The Price of a Dagger

He wasn’t certain. He could be wrong.

But Bae Jang-wook trusted his instincts.

There was no doubt in his mind that this item had been posted by the person who’d led the quest on Katerand Island.

If that was true, then there was only one answer.

I have to recruit him!

Even now, on the Fantasy Online 2 forums, the video of the Gold Dragon firing its breath attack was still sitting in first place.

That post was overflowing with comments from people trying to track down the mysterious player known as Kim Tae-san.

Guild offers, streaming offers, requests for guides, trade proposals, even random opportunists and peddlers...

Under those circumstances, it was only natural that his own comment had been buried.

There were just too many comments, and too many weird people. The seller had probably skipped over it—or ignored it entirely.

That left him with only one option.

Win the auction, then use buyer privileges to send the seller a private message.

If I buy that dagger, I’ll be able to message him!

The current price was 2.2 million won.

For an item in that level range, it was actually fairly cheap.

Besides, Bae Jang-wook wasn’t buying it for the item itself.

His goal was recruitment, pure and simple.

Good. Let’s do this.

Bae Jang-wook was brimming with confidence.

He had plenty of money too, thanks to the production budget he’d ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been given.

And who else would even want to buy this thing?

“How’s it going?”

“Ah, Manager.”

When his superior approached, Bae Jang-wook dipped his head in greeting.

The manager looked at him, then gave his shoulder a few encouraging pats.

“Must be rough. And now SBC says they’re launching a game show too...”

“They’ve got no professional ethics at all!”

Bae Jang-wook clenched a fist as he said it.

His manager looked slightly taken aback by that burning intensity.

“R-right. No professional ethics... So then, preparations are going well?”

“Yes. Of course. I’m in the process of recruiting new players. I’m going to lock them down before SBC does. I’m not letting them slip away.”

“That’s the spirit. Even if your sister works hard, she won’t beat you.”

At that, Bae Jang-wook’s face twisted.

Because of his younger sister.

His little sister was currently working at SBC as a producer.

And not just any producer—she was in charge of a game show, just like him.

I’m never losing to her.

They had always fought at home when they were kids.

And growing up hadn’t changed a thing.

They were like oil and water—two sworn enemies who could never mix.

Seeing Bae Jang-wook’s eyes flare with fire, the manager took a subtle step back.

Maybe I shouldn’t have brought that up...

But Bae Jang-wook didn’t know something.

Siblings always take after each other.

While he was thinking all this, Bae Mi-na was looking at the same thing and thinking exactly the same thoughts.

“No, seriously, why is this one turning into a bidding war?”

Tae-hyun muttered under his breath, baffled.

He wasn’t looking at the Fantasy Online 2 site itself—only the auction window.

So he had no idea what was currently trending on the boards.

All he knew was that the price kept climbing like mad.

It made perfect sense for the Very Light and High-Quality Dagger to attract fierce competition.

An item with no level restriction and no stat restriction was bound to be popular.

And if lots of people wanted it, naturally the price would rise.

But Pirate Captain’s Well-Crafted Dagger wasn’t like that.

It had level restrictions, stat restrictions, and was simply a solid item.

Once it passed a certain price, most people would normally give up and buy something else.

At this point, it was suspicious enough to make him uneasy.

Is Pirate Captain’s Well-Crafted Dagger some kind of quest item? Did I miss something?

Tae-hyun checked the auction price again.

It had already blown past 10 million won.

Only two bidders?

The intervals were regular.

Tae-hyun quickly realized that two people were competing head-to-head.

Well... not like I can cancel it now. If it sells for more, that’s good for me, right? Ah, whatever.

Thinking that, Tae-hyun stopped worrying about it.

There was nothing he could do now anyway.

If it sold high, wasn’t that a good thing?

“S-sob... finally...”

“It’s over!”

Two gaunt, hollow-cheeked Dwarves clung to each other and cried out miserably.

Standing beside them, Tae-hyun gave them a shameless look that seemed to ask what the problem was.

“Still, you had fun making good gear, didn’t you? Hm?”

“...”

“...”

As if he had any room to talk!

The two Dwarves wanted to protest, but they swallowed it down.

They had figured out Tae-hyun’s personality.

If they told him how hard things had been here, then—

The pile of unidentifiable ingredients stacked behind him was terrifying enough on its own.

The Dwarves had been seconds away from collapsing from exhaustion, but Tae-hyun simply wore a satisfied expression as he checked the longsword.

That was right.

He had completed another artifact.

Meteor was every bit as good an item as Iron Wall.

Its attack power alone was impressive, but the attached skills were also excellent.

Especially Magic Interruption.

Worth putting True Silver into it.

If McCraney found out, she’d have a fit, but using True Silver in both the armor and the longsword had absolutely been worth it.

When facing mages, a skill like Magic Interruption was unbelievably useful.

And that wasn’t all.

Wrath—Strong Strike—Multi-hit—Aim for Vital Points... these can combo.

These weren’t just separate skills slapped onto a weapon—they were skills that could link together in a chain combo.

With his superb PVP sense, Tae-hyun immediately recognized how dangerous that made them.

Gataqua Swordsmanship was good, sure—but that was ultimately a style focused on using one technique at a time.

This was different.

This was a skill set built for relentless chained combos, the kind often seen in Rogue-type classes.

Harder to use, sure—but the damage output was guaranteed to be insane.

Everything about it was good.

Everything... except one thing.

Why does every item end with “However, due to the origin of the metals used, complications may arise”?

He had made them by melting down weapons and armor taken from Orcs, plus the Pirate Captain’s set items.

He’d thought there would be no problem, since he had melted them down until their original forms no longer remained.

If something happens later, what do I even do?

Still, just because there might be problems later didn’t mean he had any intention of not using them.

They were far too good to give up.

Tae-hyun drew Meteor.

It was a beautifully stable longsword in shape, yet a vivid red glow burned from the blade.

Just by looking at it, anyone could tell it was a masterpiece.

Then a sudden thought struck him.

Isn’t this thing a little too flashy?

Of course, there’d be no issue using it openly in a legitimate situation, but Tae-hyun was already wearing a mask.

He never knew when he might need to hide his identity again.

“Got anything I can coat the blade with? Something that’ll hide the color.”

“...?”

The two Dwarves tilted their heads at Tae-hyun’s bizarre request.

“What in the world is this?!”

McCraney came storming in, shouting.

Tae-hyun waved a hand.

“What do you mean, what?”

“What do I mean? You used up all the True Silver in the warehouse?!”

“Ah. Thanks. You said you’d support me completely, so I trusted you and used it.”

One message window after another popped up.

But Tae-hyun had already been prepared for this.

Starting with the True Silver, he’d been taking all sorts of things and using them as he pleased. Considering that, this was actually a pretty mild outcome.

McCraney glared at him with a look that said she wanted to smack him, then growled,

“So. Are your preparations finished?”

“For going to the royal palace? More or less.”

“Good. Then the moment Rufo arrives, you leave at once. And until then, don’t you dare touch anything in the warehouse.”

McCraney delivered the warning in the firmest possible tone, then turned and left.

Tae-hyun shrugged.

Anything he thought he might need from the warehouse had already been taken and tucked away in his bag.

When you stole, you had to do it properly while the chance was there. Picking at scraps never got you anywhere.

Then there’s only one thing left.

Rufo would arrive soon, and once he did, they’d have to leave for the royal palace.

That meant there was only one thing Tae-hyun could do until then.

Enhance.

Tae-hyun swallowed hard.

At the moment, his enhancement skill could safely handle up to +4.

But from +5 onward, the failure rate jumped to fifty percent.

Of course, things like his Blacksmithing skill level and Luck would factor in...

But since he had no idea how much they mattered, enhancement was still nerve-racking.

If Iron Wall or Meteor gets destroyed, I’m seriously going to cry.

There were no materials left to make them again, either.

Tae-hyun began the enhancement process anyway.

Up to +4, there was no chance of failure, so that part was fine.

Clang, clang, clang, clang—

Gulp—

His Enhancement skill was currently level 4.

If it rose just one more level, he’d be able to enhance every item one step further.

But the Enhancement skill was stingy when it came to raising levels through safe enhancements.

Even if it did increase, it was such a tiny amount it was barely noticeable.

To truly level the skill, he had to enhance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rare, hard-to-obtain items in the destruction-risk zones.

Tae-hyun let out a long sigh.

He’d experienced this ever since Fantasy Online 1, but the moment of enhancement was always tense. Always nerve-wracking.

He placed Iron Wall in front of him.

Then he prepared for the +5 enhancement.

A fifty percent chance of failure—no, a little lower than that.

Because he had his Luck stat and his Blacksmithing skill.

Thick beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Here goes!

“Yes!!”

The shout burst out of him before he even realized it.

That was how tense he’d been.

A bright light flared from the armor.

Tae-hyun exhaled deeply, then began enhancing the rest of his gear.

With every intention of burning through all the enhancement stones in McCraney Merchant Group’s warehouse.