Chapter 7
After meeting Han Su-hyun, I returned to the association one more time.
This time, it was to handle the disposal of the three A-class magic stones I had received as the second-floor clearance reward.
Most magic stone transactions were handled through the association, so there was no choice.
Once again, I took the bus to the Hunter Association.
I entered the building and headed straight to the magic stone trading counter.
I pulled a waiting ticket from the kiosk and waited a moment before my turn came.
I stood at the counter and set down the bag I had brought.
“I’m here to dispose of an A-class magic stone…”
“An A-class magic stone?”
The staff member’s eyes widened as they accepted the hunter card and bag I handed over.
When they opened the zipper and checked the contents, the staff member urgently called for someone else.
They must have decided it wasn’t something they could handle alone and summoned a supervisor.
“Good afternoon. I’m Kim Young-hyun, the head of the magic stone trading department.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Hunter Yohan.”
“If it’s not a bother, would you mind if we appraise the magic stone here?”
“Of course.”
When I stared at the magic stone intently, a spark lit up in the man’s eyes.
“It’s definitely an A-class magic stone. The pure mana content is… even exaggerating a bit, it qualifies as near-S-class.”
“So you’ll buy it at a premium?”
“In this case…”
“Yes. Exactly. We’ll purchase it at a higher price than ordinary A-class magic stones.”
From what I knew, a single A-class magic stone was usually valued somewhere between a few hundred thousand and ten million won at most.
To be selling it for more than that…
‘I’m lucky.’
The Director’s thoughtfulness about covering my surgery and hospital bills had kept nagging at me all this time.
I had savings for myself, but… the Director definitely didn’t.
The Director I knew was the kind of person who would rather go without so he could look after and raise more kids from difficult situations.
“Five million won per stone. We’ll buy the total of 15 million won.”
“Huh?”
“Not to your liking?”
“No, no. It’s fine.”
“Understood. The money will be deposited into the hunter account you registered right now.”
Wiing—
My phone vibrated.
When I pulled it out to check, I saw the money had been transferred to my account.
‘He called it near-S-class as a joke.’
Maybe because it came from a Hell difficulty reward.
I had received far more than I expected.
“Thank you for the good deal. Oh, and your hunter credit rating has increased from today’s transaction.”
“My credit rating?”
“Yes. Once your credit rating goes up, you’ll be able to receive various benefits provided by the association. Currently, your credit rating is C-class. From C-class onward, you can rent one piece of equipment below A-class for free.”
“Free rental? What if the equipment gets damaged or destroyed?”
“It depends on the situation. For private reasons like tower climbing, you’ll have to cover half the cost. But in emergency situations like a gate break, the association will cover all repair costs.”
The benefits sounded genuinely decent.
Was the welfare really this good?
“Would you like me to help you with the rental application?”
“Yes, I’d appreciate that.”
“Understood. This isn’t the rental system itself… it usually takes about two weeks for approval. The details will be sent to your hunter’s messenger.”
“Okay.”
After that, I immediately headed to the Hunter Market.
The largest offline store in the country, located right next to the Hunter Association.
It was where items and common skill books that came from towers or gates were traded.
I transferred five million won from the settlement amount to the Director’s account.
Ziiiing—
A call came in right away, but I ignored it.
The image of the Director refusing with a complaint about “what’s this for?” was too vivid.
Instead of calling, I left a message: “I’m not trying to make you feel like you owe me, are you, Director?”
Only then did the vibration stop on my phone.
[Director: Thank you. Really.]
Smiling, I read the reply from the Director.
Anyway, after entering the Hunter Market, I slowly wandered around the interior.
Right now, what I needed was a meaningful offensive weapon.
My Saegis was fully charged, and I planned to revive a Cleaner from the waiting room as soon as I got back.
But assigning all the fighting to the dead wasn’t going to be that easy in Hell difficulty.
More importantly, there was no guarantee the next shadow trick would work again.
‘Common skill books won’t do.’
Body-related or martial arts skills on such a frail frame would be a complete waste of money.
Magic was out too.
As a necromancer who used saegi instead of mana, there was a high chance I’d never be able to cast spells I learned.
I moved to the corner where only A-class and higher equipment was listed and checked each one.
I almost got dizzy when I saw prices in the hundreds of millions, but somehow I managed to pick out something decent.
[Modified Arcane Revolver (A)]
- A revolver imbued with the essence of magic engineering, which converts magic stones into energy for firing. It has a built-in magic scope for easy aiming. The higher the grade of the magic stone used as ammunition, the greater the power.
Price: 80,000,000 KRW
Among the weapons I could afford, this was the one that felt the most satisfying as an offensive tool.
A gun. Was there any weapon that could offer more reliable firepower?
I called over the staff and declared my intention to buy.
Before finalizing the purchase, I asked if I could test it first.
The staff member happily agreed.
The place we went following the staff member looked like a shooting range test room.
The staff member picked up the Arcane Revolver and demonstrated it for me.
When I placed a rough F-class magic stone in the magazine, it was amazingly shaped to fit perfectly into the chamber.
“You load it like this… pull the trigger.”
Bang—!!!
A powerful report echoed, and the blue energy shot straight through the target.
After the demonstration, the staff member handed me the revolver.
I gripped it the same way, loaded the F-class magic stone, and aimed.
The semi-transparent scope of the revolver appeared above it.
[Current Expected Accuracy: 100%]
Was it because the target was still and I wasn’t moving?
The expected accuracy shown on the magic scope was 100%.
I tested by slightly moving my stance.
[Current Expected Accuracy: 94.7%]
I watched the real-time accuracy drop.
I braced my stance again, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
Ka-aaaaang—!!!
With a piercing sound, the target I had aimed at was completely shattered.
Even someone as unskilled as me could cause this much damage with a shot?
I felt it wasn’t just good anymore—it had to be this.
I went back to the shop with the staff member to finalize the revolver purchase.
“For the revolver, since you’ll keep consuming magic stones as ammunition, I recommend a small pocket dimension bag for carrying them.”
“…How much?”
“Ten million won.”
“Hoo… I’ll pay together.”
“The F-class magic stones are on us as a service.”
The staff member handed me a small pocket dimension bag filled with about ten rough F-class magic stones.
“Thank you.”
Was the market price of an F-class magic stone around ten thousand won each? I remembered it that way.
After finishing payment, I pressed the button on the pocket dimension bag that looked like a keychain.
A semi-transparent bag appeared, and inside it was the Arcane Revolver I had just bought.
The maximum capacity of a small pocket dimension bag was 100 kg.
With that much storage, I wouldn’t have to worry about space for a while even while climbing the tower.
A moment ago, I had had 15 million won.
Now, after leaving the shop, only ten million remained.
Even that ten million had to be used to buy magic stones for the revolver’s ammunition.
I went back to the Hunter Association to buy more magic stones.
I bought six B-class magic stones at the average market price of about a million won each, to match the revolver’s maximum ammo capacity.
With the remaining four million, I purchased all forty D-class magic stones at the average price of about ten thousand won each.
Six B-class magic stones.
Forty D-class magic stones.
Fifteen F-class magic stones.
Once I loaded all of them into the small pocket dimension bag, I confirmed that it was already half full by weight of its maximum capacity.
“I really need to work hard for money…”
But I had at least finished everything in preparation.
Now it was time to enter the tower again.
The Tower of Trials on Hell difficulty.
***
[You are entering the Tower of Trials.]
The familiar landscape appeared.
A white background, and the figure of the Black Saintess praying alone.
Did she sense my presence?
The Black Saintess slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.
On her praying hand hung the pendant of the Inviting Saintess.
She had been holding onto it the whole time I was gone.
Why did she treasure it so much?
I was curious, but I didn’t voice it.
“You took longer this time, huh? Well, I was doing all my preparations.”
It was the same greeting as before.
“…Preparations?”
“Ah, yes. I did a few things.”
I logged into the Dead Gallery and wrote a post.
[Title] Newbie Returning from Hell!!!
Sorry for being late while gathering saegi
So, Cleaner, are you there?
[Comments]
Cleaner) I’m here, I’m here, I’m here
Masker) You finally showed up. If I’d waited just one more day, I’d have become a Cleaner ghost.
SwordButcher) What the hell is a Cleaner?
Masker) I’m giving you the name Cleaner, lol
SwordButcher) I guess you’re not a noob after all
Masker) What?
Subject) You weren’t just late because you were gathering saegi, were you?
Yohan) Right. I was busy looking for offensive weapons
Subject) Offensive weapons?
Yohan) It’s the Modified Arcane Revolver, an A-class weapon that crushes performance
Subject) Arcane… revolver?
Masker) Oh shit
Yohan) ??
Masker) Here he comes
Imperialist) Even as a newbie, I knew the person who fits the empire perfectly, but I never imagined you’d start caring about magic engineering this soon. I want to check out this Arcane Revolver you mentioned. Is it from another realm or our own? If our own, is it past technology or future technology? Please show it to me. Ah, me. I’ve realized what I need to do. Starting from Lecture 1 of Understanding Magic Engineering for the Newbie, I’ll begin again. Focus on the Dead Gallery. I’ll upload posts from 1 to 128 right now!!!
Yohan) W-wait, calm down
[Title] Imperialist Day 1 Blocked
Author: Subject
Reason: Button Pressed
Calm down a bit
[Comments]
Masker) Wise choice ㅇㅇ
Fallen Princess) I was about to read the entire Understanding Magic Engineering 1 to 128
Fallen Princess) How lucky
Anti-Cleaner) But we don’t have anything to calm our heads with, do we?
Subject) Then you come too and cool your soul.
Anti-Cleaner) Wait!
Subject) Waiting is an acknowledgment, so what do you have to say at the end?
Anti-Cleaner) No shit, even with this much blocking is over—
Someone Else) It’s warm… probably just died
After the chaos in the gallery, I left a reply to the Cleaner.
Yohan) Cleaner, Cleaner
Cleaner) Yeah, yeah!
Yohan) Want to revive me?
[Do you wish to revive the deceased ‘Cleaner’?]
[Current Saegi Held: 0/100]
The saegi in my body gradually gathered into a form.
A bodysuit whose body outline was clearly visible, and a mask covering half the face.
A woman wearing a hood appeared in front of me.
After a short while.
When she opened her eyes, she looked at me.