episode_0024

“Your face looks better than before. Is it because there is no one to bully?”

Hyeri Lee smiled brightly and revealed her hostility toward the Cheonhwa Guild and Queens.

‘It’s still the same.’

As the granddaughter of Sejin Group, a rival group to Chunhwa Group, she had a particularly strong sense of rivalry, and perhaps that was why she always spoke out loud in front of me.

“Things have gotten a little easier recently. so… , Why did the leader come in person?”

“I have some business to attend to this auction.”

“Auction? What a coincidence. Me too.”

“… Really?”

Hyeri Lee narrowed her eyes upon hearing that I was participating in the auction and looked at me like a snake assessing the size of its prey.

It seemed like he was clearly wondering if there was something he could dig up from me.

“Just in case, it’s not what you think.”

“What am I?”

She slyly raises the corners of her mouth and makes an expression that says she doesn’t know anything.

I obediently told her the purpose of participating in the auction and made threats to her.

“I’m just here to pick up some suitable equipment, so don’t bother me.”

“Equipment?”

“To give you one of our main dealer’s equipment.”

“… Hmm… .”

Hye-ri Lee nodded as if she understood, and suddenly spoke with a mischievous look in her eyes.

“No way… , I don’t mean to spend my tax money on something like this, right?”

“Don’t worry. Because your taxes are already in my belly.”

As if she liked my answer, she burst out laughing and told me the purpose of her visit to the auction house.

“I came to buy a bloody crown.”

“… Bloody crown? This main?”

“Yes. I thought it would be perfect for our Inna to use?”

The ‘Inna’ she mentioned refers to Gong Inna, the leader of Black Rose and an S-class hunter.

“Can you live? It seems like there are quite a few competitors.”

“That’s right. From what I saw earlier, it looks like overseas guilds also came to visit.”

“Even from overseas?”

The ‘Bloody Crown’, called the main item of this auction, is an S-class item that was discovered in the ruins inside the gate a few years ago.

It is known in the world that the bloody crown has tremendous active skills… .

In fact, rumors tend to be exaggerated.

According to information that appeared in the original novel, the bloody crown absorbs the magical power of those around it when used and strengthens the user.

However, the duration is short compared to the effect, and the magic power absorbed is enormous, so the efficiency is low.

“Hmm… . I don’t think it’s an item worth buying.”

“… Why do you think that?”

“Too much foam. If it were me… . I would have rather bought the ‘Lunaria Pendant’ that came out before that.”

“Lunaria Pendant?”

Hyeri Lee responded as if she couldn’t understand,

I gave a light explanation, recalling the effects of the Lunaria Pendant and the auction order.

Instead of continuously absorbing the wearer’s mana, the Lunaria Pendant has a passive ability that strengthens the body according to mana.

This effect is not a curse, so you can turn it on and off directly, and the effect is strengthened as you use a lot of magic power, so it is quite efficient.

“Because the order of entry is right before the bloody crown… . I think I might be able to buy it cheaper than the market price.”

“… Is that so?”

Hye-ri Lee, who had been quietly listening to the explanation, nodded silently as if she understood what I meant, and then called over the secretary who had stepped away.

“Contact the guild and tell them that the target will be changed to the Lunaria Pendant.”

“Okay.”

‘… No, change this?’

I was a little taken aback by her change of plans, blindly trusting my words.

Of course, she was free to do anything other than an accident, but it was a little difficult for her to change the goal she had set from the beginning just by listening to what I said.

“Why do you believe in it and change it like that?”

“What do you believe? I trust you.”

Hye-ri Lee smiled shamelessly and bit the secretary again.

I looked at her with dumbfounded eyes.

Actually, if you think about it, Hyeri Lee has always been like this.

At the time, she had just become the vice-captain of a powerful guild and created Reds, the predecessor of Black Rose.

From the time I helped her when she was in deep trouble, she always supported me strongly no matter what I said.

Of course, from my perspective, I just read the abilities and selected team members with good potential… .

She, who was immersed in the burden of being the granddaughter of the Sejin Group, said that it felt as if a ray of light had come down on her.

‘Should I have joined the Sejin guild…? .’

As I was chatting with Lee Hye-ri, I was having such useless thoughts.

When– When– When–

A bell began to ring inside the black market.

This means that the main event, the auction, will begin soon.

I immediately headed to the auction house with Lee Hye-ri and naturally took a seat next to her.

I leisurely looked around the auction house while drinking a drink that her assistant had brought me.

‘There are quite a lot of people.’

The large auction house set up in the center of the black market consisted of people sitting around a center stage.

Perhaps because of the rumors about the bloody crown, there were so many people that some people could not sit down.

‘How on earth did they carry out a terrorist attack here? .’

In the original work, Seol Joo-hee caused a disturbance here and stole items.

No matter how well the main character was corrected, attempting terrorism in such a closed place was truly insane.

[ ladies and gentlemen! The main event you’ve been waiting for! Let’s start auctioning items! ]

The auction started soon after.

Along with the host’s comments, objects began to be placed on the central podium.

[The product that will get the long-awaited start is… ! These are mermaid tears! ]

‘Mermaid’s tears’ are the tears that mermaids, a type of monster, shed when they are in love.

It is mainly used to make potions or elixirs, but it is considered a fairly rare material because it is difficult to obtain.

‘It’s not very useful.’

There were many useful items, including the mermaid’s tears, but there were not many items that I actually needed.

“It’s a red shell. How about that?”

“It’s a good material, but it’s hard to handle, so I don’t like it.”

“Hmm… . Then I guess I should pass this on.”

Instead, I helped Hyeri Lee with shopping.

Although Hyeri Lee had a very playful attitude, she listened closely to my story, and thanks to her reaction, I was able to have a quite enjoyable time.

“This turn is… .”

“Finally it’s main.”

After purchasing the ‘Lunaria Pendant’ for just 8.5 billion won, the main product, the ‘Bloody Crown’, appeared on the stage.

Oooh… … !

The audience exclaimed in admiration at the appearance of the blood-stained crown.

The crown, which looked like stained gold, was studded with blood-red gems, and even for someone with no sense of aesthetics, it looked quite a cool design.

“It’s pretty.”

“Want me to buy it for you?”

I glanced at Hye-ri Lee, who was teasing me again, and accepted her joke with a grin.

“A lot of money?”

Then she answered confidently with a charming smile.

“You can buy ten more of those, right?”

Surprisingly, what she said was true.

[ Finally, he has arrived! The main item of this auction! It’s a bloody crown! ]

Roaring Roaring── Roaring Roaring──

People are buzzing with anticipation for a full-scale auction.

[Starting price is 10 billion! The asking price goes up by 1 billion! ]

Perhaps because it was the main product, the starting price was different.

[ 10 billion! 11 billion! 12 billion! 13 billion came out! 14 billion! ]

The auction proceeded quickly.

People who had been quiet so far began to participate in bidding and raise the asking price, and in an instant, the price was raised by more than five times.

[50 billion! 50 billion won! ]

50 billion for one item is at a fairly high level.

Even if it is an irreplaceable Ex-level item, it is a very wasteful amount of money to spend on an item full of bubbles.

[51 billion! Now it goes up by 2 billion! ]

As I was watching the auction in silence, I slowly tilted my head toward Hye-ri Lee and asked a question quietly.

“So, how much were you planning to spend this time?”

“90 billion”

90 billion for one item!

It was almost 10 times more expensive than the Lunaria pendant.

“You saved 80 billion won. Thank me.”

Hyeri Lee gave me a charming smile and thanked me.

After a long auction, a price tag was finally placed on the blood-stained crown.

[85 billion! 85 billion… ! 85 billion! The bid is successful! ]

A whopping 85 billion.

If Hye-ri Lee had intervened, 85 billion won would have been sleeping in the Sejin Guild warehouse.

[Now, the auction continues! The next product is… ! ]

The auction continued, and when there were not many items left, the item I was aiming for finally appeared on the stage.

[ These are the Dark Dragon’s Gauntlets! ]

‘It’s finally come out.’

As its name suggests, the Dark Dragon’s Gauntlets were designed to resemble a black dragon’s head.

In the original work, this is an item used by Seol Ju-hee, and it has the ability to launch powerful Qigong attacks.

However, because the fact was not known, it was underestimated… . No, it is a thankful item.

[Starting price is 1 million won! The asking price goes up by 100,000 won! ]

Compared to the Bloody Crown, which started at 10 billion, the price was less than 1%, but its performance was probably 100 times more.

[ 1.5 million won! Do you have any more? ]

I was biding my time, and when the momentum started to wane, I participated in the bidding by holding up a sign.

[ 1.6 million won! It came out to 1.6 million won! ]

At that time, I was leisurely waiting for the winning bid, thinking that I might be able to buy it for around 2 million won.

Sigh─

Hyeri Lee, who was sitting next to me, held up a sign and indicated numbers with her fingers.

[ 3 million won! It’s 3 million won! ]

“… Hey.”

Embarrassed by her unexpected participation in the war, I glared at her.

She smiled and gave a subtle wink.

‘This is so difficult… .’

I immediately started a bidding war with Hye-ri Lee, holding up a sign.

[350… ! 380! 400! Now we will go up by 500,000 won! ]

Even though it passed 5 million won in an instant, the asking price did not stop.

[ 11 million won! ]

In the end, the moment when the asking price exceeded 10 million won.

“Five thousand.”

Hyeri Lee widened her distance and blocked my bid.

“Hey. you… !”

“Did you come in?”

She shamelessly provokes and smiles mischievously.

After thinking about a suitable replacement for a while, I immediately held up the sign and accepted the bid.

[ 5100! 51 million won, here we go! ]

There were many items, but none suited Jin Seowon as well as this one.

but… .

[ 5200! It’s 52 million won! ]

Hye-ri Lee also seemed to have no intention of backing down, so she immediately chased after him.

“Hye-ri Lee. You really do it in moderation. I saved you 80 billion won, and this is how you repay the favor?”

I glared at Hye-ri Lee and tried to hold up a sign while threatening her.

But then.

Suddenly-

Hyeri Lee held my hand… .

He made eye contact and whispered with a strange look in his eyes.

“Wait.”