Chapter 80 (2/2)

‘My current funds aren’t going to be enough . ’.

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He did not see any artifacts with flame resistance up for auction, but the other high-class armors cost far more than everything he had earned so far . .

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‘I thought I already collected enough…’.

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However, that was through the eyes of an ordinary person . To get to the Hunter’s level, Jinwoo still had a long way to go . The funds in his bankbook amounted to about 1 . 7 billion won . In order to buy what he needed, he had no choice but to sell the Marble of Avarice . When he switched gears to becoming a seller, his expression changed . .

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‘If it costs a ton to buy artifacts, on the flip side, I can make a ton buy selling my artifacts . ’.

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click . .

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He moved his mouse to click on the section where magic tools were being sold . .

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‘ . ’.

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No matter where he looked, there were no artifacts that doubled your magic damage . The closest ones increased it by about 20%~30% . And those artifacts were unbelievably expensive . .

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‘The prices of magic tools aren’t a joke . ’.

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In a way, even a 20% increase of power was nothing to scoff at . The only ones able to purchase these expensive artifacts were the high-rank, no, the highest-ranking Hunters . And if those Hunters’ powers were increased by 20%? It would make a huge difference . In fact, some of the items already were marked as sold . And if they were this excited about 20% . .

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‘Just how much can I sell this for?’.

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gulp.

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Because he had never even dreamt of holding an artifact in the past, Jinwoo was unable to imagine the price of the Marble of Avarice . .

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‘That’s why we have auctions . ’.

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He hoped that putting the marble up for auction would result in a good price . With a satisfied smile, Jinwoo closed the auction websites . After his research, he had learned that there were two main ways to sell an artifact . .

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One . Through ordinary sellers and means . .

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Two . Through the blackmarket . .

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However, he had no way of finding a blackmarket . There were limits to what he could find on the internet . .

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‘If you could just reach it in few mouse clicks, you couldn’t call it a blackmarket . ’.

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And the Marble of Avarice wasn’t exactly a shady item, so there was no reason to use the black market . And so, Jinwoo decided that the best way to sell the marble was to get in touch with a professional artifact exchange and let them auction it off for him . Even though there were taxes and fees involved, it would be the fastest and cleanest method . .

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‘The problem is that I have to somehow explain where I got it…’.

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What would they say if an E-rank Hunter brought an insane and never-before-seen artifact to them? Would they accept it quietly? The Korean Hunter Auction was the biggest business when it came to brokering deals between Hunters . They would surely iron out all details involved in the items they sold . .

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‘And that’s why I need that license . ’.

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A Hunter’s license with the letter “S” on it . This is why he undertook the retest, and the results were a success . If Association President Go Gunhee was right, he would obtain his new S-rank license in two days . He did worry for a moment when he refused the elder’s offer but….

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‘Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like the association president is that kind of a person . ’.

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Even as they bid each other goodbye, the association president was smiling . .

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Spending a long time reading the hints of other people gave one the ability to read the mood . Jinwoo had done that in the past . As an E-ranker, he had spent four years carefully taking notice of other people . Because of that, he was mostly able to read their moods by looking at their faces . Go Gunhee’s smile at the time was definitely not fake . At least, it looked genuine to Jinwoo’s eyes . .

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And so, he did not worry about the remeasurement two days from now . .

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‘But… what to do in the meantime?’.

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Jinwoo leaned back on his chair . .

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Two days . .

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Too short to do something serious . Too long to just waste it playing around . .

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‘Should I check that out?’.

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Jinwoo half-heartedly moved his cursor to the Hunter website’s job board . .

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click . .

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With a click, many posts filled the screen . He saw multiple posts stating that people were looking for members for private raiding parties in the area . .

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‘ . ’.

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The reason was obvious . When he and Yoo Jinho monopolized the C-rank Gates in the area for few days, all the private parties in the area had to stop working for a while . Now that Jinwoo had stopped, all the stopped parties could resume their work again . The absence of Jinwoo and Yoo Jinho created a vacuum, and many parties appeared to fill that void . Jinwoo chuckled bitterly then went to the next page . .

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‘I don’t level up in C-rank Dungeons anymore . ’.

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It took him the entire day of raiding to level up the last time he entered C-rank Dungeons . Actually, it took two days . Since then, he had leveled up more than a dozen times . If he could see his experience points, he knew that C-rank magic beasts would barely make a tickle . .

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‘So, C-rank Dungeons mean nothing to me . ’.

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Unfortunately, there were no postings for high-level Dungeons . It was suicide for a private party to attempt a high-level Dungeon, and Guilds wouldn’t be looking for members on a job board like this . .

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Still, just in case . .

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‘Should I switch up the search terms a bit?’.

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He changed the filter so only high-level Dungeons would show . He did not expect anything out of it . .

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However,.

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‘ . Huh?’.

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A posting came up . .

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“You said you were an E-rank?”.

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“Yes . ”.

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“Have you ever done a job like this?”.

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“No . ”.

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“Er… and your category is?”.

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“I’m a Fighter-class . ”.

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‘Well, that’s good news . ’.

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The team leader wearing a hard hat looked up and down on Jinwoo . .

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‘For an E-rank, his body looks strong . His eyes are showing good spirit . ’.

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Jinwoo patiently waited for the team leader’s reply . Soon, the man handed him an ID card and laughed lively . .

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“Ha ha ha, there are many people like you here, Jinwoo-ssi . Don’t be nervous and let’s work well together . ”.

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Even though he looked over 40, the ahjussi was filled with energy . His mustache fit his face well . .

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“We just wait here and go in when the people inside come out . Don’t forget your equipment . ”.

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“Equipment…?”.

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“You can just pick one of those up on the floor . ”.

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“ . Got it . ”.

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Jinwoo nodded towards a pile of pickaxes . Meanwhile, an ahjussi with a towel draped over his shoulders hastily walked over . .

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“Bae-ssi! We’re shorthanded today, why would you take someone away from us?”.

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“Eh, your collection team has plenty of people . What if we’re the one who’s shorthanded and miss the timing on the Gate closing? You gonna take responsibility?”.

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“Well, still . ”.

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The mustache ahjussi turned to the towel ahjussi and smiled at Jinwoo,.

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“Sung-ssi, you can just rest here . I’m going to have words with this guy . ”.

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“We can have words here, why do we have to walk away?”.

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“I wonder . Follow me . ”.

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The two ahjussis bantered and walked away . .

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‘So the other team is in charge of collecting…’.

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The high-level Dungeons were so large that a single raiding party could not do everything . And so, multiple parties were created for each job . A party to clear the Dungeon, a party to mine the Dungeon’s ores, and a party to collect the corpses of the magic beasts[1] . The offensive raiding party would clear the Dungeon all the way to the boss, then leave . Once the magic beasts in the Dungeon were isolated to the boss’s room, the mining team and the collection team would enter . Jinwoo was placed into the mining team . .

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‘ . Is this all I need?’.

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With a sour face, Jinwoo picked up a pickaxe . It was tiny, but he felt a magic power in it . .

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‘It contains magic power . ’.

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The modern machines that used electricity did not function within the Dungeon . Because of that, tools like this filled with magic power were used instead . .

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‘ . ’.

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There was a reason why Hunters in mining teams were jokingly called Dungeon Miners . Jinwoo turned his head towards the Gate . A giant hole floated in the air . It was a size incomparable to a C-rank Gate . .

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‘So that’s an A-rank Gate…’.

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The real reason he was here was because of that . .

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‘I want to see a high-level Dungeon with my own eyes . ’.

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Even though all the magic beasts, save for the boss and its minions, would be dead, Jinwoo still wanted to check out the interiors of an A-rank Dungeon . .

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‘I’ll have to go in a place like that someday . ’.

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Knowledge was power . But there was a limit to what he could learn through books or the internet . Even the new recruits of Baekho relied on written knowledge and met an untimely end . .

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‘If I wasn’t there, they would’ve all died . ’.

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Knowing something and experiencing it were two different things . When the opportunity appeared, Jinwoo volunteered himself for the mining team so he could take a look at the A-rank Dungeon . He briefly regretted his decision after looking at the piss poor pickaxes but felt better when he saw the giant Gate . .

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‘Coming here was a good thing . ’.

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There was still time until his remeasurement . This was a good opportunity . .

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As if their conversation had gone well, the mustache ahjussi, no, Team Leader Bae Yoonsuk came back smiling . .

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“Let’s go in, they’re all ready . ”.

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Holding a pickaxe, Jinwoo smiled and nodded . .

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Translator’s Notes:.

[1]: Think it was noted in the past that for high-level magic beasts, even their corpses are used for various purposes . .