BXBX NOVEL Chapter 71: An Appraiser
Chapter 71: An Appraiser
A week had passed after Dong-hyun and Ji-woo got informed about the tier-3 Portal Gates hunt. Everyone was busy with their own schedule.
Ji-woo decided to skip the guild’s hunts and continued to accompany Dong-hyun in training. In the meantime, he contacted Seok-jin about the Portal Gate business too. Unfortunately, the broker gave him a piece of sad news. Portal gates were currently scarce. The low tiers got reserved or bought by many small and mid-sized guilds, while the top ones got dominated by the big guilds. For now, no guilds had any intention of selling their Portal Gate properties any time soon.
The Hunters Association had also not held an auction for the Portal Gate for so long. It caused the brokers to wind down their Portal Gate business. And it made them focus on selling valuable and confidential information.
Ji-woo furthermore asked about the hunters with unique abilities with Seok-jin. And it got answered that the broker had 3 to 4 hunters with those criteria. However, the price for such information was a bit difficult for Ji-woo at this time.
It cost Ji-woo about 40 million won, which actually put him in a pinch. He decided to sell the Fiery Bow the next day.
Meanwhile, Dong-hyun kept went back and forth between the guild and the foot of the mountain for his training. He wanted to join the upcoming hunts. So, he had no choice but to work on both sides. He predicted Ji-woo wouldn’t join the raids because he saw Ji-woo hadn’t come to the guild headquarters since the day of the announcement.
Dong-hyun had made progress with his training. He was really good at using the short burst technique practically. It felt like a full-strength power that could get used frequently but still not drained his Mana completely. He was also getting used to Ji-woo’s beating.
“You’re better now. You only need a little experience. And it just so happens that there are hunts that will soon get carried out. With your current strength, you won’t die in a tier-3 Portal Gate.”
Dong-hyun shook his head. “Well, even though I’m stronger, I still simply get crushed by you, Hyung.”
Ji-woo lightly laughed at Dong-hyun’s nagging. A while ago, every time Dong-hyun got beaten, he couldn’t even perform the short burst technique. Dong-hyun would get gloomy for a few minutes and filled with negativity, such as hopelessness and incompetence.
But, that was all changed now. Even though Dong-hyun still got beaten frequently, he didn’t feel hopeless. He was not depressed in the slightest. His sheer will got strengthened than before. He wasn’t like a weakling anymore who was always like a loser whenever he had a setback. He wanted to learn and gain new knowledge.
Ji-woo also taught Dong-hyun the basics of fighting. A minimal movement and action that could produce better results than fancy moves and techniques.
Dong-hyun panted on the ground as he laid down. “Hyung, what do you mean by limiting my magic knowledge if learning magic spells through Skill Page?”
“I’ll teach you some easy magic spells later.”
“Huh!? Cool! Is that even possible? Teaching magic spells without items? Hyung, why don’t you teach me now?”
Ji-woo shrugged, ignoring Dong-hyun’s request. His style of teaching was not by explanation but through practice. Or somewhat through…, beatings. He believed pain would be the most excellent experience for a person to learn. He also always got beaten by Stormrage while receiving all the basics beforehand.
“Let’s take a break for training for a few days. You should prepare to go to the Portal Gate.”
“Okay. Ah, right. You didn’t join the hunt, Hyung? I didn’t see you listed on any team for that tier-3 Portal Gates hunt.”
“Busy.”
Ji-woo answered indifferently, and that made Dong-hyun gave him a suspicious look. He stared back and instantly hit Dong-hyun on the head.
“Ouch! Why is it always my head!”
Dong-hyun exclaimed in a complaint but immediately ceased his displeasure. Because if it continues, another blow might land again on his head or any part of his body. Even if he was familiar for got beaten. The fact that the hit still gave him pain made him cry.
Both of them separated their way and went back home. The day ended just like any other day.
Finally, Ji-woo’s peaceful time had returned. He woke up and got a surprise from his sister.
Ji-won no longer pouted and started to talk casually with her brother, even though she still showed her displeasure about the job as a hunter. When she went to school, Elijah told Ji-woo the story about Ji-won’s change in attitude.
Elijah persuaded Ji-won by reassuring her every day that nothing would happen to Ji-woo. She also told Ji-won to believe and pray for the best for all of them.
Elijah wanted Ji-woo to take care of himself. She knew about the hunter’s job now after searching some of the information available on the internet. Elijah was a little proud of his son for doing a good thing for the country. Although on the other hand, she thought about the dangers her son would live in it. Elijah ended up just treating the work the same as someone who served in the military.
Ji-woo sighed. He patted his mother’s hand and reassured her that everything would be fine. Nothing would happen to him.
He then helped his mother as usual. After that, he wanted to sell his Fiery Bow. At first, he considered returning to the 13th floor of the Hunter’s Association. However, he was embarrassed because the last time he was there. He clearly said the weapon was not for sale.
In the end, he tried to ask Seok-jin if he wanted to buy a magical weapon. The broker told Ji-woo that their line of work was not suitable for the magical weapons and items. It was not the same as Magic Crystals, Magic Stones, and Mana Cores authenticity could get tested with the portable Mana Detection.
Items and weapons needed to get appraisals from someone to find out their value. External tools were impossible for the task. It was not like in games, where you only tap on items or weapons, then information would appear out of nowhere.
Fortunately, Seok-jin had an acquaintance of someone Ji-woo was hoping for it. He told Ji-woo to wait for the news as he called the person first. He would send the details later if the deal happened.
After a few minutes of waiting, Ji-woo got an answer telling him to go to an address. He just needed to inform the person who greeted him later that he knew Seok-jin, the broker.
Ji-woo arrived at the place. He introduced himself and talked about the broker. The person who greeted him agreed and allowed him to enter.
The man’s house was not too big. But, the inside was neat. After all, it was a house, not an apartment. The distance between neighbors was also decent. So, it was hard to overhear.
The person was quite old, almost the same age as mister Lee. That person’s name was Ma-no. A somewhat unique name for Koreans.
Ji-woo sat down and informed his intention to come to Ma-no. He then took out the Fiery Bow.
Ma-no unceremoniously took the weapon to the designated room. He put the Fiery Bow on the high table and spread his two arms above it.
Ji-woo stood opposite Ma-no. He saw Ma-no’s eyes and hands began to emit a blue light, lighting up the room. Even he was also dazzled because the light was too bright.
After a while, Ma-no no longer glitters. He was sweating and looked breathless.
“Are you all right, sir?” Ji-woo asked.
Ma-no nodded his head. “I’m fine. There’s no need to worry. It’s because it’s been a long time since I’ve appraised a good weapon. So, it takes a bit of my Mana.”
“Glad to hear that, sir. So, how was it?”
“Let’s go back to the living room first and talk about it over there.”
Both Ji-woo and Ma-no went to the living room and sat down. Ma-no started to talk about what the Red and Gold colored armament shared with him.
The Fiery Bow’s original name was Golden Arachnia. It had two abilities. One of them was to assemble elemental fire bolts whose Mana got consumed from the weapon. And the other was to summon real arrows with fire covering it, even though Mana consumption would get based on the user.
“What a unique skill you have, sir.”
“Well, not everything can be seen through appraisals. Some items and weapons won’t let me peek into them too much.”
“If I sell this one. How much will it cost?”
“Around 300 million won, I think? How about you offer it to Seok-jin? He might want it to since I’ve already assessed the weapon.”
Ji-woo nodded his head. Since it would be easy for him if someone could buy it as soon as possible, he had no reason to refuse.
He asked about Ma-no’s occupation while waiting for the reply from Seok-jin. He expected Ma-no might work for a guild. Such a unique skill should be helpful for the hunters.
Ma-no told Ji-woo that guilds only need appraisers when they sell or buy things. The hunters could bound the items or weapons if only to obtain the information themselves.
“Fortunately, I have this unique skill. That’s why I can work in the Hunter Association’s armory shop. And sometimes being a freelance appraiser if those guilds need it.”
Ji-woo gasped and almost rolled on the floor after hearing that. He never imagined he would come into contact with the Hunter’s Association again after he had tried to avoid them in the first place.