Level Up Monster
Chapter 17
Located on Sebit Island, the famous Hyunwol Auction House is considered to be one of the best in the world and as a result, the items auctioned are of the same high quality. They only dealt with the rare loot dropped by the Monsters defeated by the Knight Order based around Seoul; they also only chose "Branded Items" of all the equipment submitted by various workshops across the country.
It has been 5 years since Hazeline's last visit to Hyunwol's Auction House. However, he did not feel much different. If anything, he felt like he was swearing hard at the thought of how he should tolerate all these people and all the noise they would make.
“It's still just as useless flaunting wealth. (TL: writer on. Saying "money party is useless.")
Just like the party on the ship, there were many colorful lights that lit up the night sky above the auction house building built on the island.
"We welcome you to the Hyunwol Auction House."
An employee leaned in to greet Hazeline. Every employee who worked at the Hyunwol Auction House had intelligence, fast enough to easily determine the high value of the robes Hazeline wore.
Once Hazeline hands over her VIP ticket, she receives a minicomputer and a numbered card from an employee behind the desk. The number is 77. It was a number that made him feel confident. Pleased by this fortunate incident, he walked over to the auction venue.
"…. Mr Sae-Jin? Can you hear me?"
He speaks softly to Sae-Jin who is listening from somewhere through the bracelet on his left wrist.10 seconds of silence later, he replies.
"Yes, I can hear you well . " – "Yes, I can hear you well."
"I just arrived at the auction house. The auction itself will expire about 3 to 4 hours, and the ownership exchange will take place tomorrow .. I'll give you the transfer certificate as you have to come alone to collect the item. As we talked about before, it was something I couldn't do. "
The Werewolf's Mana Stone was an item submitted by the Raven Knights Order. Even if Hyunwol was assigned to hold an auction for the items, during the transfer of ownership, the seller (sometimes the representative) and the buyer had to meet face to face.
And he could easily guess who the Raven Knights Order would send as their representative. One of only 41 Highest Ranked Knights in South Korea, Kim Yu-Rin.
Hazeline would rather commit suicide if it meant seeing the woman's face. No, scratch it, if the two of them met, then one of them would definitely die. Although she wants to help Sae-Jin out, they only met three times. He did not want to dare to face such danger for her.
"The time... the process won't take long, yes?" – "Time .. The process won't take long, will it?"
"Yes. That'll take an hour, max. Since I'm going to make the payment today, you can easily start within two days and pick up the item."
At the Hyunwol Auction House, if someone wanted to bid for an item, then that person should have, over their people, at least half the amount of the offer, then that person should have, and must also make full payment within four days of a successful bid attempt. It was a very strict policy, but it was inevitable because Hyunwol placed trust and quick resolution as their top priorities.
… . Understanding . " – " …. Understood."
Hazeline can feel the unhappiness hidden in Sae-Jin's voice even from here. He wanted to know why he was putting so much emphasis on time but in the end, he just told her to wait for him and end the call.
"Hgm."
Hazeline carefully watched her robe from folding and sat in the VIP seat she pointed to. Immediately after, people wearing luxurious formal attire or armour-style clothing entered noisily and quickly filled the interior.
The auction finally started right when Hazeline's head started to get dizzy from everyone present here.
"Master and mistress, I welcome you warmly !!"
The announcer with a chiseled face welcomed the audience present. Then he lightly introduced much that was offered for today and without further ado, starting with the right auction.
"Include our first item – Domenique Necklace !! This is an amazing necklace that is said to help circulate Mana the wearer." (TL: " ⁇ " I swear, I didn't misspell the name on purpose ..)
Usually, when an equipment has its maker's name attached to it, or has its own unique name, then the item is considered a 'Branded Item'. The naming of a piece of equipment is actually regulated by law and must follow certain guidelines. It does not matter whether it is handmade or mass produced, if government agencies do not admit it, then the name of the equipment should include its basic ingredients and its category. For example – guns Sae-Jin, iron rod.
If smith improves his skills and becomes "internship", then he can add modifiers to the names of – items such as, "Can't break" or "Strong."
Next is "craftsman". At the level of a craftsman, the government will give more free time when naming such items. So, a craftsman could attach his name to an item, just like the Domenique Necklace before him.
And finally, "master". After climbing the peak of repair and equipment manufacturing, he would receive the title of expert craftsman from the government, the, and it can also achieve the greatest honor of being legally allowed to name their belongings in any way they wish.
The expert craftsmen, with this honor bestowed upon them, faced no restrictions in naming their products, they said, so items made by these people often come with names that have basically nothing to do with the intended purpose. Examples include things like "Taebaek Call" or "The Ideal of Rodes". With a sense of naming like this, it is not surprising that there are rumors floating around, about the master being overwhelmed by peer pressure visiting a certain consultant who specializes in finding the perfect name.
“That's a good thing. '
Necklaces that help Mana circulation are hard to come by. Most likely the maker, Domenique, will rise from the position of craftsman to master in the near future. However, it was not Hazeline's business now.
He spent time fighting against his thick eyelids, while yawning sporadically.
"And this item is an item brought to us by the best Knight Order of Korea, Raven – Werewolf's Mana Crystal." (TL: the author suddenly started to refer to Mana Stone as a crystal here. Hmm, typo?)
Finally the item he had been waiting for had already entered. The Mana Stone was shaped like a wolf that walked on four legs, and was dyed in a dark gray color. The Mana Stones that were ranked Mid Tier above had defining characteristics. The Mana Stones accumulated in the hearts of the Monsters resembled the appearance of their hosts.
"A wolf is famous as a rare monster, and it is believed this is the first time it has appeared in South Korea."
The auctioneer broke the ice with a known fact. Some collectors were getting ready to place their bids, their eyes focused on the jewel-like Mana Stone. Hazeline also glanced at her personal bank balance and checked the amount there.
After quitting the life of a Wizard and an alchemist, he kept most of his assets as cash, so he did have quite a lot of warehouses for this task – $ 5. 4 million US.
'Fuu ... He will return it, right? '
Although he promised to help her a week ago, but now, thinking of spending this hard earned fortune of his, uncertainty and worry invaded his mind a little. He won't pass through the city after obtaining the Mana Stone now, right?
"Opening offer set at $ 45 thousand, USA. The bid increase will be set at $ 1000. Ah !! First, the male bidder, not 30 !! $ 46.000 !!"
The offer has begun. An overweight human, a Soo-in with a pair of animal ears on top of his head, even an Elf Wizard holding a magic wand. All of these people, and many more, started an intense bidding war just for the privilege of bringing this Mana Stone home.
$ 450 thousand, $ 900 thousand, $ 1 million, $ 1. 3 million, $ 2. 6 million. The bid price immediately surged towards the maximum expected amount without taking a single pause.
"No 48, the beautiful Elf Wizard has filed $ 4. 1 million !! Mana Stone could give him inspiration when practicing magic, so it was an excellent choice !!"
So, the last plateau has arrived. Elf Wizard who called the number $ 4. 1 million brought a triumphant expression on his face.
The auctioneer spewed out a lot of nonsense. Hazeline could only laugh at her courage. He still felt somewhat remorseful at the fact that he had to spend more than half of his fortune buying trinkets that were completely worthless.
"3 times, I'll call 3 more times !! $ 4.1 million !!"
As soon as those words came out, Hazeline was getting ready to bid $ 4. 2 million .
"$ 4. 1 million !! Is there no other offer? This is the last call !!"
But he changed his mind at the last second.
"Oh, oh !! Number 77, a mysterious woman with $ 4. 5 million !!"
The auction hall became noisy, and Hazeline grinned deeply.
"I have my pride as a Fairy, so how can I waste time raising my bid by just $ 100 grand?"
*
"I've already deposited that money."
"Yes, thank you very much. We've confirmed the payment."
Behind the auction stage, Hazeline was talking to an agent from the auction house regarding the items she had bought.
"Both days. Please set a schedule for two days later. Oh, and also give me the transfer certificate as well."
"…. Transfer certificate?"
"Yes. It's a gift for someone."
Hazeline spoke as if it wasn't much. Even though it was a debt and not a gift, but still, calling it like that made it seem even richer. A woman makes $ 4. 5 million gifts, what a cool person.
"Oh .. of course. We understand."
The agent nodded his head and called the employees.
***
"Fuu."
Sae-Jin soaks her dry lips as she exits Seoul Station under the bright light of a sunny afternoon and climbs aboard a pre-booked taxi.
From Seoul Station to the island of Sebit, a 10-minute drive by high-class taxi burns Mana as fuel. As soon as he descends in front of the Hyunwol Auction House, the security guards there block the path of Sae-Jin who is wearing a robe after thinking that he is a suspicious person.
"I'm here to pick up the items purchased in the auction."
The promised time is 1:10 PM. Right now, it's 1:05 p.m. After checking his transfer certificate, the security guard guided Sae-Jin respectfully.
He was brought to the front of an elevator used specially by the VIPs, and as he waited, a sales agent approached his side and with a smile he entered the elevator beside him.
"Are you an alchemist?"
Witches usually do not hide their faces in robes.
He asks her to respect, but Sae-Jin does not retaliate. He just waited stiffly for the elevator to take him to his destination as quickly as possible.
"…."
When he coldly did not react to it, he became embarrassed and his ears and tail stood upright. Tail, because he is Soo-in's dog type. (TL: a Soo-in is a "beast man".)
"Ke .. The weather today was nice, huh? It's the middle of winter, but it's like an early summer day. I wonder if something will happen …"
He bravely continued chatting with her despite the risk of offending her. The only reason for her behavior is because she is Soo-in's dog type. The ideal partner for a Canine-type Soo-type who has a strong sense of smell, is a man with a sweet body odor. And with his active passive skill, the scent spreading from Sae-Jin's body was an incomparable male.
'…It's very good . '
A wolf . Yes, it's the scent of a wolf. Making sure she was invisible, she breathed in air and her face flushed red from the seductive scent.
Tting –'s
But that ruthless elevator has arrived upstairs for VIP guests. The sales agent regretfully watches over Sae-Jin's back as she walks away.
"… . Wow . "
The marble floors are clean and polished until the lights bounce off; a wide view out the window showing the Han river and the beauty of Seoul; blue shading adorned the blue interior to confuse the senses as if someone was walking in the sky – this amazing space was the VIP special Sky Lounge of the Hyunwol Auction House, which was, where no ordinary person could hope to enter all their lives.
"It seems you've arrived."
When Sae-Jin steps on the marble floor with a dazed face, having forgotten the lack of urgent time, a soft yet straight voice comes to her from somewhere.
"Hello. I'm Kim Yu-Rin, a High-ranked Knight, of the Raven Knight Order."
It was Kim Yu-Rin. Quite the opposite when he spoke to the Goblin version of Sae-Jin, he maintained a cold, expressionless face as he offered his hand.
"Ah ... yes, how are you."
For Sae-Jin, it was their second meeting. But for Yu-Rin, it was a first for her. Whatever the case, the two men faced each other and shook hands.
