Chapter 145 – The Auction

“100 million won?”

In just a few minutes, the starting price of 10,000 won had changed to 100 million won.

‘The bidding amount can be raised up to 5 million won at a time.’

That meant that in just a few minutes, 20 people had bid, raising the amount to the maximum.

‘I didn’t expect it to be this hot.’

Regardless of the amount, the fact that there were so many competitors made Kim Byung-soo’s face fill with displeasure.

At that moment, a popup window appeared on his smartphone screen.

[As the auction price has exceeded 100 million won, the bidding amount will be adjusted and time will be limited.]

[Bidding unit ☞ Maximum 10 million won]

[Bidding restriction ☞ Once per hour]

It was natural for the bidding unit to change according to the amount.

‘When it reaches 200 million, it will change to 20 million, and at 300 million, it will change to 30 million.’

Additionally, to prevent the auction price from rising too steeply, a restriction of once per hour was also implemented.

‘The next possible bidding time is an hour later.’

Kim Byung-soo couldn’t hide his anxious feelings as he looked at the auction price that had instantly reached 100 million won.

‘For now, let’s wait without participating.’

After all, in auctions, the person who bids last wins.

There was no need to participate intermittently and increase the stakes.

‘There are still 23 hours left.’

He could wait leisurely, check the final auction price, and then bid slightly higher.

With that thought, Kim Byung-soo put down his smartphone.

However.

After 3 hours passed, he couldn’t bear the curiosity about the auction price.

Kim Byung-soo accessed Hunter Market again.

And.

“Gasp!”

He was shocked by the auction price that had risen to 3 billion won.

“What? It’s already over 3 billion won?”

He had bought the Black Cat Summon skill book for the hefty sum of 2 billion won.

But now, the price had far exceeded that.

And that was in just 3 hours.

‘Of course, the Ghost Wolf is rarer than the Black Cat.’

Though difficult to obtain, the Black Cat was an item that appeared annually.

In contrast, the Ghost Wolf was so rare that he had never even heard its name before.

Naturally, in terms of scarcity, they couldn’t be compared.

‘Even so, the price is rising too quickly…’

At least with the Black Cat, he knew its abilities, but with the Ghost Wolf, he had no idea what skills it possessed.

‘That’s what makes me want to buy it even more.’

Being able to learn the skill as the first person in the world was a significant merit beyond just scarcity.

Knowing this, Kim Byung-soo couldn’t help but feel anxious.

‘At this rate, how high will it go later?’

He was already worried that it might exceed his budget.

There were still 21 hours left in the auction.

‘As long as it doesn’t exceed 150 billion won.’

Kim Byung-soo, who had decided to wait and see until then, earnestly prayed in his heart.

* * *

Min Do-jun smiled as he watched the auction price of the Ghost Wolf rise with time.

‘As expected, using subordinates makes it rise exponentially.’

The rapid increase in the auction price was for no other reason.

It was because all the Black Sea Guild members were participating in the auction as per Min Do-jun’s instructions.

‘Since they all have a certain amount of funds, it’s easy to raise the auction price.’

The guild members individually had funds ranging from 500 million to 3 billion won.

As B-rank hunters, they had accumulated a fair amount of money.

‘This should be enough to raise the initial auction price and filter out the riffraff.’

This was the reason they were able to raise the stakes to 3 billion won in just 3 hours.

‘After this, I’ll bid alone.’

Since no guild member had more than 3 billion won, Min Do-jun would have to bid alone from now on.

‘I can raise the auction price up to about 100 billion won.’

Min Do-jun currently had 100 billion won.

Considering he had only been awakened for a year, he had earned an enormous amount.

100 billion won was equivalent to the annual salary of an A-rank hunter.

‘Pet Master should have at least this much money. Having hunted for 11 years as an early hunter.’

Even if he raised the auction price to 100 billion won, Pet Master would be able to bid without difficulty.

‘Beyond that, I can’t do anything.’

If the auction price rose beyond his funds, there would be no way to intervene.

‘If that happens, I can only hope that Pet Master bids with more funds… Well, I don’t think it will rise that much.’

But contrary to Min Do-jun’s expectations, the auction price rose as if there was no limit.

5 billion won surpassed in 6 hours.

10 billion won surpassed in 10 hours.

20 billion won surpassed in 13 hours.

50 billion won surpassed in 18 hours.

And 100 billion won surpassed in 21 hours.

After 21 hours, Min Do-jun could no longer bid.

He didn’t have enough funds.

‘Now I have to let it go.’

Anyway, the stakes were increasing on their own.

* * *

Kang Hyuk-su, a man with a large build, sat on a sofa that looked narrow for him and asked.

“Kyung-min, when can we meet Hunter Min Do-jun?”

Shin Kyung-min, sitting across from him, answered nonchalantly.

“He said he’d contact us when he has time, so let’s wait.”

“How long do I have to wait? My neck will break from waiting!”

“Isn’t your neck too thick for that?”

“Stop joking! In reality, isn’t he rejecting our goodwill?”

“Maybe he really doesn’t have time? Judging by his leveling speed, he must be busy.”

Min Do-jun had been consistently running dungeons despite being busy with surveillance and auctions.

As a result, he was able to reach level 2,200 faster than anyone else.

Shin Kyung-min, who had been monitoring this fact through the ranking system, couldn’t help but acknowledge it.

That his growth rate was as steep as his own.

“At this rate, I might even be caught up to?”

“It’s not funny when you joke with such a serious face.”

“I’m not joking.”

“You’re already at level 3,400. There’s a level gap of 1,200, so what are you talking about?”

Kang Hyuk-su also acknowledged Min Do-jun’s rapid growth rate.

But Shin Kyung-min was also showing a leveling speed unparalleled in the world.

Kang Hyuk-su, who had been watching from the side, knew Shin Kyung-min’s strength better than anyone.

Because of this, he had no doubt that Shin Kyung-min would one day surpass Justin Walker and reach the world’s number one rank.

“But Hunter Min Do-jun is also amazing. The more I see him, the more I want him by my side.”

“If only Hunter Min Do-jun could become S-rank as soon as possible, then we could form a party and have a chance to get closer.”

“If he’s capable of solo-killing an S-rank boss, hasn’t he already achieved the skills to stand shoulder to shoulder with us?”

“That might be true.”

After conquering the Shadow of the Desert dungeon, Min Do-jun’s strength was reported through articles, but more than half of the people couldn’t believe it. After all, if someone said an A-rank hunter solo-killed an S-rank boss, anyone would doubt their own ears first.

“Kyung-min, what do you think? Does Hunter Min Do-jun really seem that strong?”

“Well, I haven’t seen him hunt directly, so I can’t give a definitive answer, but…”

Shin Kyung-min recalled.

The image of Min Do-jun, who wasn’t intimidated at all in front of him, the top-ranked hunter.

“The claim that he solo-killed the boss is probably true.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. The hunters who entered the dungeon all testified unanimously. And they weren’t even acquainted with each other.”

“They’re not lying?”

“Come on, they’re all formidable hunters over level 2,000. Would they swallow their pride and lie? They must be saying what they actually saw and heard.”

“But when we actually entered the dungeon, there was no boss room that they claimed to have seen, right?”

To verify the testimony, Kang Hyuk-su had paid them for information and had them guide him to the boss room.

But no matter how much they searched the sub-dungeon, they couldn’t find the boss room.

“They were also surprised that the boss room wasn’t there.”

“That’s true. I don’t know if it was acting though.”

“Maybe it was like a one-time event boss that disappears after being conquered once?”

“If that’s the case, Hunter Min Do-jun is an incredibly lucky guy. He monopolized not one, but two such rare bosses.”

“Items dropped from such bosses must be incredibly valuable.”

“They would be. I heard from the hunters who were in the party that items called the Runic Turtle Shield and the Pharaoh’s Crown dropped.”

“Both are items I’ve never heard of before.”

“If they were auctioned on Hunter Market, they would probably be worth tens of billions, wouldn’t they?”

Kang Hyuk-su, who had been looking envious, picked up his smartphone.

“Speaking of which, let’s check if he’s really listed them.”

Kang Hyuk-su, who logged in through the app, searched for today’s auction section.

Having used it frequently to equip hunters in the guild, he was proficient.

“Let’s see. If I look for the latest among the items being auctioned…”

As Kang Hyuk-su was browsing the auction items, his eyes caught something unusual.

Noticing the change, Shin Kyung-min asked first.

“Did you find it?”

“Huh? Ah, no… there’s something I’ve never seen before.”

“What is it?”

Shin Kyung-min’s gaze turned to the smartphone.

And just like Kang Hyuk-su, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.

“Ghost Wolf Summon skill book?”

A skill book Shin Kyung-min had never seen before.

The two naturally looked at the auction price.

And they exclaimed simultaneously in surprise.

“100, 100 billion won?”

How could a single skill book be worth 100 billion won?

This was equivalent to the price of a top-tier S-grade equipment.

“Is, is it an incredibly good summon?”

With that thought, they checked the information window uploaded by the seller.

But as is typical with summon skill books, there was only a brief description, with no information about the summon’s abilities.

“It’s this valuable even though we don’t know its abilities?”

“Maybe it’s because it’s a summon appearing for the first time.”

“It’s definitely a summon I’ve never heard of before.”

Although they hadn’t learned summoning skills, they were well-versed in items.

Even they had never heard of or seen a summon called the Ghost Wolf.

“The basic grade is B, but the usage restriction is from level 500?”

Typically, B-grade skills can be used from level 750.

“Skills that can be learned earlier than their grade usually are worth more than their value.”

“That’s true.”

It was undeniably a rare skill book.

“Look at the description of the skill book too. It says it’s a secret technique left by the death summoner Clark?”

“It’s likely a named boss. Though I haven’t heard of it.”

Named bosses occasionally appear in S-rank dungeons.

The descriptions of items they left often had their names written like this, so it could be inferred that a named boss had dropped it.

“If it’s an item dropped by a named boss, its abilities are undoubtedly exceptional.”

Although it was a B-grade skill, the grade didn’t particularly matter.

After all, it could be enhanced to S-grade with a Skill Grade Enhancement Stone.

What’s important is the skill’s inherent ability and basic specs.

And if it was an item dropped by a named boss, that alone gave it merit.

“A summon skill book I’ve never seen before, dropped by a named boss I’ve never heard of… This is slightly tempting, isn’t it?”

“Really?”

Kang Hyuk-su nodded seriously.

“With the rarity of not being known until now, and being an item dropped by a named boss, it might be worth trying?”

“You don’t have a hobby of keeping summons around, do you?”

“But if a skill book has reached 100 billion won, doesn’t that mean it has that much value?”

And with 3 hours remaining, Kang Hyuk-su joined the bidding competition.