Chapter 58

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 58

Chapter Title: A Ton of Money

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First, we sold off the remaining items at the armor shop.

Since it wasn't an amount we could haul over and sell all at once, we had to trek back and forth to the inn a total of three times.

"Wow!"

Every time we cleared out a batch of goods, grins spread across everyone's faces.

"I can't believe it! Me, earning this much money...!"

Once we'd sold the very last piece, joyful cries erupted from the women.

"Sis, how much did you make?"

"Hold on."

The Saintess stared into empty space for a moment before breaking into a smile.

"Hehe. I earned 1,940 points."

It was well worth celebrating. That was over nine times the 200 points she'd gotten from the first trial reward.

The Saintess beamed innocently and turned to Han So-hee beside her.

"How about you, So-hee?"

"Let me check. Hmm, I made 2,695 points."

"Wow! That's amazing!"

The Saintess clapped her hands, thrilled as if it were her own win.

"Thanks."

Han So-hee offered a soft smile.

In fact, I'd expected her to earn the most.

She had more strength than the Saintess, and above all, a keen eye for valuable items.

She'd calmly inspected each piece, cherry-picking the ones that seemed high-value, and stacked them neatly from the bottom of her duffel bag instead of just dumping them in haphazardly.

And so, the chaebol heiress had raked in 700 more points than the Saintess.

"What about you, Seo-yeon?"

Having shared and celebrated their earnings, the two women's gazes naturally turned to the last one standing there.

"Hmph."

Shin Seo-yeon puffed out her chest arrogantly, shoulders squared. She declared,

"I made 5,325 points."

"Oh my gosh! Seo-yeon, that's incredible...!"

"Truly impressive."

The two women stared at the Crimson Flame Witch with wide eyes. Clearly pleased by their admiration, Shin Seo-yeon planted her hands on her hips and flashed a triumphant grin.

'Well, of course it is.'

When we'd entered the treasure vault, Shin Seo-yeon had charged ahead of everyone, sweeping up anything that looked expensive. The rest of us had trailed behind, picking up the leftovers. No wonder there was a gap in our earnings.

'That lich core alone fetched nearly 500 points, from what I saw.'

With her neck still wrapped in bandages, Shin Seo-yeon wagged her fingers at the two women, as if urging them to worship her more.

At least she looked happy. That was a relief.

I approached them and said,

"Looks like you all made a killing. Congrats, everyone."

"Hmph, see that? That's the kind of woman I am. Dickhead, you should feel lucky to be hanging around with me. You think you'd have made this much without me? No way."

The Crimson Flame Witch was in high spirits. I smiled brightly and replied,

"Obviously, we couldn't have without you. Anyway, congrats again. Now, shall we settle up, Seo-yeon?"

"Settle up? What settlement? We already split the profits from the haggling before dinner."

"One more thing left."

Shin Seo-yeon's beaming face gradually stiffened.

"The 50% duffel bag fee, remember? Hand it over."

"......"

"Don't even think about skimping. I heard that number you bragged about earlier."

"Th-that was..."

I knew it. With her pride and bravado, Shin Seo-yeon had definitely inflated the amount.

And sure enough, her status window plainly displayed her balance.

'Inflating it by a whopping 1,000 points. What a character, tsk tsk.'

She'd have to hand over 50% of that to me—500 points, from her perspective.

Shin Seo-yeon made a pouty face.

'That's what you get for bragging unnecessarily.'

"5... isn't 50% too steep? Can't you cut me a deal?"

"......"

"You made a ton selling those weapons earlier. Do you really have to squeeze every last drop out of me like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a flea?"

With 500 points about to vanish, Shin Seo-yeon desperately appealed to my emotions.

Honestly, I'd made a good haul too, so I considered letting it slide. But a promise was a promise.

'In the Selection Process, even small agreements between party members need to be honored.'

Especially when it came to money.

If money issues arose internally, that group was doomed to collapse.

Fortunately, the chaebol heiress—who clearly understood that—approached me and initiated the trade.

"It was 50%, right? Here you go."

The Saintess came over and offered her trade too.

"Thank you, Min-jun! I made a fortune thanks to you! I never could've done it alone!"

"Indeed. It's all thanks to you. I learned a lot watching you haggle earlier too. Truly grateful."

What could I do with the two of them like that?

In the end, Shin Seo-yeon grudgingly shuffled over with a trade request, like swallowing bitter herbs through tears.

Her hands trembled unmistakably—a perfect display of the money-grubbing Seo-yeon. Her personality hadn't changed a bit.

With all trades complete, I checked my own funds.

Nearly 480 times the 200 points from the first trial reward.

While the women focused on clothes and jewelry, I'd zeroed in on weapons. And while others struggled to cram every last bit into their backpacks, I'd casually stored mine in my inventory. That was the difference.

'Not bad at all. It's like I earned what 480 people combined would make on their own.'

Others were scraping by on 2-5 points per meal, and here I was with this fortune.

If word got out, they'd faint dead away.

'At this rate, won't I snag the title of "Richest" from Golden Castle Lord this round?'

But I kept quiet, no boasting. Bragging about money in the Selection Process was a bad idea.

Even to allies.

Especially not in front of someone slouched over, looking like she might burst into tears now that the trades were done.

"Haha, cheer up, Seo-yeon. You can always make more money."

"Song Ha-na's right. You still made more than us, after all."

Still, Shin Seo-yeon couldn't shake her gloom. Losing an extra 500 points had hit her hard, no doubt.

'Let's see, we've made good money... As leader, it's my job to look after the party's mental and physical well-being, so maybe a little gift.'

I approached the armor shop owner and made a purchase.

The box that popped into my hand shook and transformed into an item.

I handed it to Shin Seo-yeon. Her eyes widened at the sight, on the verge of tears. Then she huffed, face scrunched up.

"What's this?"

"I promised, didn't I? When we got back to the Rest Area, I'd get you something like Ha-na's."

She gave me an odd look.

"...Hmph. You think a little gift like this will cheer me up?"

Even as she said it, she snatched the [Nameless Robe] from my hand. Her smiling face made me doubt this was the same sulky girl from moments ago.

'Seo-yeon's so simple to handle.'

The Crimson Flame Witch scurried off to the changing room.

Good, problem child number one sorted.

"Oppa, what about me?"

Lee Se-ra, clinging to my back, whined for one too after seeing that.

All she'd earned in this trial was half of Shin Seo-yeon's jewelry haul. So I bought her some clothes too.

She'd need to move nimbly, so leather gear it was.

[Leather Shirt]

[Leather Pants]

"Thanks, oppa! You're the best!"

Problem child number two beamed and dashed to the changing room with her new outfit. Han So-hee watched them go with envious eyes, though she tried not to show it.

'Come to think of it, Han So-hee doesn't have any armor either.'

So I got her the same set. The chaebol heiress was touched.

"Thank you. I'm really glad I teamed up with you."

With that, Han So-hee slipped off her suit jacket and tossed it at the Saintess.

In the moment it blocked the Saintess's view, she darted to me, planted a quick kiss on my lips, and retreated shyly, clutching the gift tightly.

"Sorry for throwing the clothes at you suddenly."

"No, it's fine. And Min-jun! You don't need to get me anything!"

I nodded.

The Saintess had mythical-grade gear for armor, weapons—everything. No need to swap for high-grade.

Instead of a gift, I pulled her into a hug and lavished her with kisses until the others emerged changed.

With all three now properly outfitted, our party finally looked the part of Selection Process players.

"Hold on! You're not buying just for me, right?! Why do they get some too?!"

Shin Seo-yeon stormed out of the changing room in her new clothes, spotted the others' upgrades, and complained.

"Calm down. They're our party members who'll protect us going forward. Can't send them out without armor."

"Ugh... I-I get that, but..."

Shin Seo-yeon grumbled softly, just loud enough for me.

"...They can buy their own."

In other words, she wasn't thrilled I'd bought theirs.

I calmed her by stroking her hips over the robe and tracing my fingers along her crack. She shuddered with a squeak and quieted down.

Seemed the all-night "development" from last night was paying off.

As I pulled my hand away, Shin Seo-yeon—face slightly flushed—changed the subject.

"Anyway, these options suck. Stamina? Who needs stamina? Should've been mana recovery or something."

"Why mana recovery? You've got Ha-na for that."

"Then get me something with intellect or magic power. Stamina gets one-shot healed by Sis anyway."

Shin Seo-yeon griped. She clearly wasn't happy the robe lacked intellect bonuses.

Honestly, though, any option on a robe would feel lackluster for her right now.

If she were soloing trials, maybe. But in a party, what use were stats besides intellect?

And even intellect—was it that crucial?

"Don't you already have plenty of power? Those skeletons were dropping in one second flat. How much faster do you need to kill?"

"Tch, whatever. I just don't like it."

Even she had no real comeback, so she just shot back like that.

"Hmm, so you're saying you don't like my gift?"

"N-no, that's not what I meant! I just said the options are..."

"Then give it back."

"Hey! You can't give something and then take it back, that's cheating!"

Shin Seo-yeon clutched her new robe tightly, refusing to part with it, and scampered away from me. Like she wasn't going to wear it anyway—why make such a fuss?

'That aside, the stats on these items are higher than at the last Rest Area.'

I glanced over the random boxes the armor merchant was selling again.

The name had changed from plain [Longsword] to [Adventurer's Longsword], bumping the price up by 1,000 points and the max stat by 10.

In other words, just as trial drop items improved with each new trial, the random boxes in shops scaled up with each new Rest Area.

'The downside is the higher cost, but at least I won't have to worry about weapons falling behind.'

This might mean rethinking how I pick trial zones going forward.

As I pondered that, Shin Seo-yeon—who'd scampered off—sneaked back up beside me and peeked over.

"So, we've sold everything. What's next? No plans? Wanna hit the inn for drinks again today?"

The Crimson Flame Witch eyed me slyly, cheeks still flushed. She couldn't even get drunk, yet she wanted booze—probably because my touch earlier had her all heated up.

"Drinks sound good. But first, one more thing."

"Thing?"

I looked at the armor shop owner. After the purchase, a new window had activated beside him.

Focusing on it prompted the owner to speak up.

"Thank you for boosting our sales. I'd like to offer a small token of appreciation. Would you have a moment?"

A blinking alert appeared before me.

"Huh? Reward? Gimme! What's the reward?"

Shin Seo-yeon bounced excitedly beside me, but the shopkeeper waited silently for my answer.

I glanced at the Saintess. Quick on the uptake, she explained to the group.

"It's the Challenge Quest I mentioned before. Everyone, get ready."

We'd chatted plenty while traveling together, so the party all knew about [Challenge Quests].

With looks that said "Here it comes," the women gripped their weapons, straightened up, and nodded to me.

I focused on the armor merchant again.

"We'll accept that favor."

And in that instant, my vision went dark.

No—all my senses vanished in a flash.

When they returned, the scent of fine cologne tickled my nose.

Music played. Gleaming marble floors, velvet curtains, lavish lighting, and ornate interior decor filled my view one after another.

'Where...?'

An opera house, reminiscent of the [Chapel] from the first trial. I sat in one of its many balconies.

Third floor, overlooking the stage, alone in a room about 150 square feet.

'No way.'

I tore my eyes from the stage and looked to the side table beside my seat.

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

Water, wine, fruit snacks, and a single booklet prepared for guests.

『Ember Court』

The fancy script looked familiar. As related info flashed through my mind, an alert appeared.

The alerts faded, and suddenly all the lights went out. Spotlights converged on the stage.

『Esteemed guests, we sincerely thank you for attending the ■■■th Ember Court Auction.』

Ember Court Auction.

That was the Challenge Quest this time—an auction.