Chapter 49: Auction of the Century

Rani’s explosive declaration.

“I want to get stronger too!”

‘And she even knows how?’

‘What could it be?’

Curious, but before that—

“Rani, do you want to go to a dungeon?”

“Dungeon? Yeah! Rani wants to be safe too! Safe! Safe~! I want to do this!”

Looking at her, she really likes it.

She used to mimic me all the time.

Lately, she’s been humming it by herself.

Well…

‘Still, I am curious.’

‘What would happen if Rani got stronger?’

‘Would she be pounding monsters with that tiny hammer?’

“Hah-!”

Heh.

Smiling isn’t everything.

Anyway, she says she knows how to get stronger, so let’s hear it first.

“I need a lot of good materials! Because Rani has to make a lot of pretty things to get stronger!”

“Huh? Good materials?”

Hmm…

So that means—

“If you make a lot of good items, you get stronger?”

“Yeah! That’s right!”

“Hmm…”

‘Is that it?’

Nice.

Maybe her specialty in item crafting is why.

“What now?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know, human.”

“Okay, I’m thinking. Vokdeongi, okay, I’ll get trained!”

“That’s not a bad idea either.”

Our Arthur.

Sometimes he seems slow, but his training skills are amazing.

Those orcs even made it to advanced level.

If Rani trains while crafting items like Arthur—

‘She might get strong fast with double the effort?’

“Huh?! Rani train? Why?!”

“Vokdeongi said! Wants to get stronger! Isn’t that right?”

“Yeah! Rani wants to be strong!”

Right.

Interest

“Because if Rani gets stronger! She can make many things! And even prettier stuff! Like this!”

“Okay, I’ll train you!”

Hmm.

‘Wait, Arthur.’

Isn’t this…

‘Are we misunderstanding something?’

That thing Rani pointed at with her finger—

[Ring of High-Grade Healing]

An accessory she got from I Bojun.

Somehow I feel…

She’s not talking about fighting.

Let’s ask her anyway.

“Rani, you said you want to go to a dungeon, right?”

“Yeah! Rani wants to! She’ll do it!”

“So, how about fighting monsters?”

“Umm… I don’t like fighting! It’s scary!”

“Hmm…”

Phew…

Yeah, that seemed odd.

“Boss? What did Vokdeongi say?”

“When she said ‘getting stronger,’ I think she meant just leveling up, not battle, Arthur worker.”

“Vokdeongi said, ‘getting stronger’?”

“That’s how little kids talk.”

“Rani isn’t a kid!”

Other kids say that too, Rani…

Anyway, to summarize—

“If you raise your rank, you can make more kinds of items.”

The way is by crafting with good materials.

Hmm…

Come to think of it, I never saw her make accessories.

Weapons, shields, scrolls…

Oh, she made gloves in the beginning.

If rank goes up, she can make more types.

“That’s good.”

She’s good even now.

‘Making accessories too?’

No need to hesitate.

Let’s proceed.

“Rani said she needs good materials, right?”

We have plenty of materials.

Todd?

‘Show her, please?’

Inventory opened immediately.

Proudly showing it—

“Umm… No! Better materials!”

‘What’s this about?’

She shakes her head firmly and looks around for something.

Then—

“Like this!”

What is it?

[Ogre Chieftain’s Hide]

‘Did we have that?’

‘Where does it come from?’

Checked right away.

“Hm… Tower 61st floor.”

Must be a material from China.

‘Was it Wei Jin?’

He said he stopped at floor 62.

So…

“Materials from above the 61st floor are needed.”

“Yeah! That’s right!”

“Okay, got it.”

I’m on floor 51 now…

“Should get there soon?”

“Maybe 5 days if fast?”

“Boss, wouldn’t it be efficient to run a crafting Request during that time?”

“Crafting Request?”

“Yes. If we accept them, people will flock.”

True.

Inquiries have been pouring in.

It’s crazy.

From the United States, Germany, Japan, Russia…

Even just from places above floor 60, there are quite a few.

“That’s good. Rani’s happy too, right?”

“Yeah! Rani likes anything made with good materials!”

Okay.

Then let’s post something on AwakenerNet after a while.

Labor Management Office Head.

Posting about accepting Requests for the first time in a while.

“Boss, wait a moment.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Hehe. I have a good idea. Can you leave it to me?”

This guy.

No, this bear.

A sly grin appeared for the first time in a while.

Whenever he smiles like that, he makes an amazing deal.

Alright.

Let’s entrust it to him once.

[Accepting Crafting Requests.]

A post on AwakenerNet.

The title is ordinary…

But the author wasn’t ordinary.

[Author: Labor Management Office Head]

“Crazy. The Labor Management Office Head is accepting crafting Requests??”

Amazing…

‘Is he really that good at making things?’

No idea ㅋㅋㅋㅋ The top 1 and 2 ranked weapons were all made by him.

Meanwhile, he’s also a monster who clears S-rank dungeons…

The Labor Management Office Head accepting crafting Requests?

The opportunity everyone wanted.

The views skyrocketed instantly.

The problem is…

Ah, the restrictions are insanely tough;;;

Materials must be from floor 61 or above…? That means only a handful of people worldwide can even apply.

Phew…

[Request Conditions.]

Materials must be from floor 61 or above.

No Request fee.

Instead, you must send at least double the amount of materials. (Requests offering better terms will be prioritized.)

‘Materials from floor 61 or higher?’

‘How many people worldwide can farm that?’

On top of that—

The no-fee is the catch.

No fee, but you have to provide at least twice the materials ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Right ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Honestly, that amount of materials is practically a fee anyway…

Yeah, floor 61+ materials can be worth hundreds of millions, even billions each.

No fee, but double materials required.

But do you guys realize? Even the double is not guaranteed…

Right? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Requests offering the best conditions get priority…

It’s basically “Kill each other for it”ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

One word?

Auction begins.

It’s a gutsy business move…

If you have the ability, then sure…

People who make top-spec gear are absolute elites ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The top-ranked players from the five major powers will probably jump on this.

We can just watch and enjoyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

But it looks fun, right?

When will you ever see the top players from the five major powers scramble like this?

Hunters are like this:

If it’s a lost cause, they don’t even look.

No point in being greedy.

You’ll just get hurt.

If you can’t meet the level to request, just give up coolly.

But at least get some popcorn ready.

Watch the world’s strongest nations beg and plead.

“Submitting the Request right away?”

“Hm… The conditions seem too harsh, will it be okay?”

Materials only from floor 61 or above.

No fee but an auction with materials. Brutal terms.

Still…

For those who’ve been waiting for this moment, it’s a priceless opportunity.

Ralph Carter, US’s number one ranked player, was one of them.

So?

As soon as he heard, he summoned his dedicated team.

“We have to submit it no matter what.”

‘Is the condition a problem?’

The Labor Management Office Head is accepting Requests.

“That much?”

The team was still half in doubt.

Man, they’re really hesitating about this.

“Of course. Just upgrading to better weapons like that means going straight to floor 70.”

“Hm… hm… but double materials is tough…”

It is tough.

They’re asking for at least double the materials.

But…

“That probably won’t even be enough.”

3HH?

Maybe even more than 4 times.

Why?

Because he’s not the only one eyeing this.

Priority goes to the Requests with the best terms…

“Savage.”

“Agreed.”

‘How did they even come up with this idea?’

Ugh…

Having to send double or triple the materials.

Just thinking about it makes my hands shake.

But what can you do?

Alright.

“Then I’ll go triple…”

Wait, hold on.

Let me check online first.

‘What was the name of the weapon he made before?’

Something weird.

“Found it.”

Searching for Korean top 1 and 2 weapons brings it up.

[Fire Burst]

[Ddakkeum]

What kind of names are those…

But the performance is amazing.

Yeah.

That’s why they both went up to floor 61 immediately.

“Think about the 50s floors again. They perform well with those materials, and I have materials from the 60s, even floor 66. Can you imagine how insane the weapons will be?”

“Yeah… that’s true.”

‘Monsters in the 50s and 60s floors?’

It’s like night and day.

The rewards are on a whole other level.

The quality of materials?

Too painful to talk about.

“Decided. I’ll send 3.5 times.”

But…

Naming sense isn’t easy.

Fire Burst, Ddakkeum…

I want my weapons to have cool names if possible.

Since I’m paying a lot, they should name them well, right?

I believe in you, Labor Management Office Head.

“Oh, but maybe they won’t accept two Requests…? I have a lot of materials saved up…”

This guy, the one who’s number one in the world, is asking for two Requests?

So greedy.

“Oh, come on, give a little slack on this kind of thing…”

Arthur Brandt, UK’s number one ranked player.

‘Current floor?’

Two floors below Ralph Carter.

I wish he would just give up on this…

But that greedy bastard.

“The Labor Management Office Head, and Ralph too. None of them are likable.”

Especially the Labor Management Office Head.

He’s the worst.

Because of him, our reconstruction projects in India and Egypt have all gone down the drain.

[Successful reconstruction projects ongoing in India and Egypt]

Yesterday’s news.

Normally, Britain would have played a big role and expanded influence there…

But no.

Nothing worked.

The Labor Management Office Head did it all, so why is he trying to get a slice of the pie?

“The operation aimed at China failed too.”

That’s not a failure.

We’re lucky they didn’t get caught.

Seriously.

‘Who in their right mind would stab China in the back?’

So we tried not to get involved for a while…

But this is unbearable.

Especially if the opportunity goes to that Ralph guy.

“Ugh, just thinking about it makes me sick.”

Regardless of disliking the Labor Management Office Head, Ralph’s ability is undeniable.

Especially his crafting skills…

Knowing Ralph’s personality, he surely put in the best of everything.

And with those materials, the result will show?

If we miss this chance, we’ll never close the gap with the US.

So…

“I have to get it no matter what.”

The problem is—

“Will 64th floor materials be enough…?”

Ralph probably has materials from floor 66.

No good.

I have to send as much as possible.

Empty all we have.

Beijing, China.

Central Awakened Administration Bureau.

“Director, have you seen this?”

“I’m so busy, what now?”

There are two departments handling hunters in China.

The Central Awakened Administration Bureau in the light side.

The Special Operations Division in the shadow.

Right now?

Only the light side is left.

Thanks to that, they’re swamped managing even the dungeons those guys took care of…

‘Suddenly, what did they see?’

“The Labor Management Office Head is accepting crafting Requests?”

“Crazy bastard…”

‘He’s accepting weapon crafting Requests?’

Now?

No…

‘Why not do it earlier!’

Or at least give a hint.

“If this continues, the Bureau and Special Ops Division will be screwed.”

“Yeah…”

“Sigh…”

A terror that shook China.

At least the director knows roughly what’s going on.

This…

Has to be related to the Labor Management Office Head.

Otherwise, the timing doesn’t make sense.

Everyone says

It’s punishment for doing something bad.

“Nonsense…”

If that were true, more than one department would be affected.

‘Why only the Special Ops Division?’

Well…

No intention of revenge, though.

“The Labor Management Office Head is a bad guy.”

Still, at least we’re free to say that.

Ugh…

Suddenly, I also think about it.

Like the last S-rank dungeon, and now this.

It feels like getting hit for being greedy.

Sigh…

‘But what can we do?’

Scrape together all the materials and contact other countries. Money and floors.

“Wei Jin said he can supply as much as you want from his warehouse at floor 61.”

“Should I submit the Request?”

“Of course…”

There’s no other way to level up Chen Yu.

But…

‘Will they accept it?’