NSE-Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A Level Up increases all Stats by 1.

Unless it was a truly special case, there was never a situation where Stats failed to rise on a Level Up.

On top of that, raising one’s Level was something that could be done anytime.

‘Elixirs are different.’

Beyond a certain Stat, the effect disappears.

Those who start by chugging Elixirs from Level 1 to raise all their Stats, and those who don’t.

The gap between the two grows vast. That was the reason Kim Min-woo was now heading for the Auction House.

‘The first limit Stat is 50. Up to that point, I have to make up for it with Elixirs no matter what.’

Raise Stats as far as Elixirs can take them, then raise them through Level Ups and other means. This was precisely the Royal Road.

Of course, it wasn’t something just anybody could do.

They had only just Awakened, so how could it be easy to guzzle down Elixirs costing at least tens of millions of won apiece as if pouring water?

That was why the Awakened who used this method were limited.

Either those who could print money like Kim Min-woo.

Or, failing that, those who could receive support from the state or a major Guild as a promising prospect.

[Awakened Auction House, Korea Branch]

A huge building came into view amid the city center.

The Awakened Auction House, one of which existed in each country.

To put it in the terms of the Gate Hunter world, it could be called a mysterious byproduct created by the ‘System.’

Being run by the System came with an overwhelming advantage.

Most items besides equipment couldn’t be resold.

There was no worry about fraud, and since purchases were put straight into the Inventory, there was no shipping time either.

Even if the fees were expensive, these were reasons enough to at least be somewhat convincing.

He went inside the Auction House.

Then a hologram appeared before his eyes.

[Select the item to buy/sell. The fee is 10%.]

[1. Skill Books.]

[2. Equipment.]

[3. Elixirs.]

[4. Monster By-products.]

[5. Miscellaneous.]

‘Elixirs.’

[You have accessed the Elixir Shop.]

[Caution. An item once registered for sale cannot be retrieved before it goes unsold.]

Thousands of lines of text appeared before his eyes. Elixirs listed at various price points. When he narrowed the search conditions, the Elixirs he wanted came into view at a glance.

[Lowest-Grade Magic Power Elixir] x200

[Price: 100 million won each]

[Registrant: Alchemist Choi Yu-na]

[Registered: 3 hours ago.]

[Lowest-Grade Strength Elixir] x200

[Price: 80 million won each]

[Lowest-Grade Agility Elixir] x200

[Price: 70 million won each]

[Lowest-Grade Health Elixir] x200

[Price: 70 million won each]

“Oh. There are more than I expected?”

Kim Min-woo whistled.

Elixirs were hard to obtain even with money. Because time, manpower, and materials went into making them.

Conversely, selling them wasn’t easy either.

Each cost anywhere from tens of millions to the hundred-million range.

With that money, an F-grade Awakened could put together a full set of decent equipment.

Naturally, ninety-nine out of a hundred choose equipment.

‘Looks like some incident blew up somewhere.’

When someone made a batch after receiving a bulk order, and then the buyer went completely bankrupt.

Elixirs would get released in bulk like that.

By now, Choi Yu-na must be sweating bullets.

“Ms. Choi Yu-na, you’re lucky.”

Click.

[Caution!]

[Once purchased, Elixirs cannot be traded or transferred to others.]

[Would you like to purchase all 800 Low-Grade Elixirs for 64 billion won?]

Click.

[Final warning!]

[The fee is 6.4 billion won! Are you sure you want to make this trade?]

A situation where he had to catch the Outer God within seven years.

Time couldn’t be bought even with money.

Here, have a click.

[Purchase complete.]

[6.4 billion won is withdrawn as the fee.]

[Items are stored in the Inventory.]

[Would you like to share the buyer’s information with the seller?]

Click.

[The buyer’s information is being delivered to Alchemist Choi Yu-na!]

Now his name and status would be delivered to her.

‘Choi Yu-na is a pretty useful character, you know.’

Chief Researcher of the Alchemist Guild.

On top of that, her status is quite high.

Her dad is the Guild Master.

Her ability is decent too.

As long as you pay, she makes Elixirs quickly and well.

When higher-grade Elixirs than these became necessary in bulk later on.

It would be considerably easier if they knew each other.

She would also be learning her financier’s information, so it would be a good exchange of information.

* * *

“Geumseong Group, those bastards!”

Choi Yu-na felt like her head was splitting these days.

It was all because of Geumseong Group.

One of Korea’s top 100 companies.

As an Alchemist who had to hustle for sales, they were normally an entity she’d have to serve with utmost respect.

But now was different.

“What the hell are they thinking, ordering Elixirs and then going bankrupt!”

After making a damn fuss about nurturing Awakened for a new business to conquer Gates and whatnot, they had gone completely bust.

Overnight, 800 Lowest-Grade Elixirs had lost their destination.

Tens of billions of won had been tied up in thin air.

And that wasn’t all.

Those lunatics had even placed a huge order for Low-Grade Elixirs, one tier above those.

Factoring that in, she couldn’t even imagine how much money was tied up.

“That’s why I said we should take a deposit first. I told you that place was shaky. Their sales were inflated, but their operating profit was just…….”

“Damn it! Will you shut up? Who knew a top 100 company would go under!”

At her junior’s words, she glared daggers.

If she had taken a deposit?

The number of orders would have plummeted.

She was already in a situation where all sorts of nonsense came out, like she was backed by her dad or a parachute hire.

What mattered to her was results.

So she took the plunge and blew it spectacularly.

“Haa…… Did any of what you put up on the Auction House sell?”

“……No.”

Her eyes grew sorrowful.

“Ah, my hair…….”

I can’t afford to go bald…….

She weakly looked at her hair falling out in clumps.

In the meantime, she had looked for buyers through her connections, but it hadn’t worked out.

In the end, shedding tears of blood, she put the items up on the Auction House.

So far, not a single one had sold.

‘Even if they sell, it’s a loss…….’

The margin on Lowest-Grade Elixirs is usually around 10%.

But the fee is 10%?

Counting labor costs, it’s a negative.

“What will you do if they go unsold?”

“……I’ll have to ask Dad for help, I guess.”

What else could she do then.

Even if she got cursed out, she had no choice but to use the cheat code.

“Please. I wish a supernova would show up somewhere and sweep up the Elixirs.”

“Come on, even then it’d only be one or two hundred. No one could absorb eight hundred. Unless another bunch like Geumseong shows up…….”

Just then.

[All Lowest-Grade Magic Power Elixirs you listed on the Auction House have been sold.]

[All Lowest-Grade Health Elixirs you listed on the Auction House have been sold.]

[All Lowest-Grade Agility Elixirs you listed on the Auction House have been sold.]

[All Lowest-Grade Strength Elixirs you listed on the Auction House have been sold.]

[90% of the 64 billion won in sales proceeds, after deducting the fee, is deposited.]

“……Huh?”

[The buyer has shared their information.]

[Buyer Information]

[Name: Kim Min-woo]

[Status: Eldest Son of Ilseong Group]

“Uh……? Uhhh!”

“What? Did something happen?”

“I-It sold.”

“How much?”

“All of it. But Kim Min-woo, was this person an Awakened?”

“Kim Min-woo? That Ilseong Group brat?”

“Yeah.”

“I haven’t heard anything like that, though?”

* * *

[The Lowest-Grade Magic Power Elixir is absorbed.]

[No change is felt.]

[The Lowest-Grade Agility Elixir is absorbed.]

[Agility increases very slightly. If you absorb a little more, a change may occur.]

[The Lowest-Grade Strength Elixir is absorbed.]

[Strength increases by 1.]

.

.

He absorbed the Elixirs one at a time as if spinning a slot machine.

‘Wow, the hit rate is insane.’

And this wasn’t even near the limit Stat of 50. At only around the 30s in Stats, why were so many duds coming out like this?

He was almost speechless at the sheer absurdity of Kim Min-woo’s godlike talent.

It was a relief that he had played for six years firsthand. If he had been starting out for the first time with a body like this, he might have died of pent-up rage.

‘What I need to buy next is…….’

While absorbing Elixirs one after another, he moved on to the next purchase window.

[You have accessed the Skill Book Shop.]

[Search Level: 1~5, Class: Necromancer. Searching with this information.]

[Summon Skeleton(F)]

[Restriction: Necromancer, Level 1 or above]

[Price: 2 million won]

Summon Skeleton was a basic Skill that served as the foundation for all summoning Skills.

‘There are quite a few.’

Skill Books drop randomly as Gate clear rewards or while hunting monsters.

Perhaps because Necromancer wasn’t such a popular Class, there were a fair number of listings.

He bought every one he saw.

[Purchasing all 42 Skill Books…….]

[Multiple identical Skill Books exist in your Inventory.]

[Two identical Skill Books can be combined to enhance.]

[Success rate 95%.]

[Would you like to enhance?]

This was truly a system that drove people crazy.

There was no way not to do it.

“Keep running it as long as you can.”

[Auto-Enhancement begins!]

Flash!

[Summon Skeleton(F)+1 completed…….]

[Summon Skeleton(F)+1 completed…….]

[Summon Skeleton(F)+1 completed…….]

[Oh no. Two Skill Books have vanished. Unfortunate…….]

.

.

Two +1 Skill Books were gathered.

[Synthesizing two Summon Skeleton(F)+1.]

[Oh no. Two enhanced Skill Books have vanished. Unfortu…….]

[Summon Skeleton(F)+2 completed…….]

He combined those two again to make a +2.

‘And this can go up to +9.’

Even if every attempt succeeded, reaching +9 required 512 identical Skill Books.

On top of that, the higher the enhancement, the lower the success rate.

It was a money-guzzling hippo, so to speak.

Still, the effect was good.

Because at around +9, the effect inflates to nearly double.

Then he had to do it.

[Enhancement result!]

[Summon Skeleton(F)+4]

[Enhancement cannot proceed due to insufficient Skill Books.]

This was nowhere near enough.

There were no more low-level-range Skill Books for Necromancers.

It didn’t matter, though.

Because the real money-splurging starts now.

The remaining money was somewhere in the high 20 billions of won.

“Under 5 million won. Sweep up every F-grade Skill Book listing at Level 5 or below.”

[Purchasing 6,124 target listings.]

[Purchase complete!]

[21.234 billion won is withdrawn…….]

[10% is withdrawn as a fee…….]

[You hold a large number of Skill Books.]

[By combining two Skill Books of different kinds, you can craft a random Skill Book of the same grade.]

[Would you like to synthesize?]

“If Summon Skeleton comes out, set it aside and run all the rest.”

[Condition setting complete.]

[Auto-Synthesis begins!]

Flash!

‘Let’s see.’

With six thousand books, he could probably salvage around three hundred.

Because the more he synthesized, the higher the chance of the desired Skill Book coming out.

‘Since there’s some probability correction in the game.’

Looking at this, it’s not a completely vicious system.

Or is it?

Am I the sucker here?

‘No way.’

This was romance.

And it was also rational spending.

‘Once with a +9 enhanced Skill.’

And there’s still one more shot.

Death Lord.

This is a Passive that applies to all Skills.

If it’s enhanced twice with this?

Kim Min-woo was certain.

That his Skeletons would be invincible.

Turning on his phone, he made a call.

* * *

“Yes, Father. It’s me. Min-woo. The reason I’m calling is that I’ve used up nearly all of the First Round of Funding.”

―Already?

“I’m not good with my body, you know. My stamina was weak, too. Maybe that’s why, but Elixirs cost quite a bit.”

―Even so, with 100 billion won you should have hit Stat 50 easily……?

“I’m nearly there on all of them, but the Skill Books are the problem.”

―Don’t tell me, you’re going for a +9?

“I have to. Death Lord, this is a really good Skill. Shouldn’t it see the light of day? Plus it’s only a Level 1 basic Skill. It’s not a big burden.”

That is, if the luck just kicked in properly. A brief silence.

Soon, Chairman Kim’s answer came.

―……Fine! What’s family for? I’ll give you a generous 200 billion won more. Buy equipment with that too. In return, do your old man a favor.

“What kind of favor?”

―Min-woo, you need to be an ad model for our Ilseong. That’s fine, right?

“An ad model?”

―Yes. EX-grade is too conspicuous, so we’ll just lump you in as an S-grade Achievement Awakened and gain some fame. How about it?

“Not bad.”

―Right?! That thingy. The Skeleton Legion you mentioned! Let’s do some big promotion with it, and shove in lots of product placement. Deal?

“Product placement with a Skeleton Legion? Is there anything that suits it?”

―Once you’re famous, people applaud even when you take a dump.

“Well, fine. Then the deposit…….”

―I’ll deposit it right away. Oh, and you need a lot of Skill Books, right?

“Yes. I’m sweeping the Auction House, but the listings are running a bit short.”

―I’ll tell the guys to buy up items from outside the Auction House, too. If we gather together, it’ll be completed faster.

“Thank you.”

―Ahem. Let’s hang up. Your old man is busy now.

“Yes.”

As expected, the power of blood ties was great.

No, was it actually the mighty Death Lord’s power that was great?

He thought while consuming Elixirs.

‘An ad model, huh…….’

It was something he had never done in the game.

It seemed like it’d be fun in its own way.

‘It’s fame that would become known anyway.’

Quite a few people at the Sword Sea Pavilion had seen the Awakening scene.

The halo of light had been unusual as well, so they must have gathered it was a high Achievement. As time passed, rumors would spread through word of mouth.

An S-grade Achievement Awakening was effectively treated as a super rookie, so attention was inevitable.

Well, it was fine.

An S-grade Achievement Awakening was still a fairly common case.

It wasn’t at the world-first level like EX, so assassins wouldn’t come looking.

‘I’ll get attention anyway.’

Getting a head start as a supernova Necromancer wouldn’t be bad either.

Just then.

Flash!

[All Stats have reached 50, the Level 1 growth limit.]

[You acquire the Title ‘Promising Prospect.’]

[You acquire the Title ‘Elixir Slaughterer.’]

‘Finally…….’

Before he could feel any emotion, messages continued in succession.

[You have partially met the conditions for the Death Lord’s first Trial! (1/2)]

[Because the remaining condition has not been met, the Death Lord’s Call is blocked!]

[You currently have no Undead summoning-type Skills at all!]

[Acquire a Skill!]

‘Huh?’

He had unexpectedly found one of the conditions.

‘So this means…….’

If I learn an Undead summoning Skill, will I be dragged off to some secluded place?

Yeah, then I’ll learn the Skill after hitting +9 and finishing all my preparations.