Instead of using regular currency, the world uses āgoldā processed from monstersā nuclei when buying and selling dungeon items.
If you converted 1.2B gold to won, it would be about 1.2B won1
Even though that was a high price, Jiho was confused.
The average price of a stone from an S-rank dungeon is 1B.
But thatās usually when the stone only has one attribute; if the stone has three attributes, the estimate should be much higher. It seems like the estimate is low because he doesnāt have the ability to evaluate it properly.
Either way, even if the stone was only worth 1B, it wasnāt something that someone would give away for free.
Even if it had been mistaken as an S-rank stone, it was too big of a present to give someone.
āHe said heās giving this to me? This whole thing?ā
āYes. He said it is the price of his life and to just take it.ā
Is there a need to return the price of oneās life? After all, in the end, Jiho came out alive thanks to Seon Tae Woong as well. Holding onto the stone, Jiho tilted his head.
āHeās giving something else on top of this?ā
Sori jumped on Jihoās confusion.
āIsnāt it really suspicious? Heās not the type of guy to do this did he eat something wrong? Even so, you shouldnāt turn him down.ā
āI wasnāt thinking of doing so.ā
Jiho smiled as he packed the box. Thereās no reason to refuse something heās offering. Thinking back, Jiho had suffered quite a bit under that guy too, so accepting this much should be fine.
Jiho had been thinking about what to do from now on, but Seon Tae Woongās present made everything a lot simpler.
āWhat are you going to do after being discharged today?ā
At Soriās question, Jiho went over his plans.
āTodayā¦ I think Iām going to take care of a personal matter. I have to test something related to my skill too. Iām sorry I ended up resting so long while you were so busy.ā
āAh, no, itās fine. You should rest since you went through a big event. Plus, Chungram is taking care of the public opinion.ā
āMmā¦ thatās right.ā
Although theyāre relying on Chungramās right now, it will probably be best to set up a PR team in No Name later if the guild grows.
Though that only sounds like a dream right now.
Thinking he was getting ahead of himself,2Ā Jiho thought about the curses aimed at him.
As he remembered curses likeĀ āA dumb golden spoon that has his entire life going the way he wants it to,ā āDie, Shin Jiho, the enemy of the hunter community,āĀ his thoughts quickly quieted down.3
Jiho asked with a much calmer mind.
āIs there nothing else besides that?ā
āUm, the Hunter Association called earlierā¦ They asked if you were thinking about getting reassessed.ā
āAhā¦ the reassessment.ā
āYes. I postponed the answer for now, you can decline if you want to. Since they canāt force you to do itā¦ā
Jiho had received many reassessments, to the point where he was sick of them.
Knowing how much Shin Jiho had suffered from them, Heo Sori looked worried.
Jiho hesitated.
The Hunter Associationās rank assessment is subjective.
There are awakened ones of all ranks with the skill, [Evaluate]. These hunters, aka Evaluators, can see a rough outline of a personās stats.
Since stats arenāt everything for a hunter, the evaluation can only be subjective.
After checking the stats during the first round, the association carries out self-tests to check the strength of the skills. After sufficient tests, the association reviews the results before deciding on the hunterās final rank.
Shin Jihoās current MP is 1402. He gained a lot of useful skills as well. If itās possible to assess everything, his rank will definitely be higher than before.
But he was worried that it would appear as B like last time.
Because the hunter ranks are based off of āCan they hunt monsters,ā the limit for support hunters was usually A.
But thereās no point in rising up to just an A-rank.
In order to change the public opinion right now, there is only one goal.
S-rank.
And not him reaching S-rank under extensive discussions, but reaching S-rank with results that are impossible to bring to question.
āI will take the re-assessment, but not right now. Please tell them to wait a bit.ā
āYes. That side asked to do it as quickly as possible. But itās really okay to just reject themā¦ā
āOkay. I wasnāt thinking of dragging it out too long either.ā
From the associationās side, since they had been attacked for manipulating assessments before, they probably wanted to get the reassessment over with before the rumors start up again.
āWill you be okay?ā
āIām really fine.ā
Jiho smiled at the worried Sori.
Even Sori, who believes in Seon Tae Woongās interview, seems a bit skeptical; imagine how others must feel. Jiho definitely needs to prepare himself.
Heāll have to move quickly.
Jiho went downstairs after separating from Sori, who said she had to go back to the guild.
Outside of the hospital, there were a couple of reporters waiting to catch something. However, thanks to Chungram Hospitalās help, Jiho was able to escape without being caught.
The place Jiho drove to was Chungram Department Storeās hunter-exclusive building located in Gangnam.
Before getting out of the car, Jiho put on a mask and black cap. Although it was a suspicious-looking attire, when thinking about his bad rep, it was better to cover himself up like this.
There are quite a lot of people who recognize Jiho. In particular, in places with a lot of hunters, he can feel hostile gazes on himself. Jiho doesnāt get hurt by strangersā gazes. But because he doesnāt want to get caught up in annoying situations, he goes around covered up.
Since there were a lot of people at Chungram Department Store, Jiho was easily able to slip in with the crowd.
Thanks to the great influence of Chungram Guild after the fissures broke out, Chungram, which had been expanding its business, acquired a department store that was on its way to ruin. They reorganized the goods that were already there and created a second building for hunters that only sells hunter items next to the main building.
The first to fourth floor of the hunter building were open to the public.
Anyone with money can buy potions made by an alchemist or items that are allowed by the Hunter Association.
From the fifth floor on, however, they sell dungeon items, so only hunters can enter those levels.
āHunter Shin Jiho-nim, your identification has been verified.ā
The guard at the entrance recognized Jiho and greeted him respectfully. Jiho waved his hand to tell him to stop before going in.
Since Jiho usually visited the department store after it was closed, this was the first time heās come when thereās a lot of people. Instead of exploring the store, Jiho went straight up to the highest floor.
On the highest floor of the hunter building, an auction for dungeon items takes place regularly.
Chungram Department Storeās hunter auction is the largest exchange of high-rank dungeon items in the world.
Thatās because the worldās only SS-rank hunter, Joo Yiwon, and Chungram Guild trade items exclusively with this auction.
Every half-month, a special auction specifically for high-rank items opens up.
Coincidentally, today was that day of the special auction.
Jiho walked towards the place where they exhibit and appraise magic stones.
The auction hall gave Jiho a spot on the VIP table in the corner.
They freed up the spots next to Jiho for him. Jiho didnāt want to raise a commotion, so instead of refusing, he quietly sat down on the spot.
The hunters that filled the seats near him were all high-rank hunters. Just from a glance, you could tell they were draped in valuable items.
The auction started amidst a quiet atmosphere.
The first item to be brought out was a C-rank equipment item. Even though this was a special auction, that didnāt mean all the items were high-rank items.
The hunters here were all either guildmasters or hunters that lead their own teams. They busily bid for items for their guild or team members.
Unlike them, Jiho was quiet for a long time.
A long time passed.
When a short, ivory-colored piece of armor made of cloth appeared, Jihoās eyes sparkled. Jiho sat up straight.
āThis is a C-rank piece of armor dropped by a flying monster from Sokchoās second void-attribute dungeon. Because the size of the item cannot be adjusted, this item will fit well on hunters under 170cm in height.ā
ā2.5M gold for this C-rank agility-increasing armor, any other offers?ā
As the price slowly increased, Jiho read through the itemās window.
Information
<table>Bolulessās 4 Greatest Desire</tbody></table>Rank A Explanation A light piece of outer armor made from Bolulessās plumage. Makes the wearerās body light. Increases agility by 10. With wear, it reduces fatigue by 50% every two hours.</tbody></table>
The increase of agility by 10 mentioned by the auction hall is not a large amount. But reducing fatigue every two hours was a good option. On long dungeon raids, you can heal injuries with potions or skills, but itās hard to take care of the small amounts of fatigue that build up.
Unlike how it had been evaluated by the auction, the itemās rank shown on its window was A-rank.
That is not an item that should be sold for a mere 2.5M gold.
There have been several occasions where good items were sold for less than their worth. There is a limit to evaluating items.
Because of this, there are frequent examples of when items bought at a cheap price have unexpected powers or when items bought at a high price are worse than expected.
Today, the items that Jiho was going for were items like this. Items that have not been properly evaluated and are priced lower than their actual worth.
Truthfully, the amount of gold that Jiho has is not that much. It is impossible to convert normal currency to the hunter currency of gold. Of course, it seems like itās possible in shady places, but Jiho had no thought of going to those kinds of places.
Because he saved all of the gold he earned until now, equipment was always put on the back burner, but today, he planned to use as much as possible. To prepare for what is to come.
Jiho bid for the item.
ā10M, 10M has come out.ā
As the item that was about to be sold for 2.5M was suddenly bought by some fool who raised the price by four times the original amount, the auction hall went into a frenzy. Unlike the confused atmosphere around him, Jiho smiled.
Although he bought it for a high price, it was still a positive. If the item had been appraised properly, it would have been worth several tens of millions of gold.
Like this, Jiho bought all of the items that had not been evaluated properly and received a low rank. He also bid for a few items thatĀ hadĀ been appraised properly because he wanted them.
Once he started buying, Jiho bought like a person who had never been able to buy before.
Although Jiho wasnāt the type of person to waste money, he had neverĀ notĀ gotten what he wanted since he was young. But as he started to run a guild, every piece of gold had to be carefully calculated soā¦ he felt cathartic from buying this way.
Footnotes
1.Ā About $841,000.
2.Ā The expression here is ź¹ģ¹«źµė¶ķ° ė§ģ ė¤ which literally means that heās drinking kimchi soup before something happens. The expression means that you should be humble and not get excited expecting something from someone before getting your hopes up. Nowadays, itās used more casually, like getting ahead of yourself.
3.Ā This is so sad ć ć . Donāt think about these things Jiho ć ć .
4.Ā From what I know, thereās no proper translation for this so Iām trying to get the pronunciation as close as I can to the original.