Healing After Sweeping Spirits with an Almighty Skill - Chapter 15
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 15
Episode 15. Your Worth Is What the Market Bears
Ten minutes later.
I was crouched in the same posture as Suhogi.
[Whine.]
“Whine.”
Beside us, Tohhogi wandered with eyes that said she didn’t know how to comfort us.
[Whine.]
“Whine.”
[Oh.]
Tohhogi’s earnest attempt to console us was touching, but to the eyes of failures like Suhogi and me, it looked only like the condescension of those who had it all.
[Ohhhhh.]
Tohhogi protested in an aggrieved voice that that wasn’t it. But could she ever feel as wronged as Noum and I did?
My body had certainly grown stronger.
Once I reinforced my body with Mana, I could push and pull the house-sized boulders that Noum summoned with ease. But—how should I put it? I had no Active Skills.
No flashy attack moves like Fireball or Shadow Summoning. Nothing like that at all.
‘Is my only skill being the village chief here?’
Not that I was complaining. I’d gained my own space and earned enormous wealth because of it.
But it would have been nice if they’d given me at least some means to defend myself. I’d awakened my skill and everything, yet I was weaker than a pig in the village pen.
“Whine.”
[Whine.]
After one final whimper, I patted Suhogi on the head and got to my feet.
‘If my skill grows, opportunities will come.’
Growth-type Skills always grew stronger as the skill itself advanced.
If I continued to develop this Spirit Domain, another hidden power might yet sprout within me that hadn’t been discovered yet.
“So we’re going to get stronger together.”
[Yeah! We’re getting stronger!]
Suhogi clenched his fists and stood up as well.
What we had to do to grow stronger was clear. It was developing the Spirit Domain.
And what absolutely had to happen for that was Spirit Awareness Improvement.
‘I’m starting to understand.’
Thanks to some recent events, I was beginning to get a sense of how to improve that awareness.
* * *
Surprisingly, there was internet in the Tower World. It was thanks to the skill of Byeol Muri, an S-rank Hunter from the Round Table.
Thus, Tower People!
A closed community accessible only to certified Awakeners had become the site of some heated discussions.
[Spill: Just had dealings with some dude in a pillar lol]
Had such a wild time earlier haha
You know that pillar that suddenly shot up next to the Waystation? The mist pillar or cloud pillar, whatever they call it.
So I was doing a trade on the Tower Market App and someone calls me over to it lol
Thought the guy was insane at first, but the herbs listed were literally S-rank quality so I couldn’t exactly refuse.
So I put on my protective gear and stood guard right next to the pillar, then suddenly some guy jumps out from behind and I nearly passed out haha
Real talk. Someone’s actually living in that thing.
Apparently it’s a skill.
And he’s doing pretty well too.
Asked him about it and he’s got like a massive herb garden in there lol
─ It was a skill? That doesn’t make any sense.
─ I called it. That’s definitely a skill or something, and you fools going on about a second Tower are nuts.
─ Mana Stones come from there? I’m heading in right now.
└ You’re just a solo Hunter. No way you’re getting in.
─ Forget Mana Stones, do regular stones come out too?
─ Seriously, an herb garden that size? Maybe potion prices will finally drop.
└ As if lol
[So I’m a magic Awakener, and meeting that dude in the pillar seriously changed my life.]
Before, I couldn’t even make eye contact with other Awakeners.
Just complained and cursed under my breath.
But now that I’m a B-rank Mana Stone Owner, I actually put in the effort to maintain some dignity.
Now when I order delivery food, I speak up loud and clear.
I can even make eye contact with the convenience store clerk.
No matter how much something upsets me, I shower and ask myself in the mirror: who am I?
“B-rank Mana Stone Owner.”
Laughing while saying it actually lifted my spirits.
This is probably why people say the position makes the person.
─ A true masterpiece transcends time, seriously.
└ Haven’t seen it in ages and the stench still hits different lol
─ But why order delivery while talking about it?
└ Ack, ahh ack.
└ Sit down and listen. This old timer’s got a story for you.
─ Are you by any chance Atlas?
[Man in the pillar <- What the hell is his identity?]
So I'm seeing good condition herbs coming out and B-rank Mana Stones too—does this pillar just produce all Wasteland Materials then?
What happens to guilds grinding away on expeditions to the Wasteland then? Do they just become struggling guilds or guilds that went through hell?
This looks like it's breaking the market. Shouldn't someone be doing something about it?
─ Do something my ass.
─ Isn't it better if we get more supplies?
└ Ah, you must be from one of those struggling expedition guilds lol~.
─ But honestly it's a total game changer.
└ For real, if the quantities keep coming out like this it could completely flip the whole board.
[Live situation: Waystation Exit 6]
(Photo of a series of people in Protective Gear stepping outside the Waystation)
(Close-up photo of different guild marks embedded in the Protective Gear)
What's going on here?
Why are guild scouts suddenly streaming out of Exit 6 like that?
─ Exit 6? That's the direction of the pillar man, right?
└ Yeah. They're moving to scout him.
─ Our guild's there too lmaooo
─ Lucky bastards, seriously. And since it's a production-type skill he won't even have to risk his life climbing the Tower or anything.
└ That's how gacha trash games work~
└ Real-life online balance issues smh
"Hey. I heard you called someone out here and made a deal with them?"
While I was busy spying on the community situation on my phone, Jeong Jin asked me about it.
Suhogi was perched on Jeong Jin's shoulder—he'd come by after work again—playing with his hair.
"You always go directly to the Waystation to trade. What's gotten into you? Your rumor's spreading all through our guild because of it."
"Through your guild? What about the other guilds?"
"How would I know? But looking at all this, don't you think the rumors have already spread to the other guilds?"
As he said this, Jeong Jin pointed toward the boundary of Spirit Village.
A magic mirror-like barrier—invisible from outside but transparent from within. Beyond it, numerous scouts were lingering.
Watching them wait endlessly for me to emerge, uncertain when I might appear, I found myself satisfied. Jeong Jin looked at me in exasperation.
"Don't tell me you did this on purpose?"
"Of course I did."
"What are you scheming now?"
"Scheming? This is brilliantly clever strategy."
Using this situation, I could catch two birds with one stone.
Spirit Awareness Improvement and the selection of a distributor for Spirit Village's specialty goods.
'And I need to dramatically raise my own value in the process.'
Do you know what that is?
Your worth is the market price.
So I need to shake the entire market to get my true value.
* * *
A few days passed.
Geum Ji-seong, the Guild Master of Yeonjin Guild, was on the verge of losing his mind.
"Why won't he come out! We need to talk! Is he being held captive or something?!"
He stood before the firmly closed cloud pillar, his voice shrill with desperation.
Though his behavior bordered on making a scene, no one stepped in to stop him. In truth, everyone gathered here shared the same state of mind.
Wearing this hot, uncomfortable Protective Gear and staring blankly at the cloud-shrouded pillar and the Wasteland for hours was enough to drive anyone mad.
On top of that, using your phone here was risky with the Cutting Wind whipping about, so you couldn't even distract yourself.
Geum Ji-seong, who had been stationed out in the Wasteland from day one with scouts instead of personally showing his "sincerity," felt like he was truly losing his grip on sanity.
"Kehehe…. Should we try smashing this pillar?"
"If he doesn't come out by tomorrow, let's actually do it."
The two murmuring ominously over there were the Guild Master and Vice Guild Master of the Matap Guild.
"Director. When do we get to clock out…?"
"We're civil servants and this is already our fifth night of overtime. Is this even right?"
The government officials looked just as destitute as ever.
"Come out! Come on out!"
Geum Ji-seong was thrashing frantically at the fog pillar when one of his guild members called out in an urgent voice.
"Guild Master!"
"What is it?!"
"The man inside the pillar—he's started broadcasting!"
"What?!"
Geum Ji-seong hurriedly pulled out his phone.
So what if the Cutting Wind shredded his phone? He could just buy another one.
[Hello, everyone.]
The moment he tapped the broadcast link that had appeared in the guild chat, a man materialized on screen.
He stood in a village that was beautiful and cozy beyond any comparison to the Wasteland where Geum Ji-seong now stood.
[I'm the man who drives you all crazy. The Man in the Pillar—Jeong Ryong.]
The broadcast had only just begun, yet the viewer count had already surpassed ten thousand.
The numbers kept changing by the second.
[I’ll begin the main broadcast shortly. I’d like to have a conversation with as many of you as possible first.]
In the brief moment it took to say that single sentence, the viewer count crossed twenty thousand. And an enormous wave of donations poured in by the second.
The moment Geum Ji-seong realized that the donors were guild representatives, goosebumps crawled up his spine.
“Hey, hey! Get the office on the line and have them donate from the guild account! Hurry!”
“Understood!”
“The donation limit is five hundred thousand won? I’ll use my personal account too, max it out…wait?”
Geum Ji-seong noticed something and brought his phone close to his eyes, squinting intensely at the screen.
“That, that, that field in the back. Is that all an herb garden?!”
Behind Jeong Ryong, who had begun a leisurely stroll, stretched fields that extended all the way to the edge of the cloud pillar boundary.
The herbs planted at regular intervals in the field were clearly alchemical materials just by looking at their stems.
And not the wilted cave herbs that other expeditions sold, but herbs that were fresh and vibrant in their greenness.
“Gulp.”
Geum Ji-seong’s eyes devoured the herbs on screen with unmistakable hunger.
[You’re asking if the cloud pillar is really a Skill? Yes. It’s a Skill. The precise name is the Spirit Domain.]
Jeong Ryong on screen was already walking while chatting and bantering with viewers.
[No. The spirits in our Domain aren’t like monsters—they’re kind, gentle creatures.]
Jeong Ryong’s footsteps carried him past the field and toward a mine entrance.
Before the mine sat a cart, and it was piled high with Mana Stones.
“Wroooaahhh!”
The bestial sound came from the Matap Guild’s vice guild master, standing not far away.
[These wonderful specialty goods that I supply to all of you—surely the spirits producing them can’t be evil, can they?]
So saying, Jeong Ryong held up a bottle of pure water.
Could that be Mana Water? While Geum Ji-seong was thinking this, the Matap Guild’s guild master let out a shriek. If memory served, she was a water-attribute mage.
Suddenly, the two guild masters’ eyes met.
“…….”
“…….”
Without a moment’s hesitation, both of them showered the stream with donations at maximum capacity.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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