Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 82
Ayeon was a loser.
When she lost her parents in a gate accident, when she was moved to another unfamiliar orphanage due to the bankruptcy of her previous one, and when she was severely bullied by her classmates, Ayeon thought of herself as a loser.
In the end, it was all about what one was born with.
Money, abilities, or family.
Those who possessed them without any effort.
And those who, despite doing nothing wrong, didn't have such things or had lost them.
The world Ayeon saw was thus divided into winners and losers.
One day, Ayeon, by a chance opportunity, rose to the ranks of the winners.
However, the 'victory' she had obtained so easily, thinking back now, didn't seem entirely sweet.
Then what was it that I wanted?
She belatedly had such thoughts.
Ayeon slowly opened her eyes.
"..."
"..."
Dark eyes staring down at her blankly.
In the quiet stillness, Eunha parted her lips slightly.
"Can you get up?"
A white hand, indifferently extended.
For a moment, Ayeon had a thought.
Ah, what I wanted might not have been something so grand.
Rising from the wet ground, Ayeon looked around.
Verde and his colleagues, and even the ferocious dogs that had densely surrounded this place, had all vanished like smoke.
Ayeon, with a dazed face, stared at Eunha's hand, then cautiously reached out and grasped it.
"You received an apology, but it would be better to report it too."
Eunha said, looking at Ayeon's disheveled state.
An apology received like a forced bow was useless.
One never knew when or how they might face retaliation.
"No reporting."
Squeeze.
Ayeon, wringing out her top and extracting a good amount of muddy water, said.
"I might be the one who gets caught instead."
"...What?"
Eunha blinked, as if unable to understand.
Hehe.
Smiling cutely, Ayeon lightly tapped the air.
[Loading Inventory.]
[Loading]
Ayeon, rummaging through an inventory invisible to Eunha's eyes, soon found an item.
A purple streak of light spread across Ayeon's palm.
Judging by the color, that was probably a Heroic-grade item.
Finally, the item she succeeded in 'retrieving' was—.
"Ta-da! I got the Witch's Grimoire!"
Ayeon proudly presented it to Eunha.
It was a thick book with an unknown symbol drawn on its cover.
Though she didn't know for sure, it didn't seem like an ordinary item.
"...Didn't you say you didn't steal it?"
"At first."
"..."
"Why? Did you think I'd just take a beating? Do you know who I am? That wouldn't be profitable. Ouch, ouch, my knee."
One of Ayeon's unique skills, Plunder (鹵獲).
Though it had the drawback of having a tricky activation condition and not being able to specify the item to steal, if successful, she could sometimes acquire decent items like this.
"By now, they'll have realized an item is missing and be flipping out. Tsk, they should have lived a little more kindly. Don't you think?"
Ayeon stretched widely.
Though her body ached all over, she had obtained good spoils...
Whip. She turned her head to look at Eunha.
At her, who was staring at Ayeon with a somewhat bewildered face.
"...Thanks, Unnie."
Muttering softly, Ayeon slowly lifted her head to look at the sky.
The clear, post-rain sky was gradually reflected in her pink eyes.
The rain had stopped at some point.
September 12th.
The two-day flea market had ended, and it was the day of the long-awaited auction.
Overnight, massive booths for the auction had been set up in various parts of the spacious park.
"Unnie! Let's go quickly. It's about to start soon!"
Hurry, hurry! Ayeon urged Eunha.
Eunha, walking as she was led, glanced at Ayeon.
Due to the auction on the third day being conducted anonymously, Ayeon was wearing a cute Mickey Mouse-shaped mask.
Unlike the flea market, an enormous amount of coins and chips moved in the auction.
Most hunters, especially those exhibiting or winning bids, were reluctant to have their identities revealed.
It was understandable.
It would be like advertising to the whole world, "I have this much money."
There were also occasional cases where auction items were plundered by unknown individuals after the auction ended.
Therefore, masks were a necessity for hunters participating in the third-day auction.
Anyway, though her face wasn't clearly visible due to the mask, Ayeon's visible areas like her neck and wrists were completely free of wounds.
Still a hunter, it seemed she had healed cleanly overnight.
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' doubts its eyes, wondering if this is the same brat who was ungracefully rolling in the mud yesterday.]
The cat's suspicion was reasonable.
That wasn't the only thing that had changed overnight.
"Hey, mister. Lower your head a bit. You're blocking my Unnie's view!"
Eunha had somehow become Ayeon's 'my Unnie'.
"What's it to you?"
"No, don't turn your head, lower it, I said. If my Unnie misses out on seeing an item because of you, are you going to take responsibility?"
Despite Ayeon's words, the man didn't even pretend to listen.
Ayeon pouted at the smooth back of his head, which was shaved clean without a single strand of hair left.
"I'm fine—"
The moment Eunha parted her lips,
"Ah, it's so freaking bright. You should have at least worn a wig."
Ayeon caused trouble.
The bald... no, the hunter sitting in the front row, bristled and turned around.
"Oh, you heard me? I thought you didn't."
Ayeon, baring her white teeth and grinning.
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' nods, saying it now somewhat understands why this brat got beaten up in the back alley.]
Indeed, Ayeon's way of speaking didn't seem to be very good.
Eunha blandly agreed with the cat's opinion.
"Alright, Unnie. Can you see well now?"
Ayeon, returning after a verbal skirmish with the hunter in the front row, puffed out her chest with a satisfied face.
Even after that, Ayeon volunteered for unasked tasks, such as vigorously wiping Eunha's seat with her sleeve, or unhesitatingly pointing fingers at hunters who intermittently blocked Eunha's view.
Of course, she had helped Ayeon, and had also smashed those guys' cell phones yesterday...
But for just that, Ayeon was ready to not only pledge allegiance but even offer her life.
Since there was no particular need to stop her, Eunha decided to keep her mouth shut.
"There aren't as many people as I thought."
Eunha, seated, muttered lowly.
"Well, more than half of the hunters just check out the flea market and leave. From here on, it's a battle among the 'real' ones, so to speak."
This isn't the only auction booth either.
Ayeon, sitting down beside Eunha, replied nonchalantly.
As Ayeon said, in Sejong Central Park, there were over twenty booths set up for the auction, from A to W.
Among them, this was 'K'.
According to the information in the pamphlet, the relic-grade item Pixie Powder was scheduled to be exhibited here.
Eunha, from behind the mask she was wearing, slowly looked around.
An interior so luxurious it was hard to believe it was a booth set up overnight.
It felt as if she were in a famous opera house overseas.
As she was looking around like that, the auction soon began in earnest.
"The first item is Heroic grade. That very item which can only be found in volcanic terrain fields among gates! Yes, I can already see some people preparing their coins. That's right! I confidently introduce our first item. It's the 'Fire Dragon's Ruby'!"
Amidst applause, a glass case covered with a black cloth appeared.
"As you all know, using the 'Fire Dragon's Ruby' as a material can grant powerful fire resistance options to various equipment. Recently, it's said that even famous crafting guilds are unable to secure sufficient quantities."
The auctioneer removed the black cloth covering the glass case.
At that, the dazzling red luminescence hidden by the cloth was clearly revealed.
"A size larger than any other 'Fire Dragon's Ruby'! And this vivid red color! A premium will be attached even before the auction begins. Please be aware that 1,500 chips are required for auction participation... Then! We'll start from 100 coins!"
110, 200, 500, 1000...
Numbers rising at a frightening speed.
That item, which looked just like a red egg, seemed to be quite valuable.
"One... 10,000 coins it is!"
Bidding 10,000 coins without hesitation for a Heroic-grade item?
Even Eunha, ignorant of market prices, was surprised.
The auction proceeded without delay.
Besides that, various Heroic-grade items such as the Grimoire Orpheus, Yggdrasil Wood, and the Tablet of Origin were sold at high prices.
Hunters around Eunha, including Ayeon, participated in the auction, bidding for the items they needed.
However, Eunha never once raised her bidding paddle.
She just waited quietly.
"Then, I'll introduce the next item. Wow, I'm sure many of you have been waiting for this item. It's the only relic-grade item to be presented here at Booth K!"
The atmosphere of the auction hall changed with the appearance of a relic-grade item.
Eunha, who had been leaning loosely against the back of her chair, also straightened her spine.
"Unnie, it's finally here."
Ayeon nudged Eunha's side.
Nodding slightly, Eunha fixed her gaze on the auctioneer on stage.
"The Doctor Plant of the item world, capable of erasing any abnormal status at once! It's Pixie Powder! Including two years ago, it's a very precious item that has only been exhibited three times in the history of the Korean Hunter Auction. First, let's take a look."
Finally, Pixie Powder was revealed.
On a transparent glass dish, it shone continuously under the lights, as if the Milky Way from the sky had been gathered and stored.
Everyone there was mesmerized by its brilliance.
"As it is a relic-grade item, please be advised in advance that participation in the auction starts from 10,000 chips. Alright then! We'll start the coins from 5,000!"
18,000.
30,000.
45,000.
80,000...
Unlike the preceding Heroic-grade items, the bidding price for the relic-grade Pixie Powder jumped by leaps and bounds.
The numbers displayed on the electronic board couldn't even keep up with the speed.
"Two... 200,000 coins has been called!"
The auction hall began to stir.
Everyone's gaze turned to the owner of the 200,000 coins.
Though his face couldn't be seen because he was wearing a mask...
"Looks like he came again this year."
Wolf.
Beside her, Ayeon whispered lowly.
Eunha also turned her head and cast her gaze towards the protagonist of the 200,000 coins.
"Damn it, that selfish bastard. Even if it's a relic-grade item, 200,000 coins is crossing the line."
Is he trying to monopolize it, or what?!
Ayeon grumbled discontentedly.
Murmur, murmur...
The man in the mask who had called 200,000 coins, indifferent to the surrounding atmosphere, loosely crossed his arms.
Considering that the winning bid for Pixie Powder two years ago was 157,000 coins, it didn't seem likely that the price would easily jump beyond 200,000 coins.
The auctioneer also seemed to have judged so.
Swallowing dryly, he hesitantly raised the microphone.
"Any... any more bids? Then..."
It was then.
Whip. Someone raised a paddle.
Drrrrrrr—
The numbers on the electronic board placed at the top of the stage began to roll like crazy.
Finally.
Ta-da!
<400,000 ⓒ>
A number that flashed, glowing golden!
The previously bustling auction hall instantly quieted down as if cold water had been thrown over it.
"Four, for...ty... thousand..."
Even the auctioneer couldn't continue speaking properly.
An amount unbelievable even when seeing it with one's own eyes.
The countless eyes that had been fixed on the owner of the 200,000 coins now all turned in unison to another place.
Ayeon also, her mouth agape, began to look around.
No, even if it was a relic-grade item, where else could there be another crazy person who would casually bid hundreds of thousands of coins for just a pouch of powder—.
Stop.
Ayeon, who had been scanning her surroundings, stopped moving.
"Uh, uh, uh-Unnie...?"
A black cat mask.
The owner of the 400,000 coins was right in front of her.
