Episode 55
055. The War of Money
Seo Ju-won, who had been earnestly spouting that dogshit nonsense about the weak sacrificing themselves for the strong—an extreme survivalism.
That bastard’s eyes were gleaming amidst the crowded throng.
“Oh! A new bid! ‘Forgotten Ancient Ruins Iron Rod’—55,000 gold!”
Seo Ju-won placed a new bid on the Forgotten Ancient Ruins Iron Rod.
It was an auction separate from the main event.
But Gold Hands couldn’t help but ponder.
‘A complete villain… can he be called that?’
A man in the gray zone.
Not a complete villain.
After all, Seo Ju-won’s final fists were always directed at monsters.
But Gold Hands had made up his mind.
‘Gray zone or bullshit, a skill like that is too good for someone who kills allies.’
Gold Hands manipulated the panel provided by the auction house and jumped into the bidding.
“Oh! A competing bidder has entered for the Forgotten Ancient Ruins Iron Rod! Bid: 60,000 gold!”
It was the moment a cold sweat broke across Seo Ju-won’s frozen expression.
Recalling the destructive power of Infinite Chain Strike, gold hand felt a chill run down his spine.
‘Rather than letting that bastard use that skill, I’ll use it myself!’
Mad Fist Seo Ju-won’s abilities certainly had limits.
But it was different for Geumson.
It was a power that could perfectly compensate for his own shortcomings.
‘My combat skills aren’t outstanding compared to other rankers. But with that skill…?’
For now, he could offset it with items and other abilities.
But he fundamentally lacked the absolute aspect called combat sense or combat talent—something Gold Hands, having lived a past life, knew all too well.
If anything, his talent was specialized in creating things.
But Infinite Chain Strike—
An ability where damage amplifies with consecutive strikes on weak points.
This could create perfect synergy with Gold Hands’s Resolution’s Intuition and Pulse Insight.
Because no one else could strike the weak points marked by red and blue dots as accurately and consistently as Gold Hands.
‘If I strike every weak point I see—once, twice, ten times… how high would my attack power rise?’
Gold Hands’s eyes blazed with resolve.
However, other players seemed to notice his determined atmosphere.
“Hey, doesn’t it look like Gold Hands is bidding? What’s that thing?”
“Dunno? It’s just an iron rod… My Appraisal skill says it’s just an iron rod!”
“No, there must be something if Gold Hands is jumping in like that. Should I place a bid too?”
Players watching Gold Hands’s movements caught the scent.
They began joining the bidding out of curiosity, one by one.
“Oh! An unexpectedly popular item! Could there be some secret our auction house is unaware of? New bidder: 85,000 gold!”
The bidding price kept rising as new bidders continuously jumped in.
Even without Gold Hands raising the bid many times, it had already soared to 300,000 gold.
“Oh my! Had I known, I would have placed it in the main auction! But isn’t this the charm of an auction? Continuing… Bid: 400,000 gold! 400,000 gold! 410,000 gold! From now on, minimum bid increment is 10,000 gold! It continues!”
The auctioneer seemed thrilled.
The item’s price kept climbing.
Gold Hands still had resources left, but he was growing increasingly anxious.
He wasn’t far from his financial limit of 500,000 gold.
‘Is he… following me?’
One thing didn’t make sense.
Seo Ju-won was sticking close.
The players and NPCs who had been poking in out of curiosity had all dropped out around the 300,000 gold mark.
300,000 gold was 30 million won in cash.
No matter how rich, spending 30 million won for fun was somewhat unreasonable.
Most bidders gave up, leaving only Geumson and Seo Ju-won.
But Gold Hands couldn’t help but be surprised.
The current bid was 410,000 gold.
Seo Ju-won was sticking with it all the way to 40 million won.
‘That bastard… does he know what this is?’
Gold Hands narrowed his eyes.
This was different from what he’d heard.
When they stood on the battlefield together in the past, Seo Ju-won had said:
‘I got the iron rod by chance—had no idea it would be the key. Got my money’s worth for something bought with pocket change, huh?’
He’d said it boastfully.
But this wasn’t something obtained by chance.
This was deliberate targeting.
Unless he knew exactly the purpose of the Forgotten Ancient Ruins Iron Rod, he wouldn’t follow this far.
‘How… does he know?’
Gold Hands was only puzzled.
Information about the Forgotten City of Giants hadn’t been released in Repion yet.
He shouldn’t even know it exists.
Yet somehow, Seo Ju-won seemed to know.
‘This is strange….’
But Gold Hands couldn’t solve the mystery.
“480,000!”
“490,000.”
When Gold Hands made his final bid of 490,000 gold, Seo Ju-won gritted his teeth and left the auction hall.
“490,000! Any higher? I’ll count to three! One, two… three! Sold!”
[You have won the ‘Forgotten Ancient Ruins Iron Rod’ for 490,000 gold.]
Bang!
The auctioneer’s hammer rang out crisply.
After checking the system message, Geumson sighed in relief but wore a bitter smile at his now-empty wallet.
However, the moment the hammer fell, Seo Ju-won was nowhere to be found.
Geumson tried to look for him, but the surging crowd made it impossible—the main auction for the item everyone cared about had begun.
“Ladies and gentlemen! And all who love Kratum’s steel! The time has finally come for tonight’s star to appear! The legendary-grade greatsword forged by an outsider! The masterpiece of blacksmith Gold Hands—the Moonlight Venom Sword!”
With auctioneer Garin’s booming voice, the center of the stage split open, and a massive greatsword emitting a dazzling violet light rose.
[Moonlight Venom Sword (月光毒蛇劍)]
Everyone in the hall held their breath.
But Geumson felt little excitement at the spectacle.
His mind was already occupied with other thoughts.
‘Seo Ju-won… how the hell did he obtain information about the City of Giants?’
Seo Ju-won had followed the bidding openly.
Following it to nearly 50 million won meant he had solid information.
Something felt off.
But Geumson soon pushed aside his thoughts about Seo Ju-won.
The groundwork to secure his core skill was already complete.
‘The key is mine now—what can you do?’
Setting aside his unease about Seo Ju-won, Geumson pondered the title he had acquired: ‘One Who Tempers the Void.’
‘Void’s Imprint….’
The effect of his newly acquired title was to unlock an additional enchantment slot on items.
But to properly utilize that ability, understanding the ‘magic’ to fill that slot was essential.
‘Do I have to learn magic after all? A blacksmith learning magic….’
There were other ways to fill enchantment slots—like directly adding the Venom Crystal to the Moonlight Venom Sword, as he had done before.
But that required expensive materials each time.
It wasn’t efficient.
If he could learn magic, he could more easily create higher-grade items.
‘Magic would also be good for enhancing existing items.’
One way or another, it seemed he’d have to learn magic.
In Lepyon, blacksmiths were ultimately inseparable from magic—he’d just been postponing it.
Now, it seemed he couldn’t delay any longer.
While Geumson was lost in deep thought, the auction for the Moonlight Venom Sword descended into utter frenzy.
“Starting bid: 100,000 gold!”
“1.5 million! The pride of Korea! Our Yeokcheon Guild will take it!”
“Revealing affiliations is not allowed! First warning. If this happens again, forced ejection….”
“1.51 million! Who says it’s Korea’s pride? Asura is here.”
Yeokcheon and Asura ignored the starting bid and drove the price up.
As they battled lethargically, another joined the fray.
“How noisy… fight with money. We’ll take the Moonlight Venom Sword. 2.5 million.”
Mirae Group’s Cha Yu-kyung had entered.
Her participation stretched auctioneer Expensive Biceps Garin’s mouth ear to ear.
“Ooh! 2.5 million! 2.5 million! Any higher? I’ll count to three! One….”
“3 million!”
A signal seemed to come from beyond the VIP room’s glass window.
It appeared Calis had placed a bid, but a new bid soon followed.
“3.5 million!”
The price skyrocketed insanely.
Geumson listened intermittently to the auctioneer’s shouts, keenly aware of the storm his creation was causing.
Bang!
“5.1 million gold! Sold to Yeokcheon Guild! Congratulations!”
The final hammer price was 5.1 million gold—a colossal sum equivalent to about 500 million won in cash.
Geumson unconsciously let out a hollow laugh.
‘500 million….’
It was hundreds of times the money he’d scraped by on in his past life, eating rice and salt for a month.
He still couldn’t believe this was all real.
[Breaking News] Moonlight Venom Sword sold to Yeokcheon Guild for 500 million won! New record for single-item price!
[Analysis] Blacksmith ‘Gold Hands’—who is he? The world watches his next move!
[Hot Clip] Yeokcheon Guild Master Kang Mu-jin announces interview after acquiring Moonlight Venom Sword!
Repinet, various gaming media, even mainstream news—all were abuzz with the sale of the Moonlight Venom Sword.
The staggering price of 500 million won for a single item was enough to capture the attention of the general public, even those who didn’t play games.
