The Arcana VIP and the Special Dungeon

The Mark of Transcendence.

There was only one way to obtain it—

I had no idea such an evaluation even existed at first. I had assumed that an S-rank clear was the absolute ceiling. There hadn't been a single mention of it anywhere on the internet, and no matter how many hunter forums or community databases I combed through, I couldn't find anything even remotely resembling it. In other words, I was the only person alive who had ever pulled it off. Naturally, my expectations for an insane reward had been sky-high, but...

What I actually received was a single, solitary Mark of Transcendence. Well, to be fair, I would be raking in two of them from now on, courtesy of the blessing Mr. Luo Qin had so generously parted with.

With that baby in my arsenal, all rewards were doubled. But still, this was the grand prize for an EX-rank clear, of all things!

"And here I thought it was just a total dud until now..."

I mean, what good was an EX-tier reward if you couldn't even use the damn thing? Given the name 'Mark of Transcendence,' I had previously asked Cassius, the stone golem, if he had any clue what it was.

<Hmph. Can't say I've ever heard of such a thing.>

He had sounded so sure of himself back then, yet look at what was happening now.

A shop was opening? It really was tied to the Tower of Transcendence all along! That oversized pile of rocks—wait, diamond—what was his deal? How could he not know about this? Whatever. First things first: I had to check out this shop right away.

I pressed the prompt. With a cheerful ta-da! chime, the shop materialized out of thin air before me.

"Hmm..."

Is this really a shop?

<Calling this a shop feels a bit generous given how pitiful the selection is, don't you think?>

I had to agree with him on that one. In fact, calling it pitiful was putting it lightly. It looked less like a merchant's stall and more like... a cheap street gacha stand? Three chests sat neatly in a row: bronze, silver, and gold. Below them hung simple price tags.

The pricing structure was pretty self-explanatory: you needed that many Marks of Transcendence to pop each chest open. But what on earth was inside them? You'd think the system would have the decency to provide a preview first.

Hmm, only one shot per visit. How many marks did I have on hand again? I pulled open my inventory to take a look.

...Excuse me? What was this? Why had the names of five of them suddenly changed?

<Their aura has shifted,> Cassius rumbled thoughtfully.

Oh, so their aura shifted, did it? Well, I had a pretty good guess as to why.

So five tokens had been consumed just to unlock the entrance to the shop, and now they wanted me to cough up even more if I wanted to open the good chests?

"Seriously, just how amazing is the stuff inside?"

If there was one defining trait I'd gathered from my trips to the Tower of Transcendence, it was that this realm was absurdly, disgustingly overpowered. They didn't slap the label 'Transcendence' on it for fun. A shop operating under that very same name had to offer things that defied mortal comprehension, right? How could I not get hyped?

<Which chest do you intend to open?>

Well, well. Even the golem was leaning in with palpable curiosity. Then again, he had claimed he had no idea this place existed, so it was only natural for him to wonder.

"Hmm..."

Deep down, my heart screamed gold, of course. That gleaming box practically radiated the stench of game-breaking cheat items. Unfortunately, I didn't have ten Marks of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Transcendence, so that was instantly disqualified. As much as it pained me, I was left with only one viable path.

"Silver it is."

If I was going to open one, I might as well crack the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠absolute best option available within my budget. What was the point of hoarding marks like a miser? Hoard something too long and it just turns into trash. Without second-guessing myself, I tapped the silver chest.

Click.

The heavy latch swung open.

"Please, give me something good..."

I held my breath and leaned in—

"Huh? A card?"

Nestled inside was a sleek, exquisitely crafted black card embossed with a crest that looked vaguely familiar.

"What the heck is this...?"

I had braced myself for a mountain of magic stones, a super-high-tier skill scroll, or perhaps an ancient divine elixir. A random card was the last thing I expected. Don't tell me I pulled a dud? No, come on. This wasn't the free bronze chest; it cost a whole hard-earned token!

<H-heavens, could that be...?!>

Wait, what? The golem was having a full-blown meltdown. Don't tell me... is this actually top-tier loot? A surge of anticipation rushed through me as I quickly scanned the item description.

"Holy crap."

A VIP card?!

<How... Just how did you pull that?!>

Search me! Either way, I had just hit the mother lode. VIP status! I didn't even know the detailed perks yet, but anyone with half a brain could tell it was going to be absurd. I grinned from ear to ear.

"Don't mind if I do!"

<W-wait, hold your hand! Transfer that membership to me, and I shall grant you an extraordinary supreme elixir completely free of charge!>

Yeah, nice try, buddy. Who in their right mind would trade away a VIP card?

<If you wish, I can even bestow an advanced skill that renders that puny Energy Bolt of yours utterly laughable—!>

Too late, pal!

"Sweet mother of... this is insane!"

A permanent fifty percent discount across the board? That meant an item listed for 10,000 magic stones would only cost me 5,000! And it was permanent? Just how many fortune's worth of magic stones would this save me in the long run? This wasn't just a win; it was an absolute jackpot! No wonder the golem had been practically begging me to hand it over.

"Oh? It's really that rare?"

<Of course it is! Even High Transcendents struggle to meet the qualifications required to obtain one!>

And yet here I was, claiming it like finding loose change on the sidewalk. Gotta love effortless gains.

<Good grief... What in the world is happening anymore...?>

Cassius was usually the picture of stoic composure. Sure, his stony expressions might twist occasionally, but he never lost his composure enough to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stammer. Yet right now, he could barely piece together a coherent sentence. And all this was just from the single-token chest? I couldn't help but let my imagination wander. What kind of world-shattering absurdity was waiting inside the ten-token golden chest?

A special shop unlocked by gathering five Marks of Transcendence, and the tempting ten-token golden chest waiting inside. As curious as I was, it wasn't like I could crack it open right now anyway. I'd worry about that once I gathered more marks. For now, it was time to handle my original business.

"About those monster materials I mentioned earlier—can I sell them here?"

This was what I had come here for in the first place: cashing in the drops from the Minotaur. Stumbling into a VIP card had just been an unexpected bonus along the way.

<Dammit all... Bringing such petty garbage into my establishment...>

Listen to him whine. He was going to buy them anyway.

<Just hand them over.>

See? Snatched them up immediately.

<Haaah... For the horn and hide combined, that comes out to three hundred magic stones.>

He even appraised them and calculated the payout on the spot. Wait, three hundred magic stones? That was way better than I'd hoped!

<Deducting the processing fee... Ah, dammit. VIPs don't pay transaction fees.>

That's right! It was explicitly listed in my membership perks: all transaction and sales fees completely waived. This was almost too good. I felt an irresistible urge to shout at the top of my lungs:

"Long live the Tower of Transcendence!"

With this setup, I had zero reason to ever sell loot to the Administration Bureau back on Earth. What had I read on the forums again? The Bureau skimmed off an outrageous fee of more than 10% on every single transaction. Alright, settled. From this day forward, every scrap of monster loot I got my hands on was coming straight here.

<Do you take the Arcana Market for some two-bit flea market stall?!>

Well... if I told him it felt pretty similar, he'd probably explode, wouldn't he? Still, it really did give off pawn shop vibes. They took your miscellaneous scrap, handed you cash, and sold you useful gear. The only difference was that the merchandise here was cosmic-grade.

"A flea market? Come on, of course not! Never in a million years!"

Anyway, now that I was sitting on three hundred magic stones, it was finally time to make the purchase I'd been waiting for.

"You know that item we talked about earlier? The method to locate and open dungeons or gates—I'll buy it right now."

I desperately needed this skill. Was the original price two hundred magic stones? Wait. With my shiny new 50% discount, that meant...

"Here, it's one hundred magic stones now, right?"

<Haaaaah...>

I was really being treated to a spectacle today. A diamond golem experiencing the crushing weight of reality? You couldn't pay to see this anywhere else in the cosmos.

<Take it and get out of my sight.>

Even so, our dear Mr. Golem was a consummate professional who strictly separated business from personal misery. He tossed a book toward me without another word. Had he kept it ready this whole time? That was lightning-fast service.

"Heheh, much obliged!"

Just like the manual for Energy Bolt, this tome was so ancient and worn that the brittle parchment looked ready to disintegrate at the slightest gust of wind. Its title:

Sweet. Once I mastered this, I'd be able to detect upcoming gates and dungeons well before anyone else, right?

<Indeed. It is a technique that constructs an entrance linked to a spatial rift at any coordinate of your choosing.>

A rift? Did he mean a gate?

<Close enough,> Cassius replied.

Aha.

<It detects rifts on the verge of manifesting and creates a gateway granting you immediate passage. It should suit whatever trivial ambition you harbor.>

"Oh... wait, huh?"

Hold on a second.

"You're telling me it doesn't just locate them, but lets me enter them directly from right where I'm standing?!"

<Naturally. Why state the blatantly obvious?>

No freaking way.

"Whoa, that is completely insane!"

I had read endless rants on the hunter forums about this. In the real world, gates were strictly first-come, first-served. Once an assault team cleared the boss? The gate collapsed and vanished forever. Hunters regularly drove like maniacs across the country only to arrive and find another squad had cleared it five seconds prior. With Rift Opening, though? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I wouldn't have to race anyone. I could sit in the comfort of my own room, open a dimensional door straight into the dungeon, and clear it before anyone else even knew it was there!

<Naturally, you must expend a designated quantity of magic stones as fuel, but that is a meager price to pay.>

Wait, what? It cost magic stones to activate?

Well, fair enough. He wasn't wrong. Still, burning a handful of magic stones to solo an exclusive dungeon whenever I wanted? That was still a colossal win in my book. And if the Seal of Amplification applied to dungeon drops as well... I was going to be hauling in magic stones by the metric ton. Time to go test it out immediately!

Before using a skill, step one was learning it. I made a swift exit from the Tower of Transcendence and returned to my room back on Earth.

"Feels like ages since I last learned a skill."

Energy Bolt had been the only skill I acquired right after my awakening. Since then, not a single new one had been added to my repertoire...

"Whew."

A thrilling mix of nervous tension and soaring excitement coursed through my veins.

With a pounding heart, I tapped the cover of the skill book with my fingertip. The fragile tome dissolved into a radiant shower of golden motes, sinking smoothly beneath my skin.

Aww yeah, that's what I'm talking about!

Rift Opening.

Let's take this bad boy for a test drive.

Ding!

Say what? A hundred?! Wait a minute. If it ate a hundred magic stones every single time I opened a door, running low-rank dungeons would be a massive net loss!

"Hmm..."

Come to think of it, did I really need to run dungeons at all? Maybe just speedrunning the Tower of Despair was more than enough...

Ding!

Wait, what? Does that mean it doesn't cost a single stone now?

"Holy crap!"

From one hundred stones straight down to zero?! This was too good to be true! At zero cost, every single piece of loot I hauled out of a dungeon would be pure, unadulterated profit. Talk about an absolute cheat! Well then... since it was completely free of charge, why not take a quick peek? I could pull up the list of available rifts, look over the options, and jump into one if it looked promising.

Alright, decision made.

I activated the skill once more.

A clean roster of accessible dungeons stretched out before my eyes.

"Whoa, there's a ton of them."

Wait...

Hold on a second.

What was that entry gleaming in brilliant, radiant gold?

"A Special Dungeon...?"

What on earth is that?