000.

This time, the chat went silent at 300,000 Dephor. Was that where it would end?

The moment Ji-hoon grabbed his phone—

There was nothing to hesitate about.

Ding—

It actually worked.

He had raked in 1,000,000 Dephor in the blink of an eye. Honestly, weren't Poppi's feathers alone more than enough?

Lost in that thought, Ji-hoon's eyes drifted to another item sitting in his inventory. Might as well list it?

Ding—

“Register it!”

He put up Ddubu's shed skin. And for a long while, the chat stayed dead silent. All that came in were inquiries about whether he had any more griffin feathers.

“No demand, huh...”

Well, to be fair, who buys a snake's shed scales? It wasn't like they were fresh, glossy scales—this was shed skin.

Just as he was about to give up on it—

Ding—

An inquiry had come in. The message was divided up with periods, as though the sender had struggled with the spacing.

Then the chat went quiet again. Ding—

The next message arrived after a gap of about a minute.

And then silence again. What was with this guy? It wasn't exactly a hot item—had he postured too hard? If the deal fell through, whatever, I'd just keep it myself.

He was thinking exactly that when—

Two million Dephor!?

While Ji-hoon hesitated for a moment, the chat rang out again.

What now?

What is even happening right now?

“Ddubu, what do you think?”

[I've heard that a maiden's scales can be used in forging weapons and armor, but I have no idea they were worth this much.]

“Isn't that kind of strange?”

Ddubu gave a small nod of the neck above her red scarf.

[It is strange to me as well, Elder Brother. Why have the things that come from us become so expensive?]

“Like I'd know. Anyway, let's sell one.”

Whoosh—

A hologram shaped like a parchment scroll materialized out of thin air. Ji-hoon pressed his finger to it and signed. The terms were simple: an advance payment of one million, plus a sworn declaration that if the promised additional two million Dephor was not deposited on the agreed date, he would delete his account and never so much as glance at the Market again.

Yes, but where would that be, exactly? And what kind of sea are we talking about here?

Before he could even ask—

He's not actually a scammer... right?

Something did feel uneasy about it, but for today alone he'd made one million from Poppi's feathers plus a one-million advance on Ddubu's scale—a total of two million Dephor.

“We're... rich.”

With this much, he could probably buy anything he wanted. Ji-hoon's eyes scanned the Hell Market at high speed.

“Oh, they've got this?”

Expensive. Well, they were SS-rank and S-rank items, after all. Should he buy them?

As he deliberated—

“Ah, screw it.”

He purchased the Mana Maturation Jar (S).

Back on the Hell Farm, he'd gathered the pets' mana in this jar and purified it. The purified mana was used to make the kids' feed, or to clean the air. He only had three pets right now, but what about later, when the family grew? Even with just ten, it would become a necessity.

When S-rank bosses' mana starts flying around everywhere, soaking up each burst and purifying it is a whole job in itself.

Besides, lately the Gates had started emanating the mana of Hell. Who knew—this jar might come in handy down the road?

Having stowed the jar in his inventory, Ji-hoon logged out of the Hell Market. Then he looked at the three hungry bellies rumbling around him and grinned.

“How about a proper snack for the first time in a while? We could do some grooming while we're at it?”

That day, along with the Hell-made fur conditioner and the odorless spray set, there was also—

[Uuuugh...]

“Good boy, Poppi. Proper coat care is what makes you an S-rank monster, you know.”

For the first time in a while, he got to enjoy some well-earned rest after a battle.

Thud—

Baek Kang-hyun, staring down at a thick stack of documents, lowered his head into his hands.

“Get some rest for now. This round of public opinion looks dangerous.”

“...Understood, Commissioner.”

As Baek Kang-hyun stared at the printouts of those articles, his eyes sank cold and still.