How much was a million points worth?
My attention was fixed solely on that.
Even if it was only one-to-one with Korean currency, that would be one million won.
A flask I picked up in an elementary school science lab was worth a million won?
Even at that level, this was insane.
Where? Where could I find out? There had to be somewhere to check.
“Huh? Come to think of it.”
Among the community menus, there was a tab called “Point Conversion.”
Common sense said that if there were points, there should be a function to withdraw or use them as cash.
With trembling fingers, I tapped it.
Ding—!
[Warning: As this is a place where multidimensional users reside, charging or exchanging points with the currency of the corresponding dimension is impossible. Point exchange is only possible through goods.]
“…What?”
I couldn’t cash them out?
But the words tacked on at the end bothered me.
That phrase saying it was possible only through goods.
With a system this sophisticated, there was no way the reward structure would be a mess.
This was a place where points could only be obtained through goods.
Then, conversely, didn’t that mean points could also only be exchanged for goods?
That was when a detailed menu caught my eye.
[Point Shop]
“That’s right! This is what I needed!”
As if possessed, I clicked it.
[Current Grade: F (Sprout)
Your grade is low, so the items available for purchase are limited.]
I had expected a dazzling list of items, but only a single slot was active.
But that one slot made me doubt my eyes.
“What the hell is this? It’s a mana stone, isn’t it?”
[F-grade Mana Stone
Description: A mineral that serves as the source of mana in all dimensions. Used as the most basic form of currency.
Price: 1,000 Points.]
Mana stone.
In the Hunter market, it was the most reliable and fastest asset to turn into cash.
I quickly ran the numbers in my head.
By Korean Hunter Market standards, the going price for one F-grade mana stone was about 100,000 won.
One mana stone for 1,000 points.
The calculation was simple.
With one million points, I could buy 1,000 F-grade mana stones.
Then 1,000 times 100,000 won was?
“One… hundred million?”
My jaw dropped.
One hundred million won.
A huge sum of money I had never once touched in my entire life.
And now, with just a few taps of my finger, it could become reality.
“What!? Holy shit! This is an insane jackpot!”
A cheer burst out of me on its own.
But my joy was brief. I scrolled down and checked the other items.
I could see higher-grade mana stones above F-grade.
[E-grade Mana Stone: 3,000 Points]
[D-grade Mana Stone: 10,000 Points]
…
[B-grade Mana Stone: 300,000 Points]
The higher the grade, the more the price jumped exponentially.
If I only considered simple efficiency, buying and selling 1,000 F-grade stones was the most profitable.
But I hesitated for a moment.
‘Wait. Can I sell 1,000 mana stones all at once?’
Impossible.
I was an F-grade production-type Hunter.
A guy who had never even gotten near a gate suddenly dumping 1,000 mana stones onto the market?
Investigators from the Hunter Association and the National Tax Service would be on me immediately.
Unknown source, illegal mining, smuggling.
It was the perfect picture for getting slapped with every charge imaginable and hauled off in handcuffs.
‘Even if I sell small quantities, I have to avoid suspicion.’
The most realistic option I could buy with one million points.
That was purchasing a small number of high-grade mana stones.
The price of mana stones varied wildly depending on their mana content, but rough market rates were set.
F-grade, 100,000. E-grade, 300,000. D-grade, 1 million. C-grade, 5 million.
And B-grade was around 20 million won.
‘What I can buy with one million points is… about three B-grade mana stones.’
Three stones worth 20 million each made 60 million won.
Reducing an opportunity to earn 100 million won down to 60 million was a painful loss.
But three B-grade mana stones were a quantity that I could plausibly explain away as “something I got lucky and found” or “an heirloom my grandfather left behind.”
“Good. For now, I understand the system.”
Then it was time to sell the item.
But I was conflicted.
Should I hand it over to that elder of the forest who had made an opening offer of one million points?
No, of course not.
Daeseong examined the system window.
Then he raised the corners of his mouth.
[Two or more buyers wish to purchase this item.]
[Would you like to proceed with an auction?]
“I knew it!”
But… an auction?
[Please select the auction method.]
1. Blind Auction (Highest Bid Wins)
2. Real-Time Auction with Seller Observing (Chat Available)
After thinking for a moment, I pressed number 2.
My goal wasn’t simply to sell it for a high price.
I needed information on what kind of people these guys in the “Multidimensional Secondhand Market” were, and why they wanted to buy my item. Besides, a mere flask wasn’t all that important anyway, was it?
After a short wait, a system notification appeared.
[The real-time auction will begin.]
[Participants: 5]
As soon as the chat window opened, nicknames entered one after another.
Every single one of them was unbelievable.
— Royal Alchemist
— Master of the Magic Tower
— Elder of the World Tree Forest
— Consoler of Vengeful Spirits
— Old Priest
A bunch of strange nicknames that looked like they belonged in a fantasy novel had gathered over a single flask of mine.
[Royal Alchemist: Step aside! I claimed it first! Shouldn’t there be some basic business ethics!!]
[Master of the Magic Tower: The seller opened an auction, so what are you talking about? If you want to buy it, simply offer a proper price.]
[Elder of the World Tree Forest: Opening offer, one million points.]
The atmosphere was heated from the start.
I cleared my throat and typed into the chat window.
[Seller: Everyone, please calm down. I assume there’s no need for me to explain the item separately?]
[Royal Alchemist: I would like you to disclose its information.]
‘Disclose its information?’
Then I noticed a button on the system screen that said “Disclose Item Information.”
— Disclose All Information.
— Disclose Partial Information.
I clicked partial information disclosure.
Then several menus appeared.
— Disclose Item Performance.
— Disclose Origin.
.
.
It was absurdly subdivided.
I selected “Disclose Item Performance.”
[Information regarding the item’s performance will be disclosed.]
For a moment, silence passed through the chat window.
[Royal Alchemist: Ooh, was glass not originally weak to heat? How can glass possess such heat resistance…?]
It seemed more detailed information had been revealed than I had expected.
I answered calmly, but in a way that made it sound impressive.
[Seller: Ah, that’s because it’s a rather special item.]
There was no need to say it was trash I had gotten from an elementary school science lab.
[Royal Alchemist: I-I’ll buy it! Please sell it to me!! What do you want!?]
It felt like I could hear spit flying through the chat window.
But I didn’t know the price.
At times like this, it was better to receive offers.
[Seller: As for the price… please take care of it yourselves. I’ll hand it over to whoever offers something I like.]
At my words, the chat window fell quiet for a moment.
It was no longer a simple fight over points. They had to add physical items as well.
The first to speak was, as expected, the person in the greatest hurry.
[Royal Alchemist: Very well! As for this item… it is a “Dragon Heart Mana Road Activator”! I will give you this! It is certainly only a small amount, but it contains Dragon Heart!]
Dragon Heart? Like, an actual dragon?
For a moment, my breath caught in my throat.
Just the name alone reeked of an S-grade item.
[Seller: So… it’s a Mana Road Activator?]
[Indeed! If you drink this, your blocked mana roads will be activated, and you will gain a body with an affinity for mana. Ah, but it merely paves the way. It does not grant direct power.]
As soon as he finished speaking, the other competitors began declaring their withdrawal one by one.
[Master of the Magic Tower: Are you insane, old man? You’re burning a Dragon Heart fragment on a mere glass bottle?]
[Royal Alchemist: Were you not tempted as well, which is why you joined the auction? I am truly desperate!!]
[Old Priest: A Dragon Heart Activator… I give up. All I can offer are points. The rest are sacred relics, so I cannot trade them carelessly.]
[Elder of the World Tree Forest: I, too, withdraw. I can provide as many points as needed, but…]
The situation was settled.
At the words “Dragon Heart,” everyone had tucked their tails and backed down.
That meant its value was overwhelmingly high.
Barely suppressing the trembling corners of my mouth, I typed.
[Seller: Good. I’ll trade with the alchemist. Ah, but could you include something else as well?]
[Royal Alchemist: Something else? What more do you want?]
“Mana stones. Just a few would be fine.”
[Royal Alchemist: Hoho, how modest. Very well. Would two or so A-grade mana stones suffice?]
A-grade.
An item worth at least 100 million won apiece.
But at my current level, walking around with A-grade mana stones was as good as advertising, “Please kill me.”
“No, B-grade will be enough. Instead, about five of them?”
[Royal Alchemist: B-grade? Hoho, you are not a particularly greedy friend. Very well. They are mere pebbles rolling around in my storage.]
Pebbles, he said.
Something worth 20 million apiece was being treated like a pebble.
As expected, rich kids from another world were on a different level.
Ding—!
[The transaction has been completed.]
[The items will be transferred to your inventory.]
‘Inventory?’
When I activated the system window, a category called Inventory had appeared.
When I clicked the items inside it, a heavy leather pouch and a small bottle filled with red liquid dropped into my hands.
“Whoa, fuck…? A dimensional pouch? He’s just giving me this?”
With trembling hands, I opened the leather pouch.
Five B-grade mana stones emitting a blue glow.
This alone was 100 million won in cash.
“Holy shit… Is this real?”
Until just moments ago, I had been fuming over getting cheated out of ten thousand won in repair fees, but in an instant, I had earned 100 million.
But the true treasure was something else.
I picked up the bottle in which the red liquid sloshed.
[Item Name: Dragon Heart Mana Road Activator.
Effect: Upon ingestion, forcibly opens and expands the blocked mana circuits within the body.
Side Effects: May be accompanied by extreme pain.]
“Mana Road Activator…”
The talent that combat-type Awakened craved and longed for so desperately.
The path of mana that one could barely sense after years of bone-grinding training.
This was a potion that forcibly opened it.
This was a value that could not be converted into money.
A ticket to the strength I had longed for so desperately.
‘If I have this…’
Gulp—
My Adam’s apple moved on its own.
I wanted to pop the stopper and down it in one shot right away, but the word “side effects” weighed on my mind.
If I drank it without any preparation and died because I couldn’t endure the pain, what kind of dog’s death would that be?
‘I’ll store it for now. It won’t be too late to drink it after I find more information.’
I carefully placed the activator into my inventory.
And that was when it happened.
Ding—!
[Congratulations!
You have successfully completed your first trade with an overwhelming profit!
Your merchant grade has risen!
Grade: F (Sprout) → E (Iron)
From now on, you may purchase additional items from the Point Shop.]
“A grade increase?”
With curious eyes, I opened the Point Shop again.
The shop list, which had been empty except for mana stones just a moment ago, had been updated.
And the moment I checked the newly added items…
I froze on the spot.
“No way. I could get something like this here??”