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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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After leaving the dungeon, Yeon Mi-rae and I headed to a nearby market.
The reason, of course, was to dispose of the orc byproducts that were in the backpack and my subspace artifact at a trading post.
Ah, for reference….
“Really… Is it really okay for me to have this…?”
“Yeah, you take it.”
The reward for this dungeon was another subspace artifact, the same as the one that had come out of the Orc Dungeon near my elementary school that I had previously cleared.
It was also the same growth-type artifact, and its appearance was identical to the one I had originally.
However, its level was different.
‘If the one I had originally was about the size of a single room, the artifact that came out this time is about the size of a mansion.’
Considering that the one I originally had was about the size of a large backpack and had grown according to my growth, it was an absurd difference in size.
No, in the first place, a subspace artifact with such a large interior would be impossible to find anywhere.
At least not within the scope of what I knew.
‘Well, it’s the reward for a dungeon where an Orc Warlord appeared, so it should be at least this much.’
Usually, the ones who cleared a dungeon where a Warlord appeared was a large-scale assault team composed of at least 30 Awakeners, so it was common for the 30 people to share the reward.
I thought that the Awakener System had probably distributed the reward in that way because it didn’t want people to fight among themselves to monopolize the reward.
But it was as if I had monopolized the reward that those 30 people should have shared.
Yeon Mi-rae’s reward?
The Awakener System must have judged that there was no need to share the reward with her.
To be more specific….
“But… A subspace artifact of this level would cost….”
“It’s fine. I got something better now.”
I thought that it must have predicted that I would give my old subspace artifact to her.
Since I now had a subspace artifact with an interior close to the size of a mansion, there was no reason for me to continue carrying around a subspace artifact the size of only a single room.
And this one would also continue to grow over time.
Having distributed the rewards like that, Yeon Mi-rae and I went around the trading posts and sold the orc byproducts.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
“…There are a lot of scammers.”
“That’s how markets are.”
There had to be more than one or two shops trying to lowball the price….
I understood the situation.
Among the Awakeners who came to the market, there were many who had circumstances that prevented them from using the Association’s market, so it wasn’t difficult to lowball the price from them.
Because they had to sell their goods quickly, even if it was at a lowballed price.
If they stayed for too long while haggling at a trading post, they could get caught by a crackdown from the government.
I wasn’t saying that there were no conscientious shops at all, but….
“Sorry, there was an Awakener who caught a Wyvern yesterday. So it seems like it’ll be difficult for us to make a purchase until we’ve processed all of that.”
“I have no money. The money will come in if I sell the Wyvern byproducts I just bought, but… when it comes to Wyvern byproducts, they’re items that have to be put up for auction… you know?”
Those shops were the ones I had sold the Wyvern byproducts to yesterday, and thanks to that, they refused to purchase my goods, saying that they had no money to buy other byproducts right now.
Thanks to that, Yeon Mi-rae and I spent an hour going around the market and sold only half of the byproducts that were in the backpack.
In other words, we couldn’t even take out the orc byproducts that were in my and Yeon Mi-rae’s subspace artifacts.
“Haaa….”
This has become a hassle.
The inside of the subspace was only large, time didn’t stop inside. If I were to come back after all the Wyvern byproducts they had were sold, the contents would slowly rot….
“…Excuse me, Mr. Artist.”
As I was thinking that and wondering what to do, Yeon Mi-rae called me.
Are you calling me by the title, Artist, in the middle of all this?
Though I knew that she had noticed that I was the Artist…
“Shall we go to the Association’s market?”
“Hm?”
“Unlike you, Mr. Artist, I have a legal identity.”
Yeon Mi-rae said that and took out her wallet to show me an ID card.
An ID card that was a student ID for an Awakener-specialized high school.
“If a high school student tries to sell a lot of things at once, it would seem strange, but… still, selling through a proxy is a fairly common thing.”
“…The Association might try to investigate you.”
“It’s fine. By the time the Association tries to investigate me…. I will have already had my constitution treated. You said you’d treat it tomorrow, right?”
“Yes.”
Well, no matter how quickly the Association moved, it would still take them a few days.
If she had come to sell abnormally good byproducts like those from Wyverns, they would have started an investigation in a day, but….
‘No matter how large the quantity, the investigation for selling mere orc byproducts, even if numerous, won’t be that severe.’
In that sense, the method Yeon Mi-rae suggested wasn’t a bad one.
We could dispose of all the orc byproducts, and the risk was also quite low.
Yeon Mi-rae might get caught up in troublesome things in the future, but… she, whose constitution would have already been treated, would have no problem.
And so, we moved to the nearby Association market.
“Concealment, Invisibility, Blocking.”
Of course, I moved while hiding my body.
Thanks to the mask artifact I had obtained from clearing the Wyvern dungeon, no one would recognize me as the Artist even if they saw my doll’s face, but I decided to be cautious just in case there was a being here who could see through the artifact’s effect and recognize me.
At that, Yeon Mi-rae showed a slightly surprised expression, but perhaps because she had seen me levitate a spoon with Void-Grasping Hand or use word-command magic, she didn’t ask any particular questions.
And she headed to the entrance of the Association market.
“Please present your ID.”
“Here you go.”
Yeon Mi-rae handed her student ID to the guard who was manning the market entrance.
The guard looked back and forth between her student ID and her face, then nodded his head as if to let her pass.
Looking at it this way, one might think it was lax security, but I knew that the helmet the guard was wearing had advanced functions.
It had a mana detection sensor, of course, and a function that could analyze whether an ID was forged.
It was a function that was a secret to the public.
I had heard that quite a few people who didn’t know that fact and tried to pass the checkpoint with a forged ID were caught.
‘Of course, since Yeon Mi-rae is entering by presenting a proper ID, there’s no problem.’
I thought that and followed Yeon Mi-rae into the market.
And the guard didn’t stop me…
Because he couldn’t sense my existence.
No matter how good of a mana sensor they had… it was difficult to notice my presence as I had light pass through my body and I had blocked my mana and heat emissions with word-command magic.
The reason I had used word-command magic earlier was also to trick the guard’s sensor.
“…Are you perhaps still next to me?”
‘Yes.’
“……”
I used Telepathy, that is sound transmission, to answer her.
Yeon Mi-rae flinched at the voice that was heard directly in her head, but perhaps because she had seen too many sights that destroyed her common sense today, she wasn’t too surprised or anything.
At the same time, as if relieved that I had safely passed through the checkpoint and was next to her, she let out a sigh before heading straight for the counter that purchased monster byproducts.
“Yes, what can I do for you?”
“I came to sell orc byproducts.”
“Understood. Please go to room 14 and take out the byproducts there.”
Yeon Mi-rae, who had been assigned a room to lay out the byproducts, headed there and began to take out the goods from her backpack and subspace in front of the employee who was there.
I also, while avoiding the employee’s eyes, slyly took out the byproducts that were in my subspace.
As I was taking them out for a while, the employee stopped Yeon Mi-rae.
“Wait, just a moment. How much is still left?”
Perhaps because she had taken out a larger quantity than expected, the employee asked that with a bewildered look.
Seeing that, I sent a telepathic message to Yeon Mi-rae.
‘Tell him you’ve almost taken it all out. Any more than this will arouse suspicion.’
“I’ve almost taken it all out.”
“Ah, I see. The subspace you have seems to be quite large.”
The employee who heard Yeon Mi-rae’s words broke out in a cold sweat and requested support from other employees over the phone.
Then, a few other employees entered the room and began to sort the byproducts by type.
After that, they weighed the byproducts, recorded it on the tablet they were holding, and then said to Yeon Mi-rae.
“The total is 431,270,000 won. Would you like to receive it in cash, or shall we deposit it into your account?”
‘Cash. Get a receipt too.’
“…Cash, please. …And a receipt.”
“Yes, we will deliver it in cash.”
Orc byproducts were not very expensive.
But since the quantity was what it was, she ended up receiving money in the hundreds of millions.
Meanwhile, Yeon Mi-rae’s voice trembled a little, perhaps because she was nervous about such a large amount of money being exchanged all at once.
Of course, if you deducted this and that under the name of taxes, the amount would drop sharply, and according to the contract, the money going to her would be at most about 10%, but even considering all that, it would still be a large amount.
Since it was as good as monopolizing a dungeon where an orc legion appeared, it was reasonable to receive this much of a reward.
Having received the money, Yeon Mi-rae gave that money to me, who was next to her, and I put about 90% of that money into my subspace before returning the remaining 10% to Yeon Mi-rae.
And we left the purchasing office.
“Hoo-ah….”
Yeon Mi-rae, whose tension had been released, let out a sigh of relief.
‘Then go home and get some good rest. You’ll have muscle pain tomorrow.’
“Yes….”
‘Don’t forget that we’re treating your constitution tomorrow.’
Having said that, I was about to part ways with Yeon Mi-rae…
…if someone who recognized her….
“What, it’s the half-wit?”
…hadn’t bad-mouthed her.
“……”
“Why is she here? Do half-wits use the market these days?”
“What good is it if her sword skills are good? She can’t even use aura.”
Children who looked to be Yeon Mi-rae’s peers said that while looking at her.
Seeing as they were wearing the same type of uniform as Yeon Mi-rae, they seemed to be children who went to the same school….
Moreover, these children hadn’t just muttered it quietly among themselves.
That meant that they had spoken loudly enough for everyone around them to hear.
“An aura ability user who can’t use aura… Was there someone like that?”
“Ah, I’ve heard of her. That there’s a girl at a nearby high school who can’t use aura, so she only studies theory. I guess that’s her?”
“What was she thinking, coming to the market?”
The adults around also began to agree with the words of the children who seemed to go to the same school as Yeon Mi-rae.
Far from stopping the children, they even watched as if they were interested.
Seeing that, I thought…
‘…Disgusting.’
It was famous that the Awakener society was a meritocracy, but that didn’t mean it was okay to insult someone who had no ability like that.
And to say such things in a market run by the Association.
Thinking that, I lightly drew up my internal energy.
“…I’m fine.”
There was no way she could have noticed that I was about to do something, but Yeon Mi-rae said that as if to stop me.
There was no way she was really fine…
Seeing as her expression was as if she would die at any moment.
She just walked towards the market entrance while praying for the present moment to pass.
Leaving the people who were insulting her behind, she came out of the market.
…As if she were used to it.
“…Yeon Mi-rae.”
I, who had been hiding my body, revealed myself again and called out to her.
Then, she started crying…
“…It’s frustrating….”
As if a dam that had been barely holding back a river had collapsed due to my existence.
“Why do I have to be treated like this…? What did I do wrong….”
She poured out everything she had, like a river pouring out from a collapsed dam.
I wasn’t just talking about tears.
The anger, sorrow, sadness, and unfairness she had felt all this time.
She poured out all of her emotions to me.
“I want to use aura… I want to be able to use aura quickly… To get away from this kind of treatment… I want to stand tall and proud….”
‘I want to get revenge on everyone.’
“……”
I listened to her words quietly.
And when I judged that she had poured out all her emotions to some extent, I said in a calm voice.
“Starting tomorrow… it’ll be that way.”
“……”
She silently hugged my doll’s chest.
My doll, which held her in its arms, silently looked at the Association market.
At the market where the people who had made Yeon Mi-rae like this would be.
‘…Yeon Mi-rae has no power, and her patience is strong, so she didn’t harm you, but….’
I’m not like that.
My patience isn’t that strong, and I have enough power, so….
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Meanwhile…
The market was in a state of commotion.
To be precise, the market’s restroom was in a state of commotion.
“Damn it…! Hurry up and come out!”
“Mister! Did you rent out the whole restroom by yourself?! Hurry up and come out!”
“C-customer! If you cause a disturbance in a place like this!”
“Shut up…! I feel like it’s about to come out right now…!”
The Awakeners who had been insulting Yeon Mi-rae until just a moment ago were all gathered in the restroom.
An abnormal situation, no matter who looked at it.
Awakeners who could use healing magic or purification magic cast magic on them, but nothing changed.
“They’re not under a berserk spell. It’s not a curse either….”
“Then what the hell is it?! The mana detector didn’t detect any mana at all!”
Thanks to that, the employees who were trying to stop the rampaging Awakeners or figure out the cause were at their wits’ end, and the Awakeners gathered in the restroom were also at their wits’ end in a different sense due to the sudden onset of a physiological phenomenon.
In the end, the commotion was calmed only after the Association’s employees subdued the Awakeners by force, and the Awakeners involved in the incident were as good as socially dead.
And in the bodies of those Awakeners, an energy that could not be felt by the senses of others, internal energy, had seeped in.
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T/N – Damn, now that’s how you do a proper revenge! And for those who don’t get it, they shit themselves. Though I feel like injecting so many people with internal energy will have consequences down the line with that last paragraph.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
