Chapter 51
Before the article about the binding formula went up, in the early hours of that day.
On the way to the old district office's archery range.
Si-woo had ended up bringing the bow out with him after all.
‘Damn... Should I turn back even now? Hyung is fucking terrifying when he gets angry.’
His heart felt like it was about to burst.
If he got caught bringing it out without permission, he had no idea what kind of disaster would follow.
‘No... I've come this far already.’
Right. Just once.
I'm only going to check whether the hero's potential sleeping inside me is real, then I'll leave.
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.
.
After that day, Si-woo started going back to the school archery range.
It wasn't because of Coach's nagging. It was because of that thrilling sensation in his hands that he'd felt that day.
Perhaps because of the memory of his shoulder injury, his timing had kept slipping at crucial moments.
But after using Tae-gyeong's bow that day, that problem had strangely disappeared.
Well, they'd said his injury had healed completely long ago.
Maybe it was because he'd gained the confidence to draw with all his strength?
Maybe because the confidence he'd lost had returned.
Whatever the reason, he was gradually getting his feel back.
But there was one problem.
Although his form was gradually returning, he couldn't forget the sensation of using his hyung's bow that day.
That day too, Si-woo had been lying awake at night, lost in thought.
‘What the hell is my hyung, really?’
Was he some kind of superhero?
The superhero world.
No, was that actually a real thing?
Of course, he couldn't bring himself to ask his hyung outright.
‘Ah... You've learned too much, little brother.’
Because he had no idea what his hyung might do to him while saying that.
Even so, it was hard to imagine his only biological little brother getting hurt, but it never hurt to be careful.
You know how movies sometimes have things like that?
Like giving someone a memory-erasing drug. Or shooting some weird flash of light at them.
‘...Am I taking this too far?’
Maybe it was because he'd watched too many superhero comics.
No, no.
Then what was that bow?
And what on earth had happened to him that day?
Why did his hyung travel all over the country carrying a bow like that if he claimed to do tile work?
No matter how much he thought about it, it didn't seem like he'd imagined it.
It definitely existed.
A hidden world he knew nothing about!
‘Yeah, the superhero world definitely exists.’
And his hyung was in that world.
‘...Then what about me, his one and only little brother?’
Didn't he have the potential to become a superhero too?
Thump, thump.
His heart swelled just thinking about it.
Gulp.
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
Maybe even his shoulder giving out right before the national competition had all been meant to lead him down this path.
Because he was destined to become a hero....
‘Ah... Just once... Please, just one more time.’
.
.
.
And that was how he ended up here.
Creak.
The old district office's archery range, where he had arrived.
Gulp.
When he lowered the case's zipper, that same pitch-black bow lay inside.
Swish.
Si-woo lifted the bow.
...But.
“...Huh?”
Something felt a little strange.
Just a few days ago, when he'd first held this bow, it had wrapped snugly around his palm as if custom-made.
But now...
‘How should I put it? It feels strangely stiff.’
It also felt quite heavy.
‘Did hyung change the settings in the meantime?’
Crackle―
“Ah, ow!”
The palm holding the bow stung as if pricked by a needle.
‘What is this? Have I been practicing too much lately?’
Come to think of it, all his calluses must have disappeared while he was taking time off, so they were probably growing back.
Si-woo dismissed it without giving it much thought.
“Phew.”
He took his stance and nocked an arrow onto the bowstring.
Just as Si-woo began pulling the bow back with all his strength.
Hng...!
Hnnng......!
The bowstring didn't budge.
'W-What is this?'
It had definitely drawn so lightly just a few days ago.
Flustered, Si-woo clenched his teeth and forcibly pulled on the string.
It was at that moment.
Crack―!
Light burst from the yellow jewel in the bow's grip.
“W-Whoa―”
Ziiiiing―! Crack!!
“Hot! Hoooooot!”
Si-woo threw down the bow and tumbled across the floor.
“Ghk...! Aaaagh...!”
.
.
.
“...Ghk.”
Once he came to, Si-woo picked up the bow again.
Crack―! Crackle!
“Ow! Aaaagh!”
...In the end, no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't work.
The moment he touched it, pain shot through him as if he'd been burned.
'...This can't be.'
Just moments ago, he'd been brimming with anticipation at the thought that he was destined to become a hero.
'...My fucking arm just hurts.'
“Aaaagh! W-Why, why won't it work~!”
Then does that mean I can't become a hero?
Whimper.
‘What the hell is this...?’
Si-woo left the archery range with his shoulders slumped.
Inhale. But...
...Somehow, it had gotten far too late.
The sky was already brightening to a bluish hue.
“This is bad. What if hyung's already woken up...!”
Si-woo turned pale and started running.
*
In front of the house.
Beep beep beep, beep-beep.
Click.
As he carefully opened the door.
“What the hell? Where have you been?”
“...!”
Their eyes met squarely: his hyung, sitting at the table and shoveling down cereal.
“Me...? P-Practice.”
Thump, thump, thump.
‘Please don't notice....’
If he got caught taking it out secretly and ending up like this, he might actually be beaten to death.
Perhaps because of the electric shock, his hands were trembling violently.
“...You.”
Tae-gyeong's eyes shifted to Si-woo's shaking arm.
“...So you've really decided to get serious again?”
“Y-Yeah...! R-Right?”
Grin.
Tae-gyeong smiled proudly.
“You went out and worked your ass off practicing at dawn until your arm was shaking like that? Kya, you little punk. Good job. I always knew you had talent! Your hyung guarantees it.”
“Ah, ahaha....”
‘...Please just go wash up already.’
Fortunately, his hyung soon became busy getting ready for work.
In that gap, Si-woo quickly hung the bow back in his hyung's wardrobe.
Phew...... Phew....
That had been close.
Crackle.
His arm was still numb.
‘The hell with being destined to become a hero....’
Si-woo made up his mind then and there.
He would never touch that horrifying thing again.
***
Recently, a new tab had appeared on the sorcery world's exclusive anonymous community, 『Dokkaebibul』.
It was the [Dokkaebi Auction] tab!
There had already been a [Dokkaebi Market] tab for buying and selling items, but since it wasn't much different from any ordinary secondhand marketplace, the prevailing opinion was that it was full of lowball offers and scam listings.
That was why the Dokkaebi Auction had been created!
Moreover, after the recent “selective failure to verify” abuse scandal at Manbogak's auction, inquiries had flooded Dokkaebibul from users demanding that it establish a proper permanent auction system.
And so the Dokkaebi Auction tab was born.
Using it was simple.
You posted an item and wrote a brief description.
Then, once you set a minimum price and a sales period, it was sold to the highest bidder among those who bid during that period.
[Daily] Hmm, the Dokkaebi Auction tab is kind of questionable.
What's the difference between this and Manbogak?
At least they verify the quality of items there by clan and give them a certification mark.
└ LOL, they mostly deal in clan goods over there.
└ They don't really accept items from ordinary freelancers. And the screening takes fucking forever.
Compared to that, the Dokkaebi Auction....
Anyone could list and sell items, just like on the existing Market tab, while certification marks from individual clans, famous sorcerers, and workshops boosted its credibility!
But the auction tab had one key system of its own.
The [Best Items] ranking!
It calculated a composite score based on bidding competition, views, wishlist adds, search frequency, and more, then displayed the hottest items in order of rank.
It might not sound like much.
But that alone gave sellers the effect of a massive, high-traffic billboard.
When traffic gathered, it became demand, and demand became price!
So the moment the workshops realized this, they began eagerly flooding the tab with their wares.
They had released every ritual implement they'd been hoarding instead of selling.
Because!
If they extended the sales period, they didn't have to sell right away, and if they climbed into and held the top ranks, the listing itself would become a huge billboard for the workshop!
What's more, if you clicked the seller on an item's page, all the other items sold by that workshop appeared in a long chain.
So everyone began competing to flood the tab with attractive rare listings as bait.
[Daily] Wow. Did you see that Cheongsong Workshop uploaded a Grade-C armor this time?
└ Wow, its performance is fucking insane.
└ They'd been hoarding something like this all this time? Holy shit.
└ But why is the sales period six whole months? LOL
└ It's obviously not meant to be sold—they're just using it as a billboard.
└ For real, they're using a cheap trick to keep it up in the rankings for ages.
[Info] Wow, have you seen Haedong Talisman Workshop's Thunderbolt Talisman? Its performance is fucking insane.
└ Starting bid of 100 million won for a single talisman LOL. They've lost it.
└ But they've set a one-year sales period here too LOL. They have no intention of selling.
└ Ah, a one-year billboard~
Thus, the fierce battle among famous clans and workshops to seize the top spots in the popularity tab, along with their rush to put up treasured items, swept through the sorcery world.
[Daily] Everyone keeps trashing them, saying they're just billboards and whatnot.
I think it's genuinely good that so many listings have been released!
When have we ever been able to browse stuff like this to our hearts' content?
Even things they never showed just anyone are coming out. I like it. Simple as that.
└ For real, I think it's good too.
└ LOL, it's fun even just browsing. There's a ton I've never seen before.
└ Seems like they're putting them up with their pride on the line, teeth clenched.
In this way, the Dokkaebi Auction tab became the biggest issue in the sorcery world within just a few days.
It was around then.
While the influential clans and famous workshops had already occupied nearly all the top spots in the popularity rankings.
Strange items began appearing at auction one after another.
[Portable Spirit Beast Sealing Keychain ― Rabbit]
[Portable Spirit Beast Sealing Keychain ― Horse]
[Portable Spirit Beast Sealing Keychain ― Chicken]
[Portable Spirit Beast Sealing Keychain ― Cat]
[Chatter] ??? Guys, have you seen this?
(Screenshot)
This was uploaded to the auction tab today. What is it?
They say you put a spirit beast in this and carry it around LOL.
└ LOL, what the hell does this even mean?
└ These days, the bait is getting ridiculous.
└ This is why things need to be verified. When anyone can upload, scam listings are all that get posted.
└ Dokkaebibul admins, what are you doing not taking down this kind of troll post? -_-
└ Hey, wait a second. The seller is Do-hwang?
└ ??? It really is. There's even a certification mark.
└ Uh... It really is?
└ ??????
At first, the people who assumed it was an ordinary scam listing by a scammer checked the certification mark stamped on the seller and began clicking the sales page as if hypnotized.
[Portable Spirit Beast Sealing Keychain ― Rabbit]
Seller: Cheonsan Sect's Master Craftsman Do ✔
Starting bid: 10 million won
Sales period: 3 days
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.
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And at the very bottom of the page.
There was a short product description.
[Product Description]
-No weakening required.
-Up to fully awakened Grade-3 spirit beasts can be sealed and carried immediately.