You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 9

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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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9

 

 

My vision changed and old railway tracks appeared.

 

The metallic smell of rust stains and moisture-filled concrete mixed together, stinging my nose.

 

Lamps flickering intermittently over the stretched railway tracks created a damp and gloomy atmosphere.

 

“Wow… it really looks like a dungeon.”

 

A sound that could have been either admiration or muttering followed from behind.

When I turned my head, Kim Jin-woo had moved close beside me.

 

His eyes sparkled as he busily looked around, seemingly fascinated by everything.

 

“Merchant hyung, aren’t you scared?”

 

At some point, he had subtly changed how he addressed me.

 

“I’m scared.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“I’m not talking because I’m nervous.”

 

So please, couldn’t you just walk quietly?

He stared blankly at me as if he didn’t understand what I had bluntly said, then started laughing.

 

“Hyung, you’re really funny.”

 

“Don’t you have any sense?”

 

“Hehe, I don’t really have much to be tactful about.”

 

Perhaps because he was still young, Kim Jin-woo was simply cheerful.

 

Well, how much would an 18-year-old high school student need to be tactful about?

 

Even as I thought that, I felt somewhat bitter.

 

‘Just a few years ago, I never thought things would turn out like this.’

 

Back then, I was a high school student too.

 

“Don’t get too excited.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I said don’t get too excited. You need to stay reasonably tense in a dungeon.”

 

It sounded like something an old-fashioned person would say, but it was necessary nagging.

 

If you’re not just entering a dungeon out of curiosity, you need to be more sensitive than usual.

 

“Hyung…”

 

Kim Jin-woo opened his mouth with a slightly deflated voice.

 

If his spirit breaks this easily, that’s as far as he’ll go.

You can’t do this job with ordinary mental strength.

 

But the words that came out of his mouth were unexpected.

 

“You’re really like an adult.”

 

“…At 21, I am an adult.”

 

“Come on, does just getting older make you an adult? The way you talk and everything, you’re like a veteran hunter.”

 

“What kind of veteran is an F-rank hunter?”

 

“Physical ability isn’t everything. You could have good brain-ical skills.”

 

His unbroken cheerful attitude made me chuckle.

 

Just then, something entered my Ki Sense.

 

“Get ready.”

 

“Huh?”

 

The Raid Leader who had been walking ahead stopped.

 

“It’s zombies. Don’t get hurt while I deal with them.”

 

That was the only instruction.

 

‘Tsk, even so, he should at least give some explanation.’

 

I looked at Kim Jin-woo beside me, who was extremely tense.

 

“Since they’re zombies, just be careful not to get bitten. The Raid Leader will handle them all anyway. We just need to deal with any that slip through.”

 

At my words, Kim Jin-woo nodded solemnly.

 

“Got it. Don’t worry about yourself either, hyung. I’ll protect you.”

 

It seems he’s misunderstood me as a brain-ical hunter who lacks in physical ability.

 

***

 

Kim Jin-woo had confidently said he would protect me, but we didn’t even get a chance to cross swords with the zombies.

 

The Raid Leader was massacring them all.

 

‘Can an assassin do that?’

 

I doubted my own eyes.

He was overwhelming the zombie horde with just a single dagger.

 

‘That’s supposed to be C-rank?’

 

There was no wasted movement.

His blade tip accurately pierced the zombies’ vital points, and every movement was without hesitation as if planned.

Under his blade, zombies collapsed without even knowing they had died.

 

Even for a C-rank Hunter, that kind of hunting isn’t easy.

 

Moreover, he had introduced himself as an assassin.

 

Assassins aren’t specialized for one-versus-many combat.

 

They’re not the type to charge in head-on and annihilate everything.

 

And that wasn’t even his full strength.

 

‘He hasn’t even drawn his other dagger yet.’

 

The two daggers hanging from his shoulders.

He was massacring the zombie horde using only one of them.

 

‘Is he hiding his abilities?’

 

At least B-rank.

 

Having a B-rank Hunter in a D-rank Dungeon should be good news.

But if that Hunter is hiding their identity for some reason, that’s a different story.

 

‘What’s his purpose?’

 

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t reach a positive conclusion.

 

What reason could there be for forging his rank with the Association just to participate in this Raid Party?

 

While I was thinking, his hunt came to an end.

 

Before I knew it, only rotting zombie flesh and bloodstains remained on the Railway Tracks.

 

In the middle of the tracks, the Raid Leader was silently wiping his dagger clean.

 

“It’s finished.”

 

With those words, the entire situation was over.

 

I hoped my suspicions were wrong.

Hoping that I had simply ended up on the same team as a strong Hunter by coincidence, I carefully passed through the corpses filled with the smell of cold blood.

 

***

 

There were several more battles after that.

However, they all played out the same way.

Zombie hordes charging between the Railway Tracks and the Raid Leader massacring them with a single dagger.

 

How long had we walked along the tracks like that?

 

Light began to appear at the end of the Railway Tracks.

 

“It’s the Boss Room.”

 

The Raid Leader said calmly.

 

“Once we go up to the Platform, the boss battle will begin immediately. Kim Jin-woo and Han Sang-in will take the front line, and Lee Su-ah will support you both from behind.”

 

Since it was the Boss Room, this time there was actually a strategy.

 

“If you draw the boss’s attention from the front, I’ll handle the attacking.”

 

He had skills sufficient to hunt alone, so why was he suggesting party play now?

 

But I couldn’t object here.

 

He was the Raid Leader to begin with, and opposing his orders without valid reason was grounds for disciplinary action.

 

Moreover, if the reason for that objection was just a bad feeling, that said it all.

 

Though I felt uneasy, I eventually nodded.

 

“Understood.”

 

“Good. Then let’s start the boss raid right away.”

 

With those words, the Raid Leader stepped up onto the Platform.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

Kim Jin-woo, who followed up after him, frowned and grabbed his nose.

 

The entire space was filled with a terrible stench.

 

The stench of rotting corpses.

 

For me, with my enhanced senses from stats, it was quite an ordeal.

 

Unlike the narrow railway, this place had high ceilings and was spacious.

 

However, unlike the previous platform, something sticky was scattered across the ceiling and floor, and strange patterns were faintly carved into the walls.

 

In the center, there were traces of magic circle-like sorcery, and something was crouched in the middle of it.

 

A large monster.

 

It was a modified ghoul.

 

The closer I got to it, the more terrible the stench became.

 

The Raid Leader drew out two daggers.

 

“It’s the boss ghoul. Please follow the plan as I explained to all three of you.”

 

With those words, the Raid Leader’s figure became blurred.

 

Sensing human presence, the ghoul raised its crouched body.

 

It was so large that despite the high ceiling, its head seemed like it would touch it.

 

Kuuuuuuu—!

 

When the ghoul roared, I could feel a weighty vibration that shook the ground beneath my feet.

Kim Jin-woo rushed forward and raised his shield.

 

“Ugh…urk!”

 

Clang—!

 

The ghoul’s sharp claws struck the shield, sending sparks flying.

 

But just blocking the attack wasn’t enough to hold out.

 

Kim Jin-woo’s stance began to gradually crumble.

 

The ghoul’s second claw came swinging down.

 

“Kim Jin-woo! Snap out of it!”

 

I drew my sword and precisely deflected the ghoul’s claw.

 

Kim Jin-woo hurriedly readjusted his shield.

 

Once again, the ghoul’s claw struck Kim Jin-woo’s shield.

 

After confirming that Kim Jin-woo’s stance had stabilized, I immediately parried the ghoul’s claw.

 

When the ghoul’s hand was deflected and an opening appeared, the Raid Leader’s dagger precisely pierced the ghoul’s side.

 

With this one exchange, we all got a feel for how to tackle the ghoul.

 

Defense, parrying, attack.

 

Kim Jin-woo blocks the ghoul’s attacks, I deflect them, and the Raid Leader deals damage.

 

It was chaotic at first, but after repeating it a few times, we gradually began to work in sync.

 

Kim Jin-woo was also gradually getting used to the flow.

Strength began to enter his legs, and he even had room to counterattack.

 

“You’re doing well.”

 

I said briefly.

 

If we keep this up, we’ll succeed.

 

It was when the ghoul’s health had noticeably decreased.

 

As we became more accustomed, the Raid Leader’s movements subtly slowed down.

 

“Huh…?”

 

Kim Jin-woo muttered quietly while blocking the ghoul’s claws.

 

Now’s the time.

Just as I was about to reach out—the Raid Leader didn’t time it right.

 

“Kim Jin-woo, get out!”

 

I shouted, but it was too late.

 

Bang!

 

The shield was knocked away, and the ghoul’s claws dug straight into Kim Jin-woo’s shoulder.

Kim Jin-woo was sent flying and the ghoul seized the opportunity to turn its body.

 

“Damn it…!”

 

I quickly rushed out and slashed the ghoul’s wrist.

 

Thud!

 

Blood spurted and the ghoul staggered.

 

Lee Su-ah ran from behind and cast Heal on Kim Jin-woo.

 

At that moment—

The Raid Leader precisely stabbed the ghoul’s jaw with his dagger.

 

Crack.

 

The ghoul’s head snapped back with the Raid Leader’s dagger embedded in it and collapsed.

 

After confirming the ghoul had fallen, I immediately ran to Kim Jin-woo.

 

“Are you okay?!”

 

There was a long gash in Kim Jin-woo’s shoulder.

 

“Fortunately, it missed the vital spots.”

 

Lee Su-ah spoke while using her healing skill.

 

“Still, it’s a wound of honor…”

 

Kim Jin-woo’s cheerful joke even in this situation made me chuckle.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

The Raid Leader approached belatedly.

 

“Ah, I’m fine.”

 

Kim Jin-woo, having received some first aid, stood up.

 

“I’m sorry. I messed up the timing at the end…”

 

The Raid Leader bowed his head in apology.

 

“It’s fine. These things can happen during raids. We still cleared it, didn’t we.”

 

Kim Jin-woo smiled and waved his hands dismissively.

 

‘These things can happen…’

 

No. What just happened was definitely different.

The flow was clearly synchronized, and Kim Jin-woo’s timing was accurate.

But the Raid Leader deliberately broke the rhythm.

 

As a beginner, Kim Jin-woo couldn’t follow the suddenly changed rhythm and was exposed to the attack.

 

That was clearly a ‘staged accident.’

 

‘What exactly is he after?’

 

My suspicions grew, but there was nothing I could do yet.

 

All the circumstances were just circumstantial evidence, and questioning it after the raid was over would be meaningless.

 

“Then let’s check the rewards right away.”

 

Meanwhile, the rewards for clearing the boss were being calculated.

 

Each of us was given a Rusty Key, which we could use to open the Abandoned Lockers by the wall to receive our rewards.

 

“Hmm… I got nothing good.”

 

The Raid Leader shook some Rotten Leather disappointedly.

 

“I got nothing good either.”

 

Lee Su-ah also didn’t get any good items.

 

“Huh? Something’s glowing here?”

 

What Kim Jin-woo pulled out was different from the other rewards.

 

“Jin-woo. You got a Relic. Congratulations.”

 

The Raid Leader smiled and approached Kim Jin-woo.

 

“May I take a look?”

 

At that moment—

My Sixth Sense reacted like crazy.

 

***

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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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