Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Daekyungseong
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Daekyungseong.
A village where only the strongest from every server gather.
An auction house sits right in the village, drawing in thieves who eye those rare treasures.
And among the thieves I mentioned, not all are players.
There are quite a few NPCs created by the system, too.
Passing through old buildings, I arrived at what looked like Keijo Station, where a guard spoke to me.
“The mayor is inside.”
“……Thanks.”
Anyone new to the game might think, a mayor in a train station? But one look at the signboard makes it clear.
It only looks like Keijo Station on the outside—this is a government building in use.
[Keijo Government Building]
As I tried to pass soldiers facing each other, they crossed their rifles to block my path.
“What’s your business here?”
“I’m here to see the mayor. Here’s my permit.”
“……Go ahead.”
Stepping inside the government building revealed an interior completely unlike the exterior.
A lobby luxurious enough to call a hotel, filled with players from around the world.
Europe, America, Asia, Africa.
Powerhouses I couldn’t even dream of facing littered the place.
Just their gear alone was stuff you could only get from at least the seventh round of hell.
‘Wonder when these guys started the game.’
Scanning their appearances, I quietly climbed the stairs toward the mayor’s office.
Other players’ eyes turned our way.
Still, I ascended confidently.
This place didn’t allow PvP, so it was safe.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
Even so, they got to me—my steps felt unnatural.
No PvP allowed, but their auras pressed down.
Just sensing their presence made my fingertips tremble.
Michael kneaded my shoulder and said,
“Cheonjae Kim. Don’t tense uppu.”
“……Okay.”
I flashed a bright smile.
At the top of the stairs stood a massive wooden door emblazoned with a tiger.
I knocked, then shoved it open with all my strength.
Creeeak.
A rotund man in a navy suit, chomping a thick cigar, greeted me.
“Ohohoho. Come on in!”
Never met him before, but he welcomed me warmly.
“Hello.”
“You must be Kim Cheonjae. I’ve heard a lot about you from Major Kim Juncheol.”
“……Really?”
“Yep. He was thrilled, saying the ‘Opener’ had finally appeared.”
“What….”
Rattle—
The mayor pulled two photos from a drawer and showed them to me.
“Here you go.”
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Didn’t you come for these? The doors the ‘Opener’ must unlock.”
The Opener.
As you progress the story, certain locations can only be opened by specific people.
That’s me.
No, it’s the players of this game.
I looked at the locations in the photos.
“……I know where these are. Put the photos back.”
“Hohoho. You sure you don’t want them?”
“Yeah. Can’t go there yet anyway.”
“Mm-hmm….”
I peered at the bookshelf in the mayor’s office and spoke to him.
“Mayor.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know why I came here?”
“……Well, Major Kim Juncheol asked me to pass these photos along, so I figured that was it.”
“Well, that too. But there’s a place I need to check out.”
The mayor stepped beside me and asked,
“Check out?”
“Yeah. Mind if I get passes for the museum and auction house?”
“Passes are no problem. But why the museum?”
I pulled a history book from the shelf and told him,
“……I want to learn about forgotten history.”
The mayor nodded, returned to his desk, and scribbled something on paper.
“Forgotten history, eh. True enough—those who forget the past have no future. Here, passes with my signature. With these, no place in town is off-limits.”
“Thanks. Oh, here—take this. Picked it up in a ruined village. They say it brings luck.”
I handed him the angel’s golden coin I’d bought for 5 jenny.
The mayor took it, grinned ear to ear, delighted.
“Much appreciated!”
[‘Keijo Mayor’’s favorability increases!]
[Secret conversation with NPC feature unlocked.]
[Central Plains hidden dungeon revealed.]
* * * * *
Leaving the government building, I headed to the museum.
Modeled after the Keijo Post Office, this museum records all of ‘Land of Ruin’ history.
I entered, grabbed a pamphlet, and moved to the oldest records section.
Michael’s eyes widened at the ancient artifacts.
“Cheonjae Kim. So many dinosaur bones! Whoa?! That’s a lion! An elephant!”
“Michael, please shut up. Don’t do anything to draw attention.”
Michael straightened up.
“First time in a museum for me.”
“……Then enjoy it quietly. Please.”
“Got it, yow!”
Dinosaur bones and animals….
I followed the path to the innermost section on Korean history.
Found it, but didn’t.
What nonsense is this?
The spot for the legendary warrior was there, but it was empty.
“What the hell?”
Came all this way and it’s gone.
I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
Michael slung an arm around my shoulders.
“Seeing Cheonjae Kim happy makes me happy too.”
“Ah, what are you talking about! It’s not here.”
“Hm? What’s not?”
“Cheok Jun-kyung. Cheok Jun-kyung’s corpse that should be here is gone.”
“Who’s Cheok Jun-kyung?”
Cheok Jun-kyung.
Goryeo’s greatest warrior, Korea’s swordmaster—his body had vanished.
Who the hell?
Rage boiled up.
I gripped my forehead in frustration.
“Ha….”
Even on global servers, only Korean players could take Cheok Jun-kyung.
Foreigners can’t touch other countries’ stuff.
A necromancer who set foot in this land before me.
Whoever it was, he was snatching up hidden characters one by one.
‘……Gotta chase him down, even if it means derailing the story.’
Cooling my anger, I told Michael,
“……Michael. Let’s head to the auction house.”
“Auction house?”
“Ox-shun.”
“Ox-shun! Very good.”
Leaving the museum, I kept checking for missing items.
Animal corpses and bones were intact. So he’s not the type to summon ones he doesn’t need.
Likely a necromancer with the same combat style as me.
The only difference: he started the game first.
“……Sigh.”
Just in case, why not try.
I placed my hand on the ground and chanted.
-Revive.
##
[Select entity]
-Tyrannosaurus / 2
-Triceratops / 4
-Brachiosaurus / 1
-Pteranodon / 3
##
‘……’
Those were real dinosaur bones?
I’d heard museum ones were just models from documentaries.
But the game recognizes them as real bones.
No, more importantly, why are they in my summon list?
Even in the museum, bones are server-shared?
”….”
No point anyway—can’t take giants like those. Can’t smash the museum and leave either.
-Hoo.
Came all this way for nothing.
Good thing I planned a backup.
Not Cheok Jun-kyung level, but there’s still one beast left in this village.
* * * * *
Arrived at the auction house.
Only this place embraced modern vibes—a towering 11-story building.
When recreating Keijo, this spot should’ve been the Governor-General of Chosun building.
But one of the devs objected hard and scrapped it, I heard.
I entered and checked today’s item list.
“……Well, this’ll have to do.”
I pointed at the tenth and final item.
Michael read it slowly.
“Baekdu Mountain Holang-i?”
“……Yeah. Baekdu Mountain tiger.”
A taxidermied specimen of the great tiger, called Joseon’s last tiger, from Baekdu Mountain.
“Let’s go, Michael.”
“Got it, yow.”
Time check—auction starting soon. I took Michael inside and grabbed seats at the very back.
Wanted to gauge the caliber of players coming and going.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
One familiar face passed in front of me.
‘……That guy.’
Skull armor, reaper’s scythe—the necromancer from the ruined village.
Then an old white-haired geezer hobbled in with a cane. The swordsman from the ruined village too.
From the same group as that Jong-hyun guy.
Strong-looking players filed in, but nothing standout.
Seats filled, the ponytail woman at the podium raised the gavel used for auctions.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Auction commencing now.”
Suddenly, my mouth sealed shut like it was gagged.
Vision flashed, and a thick rulebook for the auction appeared before me.
I opened it and skimmed the rules.
‘……Okay.’
Same as the auction rules I knew.
Minutes later, the woman swung the gavel again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Commencing auction. First item….”
The auction began.
Ancient warrior’s weapon: a rusty sword worth one penny.
Golden chalice favored by emperors.
Treasure Island map.
Viking snack food.
And so on.
Useless junk for me kept coming.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Finally, the grand finale they call the auction’s flower.
Players’ eyes sharpened.
“This auction item is a tiger said to have lived on Baekdu Mountain in Korea—the great tiger, called Joseon’s last tiger. Bidding starts now.”
I crossed my arms, watching.
“Starting bid: 1,000 jenny. 1,000 jenny, anyone?”
Hands shot up here and there.
1,000. 1,100. 1,200. 1,400. 2,000.
Crazy bastards.
Rocketed to 2,000 in seconds.
Best I could afford: 7,000 jenny.
Needs to end around here.
In-game, 1,500 should’ve snagged it, but prices soaring like this.
Among bidders, I spotted the skull-armored necromancer.
He wanted it bad—kept raising his hand.
He flashed a V-sign over his head for double.
‘4,000?’
4,000 lit the board; everyone dropped hands.
They were out.
A smirk crept across the skull-armored necromancer’s face.
I watched quietly.
“4,000! 4,100! No 4,100? Top bid 4,000. Calling three times to close. 4,000. 4,000. 4—”
I raised a fist.
The auctioneer, about to bang, saw it and beamed.
“5,000! 5,000 bid!”
Players turned to stare.
I looked down at them, smiling brightly. Part of my expression control strategy.
I slouched crooked in my chair, waving lazily.
Auctioneer nodded, resuming.
“5,000! No 5,100?”
Skull-armor guy bit his nails, then raised one finger.
“5,100!”
Instantly, I raised my fist again.
6,100.
No clue how much jenny skull-armor had.
But two bids killed his momentum plenty.
I didn’t know his limit; he didn’t know mine.
One sure thing: he wanted it without straying far from 5,000.
Caught it from his 100-unit bids.
Auctioneer pointed at me, voice booming.
“6,100! No 6,200?”
Skull-armor glared daggers.
“…….”
I smiled brightly.
Two bids showed my resolve.
He dropped his hand.
My victory sealed.
Auctioneer scanned around, then called.
“No 6,200? Closing. 6,100, 6,100, 6…100.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Today’s star item, the great tiger, goes to player ‘Kim Cheonjae’! Congratulations, everyone!”
Players in the auction house applauded. Eyes of well-wishers and the envious alike converged on me.
I stood, looked down at the skull-armored necromancer, and grinned.