Chapter 223

CHAPTER 223

The stay time at the Dimensional Traveler–Exclusive Auction House was one hour.
Not even thirty minutes had passed yet, so there was still plenty of time.

‘But someone else might come in.’

Another dimensional traveler who used this place.
Just because someone was a dimensional traveler didn’t mean they were all good people.
And if he ran into one, he wouldn’t even know what to say.

‘Let’s go back.’

The blood summons would be worried.
The link gate on the other side was still open.
Juhyeok quietly stepped inside.

“Gah!”
“Summoner Bong!”
“Manse!”
“You’re back!”
“See? I told you there was nothing to worry about.”
“You returned safely.”

The blood summons were still waiting for him.

“How was the auction house?”
“Our big spender Summoner Bong, did you splurge a lot at the auction?”
“I’m sure you did. You’re a dimensional tycoon beyond Earth itself.”

Big spender? Dimensional tycoon?
More like a dimensional pauper who couldn’t bid on anything.

“…I’ll explain the details later when we get back to the 17th floor.”
“Yes, sir!”

They took the elevator back to the 17th floor.
Then Juhyeok briefly explained what had happened at the auction house.

The blood summons listened with fascinated expressions.
When he mentioned the auction items and bid prices, their mouths fell open.

Those kinds of items were sold there?
Top-grade mana stones were currency?
And the prices were beyond imagination?

After finishing the rough explanation,
Juhyeok opened the 17th floor owner menu.
Ding!

[Basic][Layout][Grant Residency][Resident List][Auction Status Board]

There it was.
An Auction Status Board that allowed him to view auction progress from the 17th floor.

He raised his finger and touched the menu.
Whoooooosh!
A flood of auction items scrolled upward.

“Oh?”
“Wow!”
“Eek? What’s that?”
“Oh! So that’s what the status board looks like.”
“Hooeh.”

Huh?

The blood summons were reacting—meaning?

“Can you see the status board?”
“Yes, clearly.”
“It’s very visible.”
“Crystal clear.”

So it was shared with everyone.
Item titles and bid prices were displayed in Korean as well.

“Plum Blossom Sword Technique? That thing is over three tons of top-grade mana stones?”
“So even martial world items are listed.”
“Look there. Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng.”
“Check out that dragon heart. The price is vicious.”
“Lightning Storm is an ultimate lightning spell—do you think a Meteor spellbook would show up too?”
“What’s a true gold ingot?”

Ding!

: True gold? That’s listed too?

The shut-in alchemist Mari showed keen interest as well.
From her residence area, she opened a window and stared at the status board through a telescope.

: What about true silver? Is true silver being sold?

Judging by the page-turn indicator, there were more items.
So Juhyeok swiped through.

: …Ah! There it is!!!

• Mineral: True Silver Ingots, 100 kg
• Current bid: 4,178 kg of top-grade mana stones

What?!

True silver was even more expensive than true gold.

: That’s normal. True silver is the best alchemical enchantment material.

‘Ah.’

That made sense.
True gold was stable, but the bid on true silver was still climbing—
from 4,178 kg to 4,185 kg.

‘Dimensional travelers are bidding in real time.’

Other items were the same.
Bids kept rising.

When he tapped an item, detailed information appeared automatically.
He poked the dragon heart listing.

• Starting bid: 10,000 kg of top-grade mana stones
• Auction ends in 3 hours (total duration: 24 hours)
• Exchange possible for an Ancient Blue Dragon Heart (send exchange request message)
• Bid cancellation allowed until 1 hour before auction end (currently cancellable)

So auctions ran for 24 hours total.
Exchange requests could be sent via messages, and bids could be canceled until one hour before the end.

“The dragon heart auction closes in three hours. If we had that, we could make one more elixir.”

So what?
One heart cost over 50 tons of top-grade mana stones.

Honestly, dragon hearts were on the cheaper side.
There were items that were unimaginably expensive.

‘Droplet of Creation,’ ‘Primordial Flame,’ ‘Breath of Light,’ ‘Dust of Origin,’ ‘Godslayer’s Long Spear,’ ‘World Tree Sapling,’ and more.

Items he’d never even heard of.
Minimum bids ranged from 1 billion to 10 billion kg.

And those were just starting bids.
No changes meant no one had bid yet.

Naturally so.
It felt like a salaried worker earning three million won a month staring at a 30-billion-won Han River–view apartment.

Who would buy something that expensive?
Unless they were a true dimensional tycoon.

Of course, there were cheaper items he could actually afford.
When he swiped the auction board pages—

• Weapon: Star-Infused Meteorite Divine Sword
  • Current bid: 547 kg of top-grade mana stones
• Material: Mandragora ×10
  • Current bid: 8 kg of top-grade mana stones
• Equipment: Dwarven Craftsmanship Skill-Enhancement Gloves
  • Current bid: 812 kg of top-grade mana stones
• Material: Bundle of Ice Spirit Grass
  • Current bid: 5 kg of top-grade mana stones

Stuff like that.

Judging by the descriptions, some of them seemed worth buying at least once.
Ding!

: Don’t buy mandragora. It’s a waste of money. You can substitute it with tower herbs.

Really?
Baek Danya came over as well.

“Ice Spirit Grass is decent for ice-art cultivation, but compared to Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal cold, it’s trash.”
“Ah, yes.”

True.
How could a mere herb compare to Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal?

“If you wish to cultivate ice arts, Summoner, all you need to do is hold my hand tightly.”

Sorry, but he had no intention of cultivating ice arts.

‘Still, there are a few things worth buying.’

Because they were cheap.

“Oh, right!”

He’d almost forgotten.

“What happened to the wristwatch I listed?”

He hadn’t expected much.
Even weapons, equipment, mandragora, or ice spirit grass—confirmed treasures—were going cheap.

In a market like this, how much could a wristwatch that only told time be worth?
If someone bid on it at all, that’d already be a blessing.

‘Let’s see, the wristwatch…’

Hmm.

Come to think of it, that was strange.
There were no Earth-made items like wristwatches listed at all.

Well, of course.
If something as trivial as a watch showed up among treasures, people would laugh.

‘Ah, I shouldn’t have listed it.’

Regret welled up.
He should’ve listed a piece of equipment instead.

Then he noticed—

“Ah! There it is.”

An entry with the name Bong Juhyeok at the top.
And beneath it, small text:
‘Items currently being auctioned,’ ‘Active bids.’

He raised his hand and tapped it.

• Ongoing Auction
• Accessory: Katek Flip Grand Complete Wristwatch

Interesting.

‘…Even the product name is exact?’

The watch Juhyeok had listed.
It had been about an hour since he posted it.

The bid price?

• Current bid: 3,335 kg of top-grade mana stones

“…Huh?”

What?

“Holy…”

Three thousand?

And only an hour had passed?

“What the hell…?”

He thought he’d misread it, but no.
Tap-tap-tap!
Even now, the bid was climbing at a terrifying speed.

A dark room.
Whiiirrr!
The noisy fan of an old gaming laptop spun loudly.

An old man furiously clicking mouse and keyboard, fully immersed in a game.
A moment later—

‘Phew, that’s the ending.’

Another character completed.

‘That makes… ninety-nine completed characters?’

The old man’s name was Lumos,
a great sage of the Gintervar Continent who had secluded himself in the Forest of Delusion for a hundred years.

‘Even games are getting boring now.’

Naturally so.
He’d devoted thirty years to a single game.

‘If only I could play multiplayer, but there’s no such thing as a network connection.’

Electricity wasn’t an issue.
With a bit of tweaking to lightning magic, he could supply stable voltage and current to the laptop.

‘Oh, right. What time is it?’

Lumos raised his wrist and checked his electronic watch—
a solar-powered digital watch.

‘One hour left.’

About one hour remained until the Lightning Storm spellbook he’d listed in the Dimensional Traveler–Exclusive Auction House would finish selling.

“Auction status board.”

Instantly—

Pabat!

The auction list appeared before his eyes.

• Ongoing Auction
• Spellbook: Lightning Storm
• Current bid: 3,054 kg of top-grade mana stones

“Hm.”

Three thousand.
A decent price.

But soon—

• Bid has been canceled. -

“…”

He’d expected it.

“Damn it!”

Some bastard always bid on his items, drove the price way up, and then canceled.

Just messing around.
A common occurrence in auction houses.

Not once or twice.
It had happened yesterday too.

Anything that seemed even slightly expensive was always canceled one minute before bids became non-refundable.

That dragon heart or martial arts manual would be canceled too—guaranteed.

“If I ever meet that bastard, I’ll kill him.”

But he didn’t know who it was.
And even visiting the dimensional auction house in person, there was no way to meet them.

Even if he went there, he’d be alone anyway.
That was simply how the dimensional auction house worked.

Dimensional travelers could not meet one another face to face.
There were many users, but all were isolated from each other.

They could only use their lockers—placing bids, receiving winning items, or inserting and retrieving exchanged goods.

Dimensional travel.
It had been about a hundred years since Lumos became a traveler.

Just when he, as a great sage, had grasped the principles of the world and realized there was no more truth left to learn, something appeared before him.

—
a rift in empty space.
A link gate leading to another world.

Using that gate, he experienced countless worlds.

The dimensions Lumos visited:
a world of magic, a world of spirits, a world of martial arts and internal energy, a world of magitech, a world of demi-humans.

Lumos realized it then.
That the world was not singular.

That as many worlds existed as there were stars in the sky.
Perhaps hundreds of thousands, millions, no—hundreds of millions of worlds.

Thus, Lumos traveled dimensions.

At first, it was fascinating and exhilarating.
After all, these were worlds completely different from his own.

But little by little, he grew indifferent.
They were unfamiliar, yet at the same time, strangely familiar.

In the end, they were all much the same.

Civilizations built upon magic power and mana.
What was so special about that?

Then—just once.

Perhaps due to a malfunction of the link gate, he ended up in a civilization he had never seen in his life.

A strange world called Earth.

Earth.
A civilization with no mana and no magic at all—
one built entirely upon the laws of science.

Good heavens!
Such a civilization existed?

Lumos was instantly captivated by that world.
Like a country bumpkin arriving in the imperial capital for the first time, he wandered Earth in a daze, drinking in its civilization.

But the time was far too short.
He was allowed to stay in Earth’s civilization for only three days.

Before he could truly experience anything, he was expelled back to his own world.
He couldn’t even take a single item with him.

Other worlds hadn’t been like that.
He could stay a month, two months, as long as he liked.
He could take any item without restriction.

Fine.
The first time had been chaotic—he hadn’t even looked properly.
But the second time would be different.
He would prepare thoroughly and experience it to his heart’s content.

But that was the end of it.

A second chance never came.
The link gate to Earth never opened again.

The regret was overwhelming.
Was there truly no way to go again?

Then one day—
Lumos acquired the qualification to use the dimensional auction house as a dimensional traveler.

Through that, he also learned that there were countless dimensional travelers besides himself.

And then—

After submitting his first auction listing and browsing the status board, he saw it.

A gaming laptop.

A laptop!

Wasn’t that a machine born of Earth’s scientific civilization?
And he was seeing it here?

Lumos’ eyes went wild.

Even if he couldn’t go to Earth itself, he could obtain Earth items through the auction house.

He poured his entire fortune into it and succeeded in winning the bid.

It was a used item—
it even had game programs installed by its previous owner.

After that, many more items from Earth’s civilization appeared in the auction house.

Cameras that could take photographs, various clothes and hats, stationery, watches and other accessories.

They were explosively popular among dimensional travelers.

Lumos himself barely managed to win just this laptop and a digital watch.

But that didn’t last long.

Suddenly, items from Earth’s scientific civilization stopped appearing altogether.

Overnight, the supply was completely cut off.

And decades passed like that.

“Haah…”

Why weren’t they appearing?

If he’d never experienced them, it would be one thing—but he had already tasted it.

The dimensional auction house only had magic books, martial manuals, weapons, equipment, and materials now.
Just like today.

Dragon hearts.
Martial arts manuals.
Alchemy materials.

“Why would I buy this crap?”

Lumos absentmindedly turned the page.

And then—

“…Huh?”

What?

Was he imagining it?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again.

• Accessory: Katek Flip Grand Complete Wristwatch.

“Gah!”

A wristwatch.

And not just any watch—
a luxury brand so expensive even on Earth.

“Insane!”

Had Earth items suddenly resumed appearing at auction?

The bid price?

Current bid: 4,124 kg of top-grade mana stones.

Four thousand.

It had clearly just begun.

“This is mine.”

He couldn’t let it go.
He would bid aggressively, no matter what.

And it wasn’t just Lumos.

Countless dimensional travelers were plunging into the bidding war.

The martial world.

Former Murim Alliance leader Geum Cheolmyeong was once again staring at the dimensional traveler–exclusive auction house from his residence.

A hundred years ago,
after personally slaying the demonic Heavenly Demon who had plagued the martial world, he entered secluded cultivation to heal his internal injuries.

In the process, he attained enlightenment—
achieving rebirth through bone transformation and rejuvenation to youth.

Then, before him appeared a strange oval-shaped rift.

A connecting gate that allowed travel between dimensions.

After acquiring dimensional traveler qualifications, he toured countless worlds.

Worlds where magic was a bizarre discipline,
worlds inhabited by races he had never heard of.

Curiously, there were many versions of the martial world as well.

A martial world where the Heavenly Demon conquered the Central Plains.
A martial world where the Mad Demon was supreme.
A martial world where the Emperor forced all orthodox and unorthodox martial artists to kneel.
A martial world ravaged by the Blood Demon.
A martial world where the Wudang Sect reigned supreme.

Then he experienced Earth.

Just once.

It was truly a kaleidoscope of wonders.

Such abundance.
Such convenience.

Foods he had never tasted, iron carriages that moved on their own, and skyscrapers soaring into the heavens.

But he was quickly expelled.
He could never return.

Later, Geum Cheolmyeong also obtained the qualification to use the dimensional auction house.

And with it, he learned that Earth items appeared there.

At least buy those.
As a way to reminisce about Earth.

The auction house currency was top-grade mana stones.
So first, he had to secure funds.

How?

By traveling mana- and magic-based dimensions.

Slaying magical beasts there had a slim chance of yielding them.
Sometimes they could be exchanged for gold.
Or he could list herbs or martial manuals cheaply in the auction house.

Earth clothes.
Earth shoes.
Earth food.
Earth cigarettes.

He bid diligently and bought many of them.

Then—suddenly—the supply of Earth items stopped.

Now, Earth items no longer appeared in the auction house.

“Why…?”

If he had to guess—

Either the Earth dimensional traveler had died,
or the world he lived in had been destroyed,
or Earth’s civilization itself had vanished.

Geum Cheolmyeong felt deep regret.

To think he could never experience that abundant world again.

And then, today—

An anomaly occurred.

“K-Katek Flip Grand Complete?”

That’s my watch.

I’m bidding, no matter what.

But the auction price was climbing ferociously.

“Damn it! Who dares place a higher bid on my watch?!”

Wretches—I’ll tear you apart.

Even so, he wouldn’t back down.

Juhyeok and the blood summons sat huddled together in front of the auction status board.

They couldn’t tear themselves away.

Because—

“Ohhh! It went up again.”
“There’s real competition now.”
“Good heavens.”
“Yes! It broke six thousand!”

And the auction wasn’t even close to ending yet.

Nineteen hours remained.

Just how high would it go?

• Current bid: 6,007 kg of top-grade mana stones

Only about five hours had passed.

• Current bid: 6,084 kg of top-grade mana stones

The bid kept climbing without rest.

“Is this a jackpot?”
“It’s a jackpot.”
“It’s a jackpot indeed.”
“A jackpot.”

“A jackpot.”
“Jackpot! Guaranteed win! Congratulations.”
“Hoeng!”