You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 30

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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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30

 

 

“We’ve discovered a cluster of red flowers while moving. What should we do?”

 

“You said there are 10 minutes left in the golden time, correct?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then we’ll cut straight through.”

 

It was Kim Jin-woo who was momentarily flustered by Park Ju-yong’s answer.

 

“Huh? Hyung, didn’t you say those were Explosive Grass?”

 

Kim Jin-woo whispered quietly.

 

I didn’t answer and looked at Park Ju-yong.

 

When encountering an Explosive Grass cluster, taking a detour is the standard approach.

 

But there’s another method besides detouring.

 

Eliminating the cluster itself.

 

When one Skull Explosive Grass explodes, it triggers a chain reaction of explosions.

 

A method that utilizes this characteristic to detonate the Skull Explosive Grass and escape before getting caught in the explosion.

 

It’s a much faster and more efficient method.

 

But there was a reason why the previous interviewees answered with the standard approach rather than this method.

 

This isn’t something just anyone can do.

 

The moment you detonate the Explosive Grass, you must escape from the spot at near-sonic speed.

 

You’d need to be at least an A-rank Hunter to even attempt it.

 

In other words, among the interviewees, only Park Ju-yong could use this method.

 

“If I can utilize the chain explosion effect of the Explosive Grass to detonate them myself and escape, I believe resupply within the golden time would be possible.”

 

All the subsequent questions were also answered nearly perfectly.

 

Handling situations in dungeons, establishing appropriate supply routes, and so on.

 

What was quite surprising was that he showed near-perfect knife work even in the practical Poison Porogi dismantling test.

 

Even though he claimed to have extensive dungeon experience, Hunters and Porters are fundamentally different.

 

While immediate situational responses in dungeons might be understandable, dismantling monsters requires separate study to master.

 

Park Ju-yong was more suitable for the talent I was seeking than any applicant so far.

 

But from the moment I first saw him until now, only one question kept circling in my mind.

 

‘Why did he apply?’

 

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find an answer.

 

A top-tier A-rank Hunter who had money, fame, and everything else applied to be a Porter for Asin?

 

No matter how good the treatment might be, that was only compared to lower-ranked Hunters.

 

After the Dismantling Work was finished, I had no choice but to ask him the final question.

 

“Applicant Park Ju-yong.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why did you apply to be a Porter?”

 

“I…”

 

“I’d like to hear the real reason, not a formal answer.”

 

After hesitating briefly, he opened his mouth.

 

“There was a raid I participated in before that became prolonged.”

 

His voice was calm, but there was a strange resonance within it.

 

“Naturally, it was a situation where we had to request emergency resupply.”

 

Hearing those words, I could clearly picture how the situation must have unfolded.

 

Unlike the Association, private guilds don’t easily approve emergency resupply requests.

 

All the time and manpower required for a supply team to reach the raid party’s location in the middle of a dungeon gets converted into money.

 

Moreover, if Park Ju-yong’s raid party had to switch to a long-term strategy, it must have been at least an A-rank dungeon.

 

In that case, the supply team couldn’t consist of just simple Porters; A-rank or higher Hunters would need to be included.

 

That’s when the decision-maker’s calculations begin.

 

Whether it’s more profitable to complete the dungeon raid to the end, or to retreat even with penalties.

 

The longer this decision time drags on, the more the raid party suffers.

 

“It took 2 weeks for supplies to arrive. They said they sent them right away, but well… you know what the situation was without me having to explain.”

 

Park Ju-yong gave a bitter smile.

 

“In the end, there were casualties. He was my friend and colleague.”

 

For a moment, silence fell over the interview room.

 

“Honestly, I began to have doubts about the profession of Hunter. Whether this was really a job that clears dungeons to protect citizens’ safety. The citizen safety that I used to shout about in advertisements.”

 

Hunters make a lot of money.

 

Even lower-tier Hunters receive salaries comparable to new employees at major corporations.

 

People who don’t know better might think it’s fine as long as you make good money,

The reality is that they pay a lot of money precisely because it’s such difficult and dangerous work.

“Then I saw Ashin’s announcement. Even without going to the homepage, there were countless news articles and videos produced by NewTubers flooding everywhere.”

Park Juyong slowly raised his head.

“That’s when I thought… with this system, those people would have lived.”

After finishing his words, he took a short breath.

“That’s why I applied.”

Then he looked straight at me and continued speaking.

“I want to see with my own eyes whether you really implemented this system, and if it’s true…”

A flash of determination crossed his weary eyes.

“I want to become a member of Asin.”

***

The interview that had lasted over half a day came to an end with Park Juyong as the final candidate.

Out of 235 applicants, about 30 were accepted.

There were quite a few memorable successful candidates besides Park Juyong.

She was the only civilian among the successful candidates.

 

Still, there was one reason I selected her.

 

It was because of her motivation for applying.

 

In a way, Shin In-seon’s story was similar to Park Ju-yong’s.

 

The death of her son, who was a Hunter.

 

But if you knew the reason for that death, it was so absurd you’d sigh in disbelief.

 

Complications from secondary infection due to lack of disinfectant.

 

With even the most basic medical knowledge, her son wouldn’t have met such a futile death.

 

But as a civilian, she couldn’t even become a Porter, let alone a Hunter.

 

Then she saw Asin’s job posting.

 

She applied thinking that if she could enter that system, she could prevent tragedies like what happened to her son.

 

She had no knowledge about dungeons, but she said she studied harder than at any other time in her life.

 

During the interview, there were some parts where she stumbled, but that was something experience could cover.

 

Moreover, perhaps because she knew anatomy, she showed no hesitation in dismantling work.

 

There were still many things she lacked, but those could be covered with Golden Incense and time.

 

Most importantly, having medical personnel who weren’t healers during raids could greatly increase survival rates.

 

The supply items would be slightly different for raids she joined.

 

In a way, she might be exactly the talent Asin needed.

 

I was already looking forward to seeing what items I could procure from Golden Township to help her abilities bloom.

 

The next memorable successful candidate was Shin Yong-bok, a Porter over 60 who had retired.

 

Honestly, just surviving more than 10 years in the Porter industry is impressive,

Honestly, just surviving more than 10 years in the porter industry is pretty impressive,

This elderly gentleman, who retired after a career spanning nearly 40 years, was practically a legend in the industry based on his experience alone.

The reason for choosing you was simple.

40 years of experience and know-how that money can’t buy.

While he can’t match the physical stamina of younger applicants, he’s still in good health despite being over 60.

He had no intention of retiring, but seeing how pathetically the guild members were behaving made him so furious that he quit on the spot.

Even though we were all successful candidates, seeing them already look at me with something close to respect made me think this would help with team unity beyond just work matters.

Most of the successful candidates whose reasons weren’t immediately obvious also had similar motivations.

People with ability, but whose circumstances weren’t quite right.

 

Those lacking parts could be sufficiently resolved with Golden Fragrance’s items.

 

For one week, Lee Seo-rin would be in charge of proceeding with manuals and training.

 

I didn’t divide them into supply teams and recovery teams.

 

Recovery and supply. Both were part of a porter’s duties,

and they needed to be able to support each other at any time.

 

Instead, I separated them into Team A and Team B.

 

Team A would have Lee Seo-rin as team leader,

Team B would be led by Park Ju-yong and Elder Shin Yong-bok.

 

Hunter Park Ju-yong had sufficient knowledge about dungeons, but lacked knowledge about porters,

while Elder Shin Yong-bok was a legend in the porter world but lacked knowledge about dungeons themselves.

 

It was a simple thought that if I put those two together, they would learn a lot from each other.

 

Since both were people who had reached the top in their respective fields, I was worried there might be discord, but when I listened in, their combination seemed better than expected.

 

Or perhaps they got along better precisely because they had both been at the peak…

 

And right now, I was leading Team B in the middle of a dungeon.

 

The hot heat I had swept away with Karmic Fire brushed past me and Team B.

 

“Phew… I’m sweating because it’s desert terrain.”

 

I wiped away the sweat flowing down my forehead and caught my breath lightly.

 

Team B, standing behind me, had their mouths hanging open at the scene spread before their eyes.

 

“…Vice Guild Leader really is an S-rank Hunter.”

 

Park Ju-yong gaped at the corpses of the scorpion monsters Scorpy that I had created with a single Sword Strike.

 

“Hey, you kids! Stop gawking, we have to dismantle all of those!”

 

It was Elder Shin Yong-bok who broke Team B’s shock.

 

“Let’s move quickly.”

 

At his sharp command, Team B snapped to attention and began moving following behind him.

 

I watched this scene with a satisfied smile.

 

Do you know what’s better than experienced newcomers?

 

A veteran elder who understands without needing words.

 

Under Elder Shin Yong-bok’s command, when the Dismantling Work had progressed to some degree, I drew Galmu again.

 

“Shall we… create a situation that requires emergency supply?”

 

***

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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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