You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 46

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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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46

 

 

 

I had felt a sense of déjà vu ever since facing the black shadow.

 

A monster too weak to be called an S-Rank Dungeon.

 

That sense of déjà vu became even clearer when the Giant’s Lightning Bundle struck my body directly.

 

It was ridiculously weak compared to the aura it gave off on the surface.

 

If it had been a real S-Rank boss, my entire body should have been burned, not just felt a tingling sensation.

 

And the moment I confirmed the boss’s identity, an ominous premonition flashed through me that I was on someone’s orchestrated stage.

 

S-Rank Dungeons are originally phenomena that appear with odds close to a Miracle.

 

So rare that one might not see them once in a lifetime.

 

Yet two S-Rank Dungeons had occurred consecutively, beating those odds.

 

And the artificial traces discovered within them.

 

I couldn’t know what purpose they served.

 

But one thing was certain.

 

Something was happening that required both S-Rank Hunters to be tied up simultaneously.

 

I hoped all these suspicions would remain just my imagination.

 

But the moment I stepped outside the Dungeon,

what spread before my eyes wasn’t a City Center being cleaned up.

 

It was a new Scene operating more urgently than before.

 

Red sirens cutting through the Sky, smoke covering the ground, the intersecting sounds of metal and screams.

 

Even more Association Staff and Hunters than before.

 

At the center stood an expanded Command Barracks.

 

In front of the Barracks, the Association President with hastily wrapped bandages around his body was giving commands.

 

I approached him directly.

 

“What happened?”

 

The Association President’s eyes widened when he spotted me.

 

“You already cleared the S-Rank Dungeon?”

 

“It was nothing special. The Dungeon itself was a trap.”

 

“A trap?”

 

“Someone artificially created the boss.”

 

“Does that even make sense…?”

 

It doesn’t.

In fact, I wasn’t speaking with complete certainty either.

 

But I had both circumstantial evidence and physical evidence in my hands.

Of course, this alone couldn’t prove that someone artificially created an S-Rank Dungeon.

 

But that wasn’t what mattered right now.

 

Artificial circumstances suggesting someone’s intervention had appeared, and the situation was far from normal.

 

“Let’s save the detailed discussion for later and put out the urgent fire first. What happened?”

 

“Haah… Right, that’s not what’s important right now.”

 

The Association President let out a weary sigh.

 

“Thirteen A-Rank Gates simultaneously broke.”

 

“What? That’s impossible…”

 

I closed my mouth.

 

This was just as absurd as the consecutive appearance of S-Rank Gates.

 

The reason the Association and Guilds managed Dungeons in the first place was to prevent breaks.

 

Yet for thirteen to break consecutively meant…

 

“Someone artificially pretended to clear the Dungeons.”

 

Instead of answering, the Association President sent silent confirmation.

 

“How long ago did this happen?”

 

“About ten minutes after you went in.”

 

At the Association President’s words, I closed my mouth.

 

Too precise to be coincidence, too absurd to be a plan.

 

But all those unrealistic assumptions were unfolding as reality before my eyes.

 

“Currently, we’ve issued emergency mobilization orders to all Seoul guilds. But sigh…”

 

The Association President let out a deep sigh.

 

I could feel his profound fatigue.

 

“As you know, since this is the first large-scale incident of this kind, we’re just desperately trying to contain it.”

 

“Let’s solve it for now.”

 

The Association President’s expression brightened for the first time.

 

Just by clearing the S-Rank Dungeon, I had already done more than my share.

 

He couldn’t bring himself to ask for anything more.

 

Well, the Association President would have eventually bowed his head and asked for everything anyway…

 

Still, wouldn’t this be better than having an adult come begging?

 

“Of course, it won’t be for free.”

 

“Naturally. I—no, the Association will grant you anything you want within our capabilities.”

 

I immediately turned my head toward the situation board in the Command Barracks.

 

With two S-Rank Dungeons at both ends, A-rank Dungeons had broken out in a straight line between them.

 

‘I need to open the supply route first.’

 

The method I had in mind was simple.

 

Solve the breaks starting from the nearest dungeon in order.

 

That would end the problem.

 

However, while I cleared them one by one, the other guilds had to maintain the front lines.

 

If even one front line was pushed back in the middle, it would create a domino effect of retreats.

 

For that, they needed continuous support.

 

Faster and more accurate than any other supply.

 

And fortunately, I had the best veterans to handle that supply line.

 

“Dolsoe.”

 

“You called, Mister Kim.”

 

When the wrapping cloth spoke, the Association President flinched and coughed awkwardly.

 

“Ahem…”

 

But he quickly maintained his poker face.

 

“Go kidnap Kim Jin-woo.”

 

“Understood.”

 

With those words, the wrapping cloth hanging at my waist disappeared.

 

I quickly scanned the situation board inside the barracks.

 

Dungeon locations, deployed personnel, supporting guilds, break progression status, and even casualties.

 

Watching the real-time changing numbers, I quickly finished my final calculations.

 

Not only Seoul, but most guilds from Gyeonggi and Incheon had come to support.

As long as supplies were maintained, they could hold out sufficiently.

 

After organizing the Supply Team members, I separated Park Ju-yong and Shin In-seon.

 

I planned to have the two of them take turns handling firepower and medical support.

 

‘I’ll leave overall supply command to Lee Seo-rin and Elder Shin Yong-bok…’

 

Meanwhile, Dolsoe returned.

 

Appearing with a pop sound, Dolsoe spat Kim Jin-woo out of the wrapping cloth with a thud.

 

“I brought him.”

 

“G-Ghost sir, I was wrong! Please spare me!”

 

Kim Jin-woo’s face had turned pale as he screamed.

 

“There’s no time for that now.”

 

“Gasp… hyung-nim… the wrapping cloth, suddenly the wrapping cloth—”

 

I cleanly ignored him and stood in front of the situation board.

 

“From now on, mobilize all Ashin Guild Members. We’re moving out to resolve the dungeon breaks.”

 

“Yes, understood.”

 

Kim Jin-woo hastily rose from his seat.

 

Though his complexion hadn’t fully returned, his eyes were clear.

 

I would have liked to wait for him, but the situation was that urgent.

 

I quickly conveyed information about the deployment of Ashin Guild members.

 

At the same time, I handed over the purple bundle, Dolsoe.

 

“You know what this is, right? Dolsoe has assigned the personnel. Explain it well to the guild members.”

 

“Understood.”

 

“Gather the guild members and follow behind. I’ll open the supply route.”

 

With those words, I turned around.

 

As I was leaving the barracks, I stopped and looked back at Kim Jin-woo.

 

“Oh, and add Bacchus to the supply items.”

 

“Bacchus?”

 

“Yeah. It’s time the hunters knew what kind of miracle Ashin sells.”

 

***

 

“When will reinforcements arrive!”

 

Seo In-cheol irritably slashed at a harpy, a bird-type monster charging from ahead.

 

His license had been suspended for taming porters, but after completing hundreds of hours of community service and education, he had barely managed to return as a hunter.

 

Of course, he hadn’t known he’d be thrown into such an insane front line immediately upon his return.

 

“Raid Leader—!”

 

Meanwhile, one harpy snatched a guild member’s shoulder with its talons.

 

‘Damn it, I’ve crawled this far, I can’t die here.’

 

He downed a mana potion and leaped toward the harpy.

 

Crack!

 

His sword pierced through the harpy’s head in a counterattack, creating an opening for the captured guild member to escape.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Seo In-cheol couldn’t respond and swung his sword again.

 

Five harpies had recognized him as a threat and were charging at him.

 

When he slashed the two harpies attacking from front and back, his vision wavered.

 

“Damn…”

 

Mana poisoning symptoms had appeared.

 

Continuously downing mana potions to maintain the front line had been the problem.

 

The harpy didn’t miss that opening and snatched Seo In-cheol’s shoulder with its talons.

 

“Urgh…!”

 

The harpy’s sharp talons dug into Seo In-cheol’s shoulder.

 

With the headache and shoulder pain combined, it felt like death.

 

Unable to resist any further, he went limp and was lifted into the air.

 

In the distance, guild members were frantically shooting something.

 

But magic cast hastily while desperately blocking other harpies couldn’t possibly hit its target.

 

‘Tsk, humans really shouldn’t do things they’re not used to…’

 

Normally, he wouldn’t have downed mana potions to maintain the front line,

nor would he have overexerted himself trying to save guild members.

 

He had been able to reform thanks to his daughter.

 

When his actions were exposed, it was because of one thing his daughter said.

 

His daughter’s tearful question of whether he would have done the same if he had been a porter.

 

That was what made Seo In-cheol put everything down and beg for forgiveness.

 

‘If I knew it would end like this, I should have hugged my daughter tight before coming to work…’

 

It was the moment he let everything go.

 

Something hot passed behind him and annihilated the harpy.

 

“Aaaah!”

 

Seo In-cheol plummeted straight to the ground.

 

“Urrrgh…!”

 

He writhed from the pain surging through his back, but with the awareness that he was still in the middle of a battlefield, he bolted upright from where he lay.

 

But he was already looking up at the sky with a dazed expression.

 

The thousands of harpies that had filled Seoul’s sky had already disappeared.

 

All that remained in the sky were traces of blue flames stretching long like contrails.

 

“Could it be…?!”

 

Seo In-cheol knew clearly what those blue flames were.

 

It was what he had seen that day in the Final Dungeon.

 

And he turned his head at the sound of engines coming from behind.

 

There, the Porters he had so thoroughly looked down upon were rescuing the injured and Hunters.

 

“Ashin…”

 

After watching that scene for a long while, Seo In-cheol seemed to realize something, and forgetting even his pain, he was running toward them.

 

***

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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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