Gray Wolf Leather Top (2)

"Wow."

There was a reason this blacksmith had been so sure of herself.

"This is insane!"

Kim Sujeong took one look and couldn't stop marveling.

"Couldn't you wear this yourself, oppa?"

At her words, Dad flinched and turned an uneasy look on me. The Glass Stone ring already on my finger was the same bind — gear this good, and of course he'd be glad to see his kids wearing it, but selling it would do more for the company. A contradiction he had no way to settle. Not that it was his to settle. The call was mine alone.

I shook my head.

"We're selling it. We already agreed to auction it."

It was undeniably a fine top. The defense was high, and I'd never quite known what Chaos Energy was even good for — until the hide was worked into armor and picked up an extra option. A hero-grade option, capped at S: Agility, plus one rank.

They called it hero-grade, but an S-rank ceiling was practically no ceiling at all. Stack the second Agility bonus on top of that, the one capped at S-, and a user sitting at A+ Agility would hit S the moment they put this on. An absurd item, in other words.

If even a single rank of that Agility bonus could have applied to me, I might have equipped it without hesitating. But both of those stat options were meaningless on me, so there was no reason to wear it. At best I'd be putting it on for the defense and the damage reduction — and if that was all I was getting, better to sell the thing and grow my distribution company instead.

"Oh. Right. You don't get any Agility scaling at all. S-rank Agility really is something else..."

They called it S-rank, but even if you lined up every hunter there was, not that many people had pushed a single stat all the way to S. You had to be a high-level, high-grade ranker just to have a shot at S in your main stat — and even then, maybe not. There were rumors, of course, that the true elites had reached S+, or even SS-, off item effects alone.

"This is seriously going to be historic..."

I was looking forward to the auction.

"I'll have the other armor you requested made and sent within two days. You said you didn't have any particular design in mind — is that right?"

"Yes. Just make them like this. I like the trend."

I'm not someone who cares much about armor as fashion. Practicality matters more to me than how a thing looks — comfortable when it's on, good at drinking up sweat. That's the sort of gear I like, and even back in Farming World, that was the only kind of armor I wore.

"Understood. I'll make the rest and send them along to President Gwangjin."

The blacksmith smiled and held out a business card.

"I don't even give my personal contact to the masters of the major guilds. If you ever need something commissioned, call me anytime — no need to stand on ceremony. For you, Suhyun, I'll make whatever you need, and I won't take a fee."

Her angle was transparent, but I took the card anyway. A useful connection, for me and for the blacksmith whose name was printed there: Lee Soomi.

"And what if I show up with cheap leather and ask you to work it?"

At my teasing question, Lee Soomi let out a warm, bubbling laugh.

"Bring me something like this once, and you can work me for free up to ten times. I won't say a word. More than that — no. I've got a temper of my own."

"Thank you."

Of course I had no intention of wasting her on anything that unproductive. I was going to need a proper set of armor sooner or later anyway. This had worked out.

Dad gathered the armor, and we left the forge.

Rumors move fast in the hunter market. Rumors about good items move faster still.

Hunters was where information on hunters got shared. Hunters and ordinary people alike came here to swap idle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠talk and trade intel — Korea's largest hunter information community.

Among the flood of posts, threads showing off good items always racked up recommendations and views and climbed onto the popular board. It wasn't a culture unique to hunter communities. Play any game, and a rare item — a good item — collects everyone else's envy and jealousy at once. In the real world, a single piece like this often sold for as much as a solid apartment on prime land in Seoul, or more, so of course people hit recommend, if only for the pleasure of feasting their eyes while their mouths watered.

What people cared about wasn't where it had come from, or who had made it. They weren't going to buy it, and they weren't going to wear it. They just wanted a number. What would an item like this go for? That was the kind of figure you could chew on all day, like a snack with your drinks.

As the attention poured in, talk of Gwangjin Distribution followed on its own. Ordinarily the thread would have been about the hunter who'd scored the drop. But the information had leaked from the place selling the item, not from the story of how it was obtained, and so this was how it had gone.

"We're starting to get popular."

Kim Sujeong was the one who had posted the item photos to the community. The hunters who could actually attend already had the full briefing, and just as the comments said, even that absurd thing called an admission fee hadn't kept it from selling out. People coming for the armor would see the other goods as well, so we might move them for more than I'd expected. Even so, drawing eyes wasn't only about advertising to the people who would wear the gear.

Farming Company's goods. Its resources.

It wasn't only hunters who needed to know that Gwangjin Distribution could supply resources hard to find in ordinary dungeons. What we brought in from here on would include good items and rare materials, yes — but also the small crops Sujeong had grown this round, and things like Sunro Mushrooms, which ordinary people wanted in fair numbers too.

One way or another, the work we'd set loose on every front was coming back finished, right in time for the auction. Lee Jihyun, who all but lived at our house, was brewing potions day and night aside from the hours she slept — enough that Sujeong had started to wonder if they ought to just rent a workshop for Farming Company.

"I'd like that! I rent a one-room studio by the month anyway..."

Jihyun was happy to agree, and it seemed Sujeong and I had been thinking along the same lines.

"Oppa. Isn't there another spot on the farm?"

"One person at a time. That's the limit."

It would have been perfect — a place to brew potions with not a single outside threat to worry about. An A-rank alchemist like Lee Jihyun wouldn't have to fret over danger, and she wouldn't have to drag herself back and forth between our house and a workshop. The one downside was that once she went in, she'd be wolfing fried dumplings and brewing potions all day. Not my problem. Asking her to give up her daily life for it would be greedy, though, so I hadn't brought it up. The number of people who could come with me when I logged in and out was fixed, besides.

"I think the potions will be finished within three days."

"Aside from the one we're putting up for auction, those ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are going to Geumbit Guild anyway, so they said we can take our time."

"She's right, unni. Take it easy. Let's eat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some chicken first."

We were tearing into chicken and beer, half-watching a drama, when the doorbell rang.

"Who's that at this hour?"

Eight in the evening. The chicken and spicy rice cakes we'd ordered were already here. There was no one who should have been coming.

Sujeong got up to check.

"Huh? A woman...? Wait. Is that Seo Hyoju?"

A woman's voice came through the intercom.

"Hello. Is this Kim Gwangjin's residence? I'm from Geumbit Guild. My name is Seo Hyoju."

"Kyaa! Unni, it's her! Yes — our dad is Kim Gwangjin! Oh my god, one moment!"

She flung aside the chicken wing in her hand, bolted for the entryway, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and threw the door open. A woman stepped in on a wave of squealing.

"Who is it?"

"Good evening, ma'am. I'm Seo Hyoju of Geumbit Guild. I've come to see President Kim Gwangjin."

The commotion brought Mom out of the master bedroom, and there in the living room, Seo Hyoju met our family for the first time.