Ulpaulu Forest

Choi Yuna of the Alchemists' Guild was incredibly lucky. Even after the company that had placed a bulk order went under, she'd found a wealthy buyer to take the elixirs off her hands.

She also had initiative. Once she'd sold every last lowest-grade elixir, she began churning out the next tier, low-grade elixirs, despite having received no particular orders. It was all because of Kim Minwoo, who had left her his contact information.

He'd bought a truly enormous number of lowest-grade elixirs. Surely he'd buy plenty of low-grade ones someday, too. Obsessed with results, she had charged ahead on that prospect alone.

'Holding out paid off!'

It had been a bold decision made with the future in mind, and the payoff came far sooner than she'd expected.

—This is Kim Minwoo. If you have low-grade elixirs, I'll buy them all.

One simple text. The moment she saw it, she cried out:

"Eureka!"

—I have eight hundred in total...

—I'll take them all.

The reply was utterly casual. As expected of a man with insane wealth.

At this point, she was starting to think Geumseong's bankruptcy had actually been a blessing. Hadn't it left her stocked with enough low-grade elixirs to land a premium customer?

She went to a cafe to conduct the transaction in person. Before long, Kim Minwoo appeared.

"Oh, you're here!"

Choi Yuna waved, her voice lilting sweetly.

"The goods?"

"Right here."

She transferred every low-grade elixir in her inventory to him. They boasted a stomach-churning average price of 300 million won apiece.

"Received. I've transferred 240 billion won to the guild."

"Th-thank you."

Choi Yuna swallowed hard as she answered. Even a respectable company would struggle to send that much in a single payment. Kim Minwoo certainly lived up to his reputation.

A short wait later, a text arrived.

[Dad]

—You worked hard, sweetheart. ^^

Grinning, she tapped away at her phone.

[Yuna]

—Hehe. Oh, it was nothing. I need to talk to the customer now, so...

[Dad]

—Of course. The customer comes first. Keep it up. (A cheering rabbit emoji)

Her usually taciturn father had actually sent an emoji. She really had delivered results today.

Coffee was set down before them. Kim Minwoo took a sip and spoke.

"You have initiative. You made these in advance, didn't you?"

"Yes. I thought you might place an order."

"I like that attitude."

"Hehe... Would you happen to be planning on using... intermediate-grade elixirs, too?"

Choi Yuna asked cautiously.

Just like equipment and skill books, elixirs skyrocketed in price with each tier. Intermediate-grade elixirs cost a billion won apiece. If he bought eight hundred again, like this time? That would be 800 billion won.

Even she would find producing those in advance an enormous burden. If he never placed the order, her life really would be ruined. That was a sum even her father, the Guild Master, would struggle to cover.

"Of course I'll use them."

She gulped at his answer and gazed at Minwoo with pleading eyes.

Please.

That order.

Place it with me.

Please, I'm begging you...

After a brief silence, Kim Minwoo spoke.

"I intend to keep placing bulk orders whenever I need them, just like today. But there's one problem."

"A problem...?"

"I receive my funding as I go, so paying you in advance is a little difficult. I don't know exactly when I'll buy them, either. I have a lot of levels to gain first."

"Oh... I see."

"Yes."

Silence followed. Choi Yuna realized this was a crossroads.

There were obvious problems with signing a bulk contract.

An advance? None.

Purchase date? Unknown.

Would she still trust him and build up stock first?

That was what Kim Minwoo was asking.

"... Deal."

"Deal?"

"Deal!"

Choi Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and shouted. She'd find some way to secure the budget for the elixirs.

This was a contract she had to land. Besides, wasn't he a world-record breaker? He'd level up in no time.

As for the money, well... He was apparently working hard on advertisements, so surely he'd earn it somehow. Choi Yuna decided to put her faith in Ilseong's power.

"Then start preparing the same quantity of intermediate-grade ones now."

"... Yes."

"Don't look so glum. In return, I'll pay full price when I buy them. No haggling."

"Yes, sir!"

The deal was struck.

* * *

'That buys me another turn.'

Even Kim Minwoo would struggle to find someone willing to produce 800 billion won's worth of elixirs without any guarantee. That was precisely why he'd established a connection with Choi Yuna. Otherwise, when he reached level 101 and needed intermediate-grade elixirs in the D-rank bracket, he'd have to wait ages for them to be made.

Blinded by results as she was, she'd accepted immediately. With her father as Guild Master, she'd find some way to get them made.

'The trouble starts with high-grade elixirs.'

That was where the climb became truly punishing. Producing them in advance would start costing well over a trillion won.

Strictly speaking, though, Kim Minwoo was the unusual one.

Talentless.

Thanks to that insane physical talent, he needed an enormous number of elixirs compared with everyone else.

'Normally, about two hundred is enough.'

Achieving an S-grade Awakening Achievement generally meant having excellent talent, too. Such prodigies often gained two stat points per elixir rather than one.

'But even those guys start running into funding limits at the high-grade tier.'

The average Super Rookie indulged in elixirs up through the low-grade tier. With support from a nation or a major organization, that much was quite feasible. Two hundred each of the lowest and low grades put the average investment at around 80 billion won. Not an impossible sum to invest.

Then came intermediate grade.

'That's when they really start separating the wheat from the chaff.'

Dosing someone with those elixirs required roughly 200 billion won. At that point, the burden started to bite. Only Super Rookies who'd already made a major splash received that much investment.

'And at high grade... '

If a nation or major organization funded someone that far, they were a truly mega-level rookie. High-grade elixirs cost a little over three billion won each. Even around two hundred meant pouring in roughly 600 to 700 billion won. The total investment in elixirs alone approached a trillion.

Isabella was a prime example of that sort of awakener.

'Still got crushed by me, though.'

Even so, she was pretty good for a human.

In any case, he'd think about high-grade elixirs when the time came. He still had quite a while before reaching that bracket. As he mulled it over, he arrived at the auction house.

[You have accessed the skill book store.]

[Search level: 51–60. Class: necromancer.]

[Searching with the specified information.]

[Summon Skeleton Mage (E)]

[Restrictions: necromancer, level 51 or higher]

[Price: 6 million won.]

'Oh.'

The price was exactly three times that of Summon Skeleton.

'Well, that's reasonable.'

Items also jumped by roughly that much at the next tier. In fact, he could say it had only tripled because his class was unpopular.

One fortunate thing was that the auction house fundamentally prohibited reselling. If it hadn't? He could guarantee that necromancer skill books would have become far more expensive. Speculators would have started hoarding them. With someone blowing money to buy up every relevant skill book, how could they resist?

'Well, if that happened, I'd just buy everything in another country instead of Korea.'

Auction-house listings were pooled nationally, not globally. Then the people who'd hoarded piles of unpopular skill books would have been utterly ruined. Since that possibility was blocked from the outset, it was a win-win.

He immediately bought up every listing.

[Purchasing all 53 skill books...]

[Identical skill books in your inventory...]

He dismissed the messages before him. He couldn't do anything with this pathetic quantity anyway. He'd finish shopping and combine them all at once.

He checked skill book prices.

'The average hasn't risen that much.'

Even without hoarding, the average price of skill books could rise. Unlike before, sellers now knew a massive buyer named Kim Minwoo was waiting in the wings. They didn't know when he'd come, but once he did, he'd buy every last skill book. With that expectation, they would naturally nudge their prices upward.

'About five percent?'

There was a little markup, but that much was acceptable. Had it been ten percent or more, even he might have gone shopping abroad. Not so much because it was expensive, but because it would piss him off. He'd do it just to punish their nerve.

Perhaps that was why he could see signs of sellers carefully testing the waters.

'Well, this much is almost cute.'

He chuckled, then spoke.

"Buy every E-grade skill book priced at twenty million or less, with a level requirement of fifty or lower. One more condition: only items whose prices have fluctuated by five percent or less recently."

It was time to give suppliers a benchmark. He'd pay a premium of exactly five percent, and no more.

'Raise it any higher, and you're getting hit with the no-sale beam.'

For the record, the auction house took a ten-percent fee even if an item failed to sell. If they'd misjudged the game, they deserved the hit. He needed to send a signal at least once to curb skill book inflation. Otherwise, he'd have to start touring overseas from D-grade onward.

[Purchasing 8,424 qualifying listings.]

[Purchase complete!]

[Withdrawing 126.36 billion won...]

[Withdrawing a 10% fee...]

"Whew. Walking the proper path really isn't easy."

It truly wasn't. Even at E-grade, the amounts ran into hundreds of billions. By C-grade, they'd be in the trillions. It was a difficult road. But only by building up steadily like this could he become a truly proper awakener.

'At least there's stock available.'

By A-grade, every listing would dry up. The number of awakeners shrank exponentially the higher one went. At that point, even a tour of every auction house in the world might not provide enough books to attempt +9. If one blew up halfway through, there'd be no stock left. Game over. It would probably be something like that.

While the skill books combined, he bought equipment for his mages. They, too, would start as level-one baby mages when summoned. Since the gear was low-level, it didn't cost much. Like the Black Heart set, each loadout ran around 200 million won. He bought a generous 250 sets. There wasn't enough stock to buy more.

Finally, he bought premium equipment for himself and Cedric to wear in the next level bracket. Their two loadouts cost about fifteen billion won combined. With his shopping done, Kim Minwoo began the skill book grind.

* * *

Ulpaulu Forest.

Clear difficulty: 90.

Despite its notoriously high difficulty, unlike the Tomb of Osiris, this place teemed with awakeners seeking entry. Unlike the tomb's roaches, the gorillas that served as its main monsters had nothing that went to waste.

Their tough hides were used to make armor, their bones to craft weapons. In particular, the Thunder Staff dropped by the boss, Ulparu, was a premium item worth three billion won. Even split among a party of five, that was 600 million each. A true jackpot. The drop rate was low, but what mattered to awakeners was the possibility itself.

Today, too, soldiers at the entrance were busily issuing entry permits.

"Yes. Your identity has been verified. Here's your entry permit. Live long. Next?"

The soldier looked up at the awakener before him. A moderately lined face and a sparse beard. Somehow, his appearance alone exuded experience.

"Are you alone?"

The man nodded.

The soldier nodded in return. Being alone wasn't particularly strange. High-level awakeners occasionally came to solo gates with jackpot potential. After all, if they got the right item, they could earn more than they would clearing gates at their own level.

"Please show me your ID. Yes. D-rank awakener Park Cheolung. Verified. Here's your entry permit. Live long."

"You too, soldier."

That voice sounded strangely familiar. Tilting his head slightly, the soldier attended to the next party.

And so Park Cheolung—no, Kim Minwoo—approached the gate.

[Ulpaulu Forest]

[Rank: E]

Soldiers and a single awakener stood directly in front of the gate.

"The five of you, go in now."

A party entered the gate. It glowed briefly, then went dark again.

"You can go in now too, sir."

Kim Minwoo nodded and leaped toward the gate.

At that moment, a transparent human figure slipped smoothly into the glowing gate, drawn inside.

An awakener had been assigned to keep watch, but the figure moved so stealthily that even the D-rank observer failed to notice. Then the gate went dark.