“Looks like there’s something good here, right?”
“Peet!”
Maple agrees too.
“Hey, wait!”
“Why?”
As I tried to approach the hefty-looking safe, the auctioneer stopped me.
“If you touch it forcibly, the guild contracted with the Cheyenne Auction House will come running. I heard what the host said.”
“There’s a guild here too?”
“There are numerous guilds in the Hive. Especially dangerous ones made up of nerds.
It seems like even a society has formed in the underground city.
But to call it small, it’s more than twice the size of Korea.”
“My money barrels are all gathered in the Hive.”
“Mo, money barrels?”
“Don’t worry about here, you go and release all the people locked up in prison.”
“Uh… okay.”
The auctioneer, who had been gauging the situation, quietly slipped out of the host’s room.
“Hmm. How do I open this?”
“Pee-peet.”
“Looks like only the handle will break?”
If I force it open, the items inside might break, and there’s no gap to put my hand in to pull.
“By the way, where’s Baekseol?”
“Peet.”
Looks like the sleepy rabbit is off to dreamland.
“Alright, let’s open it. There’s probably treasure inside.”
“Peet.”
At times like these, there’s always the all-purpose iron club that guides you to the right path.
Whether it’s a problem with people or items, it provides the answer.
“Shrink like me, Ruyi.”
The Ruyi I pulled out quickly shrinks.
If it were the Ruyi before the repair, it would have been crawling at a snail’s pace, but it’s much better now.
The Ruyi, which kept shrinking, stops at the thickness of a needle.
“It would be great to gather a lot of Ruyi and use the Ten Thousand Flowers Bloom.”
“Peet!”
“Right? Sounds fun.”
The thin Ruyi squeezes through the narrow gap of the safe’s door.
I thought I needed to shrink it more, but this seems enough.
Clang!
As I levered the Ruyi inserted through the gap, a loud sound of metal breaking echoed. It seems the lock has broken.
Inside the opened safe, there are two items that look surprisingly modest.
“Glasses?”
Ding!
───
[Glasses that Read Traces]
Reads the trajectory of the future 10 minutes later
Reuse cooldown: 30 days
Durability: 97%
Grade: Legendary
───
It’s a monocle, called a one-eyed glass.
“Trajectory? Like ballistics?”
“Peet.”
Since it’s not an acorn, Maple doesn’t seem interested.
But despite its simple appearance, it’s a legendary grade.
To check its effect, I try on the glasses, and something strange happens.
Sizzle─
“Huh?”
A delicious sound.
The smell of grilling meat.
Strange scenes I’ve never seen before flash before my eyes.
A pink-haired child grilling meat and people sitting around hastily eating the meat.
As I blankly watch the scene, at some point, everything disappears like smoke.
“Maple, these glasses seem to show glimpses of the future.”
Maple, perched on my shoulder, tilts its head looking at the glasses.
Probably not Maple’s taste.
And not mine either.
Seeing even a fragment of a predetermined future is a very unpleasant experience.
Of course, if I grit my teeth and don’t do it, I can definitely change the predetermined future.
What I just saw wasn’t an unchangeable great future but just a scene of grilling and eating meat.
But that was me.
If I did that, it means I made the best judgment in that situation. Even if it was just grilling meat.
“Maple, can I smoke just one cigarette?”
“Peet.”
Puff puff.
Danpung’s fluffy tail brushes against my cheek. A warm, worried feeling seeps in.
It seems like they noticed I wasn’t feeling well. Thanks to that, my slightly twisted emotions quickly seem to find their place again.
“Thank you.”
As I stroke Danpung, they stretch and yawn comfortably before slipping back into my arms.
—Chik, chik.
No matter how legendary the equipment is, it’s only good for predicting the future 10 minutes ahead, and it’s not even suited for me.
Using it would just make me feel worse.
“Phew— what a crappy piece of equipment.”
Through the hazy cigarette smoke, I spot one remaining item.
Ding!
———
[Tetra Biblos – 4]
Star’s Wisdom
Durability: 25%
Category: Grimoire
Grade: Unique
———
My guess was right. There was one more.
When I took out the three Tetra Biblos volumes I had stored in the subspace, they started rattling and shaking.
It was as if some kind of magnetic force had formed between the books, pulling them together.
The auction host must have noticed this and deliberately held back one volume. That way, the bidders would feel the lack and eagerly pay extra for it.
The moment I brought the fourth Tetra Biblos close to the other three, a bright light burst forth.
Ding!
———
[Tetra Biblos Complete Edition]
Star’s Arcane Tome
Durability: 100%
Category: Grimoire
Grade: Legendary
———
The four ancient books merged into one. What was once tattered and decayed, to the point where flipping a page seemed scary, now looked as good as new.
Flipping through a few pages, I realized it wasn’t structured like modern astronomy.
Just as modern algebra isn’t about finding answers but about logical abstraction and research, the Tetra Biblos is written in a similar manner.
One thing’s for sure—I can’t understand even a single page at my current level.
“Ugh, my brain…”
Grandpa Arthur would probably love this as a gift.
I haven’t even fully grasped the notes and books Grandpa Arthur gave me, so trying to understand this now is absurd.
“Can’t comprehend it due to lack of intelligence, huh.”
“Yeah!”
This time, Baekseol pokes her head out from my arms.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Good!”
As I stroke Baekseol’s little head, her ears twitch.
“It’s all abstract stuff, way too hard. I’ll have to ask Grandpa to add notes after he reads it.”
When I scratch Baekseol’s chin, she slumps down.
Having slept in my arms for a while, she’s now warm and soft like a sticky rice cake.
“Stay in a little longer. I’ll finish this cigarette.”
“Yeah!”
Baekseol, who had been sprawled out, slips back into my arms.
“Phew—”
Just as Baekseol goes back in and I take a puff of my cigarette, I hear footsteps approaching from this direction.
From the sound of it, there’s quite a crowd.
When I step out into the hallway, the first thing I see is a ten-year-old child.
With short strides, they’re diligently following the people around them.
Thud.
When I tap the wall with my pipe, the unfinished cigarette and ash fall to the ground.
Can’t even finish a single cigarette in peace.
Meanwhile, the group reaches me and stops.
At the front are two familiar faces.
An unknown auctioneer and Charles Willowby. And the child holding Charles’s hand.
Counting the people lined up behind them, there must be around forty.
“Good to see you again, friend.”
“Welcome, Charles.”
“Come to think of it, I don’t even know your name.”
“It’s Ga-eul.”
The commonality among these people, regardless of race or age, is their dead eyes.
“Please head into that room first. It’s bigger than you think, so there’s plenty of space.”
“Everyone will go in.”
“Before that, what’s going on here?”
“I cleaned up a bit. Please go in first.”
Charles, who had been staring at me intently, nodded and entered the Host Room.
As Charles moved, the crowd also entered the room.
“You, stay out.”
“Huh? Me, you mean…?”
“Yes, you.”
The auctioneer, who had been rolling his eyes, slowly approached me.
“Head.”
“Huh?”
“Bow your head.”
The auctioneer bowed his head.
*Slap!*
As I slapped his cheek, the auctioneer collapsed to the floor.
“Ah… ah…”
The auctioneer, clutching his twisted and crumpled jaw, trembled violently.
“Black market or whatever, why are you involving kids in adult games?”
“Ugh…”
“I don’t care if you gouge out eyes or eat people’s guts, but at least leave the kids alone. They’re just innocent children.”
*Creak!*
A shadow emerged from the auctioneer’s shadow.
“Take him far away to do it, or it’ll smell like blood here.”
“Ah! Ah…!”
The auctioneer was dragged away by the shadow, tears streaming down his face.
After sending the auctioneer away, I entered the room and saw the crowd looking at me.
The gazes of terrified people and clueless children were mixed together.
*Click, click.*
“Charles, go outside to smoke.”
“Huh?”
“There are kids here, so go outside to smoke.”
“Oh, oh… okay.”
Charles, who had been sitting on the floor lighting a cigarette, went outside the Host Room.
As Charles went out, the child who had been holding his hand stared at me intently.
“Eonni.”
“Huh?”
She spoke in a familiar language.
It seemed she had been captured along with me.
“Do you like meat?”
“Meat!”
The child eagerly nodded and scurried over to me.
I pulled out a tissue and handed it to her, and she blinked her eyes.
“Want to play?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“Wow, you’re good.”
The child grinned. Seeing that she was missing a front tooth, she couldn’t be older than 10.
“We’re done playing, so it’s time to go home.”
“Okay!”
“Let’s eat some meat before we go?”
“Hehe.”
She nodded excitedly again.
About forty people. They all looked ragged.
Among them, some looked utterly exhausted.
Nothing beats meat for replenishing energy.
“Everyone, eat some meat and then go home.”
Ten minutes later, I think I made the best choice.
***
Jefer Blackheart, an S-class hunter ruling the southern region of the Hive.
A robed figure cautiously entered the office where Jefer was reviewing documents.
“Mr. Blackheart, the Execution Squad has been wiped out.”
Jefer, who had been looking through the documents, looked up belatedly at the robed man’s report.
“What did you say?”
“Th-they were wiped out. The enemy is presumed to be a high-level undead.”
“Wiped out?”
“Yes. Although it looks different from a typical Death Knight, its knightly appearance suggests it’s a high-level undead Death Knight.”
The Execution Squad, personally trained by Jefer Blackheart, was a formidable force renowned throughout the Hive.
“If it’s an undead, it must be those black mages.”
“But there was only one, and no summoner was seen.”
Things were becoming more and more incomprehensible. The idea that the mighty Execution Squad was wiped out by a single undead was hard to believe.
Even for Jefer Blackheart, who had a direct contract with the Divine Seat of the Tower, this was impossible.
But as the leader of the Southern Hive, he couldn’t afford to show a flustered expression in front of his subordinates.
“Necromancers are physically weak, so they usually hide. Mobilize the ranger units to thoroughly search the area and deploy the 2nd and 3rd units.”
“Understood. And…”
The robed man carefully handed over a stack of papers he was holding.
“Here’s the relevant information.”
Jefer Blackheart quickly skimmed through the papers.
“A Saint?”
“It largely matches the form of the Undead that captured the Dragon.”
“Are you trying to tell me that a Korean Saint who handles Necromancy not only captured a Dragon from the United States but has now invaded the Hive?”
“Well…”
The subordinate was also in a tough spot. He didn’t want to present such absurd information to the leader.
“I’ll go myself.”
***
With a single sword strike, dozens of bodies were severed, and thick, bloody fluids began to pool and flow across the floor.
Blackheart’s subordinates, scattered like gravel across the floor, were busy gasping for breath and picking up their spilled intestines.
The rampaging black knight was a calamity, a slaughterer who mercilessly cut down humans without a hint of fluctuation.
This was the scene Jefer Blackheart witnessed upon arriving at the scene—a literal hell.
Groans and the stench of blood filled the air.
Subordinates, with their upper and lower bodies separated and guts spilling out, screamed for their lives.
“What the…”
The black knight, who showed no intention of stopping, plunged his sword into the ground and stood still.
The black knight, shaking his tattered cloak, turned his gaze completely and knelt deeply, bowing his head.
***
In the direction the black knight knelt, there was a child with pink hair that didn’t fit the scene at all.
Unbothered by the disgusting blood, the child walked briskly toward the black knight.
“I was planning to just play around, but if you’re messing with kids’ lives, you deserve to die, right?”
Jefer Blackheart strained his dry throat to squeeze out a voice.
“Who are you…?”
“A Saint and a terrorist.”