Monopolizing Skills to the 666th Floor - Chapter 86
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Skill Devouring to the 666th Floor Episode 086
86. Auction
For 1 hour, Pi Hyeok Jin resisted against the monsters.
Of course, without a weapon, he couldn’t inflict proper wounds.
At most, he could bite at their necks with his skill.
‘Even so, it’s hard to beat E-grade monsters like that.’
A guy who was originally conquering the 20th Floor came to the 100th Floor – could he even hunt?
He could only serve as a meat shield at best.
‘Still, thanks to him drawing attention, it’s easier to catch them.’
The monsters that should have rushed toward me were now divided between Pi Hyeok Jin and me.
For someone like me without area of effect skills, this was a welcome situation.
Swoosh!
When I swung my weapon transformed into a scythe, they fell down in droves.
[The time limit has passed and the mission has ended.]
[You have survived for 1 hour.]
When time was up, the monsters that had filled all directions disappeared like smoke.
Pi Hyeok Jin, who had been surrounded by monsters and unable to move, was now free.
[Number of monsters killed on the 100th Floor: 412]
[You have cleared with miraculous play!]
[An Achievement will be unlocked as a record clear reward.]
[Achievement ‘Resource Conservation (E)’ has been unlocked.]
[If a new record appears within 10 days, the Achievement will be returned.]
[If no new record holder appears, you will permanently acquire the Achievement effect.]
▶Resource Conservation (E)
―Acquisition Path: Labyrinth Underground 100th Floor
―Effect: 10% chance that items are not consumed when used.
―Time remaining until permanent acquisition: 9 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds
I got a pretty good Achievement for E-grade.
Making consumable items not disappear when used.
‘Although the probability is low, if it activates, it’s an enormous benefit. It’s like being able to use an item twice.’
Now let’s move to the next floor.
“Let’s go. You need to tank one more time.”
“…What?”
I put the pale-faced Pi Hyeok Jin into the Skull Jar and immediately headed to the next floor.
The conquest went smoothly until reaching the 105th Floor.
With a meat shield, it wasn’t difficult even when monsters swarmed.
“Ugh, uaaahhh…”
Pi Hyeok Jin couldn’t even properly resist despite being chewed and torn apart.
Regardless, I only dealt with the monsters coming my way.
And so I endured for 1 hour.
[You have cleared Underground Labyrinth Floor 105!]
[‘Slightly Weak Essence of Resistance’ is awarded as the 105th Floor normal clear reward.]
[52,000 Credits (+12,000) are awarded.]
[Booster applied floors: 10/10 floors]
[Credit Booster usage has expired.]
[You have conquered 10 floors without taking any damage.]
[Condition met! 400,000 Credits will be refunded.]
The booster usage ended.
I immediately summoned Luster with the Dimensional Orb.
[You called again, human? This time you’re also buying a booster… Huh?]
Luster’s gaze turned toward Pi Hyeok Jin.
[What’s that human? Is he a party member?]
“Well, sort of.”
[Shouldn’t you heal him? He’s gasping like he’s about to die?]
“Leave him. He’s fine.”
I replied indifferently and purchased another Credit Booster.
Luster looked bewildered.
[What’s this situation? Was there another Apostle of your level? How did you party up on the 100th Floor…]
“See you later.”
After sending the Specter back, I moved to the next floor.
At this pace, reaching above the 110th Floor in a day would be possible.
But I won’t do that.
‘I’ll only clear up to Floor 106. Floor 107 has a Hidden Piece.’
To obtain the Hidden Piece, I need a specific skill.
A skill I currently don’t have.
‘Fortunately, the skill holder is someone I know.’
Just like I’ve been doing, I summoned Pi Hyeok Jin on Floor 106 as well.
After receiving the Blood Supply buff, I was preparing to face the incoming monsters.
“P… please save me…”
I heard Pi Hyeok Jin’s sobbing voice.
“I… I was wrong… I really committed a sin worthy of death…”
That it was a voice coming from his heart.
[The target is telling the truth.]
I could tell through the effect of the Scales of Judgment.
But that doesn’t make what I went through disappear.
“What did you do wrong?”
“In high school… bullying you…”
“What else.”
“Saying humiliating things… in front of friends…”
“What else.”
“When you got cigarette burns… not stopping it and just laughing…”
“What else.”
“And…”
The confession continued.
Since he had committed many sins, his answers came without hesitation.
He must have reflected quite a bit.
“Okay. That’s enough. You clearly know what you did wrong.”
“Th, then… can you please stop this pain now…”
“But there’s one wrong thing you didn’t mention.”
“What…?”
My gaze turned cold.
“You’re still speaking casually to me? A slave bastard like you.”
“Ah…!”
“Therefore, you’re hopeless. Keep being a meat shield.”
“S, sorry! N, no, I’m sorry, Master! I, I made a mistake…”
Even while rubbing his hands together desperately, his legs were moving to a good position for tanking.
Soon after, the monsters of Floor 106 discovered Pi Hyeok Jin.
Chomp chomp!
“Keu, keuaaah!”
Along with the Curse of Pain, he had to feel the agony of having his flesh chewed by monsters.
[Someone has cleared Underground Labyrinth Floor 106!]
[Underground Labyrinth Floor 107 is now open.]
[10 days have been added to the Earth’s destruction countdown.]
[Time remaining until destruction: 1,073 days 4 hours 10 minutes 9 seconds]
Lawrence Winterstone, the wealthy magnate of England and Chairman of Winterstone Energy,
stopped cutting his steak mid-slice.
“What’s wrong? Father? Is it because of the clear message?”
“No, I got a text message.”
Lawrence, who was looking at his mobile phone, soon widened his eyes.
“I got a contact from Costech.”
“Costech… you mean Tae Seong’s business partner?”
“Yes. News that an E-Grade Magic Stone has appeared.”
“What? E-Grade?”
Oliver was surprised.
But there was something even more surprising.
“Costech says they’ll hold an auction to set the price for the E-Grade Magic Stone.”
“An auction?”
“They’ll only give auction participation rights to contracted corporations.”
“Ah…”
It seemed like they were taking care of them with plausible words, but in reality, they were trying to gauge market prices through the auction.
There was no way the two businessmen father and son wouldn’t know this.
“This feels disgusting. Their intention to raise prices by using us is obvious, yet they call it participation rights?”
“But we can’t not participate, can we? There might be disadvantages.”
It felt like being in a subordinate position.
It couldn’t be helped.
Costech held the monopoly rights to the new Magic Stone.
“Even if it’s disgusting, we have no choice but to go.”
“We have to. We also need to confirm how much the E-Grade Magic Stone is worth.”
“I’ll go first and discuss with the executives. If we participate in the auction, we need to set standards for how much to bid.”
“Do that.”
What if the value of E-Grade exceeds imagination?
‘I have to seize this opportunity. Absolutely.’
Oliver, who had been eating steak, hurriedly rushed to the company.
F-Grade Magic Stones caused ripples in the energy industry.
Density, safety, storage life, conversion efficiency, etc.
They had excellent value in all aspects, but that was only until the supply was released.
Since anyone who reached Floor 15 could obtain them, F-Grade’s value wasn’t what it used to be.
However.
“What about E-Grade?”
“It should be higher than F-Grade, right?”
The entrepreneurs gathered at the auction house.
Each attended with expectations.
Out of curiosity about the new Magic Stone.
“Isn’t that over there Exxon Power, America’s largest energy company?”
“Look there. That’s David Kang. The person no one in the battery industry doesn’t know.”
“This is really… incredible people have gathered in one place.”
All of them were wealthy magnates from various countries whose names alone were recognizable.
They had all taken interest in E-Grade Magic Stones and made their way here.
“E-Grade Magic Stones are definitely hot right now.”
“Well, they’re items you can’t get anywhere else.”
“F-Grade Magic Stones are common as dirt now.”
From talk about the items.
“What do you think the auction price will be?”
“Let’s not bid it up too high. We’d just be doing them a favor, wouldn’t we?”
“Right. Let’s all try to read the room and bid moderately.”
To talk about auction prices.
The topics of conversation were diverse, but the hottest one among them was none other than this.
“Is the supplier really not Amon?”
“When I asked by email, Costech said they couldn’t reveal it.”
“Of course they would. They’d be crazy to reveal Amon’s identity.”
“But we know, don’t we? That it’s Amon.”
“Who else but Amon could obtain E-Grade Magic Stones?”
The identity of the Magic Stone supplier.
That was the topic most frequently discussed among the people gathered here.
Then the door opened and two people entered the auction house.
It was Isaac and Joshua.
“We sincerely thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend here.”
After offering customary greetings.
“Before we proceed, I’ll guide you through the process.”
Joshua explained the auction method.
“When I call out a price, you can raise your paddle at the price you wish to bid. If no one raises their paddle after several calls, the last person to raise their paddle wins the bid. The E-Grade Magic Stone will be contracted to that company at the winning bid price.”
Up to this point, it was the same as a regular auction.
“But it would be disappointing to end it there. We will provide the winning company with priority supply of 100 E-Grade Magic Stones.”
“100… pieces?”
“You mean we can secure 100 pieces with priority?”
The auction house buzzed with murmurs in an instant.
100 pieces was definitely not a small amount.
Even when they received F-Grade Magic Stone supplies, there wasn’t this level of exceptional treatment.
“I, I have a question!”
Someone raised their hand, and Joshua nodded.
“Please go ahead.”
“How many pieces are in stock?”
“We don’t know that either. We have no way of knowing how many the supplier will secure.”
“Then how will quantities beyond 100 pieces be distributed?”
“Additional quantities after that will be provided sequentially to other participating companies at today’s confirmed price.”
In other words, winning the bid guaranteed securing 100 pieces.
Since it was unknown whether the quantity would be large or small, this was an exceptional benefit.
“If there are no more questions, we’ll reveal the item.”
Soon after, a staff member entered carrying a glass case.
Swoosh!
“Ooh…”
The E-Grade Magic Stone emitting brilliant light inside the square glass box.
Its color was definitely different from F-Grade.
Then the analysis report was distributed.
“Our staff has just handed out the spec sheets. As you can see, the test results are quite good.”
Even without explanation, the reaction was immediate.
“The density is 40% higher?”
“97% conversion efficiency? Does that even make sense?”
“The quality is ridiculously good compared to F-Grade?”
“This is… better than expected?”
The murmuring grew louder.
Satisfied with the reaction, Joshua declared the start of the auction.
Bang!
“The starting price is $1,000 per piece. Now, let’s begin the bidding.”
Usually, auction houses feature multiple items.
It wouldn’t be cost-effective to auction just one item.
However, the auction hosted by Koztech featured only one type of item.
E-Grade Magic Stones.
Of course, it wasn’t simply an auction for a single magic stone.
It was a golden opportunity to appraise the value of the magic stones and secure 100 of them as a priority.
People didn’t want to miss that opportunity.
“$2,200. No more bids? $2,300. $2,400. Let’s proceed a bit faster. $2,500. $2,600.”
Corporate executives continuously raising their paddles.
As soon as one person lowered theirs, another would raise their paddle.
The bids soared frighteningly high.
“$6,700. $6,800. $6,900, $7,000. Now we’ll increase by $200 increments. $7,200.”
Despite earlier talk of keeping things reasonable, everyone jumped into the bidding war.
They had recognized the true value of E-Grade Magic Stones.
The price had already surpassed ten thousand dollars.
“$12,000. No more bids? If not, it goes to paddle number 15… $12,500 just came in. $13,000. We continue.”
Though slower than before, the price kept climbing.
“We have $15,000. $16,000. No $17,000?”
The price had risen to a frightening level.
People were starting to give up one by one.
“$18,000. Anyone willing to bid higher?”
After a moment of silence, one person raised their paddle.
The price climbed a bit more and finally.
Bang! Bang!
“Sold to paddle number 18 for $20,000.”
Twenty thousand dollars.
About 36 million won in Korean currency.
It was the moment the value of E-Grade Magic Stones was established.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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