You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 34
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
34
[You, were you human?]
Just seeing the message title made the alcohol buzz that had lasted until dawn disappear in an instant.
I nervously clicked on the message content.
[I noticed when you were selling items from the Human Realm, but as expected, you’re on Earth.
I don’t know what kind of god you are, but you’ve managed to manifest in the Human Realm quite impressively. Remarkable.]
Only after checking the content did I let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, it wasn’t content that suspected me.
‘Is clickbait trending in the Divine Realm too…’
Writing a title like that would naturally cause panic.
[My disciple is in a country called Korea, you see.
But when that disciple said he discovered a sword harder than the ones I made, I checked it out, and it was you.
The moment I saw the aura it gave off, I knew right away.]
This person, no, this god is being particularly long-winded with the introduction today.
[That sword you’re wielding.]
‘Galmu?’
[I made that.]
I looked down at Galmu.
I had expected it to be a Divine Artifact, but its creator was quite a big shot.
I had a vague suspicion that Forge That Tempers Fire’s true identity was Hephaestus.
There were quite a few gods related to blacksmithing, but judging by the amount of gold he wielded, he wasn’t just any ordinary god.
[But it seems not all functions have been unlocked yet.]
‘Not all unlocked yet?’
I was rather shocked by those words.
Being a Companion Sword that could communicate and had its own will was already overpowered, and it even had the ability to absorb weapons and mimic their abilities.
Moreover, it possessed durability that was sturdier than most swords.
There were few swords on Earth that could withstand my Karmic Fire.
‘But this isn’t the end?’
I quickly read through Forge That Tempers Fire’s message.
[Since I’m always indebted to you, let me help you out once.
I’ve told my disciple about it, so if you go there, he’ll take care of everything.]
[PS. If you’re grateful, hurry up and release some new products.]
With those words, the message ended with an address written below.
But when I checked the address, I couldn’t help but be flustered.
“Wait, this place is…”
The address written in the message wasn’t a place I could easily enter.
“I guess I’ll need to get some help…”
Though it wasn’t a place I couldn’t enter at all.
I quietly took out my smartphone.
***
The next day, I headed to Cheongram Trading Company.
The place the address in the message pointed to was Cheongram Trading Company’s Manufacturing Zone.
However, it was a Restricted Zone that outsiders couldn’t freely enter.
It was like a Military Zone that wasn’t even marked on maps.
The way to get there was naturally through connections.
“Merchant, I had no idea you had connections with a Master Smith.”
Team Leader Lee Woo-ram spoke with genuine surprise in his voice.
“I knew you were an extraordinary person from the first items you brought…”
He caught his breath slightly and continued.
“You awakened as the second S-rank Hunter in Korea, and now you’ve changed the course of dungeon strategies with Ashin’s system.”
I turned my head slightly to look at Lee Woo-ram’s expression.
Who would have thought that someone as stoic as a stone—who wouldn’t bleed even if pricked with a needle—could make such an expression?
It was a joyful expression, but different from ordinary joy.
How should I put it? Like the feeling when a blue-chip stock you bought hits the jackpot?
You know how it is.
Those cases where you invest in an American startup that began in a garage, and before you know it, it becomes one of the top IT companies competing for first or second place worldwide.
Perhaps that’s the reason Team Leader Lee Woo-ram was so elated?
“As expected… my judgment back then wasn’t wrong.”
Team Leader Lee Woo-ram looked at me with an expression that said he really didn’t understand anymore.
“You’re not hiding anything else, are you? Like being half-god or something.”
Team Leader Lee Woo-ram threw out the joke with a laugh.
And once again, I got goosebumps at this person’s intuition.
‘He’d probably faint if he knew I really am a demigod.’
The place I arrived at under Team Leader Lee Woo-ram’s guidance was a mountain with a unique appearance.
It was a mountain densely grown with pitch-black trees, and it was the first time I’d felt such intimidation from trees.
‘They look similar to ebony wood, but the aura they give off is quite extraordinary.’
It seemed like the reason Cheongram Trading Company didn’t deploy security personnel separately was because of those trees.
Team Leader Lee Woo-ram stopped walking at the entrance to the forest.
“Merchant. I cannot go any further.”
“Is that so.”
I answered calmly.
“Yes, this forest doesn’t allow those without permission to enter. If you follow the straight path, you’ll arrive at your destination.”
“That’s fine. Coming this far is sufficient.”
“Then I hope you achieve what you’re aiming for.”
Team Leader Lee Woo-ram clasped his hands together and bowed his head.
I entered the mountain path with his farewell.
***
Is this what they call the energy of a mountain?
With each step I took along the path, nature’s grandeur seeped into my feet.
Had I walked for about 10 minutes like that?
A small cabin appeared in the distance,
and beside it, a traditional-style blacksmith workshop revealed itself.
As I got closer to the blacksmith workshop, the sound of hammering gradually grew louder.
As I approached the building, I saw a roughly erected name plate.
[16th Generation Master Smith Craftsman Hae-in]
‘So the blacksmith’s name is Hae-in?’
Then, as I arrived in front of the blacksmith workshop, the hammering sound suddenly stopped.
After a moment, someone walked out of the blacksmith workshop.
He was a handsome young man with quite a youthful face.
His skin had turned brown from being scorched by fire.
Muscles protruded over his sleeveless shirt mixed with metal shavings and sweat.
“You? Are you the guy the old man mentioned?”
Unlike his appearance, he didn’t seem to have any manners installed.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
Hae-in hesitated slightly, as if he hadn’t expected me to respond in kind.
“…Show me the sword.”
His gaze moved to my waist.
His voice was still blunt, but his eyes were shining.
I quietly drew Galmu and held it out to him.
Unlike his curt way of speaking,
Hae-in supported the sword handle with both hands and very carefully shifted its weight.
And I could see his nostrils gradually flaring.
“The condition is quite… you’ve used it gently.”
Hae-in glanced at me once, then lightly flicked the sword spine with his finger.
Instead of a ‘clang!’ metallic sound, a strange resonance spread.
In that moment, his breathing began to grow rough.
His eyes sparkled as he muttered something.
He must have thought I couldn’t hear him.
From a distance, he would have looked like a craftsman analyzing a sword with a serious expression.
But unfortunately, my hearing was several times more developed than an ordinary person’s.
Every single word that guy muttered flowed into my ears without exception.
“Perfect center of gravity, even the sword line is beautiful. Haah…?! How is it possible to create such a perfect sword? As expected, my master is truly a genius. No, a god!”
“…”
I looked at him with an incredulous expression.
Not all craftsmen are like this, but I’d heard there are quite eccentric geniuses…
Even those eccentric geniuses would have shaken their heads at this sight.
I felt like Galmu in his hands was breaking out in cold sweat and sending me a rescue signal.
After ravaging Galmu for a while, he stopped his hands and held the sword out to me again.
He glanced down at Galmu slightly, then looked back up at me.
“It seems to have been starving for quite a while, its core is lacking.”
‘Even after devouring magic stones like that, it’s still hungry…’
“What do I need to do?”
“It’s simple. If the core is lacking, just fill it up.”
He pointed toward the cliff with his chin.
“This entire mountain is an ore vein. There’s a mine entrance below the cliff. Go fill it up there.”
“What should I mine?”
“That guy will figure it out on its own.”
Galmu in my hand vibrated slightly.
Was this similar to the feeling when I found the staff in the Sewer Dungeon?
“I have things to prepare. I’m going ahead.”
A guy who shows his own way to the very end.
Coming down the cliff, there was the entrance to a mine with rails laid out.
As I entered the mine, a faint luster spread from beneath my feet.
When I arrived in front of a specific mineral, Galmu sent a signal.
I separated the mineral with the Laser Butcher Knife.
I tried using it after seeing it separate magic stones from monster corpses, wondering if it might work,
and as expected of a divine artifact, it precisely mined only the minerals.
But each time, Galmu’s sword blade would split open, becoming a giant mouth that devoured the minerals.
“At this rate, I won’t have anything left of what I mined.”
I said it for him to hear, so he must have heard it, but Galmu didn’t respond as if he hadn’t heard.
“Tsk, eat in moderation. If you eat too much, you’ll get indigestion.”
Going a bit deeper into the mine, a unique mineral that emitted its own light caught my eye.
At a glance, one mineral stood out with a different light from other ores, looking particularly weighty.
‘Mithril?’
A bluish mineral that scattered a gentle radiance as if it held moonlight.
No matter how I looked at it, that was definitely mithril.
They said the mountain’s energy was extraordinary, but a mountain containing mithril?
I remembered it was a mineral traded at quite expensive prices even in Golden Fragrance.
I thought I absolutely had to secure this one before Galmu could lick its lips.
The resolution was easy, and the action was swift.
I put the remaining minerals I had barely secured into Galmu’s mouth,
then swung the Laser Butcher Knife toward the Mithril Vein faster than ever before.
As soon as the extraction was finished, I immediately put the mithril into my bag.
Fortunately, Galmu didn’t seem to notice.
Looking at the time, it was already evening.
The only thing I managed to find was a single piece of Mithril, but if it was Mithril, that was more than enough.
I left the Mine before sunset and headed to the Blacksmith Workshop.
***
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————