Episode 123: End of Semester (4)
“Good work this semester. See you next semester.”
As Instructor Do Han-seong’s voice faded, the students all poured out of the classroom at once.
Now it was official—the semester was over.
Not that anything would drastically change because of it.
As for me, I’d still be bouncing between dormitories anyway.
The others… well, they’d go home or do whatever they wanted.
I naturally began walking down the hallway with Yoon Chaeha, who had been standing next to me.
“Where will you be during the break? Gaon? The Magic Tower? Or home?”
Originally, Yoon Chaeha would have become an apprentice at the Magic Tower and learned various spells.
But now that she hadn’t chosen the Tower as her path, chances were things would be different.
She held my gaze for a while at my question, then tilted her head slightly.
“What about you?”
An unexpected counter-question.
I smiled and answered.
“Dormitory.”
She replied immediately.
“Oh, me too.”
Hmm, what’s this?
Something feels… off.
Feeling something was strange, I changed my answer.
“Ah, actually, I might go back to Vanquisher. I might be able to get a room.”
Before I even finished speaking, Yoon Chaeha flinched.
A brief silence followed, then she spoke again.
“Ah… I might actually stay at home… too?”
Her words trailed off awkwardly.
She twirled her hair with her fingertips.
She looked into my eyes for a moment, then quickly averted her gaze.
Suddenly, I remembered that her house was near the Vanquisher headquarters.
Her family was wealthy, after all.
“……”
I quietly looked at her.
That confirmed it.
Yoon Chaeha was trying to follow me. It seemed like she had completely marked me as someone she was interested in.
She wasn’t usually the type to act this thoughtlessly.
When I stared at her openly, she quickly looked away.
“Sigh.”
I let out a soft sigh, half in disbelief.
***
I had lunch with Yoon Chaeha and Cheon Yeoul.
Then the two of them left first—Cheon Yeoul said she had some business at the temple, and Yoon Chaeha just wanted a nap.
I didn’t bother returning to the dorm and instead sat in a corner of a café, tapping away at my laptop.
I’d been here a few days ago, and the atmosphere wasn’t bad. It helped me focus.
Felt better than the gloomy dorm, that’s for sure.
Tap tap tap.
“Hm…”
I took a sip of coffee and turned my attention back to clicking the mouse.
Today was a bit different than usual.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
I was browsing the Hero Auction for the first time in a while.
First reason—because I had way too much money now.
I briefly turned on my watch screen to check my balance.
“…Wow.”
Then I turned it off right away.
Dividends from Glory, compensation from the Association, various bonuses from Gaon.
For someone my age—no, just in general—I had become rich.
I figured it was time to seriously consider what to do with all that money.
Especially since I needed to prepare for entering Bulgaraam’s Workshop.
But here was the problem.
[Excalibur (replica)]
[Goblet of Dionysus (replica)]
Most of the search results were like this.
Everything that caught my eye had the word “replica” tagged on it.
Sure, even these were expensive and high-grade gear, value-wise.
But they didn’t quite satisfy me.
[Formed Blade]
[Thunder Axe]
Even scrolling down further didn’t change things much.
There weren’t any artisan-made items. Just decent-quality mass-produced equipment.
Overall, everything felt… disappointing.
It hadn’t always been this bad.
Back in the day, browsing would at least turn up one interesting item.
Just seeing them used to be fun.
But lately, anything good seemed to get snatched up instantly.
For example:
[Ring of Justice]
[Sold Out]
As you can tell from the name, it’s a ring particularly beneficial for men.
It has some effects that are a bit embarrassing to say out loud, but in the end, it greatly helps with mana activation.
But it was sold out within ten minutes.
And it wasn’t just one or two items like that.
“Ancient Dragon’s Rope… Martial King’s Belt… Gloomy Frog Statue…?”
That last one was kind of weird, but regardless, all the good-looking items were getting snatched up instantly.
As I was browsing through the list of sold items, a thought suddenly hit me.
Wait a second… could it be the Collector?
One person came to mind.
The infamous Collector of the auction house, who swept up any rare and genuine item he could get his hands on.
If he were the one buying everything, it would make some sense… but the Collector probably didn’t have much funding at this point in time.
So chances are, it wasn’t him.
Then who the hell is it?
Sigh.
In the end, I had a lot of money I could spend, but there were fewer and fewer items actually worth spending it on.
And then—
“Something bothering you?”
A coffee cup slid toward me across the table.
Someone sitting across from me looked at me intently.
Actually, I wasn’t alone at the café today.
We’d met after lunch and ended up at the same place.
She said she had some urgent work and came to the café to handle it.
Busy as always, huh.
So somehow, I was with Kang Arin.
She seemed a little more irritated than usual. I hoped her work was going smoothly.
“Not really, it’s nothing…”
I turned my laptop screen slightly and gave a vague response.
But wait a second.
What am I worrying about?
The girl sitting across from me—Kang Arin—is the future successor to Korea’s biggest conglomerate and guild.
Items that aren’t listed on the regular Hero Auction are often traded in the so-called Auction Archive.
The tickets to participate are technically sold on the auction site, but getting one is like catching a star from the sky.
Only influential guild members or well-connected people can get in—I wasn’t there yet.
My mentor didn’t bother with it, since he wasn’t reliant on equipment at all.
But I’m different. I’m very interested.
I don’t have the luxury to dismiss things as “gear dependency” or whatever.
So I carefully opened my mouth.
“Arin.”
“Yeah?”
She replied absentmindedly, clearly not in the best mood.
After a moment of hesitation, I turned the laptop toward her and pointed to a black banner at the bottom of the auction site.
[ARCHIVE]
The highest-tier auction run directly by the site.
“Can you… take me there? Just once?”
I asked cautiously.
At that moment, Kang Arin’s eyes sparkled.
“Of course—!”
A bright smile started to spread across her face, but then her expression froze up again.
“…Hm, but it might be a little difficult?”
Ah. So it really might be tough.
I guess it made sense—it would be a bit much to bring a student like me along. I wasn’t exactly a well-known figure yet.
I had no intention of causing trouble for Arin.
“Oh, then never mind. Thanks anyway.”
I nodded and immediately backed off.
But just then, Arin jerked up slightly in her seat, looking flustered.
“No, no! I didn’t say I couldn’t. It might work!”
I shook my head with a smile.
“I’d feel bad causing you trouble. It’s okay, really.”
But Arin, acting very unlike herself, suddenly waved her hands frantically.
“No way, you’re going for sure. I was just saying—it might be a bit tricky.”
Her voice turned unusually high-pitched, almost like she was trying to be cute.
Her face was red all the way to her ears.
She must really mean it.
I chuckled softly at the sight and added quietly:
“…If it’s really okay, then I’ll take you up on that.”
Then Arin narrowed her eyes at me and gave a firm nod.
“…Yeah. Leave it to me.”
She gave a short reply, then casually picked up her cup to wet her lips.
Even as she did that, her eyes snuck a glance in my direction.
Then she added in a whisper-like tone:
“Then… I’ll contact you soon. Be ready.”
“Okay.”
I nodded quietly, smiling.
***
Jung Haein left.
He seemed to be done with his business and headed back to the dorm.
“Whew, that could’ve ended badly.”
Kang Arin let out a relieved smile, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
She had only said that out of a sense of regret… but she swore she’d never play such a risky push-and-pull game again.
It wasn’t even her style to begin with.
To make things worse, during the break, the Pentagon had unfortunately locked the Fragment Gate.
That meant it was basically game over. Jung Haein would never overexert himself.
Honestly, she wanted to destroy the Pentagon, but since that wasn’t an option, she had given up…
She never expected such a good opportunity to come her way.
“Hehe~”
It was worth the effort.
She hummed a tune as she looked at her laptop.
In truth, the one who had been snatching up all the items at the auction was none other than Kang Arin herself.
She was buying up everything that might look good to Jung Haein.
Because one day, she wanted to personally place those things in his hands.
The problem was—she wasn’t the only one doing that anymore.
The bidding wars had gotten intense.
There are two… no, maybe three others…
She now had to constantly monitor the auction’s movements.
She wanted to know just who was buying things so recklessly, so she planted a spy code into the auction system.
[Gloomy Frog Statue]
[Origin: Hokkaido, Japan]
[Seller’s Note: This is a frog statue. It has been proven to bring good luck to its owner. Effective in all areas.]
[Starting Price: 100,000,000 KRW]
[Final Sale Price: 260,000,000 KRW]
The final price was far above the starting one.
There had been dozens of bids—it was a fierce battle.
The statue was said to greatly increase one’s luck.
It was a rare item.
So she had deliberately released this item on the auction herself, to track the bidders.
But there was a catch: the item’s effect was only temporary.
“Tch.”
Exactly three people had participated in this auction.
They had all fought over a time-limited item.
With a look of anticipation, Kang Arin clicked the list of bidders.
“Let’s see those names~”
Who could they be?
As she opened the list out of curiosity, the corners of her mouth twitched ever so slightly.
She couldn’t help the strange expression on her face.
[1000_y]
[OnE]
[Sion]
“…Hah.”
Apparently, it wasn’t just her.
They all seemed to have the same idea.
Kang Arin closed her laptop with a sigh.
Then she picked up her smartwatch.
Tap tap.
[RIN]: (Photo)
[RIN]: Thanks for the 250 million~
She casually dropped a screenshot of the auction name list into the group chat.
“Ahaha!”
And with a face full of satisfaction, she closed her watch.
To the mysterious [OnE], whom she felt like she just might know…
She was simply grateful.
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