Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: So, What Now?
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“Lee Seong-han, you...!”
Yu-ra Noona shoved me away and shot me a glare, but I met her eyes with a blank expression.
It wasn't a confession or anything like that. I just wanted to say it once.
This was nothing more than a pure feeling bubbling up from the depths of my heart.
Our relationship had started off in such a bizarre way, but she was the first person to show me such unwavering affection after I'd been left on my own.
How could I not love a woman like this?
“I'll work hard, so just wait for me.”
“...You idiot.”
Peck. After leaving behind a light kiss that barely brushed our lips, Yu-ra Noona dove into my arms with enough force to tear me apart.
“If anything tough comes up... you have to tell me. Got it?”
“You too, Noona.”
After seeing Yu-ra Noona off and heading back inside, I found a new message waiting. It was from Jeong Se-hee.
[Come to my place by 3. Sending the address in case you forgot]
What a thorough woman. I'm not that hopeless with directions.
‘How should I bring this up...’
I pulled an adamantite ingot out of my inventory and stared at it blankly.
I had two favors to ask Jeong Se-hee. One was to sell this ingot and turn it into cash. The other was to commission some equipment crafting.
‘The first one's manageable, but the second... that's not so easy.’
This wasn't a problem her connections could fix. No matter how much money you threw at it, if there was no one who could craft it, that was that.
On top of that, I had to worry about security. I didn't want to draw any attention just yet.
‘I can get famous after hitting A-rank.’
Getting half-assed fame would just turn me into fodder for big guilds and the media. I'd need at least A-rank before they wouldn't dare touch me.
“It'll work out somehow, tsk.”
I didn't have that emotional connection with Jeong Se-hee like I did with Yu-ra Noona. This relationship had only come about because of her favor to begin with.
If the adamantite turned out useful to her, things might change, but who knew. I'd only find out once I brought it up.
“3 p.m.... about four hours to kill.”
I'd just laze around until then. Maybe browse the Exclusive Shop?
It felt wrong to show up empty-handed when I was the one asking for favors, so I picked up a fruit basket. I grabbed something that looked pricey from the department store, but I had no idea if it'd suit her tastes.
When I arrived at the front gate and rang the bell, Jeong Se-hee was already waiting out front for some reason.
“You're here? It's been a while.”
“Hello.”
“Why'd you bring something like this? Thanks.”
Fortunately, Jeong Se-hee broke into a huge grin when I handed her the fruit basket.
‘She a fruit fan?’
As long as she liked it, that was what mattered. I quietly followed her up to the second floor.
Man, her outfit was straight-up assaultive today too.
It was just a plain indoor dress, but on her, it was peak urban mini-skirt vibes. Made me wonder if she only wore stuff like that on purpose.
“Let's chill the fruit and eat it later. What do you want to drink?”
“Coffee, please.”
“Want me to brew some beans? You'd probably prefer picking a capsule yourself. I've got regular coffee mix or an Americano too. No latte, though—I'm out of milk.”
...Sauna last time, cafe this time? Now that I knew she was a chaebol heiress, even the most casual things came off as dripping with luxury.
“What's quickest?”
“Capsule coffee?”
“Yeah, that. Sweet if you can.”
“Just add sugar.”
The machine hummed to life, and soon Jeong Se-hee came out to the living room with two cups on a tray. I tore open two sugar cubes and dropped them into mine.
“How was solo play? Manageable?”
“Easier than I expected. Met a good mentor, and the dungeon itself was straightforward.”
“Who's the mentor? Another supporter? Or a dealer?”
“Ju-yeon.”
“Ju-yeon? Sin Ju-yeon?”
“Yeah.”
“See? You gotta judge people by their looks.”
I had no idea how she'd arrived at that logic. She let out a little snicker at my dumbfounded look.
“Ju-yeon’s always been into that kind of thing... Poor girl brings it on herself.”
“If she enjoys it, how's it suffering?”
“Ask her yourself sometime. Anyway, glad it all went smoothly.”
She took a sip of her coffee and set the cup down.
“So, what's this about? Doesn't seem like you just came for sex.”
“Holding back the urge to strip you from the front door.”
“A guy like that shows up with a fruit basket? Cut the crap and just say it straight. I told you most things are fine.”
Talk about a capital-T Type T woman. Being sharp and smart made her refreshingly direct.
“No one else home?”
“Just me. No one's around to eavesdrop.”
“I wanna sell an item.”
“Score something good in the dungeon?”
“Good... yeah, it's good, but, uh.”
Probably faster to just show her. I was planning to offload it anyway.
I took one adamantite ingot from my inventory and set it on the table. It was carved from a solid piece of premium wood, so it ought to hold the weight.
“Wanna get rid of this. Too much hassle for me to handle direct.”
“Looks like a material item... What is it?”
“Adamantite.”
Jeong Se-hee's hand froze mid-fidget on the ingot. She blinked at me a few times, eyes locked.
“Adamantite? This?”
“99.9% purity. Weighs about fifty kilos?”
“...Hold on.”
She headed upstairs and came back down lugging a large box.
“What's that?”
“Material analyzer.”
She pulled out something like a barcode scanner from the box, hooked it up to the device inside, and pressed it against the adamantite ingot.
“Density of 78.83, atomic weight, electron affinity... Ha.”
“Well?”
“Ten times the weight of iron for the same volume. It's the real deal.”
She set the machine down, let out a short sigh, and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Where the hell did you even... Never mind. So you want me to sell this?”
“Figured it'd be safest with you. I got a guild? Know a broker for this stuff?”
“Definitely not something a newbie should have. Rare material prices are through the roof right now anyway.”
“Something going on?”
“Yoo Ha-ram broke through floor 17, and now the world rankers are in a frenzy competing. Plenty have cleared higher floors already, of course, but the ones out front always get the jitters.”
Jeong Se-hee gave a quick rundown on the Black Tower, which I'd only heard about in passing.
Basically, about five years before I was born, a massive sinkhole opened up smack in the middle of the Pacific. Then gates started popping up worldwide, and awakeners began appearing.
Some ten-odd years later, once humanity had gotten used to dungeons and hunters, a huge island rose from the sinkhole, and an impossibly tall tower appeared on it.
“And that's when every A-rank and above who had awakened back then got a quest. The academics call it a ‘World Quest.’”
Nothing fancy about the contents. Fail to clear the tower within the time limit, and you'd get penalties. The problem was that those penalties were all different.
“So A-ranks and up challenge it because of the penalties?”
“Yep. For S-ranks and higher, it's not just personal penalties—there are regional and national ones too, from what I hear. The upside is you don't have to be the one to clear it.”
So that's why the S-ranks threw their lives at it. If a nation's survival was on the line, of course they'd be shitting bricks.
“That's why even the government can't mess with S-ranks. Stir one up and they bail on the tower? Instant crisis. A C-rank dungeon break wipes out a midsize city easy—what do you think an S-rank one does?”
What do you think? Total apocalypse.
Word was Europe, China, and the US had already lost entire regions to S-rank breaks that just vaporized them.
Those places had land to spare at least—this puny little Korea would be done the second one or two S-ranks popped.
“Anyway, that's why material prices are exploding. They have to raid the tower anyway, so they're riding the momentum to push higher. Yoo Ha-ram's string of youngest and fastest records plays a big part too.”
“What a woman.”
“She is. Who else gets into the world top 20 at just twenty-one? She's a whole different caliber, even among hunters.”
No wonder everyone made such a fuss over Yoo Ha-ram when Jeong Se-hee spoke so highly of her. The more I heard, the more I wanted in.
‘If I could make her stats mine...’
Even if it wasn't Ha-ram, there were plenty of women among the world rankers. Gender ratio was pretty even overall, from what I'd heard.
Plus, every single S-rank was a knockout. Faces and figures all screamed twenties—you could barely guess their real ages.
In a word: totally doable.
“Enough about the tower. How do you wanna sell the adamantite? Auction's best for max price, but it'll take time.”
“Other options?”
“Could hit up Tris Guild or Sesame Group... Or sell it to me? I can wire today.”
“How much?”
“Market price minus 5%. That's a fair fee, right?”
5% in name, but probably billions. Immediate cash? Not a bad deal.
“Then I'll pass one to you first.”
“One...?”
“Got twelve more. What about 'em?”
“...”
Wow, even Jeong Se-hee could make a face like that.
Didn't think she spaced out this hard even when I took her virginity.
I just stared at her blankly, and she shoved her face in mine and yelled.
“You have twelve more of these?! Same size and purity?!”
“Pretty sure?”
I'd scanned them all ahead of time—same descriptions popped up.
Part of me wanted to copy them, but physical objects didn't work that way. Copy paper, tear it, cancel copy—it vanished torn.
Same with soda cans or dirt. Just changing the shape didn't trigger a reset.
“Actually, I wanna get equipment made from this stuff, but it's not like anyone can process it, right?”
“Who else have you told about this?”
“One other person. Didn't seem too interested. Basically told me to take it all?”
“...Her too. What, did you two raid an S-rank dungeon for practice?”
Her instincts were downright supernatural. She'd pieced the whole situation together from just a word or two.
“So, how're you gonna help me out?”