Chapter 21
The meeting place was the same officetel as last time.
I carried the huge double bass case with one hand.
Even with a body that had no muscle to speak of, this wasn't all that heavy.
It was thanks to the all-stat bonuses I'd steadily piled up until now.
The reason I only had one hand right now was simple.
Because this broker thought I was missing a hand.
If the deceased suddenly came back to life at a funeral, it'd only be awkward for both of us.
I had turned my hand into sand in advance and carefully tucked it into my pocket.
Ding-dong-
After I rang the doorbell, the steel door opened before long.
The broker with the same gruff face was still standing behind the door.
Broad shoulders and tattooed forearms. Even sunglasses that covered his eyes.
The broker frowned the moment he saw me.
“Come in.”
A cold, dry voice.
There was no sign of the kind uncle from Telegram who had been spamming all kinds of emojis.
The stark difference in tone was enough to make me dizzy.
“What dangerous thing did you go and do this time?”
His hard-boiled tone continued.
For all he looked like a gangster, he talked like a detective interrogating a criminal.
I shrugged.
“There was nothing dangerous about it at all.”
“Then what is that?”
The broker's gaze went to the huge case in my hand.
I opened the case and showed him what was inside.
“...”
The moment the battle axe came into view, the broker's expression hardened.
A faint, ominous aura leaked out.
He must have realized at a glance that this wasn't an ordinary item.
***
'This is...'
The broker clicked his tongue inwardly.
A battle axe that was oozing ominous energy.
As I'd heard, it was a Unique-rank item.
How on earth had this kid gotten hold of something like this?
The broker fell silent for a moment, then asked in an even lower voice than before.
“Where did you get this?”
“I got it by killing the Floor 10 boss. Why?”
The girl before him answered curtly, as if it were no big deal.
He didn't ask anything else after that answer.
'The Floor 10 boss, huh...'
In his mind, it seemed true that the child before him had entered the Tower.
Something of this caliber wasn't the kind of thing you could simply steal.
But even if this kid was a real Hunter, there was still a problem.
There was no way this kid had beaten the Floor 10 boss alone.
No, that was impossible for anyone.
'But there’s no way this kid would have had loot priority in a party...'
The broker's worries deepened.
No party would readily hand a Unique item to a kid like this.
He knew all too well what Hunters were like.
Superhuman thugs who would do anything for money.
If you didn't have the power to protect yourself? Forget item distribution—at best, you'd be lucky if they didn't take your items and kill you instead.
If you died in the Tower, not even a body remained. It was the perfect place to murder someone and cover it up.
'I think I more or less understand what kind of situation this was.'
Soon, one answer came to his mind.
The child before him had clearly gotten lucky, or unlucky, and been swept into the party raiding Floor 10.
'They probably never intended to share the rewards from the start. They must have planned to use her as a meat shield.'
But Tower raids didn't go according to plan.
Especially when it was a boss floor.
'And that party must have been wiped out.'
The reason a party falls apart can be anything.
Or even after clearing it properly, they could have ended up killing each other over item distribution.
Inwardly, the broker guessed the latter was more likely.
'Anyway, it looks certain she at least killed the boss... So there's a high chance infighting broke out afterward. Yes, that's the answer.'
A Unique item.
For lowly C-rank and D-rank Hunters, this was basically hitting the jackpot.
Would a party that put a kid like this on the team and used her like that really distribute the loot fairly?
The broker shook his head.
They barely survived the boss battle, only to be met by a horrific scene of mutual slaughter.
What must this child have thought and felt in the middle of that scene?
'She must have thought she had to survive.'
A picture was completed in the broker's mind.
A battle that had turned into mutual destruction.
This child was a Hunter too. She must have seen all kinds of ugly things while climbing to Floor 10.
The moment the last person was left standing, she must have realized there was only one way for her to survive.
She must have carefully gripped a dagger with her one remaining hand, approached him, and stabbed him in the back.
Then she probably rummaged through her comrades' corpses and took this axe.
'What a terrible thing.'
He studied the girl through his sunglasses.
Dark circles that made it look like she hadn't slept properly for days. A cold, curt attitude. The recklessness of visiting someone on the wrong side of the law.
It was surely the aftereffects of going through all that.
Pity and sorrow flickered in the eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.
He let out a heavy sigh and changed the subject.
“Let's appraise it first.”
The broker began carefully appraising the axe.
The girl sat on the sofa and waited for the evaluation.
Before long, he shook his head and said.
“As expected, it's Unique-rank. The options are good too... It's not something I can price right here and now.”
Item ranks were divided into Common, Rare, Unique, and Legendary.
A Unique-rank item was something even top Hunters would salivate over.
“Are you saying you can't buy it?”
“No. Leave it to me. Putting it up for auction will bring in more money.”
Auction.
That would certainly fetch a higher price.
But the girl couldn't answer right away.
How could she trust this rough-looking man enough to hand over an item worth at least tens of millions of won?
Meeting the girl's distrustful gaze, the broker once again felt pity inside.
'What kind of terrible things must she have gone through at such a young age... to distrust people this much?'
From that unchildlike demeanor, the broker read deep wounds and traces of betrayal.
He said in a serious voice,
“I'll keep your identity completely secret. I promise.
And I'll give you an advance payment first. Fifty million won. What do you think?”
“What? Fifty...?”
It must have been an unimaginable amount. The child opened her eyes wide.
She was trying hard to act calm, but she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from rising on their own.
Seeing that, the broker smiled inwardly.
'After all, a child is still a child.'
What if he had been planning to lowball her?
Children did need adults by their side. Dependable adults like himself.
The broker renewed his sense of duty once more.
***
The next day, at the VIP item auction house.
I was watching the auction through the live video the broker had sent me.
The auction hall beyond the screen was bustling with top Hunters and guild representatives.
Judging by their expensive suits and flashy accessories, they were all clearly big shots.
The auction was already in full swing.
“Next item! The core of a Stone Golem that only appears around Floor 20! A Rare-rank material item! Starting bid, ten million won!”
With the host's shout, a rough stone lump was brought up onto the platform.
Paddles immediately went up here and there.
“Twelve million!”
“Fifteen million!”
I watched the scene with little interest.
I didn't even have any equipment items yet.
Material items were still a long way off for me.
The Stone Golem core was quickly sold to a tank-type Hunter for twenty million won.
A variety of items then passed over the stage.
A Rare-rank cloak with invisibility. A potion that temporarily boosted stats.
Even a rare contract that could tame monsters like pets.
But none of them caught my interest.
“This next item is one for all you mages! The ‘Robe of the Silent Sage’!”
“What? A mage item?”
My eyes widened at the host's words.
What had been brought onto the platform was a robe tinged with a faint blue glow.
“Rare-rank armor! It comes with the very valuable option of slightly increasing mana recovery speed!”
'Mana recovery...'
I wanted it the moment I saw it.
After I awakened, my mana pool had grown several times over.
But in my last fight with the Orc Warchief, I had spent all my MP on the final blow.
What if the Orc Warchief had had a second phase?
Without even the energy to run away, I would have been done for on the spot.
With an item like that, I could handle fights much more safely.
“No, actually, maybe the option doesn't even matter...”
Let's be honest.
Maybe I just wanted mage items.
How long was I supposed to keep climbing barehanded?
Ordinary clothes were best for not standing out, sure, but couldn't I just stuff them neatly into a bag?
I wanted to stride around in a cool robe and swing a big staff while striking a pose too.
...Because there's romance in that.
“Starting bid is fifty million won!”
“Fifty-five million!”
“Eighty million!”
But the price shot far beyond what I expected.
In an instant, the bids surpassed my entire fortune.
I muttered in disbelief.
“No, there are only five mages, so why is the competition so fierce...”
Is it just because it's rare?
Curious, I looked it up online and found there was another reason.
It was because a superstition had spread that wearing mage items increased your chances of awakening as a mage.
“That's not completely impossible, I guess...”
Well, there were people who awakened after eating dirt, so what did I know.
Just as the competition was heating up, one woman casually raised her paddle.
“Three hundred million.”
At the blonde woman's single word, the competitors fell silent.
In the end, the robe went to her for the enormous sum of 300 million won.
“Huh? She’s here too...”
The woman's face on the screen was familiar to me too. I widened my eyes.