Chapter 17
Chapter 17
The conversation with Lee Young-sik, the chairman of the conglomerate, was brief.
It could be summarized in three points.
First, bring an item capable of saving his daughter within a week.
Second, the sooner it was delivered, the greater the reward would be.
And third.
If there was no contact after a week, or if he tried to deceive him with some bizarre object, there would be dire consequences.
One might wonder if the chairman of a top-ten corporation in South Korea could openly make such terrifying threats.
Well, it's that kind of era.
Joo Do-gyeom took it in stride.
It was already an open secret in Korea that those who tried to mess with Chairman Lee Young-sik mysteriously disappeared without a trace.
And the state turned a blind eye despite knowing.
Again, it was that kind of era.
If anything, he found it almost gentlemanly.
Hadn't the man even given a verbal warning?
A clear message to back off if he wasn't serious.
In any case.
The deal was struck, and he had a week.
But Do-gyeom had no intention of dragging this out for the full seven days.
I'm going today.
However, there was one place he needed to stop by first.
Yongsan.
Yongsan Luxury Market.
Like the Yongsan Dungeon Market, it catered exclusively to hunters—but the similarities ended there.
For one, while the dungeon market was underground, the luxury market occupied a proper above-ground building.
And the quality of goods sold was on another level entirely.
Here, only items with proven, exceptional performance were traded.
Potions that could instantly heal even severe wounds.
Elixirs that granted temporary blessings.
Even artifacts that bordered on magical relics.
Naturally, the prices matched.
Here, a billion won was practically the baseline currency.
And today, Do-gyeom had come for one thing.
Low-grade Blessing Potion.
What was a Blessing Potion?
Exactly what it sounded like.
Drink it, and for a set duration, a blessing would envelop the body.
For the low-grade version, the effect lasted three hours.
The primary effect was a one-rank boost to a random stat.
That was the standard.
The real value lay in the secondary effect.
Each Blessing Potion came with a unique additional perk.
The variety was vast.
From bonus damage against corrupted monsters to underwater breathing and night vision.
Most hunters chose their potions based on these secondary effects rather than the stat boost.
After all, different dungeons called for different advantages.
For Eden Garden—Do-gyeom's destination today—the bonus damage against corrupted monsters would have been quite useful.
But to him, it meant nothing.
I have the Mandatory Death Eye.
Additional damage was a meaningless perk for the wielder of Heaven-Slaying Star.
However.
There was one effect he absolutely needed.
Celestial Wings.
As the name suggested, drinking it would sprout wings of light from the back.
Wings might sound like they'd let you fly, but—
No.
Sadly, the low-grade version only allowed gliding.
For true flight, a mid-grade potion at minimum was required.
But that didn't matter.
Gliding is enough.
For Do-gyeom's plan to conquer Eden Garden, that was all he needed.
Incidentally, the luxury market was the only place where you could specify the secondary effect you wanted.
Buying a Blessing Potion in the dungeon market?
It was a gamble—you wouldn't know the effect until you checked.
Here, every potion had already been appraised and categorized.
Price? At least a billion won per bottle.
Expensive?
But also cheap.
Because outside of a luxury hunter market like this, such items were simply unobtainable.
That was the raison d'être of this place.
After securing the potion he wanted, Do-gyeom didn't head straight for the dungeon.
Instead, he wandered deeper into the store.
Partly to see if there was anything else he could use immediately.
Originally, he would have held back to save up for the Formless Armament, Myriad Forms.
But now, that wasn't necessary.
After all, this was about saving a daughter's life.
Would a conglomerate chairman balk at spending 50 billion on a single weapon?
He was certain the answer was no.
Especially since he didn't plan to use the full week anyway.
With that in mind, Do-gyeom's eyes scanned the luxury market's wares as they flashed past.
"Hmm..."
Most of the items here far surpassed ordinary magical artifacts, entering the realm of true relics.
Price tags ranging from billions to tens of billions seemed almost laughable, but the goods were worth every won.
At least, by current standards.
After the Dungeon Eruption and the ensuing hyperinflation, most of these would lose their value.
Perhaps that was why?
Though he'd considered buying at least one item, nothing caught his eye.
Maybe it's better to save for something else.
Just as he shook his head internally and continued walking—
His feet abruptly stopped, as if nailed to the floor.
What the—?
His gaze snapped to the side.
Had he seen wrong?
No.
Why is this here?
His eyes were fixed on the farthest corner of the store.
[Unappraised Consignment - No Returns]
A shabby display stand, utterly out of place in this luxurious market.
Even the luxury market wasn't omnipotent.
Some items in the world were simply impossible to appraise.
Those ended up in corners like this, sold dirt-cheap with a no-returns policy.
Though "dirt-cheap" was relative in a place like this.
On that shabby stand lay a single scroll, rolled tightly and pitch-black.
Price: 3 billion won.
The description read:
[Unknown. Unappraisable. However, based on the level of mana emitted, presumed to be a magical relic.]
Wrong.
That wasn't a relic.
It's a one-time-use scroll.
And he even knew its proper name.
Eve's Gift.
The effect was simple.
Slot expansion.
Like an inventory expansion ticket?
Yes.
But that wasn't all.
It's not just the inventory.
Whether it was summoning slots or Implementation Art stock—
Every "slot" the user possessed would be expanded.
In short.
For an average hunter, it was just an inventory upgrade.
But for a summoner, whose slots directly equated to combat power?
It was a treasure beyond price.
Kim Han-yul would lose her mind if she knew.
He could use it himself.
But if given to an Implementation Artist?
The team's overall strength would leap an entire tier.
In the future, Eve's Gift was valued at an astronomical sum.
If cash transactions were still possible, hundreds of billions—no, trillions—wouldn't have done it justice.
And yet, here it was.
Eve's Gift, lying forgotten in a corner of the hunter market for 3 billion won.
A steal.
Of course, there was a catch.
Eve's Gift was currently sealed.
Without awakening its effect, it was just a 3-billion-won scrap of black paper.
No wonder the luxury market's appraisers had given up and dumped it here.
But for Do-gyeom, that wasn't a problem.
A single dose of Adam's Apple juice would do it.
The name itself was Eve's Gift, after all.
And coincidentally, his destination today was Eden Garden.
The timing was almost too perfect.
This was what people meant by "luck."
There was no reason to hesitate.
Except for one small issue.
Now I need two Adam's Apples.
A dungeon only began operating once someone entered.
Before that, it was a world that didn't exist.
And in Eden Garden, after plucking the first fruit from the apple tree, it took a considerable time for the second to ripen.
Months, at least.
Of course, after that, the numbers would multiply and grow abundant.
But initially, just one.
One for the chairman's daughter.
One for Eve's Gift.
The math doesn't add up.
The time gap was too wide for two trips.
Most regressors lacked patience.
They had too much to do.
As his actions so far showed, Do-gyeom was no exception.
As he pondered, his eyes wandered—and landed on a nearby Blessing Potion.
[Blessing Potion - Blessing of Abundance]
[For one instance after consumption, ungraded item acquisition is doubled.]
Price: 5 billion won.
A full 5 billion.
For just doubling ungraded items?
But here was the key fact.
Adam's Apple is an ungraded item.
Neither a magical artifact nor a relic.
With no effect beyond awakening coma patients, it wasn't even ranked.
That was the nature of Adam's Apple.
One apple becomes two.
One for the chairman.
One for Eve's Gift.
Perfect.
Without hesitation, Do-gyeom picked up both the scroll and the potion.
His bank account would be drained, but it was worth it.
He knew this expenditure would return multiplied many times over.
Now, for the real deal.
Time to head to Eden Garden.
As he turned toward the checkout, his gaze suddenly caught on a massive axe hanging on the wall.
Beep!
"An excellent choice, sir."
The clerk bowed with a smile as the payment processed.
Do-gyeom snapped back to reality belatedly.
A receipt lay on the counter.
Four items.
Two Blessing Potions.
One unappraised scroll.
And—
...Daeboo?
The enormous axe that had been hanging on the wall moments ago was now firmly lodged in his inventory.
He remembered seeing it.
But not choosing it.
Yet he'd bought it.
Even haggled for it.
It was baffling.
Madness.
So this was how it manifested this time.
Waving fish around and speaking backward had been one thing.
But now, a full blackout?
Shopping sprees worth billions with zero memory?
At least he hadn't acted on homicidal urges, but this was dangerous in its own way.
Tch.
He clicked his tongue internally and almost asked for a refund.
But he stopped.
At the bottom of the receipt.
[Used Purchase: Dungeon-Forged Great Hammer - 1 unit]
The trade-in value and remaining balance caught his eye.
Sold the great hammer?
In that short time?
Who?
Him, obviously.
Or rather, the madness-possessed version of himself.
Even so, to sell off the weapon that had been with him through thick and thin?
Disbelieving, he glared at the Daeboo in his inventory—then was hit by an odd feeling.
He should have been annoyed, but—
...Not bad.
The long haft.
The massive, weighty axe blade.
Just looking at it stirred something in him. It was... satisfying.
Come to think of it, his primary martial art, the Heavenly Strength Steps, was originally an axe technique.
With this weight, he could swing it like the great hammer.
But the sharp edge offered even more versatility.
He hesitated briefly.
Checked the price tag.
For a luxury market item, the Daeboo was surprisingly affordable.
500 million won.
The oversized design was unpopular among most hunters, and it had no special effects—just the work of a renowned master smith.
A situation not unlike the great hammer.
After staring at it a while, Do-gyeom made his decision.
Fine, I'll use it.
The Formless Armament was still three months away anyway.
No telling if a dungeon-forged great hammer could last that long, but this Daeboo seemed more than capable.
Most importantly, he liked it.
Decision made, Do-gyeom exited the luxury market.
His already empty bank account had grown even thinner, but he had no regrets.
Money was meant to be spent on things like this.
If I wrap this up quickly, I can ask for a little extra on Myriad Forms.
His backer was reliable, after all.
Preparations complete.
Do-gyeom recited:
"Dungeon entry. Destination: Eden Garden."
And in the next moment—
His body vanished from Earth.
His vision shifted.
The first thing he felt was the wind.
The unrestrained gusts unique to high altitudes.
Opening his eyes, Do-gyeom found himself standing atop a sheer cliff.
And below—
The world was awash in green.
So that's Eden Garden.
A grassland stretching to the horizon.
At a glance, it looked like an endless plain—but no.
On closer inspection, the entire land sloped gently upward.
True to its name as a "garden," the world itself was one massive peak.
And at its summit—
In the distant center stood a single tree.
Adam's Apple.
Today's destination.
The problem was distance.
If he walked down the cliff and crossed the grassland?
It would take days, easily.
A dungeon requiring days of travel.
Most hunters would sigh in despair right here, but Do-gyeom wasn't most hunters.
He retrieved the Blessing Potion from his inventory.
Popped the cap, downed it in one go.
The liquid burned warmly as it spread through his body.
The blessing took hold.
[Blessing applied.]
[Duration: 3 hours. Temporary Magic Rank increased: D- → D.]
Magic, huh...
Of all the random stat boosts, he'd gotten the most useful one.
Lucky.
A good start.
But the real effect came next.
Whoosh!
Light burst from his back.
Feathers of radiance sprouted from his shoulder blades, taking shape in an instant.
Celestial Wings.
Though they only allowed gliding, their appearance was so divine they could've passed for an angel's.
Do-gyeom experimentally flapped the wings—utterly foreign to human physiology—once.
Then, without hesitation, leaped off the cliff.
Whoooooosh—!
Wind enveloped his body.
The wings on his back caught the air, spreading wide as his fall turned into a glide.
The sensation of being pushed forward.
The blue grassland streamed beneath his feet.
...Not bad at all.
To be honest.
It felt great.
In both lives, he'd rarely flown through the sky so freely.
Not because he lacked opportunities.
But because even in the air, he'd always been fighting something.
For once, he felt free.