TLNHS 13
by Sylvie Hart 🪐Chapter 13
“Thank you for your hard work.”
The passengers getting off the shuttle greeted the guild members standing in a long line before walking past them.
I also gave them a slight bow in thanks.
But then, we ran into a problem at one particular spot.
[Huh? The barrier’s been cut off! It looks like some kind of talisman strip…?]
Chae Seonhwa pointed toward someone.
[Right there!]
It was the same high-level Hunter who had warned me earlier.
[Ugh, that guy. I didn’t like the look of him from the beginning. And now he’s gone and caused trouble. I knew he would.]
Just then—
Crack─! Crack!
The ground shook.
A strange roar echoed out, and red mist seeped up from beneath the earth.
From within the cracked ground,
something enormous began to rise from the bottomless abyss below.
“GROOOOOOAR!”
Clicking his tongue, Cha Junhyuk looked at the monster rising from the ground with a yawn.
[What is this? A minnow?]
Slash-slash-slash-slash─!
He drew his sword.
Cha Junhyuk had only said a single word.
And yet…
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The monster’s body fell neatly to the ground piece by piece, like expertly sliced sashimi.
It was quite unexpected.
Even after entering the dungeon, Cha Junhyuk had remained in his ghostly state.
Unlike in the Tower, he hadn’t turned into a human, so naturally, I had assumed he wouldn’t be able to use his strength.
But he could actually take down monsters even inside a dungeon?
[See that, Houseowner?]
Cha Junhyuk shrugged and sheathed his sword.
Ah, was it because the mana concentration inside the dungeon was so high?
He had said he felt overflowing with energy earlier. Maybe this was what he meant.
Considering what lay ahead, that was pretty good news.
[Hunters these days have really let their discipline slip. Back in my day, this would never have happened.]
Cha Junhyuk, who was still quite young himself, started lecturing the younger generation of Hunters like an old man reminiscing about the good old days.
[Let’s go to the expo already.]
“Yeah.”
Before more people could start staring at us, I headed toward the exhibition hall.
We had already attracted enough attention, so I figured I should use Random Transformation one more time before going inside.
[Perfect!]
[Wow, Houseowner. You really look like someone I’ve seen around the neighborhood at least once.]
The second Random Transformation was successful as well.
I showed my admission ticket at the entrance to the exhibition hall, and they fastened a paper wristband around my wrist.
“Enjoy the exhibition.”
The exhibition hall was less crowded than I’d expected.
The pathways were spacious, and I was leisurely passing several large guild booths when I heard some voices.
“How long are we supposed to watch our booth?”
“Isn’t it for the whole day?”
“No way! I have to go to the Tower!”
“Exactly. What’s the point of an expo, anyway? Those Association bastards are useless as always.”
“What did the guild master say? Are we supposed to stay here for a whole month?”
“I heard one week is fixed for now.”
“Let’s just finish it in a week, please!”
Public opinion toward the Association was worse than I’d expected.
[Oh! Over there!]
It was the booth that was believed to have the Association President’s secretary stationed there.
I stopped for a moment and looked at my reflection in a mirror attached to the exhibition wall.
A baseball jacket and sunglasses with a camera attached to them.
A baseball cap on my head as well.
And, most importantly, a completely ordinary-looking face that would be so forgettable that no one would remember me even if they passed right by.
Perfect.
Anyone who knew what I normally looked like would never recognize me.
Just as I’d practiced beforehand, I fiddled with the frame of my sunglasses.
The recording device activated, and the camera attached to the sunglasses began filming everything in front of my eyes.
After making this final check, I walked into the booth.
“Welcome.”
When I’d told Chae Seonhwa yesterday that I was going to infiltrate the place like a spy, she’d gotten excited and gone to see Kim Hyunsu.
Now, she spoke with complete confidence.
[The appearance is different, but it’s definitely the same energy!]
He had narrow, cold-looking eyes.
Like me, he had disguised himself to conceal his identity.
But…
‘Why is he dressed as a woman?’
The Association President’s secretary in the photograph had been a man.
But the Kim Hyunsu standing here now was a woman wearing a two-piece suit.
Strangely enough, the disguise looked incredibly natural.
“Please take your time looking around.”
Fortunately, he didn’t suspect me.
After all, he naturally asked,
“Master, is there something in particular you’re looking for?”
It was the password.
The exact password Sua had taught me.
<If he asks, “Master, is there something in particular you’re looking for?” this is how you should answer!>
“Pusark, Pehu. Yeran. Naudis.”
In order, it meant, ‘Use the Rune language. Wealth and harvest are needed.’
The secretary then opened his mouth.
“Raido.”
It worked.
It meant, ‘Board this journey.’
In other words, he was inviting me to their secret exhibition.
We went around behind the double-layered booth panels, where there was a door leading somewhere.
“Master, this way.”
As soon as I stepped through, another exhibition space identical to the one we had just been in appeared.
But more than half of the people filling the expo had disappeared.
‘A mirror.’
A mirror space.
A shortcut within the Course Dungeon created using magic stones.
If you fed this dungeon magic stones as fuel, it would lend out as much of its territory as you wanted.
Perhaps that was why closed-off and secretive expos and exhibitions that weren’t open to the general public were occasionally held inside Course Dungeons.
But even so, creating a space this large inside the Course would have been impossible with an ordinary amount of magic stones.
Which meant…
There must have been an enormous amount of illegal magic stones circulating through the underground market.
This place was a crime scene.
At the booths stretching out in a long line, magic stones were being traded for cash, jewels, and gold.
The Association President’s secretary, who had been guiding us, stopped in front of one of the booths.
“This way.”
The moment we sat down in the chairs in front of the booth, the transaction began.
“What are you looking for?”
“Ten of each grade. I’m here for a sample transaction today. If the quality is satisfactory, I’ll come back.”
“I sincerely hope you’re satisfied, Master.”
I took a bag filled with cash out of my Inventory and exchanged it for the magic stones.
The magic stones he handed over were inside unusual pouches.
They were crude but sturdy-looking black leather pouches.
“Master, you can place these pouches directly into your Inventory. That way, you’ll be able to pass through the security checkpoint without any problems.”
So that’s how it worked.
I purchased a total of one hundred magic stones and left.
Just like when we entered, we exited through the New Wave booth.
“May fortune always be with you, Master.”
The Association President’s secretary gave me a polite farewell.
I returned the same greeting.
“May fortune be with you.”
Those were words Kim Hyunsu desperately needed right now.
After all, we’d just discovered the scene of an illegal magic stone transaction.
I didn’t know what kind of punishment awaited him, but if these were indeed determined to be synthetic magic stones, there was no way this would simply be overlooked.
In any case, that concluded my work for the Hunter Management Bureau.
Now it was time to head to the Course Dungeon auction house.
[Aquarium, let’s go!]
[The aquarium? Wow!]
The Course Dungeon auction house had been located where an aquarium used to stand before the place was turned into a dungeon.
Chae Seonhwa, who had been happily fluttering toward the auction house, soon turned pale.
[…Huh?]
[You’re not going to die.]
The problem was that we had to pass through the enormous aquarium to reach the auction house.
I’d brought underwater-combat items in my Inventory just in case, but the aquarium was far larger than I’d imagined.
[…There’s a shark.]
[Megalodon.]
[…There’s an octopus the size of a dinosaur, too.]
[That’s a Kraken.]
[I’m not going! I can’t! I’ll die!!!]
[I told you, you’re not going to die.]
“……”
I had a feeling this item probably existed precisely for situations like this.
[Huh? Houseowner, that?]
[Ah! We have that!]
The Course Dungeon shortcut map.
I took the map out of my Inventory and spread it open.
“Five steps to the right from the first pillar on the right side of the aquarium.”
It was a rough hand-drawn map.
There were drawings of fish and footprints, along with the number 5.
“Thirty steps to the left. Then seventeen steps to the left again at the fork.”
A new door appeared.
An arrow on the map pointed toward it.
[There was a door here?]
Creeeeak─
The door opened on its own even though we had merely stood in front of it.
Warm light and singing drifted out from inside.
“Suspicious.”
[I think so too.]
[Could it be a subspace?]
Just as we were eyeing the place suspiciously, someone inside cheerfully greeted us.
The person had lively energy in their voice, contrasting sharply with their emotionless features.
They looked as if someone had dressed a mannequin in a uniform.
“Welcome. Are you perhaps a VIP guest?”
VIP?
Ah, did they mean a VIP at the auction house?
“This is the VIP Lounge!”
[There was a VIP lounge at the auction house?]
“May I see your ticket?”
I took the Gemstone Auction VIP admission ticket out of my Inventory.
“For real! They’re really a VIP! Everyone! Get up! We have a VIP guest! Please come in! You’re the first VIP guest since our lounge opened!”
By then, the door had already been opened wide.
Through the bright lights, I could see a bar with a bartender, a salad bar filled with various foods like a buffet, and tables scattered around.
All the employees stood in a line and applauded me.
[This is nice!]
[They really know how to treat a VIP.]
But why was the VIP Lounge a shortcut?
“You may rest here for as long as you’d like before continuing. The lounge exit connects directly to the auction house ticket booth.”
Ah, so that’s how it worked.
“You may eat as much of the food in the lounge as you like. Everything gets thrown away after today anyway.”
[Wow! I was hungry, so this is perfect!]
[Houseowner, what should we eat?]
There was no need to think about it.
For the next hour, my ghosts each sampled every dish in the lounge, one plate at a time.
[I feel like my stomach is going to burst.]
[This lounge really takes food seriously.]
“Thank you for visiting! Please come again!”
The place we exited was directly behind the auction house ticket booth.
“Are you here for the Gemstone Auction? May I see your ticket?”
I handed the Gemstone Auction VIP admission ticket to the ticket booth employee.
“A VIP ticket!”
“A VIP is here?!”
“Where?”
“Who is it?”
The employees who had been sitting and selling auction catalogs all stood up.
“Welcome!”
“Gift! Bring the gift box!”
The moment an employee shouted, a refrigerator-sized box appeared from somewhere.
“Please continue to show lots of love for the Gemstone Auction!”
The gift box was covered in gemstone logos and stickers.
Even the packaging had clearly been prepared with care.
But there was no way I could carry something this large around.
“I’d just like to take the contents inside.”
“Oh, certainly. We’ll take everything out separately for you.”
Five employees immediately started dismantling the refrigerator-sized box.
There were another five boxes inside that box.
Classic excessive packaging.
A sophisticated marketing tactic that allowed the giver to show off while also surprising the recipient.
“Here you are!”
Fortunately, there wasn’t much inside.
Everything fit into an A3-sized paper bag.
There was one exhibition catalog, along with various buttons and file folders designed with gemstone characters.
There was also a tumbler, and, of course, a commemorative towel.
And finally…
A mask?
There was a glittering iron mask inside.
As I picked it up and examined it, the employee spoke proudly.
“Our VIP guests are precious to us!”
“Does it have a specific purpose?”
“Yes. Please wear it in case of an emergency.”
An emergency?
“Oh, and this is a priority bidding pass. You can use all three of them.”
The employee handed me three yellow, gemstone-shaped stickers.
“Peel these off and attach them to the catalog. Place them on the items you want. These bidding passes can be used at all future events held in Course Dungeons. You just need the catalog for the corresponding event. They can be used starting tomorrow.”
The bidding passes were surprisingly versatile.
It would probably be best to keep them in my Inventory so I could use them whenever necessary.
“We also give our VIP guests a special catalog.”
A special catalog?
“If you place the VIP admission ticket on top of the catalog like this…”
A 3D holographic image was overlaid onto the previously ordinary booklet.
“The special catalog is more user-friendly.”
The employee flipped through the catalog rapidly, and the auction items on each page appeared briefly as holograms before disappearing.
“This lets you examine the auction items up close. It also provides much more detailed information than the regular catalog. And…”
The employee opened the very last page of the catalog and ran a hand over the blank endpaper.
[Huh? I can see letters!]
As if by magic, letters began appearing on the page.
“You can also see information about surprise auction items in advance.”
<Today’s Secret Auction Items>
- Caesar’s Signet Ring
- Kerk’s Compass: Season 3
- Copy of a Chalice Made from Moldavite
Kerk’s Compass?
The name wasn’t unfamiliar.
I checked my Inventory, and sure enough.
<A map showing the location of the Golden Goblin’s legacy.
Part of a set with the compass of Kerk, the progenitor of the Golden Goblins.
Sealed.
Can be used on the 30th floor.>
Seeing this, I finally understood why the Gemstone Auction VIP admission ticket had dropped when I defeated Kerk.
‘Maybe he wanted to get the secret auction item….’
But if it was Kerk’s Compass, wasn’t it originally his own possession?
How had he lost it?
And what did Season 3 mean?
I also wondered how a ghost had planned to bid in the first place.
Had he intended to ask a living person to do it for him?
Several questions came to mind at once, but today’s goal was clear.
I was going to win that Kerk’s Compass at auction.
The employee closed the catalog with a satisfied expression.
“And this is the digital bell used to participate in the auction.”
It was about the size of one of those vibrating pagers used to notify customers when their drinks were ready at a café.
There was one red button and one blue button at the bottom, with a digital screen in the center.
“The red button is for bidding, and the blue button is for entering the amount. Press the blue button, and a numeric keypad will appear on the screen.”
The employee pressed the blue button, and numbers from 0 to 9 appeared.
“Enter the number, then press the red button. And…”
The employee paused and checked the manual again.
“VIP guests can use physical coins. After we verify the serial number.”
Serial number?
“Verification is necessary?”
“Yes. Occasionally, people try to bring in unverified coins. Since this is a package item that comes with the VIP admission ticket, it puts us in a rather difficult position.”
The employee placed the catalog against a machine, and the serial number of the VIP admission ticket appeared on the screen.
“As long as the coins have the same serial number as the one on your VIP ticket, they’re valid. May I ask you to let us verify them?”
I took the coin pouch out of my Inventory.
“Please pour them into this coin counter!”
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
The coins were sucked into the machine and dropped directly into the basket underneath.
【ALL CLEAR】
“Thank you for your cooperation!”
Cha Junhyuk clicked his tongue when he saw that.
[No wonder nobody could use them.]
“Oh! Would you like some additional coins? You can exchange them right here. It’s one coin per 1 million won. We’ll load the digital coins directly onto your auction bell.”
[That’s incredibly expensive, isn’t it?]
So did that mean the coins I currently had were worth roughly 1.1 billion won?
“You can also get a refund for any unused digital coins. However, only within 24 hours.”
Once all the explanations were finished, the employee opened the curtain at the entrance to the auction house.
“After checking your name on the waiting-room list, you can enter the auction house right away!”
Now that I’d received the gift box, all I had to do was go into the auction house and win Kerk’s Compass.
However, the person we encountered inside the auction house was completely unexpected.
<Auction Number 1. The first item up for auction is the Cursed Pendant.>
A blood-red ruby pendant appeared on the large screen.
<This pendant was once owned by ‘Isea’…>
The auction item was clearly a ruby pendant.
But—
[Isea?]
Isea.
The No. 2-ranked Korean Hunter who had reportedly died in the Tower several months ago.
That very Isea had appeared before us as a ghost.
0 Comments