Mana stone.
A mineral-like substance in which mana has condensed.
Thanks to its defining trait of containing mana, it is used everywhere, by mages and swordsmen alike.
In fact, higher-grade mana stones can even be recharged, so demand for them never dries up.
However, there was one decisive problem.
The absolute supply of mana stones was lacking.
With mana stones, it would be possible to commercialize technology that could keep up with all of Earth’s modern civilization—perhaps even surpass it.
And yet, since there was no supply, only a portion of the upper class could use them.
The reason I’m explaining all this is…
-Aurora: Selling mana stones.
(A photo of mana stones piled up in one corner of the submersible)
I’ll sell to the highest bidder.
ㄴ500 gold.
ㄴ1000.
ㄴI’ll give you 1200, please.
Almost the instant I posted that I was selling mana stones, comments appeared.
I’d looked around the exchange and had a rough idea of their value, but I hadn’t expected a response this immediate.
And… the price was going insane.
The highest offer I’d received so far was 2,300 gold.
And according to what people in the gallery said, a middle-class annual salary was 500 gold.
‘If I assume a middle-class annual salary is 100 million won… 460 million?’
They’re burning 460 million on a single mana stone?
Its value was so absurdly high that such thoughts came to mind.
At this point, wasn’t it like those germanium bracelets sold on Earth, supposedly insanely good for your health?
Of course, on Earth, those were a scam. But in a fantasy world, things could be different, couldn’t they?
Well, anyway, seeing as it wasn’t going any higher, this seemed to be the limit.
Just as I was about to send a trade request to the person who’d offered the highest price—
ㄴI’ll give you 4000 gold. Trade with me.
A suck—no, a customer had appeared, willing to pour 800 million into a stone weighing about 100 grams.
ㄴAre you insane? Even if it’s a grade-2 mana stone, 4,000?
ㄴHave you got a screw loose? With 4,000, you could buy ten grade-3 ones.
Judging by the reactions, it was clear they’d gone overboard.
But… why would that matter to the seller? I immediately sent a trade request to the user who had offered 4,000 gold.
I held the mana stone and pressed accept.
Whoosh.
“Oh…”
The mana stone in my hand vanished in an instant.
The next moment, the text on the exchange changed.
[An administrator inspection is in progress. Please wait a moment.]
It was a system where the item was first sent to the administrator—the so-called red-tag—and once it passed inspection and verification, the trade went through.
When I first saw this, I wondered if the red-tag had multiple bodies.
I mean, wouldn’t you? There wasn’t even a single blue-tag, yet they handled all of this alone? It made no sense.
As I was lost in such idle thoughts, a message soon appeared saying, “Inspection complete,” and gold dropped right in front of me.
Flutter.
“Huh?”
Contrary to my expectation of a heavy thud, something very light, like paper, fell down.
On the white floor, the words I could see were…
“How am I supposed to read this?”
Since their number system was different too, reading it was impossible.
However, I could roughly guess its meaning.
There was less intent imbued in it than in the ancient language, but it was enough for me to understand the meaning.
“Four notes of 1,000 gold each?”
Apparently, since carrying out every trade in actual gold would be inconvenient, they also traded using something like checks.
One of the questions I’d always had whenever I read otherworld stories had been answered.
And so, I earned money very easily.
I still had plenty of mana stones left, so just as I was about to sell them to someone else—
(Whisper) Truth Scholar: You’re trying to sell more mana stones, aren’t you? It would be better if you stopped.
My hand, which had been about to initiate a trade with the highest bidder, flinched to a halt.
If it had been someone else, I might have gone through with the trade anyway, but perhaps because it was Truth Scholar, who had been a great help to me, my hand naturally stopped.
(Whisper) Aurora: Why?
(Whisper) Truth Scholar: Hmm… You don’t seem to know, so I’ll explain.
After a brief pause, Truth Scholar began pouring out text at a rapid pace.
(Whisper) Truth Scholar: Fundamentally, mana stones are a versatile substance.
Magic, swordsmanship, spirit arts, necromancy, divine arts, and so on. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they can be used in truly every field.
Up to this point, it was something I already knew, but what came after was a list of facts I hadn’t known.
(Whisper) Truth Scholar: The problem is that antisocial forces also handle mana stones.
And the mana stone you sold, Aurora, is fairly high in grade. There are only a few hundred of them in the world.
If you sell too many, the rarity of mana stones will decrease, and antisocial forces will be able to obtain them easily.
It may become a spark for a new war.
While reading Truth Scholar’s message, I flinched at the words “spark for a new war.”
I hadn’t known they possessed that much value.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that I had only sold one mana stone so far.
Wait… Then what if the person I sold it to belongs to some antisocial force?
The amount of money they had invested was so excessive that even others couldn’t understand it.
And they weren’t even using a fixed nickname, but were an anonymous user.
Cold sweat suddenly streamed down my back.
The thought flashed through my mind that I might have helped an antisocial force.
However…
(Whisper) Truth Scholar: Fortunately, this time, our Magic Tower retrieved it, so there’s no need to worry that much.
I simply wanted to ask you to be careful when selling other objects from the deep sea.
Because you are someone with that much tremendous influence.
Truth Scholar left those final words and disappeared from the chat.
“Phew… I guess that’s fortunate, at least.”
I breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that it hadn’t fallen into someone else’s hands.
Then I organized my now slightly complicated thoughts.
From my conversation with Truth Scholar this time, I realized roughly two things.
One was that my influence was in a position far beyond what I had expected.
The other was that Truth Scholar seemed to be someone high up in the Magic Tower.
There was the fact that they had deliberately referred to the Magic Tower as “our” Magic Tower, and the fact that they had simply given me the Guchukhwan, one of the ancient objects.
On top of that, they had a deep understanding of magic.
‘…Should I give them a gift or something?’
For a moment, I wondered what someone high-ranking in the Magic Tower might like.
…No matter how much I thought about it, I felt like they would like me exploring this place.
Well, putting that aside for now.
I had something I needed to do.
4,000 gold. In Earth terms, I’d acquired about 800 million won.
Of course, gold couldn’t be used in the deep sea, but…
“It can be used in the gallery.”
There were countless items on the exchange.
Naturally, there were countless items that would help me survive.
The problem was… the place I was in was the deep sea.
Unless something’s performance was overwhelmingly good, there was a high chance it wouldn’t mean much.
“What am I lacking right now…”
I left the exchange window open to one side and began listing my inconveniences one by one.
Sleeping in the submersible with nothing but a blanket over me made it feel like my back was going to break.
There was no bathroom, so I had to go far away.
If I wanted to shower, I had to catch a Cyclops and wash with water that smelled faintly of blood…
“…Is this right?”
It was a problem I had pushed to the back burner because I had been focused only on survival, but…
The quality of life in the deep sea was far too poor.
I had been about to buy tools, but I moved my hand and changed direction toward daily necessities.
“First, a mattress…”
I picked out about three daily necessities for convenience.
The problem was that I spent almost all my money.
You might ask how I could spend 800 million after buying just three daily necessities.
But there was a reason for all of it.
First, the mattress wasn’t that expensive.
I bought an extremely comfortable mattress for about 15 gold.
The problem was the bathroom for hygiene.
I bought a “Bluetooth showerhead,” which had been close to impossible on Earth, and an “automated toilet” that flushed like a modern one and even had an automatic waste-incineration function.
And all my money disappeared.
Roughly speaking, they were about 200 million and 500 million respectively.
For a moment, it felt like I had spent money too recklessly, but when I thought about those dreadful past days, it was a necessary expense.
One experience of washing with purified blood-water was enough.
Since the structure made scams impossible, the items I purchased with peace of mind were…
“Ooh! It’s coming out!”
A showerhead that produced water without a connected hose by consuming my mana.
Seeing it brought back memories of the past.
It hadn’t been long after I learned magic.
Naturally, there was water magic too, and since I trusted Truth Scholar, I tried using water magic without any suspicion.
Kwa-boom!!
And I got hit by a water bomb.
Since I couldn’t control it, it was impossible to make water drip out like a water purifier.
Those past days when I drank blood-water with tears in my eyes…
But now, that was over.
Since the showerhead simply created water, there was no problem with drinking it.
If anything, it would probably produce water far cleaner than modern water.
The automated toilet, another product of magical engineering, was being stored outside the submersible.
As for the final daily necessity, the mattress—
“Ah… I just want to rest without doing anything.”
It was soft enough to instantly break my will to go out and do some reconnaissance today.
It was so fluffy that I wondered if magical engineering had been used on this too.
I was about to just lie down like this and browse the gallery, but…
Whirr. Whirr.
Beep!
“…You’re telling me to get up?”
Whirr.
Eosollujeun waved its mechanical hand in front of my eyes, showing its intent for me to get up.
Somehow, the sight resembled a cat telling me to hurry up and move.
I moved my body, which had been about to loosen lazily, and got back up.
“I’ll be back.”
Whirr.
Eosollujeun waved its hand and saw me off.
I waved back as well and started walking.
This outing was just a simple reconnaissance, so there shouldn’t be any particular problems.
***
…Or so I thought.
Screeeeech.
An ink-black scythe dragged across the floor, producing an unpleasant sound.
When I slightly poked my head out from behind the edge of the wall I had my back to, I could see it.
A black hood that looked as though it had been made by tearing leather to shreds and wrapping it around itself.
Black smoke filling the surroundings.
And… a glimpse of a grotesque skeleton.
It was the gatekeeper of my next destination, the weapons factory.