"What's this?"

A staff member under Lee Jin-hyuk’s supervision had been browsing through a forum when he stumbled upon a post that piqued his interest. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the monitor.

The world of hunters had been relatively quiet lately. After securing Che Su-hyeon, the number one S-rank hunter, Jin-hyuk had expected things to pick up, but instead, everything had been strangely calm. The staff member had been waiting for something exciting to happen within the guild, and now, he might have just found it.

The auction news had caught his attention, and as he scrolled through the post, disbelief flashed across his face. His hands shook slightly as he kept scrolling, feeling a mix of excitement and unease. His legs began to jitter as he was filled with growing excitement.

“No way… it’s the Fragment of a Tormented Soul. It’s been so long since I’ve seen this. The market’s been bone dry.”

His expression was one of pure elation. It was clear that something exciting had finally surfaced.

Naturally, these high-grade items were something Baekho Guild, backed by the financial might of Taeyang Group, was eager to snap up. Recently, the United States had begun employing similar strategies, making things more competitive on a global scale.

‘Damn it. The Americans are definitely going to throw their money at this too.’

He squinted at the screen, his mind racing as he began piecing things together. The excitement was palpable.

‘Where did this come from? People are saying it’s from Korea…’

Every comment in the forum pointed to the item being listed from Korea.

‘If it’s in Korea, we could try to secretly make contact and secure it before the Americans do…’

With Baekho Guild’s influence, they could easily acquire the item in a private deal. But getting reliable information was proving difficult.

‘Let’s see… how did this even get listed?’

He dug deeper into the listing records, and what he found shocked him.

‘What? It just appeared out of nowhere?’

Normally, acquiring such a high-tier item required careful planning and large teams. Word would’ve spread beforehand, or at least there would’ve been hints or preparations.

‘So it really was posted without warning. No wonder I didn’t know.’

He had worried for a moment that he might have missed out on crucial information, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

‘Who the hell just throws up a rare item like this without any advance notice? Were they trying to inflate its value? Or… something else? This doesn’t seem like a scam.’

Despite his confusion, he knew the only thing that mattered now was securing the item. The how and why could wait.

‘You need at least twenty hunters, including S-rank and A-rank, to farm an item like this. And even then, the drop rate is insanely low. Whoever got this must have been trying for ages…’

He stared at the screen, deep in thought. The situation didn’t make sense.

‘Who managed to get this? You can’t just waltz in and grab it. It’s not that easy.’

His curiosity was piqued. He scrolled down to check the seller’s details, but what he saw left him even more perplexed.

[Anonymous]

The bold red letters stood out.

‘Anonymous? Why? What’s the point?’

Usually, people wanted to show off when they acquired a high-tier item, especially one as valuable as this. It wasn’t something you’d typically keep quiet about.

‘Why are they hiding their identity? This is an S-rank item. Most people would be bragging about it.’

His confusion deepened. In all his years working with hunters, he’d never seen anything like this. Typically, when someone got their hands on such a rare item, they’d plaster it all over the news. It was a big enough deal that articles would be written about it.

‘No transaction history… anonymous seller… and they just casually listed a Fragment of a Tormented Soul?’

He examined the listing carefully. The photos seemed legitimate—no recycled images, all freshly taken from various angles.

He realized something big was happening. Not just Baekho Guild, but the entire global hunter community was going to be interested in this.

‘I need to report this immediately.’

He shot up from his seat, a mix of excitement and worry flashing across his face.

“Guild Leader…"

The staff member entered the guild leader's office, his face grim.

He hadn’t had much reason to enter the office lately, especially since there had been no high-profile items up for grabs in recent months.

“Hmm? What is it? Do you have something to report?”

Lee Jin-hyuk looked up from the papers he was working on.

“Sir… I think you need to see this. The internet is going wild, not just in Korea, but internationally as well.”

“Internationally?”

The staff member cautiously handed over a tablet, and Jin-hyuk furrowed his brow as he took it.

“A Fragment of a Tormented Soul? This just went up for auction?”

“Yes, sir.”

The staff member’s voice was tense. Jin-hyuk glanced between the tablet and his subordinate, clearly finding the situation strange.

“What the hell? How did this suddenly appear? It’s been, what, a year?”

“Eight months, sir.”

“And how much did it sell for back then?”

“The last one went for about 19 billion won, sir. And there hasn’t been a single one on the market since then.”

“This isn’t the kind of item you just stumble upon, though.”

Jin-hyuk raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. For him, this was crucial. If he was going to leverage Taeyang Group’s financial power, he needed to secure the best items available.

He had already begun to realize that relying on hunter rankings alone had its limits. Acquiring rare items had become his top priority.

“And it’s being sold anonymously?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So who’s behind this? It must be one of the top 10 guilds…”

His thoughts immediately turned to Lee Soo-ah. He’d heard rumors that she had been gathering S-rank hunters and engaging in some odd activities.

“Could it be Lee Soo-ah or Yoo Hana? I heard they’ve been raiding dungeons with a group of S-ranks.”

His voice was thick with suspicion.

“I don’t think so, sir. From what I’ve heard, they’ve been focusing on A-rank and lower dungeons. It seems they’re prioritizing quantity over quality.”

“Really?”

That complicated things. Whoever had listed the item had to be at least S-rank, but if it wasn’t Lee Soo-ah or Yoo Hana…

‘Is Su-hyeon secretly planning something?’

He briefly thought of Che Su-hyeon. She hadn’t taken on any official missions for the past two weeks, which made him wonder if she was preparing some sort of surprise.

“Are we sure this was listed in Korea?”

“Yes, sir. The listing was written in Korean, and the background in the photos suggests it was taken in Korea.”

“Hmm…”

Something was off. This was no ordinary situation.

“We need to secure this item, no matter what. It’s only been a few hours, but word is already spreading overseas.”

The staff member’s expression was filled with concern. Given Baekho Guild’s track record, they would do anything to get their hands on the Fragment.

“Right… but who the hell put this up?”

Jin-hyuk was more interested in who had listed the item than in the item itself.

‘We can buy the item with money. The real question is who posted it…’

His eyes narrowed.

This was an entirely new and strange situation.

“Let’s see what the price is at…”

Jin-hyuk glanced at the auction and immediately felt a surge of frustration.

“40 billion?”

His voice dripped with annoyance, and his face twisted into a frown.

“It’s getting a lot of attention, sir. People are mystified. The market for this item has been dry for so long…”

“And it’s only been a few hours? The price jumped that high already?”

“I think the Americans have already started bidding.”

“Tch…”

Jin-hyuk scratched the back of his head, clearly agitated.

“Keep a close eye on this. I’ll start digging around on my end.”

His tone was firm as he stood up and left the room.

‘If anyone can get their hands on this, it’s probably Su-hyeon…’

A glimmer of hope sparked in his mind.