Sanghyun sent off a group of customers and covered his mouth as he yawned widely.
‘It’s so slow. No, actually, it’s boring.’
Sanghyun worked at the Awakened Auction House.
He had only been on the job for a few months—a so-called rookie.
‘My friends who joined other companies said they’re busy learning new things.’
He was so bored during work hours that he found himself either staring at his smartphone or lost in his own thoughts.
Was it because the Awakened Auction House was failing?
No.
The Awakened Auction House itself was very popular.
The branches in other regions were so busy it was almost overwhelming.
“Gangwon Province has a low dungeon occurrence rate, so it’s safer, but… no special items come out. At best, it’s A+ grade agricultural products.”
That was right.
Most of the items handled by the Gangwon Branch were agricultural goods.
Even if they wanted to handle other items, there weren’t many dungeons where such items could be obtained, so sales of those were rare as well.
“Not getting promoted and having to just cater to these stagnant, rotting old-timers… what a nightmare.”
Handling special items raised the value not only of the items themselves but also of the employee who registered them.
Accumulating such experience could lead to promotion opportunities and climbing the ranks.
If things went well, they might even get transferred to Headquarters.
But here, special items never circulated, so seniors who had been promoted long ago only kept bossing around juniors from their positions.
“Alright. I’ll just work until today and either quit or apply to another branch.”
The sky showed no mercy, and unaware of Sanghyun’s thoughts, the day seemed destined to end with only ordinary items being processed.
Until two men who looked strikingly alike showed up.
“Welcome.”
He greeted them without even raising his head.
Thud—
The two men each placed a large box on the table.
“…?”
“You don’t have to check everything, just a few samples will do. For the rest, you can verify them in the item inspection room inside.”
“Yes? Ah, okay!”
The boxes were filled with eggs and peanuts.
‘Those agricultural products again. Fine. At lunch I’ll apply immediately to any branch in the capital region that has a vacancy.’
Sanghyun frowned without realizing it, but since he was about to quit anyway, what did it matter?
He pulled out the Grade Checker from under the table and scanned the eggs first.
Beep—
Information appeared in a hologram.
‘Eggs. A+. Highest grade… pretty high. Has consumption effect. Consumption effect? Huh…? I’ve never seen this before.’
Usually, when checking with the Grade Checker, it only showed that an effect was present but didn’t specify what it was.
For an exact verification, the Item Inspection Device—located deep inside the Gangwon Branch of the Auction House—had to be used.
Sanghyun, half asleep from boredom, rubbed his eyes hard with both hands twice, thinking he might be hallucinating, but the hologram information on the checker didn’t change.
‘…This is huge…! No, this is massive! Then what about the peanuts?’
Swallowing hard, Sanghyun scanned the peanuts as well.
‘…The peanuts have it too! A consumption effect!’
Without realizing it, Sanghyun suddenly stood up, feeling a clammy sweat gathering in his hand that gripped the laser scanner.
‘This is my chance! Maybe even bigger than winning the lottery—a life-changing opportunity!’
The seniors’ gazes on Sanghyun grew sharp and suspicious.
Feeling their greedy stares, Sanghyun pretended to be nonchalant, clearing his throat with a “Hmm! Hmm!” and carefully sat back down.
Sanghyun rolled his eyes toward the seniors.
His face still facing forward.
Ignoring the suspicious looks of some seniors, Sanghyun forced a crooked smile.
Most of the seniors looked at him with doubt but quickly turned their heads to deal with other customers.
Still, he couldn’t relax.
There was a history of seniors stealing rare Awakened items’ customers from the Gangwon Branch, so he had to act like nothing was happening.
As if it was no big deal.
‘I have to seize this heaven-sent opportunity.’
He breathed a quiet sigh of relief but knew it was too early to feel safe.
Those senior bastards were pros at stealing achievements.
They might still be suspicious.
Sanghyun racked his brain, thinking about the location of the Item Inspection Device room and the VIP Room.
‘If I go this way to avoid suspicion, then take a wide route… yes, this is the path.’
Having sorted it out in his head, Sanghyun whispered to the two men who looked like brothers.
“Uh… First, the grades and info came out weird, so I need to do a precise inspection. Would you accompany me?”
The receptionist who had been receiving the eggs and peanuts suddenly acted strangely.
‘Why did he go straight, then turn left, then detour right? And why is he mumbling?’
Minjun looked at him, as if to check his thoughts, but he seemed blank.
‘Is it because he’s an A-Grade Hunter, so there’s no danger?’
“What are you looking at? The Item Inspection Device is so expensive that it’s standard to keep it hidden inside.”
“Isn’t it strange? The grades and info are weird. We already checked everything before bringing it.”
“Look on the bright side. Maybe he’s worried someone might snatch it.”
“What?”
“Performance. The other receptionists sitting next to us looked like hyenas eyeing their prey.”
Was that so?
As they walked and chatted, the receptionist suddenly stopped, almost causing a collision.
They had arrived.
Looking beyond the receptionist, there was no device in sight—only a single door stood alone.
Was it inside there?
“We’ve arrived. Please come in. This is the VIP Room.”
Following the receptionist who opened the door and led the way inside, Sanghyun was involuntarily amazed by the sight within.
“…Wow.”
The space beyond the door was quite spacious.
On the walls hung a few masterpieces that looked like they belonged in a wealthy household’s living room, spaced out elegantly.
The floor was covered with a luxurious carpet that seemed handcrafted stitch by stitch, giving off an elegant atmosphere.
The table and chairs were draped with silk embroidered with various golden leaves—truly beautiful.
‘It looks really expensive. Why did he bring us to such a VIP Room when he said there was a problem?’
Hesitating to sit down from feeling overwhelmed, the receptionist smiled gently and encouraged them to sit.
“First, let me introduce myself. I’m Kim Sanghyun from the Gangwon Branch of the Auction House.”
“Ah, yes. I’m Do Minho. This is…”
“Do Minjun.”
At the sound of Minjun’s name, the receptionist’s eyes widened.
“Are you perhaps the A-Grade ‘Strongest Shield,’ Do Minjun…? I thought you had an extraordinary presence! I’m really a fan!”
The receptionist, seeing Sanghyun acknowledge it, reacted as if it was obvious.
Minjun seemed used to this from other places as well.
By the way, ‘Strongest Shield’ sounded a bit cheesy.
“Yes.”
With a simple reply, the receptionist’s face briefly showed disappointment at his fan’s words.
Tch, I’m the one doing the item registration, though.
Remembering why he was here, Sanghyun got straight to the point.
“First of all, I apologize. I’m sorry.”
I was puzzled by the sudden apology but silently waited for him to continue.
“Normally, you would have completed item registration at the reception desk, and then we would guide you here, but due to circumstances, I took the liberty of bringing you here first.”
“What circumstances?”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t registered the items yet and said the results were strange before bringing us here.
“I judged that the items you want to register are so rare and valuable that other receptionists or customers might bother you.”
Although he said he decided on his own, seeing him describe the eggs and peanuts they had painstakingly raised as precious and valuable made me feel like he was actually a decent guy to do business with.
“I see. Thank you for your consideration.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
The atmosphere was warm.
In this mood, the transaction felt like it would go smoothly.
“We have warm tea, coffee, and cold drinks or juices prepared. What would you prefer?”
“Hmm. I’ll have a cold drink. How about you?”
“Chrysanthemum tea, please. Warm.”
“Chrysanthemum… tea? Ah, yes! I’ll bring it right away.”
Sanghyun, who was boiling water in the coffee pot, kept glancing back.
Apparently, it was hard for him to imagine Minjun sipping chrysanthemum tea.
He then brought various cold juices and drinks from the fridge to the table.
“Please enjoy the drink that suits your taste. You can have as much as you like.”
I was craving fruit juice.
Sanghyun’s hospitality wasn’t over yet as he continued speaking.
“In Spain, they say people add honey to chrysanthemum tea. Would you like some honey?”
“Sounds good.”
The honey looked delicious, transparent yet shimmering beautifully.
“Hm. The autumn scent unique to chrysanthemum tea won’t be spoiled by the sweet scent of honey. Where’s the honey from?”
Minjun savored the aroma and sipped the steaming honey chrysanthemum tea, blowing on it gently.
He nodded in satisfaction, saying, “There’s no bitterness typical of tea, and it’s moderately sweet, so it’s good.”
“You probably can’t find it on the market. It’s A+ Honey, only available at the Auction House. If you want, I can give you a bottle when you leave.”
A whole bottle of A+ Honey.
I should’ve had chrysanthemum tea too!
“Well then, please enjoy it slowly. I’ll quickly go check the detailed information and come back.”
Sanghyun stacked the egg box and peanut box and left the VIP Room.
“Strong, too.”
“Why are they treating him so well? Is he a con artist? And you praising him so much? Doesn’t that seem suspicious?”
Minjun frowned in disbelief and replied.
“They’re just saying what’s true. And my brother’s agricultural products really do have that value. I told you.”
They were gathered only from grades A- and above in the first place.
Besides, the eggs had a vivid color and soft texture—they even tasted good.
The peanuts were extremely savory.
But acting suspicious without even tasting them, that’s what’s suspicious.
Of course, as Minjun said, it was probably because of the consumption effect.
Since there was no visible effect, their behavior didn’t make much sense.
“I’m curious. How different will the information I see and the info from the Item Inspection Device be?”
“The info you see is a kind of ability, so yours should be more accurate.”
Knock, knock.
There was a knock on the door.
The inspection didn’t seem to be taking long.
“Yeah~”
Stopping their conversation, they answered, and Sanghyun entered.
But he looked very different from when he had left the room.
Sweat beaded on his forehead, his bangs were slightly damp, and his posture was stiff with tension.
“Are you okay? Did something happen? Why are you sweating so much?”
Sanghyun wiped his lips, swallowed hard, and said,
“I’m fine. No, it’s not just fine. Here, take a look.”
He handed over a piece of paper.
[Eggs – A]
Consumption effect: Permanently increases Strength by 1. (Limit: First use only)
[Peanuts – A+]
Consumption effect: Permanently increases Stamina by 1. (Limit: First use only)
The information matched what I already knew.
However, the paper contained no mention of quality related to the agricultural environment—only a brief note about the effects.
“Is that all the information? Was there nothing else?”
“Huh? Should there have been more? According to the device’s settings, to prevent tampering, the information confirmed cannot be altered.”
Sanghyun made a puzzled expression.
It seemed as if he was saying this effect alone should be enough.
“It’s correct. We measured all the eggs and all the peanuts you brought. Also, we compared them with other eggs in the branch, and while those eggs only showed the grade, they had no consumption effect.”
Sanghyun explained in a calm but somewhat excited voice.
“An increase of one stat point is special.”
“It’s nothing special!”
At Minho’s dismissive words, Sanghyun looked at him in horror, thinking, ‘What is this guy?’
No, I said it’s special!
I know it’s special now, so why are they like this?