Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: The Auction House
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Joo-ho dragged his exhausted body from magic training in the practice room and slumped down in front of his computer. He clicked on his inbox with bleary eyes.
In exchange for the攻略 rights to a dungeon that showered him with free items, he'd agreed to grant a favor—and sure enough, an email had arrived from Han Soo-hwan.
「Location: The spot I marked with an X on the map
Last time, we made a bunch of mud huts when talking about setting up a hideout, and you got that convenient building skill, right? I'll send you the blueprint, so could you build it just like this?
Thanks a ton, Chibol!!!!!!!
[Attachment] AuctionHouse.png」
This wasn't the kind of mentally draining request that required the resolve to apologize to subscribers bombarding him for not protecting lives in gates or slacking on YouTube. It was actually pretty fun.
Remembering the time he'd messed around transforming earth skills to build a bunch of mud houses, Joo-ho let out a weak chuckle.
Lately, sleep hadn't come easily, and his mind kept swirling with worries—but the prospect of something enjoyable for once lifted his spirits, so he popped open the Hunter Capsule.
His full schedule as an official A-6 Rank Hunter kicked off tomorrow, so logging in now to handle Han Soo-hwan's request ahead of time seemed smart.
Joo-ho entered the NinaPinta game world and headed straight to the marked spot on the map.
“……? There's an unpublished dungeon here?”
Joo-ho scanned the dungeon interior, looking around.
Someone must have cleared it already—it was empty inside. No boss monster, and even the stray mobs that should've been lurking were gone.
The dungeon was spotless, save for the bumpy, uneven ground.
“Hmm…….”
To build anything, he'd need to level and smooth out the surrounding earth first, right?
Joo-ho pulled out his staff and cast a skill.
“Earth Parcer.”
[[Earth Parcer] activates.]
Joo-ho drew a line with the staff, and that section of ground lit up brightly.
He swept the staff forward, expanding the glowing area.
He lifted the earth in the glowing zone, shook off the dirt, and piled the impurities to one side.
Where the light passed, only fine soil remained. Joo-ho selected everything around the space for the auction house.
“Earth Reinforcement.”
[[Earth Reinforcement] activates.]
The selected area swelled up before hardening solid.
“…….”
Staring at the now-pristine earthen floor oddly lifted his mood.
The heavy responsibilities forced upon him after becoming an A-rank Hunter, the jealousy that grew with the spotlight, the criticisms born from a vessel unworthy of his power.
Along with the smoothed earth, his fuzzy heart settled a bit.
Feeling refreshed, Joo-ho opened the PNG blueprint Han Soo-hwan had sent via the system window.
“Hmm……. So just build it like this?”
He'd mastered fancy house-building from occasional Minecraft sessions with the Yoo siblings.
Joo-ho used the skills he'd snapped with Han Soo-hwan last time to whip up support beams for the structure, then hardened them with Earth Reinforcement.
Mindlessly creating something chased away his unease.
He liked how the foundation stacked up neatly and the shape took form under his hands.
“Let it go~ Let it go~”
His spirits rising, Joo-ho hummed as he rummaged through his inventory and added upscale colors to the reinforced earth.
The more intricately he built, the faster his creation-related skills leveled up.
“Oh right, don't I have some marble stashed in my inventory?”
He'd meant to slap something together quick, but he got lost in it, and ambition crept in. It was gradually shaping into a pretty impressive structure.
Amid Joo-ho's humming, something grand was taking shape in the Brianeuk habitat.
* * *
To reinforce the infinite item generation zone, Dun summoned Tia-rin and headed to the Brianeuk habitat.
“So, you temporarily domed off the boss spawn point and installed bomb items, and you want that automated?”
“Yeah. It's a hassle having to place the bomb items in the magic circle by hand. And there's a bunch of other tedious steps too.”
“Not hard at all. Man, an infinite item gen zone…… Sounds fun as hell!”
“Don't shove your face in like that. You're scary.”
“Me, scary?”
“Yeah.”
Dun lightly pushed away Tia-rin's face as she leaned in close.
Chatting idly with a fake-pouting Tia-rin, they arrived at the Brianeuk habitat. Dun rubbed his eyes, doubting it was the place he knew.
“Wh-what the……?”
“Woooow……! This is insane!”
A landmark had suddenly sprouted inside the Brianeuk dungeon.
Dun rubbed his eyes again.
“What is this.”
A majestic building, complete with intricate craftsmanship.
Not content with just the building, there were even paved walkways and a few trees planted.
And Joo-ho, sprawled out flat on the ground, fast asleep.
Dun approached the sleeping Joo-ho and poked his face with a nearby stick.
“Dun, what're you doing. Wake up, wake up.”
“Mmm…….”
Poked by Dun, Joo-ho cracked his eyes open.
“Who…… Oh, Dun?”
A girl with light brown hair and red eyes entered his view.
“What. Why're you here?”
“Why do you think? Han Soo-hwan gave you that quest.”
“Ah, that uncle…… Pfft, puha. Haha, so you two introduced yourselves. But what quest did you give Han Soo-hwan hyung?”
Was the building Han Soo-hwan asked him for stemming from Dun's quest?
He was curious what those two were scheming.
“Supervisor test.”
“What? No way, for real? What're you supervising? Ah, whatever it is, I'm so jealous! No wonder that uncle was stressing so hard. Ugh, then I helped for nothing.”
“Don't worry, I needed you too. Here.”
Dun tossed him a shiny stone. Joo-ho caught the item-like rock and tilted his head.
[C-Grade Quest] Laying the Adventurer Village Foundation
Content: Help lay the foundation for the adventurer village!
To Build: Infinite Item Gen Zone Building, PVP Arena, Player-Only Item Shop.
Reward: [Unique] Sage's Mana Stone (Full ownership upon quest completion)
On Failure: Dun's Dislike
Having received a Unique item from Dun, Joo-ho's eyes widened as he opened the item info.
[Unique] Sage's Mana Stone
Description: A mana stone condensed with magic power and wisdom. Boosts skill power while held, and mana doesn't deplete.
Confirming the info window, Joo-ho excitedly moved to accept—then handed the item back with a glum expression.
[Adventurer 'Joo-ho' has declined the quest.]
“Hey…… It's too good…… But I have stuff I gotta do.”
“Wanna die? Who declines a dungeon master's request?”
Tia-rin, who'd been watching their exchange with interest, sensed the player rejecting Dun's request and moved to throttle him on the spot.
Dun swiftly grabbed Tia-rin's hand.
“Hey, hey, Tia-rin, please no rash moves.”
Dun eyed Joo-ho intently. His noticeably deflated demeanor was a far cry from usual.
“What's up.”
“Huh?”
“What's the issue. Thought you'd be wagging your tail like a mutt at a quest.”
Dun took the item back and nodded for him to spill.
It felt weird having the usually prickly Dun actually listen, but it warmed him oddly.
Joo-ho hesitated, then spoke up.
“You know the basics about Hunters, right? Players, game capsules, Hunter capsules, all that.”
“Yeah, why?”
“I used to be an A-rank Hunter. But recently, my Hunter rank got reassigned to A-6 Rank, so I gotta run dungeons for Gate exploration practice.”
“Ahh.”
It lined up with when Joo-ho had just gotten A-6 Rank—back when he was crying and screaming just adapting to Gates.
Fair enough. Practicing Gate exploration inside NinaPinta as an A-6 Rank Hunter meant he should focus without distractions.
Dun was about to send him off to grind other dungeons when memories of his future self's actions surfaced.
“Hey, listen. The world has all types of people. Selfish types, super empathetic types, gutsy types, and so on. You're the mega chicken type.”
“Wha…… Huh?”
Blindsided by the personal attack, Joo-ho stammered in shock.
Joo-ho hated seeing blood, whether it was others' or his own.
To minimize gore, he'd enabled NinaPinta's minor mode the instant it updated.
For someone like that, the fountain-of-blood Gate environments were pure hell.
But hating others' suffering that much meant he couldn't ignore it with the power to protect them.
Stepping up often backfired, landing him in awkward spots.
He could've ditched Hunter and YouTuber life to become a powerless normie crushed by the burden—but he worried nonstop about Gate victims.
Maybe because he really could save some.
Seeing families shattered, bodies lost to Gates—it tore him up inside.
“So, Gates really don't suit you. Ever accidentally hurt a teammate with bad magic? Bet you have.”
“How'd you know?”
“Obvious.”
Dun smirked.
“Building your guts and adapting to Gates'll probably take you way longer than most.”
“But won't I toughen up quick if I keep grinding……?”
“That could work, but adaptation might take you several times longer. You'll screw up plenty in clutch moments too. Kinda inefficient.”
Dun slung an arm around Joo-ho's shoulder buddy-style.
“There're lots of ways to help people. Some save 'em by closing Gates—others heal the wounded.”
Dun—the past version of Lee Sa-byeok—was bolder and more fearless than most.
Environment played a part, but she'd been gutsy since kid days.
Lacked some tenderness and delicacy, but excelled in boldness and action.
Gate-clearing and monster-slaying fit her perfectly.
Dun knew Joo-ho's good nature well. Understood why he kept Hunter-ing despite the fear.
Having been jerked around by selfish types too often, Dun instinctively helped only those radiating kindness.
Flaws and all, as long as they hated hurting others and cherished people.
“You guys have way more homeless from Gate sweeps now, right?”
“Y-yeah. Yeah, homelessness is spiking.”
Joo-ho's eyes widened like he'd struck gold, staring at Dun.
A way to save and help people as a Hunter—without grinding Gates.
News stories of countless homeless, the secondary damages piling up.
He could tackle that perfectly.
Dun grinned mischievously.
“Th-thanks.”
“What for? Just the persuasion process.”
[C-Grade Quest] Laying the Adventurer Village Foundation
Content: Help lay the foundation for the adventurer village! Follow Dun's instructions.
To Build: Infinite Item Gen Zone Building, PVP Arena, Player-Only Item Shop, etc.
Reward: [Unique] Sage's Mana Stone (Full ownership upon quest completion), Dun's Skill Advancement Tutelage (Concurrent with quest).
On Failure: Dun's Dislike
“Rough estimate with your output now—you can finish in a day if you hustle. I'll make you a munchkin. Accept.”
“Uh…… Yeah!!! Got it!”
Accepting the quest, Joo-ho's face lit up.
Having found a satisfying solution back then, he had no clue.
That Dun would grind him to death so brutally, the Hell Gate would look welcoming by comparison.