Chapter 78: Guide of Lightning
Gwan-ho’s Residence.
Gwan-ho was sprawled on the sofa with the TV news on.
It wasn’t a typical TV surrounded by a hard screen and plastic bezel, but a state-of-the-art TV that projected a holographic screen in the air.
The announcer was reciting the news on the holographic screen.
“……As the completion of the orbital elevator construction, in which 23 countries participated, approaches in a month, US President Vincent visited the construction site and……”
The orbital elevator, also known as the space elevator.
It was a massive elevator-type structure extending from the ground to space.
A fantasy structure that only existed in science fiction movies before the gate incident.
However, thanks to technological advancements made possible by various resources obtained from the gates, it has now become a reality.
Ding– Dong-
The doorbell rang for a long time.
It was Sa-hyeok.
Gwan-ho unlocked the main gate and the front door with the remote control.
As Sa-hyeok entered the house, Gwan-ho pointed at the TV screen and said,
“Amazing world, isn’t it?”
“It is amazing.”
“They say they’ll soon be selecting personnel to be stationed at the lunar base on the moon.”
“Oh……”
“And the price of Orcraodon tailbones has skyrocketed.”
“Suddenly? Isn’t that a byproduct that’s always been discarded because it has no function?”
“They say they’ve invented a technology to extract new materials from it. Naturally, the price has jumped.”
“Oh……”
“So, if you have any monster byproducts, keep them well. Even if they’re nothing now, you never know when their hidden value might be revealed.”
“Hidden value……”
Gwan-ho got up from his seat and said,
“Now, let’s go see your new weapon.”
On the table in Gwan-ho’s study.
A white cloth was spread there, and on top of it lay the weapon Sa-hyeok had requested.
About the length of an a*ult male’s forearm, about 1cm in diameter, with sharpened ends. And two black iron needles with a ring in the center for hooking a finger.
Gwan-ho said,
“As you requested, I completely removed the insulation and added Electro Dragon scale powder to drastically increase its electrical affinity. And I’ve maximized its durability with this material.”
“Oh…… What’s the name of the weapon?”
“Thunderbolt Needles (雷鳴金針).”
Iron needles containing the roar of lightning.
“Thunderbolt Needles…… Then can I try holding them?”
“Who needs permission to hold their own weapon? Go ahead.”
Before picking up the weapon, Sa-hyeok scanned the surface with his telekinesis.
It was a precaution in case the surface was covered with tiny blades like the Mubuchamdo.
But this was the opposite of the Mubuchamdo.
It was a smooth surface without a single scratch.
And unlike the white, slashing weapon Mubuchamdo, the Thunderbolt Needles were black, piercing weapons.
Having acquired weapons with completely opposite attributes, he felt a strange sense of relief.
Sa-hyeok carefully lifted the Thunderbolt Needles.
The exquisite balance he felt at his fingertips, the strange resonance, and even the unique coolness.
Even though he wasn’t an expert on weapons, he could immediately sense that they were masterpieces.
Gwan-ho placed something else on the table.
It was a long, leather storage device.
“This is a sheath specifically for the Thunderbolt Needles. As you requested, I’ve coated the inside with insulation, so while they’re in there, electricity won’t flow through them.”
“Thank you……!”
Sa-hyeok attached the Thunderbolt Needles’ sheath to his waist.
Sa-hyeok asked,
“But can I test these out?”
“Anything’s fine, but don’t do it here. You’ll wreck the house.”
“……What kind of function did you add this time?”
Gwan-ho just grinned at that question.
Sa-hyeok said once more,
“Thank you.”
“K*ll a lot.”
Sa-hyeok left Gwan-ho’s house and got in his car.
Bang-ul-i asked,
[Where are you going now?]
Bang-ul-i, who said that, was hanging around Sa-hyeok’s neck like a necklace.
While the drone was charging, Sa-hyeok was wearing (?) it like this.
“Hunter Mart.”
[Why there all of a sudden?]
“I’m going to buy a refrigerator and a cabinet.”
[Huh? Isn’t there a refrigerator in the dorm?]
“It’s for the boarding house.”
The words Gwan-ho had said earlier were lingering in Sa-hyeok’s mind.
If you have any monster byproducts, keep them well. You never know when their hidden value might be revealed.
“A dedicated refrigerator for storing monster byproducts and a cabinet for storing equipment.”
Sa-hyeok immediately headed for the Hunter Mart.
══════════════════
One hour later.
Sa-hyeok’s former boarding house.
It was now effectively being used as his personal storage space.
Sa-hyeok entered the boarding house yard with a truck carrying a refrigerator.
Yang-gyu and three of his underlings (?) were waiting in the yard, having been contacted in advance.
Choi Yang-gyu, the owner of this boarding house, a black market broker, and Sa-hyeok’s close younger brother.
It was Yang-gyu who had procured the ignition organs needed for crafting the Lightning Ring and Flame Ring back then.
Yang-gyu spoke to Sa-hyeok as he got off the truck.
“I’ve emptied the room as you requested, Hyeong-nim.”
“What about the things that were originally in the refrigerator?”
“I temporarily moved them to my refrigerator.”
“Thanks.”
Looking at the refrigerator and cabinet on the truck, Yang-gyu asked.
“But how are you going to get those up to the second floor? There’s no elevator here.”
Instead of answering, Sa-hyeok just flicked his finger.
Rumble
The large refrigerator and cabinet floated into the air.
Yang-gyu and his underlings’ jaws dropped at this surreal sight.
“What the……”
“Whoa……”
“You did open the window, right?”
“Ah, yes!”
Sa-hyeok brought the refrigerator and cabinet in through the window.
Then, he transferred the monster byproducts from the old refrigerator to the new one.
The Snow King’s skull, the Snow King Snake’s spinal fluid, the Giant Ice Armor Bear’s claws, and…… contained in a glass bottle……
Splash
“What was this again?”
[Quidurtoxin. Didn’t you extract it from the Lungfish Merman?]
“Ah, right.”
He placed the book in the special cabinet for equipment storage.
That unidentified book looted after killing the slime boss.
The very book that allowed him to create the Lightning Ring and Flame Ring with its last 18 pages.
“Still can’t make heads or tails of it.”
He tried flipping through it again as a test, but deciphering it was still impossible.
After finishing organizing,
Yang-gyu asked as Sa-hyeok came out of the room.
“Are you leaving right away, Hyeong-nim?”
“Have you guys had dinner?”
“No.”
“Do you have any plans for the evening?”
“No.”
“Then let’s have dinner together. I know a good all-you-can-eat beef place.”
“All-you-can-eat…… you say? Ah, yeah, sure.”
All-you-can-eat, huh.
Yang-gyu and his underlings followed Sa-hyeok without much expectation…… but.
“What the……”
The place they arrived at didn’t look like an all-you-can-eat restaurant at all.
It was a rather expensive and luxurious barbecue restaurant.
“Is this place really all-you-can-eat……?”
“It’s all-you-can-eat if you keep ordering, right? What do you want? Beef chuck? Short ribs?”
The place was filled with a daunting menu boasting prices exceeding 150,000 won for 200 grams of meat.
Sa-hyeok ordered dishes without hesitation.
Yang-gyu asked with wide eyes.
“……Are you really treating us?”
“Yeah. It’s for your hard work today.”
“Oh my……”
“I was feeling a bit lonely eating dinner alone. Give me the tongs.”
“Oh, no, the one who’s treating shouldn’t be grilling the meat. I’ll do it.”
“Give them to me.”
Sa-hyeok grilled each piece of meat meticulously, locking in the juices with his telekinesis.
The moment they put the grilled meat in their mouths, Yang-gyu and his underlings’ pupils trembled.
The taste that automatically invoked loyalty.
They were used to eating expensive meat with the money they earned as brokers, but this was truly insane.
Sa-hyeok asked.
“Amazing, right?”
“W-Who grilled this?!”
“It’s not about who was grilled, but who did the grilling. Eat more, eat more.”
Just like that, about 2 million won worth of meat disappeared into the stomachs of the five men in an instant.
“Oh, Yang-gyu, actually, I have a favor to ask.”
“Just tell me anything, Hyeong-nim!”
Sa-hyeok placed meat on Yang-gyu’s plate and said.
“Artifacts are also traded on the black market, right?”
“Of course. Wow, this is so good. Though not as much as magic stones or byproducts.”
“What about junk artifacts?”
“Those are occasionally traded too. But why?”
“I need some.”
“Junk artifacts? You’d be better off using the official auction house. The junk on the black market is all trash.”
“Huh? Why?”
“The almost sole value of junk artifacts is their ‘artistic value,’ right? So they’re practically traded as art pieces. But the ones that come into the black market are all those that rolled in because their artistic value was too low to be traded at the official auction house. That’s why they’re trash. No functionality and not particularly pretty.”
“Then the prices are generally cheap, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
What Sa-hyeok needed were junk artifacts, not ‘artistically valuable’ junk artifacts.
Cheaper was better.
“I’ll give you 50 million won. Get me as many junk artifacts as you can within this budget.”
Yang-gyu’s eyes wavered.
“……Are you serious?”
“I’ll give you a separate fee for your labor, besides the 50 million.”
“But, I’m telling you they’re trash!”
“They all have their uses.”
The reason Sa-hyeok was suddenly acting like this was simple.
He had experienced his weapons breaking during the battle in the Snow Dungeon.
Two of his Mubuchamdo daggers had crumbled in the hands of that unidentified man.
Seeing that, Sa-hyeok realized.
He needed to prepare for weapon loss and damage.
Despite having the ability to unlock junk artifacts, Sa-hyeok hadn’t really considered collecting them until now.
There were three main reasons for this.
First, junk artifacts weren’t particularly cheap.
While cheaper than functional artifacts, they weren’t that cheap since they were still artifacts.
Second, he couldn’t know what kind of function would be unlocked.
If they weren’t cheap and the function was random, he didn’t want to gamble.
And the most important third reason, he didn’t really need them.
The Iron Arms of the Bone King, usable in various ways, the Mubuchamdo that could cut through almost anything, the Lightning Ring and Flame Ring that unleashed wide-area attacks, and even the support equipment for the rings.
He could overcome most situations with this equipment, so he hadn’t felt the need for additional gear.
But now it was different.
He knew that weapons could be destroyed.
Moreover, he didn’t know what kind of powerful enemies he would face in the future.
‘For now, I need to secure as many weapons as possible.’
He didn’t know what functions they would have, but as artifacts, they would surely be worth the money.
And he had earned quite a bit of money from the Snow Dungeon raid.
“Hey, the meat’s burning. Eat up.”
“Ah, yes, Hyeong-nim!”
The night deepened with the aroma of grilled meat.
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For the next three days, Sa-hyeok continued practicing handling the Thunderbolt Needles in the Kwonmu-mun training room.
It was similar to the Mubuchamdo.
Powerful and difficult to handle weapons.
However, his telekinesis control had improved since the Mubuchamdo, so he adapted much faster.
The only regret was……
“I want to try using it on a monster.”
The feeling of practicing in the training room and using it in actual combat was completely different.
While he was pondering this regret, he received a call from Yang-gyu.
“I’ve got as many as I could, hyung-nim.”
“How many?”
“Five in total. There’s 2.4 million won left. Should I come to you?”
“You worked hard getting them, so why bother? I’ll come to you. The boarding house, right?”
“Yes.”
Yang-gyu hung up the phone and lit a cigarette in the yard.
After finishing two cigarettes and almost emptying a can of soda.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Sa-hyeok dropped from the sky.
Yang-gyu almost spat out his drink.
“What the?! Can you fly too?!”
“Something like that. Anyway, where are the weapons?”
“Here’s the remaining balance and the receipts.”
Yang-gyu returned the money left over from buying the junk artifacts to Sa-hyeok.
Sa-hyeok smiled faintly.
He could have easily pocketed the difference, but he had handled things honestly.
Sa-hyeok added 60 to the 240, making it 3 million, and handed it to Yang-gyu.
He had already paid the commission in advance, so this was a pure bonus.
“Thank you!!”
“Then let’s see the artifacts.”
“This way!”
Sa-hyeok entered Yang-gyu’s room.
A spacious and comfortable room, unlike the other boarding house rooms.
Five junk artifacts were placed there.
Two spears, a greatsword, a shield, and……
“What’s this?”
A round object that he had no idea what it was for.
