Chapter 165
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: Mana Stone Food Fighter
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"Bro. Is this really okay? Won't it be dangerous?"
"Don't worry. You think I'd send you all off to die? We're not going in alone anyway—we'll stick to spots where we can actually help. And if things get dicey, we'll bail using the schedule as an excuse. Tangling with hunters never ends well for anyone."
"...Then why'd you squeeze them for those B-grade mana stones?"
"It wasn't squeezing—it was compensation. We still had to pretend to put in some effort, right? And that time doesn't come free. It's all performance-based anyway, so no need to go all out, and we get the stones cheap on top of it."
Three hundred B-grade mana stones came out to about 225 billion at current market rates.
For me, with just a few tens of millions scraped together from porter gigs in the bank, it was an amount I'd have to ignore the billions digit on just to wrap my head around.
Still, my sub-space held a decent stock of S-grade and A-grade stones.
A 25% discount brought it down to 168 billion.
Word was S-grades were pushing 75 billion at auctions these days, so this was like snagging just over two for the price.
Roughly 50 billion in contract fees, all told.
I planned to work exactly that much and no more.
"S-grades have shot up like crazy too, huh."
A couple months back, when I dealt with Lee Soo-ah, I'd heard she bought some for 68 billion apiece, calling it pricey.
What the hell had happened in the meantime?
"China's been hoovering up every last mana stone, and sure enough, prices are climbing faster than gold. These days, everyone's investing in stones over Bitcoin."
"Something's definitely up with mana stones."
Even Ri Hei-an had carried over ten A-grades or higher on her back then.
And I was still using them reliably.
Mana stones had always been too inefficient as an energy source for hunters' skills, so they'd only been used in refined applications. But recalling how Ri Hei-an chucked stones down and tried reusing her skills, maybe the Chinese had figured out some new way to use them raw.
Maybe that's how they were strengthening dungeons or triggering overflows—sweeping them all up for it.
"Anyway, let's just watch for now. No need to play detective and dig into it ourselves."
I preferred scratching my ass in my room, piecing together the juicy bits from Hunter Gallery threads, over jumping into the field to solve mysteries like some hardboiled gumshoe.
Of course, getting insider info ahead of the curve would be even better.
But risking my neck diving into dungeons to throw down with hunters? Way too dangerous.
Whatever it was would come out eventually if I waited, so better to stockpile P from B-grades, pump my stamina, and focus on powering up the women to protect myself.
And sure enough, something huge dropped on Hunter Gallery soon after.
[Title: Pyeongchang A-grade Dungeon Overflow Survivor Here..]
I joined a raid party for the Pyeongchang A-grade dungeon. There were about 20 hunters, all randoms from pickup groups like usual. Four or five looked Chinese, but I didn't think much of it... these days, Chinese hunters in pugs are a dime a dozen. We entered, and day one went smooth. Actually great—the Chinese guys were beasts, so we cleared faster than expected. Then shit hit the fan at night. The ones on watch started slaughtering the sleeping hunters. They tossed mana stones on the corpses, and light burst out, followed by thick smoke filling the dungeon... Two days later, boom—overflow. Monsters everywhere.
You believe this crap?
Sacrificing people and sprinkling stones triggers a hidden overflow technique?
Classic anti-China agitprop.
China's got nothing better to do than donate stones in someone else's dungeon?
They said the A-grade overflow played like S-grade difficulty.
Plenty of stones dropped too. If true, isn't that a win?
Over 50 dead and you call that good, you moron?
This was the A-grade overflow that blew up just yesterday.
They'd thrown in Hong Si-jun, Gyu Yeon-su, and a bunch of others early on to contain it, but casualties were heavy.
Hunter Gallery lost its shit over a firsthand survivor account.
Everything from "no proof" to "sounds legit."
Having heard bits from Kim Gap-su, I found it pretty intriguing.
"Kill people and do something with mana stones? Could be a skill someone has. Or if anyone's capable, it'd be happening everywhere."
Over ten years, if corpses and stones could amp dungeons or cause overflows, it'd have leaked by now—seems off that it's just surfacing.
From my angle, knocking up hunters left and right, it felt more plausible some ability was seeding that power around to stir shit up.
"Brutal stuff."
Thinking those ten-plus party members got iced for that crap made me dead set against getting tangled deep in this mess.
These psychos treated human lives cheaper than flies—I'd seen it on Mars, and if their crew was the same, they were pure evil.
Better absorb the stones I'd scored, boost my stamina, play nice without overstepping.
So I hustled to the Hunter Association, swapped for the promised 300 B-grades and 2 S-grades.
"The rest is a bit short... Any chance of a discount?"
"..."
"Can't go under 300... So treat this as prepayment for the shortfall?"
"Understood..."
I had eight S-grades total now.
Four looted off Ri Hei-an on Mars. Two gouged from Hanlim to save Gyu Yeon-su. Two from Han Semi.
Used up the rest, and two from Han Semi got me the 300 B-grades.
"Association's the best."
Snagging this volume anywhere else? Near impossible.
Sell two S-grades, pay fees, hunt down 300 B-grades piecemeal—prices vary, bulk buys jack rates on sight.
B-grades had some stock at seven-plus billion each, but 100 at a time would've cleaned out Seoul's market in a flash.
At this price? Forget it.
"Whew... Time for another achievement run."
Three hundred B-grade mana stones gleamed ethereally en masse.
Mere pebbles next to S- or SS-grades, but their soft collective glow felt downright mystical.
I planned to suck them all up today.
Could I?
Fifteen at once went fine before.
But 300? Mana overflow might turn my precum into a faucet.
"Eh... It'll warn me if it's risky."
I had the Pregnancy Support System.
Too much of a good thing can hurt, so it'd flag if my dick was at risk.
Hummm
First efficient mana stone absorption since awakening.
Always burning high-grades on P for stats or skills to birth for the women, no thought spared.
Today, for me—well, ultimately for them via stamina boost, but still.
Pure P-farm from B-grades.
Solid strategy, really.
No downside chasing P—especially now, with skill growth key, faster XP from B-grades was pure gain.
Vrrrrm
Stones vanishing nonstop.
In fives.
15, 20. 30... 40... 50...
Mana piling up, starting to weigh heavy.
Hidden achievement 'Mana Stone Food Fighter' achieved.
500P
An achievement popped.
But it felt... lacking.
"I can do more."
Body felt queasy, balls heavy like I needed to piss.
Pure instinct.
Two months honing this beastly sense for breeding.
I could eat more.
Stack more.
Both hands pulling in stones.
System hadn't warned yet.
Hidden achievement for 15 was meh... this couldn't be it.
"Urk. Fuck."
Whole body flooded with mana.
Three hundred stones reduced to dead rocks on my floor.
Hidden achievement 'Enough Already..' achieved.
Ability acquired: 'Mana Stone Food Fighter (Lv1)'
'Mana Stone Food Fighter (Lv1)' absorbs subordinate ability 'Mana Stone Addiction (Lv1)'.
In the end, I wrung every last drop of high out of the equivalent of two S-grade stones.