[Sale List]
1. Low-Grade Mana Conductor 10g (Earth Name: Mana-Gold) - 500 P
2. Low-Grade Monster Repellent Spray. - 500 P
.
.
.
“Mana-gold actually exists?”
I doubted my own eyes.
Mana-Gold.
It wasn’t real gold, but a general term for metals that could conduct mana.
Why did that make my heart race?
A memory from the past flashed through my mind.
One day, a B-rank Hunter came to me, holding out a sword broken in half.
[Item Name: Broken Electric Sword
Grade: B
Condition: Broken, internal mana induction circuit severed.
Repair Possibility: Possible
Required Materials: 2 B-rank mana stones, 5g of low-grade mana-gold, 100p of mana]
‘Boss, can this be repaired?’
Back then, I had no choice but to shake my head.
‘Uh... the mana contact circuit is broken, so... you’ll need mana stones, and mana-gold to connect the circuit.’
‘I have mana stones, but what’s mana-gold?’
‘It’s a metal used to make something like wires that let mana pass through....’
At the time, that B-rank Hunter searched it up for a bit, then shouted.
‘What the hell? It’s ridiculously expensive! At that price, I might as well just buy a new sword!’
That was right.
To repair high-grade items from Gates, you needed not only mana stones, but also mana-gold to create a path for mana to flow through.
Because Earth’s metals couldn’t withstand the pressure of mana.
The repair window said it was possible, but I couldn’t fix it because I didn’t have the materials.
Until now, because I didn’t have that mana-gold, I’d had to turn down every expensive request that could actually make me money.
It was the territory of S-rank blacksmiths, the kind you only saw in internet news, who supposedly charged tens of billions just for repairs.
But.
That was being sold here for a mere 500 points?
My hands trembled.
A rare metal that cost tens of millions of won per gram on Earth—or couldn’t be obtained at all—was treated here like a screw at a neighborhood hardware store.
‘If I just have mana-gold...!’
I can fix them too.
Not just fans, but equipment that Hunters’ lives depend on.
And with a perfect restoration rate that could rival an S-rank blacksmith.
“Phew, calm down. Let’s calm down.”
My chest felt like it was about to burst, but for now, I held myself back.
Right now, I had no points, and even if I bought the materials, I had no request.
Order mattered.
I first calmed my excitement and tapped the [User Guide] tab.
If I was going to properly make use of this multidimensional secondhand market, I needed to know the rules properly.
“Let’s see….”
[Multidimensional Secondhand Market Usage Rules]
1. No Trading Lives: Trading living beings will result in immediate permanent account suspension.
2. No Manipulation: If item information is manipulated, a penalty of 100 times the value in the currency of the relevant dimension will be forcibly collected.
3. No Liability for Delivery Accidents: The operators are not responsible for any alteration of goods during dimensional transit (decay, mana evaporation).
4. Cursed Items: Items imbued with curses must be tagged with ‘Cursed,’ regardless of whether the product information is disclosed. Violation will result in a 10-year account suspension.
.
.
.
There were dozens of other usage rules as well.
“......Brutal.”
If you broke the rules, they could impose fines or punish you with an account suspension that every user dreaded.
It was definitely on a different level from ordinary secondhand trading.
But conversely, it meant that as long as I followed these rules, anything was possible.
I carefully read through everything and nodded.
This was a miracle. A golden lifeline that could drag my life out of the mud.
“Good, now should I go exchange this…?”
I needed to verify whether these were truly genuine mana stones.
I checked the three B-rank mana stones in my pocket and left the workshop.
That was when it happened.
As I stepped out in front of the junk shop, I ran into a familiar face.
“Huh? Mr. Kim?”
A regular customer who had said the 100,000-won repair fee was too expensive and had only wired 90,000 won earlier.
He was the sort of customer who had all the sly charm an old man could have, you could say.
Annoying, but not someone you could hate.
“Oh, yeah. Daeseong. Where are my gloves?”
“Over there. Take them with you. I’m a bit busy, so I’ll be going.”
I jerked my chin toward the gloves I’d left on the workbench and hurried my steps.
Normally, I would have grabbed him and nagged him about why he’d sent 10,000 won less, but right now there were jewels worth tens of millions in my pocket.
All I wanted was to exchange them quickly.
“Ah, this punk’s sulking again. Hey, I only paid you ten thousand less so I could buy you a meal. Let’s go eat pork belly. Hyung will treat you.”
An obvious excuse.
His real intention was to use the promise of buying me a meal as an excuse to make me his drinking buddy and unload his woes.
“Sir, don’t do that to me. Go home and eat. Don’t make your wife come looking for you again.”
“......Even you’re nagging me now? And why do you always call me sir? I’m only eight years older than you.”
“That makes you a sir.”
At those words, Mr. Kim’s shoulders drooped.
I did feel a little bad seeing him like that, but right now I had bigger problems.
“Anyway, I’m really busy, so I’m going!! Drink only a little and go home!”
“Hey! Daeseong! I told you to come with me! I’m buying!”
I ran without looking back.
From behind me came the sound of Mr. Kim grumbling.
“Huh? I said I’d buy him meat, so what’s with that guy... Damn it... I can’t even find a party, so I can’t enter a Gate... And without Daeseong, who am I supposed to have a drink with....”
And mixed in with the wind came a bitter mutter.
“Tch, if only that sword hadn’t broken....”
I paused for a moment, then started walking again.
A sword, huh.
Later, once I gathered some points, maybe I’d buy mana-gold and take a look at it for him.
Of course, not for free. I’d make sure to charge him properly.
***
The official exchange office under the Seoul Hunter Association.
Sitting in front of the counter, I tried to keep my expression as calm as possible.
“So... you’re saying these are keepsakes from your late grandfather...?”
The employee looked at me with suspicious eyes.
It was only natural. A young man in shabby clothes had brought in B-rank mana stones, and three of them at that.
“Th-that’s right!? My grandfather was a Hunter in the early days. They were buried deep inside a wardrobe, so even I didn’t know... They turned up when I was moving this time.”
It was a lie.
But in the early days of Hunters, the system hadn’t been established yet, so there were often cases where individuals kept mana stones in their possession.
There was no way to verify it. The dead told no tales.
“…I see. Understood. Please give me your ID. Write down your name, contact information, and address.”
It was a procedure to check whether they were stolen goods or reported as missing.
I filled out the documents like it was nothing.
My heart was beating a little fast and my palms were sweating, but I didn’t let it show.
The employee placed the mana stones into the appraisal machine.
Whirrr—
The sound of the machine operating seemed unusually loud.
“Energy efficiency... B-rank, and... oh my?”
The employee’s eyes grew round.
“These... are top-grade, aren’t they?”
“Pardon? Top-grade?”
I asked back, pretending not to know.
“My goodness, these are mana stones with over 99% purity! Usually, when they’re mined from Gates, impurities get mixed in, so they come out at about 70%. Your grandfather really left you something precious.”
“Ah... haha. Is that so?”
I cheered inwardly.
As expected, fantasy products were different.
A purity on a completely different level from Earth’s contaminated mana.
Even among mana stones of the same grade, the price varied wildly depending on purity.
The average market price for B-rank was 20 million won, but that was only when it was average.
‘If it’s 99%, that changes the story.’
The employee tapped on a calculator and spoke in an excited voice.
“The market price for top-grade B-rank mana stones is set at 45 million won each.”
“F-forty-five million?”
More than double the price.
My heart pounded.
“Since there are three in total... that will be 135 million won.”
“!!!”
One hundred thirty-five million.
With just that money, I could pay off more than half the debt I was currently paying interest on every month.
Just as a smile was about to spread across my lips.
“We’ll deduct 35% in taxes from that and deposit the rest.”
“......Pardon?”
I doubted my ears.
What did she just say?
“Do you perhaps have a Hunter registration card?”
“Ah, no. I don’t.”
“In that case, the general income tax rate applies. Including 20% miscellaneous income tax, special consumption tax, and local tax, it comes to a total of 35%.”
“Th-thirty-five... percent?”
My mind went blank.
Thirty-five percent of 135 million won was... roughly 47 million won?
The price of a midsize car was disappearing while I sat here?
“Excuse me, are there no deductions or benefits? They’re my grandfather’s keepsakes...”
“I’m sorry, but those are the regulations. Hunters receive tax reductions under the name of hazard pay, but when ordinary people trade mana stones, there’s no such thing.”
But I couldn’t argue. I was an Awakened, not a Hunter.
“…It can’t be helped… Please proceed with that.”
“Yes, understood.”
I signed my name on the signature pad while crying tears of blood.
Ding—!
[Deposit: 87,750,000 won]
[Balance: 90,792,100 won]
Over 90 million won stamped in my bank account.
It was certainly an enormous amount of money. A huge sum I had never touched in my life.
But...
‘My 47 million won....’
The money that had vanished felt far too painful to let go.
With the money taken as taxes, I could have moved to a better place!
All this happened for the sole reason that I didn’t have a Hunter registration card.
I clenched my fist tightly.
This couldn’t go on.
The scale of my transactions would only grow from here, and if they took 35% every time, I might die from sheer resentment.
‘I need to become a Hunter.’
Even F-rank would do for now.
As long as I had a Hunter license, my taxes would be reduced even a little.
If I reached S-rank, it would get to the point where I paid almost no tax.
Even just to protect my money, I had to become a Hunter.
I left the exchange office, grinding my teeth.
“Just you wait. I’m going to get a Hunter license and stop paying taxes.”
Of course, there was one problem I had to solve before that.
The red potion sitting safely in my inventory, still undrunk.
[Dragon Heart Mana Road Activator]
Only if I drank this and survived could I even think about becoming a Hunter or whatever else.
‘It’s gonna... hurt like hell... right?’
I was starting to get a little worried.