Chapter 54: Pay-to-Win Warrior (3)

Suddenly, a clear, resonant voice came from behind.

“Master. I have returned.”

Kim Youngjun turned his head as if possessed.

At the same time.

“……!”

His jaw dropped.

She was so beautiful that she could have been a movie star, a model, an idol, a news anchor, a flight attendant, or a famous YouTuber.

Long black hair that reached her waist, faintly flushed alabaster skin, and strikingly defined features that evoked the allure of a Northern European beauty.

The female underclassmen were just as stunned.

“Wow, insane.”

“She’s gorgeous…”

“Is she a foreign model?”

“Oh my god…”

Exclamations burst out involuntarily.

They say that in the face of overwhelming beauty, even jealousy disappears.

Kim Youngjun and the girls stared blankly at the Nordic-style goddess who had appeared before them.

Meanwhile, the person most shocked of all was Kim Yerim.

What shocked Kim Yerim wasn’t just the woman’s looks.

That’s a Bellusace satin pin dress…!

The black mini dress the beauty wore was Bellusace’s new summer release, a luxury item costing well over 4 million won.

It fit her so perfectly it could have been custom-made.

Next, Kim Yerim’s eyes landed on the pristine white feet in Dimol Deway heeled sandals.

Those… those are the ones I wanted to buy.

But the crowning touch was the Chanel Classic Small Flap Bag slung over her shoulder.

A super-luxury bag worth well over 20 million won.

From head to toe, she was draped in luxury items worth hundreds of millions—no, possibly billions—of won.

The perfectly coordinated outfit only amplified her dazzling beauty.

The fact that she wore almost no accessories somehow made her look even more refined.

Kim Yerim had always believed she could hold her own against anyone in terms of looks.

But now.

She could only blink speechlessly.

Even the way the woman walked looked like a painting come to life; Kim Yerim couldn’t help but feel small in her presence.

From the very beginning, this woman exuded an aura of royal dignity.

…As if she were born noble, fundamentally different from everyone else.

Clack— Clack— Clack—

Finally, she spoke.

“Master. The thing called… makeup took longer than expected. I apologize.”

“No, it’s fine. I just finished too. The makeup suits you really well. The outfit too.”

At Cha Hasang’s single compliment, the beauty shyly lowered her head.

At that moment,

“Damn! She’s insanely hot! Body, face… KRRRR… total spicy hottie!”

Kim Youngjun shouted like an idiot.

The words had slipped out before he could stop them.

Naturally, the girls’ piercing glares rained down on him.

“What the hell…”

“Spicy hottie…? Total pervert.”

“Face-rating and body-rating on another level…”

“Wow… such a materialist…”

The girls whispered just loud enough to be heard.

But Kim Youngjun, completely entranced, didn’t seem to hear a thing.

Then Kim Yerim, swallowing hard, asked Cha Hasang.

“Hasang-oppa… is she… your girlfriend?”

Kim Yerim’s face was tense as she gulped.

If that woman was Cha Hasang’s girlfriend… she had no chance.

That’s what she thought.

But Cha Hasang shook his head.

“Nah, not my girlfriend. I’m single.”

With those words, Kim Yerim let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Kim Youngjun opened his mouth to say something, but—

“Ah, sorry. I’ve got somewhere to be. See you guys at school.”

Cha Hasang turned away after a brief farewell, as if he really was in a hurry.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Master.”

The blindingly beautiful woman followed right behind him.

Watching them leave, Kim Youngjun put on a serious expression.

“Master? So Hasang, that guy…”

He nodded solemnly and continued.

“He’s more of a gentleman than I thought. Master-disciple play… he knows what’s up.”

“Pervert…”

“Gross…”

“Trash…”

The girls’ contemptuous whispers rang out again.

This time, even Kim Yerim joined in.

“Youngjun-sunbae… could you hold your breath for thirty minutes?”

***

Tak!

I climbed into the parked Benz Royce.

Shopping is surprisingly exhausting.

I only swept through luxury stores for a couple of hours, yet I felt completely drained.

Soon, I opened my status window.

Ding-dong!

<Stats>  

– Strength: 150 <+5↑>  

– Stamina: 150 <+5↑>  

– Agility: 150 <+5↑>  

– Intelligence: 150 <+5↑> 

– Mental Power: 260 <+5↑>

Every stat had gone up by 5 points.

Luxury-section flexing.

Operation “Pay-to-Win Warrior” was a success.

But…

…The cost-performance ratio sucks.

The amount I spent today at Galleria easily exceeded nine figures.

However, there is a limit to how much fame you can farm just by buying luxury goods.

In the long run, this method of raising stats isn’t efficient.

Which means…

I have no choice but to become a big shot.

A true heavyweight whose name spreads through word of mouth even when I do nothing.

As the saying goes, money and fame aren’t things you chase—they’re things that come to you.

So how should I invest the funds I have to create the most efficient virtuous cycle?

Investing in stocks isn’t bad, but…

I’m not the youngest son of a chaebol family.

I’m a complete novice when it comes to finance.

I’ve never even installed a stock-trading app in my life.

How can I use this money to create an efficient upward spiral?

Of course, deep down I already knew the answer.

If I’m a hunter, I should make money like a hunter.

***

The next day.

Bishin Inside, the largest community site in Korea.

The Awakened Gallery was absolutely buzzing in real time.

– What’s going on at the auction house? Why are there suddenly so many good items?  

Mysterious artifacts keep popping up  

– oOo Tons of good stuff listed since yesterday  

Everything being uploaded is C-rank or higher rare items lol  

There was even a B-rank sword this morning  

Damn I needed a sword  

↳ Poor awakened… got money for a B-rank weapon? kek  

– Did some raid party clear a dungeon or what?  

Probably a big guild dumping stuff  

↳ No no no, same person has been listing everything since yesterday  

↳ How the hell did one guy get all that?  

Dunno? Maybe an A+ hunter lol jealous  

– Anyone know who’s listing?  

400 No clue.  

Auction house never reveals seller info anyway  

Security is tight kek, managed by an awakened synced with Lokpia spies  

– Ogre weapon just dropped on the auction house!

↳ Holy shit isn’t an ogre weapon A-rank??  

If the top guilds start bidding it’s over  

Poor awakened do you even have money kekeke  

Auction house is gonna explode today kekeke  

Can’t hold back kek going to watch  

Link plz  

-Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

My smartphone notifications kept ringing endlessly.

-<The item you listed has been sold!> 

-<The item you listed has been sold!>  

-<The item you listed has been sold!> 

-<The item you listed has been sold!>

All the artifacts I had listed on the auction house had been sold.

Every single one from the Gangwon-do dungeon a few days ago.

From drops of goblins, orcs, ghouls, skeletons, vampires, etc., to the artifacts from the treasure vault—nearly a hundred items in total were registered.

I opened the auction house app.

A neat list of successfully sold items appeared.

<Goblin’s Dagger [E-rank] – 430,000 won – Sold> 

<Skeleton Soldier’s Broken Shield [D-rank] – 685,000 won – Sold>  

<Letter of the Dead [D+-rank] – 2,065,000 won – Sold>  

<Enchanting Perfume [C-rank] – 4,370,000 won – Sold>  

<Rock Drake’s Carapace Helmet [C-rank] – 5,150,000 won – Sold> 

<Stone Troll’s Rock-Cutting Blade [C+-rank] – 8,790,000 won – Sold>

“Everything sold cleanly.”

Not a single artifact I listed remained unsold.

Low-grade cheap items disappeared the moment they were posted.

Low-grade gear is relatively affordable and has tons of potential buyers.

They sold so fast that the moment the “registered” notification appeared, the “sold” one followed instantly.

Higher-grade items, on the other hand, took dozens of times longer to sell.

Not because they didn’t sell.

-<Your listed item’s highest bid has been updated!>

-<Your listed item’s highest bid has been updated!> 

-<Your listed item’s highest bid has been updated!>

The reason it took time was simple: guild bidding wars never stopped.

From B-rank onward, demand is insane while supply is pitifully low.

That’s why these ferocious bidding frenzies happen.

The artifact I just listed was an A-rank weapon obtained after killing an ogre.

In Korea, an A-rank weapon is basically end-game gear.

Sure enough.

-Ding!

-<The highest “Ogre’s Brutal Execution Axe [A-rank]” highest bid has exceeded 100,000,000 won!>

In the blink of an eye, it broke 100 million won.

And it didn’t stop there—it kept climbing.

…200 million. 

…300 million.  

…400 million.  

…500 million.

-Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Every time the auction app chimed, the price skyrocketed.

A moment later.

-Ding!

<Your listed “Ogre’s Brutal Execution Axe [A-rank]” has been sold for 720,000,000 won!>

The price of an A-rank artifact truly defied imagination.

720 million won.

How many days of loading/unloading would it take to earn this?

I tried calculating, then gave up because my head hurt.

Anyway.

With that last item, I finished clearing out all the junk I didn’t need.

“Now that I’ve got bullets again, time to snag some decent gear?”

From now on, I’m switching from seller to buyer.

I tapped the auction house search options.

[Price: Low → High] [Price: High → Low] [Grade] [Sales Volume] [Latest]

Various categories popped up.

Good artifacts would naturally be in the expensive range.

But I immediately selected “Price: Low → High.”

I had already browsed the high-price listings—there wasn’t a single item worth picking up.

Anything in Morgue’s Magical Warehouse is already far superior.

Instead, I began scrolling through the dirt-cheap junk that people had dumped on the market.

<Dirty Thief’s Used Tissue [F-rank]>  

<Wickless Lantern [F-rank]>  

<Yellow Spring Frog’s Juicy Antenna [F-rank]> 

<Hermit Crab That Crawled Into a Molted Cicada Shell [F-rank]>  

<Tears of a Bee That Lost Its Wife [F-rank]> 

<Undead Monkey’s Half-Eaten Banana Peel [F-rank]>

“Wow, seriously? People sell this crap for money?”

It was a landfill of artifacts not even worth throwing in the trash.

But then.

“Oh ho?”

See? I knew it.

Even in a garbage dump, if you dig deep enough, you’ll find one or two treasures.

Found it.