Chapter 031
[Chapter 031]
< Manner Temperature 99℃ >
After the Rift vanished.
I gained enlightenment.
The true meaning of the Breathing Method was not just efficiently operating Internal Energy (Naegong), but shooting condensed energy out of the body.
‘This is exactly... Naegong Emission.’
In that moment.
[Previous Condition: Upon acquiring an Internal Energy Emission technique, a 2nd stage wakening of the skill is possible.]
[The skill ‘Absolute's Herb Garden (EX)’ awakens to the 2nd stage.]
[New ability: ‘Medicinal Property Control’ is opened.]
‘Medicinal Property Control?’
I read the description of the newly created ability.
[Medicinal Property Control (Lv.1): You can freely adjust the efficacy ratio of all crops grown in the garden. You can strengthen, weaken, or completely remove specific effects.]
This was exactly the ability I needed most right now.
The crops from the garden were too powerful.
Once, I gave some to the old lady next door, and after hearing that she couldn't sleep all night because her energy was overflowing, I didn't dare share them again.
When boiling porridge for So-ye, I had to be anxious in case the medicinal effect was too strong.
The crops I was sending now were also ones with the effects minimized to the extreme, focusing on stability.
I ran to the field right away and picked one enticingly grown [Tomato of Vitality].
And I used the Medicinal Property Control skill.
[Tomato of Vitality]
- Internal Energy Enhancement: 70%
- Fatigue Recovery: 20%
- Flavor: 10%
The total ratio of effects the tomato held appeared on the system window.
What if I use the skill here?
It seemed I could change the overall ratio.
I carefully pulled out the strands of the most powerful and rough Internal Energy enhancement with my fingertips.
Cr-crack...
The red energy left the tomato and scattered like a haze from my fingertips before vanishing.
But just then.
“...Huh?”
Flash!
The particles of Internal Energy, which normally should have vanished into the air, suddenly turned their trajectory and began to be absorbed into my body.
I felt it in my dantian.
A small but warm feeling, the energy of the tomato full of life force.
“Can I absorb the energy of the crops?”
This was a function not mentioned in the skill description.
Because it was written as if the energies would vanish.
Anyway, it wasn't bad.
There's no loss since there's no vanishing ability; instead, it's absorbed directly into me.
How should I say it, the feeling of eating a mini-elixir?
And what was even more surprising was that the powerful fatigue recovery effect and sweet taste effect were amplified in the crop from which the Internal Energy was absorbed by me.
The information window before my eyes was changing in real-time.
[Ultimate Taste Tomato (Medicinal Property Control Complete)]
- Internal Energy Enhancement: 0%
- Fatigue Recovery: 50%
- Flavor: 50%
“I can be at ease now.”
Internal Energy for me.
The remaining fruit gets higher taste and efficacy.
Testing them one by one like that, [Ultimate Taste Tomatoes] began to stack up.
Even after sharing with the old lady next door and sending them to So-ye, they took up one side of the yard.
“How should I handle this?”
After thinking for a moment, I opened my terminal and turned on an app I had forgotten for a while.
“This is it.”
I immediately accessed the hunter-only second-hand trade site, alias Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market).
It wasn't for the purpose of making money.
‘Barter.’
Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market) was a bit different from ordinary second-hand trade sites.
Rather than currency trading, it was a place where bartering rare items hunters obtained from the Tower according to each other's needs was much more active.
‘Besides, identity guarantee is certain.’
If you look well, you could discover rare artifacts or materials that can never be obtained with money.
Previously, I had seen artifacts needed for So-ye a few times here.
But for me, who didn't enter the Tower, there were no valuable items to trade with them.
‘It's different now.’
Furthermore, my crops are not something to be ashamed of being put out here.
I took a photo of the tomato I just adjusted the medicinal properties of and posted it as a listing.
[Item: World's Most Delicious Tomato (10 units)]
[Desired Trade Item: Free]
“Contact will come right away, won't it?”
And I went out to the yard with the terminal.
-Hmyo!
Muryong and Hasuo were playing hide-and-seek.
When Muryong tapped Hasuo’s root and ran away.
“Pwa-aeng!”
Hasuo waddled and chased after it.
It was a peaceful landscape.
“....”
...Suddenly, I realized a strange point.
The terminal was too quiet.
“Did I not hear the notification coming?”
I checked the terminal, but no notification had arrived.
“What's this?”
Views: 0.
My tomato isn't being noticed at all?
What kind of things do others post?
[Selling Steel Shield (Damaged) used by S-Rank Hunter Yu Jin-hyuk.]
[Want to trade A-Rank Monster Wyvern's Heart Mana Stone for A-Rank rare sword.]
[Selling Ring of Fire Resistance dropped by 25th floor boss urgently.]
All sorts of rare equipment and items obtained from the Tower were lined up.
My tomato was not being noticed at all among the flashy other items.
But looking closer, there was a secret I didn't know.
[Seller: Gorani Man 1] [Item: C-Rank Potion] - Trade Complete
[Seller: Real Muryong] [Item: 1st Floor Ant Antenna] - Chat 99+
“Huh?”
Gorani Man? Muryong?
When I scrolled down.
[Seller: I am the Gorani Man]
[Seller: Muryong Fan Club President]
[Seller: Original Gorani Man]
[Seller: Muryong (Not an impersonator)]
All sorts of impersonators were overflowing.
And surprisingly, the minor items they posted were gaining immense popularity and being traded in an instant.
‘Ah, it's riding on the name value.’
I slapped my knee.
This field was also a battle of recognition in the end.
“Ah, I don't know.”
[Seller: Gorani Man 12]
“Will they come now?”
It was then.
Ding!
[Chat with ‘Viper’ has started.]
[Viper: Tomato. Is it really just delicious?]
* * *
Somewhere in Seoul, the secret hideout of the information guild Hydra.
“Hmm.”
In the darkness, a man was looking at his terminal screen with interest.
His ID was Viper (Doksa).
He was a veiled information broker famous among hunters for trading rare materials or information.
On Viper's eyes, a post that had just been modified entered.
[Seller: Gorani Man 12]
[Item: World's Most Delicious Tomato (10 units)]
[Desired Trade Item: Free]
‘Just how many Gorani Men are there?’
The unidentified dark hero who recently heated up Hun-Tube (Hunter-Net).
An existence like an urban legend who reportedly organized a B-Rank Rift in only 5 minutes and vanished after leaving only the word "Gorani".
Thanks to that, all sorts of impersonators were running rampant claiming to be the Gorani Man.
Of course, Viper was certain that not a single one among them was real.
Because the real one wouldn't reveal their existence so loudly.
But this Gorani Man, unlike other impersonators, he liked that gut to attach the modifier "World's Most Delicious".
He immediately sent a chat to the seller.
[Viper: Tomato. Is it really just delicious? Other efficacy?]
[Gorani Man 12: Good for fatigue recovery. Nothing else.]
[Viper: Components? No harmful substances? Post-consumption side effect data?]
Viper was meticulous.
He thoroughly scrutinized the components and data of every item he traded.
His trust came from such perfectionism.
[Gorani Man 12: I grew it directly in my garden. Didn't use pesticides. Never got sick after eating it.]
A blunt but confident reply.
Viper made a decision after thinking for a moment.
[Viper: Good. Let's trade for a [Singing Mandragora Pot].]
[Gorani Man 12: What's that?]
[Viper: If you plant it in soil, it's a plant that sings when it occasionally feels good. No other effect. It's for viewing.]
[Gorani Man 12: Deal.]
The moment the trade was made, the Mandragora pot vanished from Viper's inventory and 10 red tomatoes appeared in its place.
It was a secure trade using the Tower system.
[Viper: Item well received.]
[Gorani Man 12: It won't happen, but contact me if you get sick or anything.]
[Viper: You're kind, seller.]
Viper handed over the final greeting and pressed a 'thumbs up' on Gorani Man 12's seller reputation.
And then he picked up one tomato that appeared before his eyes, brushed off the dust, and took a bite.
“...Crazy.”
An exclamation burst from Viper's mouth.
“This is a tomato?”
To express it.
It was a taste that pulled the sweetness of all fruits in the world and the freshness of all vegetables to the limit.
Literally the essence of taste.
The moment it touched the tongue, a shocking taste as if every brain cell were waking up.
He felt the fatigue accumulated from several days of overnight work vanishing like melting snow.
“I, I can't stop!”
In an instant, he ate all 10 tomatoes on the spot in the blink of an eye.
“This is a jackpot.”
Viper immediately registered Gorani Man 12 as a seller of interest.
* * *
The first trade was successful.
I placed the [Singing Mandragora Pot] exchanged from Viper in the middle of the herb garden.
Then, a small root with a human face poked out "ssok" from the pot and cleared its throat.
-KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!
At the terrible scream, Muryong and Hasuo were startled and hid behind me.
But that was only temporary; as if they got a mysterious toy, they began to scream together while tapping the Mandragora.
-HMYOOOOOOOOO-!
“PWA-A-A-A-A-A-ENG-!”
“KKIYOOOOOOOOOOT!”
Seeing even the Gorani hopping around and joining in, it was worth exchanging the item.
“Hup.”
Since crops would grow again in one day if planted in the field, there were more than enough crops to sell.
I kept posting tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, etc., on Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market) in units of 10, and Gorani Man 12's reputation spread terrifyingly through word of mouth.
[HunterGourmet: Gorani Man 12's potato··· I stayed up for 3 days after eating it and I’m fine. Is this a potato or a potion?]
[TowerParkJoInSung: Lately my eyes were dim and I suffered, but my vision became 1.5 after eating the onion. Thank you··· Thank you...!]
[BaldnessIsNotASin: Guys, try the cucumber just once thinking you're being fooled. Grass grows on the head. For real]
Gorani Man 12 had become a rising star of Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market) before I knew it.
At first, I exchanged for miscellaneous items, but as recognition built up, I was able to get more and more valuable items.
[Mana Stabilization Spoon (Low-rank)]
[Pillow with Wind Spirit's Grace (Repair needed)]
I steadily gathered artifacts that would be helpful to So-ye, even if they had slight flaws.
Still, people offering intermediate artifacts as trade items were occasionally appearing lately.
The value of Gorani Man 12 is rising faster than I thought.
Then one night.
Ding!
A new chat notification popped up.
[‘Genie’ has started a chat.]
[Genie: Hello, seller. I heard rumors that the tomatoes here are so delicious?]
[Genie: Could you sell me 100 of them?]
[Gorani Man 12: What's the trade item?]
[Genie: How about something like this?]
I clicked the link and couldn't believe my eyes.
[Item: A-Rank Artifact ‘Watch of Earth's Tears’]
[Description: An old antique watch made of condensed earth essence. In the moment of an instant, it allows one to exercise extreme focus. Depending on the user, it is also possible to exercise miracles impossible normally. The latest work from Valhalla R&D Center.]
The rumored artifact, which had been making the media noisy lately and for which users spared no praise, was floating on the screen.
Since it was an item I also needed for climbing the Tower, I had inwardly wanted to get it.
But it was a situation where I had half-given up because even putting one's name on the purchase list was difficult except for VVIP customers.
'To post such a listing on Dang-geun-tap? What is the identity?'
There was nothing I could know for now.
Because Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market), the exchange market, thoroughly protected anonymity.
Only one thing was certain.
An unexpected big fish had been caught.
< Manner Temperature 99℃ > END