Obtained End-Game Gear for a Bowl of Ramen - Chapter 14

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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 14. Dealt With by an EX-Rank
In three minutes, Jung Ho had cleared the small Chaos Gate, and the Gate clear reward window appeared before him with a soft chime.
[Gate Clear Reward: 11 Intermediate Mana Stones]
[Blessing of Abundance activated!]
[Additional reward obtained: 11 Intermediate Mana Stones]
‘There it is—eleven Intermediate Mana Stones? Wait, where’s the twelfth? And no special EX-rank reward?’
A minor disappointment, though he’d anticipated the penalty. He could always retry tomorrow. Eleven Intermediate Mana Stones alone represented a year’s worth of resources for a mid-sized guild.
-Blessing of Retry can only be used once per day.
The Blessing of Retry also had a once-per-day restriction. The next day, Jung Ho entered the Chaos Gate again—the same Gate, the same goblins.
[Gate Clear Reward: 10 Intermediate Mana Stones]
‘The rewards dropped?’
Worse, the Blessing of Abundance didn’t trigger at all. Jung Ho was beginning to understand the pattern. Retry runs yielded fewer rewards, rerolled the reward assessment entirely, and never granted special contributions bonuses.
‘Makes sense if the retry is free—the cost has to come from somewhere.’
Infinite retries were possible until the desired reward appeared. The reduced rewards were simply a fee, a service charge—nothing to resent.
To confirm his hypothesis, Jung Ho headed to the Dimensional Shop [Dapanda]. Since it was Dae Young’s power, she would know best.

Dae Young’s eyes curved up like a seagull’s wings, amused.

“Damn. I was hoping to stockpile some Mana Stones for the country, but I guess not.”

“That’s the thing—it was fine before, but this guy Li Wei—”
Jung Ho explained the situation. The shadow called Dae Young chuckled as if delighted.

“Eleven pieces? But tomorrow it’s ten, the day after nine—they keep dropping?”

“Numbers counting down… wait—”
A thought struck Jung Ho like lightning. A countdown. A steady decline. What happens when the Intermediate Mana Stone sales reach zero?
“Even Li Wei would have to react. Dae Young—are you a genius?”

Dae Young’s shadow swelled to twice its normal size. But it was fleeting—like a balloon losing air, the shadow deflated back to its usual form.

“I’ve never thought that way, and I won’t start now. I’ll just do what I can. That’s all. Thanks for the advice.”
Jung Ho left Hero’s Tower. Dae Young’s tendrils seemed to writhe with something unspoken.

* * *
Over the following days, Jung Ho sold the Intermediate Mana Stones. Though he occasionally took a double reward, he deliberately reduced the count by one each day.
Naturally, people began to notice the countdown. What happens when it reaches zero? The Hunter community was in uproar.
‘It’s all bluffing, really. But what if Li Wei just waits it out until it actually hits zero?’
Then he’d raise the supply again and sell. He had reserves stockpiled anyway. But Jung Ho’s mind drifted to something else.
‘The auction house is flooding me with messages.’
After listing the Intermediate Mana Stones anonymously, his inbox threatened to burst. Please sell to us. Among the deluge, one stood out.
-Do you sell anything besides Mana Stones?
Someone looking for items other than Mana Stones. Jung Ho checked the sender.
‘Sender: Hunter Kwon Min Ki?’
That man from the Bloody Tears Stone Gate encounter. A familiar name, so Jung Ho bothered to reply.
-No, why do you ask?
-My father operates a potion guild. Fortunately we have Mana Stone reserves, but we’re critically short of other materials. Your skills seemed solid, so I’m asking in good faith.
-Has Li Wei cut off other material exports too?
-Right now Korea is pouring all efforts into Mana Stone supply, so miscellaneous materials are all being exported. They got caught up in that.
So that was the situation. Li Wei’s Mana Stone embargo was a larger problem than it seemed. Practically everything except Mana Stones was being liquidated.
That didn’t bode well for South Korea’s future. What good were Mana Stones if you couldn’t make anything without materials?
-What materials do you need?
-Quite a lot. The recipe is classified, so I can’t send a full list. I apologize for the inconvenience.
As they exchanged messages, Jung Ho’s mind wandered.
‘Maybe I should sell my recipe?’
The recipe Asclepius had given him after eating cold, bloated ramen in Hero’s Tower—a High Potion recipe, was it?
Jung Ho consulted his recipe notebook. While he was no manufacturer, it was remarkably straightforward, with simple ingredients.
‘High Potion needs Waterdrop Herb and Red Tear Fruit. I think I’ve seen those on the auction house.’
Jung Ho checked the Hunter community auction house. Both Waterdrop Herb and Red Tear Fruit were common-grade materials, dirt cheap. Hundreds, thousands were listed even now.
‘Perfect. I’m curious what level recipe Asclepius gave me anyway.’
Potions are produced widely across the globe, but only a handful of nations excel at making them. American and British potions rank first, and the rest are all of a piece.
Someone like Li Wei would drink Elixir instead of potions. Short of that level, even high-rank Hunters remain bound to potions. They’re the thread that keeps you alive.
What if South Korea could carve out a place in the potion industry? Even if not, selling the recipe would bring in money.
‘And Kwon Min Ki… he’s been on my mind.’
I still remember how he looked at the Bloody Tears Stone Gate. Even as he was dying, he stayed until the end, trying to save others first.
He’s an impressive Hunter. Helping him out a little wouldn’t hurt. Besides, Jung Ho has no use for the recipe anyway.
-I’d like to sell the recipe rather than materials. Would it be possible to meet in person and make the deal?
* * *
In the heart of Seoul’s Myeongdong district. Ever since the Gate opened there before, Myeongdong had reclaimed its former vitality. Photo spots had sprouted up in places.

Kwon Min Ki surveyed Myeongdong with a bitter gaze. The person who cleared that Gate was EX-rank, yet nowhere bore his name.
‘I don’t even know his name, and he’s still EX-rank.’
Min Ki stood there uselessly, waiting. He’d spent a lot of time wondering who this presumed EX-rank person might be.
Could it be the one who rescued him at the Bloody Tears Stone Gate that day? If so, he wanted to petition his way into becoming his disciple.
“Kwon Min Ki?”
Min Ki turned his head. There stood a suspicious figure with a hood pulled down over their head. For some reason, he couldn’t see their face clearly, and even when he looked, it wouldn’t register. Like a shadow.
“Yes, that’s me. Are you…?”
“It’s the recipe. Try it out, and if it works well, you can sell it—just deposit 5% as a commission to this account. Oh, and give these to your parents.”
The shadow pulled something out. Two roots of 10-Year Polygonum, a Rare-rank Elixir.
“This—this precious thing?! It’s an Elixir! Why would you give me…?”
“My parents won’t accept it, so I can’t give it to them.”
“Wait, if you really are EX-rank, please let me become your disciple…!”
The suspicious shadow handed over the items and vanished into the crowd. Min Ki stood there dumbfounded. It appeared out of nowhere with a recipe and Elixirs.
He hadn’t even asked for money. If it sells well, just deposit it into the account? What kind of transaction is this in the world? So there really is a deal where you lose money.
‘Is EX-rank an angel? Or a demon trying to bewitch me? What on earth is it?’
Min Ki flipped through the recipe notebook. Not long after, he snapped it shut. With trembling hands, he reached out to someone.
“Father, it’s me. Father, we’re saved. We’re saved! I just bought a recipe—! This is a recipe made by the god of potions!”
* * *
News of Chang Yao’s arrest. An official protest from the Korea Hunter Management Bureau. Even from China, pressure was beginning to mount on Li Wei.
‘I’m sorry, Chang. Because of me, you…’
Li Wei’s own stomach was beginning to churn. The EX-rank at the Chaos Gate had been a shock and a terror.
It had to be the Inferno skill. The 9th-ranked Hunter in China uses it and knows it well—even that one, with an S-tier magical power stat, accumulates 80% magical corruption with a single use.
And yet that skill was deployed continuously without rest in a Gate with constant 90% magical corruption. How vast must that magical reservoir be? He couldn’t even begin to fathom it.
And yet there he was, spouting off about EX-rank this and how he was the strongest and the gap between ranks. Li Wei felt ashamed of himself.
‘Was I just a monkey in the Buddha’s palm?’
What’s more, he’d even received help from the EX-rank at the Chaos Gate. His pride had been trampled to the very bottom.
‘Eyes That Look Down.’
Whoosh!
[Not found.]
The identity of the EX-rank Hunter remained a complete mystery. A glimpse of their back view at the Chaos Gate simply wasn’t enough.
Whether Chang Yao had found the EX-rank himself, he didn’t know. But given that personality, he’d have killed anyone suspicious on sight.
So eventually either the EX-rank would slip up and get caught, or they’d get tired of it and emerge on their own.
‘Back to square one. I’ve just wasted time. How do I extract Chang?’
Chang Yao was the Murong Guild’s notorious assassin. Until now, no one had been able to catch him for lack of evidence, but he’d been arrested in South Korea as a perpetrator caught in the act.
He could extract him, but it was a thorny problem. It wasn’t just South Korea watching—Japan, Russia, America, Britain, and Europe were all keeping an eye on things.
‘Time. Yes, there was a way with that.’
Li Wei’s pride recovered. He returned to the Murong Guild in grand fashion and took his throne. The guild members were watching with expectation in their eyes.
“Liu Zhi. How much of South Korea’s Mana Stone reserves are left?”
“Yes, yes! Master. Approximately 63 days’ worth remains. A major economic impact will likely arrive soon due to Mana Stone shortage.”
“If that EX-rank starves to death for lack of money, that’d be ridiculous. Which other country has offered to supply Mana Stones to South Korea?”
“None, sir. The other nations don’t speak of it, but there’s an atmosphere of checking the EX-rank.”
Li Wei laughed. The end of undeserved power was always predictable. The sharp stone catches the chisel—South Korea will fall because of that arrogant EX-rank.
Li Wei rose, his robes fluttering. War is won through supply lines. Without Mana Stones, South Korea can’t hold out either.
“Send word to South Korea. If they hand over Chang Yao and the EX-rank, we’ll resume supplying Mana Stones.”
Two days later. The Murong Guild of China had regained its former status. Li Wei recovered his dignity, and the guild members recovered their pride.
“Master. The Republic of Korea has contacted us through a dedicated line.”
Li Wei, seated on his throne, replied arrogantly to Liu Zhi.
“Speak.”
“I made a very polite request asking if they could loosen their Mana Stone supply even slightly. They said they’d add an extra 10% to the original market price.”
“Refuse it.”
Li Wei laughed wickedly. After hesitating, Liu Zhi spoke carefully.
“South Korea is an EX-rank holder nation. If an EX-rank Hunter solves the Mana Stone problem too…….”
“That won’t happen.”
Li Wei drew a firm line. The Trial Tower operated on a one-entry-per-day principle. Even with the 15th Floor Blessing, that was only two entries.
That wasn’t nearly enough. South Korea was a Hunter powerhouse. They’d invested heavily in the Hunter industry. The future sector second only to semiconductors.
Which meant their Mana Stone consumption was enormous relative to national size. On par with developed nations like the United States, China, and Europe. No single EX-rank Hunter could cover it alone.
And other developed nations were pressuring South Korea too. A perfect moment to contain them. For South Korea to survive, they’d ultimately have no choice but to sell off their EX-rank Hunter.
“Keep squeezing. Keep the pressure on. Don’t give them room to breathe.”
“But Master. An EX-rank Hunter is suspected to have sold ten Intermediate Mana Stones at the Korean auction house. If we keep this up, we might actually take losses…….”
“Only ten stones. He must be selling what he found at the Chaos Gate before. It’ll run out soon. He hasn’t shown up in the past two days.”
Just as Li Wei predicted, the daily sales of Intermediate Mana Stones declined by one each day. Nine, then the next day eight. Seven. Six.
The Murong Guild members were delighted to see it, but.
‘Why is it decreasing by one each time? Is this a message to me? Something’s off. Eyes That Look Down.’
Whoosh!
[Not found.]
Even using the auction house, I couldn’t track it. Was he using an information concealment skill that surpassed Eyes That Look Down?
If he had many Mana Stones, he’d sell them all at once from the start, or calculate his needs and sell fixed amounts. There was no reason to reduce it by one each day.
‘Is it really a countdown? I can’t believe it. What happens when the number reaches zero?’
The EX-rank Hunter stopping the Trial Tower conquest was suspicious too. If he’d obtained the 15th Floor Blessing, he should’ve been climbing the Tower twice as fast.
But there was complete silence about Trial Tower updates after the 15th floor.
‘What is the EX-rank thinking? Bluffing is the most likely. The Korean Hunter industry is already on the verge of collapse. Especially the potion sector……potion?’
Li Wei pulled out his smartphone and checked the date. A reminder for the <International Potion Competition> had appeared on his phone’s calendar.
‘Surely not. Eyes That Look Down!’
Li Wei shifted his gaze. His eyes widened in shock and he bolted upright.
“I’ve been played! By an EX-rank……I’ve been played!!”
The startled Murong Guild members scrambled and knelt before Li Wei.
“M-Master! Please enlighten us foolish ones with your wisdom!”
“The EX-rank wasn’t after Mana Stones. Potions. He blindfolded my eyes and developed a potion recipe!”
“What difference does that make?”
“It makes all the difference! All the major developed nations will rush to buy South Korea’s potions. You can’t conquer Towers or Gates without potions!”
The winner of the International Hunter Industry Potion Competition was the High Potion made by South Korea’s Baekdam Guild. Performance doubled from before, price halved. Murong came in second.
According to the information Li Wei had gathered so far, this was an impossible result. He knew South Korea’s situation like the back of his hand. If someone had intervened without Li Wei knowing, it could only be the EX-rank.
‘Was I a monkey in the Buddha’s palm?’
Li Wei collapsed into a sitting position. A word he’d once spoken to himself came back to him. Liu Zhi entered the corridor hesitantly, arriving late.
“M-Master! Disaster! After seeing the potion competition results, Britain has promised Mana Stone trade with South Korea, and America is supposedly moving as well. Master, Master?”
Li Wei stared into empty space with vacant eyes. The eyes that had once looked down arrogantly upon the world now gazed upward.
“I lost.”
To be continued in the next episode ▶
Got a winning item from one bowl of ramen
Author
Hayan Gotgam
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Publishing House
Grae Publishing
Contact Email
[email protected]
Publication Date
August 24, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260423069
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※ Pentagram welcomes precious manuscripts from authors.

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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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