Lee Tae-sung headed to Guryong Bookstore with a light step.
His shoulders were squared, and his face was full of confidence.
In the Dream World, it felt like there had never been a moment where his entire body was this full of positive energy.
‘Indeed, a man’s pockets need to be full.’
He had successfully exchanged his money through a broker.
“Y-You’re exchanging this much?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Oh! Not at all! Thank you, valued customer! I will serve you with all my heart!”
Because Lee Tae-sung had exchanged an amount he never even dreamed of earning in his entire life all at once, the broker’s grin reached from ear to ear.
This was because the larger the amount, the larger the commission.
After successfully finishing the exchange, he entered Guryong Bookstore.
“Red Sector 56 is 2 gold per hour.”
“Yes. I’ll take my time looking around.”
He was now unfazed by the guard’s words.
When he first arrived, he had rushed in, but now he was full of composure.
2 gold per hour? That was nothing now.
‘Alright. Let’s start again.’
Standing in front of the six buildings in Sector 56, Lee Tae-sung clapped his hands once to refresh his mood and then went inside.
Now that the money issue was solved, he just needed to find the skill.
***
“…This is driving me crazy.”
24 hours.
That was the amount of time Lee Tae-sung had spent in Sector 56.
The amount he spent came to a whopping 48 gold.
It was an amount even larger than the total Lee Tae-sung had earned performing requests for the Flying Dragon Clan before he spent real-world money.
Originally, he had planned to use this money to buy and consume an Elixir from the market, but he had blown it all at the bookstore.
‘Of course, a high-quality Elixir isn’t something you can get just by having money…’
Even a mere Lowest Grade Elixir Alchemical Furnace was treated as a secret and wasn’t easily leaked.
Naturally, the higher the grade of the Elixir, the more it required a combination of money, connections, and luck.
So, he didn’t regret spending the money…
But the problem was that he had no results despite spending all that time.
< That crazy Flame Emperor. If he was going to say he left something here, he should have been clear about it. He called you his Disciple, yet did he want to see his Disciple suffer? >
Abeson, who was floating beside him and scanning the books’ contents together, muttered.
Over the course of a day, they were able to check the first floor and part of the basement of the first building.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the skill left by the Flame Emperor and only realized that most of them were trash books.
“Now I have to look through the rest of the basement and check the second through fifth floors the same way.”
< And there are five more buildings like this. >
“…It’s overwhelming.”
He didn’t know how much time it would take if he searched through everything alone.
Moreover, the mental fatigue from constantly breathing in dust in the archives and looking only at letters was significant.
Lee Tae-sung eventually came out of the building.
Since he hadn’t seen sunlight all day, he planned to get some photosynthesis first.
Lee Tae-sung slowly strolled near Sector 56.
“Excuse me… Master. You seem to be troubled by something.”
Someone approached him at that moment.
When Lee Tae-sung turned his head, he saw a middle-aged man with a goat beard wearing shabby clothes.
“Hehe. This humble one is called Hwang Cheong-wu.”
“…I am Lee Tae-sung.”
“So you are Master Lee. It is truly an honor to meet you like this.”
?
Lee Tae-sung tilted his head.
Why was a person he was meeting for the first time being so polite?
“Oh! I’m not a suspicious person. Nor am I a petty thief. Please don’t look at me with those eyes.”
Hwang Cheong-wu said this as Lee Tae-sung glanced at the money pouch on his waist.
“Then why did you come to me?”
“Well… do you happen to need a worker, Master?”
“A worker?”
“Yes! I’ve stayed at this bookstore for quite a while. I’m an expert at finding books. If you just give me a reward, I’ll help you find the book you’re looking for!”
Lee Tae-sung was slightly stunned by the unexpected proposal.
“…How did you know I couldn’t find the book?”
“Time is gold in this bookstore, yet you were walking blankly on the street.”
Lee Tae-sung nodded his head without realizing it.
It was obvious.
“What do you think?”
Hwang Cheong-wu was a ronin of Guryong Bookstore.
One might wonder how a bookstore ronin could even exist, but there were more people like this in Guryong Bookstore than one would think.
They were people who dreamed of becoming powerful by finding incredible martial arts manuals, Hybrid books, or magic books hidden somewhere in the bookstore.
Occasionally, rumors of people actually succeeding would surface.
Because of that, some ronins invested their entire fortunes to stay in the bookstore, and Hwang Cheong-wu was a similar case.
Such people worked as laborers for wealthy individuals when they ran out of money, using the earned gold to search for the books they wanted again.
“And you can put your worries about security to rest. If you ask Guryong Bookstore to mediate during the contracting process, they will guarantee it.”
With hundreds of years of history and immense wealth, Guryong Bookstore naturally had a military force as well.
It wasn’t just any power; they possessed strength rivaling large factions.
That was how they ensured no intruders would carelessly target the books.
If they stood as a guarantee, even if the hired workers found an excellent martial arts or magic manual, they would have to quietly accept their payment and hand it over.
Otherwise, the Guryong Bookstore pursuit squad would chase them to the ends of hell.
‘Not bad.’
That was the thought that occurred to Lee Tae-sung after hearing Hwang Cheong-wu’s explanation.
He glanced to his side.
Abeson was floating there, visible only to Lee Tae-sung, and he also nodded.
< I think it’s good. If you do it alone, who knows how long you’ll have to stay here. >
Since Abeson could not exert physical force, searching through the books was solely Lee Tae-sung’s responsibility.
But searching alone could deplete one’s mental strength, and mistakes could happen.
Hiring people in such a situation would make the work much faster and more efficient.
“How much?”
“Please just give me 2.5 gold per hour!”
“Why is it so expensive?”
“Oh! Expensive, Master? It costs 2 gold just to stay here. I have to at least receive that much.”
He would pay 2 gold for the entrance fee, and the remaining 50 silver would be his own share.
He planned to save that money and later find the books he wanted in the sectors he preferred.
“All right. Let’s do it.”
***
He hired the goat-bearded man, Hwang Cheong-wu.
Furthermore, unexpectedly, he ended up hiring twenty additional workers.
-You’ve come to sign a non-disclosure transaction contract?
-Yes.
I’m planning to hire this man as a short-term worker.
-Understood.
We will assist with the mediation.
Do you happen to need any other workers?
-Pardon?
While asking for mediation, the Chief Overseer of Guryong Bookstore made an unexpected suggestion.
-At Guryong Bookstore, we have workers who are tight-lipped and promised to maintain absolute secrecy while striving to find exactly the books the customer wants.
How about hiring them?
……?
It was an official worker provision service offered by Guryong Bookstore.
Naturally, the price was astronomical.
Because of that, they wouldn’t even make such a proposal unless the customer seemed wealthy like Lee Tae-sung.
‘Guryong Bookstore must be making a fortune.’
He thought they only made money by selling access to books, but that wasn’t the case.
It cost a lot of money just to sign a non-disclosure contract, and they even had this worker provision service.
Guryong Bookstore made money in all sorts of ways.
Of course, for Lee Tae-sung, who was now in a position to have some money, it was a welcome service.
“Please categorize them into martial arts manuals, Hybrid books, magic books, and other miscellaneous books. First, among the martial arts and Hybrid books, please further categorize those that appear to be sword techniques.”
Lee Tae-sung said as he walked among the workers.
With many people involved, the speed of searching for books increased tremendously.
What he had spent 24 hours searching through was only the first floor and part of the basement, but in just a few hours, the basement and the second and third floors were cleared.
Even though the basement was wider than the ground floors, the speed was impressive.
The professional workers and Hwang Cheong-wu were experts at finding books, so they were definitely different.
They finished the categorization smoothly and placed the books before him.
All Lee Tae-sung had to do was find the Flame Emperor’s sword technique from among them.
“Sigh. This isn’t it either.”
Lee Tae-sung muttered as he closed a book.
It was a fairly old sword manual, so he had high hopes, but it certainly wasn’t something left by the Flame Emperor.
“Excuse me… Master.”
As Lee Tae-sung was about to pick up another book, Hwang Cheong-wu, who had found and brought a pile of books, spoke to him cautiously.
“I don’t know what you are looking for, but how about trying another sector?”
“Another sector?”
“Yes. The Red Sector is the oldest part of Guryong Bookstore. There are many evaluations that everything worth finding has already been found.”
Guryong Bookstore had a history of hundreds of years, but it hadn’t been this size from the start.
It began with a single archive, which gradually expanded to include the Red Sector, Orange Sector, Yellow Sector, and so on.
The Red Sector was the oldest area, and most of the old rumors about people obtaining Fortuitous Encounters at Guryong Bookstore came from the Red Sector.
Because of that, there were evaluations from the veterans that everything to be found had already been taken.
“I appreciate the advice, but I want to look a bit more.”
“Oh! I think I’ve confused you with unnecessary words. Then I shall get back to work!”
Hwang Cheong-wu bowed and quickly ran back to work.
Abeson, watching his back, spoke up.
< That guy might be cheeky and reckless, but he’s not the type to lie. >
Even Abeson, who hated the Flame Emperor so much, said as much.
And Lee Tae-sung also didn’t think the Flame Emperor’s voice he heard through the communication back then sounded like he was lying.
The Flame Emperor’s skill was definitely here.
Believing that, Lee Tae-sung once again examined the categorized books.
***
A few days passed.
Lee Tae-sung picked up books mechanically with fatigued eyes.
There were still no results.
The workers had been rotated several times already.
When they grew tired, they were replaced with new workers.
Guryong Bookstore was good at replenishing personnel, and as rumors spread, he even hired a few people who were loitering around as additional workers.
Among the books they piled up, he boldly discarded magic books and miscellaneous texts, focusing only on sword manuals and Hybrid books among the few martial arts manuals.
‘This is bad. If I keep having no results like this, I might have to look through everything from the beginning again.’
Perhaps it wasn’t a sword technique but something else?
Or maybe it was hidden among the miscellaneous books.
If so, he would have to search again…
The thought alone was overwhelming.
Lee Tae-sung pressed his temples and picked up another book.
It was a low-level Hybrid book.
Moreover, the content was strange; it was a ridiculous book where one might suffer a mana backflow if they learned it as it was.
However, Lee Tae-sung felt a strange attraction to it.
Whether it was because he was exhausted or not, in a daze, he followed his instinct and faintly activated the Heavenly Fire Holy Law Art.
The Heavenly Fire Holy Law Art was contained in his fingertips.
The moment it slightly heated the book, the letters began to change.
Specific parts of the ink turned red, then moved like living organisms and transformed into new letters.
!
Lee Tae-sung began to read the new content step by step.
What was written on the very first line was the name “Flame Tide Surging Wave Sword.”
And the moment he read it.
*Tring!*
**[Flame Tide Surging Wave Sword (Legendary)]**
**- Rank: Transcendental Realm Martial Arts (Sword Art)**
**[Would you like to learn the Flame Tide Surging Wave Sword (Legendary)?]**
**[64 skill points are required]**
Lee Tae-sung’s eyes widened, and he muttered without realizing it.
“I-I found it…”