‘No way... Is this really a Fragment of a Tormented Soul? On my first try?’

Just earlier, according to Hyung-seok’s explanation, the drop rate for this item was around 0.5%, making it extremely rare. It was a crucial item for enhancing S-rank attack items, which meant the demand was sky-high, while the supply was practically nonexistent.

‘20 billion won...’

My heart raced as I stared at the pile of money sitting in front of me.

‘Is this a dream or reality?’

Structurally, the dungeon wasn’t that different from the ones I had cleared before. Monsters all looked pretty similar, and the item drops were no different from those in regular dungeons.

But the price—that was the difference.

In A-rank dungeons, the items dropped were relatively insignificant in value. Sure, hunters still earned way more than the average office worker, but it was nothing to get too excited about.

Each item dropped would sell for just a few hundred thousand won, maybe up to a few million if you were lucky. It was easy to get bored of that.

But this time, the dropped item was a Fragment of a Tormented Soul—an incredibly rare item worth 20 billion won.

Although the strategy for this dungeon was the same as usual, my heart was pounding like crazy.

“Uh?? Hyung... are we done...?”

Hyung-seok, who had been trembling with his eyes and ears covered, slowly approached.

“Yeah. Hey, your strategy is amazing. How do you know all this stuff? You’re seriously a hunter nerd.”

“Oh, I just eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff.”

“Man, I followed your instructions, and it felt like I was dealing with a pushover. Just had to use the skills in the right order.”

“Right? Haha.”

“But look at this.”

I opened my hand to show him the Fragment of a Tormented Soul.

“What??? W-wait, what????”

Hyung-seok’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“Wh-what… Did this just drop? Seriously?”

He kept looking back and forth between me and the item, completely bewildered.

“Yeah. It dropped just like that. Is this normal?”

“No!!! No way! Holy... This is huge! There’s not a single one available on the market right now!”

“So, can I really sell this for 20 billion won?”

“Well… I think…”

He started frantically searching for information on his device.

“It might even go for more than 20 billion... There’s none available anywhere, not even globally…”

He was trembling with excitement.

“See? I told you we should try this. Stick with me from now on. You said you’d be my assistant, right? Then just stay close.”

“Haha! Yes, yes, of course!!”

He was practically bouncing with excitement, the kind that only a true hunter nerd could experience when faced with such a rare item.

“Hah… hah… The Fragment of a Tormented Soul... We’ll probably need to auction this. There’s none available on the world market right now.”

“What? Really?”

Looking at the fragment resting in my hand, I felt like I was about to lose my mind.

‘Wait, this is the only one in the entire world right now?’

“I think it’s because of the rare item shortage caused by the U.S.”

“The rare item shortage? What’s that?”

“Oh, the U.S. and China have been competing in this.”

“What kind of competition?”

“Well, China’s been flooding the market with items by exploiting their massive hunter population, so the U.S. shifted its focus to high-value, rare items.”

“Exploiting?”

“Yeah, I heard China has about 100 million hunters. They’ve been using real-life macros, grinding the lower-tier dungeons non-stop for 16 hours a day.”

It was horrifying. They were basically using human labor like automated farming.

“So, the price of items from C-rank dungeons and below has completely tanked. They’re focusing on volume, regardless of item quality.”

In B-rank dungeons and above, you needed at least some decent gear and skills. But in C-rank dungeons, it seemed you could just grind with minimal investment.

‘So that’s what those articles were talking about.’

I remembered reading something recently about China’s low-cost strategies crashing the dungeon item market. The economy in the hunter world was becoming a mess.

Of course, it didn’t affect the Blue Guild much, since we primarily cleared A-rank dungeons.

“So what’s the U.S. doing exactly?”

“Since China’s flooded the lower-tier dungeons, the U.S. has shifted all its focus to high-value strategies. They’re pouring tons of resources into enhancing rare items. I heard there’s been a massive capital shift toward item enhancement.”

“Hmm…”

It was an interesting development. Up until now, I’d thought the hunter world was peaceful and stable, but it seemed like things were far more competitive and intense behind the scenes.

‘Does that mean my value just skyrocketed…?’

Right now, I was the only one who could freely enter and clear S-rank dungeons. All I had to do was follow Hyung-seok’s strategies, and I’d get rare items instantly.

‘This is crazy!’

Excitement started building up inside me. Up until now, I had just been focused on adjusting to life as an S-rank hunter in the Blue Guild. Honestly, just a week ago, I had been an E-rank nobody, so it seemed odd to act like a big shot.

But after today’s experience in the S-rank dungeon, it felt like I had stumbled onto a golden opportunity.

‘Alright, I’m going to focus on rare items from now on.’

“Let’s go, Hyung-seok. Let’s put this up for auction.”

“Woah… Yes, let’s go!!!!!”

With a pounding heart, I entered the office.

“You know how to handle auctions, right?”

“Of course! Leave it to me~ I’ve got this covered!”

Hyung-seok was buzzing with excitement, running around the office like a kid on Christmas. Clearly, he was thrilled about finding such a rare item.

“Hyung, how about we do this auction privately?”

“Privately?”

“Yeah, we report it only to the guild leader and keep it quiet from everyone else. Just in case…”

He hesitated for a moment, deep in thought.

“If my guess is right, and you can freely clear S-rank dungeons at this level... there’s going to be an explosion of interest and attention.”

“An explosion of attention…?”

“Yeah. It’s not just a Korean thing, this is a global issue. You have no idea how badly people want items from S-rank dungeons. This is a huge deal. If word gets out that you’re pulling these items effortlessly, there’ll be a media frenzy. You’ll probably even get reporters from overseas.”

“Reporters? That’s a bit...”

He explained enthusiastically, describing the intense demand for rare items. Apparently, the demand was astronomical, but since no one could supply them, the market had been quiet.

Now that I could easily gather rare items, it would cause a massive uproar.

‘I don’t want to be famous. I just want to make money quietly.’

“Alright. Let’s do it your way. Report only to the guild leader and let’s quietly keep collecting rare items.”

“Yes, yes!!!”

Hyung-seok beamed from ear to ear.

“Okay, I’ll put it up for a private auction!”

“Good. Do you think we’ll get a response right away?”

I felt a sense of anticipation building. Holding a 20-billion-won item felt surreal.

As soon as we listed the item for auction, we started seeing responses.

“Hyung, look at this. We’re already getting reactions.”

[ What? A Fragment of a Tormented Soul just appeared in the auction? ] — Stop messing around. Why would that item show up now? — Who even has that? Is it Yu Hana? She went back to Blue Guild, right? — No way. I don’t think Yu Hana could pull that off. Maybe it was Lee Soo-ah? — Maybe they worked together. You can’t clear an S-rank dungeon solo, right?

[ Real-time Auction: Fragment of a Tormented Soul Listed ] — Wow. First time seeing this on the market in like eight months. Is this legit? — Who found it? Was it posted from Korea? — Yeah, it seems like a Korean seller. — Looks like international bidders are already catching wind of it. Auction ends in a week. — A week? The whole world’s going to hear about this by then. — Doesn’t the U.S. usually scoop up stuff like this? Don’t they have a fund for this kind of thing?

[ A Fragment of a Tormented Soul Just Listed from Korea ] — Sounds like fiction to me. — Who found it? They’re about to get filthy rich. — Are you sure it’s from Korea? I’d believe it more if it were from the U.S. or China. — Has that item ever been found here before? — Who’s selling it? Is this a scam or something? — The picture looks legit, though.

The comments were flooding in rapidly. Just as Hyung-seok had predicted, the item was drawing a massive amount of attention. It had only been five minutes, and the news was already spreading across every community.

The power of the internet was overwhelming. It wasn’t just in Korea—international communities were also buzzing.

As Hyung-seok said, the demand was insanely high, but the supply had been so scarce that no one had really noticed.

‘Wow... What is going on?’

I felt completely bewildered. It was as if my life had suddenly taken a dramatic turn.

‘Damn... I was an idiot. I could’ve been living like this all along.’

Regret started to wash over me. Why had I been struggling for so long?

“Hyung, look at this…”

Park Hyung-seok’s hands were trembling as he pointed at the screen.

“I-it’s already surpassed 25 billion…”

His voice was shaking with emotion—a mix of awe, excitement, and a bit of fear.

‘Shit... 25 billion?’