Chapter 38 Administrator b 1}
「Unique Skill b Predation} is activated.」
「Acquire one of your opponent’s skills at random.」
「Acquired Toxic Immunity b Rank C}.」
He acquired the skill of Toxic immunity. It wasn’t a Unique Skill, but one of those sold in the store. However, since the rank was C, it might be better than many Unique Skills in AP.
「Looting one of your opponent’s equipment at random.」
Yoon-seok didn’t budge and waited for the next message. Was it supposed to be this slow?
「Looted Giant Hydra’s Heart b Rank B}.」
He never knew that this could count as a piece of equipment. He also didn’t know what effect it could have, but the rank was B. Yoon-seok decided to accept it, thankfully.
‘But what happens if the heart was plundered?’
He brushed off the thought.
「Absorb some of your opponent’s highest stats.」
「Absorb strength.」
As expected, it absorbed the lowest yet most important strength level.
‘It’s better than nothing.….’
「1 coin will be paid as a reward for the promotion.」
It was time to move on to the next floor. Yoon-seok closed his eyes.
‘Huh…?’
But when he opened his eyes again.
「Adaptation period has ended.」
「Go to the Battlefield of Proof.」
Instead of a swamp, Yoon-seok was standing in the middle of the arena, which now felt like his own home. What the hell was happening? Yoon-seok looked around with confusion plain in his eyes. The stands were as empty as ever, and there was no one opposite him to serve as his opponent.
‘I’m alone…?’
The arena that had started to feel small only held Yoon-seok. But was it purely his imagination that he felt like he was being stared at? Suddenly feeling out of place, he instinctively lifted his two swords and looked around.
Then, suddenly, the arena began to shake.
“…?”
Yoon-seok, who had endured up to two weeks in the arena, had never seen this happen before. The night hadn’t arrived here even if days passed, and the sky remained blue without a single cloud.
Yoon-seok looked up at the sky. It was still a clear sky without a cloud. But…
Solar Eclipse. He didn’t know if there was a moon here, but the sun was gradually overshadowed by something dark. Perhaps because the light had disappeared, he felt chills run down his spine. Yoon-seok was captivated by the feeling that something huge and vaguely unknown was approaching.
His gut feeling wasn’t wrong.
“…”
The more the sun was obscured, the blacker the darkness became. No, should he say that the light disappeared altogether? Soon the sun was completely obscured. Completely literally, unlike the total eclipses on Earth. It was so dark that he couldn’t see an inch of what was ahead of him.
‘What the hell is going on…?’
Yoon-seok closed his eyes. He didn’t know what was coming, so he decided to focus more on his other senses instead of relying on his eyes. Then suddenly, he could feel something bright beyond his eyelids.
When he peeked, he could see a sphere of yellow light floating over the stadium, emanating a feeling both subtle and deep.
“…”
The audience seats he always thought were empty. At some point, it was filled with tens of thousands of beings. There were mystical species, and even what he thought were fairies. There were also countless unknown creatures with a hundred eyes or dozens of arms and legs. What were they looking at with such enthusiasm?
No, they were paying keen attention to Yoon-seok with gazes filled with sheer madness. Looking at the shape of their mouths, he could see many of them shouting, but the sound didn’t reach his ears.
A small clown-like fairy appeared and began to speak.
“…”
It was also blurred as if it were muted, but Yoon-seok could understand what it was saying.
「Challenger Choi Yoon-seok.」
「Let’s start the Wish Auction.」
That’s what the system said.
「10 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws.」
「It’s an excellent grade among challengers from the Earth, but if you were only here to look at the grades, we wouldn’t have gathered this many people.」
The fairy, the size of a fist, explained about Yoon-seok to the crowd. In Yoon-seok’s eyes, only his mouth seemed to twitch, but perhaps because of their consideration, the words of the clown fairy were translated and printed out as a system message. It was speculation, but the circumstances forced him to think so. Only when the clown fairy’s mouth opened were the messages formed.
「I’m sure most of you have watched his duels, so I won’t explain further.」
Did he say Wish Auction? The clown fairy, who seemed to play the role of host, began to explain about Yoon Seok. It looked as if they were a salesperson trying to sell a product.
He didn’t feel unpleasant or anything. Rather, he felt something absolute in the eyes of everyone who looked down on him, and he was feeling overwhelmed.
「Total LP 2,290.」
「The only challenger to win a duel against the Heavenly Devil, who hit an all-time high at the last auction.」
「Most of the public opinion was that it was not a proper duel, but he proved his potential by fighting a fierce battle against the King of Steel, who was a self-evaluation of SS-rated.」
「This has never happened in the history of the Tower. Retaliation of the self-evaluated F-rated. Although challengers’ evaluations have been upgraded frequently, the deviation has never been so great, and the grade S has never been advanced so quickly, right? What?」
「…Okay, start the auction? Well, I understand. I don’t want to be blamed for this, so let’s get started.」
The clown fairy twirled in the air and floated a huge bulletin board in the air.
「Beloved administrators! Please show how much you want the challenger!」
「Starting price is 10,000 WP!」
The number was entered on the empty bulletin boards as if the only purpose of the massive bulletin board were to mark the values.
{10,000WP}
As soon as the number was entered, the number increased rapidly. The units of numbers on the huge bulletin board were changing every minute. 「
Oh, we hit 100,000 WP in three seconds! That’s amazing.」
100,000, 200,000, 300,000…the auction price, which began to slow down at 500,000, temporarily stopped when it reached 1 million WP.
“…”
He couldn’t even hear their voices, but he could feel the invisible war of nerves among the auctioneers.
「1.5 million! We’ve reached 1.5 million WP. This is a first for a self-assessment S grade, but everyone seems to notice his high potential, right?」
There was a brief stagnation, but at some point, their competition flared up, and the amount soared in an instant.
「As soon as I finished talking, Cheonjongmuin bid 1.6 million WP. He doesn’t even participate in the auction unless the people are from Moorim, but unfortunately, he missed the last auction, which was a big blow to him…」
「Oh, if I say one more word, you’ll kill me? Yes. I’m sorry…」
Although he apologized urgently, the clown fairy still looked jubilant, as if death threats were routine. The auction continued on and on. As before, there was a temporary stagnation due to the war of nerves, but the amount continued to rise shortly after.
「3, 2, 1! We’ll end the wish auction of Challenger Choi Yoon Seok here.」
Tang, Tang, Tang!
There was no hammer, but the sound still filled the arena. The auction ended with the clown fairy shouting. The number on the bulletin board at that moment…
[3,700,000WP.]
3.7 million WP. He couldn’t tell how much it was worth just by looking at the numbers. However, according to the clown fairy, it seemed to be a rare high-priced bid. Not that it made him feel better. There was no reason for a slave to feel happy just because he was expensive.
「Oh, Challenger Choi Yoon-seok doesn’t look good. It’s probably because you don’t know how lucky you are now. Message out!」
At the end of the clown fairy’s words, phrases that seemed to have been copied and pasted appeared in front of Yoon-seok’s eyes.
「The Wish Auction is a ceremony for Challengers who have broken through the fifth floor.」
「Now, you can select one of the top seven administrators from the final bid and sign a contract.」
「At the time of the contract, you will obtain WP in accordance to the bidding price called by the administrator, and you can purchase their Unique Authority with WP.」
「However, during the contract, you must act accordingly to achieve the aspirations of the selected administrator. In accomplishing the desired wish, you will receive additional WP.」
As he stared blankly after reading the explanation in the air, the clown fairy took it down and asked.
“Do you understand?”
Yoon-seok nodded his head.
“Is it possible not to sign a contract?”
「It’s possible. There’s a saying like this! It’s up to the horse to drink water even if you take it to the stream!」
It meant that if he didn’t sign a contract, only he would be at a loss. The question was whether that was true or not.
「Anyway, it’s time to make a choice- I’m sorry, but the auction is over, so I’ll banish everyone except the officials!」
The clown fairy clapped their hands in a restrained manner only once. Then the thousands of people in the audience disappeared in unison except for seven. The yellow sphere that rose to the center of the arena lit a spotlight on those remaining. They were sitting in the spacious stands alone.
「From the 7th place who bid 1.9 million WP, please tell me your wish!」
The spotlight went out for a moment to shine on a singular being. Blue and red lights floated on the chair. However, he realized he could find out about a being with one’s will. As soon as he looked into the light, he could feel it.
「Judge of Conflagration.」
「The unique keywords are ‘revenge’, ‘purification’, ‘fluosilicate, ‘spirit’, ‘immortality’, and ‘creation’.」
A brief description of the presence’s nickname and the power it held. As soon as he looked into the light, such information was listed. The Judge of Conflagration finally opened his mouth, thinking that he had given him enough time to think calmly.
-I desire to dry the seeds of the El-Tus blood clan.
A bloodthirsty wish. What wrong did this blood clan El-Tus do to stigmatize such a creature as a target for revenge? No time was given to ask such a question. The moment they said their wishes, the spotlight moved to the next number.
「It’s the 6th place’s turn who bid 1.95 million WP.」
「Battlefield’s Madness.」
「The unique keywords are ‘massacre’, ‘large-scale combat’, ‘belief’, ‘sword’, ‘destruction’, and ‘loyalty.」
-I desire to kill 10,000 challengers.
The desire of this unidentified being in a bizarre mask. Following that, the situation progressed rapidly.
「It’s the 5th place’s turn who bid 2.1 million WP.」
「Hate Incarnate.」
「The unique keywords are ‘Period’, ‘Hate’, ‘Revenge’, ‘Magic’, ‘Reformation’, ‘Inner World’ and ‘Divine’.」
-My desire is no different from yours, to kill the Heavenly Devil and the King of Steel.
No different; what kind of creative misunderstanding is this? The unique keywords weren’t very convincing either, so it was likely he wouldn’t be signing with them. Above all, even Yoon-seok, who had no preconceptions about their appearances, felt physically uncomfortable to see a human with six scarred and deformed arms.
「The 4th place who bid 2.15 million WP.」
「Little Giant’s Heart」
「The unique keywords are ‘Production’, ‘Equipment Modification’, ‘Inner Vitality’, ‘Sword Techniques’, ‘Faith’ and ‘Companion’.」
-To reach the final floor of the Tower of Heaven. That’s all I want to ask for.
It was the desire of a rough-looking dwarf. Would he be able to reject this no-loss desire? He looked like this, and in fact, his desire itself was his own. But his unique keywords weren’t appealing enough.
-My desire is for you to save Seheranbad.
That was the third-place who bid 2.3 million. This time again, no keyword was particularly appealing. The desire itself seemed to have many restrictions.
The second place was different as the bid also soared to a whopping three million.
‘…So the first place bid 3.7 million after the 2nd place bid 3 million?’
It may not be a normal auction method, but Yoon-seok decided to think there may be some circumstances he didn’t know about. A spotlight lit up a powerful-looking swordsman as he considered it.
「Heavenly Warrior」
「The unique keywords are ‘sword’, ‘Martial Arts’, ‘Inner Vitality’, ‘Strength’, ‘Agility’, ‘Extreme’, and ‘Sky After Sky’.」
Finally. They were the keywords he appreciated the most. Should he say they were keywords that contained only practical combat capabilities? There were none that Yoon-seok didn’t like. Even the desire directed toward him fit.
-Be Invincible. To become stronger and stronger, and to have no enemies in the world. This is all I want from you.
If he picked a contract, he would choose this being without any hesitation. Looking at the Heavenly Warrior with seven swords on his back, he thought so. The spotlight turned. Then it turned to the first place who bid 3.7 million WP.
「Lady of Liberation.」
「The unique keywords are ‘Freedom’, ‘Growth’, ‘Dimension’, ‘Will’, ‘Unexpectedness’, and ‘Rescue’.」
He couldn’t see their face because of the robe. However, through the silhouette of the body, he could tell the person was a woman. The Lady of Liberation calmly opened her mouth and expressed her desire.
-I don’t want anything from you. I want you to live without any obligation, only with your rights.
A short, intuitive desire. All at once, the spotlight shone on everyone at once. All six beings who bid for Yoon-seok were looking at one place. Not at Yoon-seok, but the Lady of Liberation. All the eyes towards her seemed to want to say: “What kind of crazy bitch with no ethics is that?”
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