Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: The Grand Auction Debut
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Han Su-hwan was hard at work making the auction house atmosphere look the part.
He'd commissioned a tailor to make a modern-style suit and was now sweet-talking his mercenary buddies into helping out.
"So, what exactly do you want us to do?"
"Just wear this sharp outfit on the day I asked and open and close the auction house doors for me."
"That's really it? We get 50 silver just for that?"
"Give it a solemn imperial knight vibe. It needs to look legit, you know."
At Han Su-hwan's words, the mercenary NPCs glanced at each other, then straightened their backs and cleared their throats.
"Like this?"
"Hmm... less arrogant, a bit more dignified."
Han Su-hwan gave feedback, and the mercenaries snickered before hardening their expressions and stiffening up again.
"Good day, sir."
"How's this?"
"Perfect! That's the spirit—if you nail it, drinks are on me later!"
"Wooo!"
After rounding up the mercenaries, Han Su-hwan went to find the high-end furniture craftsman NPC he'd shared wine with last time.
"Can you make the stuff I asked for? Here—gold and that cheese from the neighboring kingdom you love."
"Haha, for you? Anything!"
Han Su-hwan collected the fancy glass cases, rosewood gold-leaf storage boxes, and other items perfect for packaging the dungeon's multicolored organic gems.
He lined the rosewood box with velvet, carefully nestling the gem-filled glass cases inside, then admired the impressive display with a satisfied smile.
Now he just needed to beef up security so no randoms could barge in.
Maybe ask Mochibol to erect reinforced earthen walls, top it with a defensive dome, and leave just a small gap at the entrance?
Han Su-hwan stowed the auction items in his inventory and headed to the Briar Wolf habitat, pondering how to make that dome slit.
"Eeeek???!"
Han Su-hwan rubbed his eyes.
"What the heck? Why are there so many of them...?"
Joo-ho sprawled on the ground asleep, and a bizarre new village that had popped up out of nowhere.
It even had a majestic vibe.
"No way, Joo-ho! I said build one building, and you make a whole village?? What the hell did you do all by yourself?!"
"Su-hwan hyung...?"
Joo-ho, looking utterly burnt out, cracked his eyes open. Some ajusshi was yelling right in his face.
"I maxed out all my house-building skills... Got the Mud House Master title too... The dungeon called me the Dust of the Mud Kingdom."
Rubbing his eyes proudly, Joo-ho continued in fragmented bursts as memories trickled back.
He'd gotten needlessly touched by the dungeon's advice and accepted the quest, only for hell to unfold.
In his sincere counsel, he'd forgotten who the dungeon really was for a moment.
It'd been so long since the last quest that his memory had faded, making him forget what happened when the dungeon decided to really work him.
Boomer of boomers. Jerk of jerks.
Dozens of mud buildings built and demolished. The demands never ended.
Enduring the dungeon's personal attacks, he'd picked up tons of know-how and skills in no time: earthquake-proof shapes, auto-generating walls that withstood attacks, and more.
He'd snapped midway and cursed the dungeon out, but it just cooed nonsense like "Dust of the Mud Kingdom, the best" to calm him down.
He'd thought his affinity would tank from the swearing, but it held steady. He'd sensed it from the start—this thing was one weird character.
Thanks to the dungeon, he'd gotten a real taste of being tamed, maxing every house-related skill in a single day.
The dungeon kept feeding him, bossing him around, and grinding him until he was dizzy with exhaustion, but when he came to, he was a total munchkin.
"Joo-ho, y-you're okay, right? You're alive, right?"
"Yeah... Ah, I'm logging out now. So tired. Probably got messages piled up from my handler and manager. Oh, wait—I left a note ahead of time. Gonna crash."
"H-Hey, hold up! Before you rest, could you just throw up some earthen walls around this area?"
Joo-ho sighed.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Reinforced earthen walls suddenly sprang up, enveloping the whole zone.
Joo-ho grimaced, and an intricate stone door materialized in seconds.
Han Su-hwan's jaw dropped; he clamped it shut with his hand.
It hadn't been like this when he'd jokingly asked for a house or two...
"You really turned into a munchkin! What the heck happened? Can you explain?"
"I told you... The dungeon made me a mud master. Good luck with your scrap-selling auction. Logging out. Oh, and never argue with the dungeon. Don't forget. That guy's a total boomer. A baby boomer, but a calculated one. Whatever. Weird dude. Consistently crazy, but grateful and kinda cute... Logout."
Joo-ho cut off mid-sentence and logged out.
Left alone in the bizarre adventurer village, Han Su-hwan awkwardly glanced around.
"Whoa... He really nailed this village."
Its convincing layout kept drawing gasps of admiration.
"But seriously, what's its game plan...?"
For a moment, Han Su-hwan recalled the "major quest" rumors from a few years back.
He tried piecing it together with the dungeon's motives, but nothing solid yet.
'Using the auction to hype the village and activate it? Player cap's because it's not our land—minimizing early issues. Seems like it's playing it low-key.'
Tracking the dungeon's trails and affinity had given him a rough idea.
Han Su-hwan took a stroll through the village paths, sightseeing.
* * *
Between prepping and reinforcing everything, the time the dungeon had allotted was running out.
Han Su-hwan donned the suit he'd prepared for today, grabbed extra epic items for the vibe buildup, and packaged them neatly.
A decent crowd of invitees had gathered before he knew it.
Top players from crafting guilds, idle rich folks he knew casually, impulsive spenders, and so on.
He'd even invited a few savvy players who'd buy normal epics and spread word about the adventurer village on community sites later.
To sneak them in without fuss, he'd asked his mage buddy NPC, Hea-il, to draw teleport circles inside.
As time ticked down, more people trickled into the village.
They buzzed in awe at this hidden dungeon village.
"There's a village here...?"
"What? Who built it?"
"Heard the dungeon made this adventurer village?"
"How???"
"Grinded players for fun, apparently."
"Ruthless bastard... but kinda respect."
"For real, is Dun a game admin alt?"
"Whoa... I buy it. Been waiting forever for player content—looks like it's finally happening."
Following the map on their invites, people arrived at the auction house with mouths agape.
This plan was solid.
Majestic building, floor sparkling with gemstones. Burly NPCs guarding the entrance.
The suits gave them a modern security vibe.
And the long red ribbon draped out front.
"Good day~! Welcome to the first event in this undisclosed adventurer village: the inaugural Item Auction."
A masked middle-aged man—Han Su-hwan beaming wide—greeted them at the entrance.
Not everyone knew Han Su-hwan personally.
Some got invites directly from him, others via his Bacchus500 game-capsule alt, and some third-hand.
Rich as he was, he'd impulse-bought a black-market hunter capsule out of curiosity when he already had a gaming one.
That'd accidentally awakened him, but it sure came in handy for pulling double duty like this.
Those mistaking the masked Han Su-hwan for a dev employee didn't clock him and just marveled.
"Whoa, we're the first ones, huh."
"Us first? Kinda prestigious."
Excitement built for this secret village's debut event.
"Before we start, let's take a moment to admire this magnificent building. Impressive, right?"
Han Su-hwan paused to let them gawk, then spoke again.
"This stunning new auction house, freshly completed, is the first work in Nina Pinta by artist-influencer Joo—the one with the white clay specialty. See? All mud and stone, yet special magic gives it insane durability. And the aesthetics? Top-notch! That white clay used in the build elevates the whole vibe."
People were puzzled by Han Su-hwan suddenly hyping the architecture but listened intently—it was intriguing.
"A famous university once asked in an interview: If you could go back to a historic moment, when would it be?"
Han Su-hwan rambled on, touching the walls, then bellowed.
"I declare: the historic moment countless people would choose is right now! The monumental instant future generations will dream of—that's this very first adventurer village auction!"
Eyes scattered on the building snapped to his booming voice.
Pre-hired NPCs cheered from behind.
The energy spiked.
"The building you're about to enter will become a landmark symbolizing Nina Pinta, the pinnacle of metaverse entertainment—and you're here for its historic debut!"
Jacked on coffee and energy potions, Han Su-hwan pounded the walls with an ecstatic shout.
NPCs and players, swept up, erupted in applause and cheers.
"Ready to make history? Let's hear a big roar! You set?!"
"Yes!!"
"You set?!"
"Yes!!"
"Then let's gooo!!"
Han Su-hwan snapped his fingers. Sharp-suited NPCs sliced the front ribbon clean with swords.
Amid the hype from his speech, people eagerly filed in— including one hooded girl blending into the crowd.
A box in the light-brown-haired girl's hands. Through its tiny holes, Mochibol's Shared Eye was broadcasting.
[MochibolTV Streaming ON: Partial Reveal of Undisclosed Adventurer Village - Dun Proxy Broadcast]
The stream alert had popped up way earlier, right as Han Su-hwan started his speech.
-Dun.... sorry for cursing earlier ㅠㅠ please get me outta here ㅠㅠㅠ
-This peephole view is suffocating
-WTF Dun let bro out
-Light leaking in—we're def in a box
-If Dun killed Chijbol oppa, wave a carrot in the next vid
Dun scrolled the chat as they entered, then cracked open the Shared Eye box.
-Gasp
-Legit inside a box lololol
-But fr, that's THE Dun? Lmaoooooo
-Dun plz coords? Wanna join ㅠㅠㅠ
-;;;;;;
With Joo-ho swamped in training but worried about subs, they'd cooked up this mutual aid scheme.
Dun shoved his face right up to the box, smirking wickedly.
The dark interior backlit his face into something pretty creepy.
He eyed the chaotic chat, then shut the box.
Stream went black.
-Wtf open it
-Open quick claustrophobic af
-OPEN OPEN OPEN
Dun peeked it open again.
"Subscribe and like for more~"