You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 104

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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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104

 

 

 

I left the cleanup to Yamyeong and returned to the guild building.

 

It was disappointing that I couldn’t extract reliable information due to Liu Chen’s death, but it wasn’t entirely without gain.

 

The three questions I exchanged with the Cult Leader.

 

They weren’t questions I threw out thoughtlessly.

 

The first question was for probing while testing the Cult Leader’s true intentions,

It was a probing question to naturally lead into the next question.

Because the flow from ‘why’ to ‘how’ is quite natural.

The answer to the first question was unexpected, but it wasn’t a problem.

The real core part started from the second question.

‘How did you come to be here?’

The place where Liu Chen’s interrogation took place is the headquarters of the Temple Faction.

For a human, even setting foot in that place would be nearly impossible.

Unless someone intervenes, of course.

That’s why I needed to verify the cult leader’s methods.

How did the cult leader find out Ryu Chen’s location when he was brought here without leaving any trace in the goblin world.

Because that answer will greatly influence the direction of our future response.

It was something on a completely different level from what I had expected—that there would be some kind of prohibition or restriction in place.

The cult leader’s response was twofold.

and because his name itself was an incantation.

 

The former answer alone would have satisfied the question-and-answer condition, but the Cult Leader deliberately leaked additional information.

 

Did the Cult Leader let his guard down because I seemed genuinely curious?

 

It would have been nice if that were the case.

 

But it was a kind of warning.

 

It was silent pressure to be prepared for encounters like today’s, or even greater dangers, whenever I tried to uncover his identity in the future.

 

‘Tsk, it would have been better if it were just a prohibition…’

 

Having studied magic, the meaning of the incantation the Cult Leader mentioned came across differently.

 

Liu Chen didn’t speak the Cult Leader’s name.

Liu Chen did not mention the cult leader’s name.

But during the interrogation, his name came to mind.

That was the problem.

After all, spells can be cast through thought alone, without needing to be spoken aloud.

Magic is activated by fulfilling the condition of drawing.

 

It wasn’t for nothing that ‘Silent Casting Magic’ was classified as a field of study.

 

Circuits have the condition of being drawn, magic has the condition of being incanted.

Circuits have the condition of being drawn, magic has the condition of being chanted.

And since incantationless magic can be established by fulfilling the condition of bringing it to mind.

It’s just that in the case of the Shadowless Spear, the difficulty of conjuring it up and making it manifest is damn near impossible.

It wasn’t without reason that incantation magic had become mainstream.

That fact alone meant his understanding and skill in magic surpassed most mages.

 

This alone was a sufficiently satisfying result.

 

But I didn’t stop there and threw out the final question.

 

Since ‘why’ and ‘how’ were solved, next came ‘where to’.

 

I never intended to capture the Cult Leader here in the first place.

 

And that day’s question-and-answer session made it certain.

 

Join the cult, or destroy the cult.

And that day’s questioning made it certain.

Either join the establishment, or tear it down.

That I only have two choices left.

The cult leader did not treat me as an enemy.

‘He was more of a close associate than an enemy.’

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t sense any hostility in his attitude.

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to join that crazy cult,

I had only one choice left.

 

So for that reason alone, I had to find clues to track down the cult.

 

The scene of the Giant Tribe Dungeon that the Cult Leader had shown me.

 

That was why I decided on the United States as my next destination.

 

Surely what the Cult Leader was after was that object the Giant Priest was praying to in the final scene.

 

I couldn’t see it clearly, but judging from the divine aura I felt from the altar, it was a Divine Artifact.

 

I couldn’t know the exact reason why the cult was targeting that Divine Artifact.

 

But at the same time, if it was a Divine Artifact, it was certainly something worth targeting for the cult.

 

Of course, it could be a trap.

 

‘No, it’s definitely a trap.’

 

If they really wanted to hide it, they could have just said the name of the Divine Artifact.

 

That answer wouldn’t violate the conditions of our question and answer exchange either.

 

If they said they were targeting Kim Min-soo’s ‘Steel Sword,’ I would have no way of knowing where that sword was or what it was.

 

Yet the Cult Leader showed me information beyond just an answer.

 

‘They’re blatantly luring me in.’

 

I couldn’t know why the cult was targeting the Divine Artifact,

I don’t know why the cult leader invited me there either.

It was likely a trap, but I had no choice but to decide to go to America.

‘The curious one should make the move.’

To sever my ill-fated ties with the religious order, I had no choice but to take action myself.

‘Well, it’s not like I can just rush over there right away.’

First of all, I don’t know the location of the giant tribe’s dungeon.

They said it was the Grand Canyon, but I couldn’t know the exact location.

The name itself is ‘Grand Canyon’.

It’s a 5,000-pyeong plot of land that’s only 446km long.

The Gyeongbu Expressway is 441km long.

doesn’t mean I can pinpoint the exact location of the dungeon.

 

So I immediately sent experts.

 

Well, when I say experts, it’s just Yamyeong and The Kids.

 

Still, the United States side is relatively better.

 

The Four Devas kids had already infiltrated deeply there.

 

I extracted the memories I saw through Dream Journey to Peach Blossom Land and sent them, so I should hear back soon.

 

And it didn’t end there.

 

Arrangements regarding my entry and exit from the country came through the Association.

 

Of course, it’s right that an S-rank Hunter’s entry and exit should be coordinated, but it wasn’t because of visa issues.

 

S-rank Hunters don’t need visas in the first place.

 

Because they’re treated as state guest visits.

 

After the Tokyo conquest, they gave me state guest treatment, so I thought it was just simple courtesy.

From the beginning, allied nations actually treat S-rank Hunters as real state guests.

It’s just that back then, given the Tokyo situation, the ceremonies were omitted.

 

Since visiting the United States this time wasn’t an emergency situation, it seemed like schedules such as welcome ceremonies and banquets were being arranged.

 

The United States side seemed to want it to some extent too.

We became an S-rank Hunter-holding nation that surpassed China and stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States.

 

‘Tsk, I’ll definitely have to take Jin-woo this time.’

 

It seemed difficult to avoid such troublesome schedules.

It seemed difficult to avoid such a troublesome schedule.

Even if I did take him, I’d have him command the Supply Team from the rear.

 

This worked out well actually.

 

Taking a few Ashin Guild Supply Team members on this opportunity wouldn’t be bad either.

 

Porters in the United States were treated well.

 

Unlike Korea, they weren’t perceived as bottom-feeders, but were treated as skilled craftsmen (Meisters).

 

Because unlike in Korea, they weren’t seen as being at the bottom, but were treated as skilled craftsmen (Meister).

Well, that’s probably why even high-grade Hunters work as Porters there.

 

Moreover, they managed Porters on a national level there.

 

Research on supply techniques and Resource Recovery techniques was already systematized too.

 

‘I should send them on a field trip after resolving the Giant Tribe Dungeon.’

 

I could hear the Association President’s deep sigh as he had yet another thing to coordinate, but well, what could be done about it.

Honestly, among all of us, the Association President was the one having the easiest time.

He must be happy to have work piling up in his later years.

 

In any case, while there would be coordination of schedules between associations,

that wasn’t the real purpose.

 

We were exchanging communications with the American Association through the Association President.

 

This time, there might be an all-out war with the Cult.

 

Well, aside from that, when a foreign Guild steps forward to conquer a dungeon in their own country—one that even the American Association hadn’t discovered—

no matter how much of an allied nation we were, they couldn’t just take that at face value.

 

Fact verification, information sources, conquest intentions, and so on.

 

They said time was needed to coordinate all these miscellaneous matters.

 

After distributing the work like that, naturally, I was the one left with nothing to do.

 

So what would I do then?

 

Training, of course.

 

Even when I cut the purple finger, I thought that if I gave it my all, I could probably defeat the Cult.

 

The Martial Prowess I displayed there was something beyond S-rank Hunters, after all.

 

But after the exchange with the Cult Leader, I couldn’t be certain of that outcome.

 

I wouldn’t lose, but could I really win?

 

The atmosphere I felt from the Cult Leader was similar to when I faced the black finger.

 

Something divine that couldn’t be expressed in words.

It had that distinctive scent—not Martial Prowess, but something else entirely.

 

So I should start putting more effort into getting stronger too.

 

I looked down at the bracelet fastened around my wrist.

 

A half-baked demigod who became a demigod but couldn’t properly wield a demigod’s power.

 

I needed to at least reach the realm of a complete demigod.

 

Just as I was thinking that and picked up the Training Manual,

 

the Office door burst open and Kim Jin-woo entered.

 

“Elder Brother, there’s a problem at the Factory.”

 

I clicked my tongue at those words.

 

Tsk, whenever I try to finish work and have some personal time, something always goes wrong.

 

***

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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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