WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈
Chapter 54: You Maniacs!!
──────
Ding-
[The auction has begun.]
Before the notification could even disappear from the screen.
Ding- Ding- Ding-ding-ding-
[A new bid has been registered.]
[A new bid has been registered.]
[A new bid has been...]
Notifications began piling up like crazy.
“Do-hyeon! Look at this! The numbers, the numbers...!”
On the seller management tab, Seo Ji-an had three product pages open side by side.
[Elemental Sealing Key Ring ― Deep-Sea Whale (Water)]
[Elemental Sealing Key Ring ― Erupting Tiger (Fire)]
[Elemental Sealing Key Ring ― Lightning Hawk (Lightning)]
Below them, the highest bids spun wildly like slot machines as they shot upward.
Ah... This was it!
Since I was on the seller tab, I didn't even need to refresh.
Those dizzying numbers, changing by the second in real time!
I didn't know who designed this UI, but they clearly knew what they were doing.
‘Hehe...’
Dopamine dripped into my brain like I had an IV hooked up.
And right in front of me sat crispy, freshly fried chicken and cold canned beer Ji-an had set out.
I cracked open a beer and took a long, refreshing gulp.
Gulp. Gulp.
Kha...!
This was what life was all about.
A full dopamine course I'd waited an entire week for.
And this was only the appetizer.
* * *
[Daily Life] Holy shit, the first digit changes every time I refresh;;;
└ Every time I try to hit the bid button, it kicks me out because someone already bid higher lol.
└ But how is there no lag with this insanity? Gyeongseong Auction went down over one necklace lol.
└ So peaceful.
└ There's a rumor one of the admins is one of the people ranked Heaven Beyond Heaven.
└ What's Heaven Beyond Heaven?
└ It's like the Seven Warlords. The Occult Management Bureau gave up trying to control them and just gave them honorary titles.
└ Holy shit lol. Out-of-spec monsters who manage servers as a hobby lol.
└ Even Heaven Beyond Heaven can't resist browsing the forums~
└ They're probably gathered around chicken right now, watching Do Emperor's auction live.
[Chat] Lololol current top products
(Screenshot)
[Top Products in Real Time]
1. Elemental Sealing Key Ring ― Deep-Sea Whale (Water)
2. Elemental Sealing Key Ring ― Erupting Tiger (Fire)
3. Elemental Sealing Key Ring ― Lightning Hawk (Lightning)
└ They took first, second, and third within one minute of listing them holy shit.
└ What's fucking hilarious is that fourth through tenth are still Do Emperor's mass-market key rings lol.
└ At this point, isn't the top-product ranking just Do Emperor's personal display case?
└ Kha...! Superstar Do Emperor.
[Chat] Is the speed these prices are rising even real?
└ I threw in every last bit of money I had just in case, and someone outbid me one second later.
└ Same. I maxed out my overdraft and even cashed out my housing savings, but it was gg the moment I clicked lol.
└ Why the hell did you cash that out, you maniac lol.
└ Kha... This is dopamine.
Buyers and spectators alike gathered in droves.
Forty minutes after the auction opened, with the forum covered in auction posts, the first incident occurred.
[Breaking] Holy shit, the whale sold
└ ?? It hasn't even been an hour??
└ Stop baiting.
└ What are you, too lazy to check? Go look for yourselves lol.
└ Watching the forum commentary is more fun~
└ I just checked too. It says sold on the page.
└ Wasn't it supposed to end at midnight? How did it end already?
└ Someone used Buy Now.
└ Buy Now?? What's that?
└ If you hit it, you win the auction right away. They added it with the Goblin Fire update.
└ So how much was it?
└ (Screenshot.jpg)
└ ???????
└ What kind of maniac is that;;;
* * *
“...”
[Deep-Sea Whale (Water) ― Sold]
Just forty minutes earlier.
Right before we listed the auction, Ji-an had asked me something.
‘Do-hyeon, what should we set as the Buy Now price?’
‘The auction tab has something like that?’
‘They updated it recently. I guess the site got a lot of complaints because people were setting auction periods for six months by default, sometimes even one or two years, then using them as advertisements. So now entering a Buy Now price is mandatory.’
I thought about it for a moment.
‘Buy Now, huh.’
The moment someone clicked that, my six-hour dopamine course would end early.
That absolutely couldn't happen.
‘...I'll put something in.’
A price no one could ever possibly click.
I cheerfully entered an amount that anyone in their right mind wouldn't even dare consider.
Ji-an nearly spat out the water she was drinking when she saw the number.
“You didn't enter that by mistake, did you?”
“Come on, it's only six hours. Who would actually click it?”
.
.
.
...I had set the price half as a joke.
And someone clicked it within forty minutes.
“D... Do-hyeon.”
Seo Ji-an, who had been sitting across from me eating chicken, slowly held out her tablet.
“The deposit has already come through too?”
‘...’
I looked back down at the final comment on the forum post.
└ What kind of maniac is that;;;
‘...Seriously.’
That was what I wanted to ask.
* * *
At the same time.
In the middle of the vast South Sea.
A man sat alone atop the black water, where not a single boat could be seen.
He sat cross-legged, calmly mending a net.
Ding-
[You have won the auction.]
The man took out his phone and glanced at it.
Despite the amount he had just entered with his own hand, his expression was utterly indifferent.
The phone went back into his pocket.
His hands returned to the net.
That was when it happened.
[Grrrooooooo-]
A low cry rose from the deep water below and broke through the surface.
“...”
Splash-
The water began to churn violently.
“...All right, all right.”
The man put down the net and lightly patted the thing he was sitting on.
“Are you that happy?”
[Grrrooo-]
“Stay still a little longer. I just bought you a new home.”
Whoosh-
Soon, the thing carrying the man began cutting through the dark current.
* * *
Meanwhile, a man glared at the frenzied bid list with bloodshot eyes.
“You bastards...!”
He was Im Cheol-ung, director of the Ungbi Exorcism Office in Daegu.
A Grade-1 spirit beast handler.
* * *
Spirit beast handlers were sorcerers who fought by commanding spirit beasts.
A close-knit community had formed among them long ago.
You didn't really need a community to raise a dog or cat.
You fed them, changed their water, and took them to the vet when they got sick.
...But what if you owned a giant centipede? Or a monitor lizard? Or a bear?
There wasn't even a hospital you could take them to when they got sick. It was hard to find anything online about what to feed them or where they should sleep.
That was why people who commanded unusual animals as spirit beasts desperately banded together.
Every tiny piece of information could be a lifeline for their little one.
House or non-House, none of that mattered there. When your kid had gone three days without eating, who cared where someone came from?
People with the same animals and attributes met, traded useful tips, and had a few drinks together. Before they knew it, they were all calling one another big brother or little brother.
That was how the [Spirit Beast Handler Tab] in one corner of Goblin Fire, along with dozens of group chats branching off from it, had come to exist.
* * *
And Cheol-ung was now staring at one such group chat.
It was a gathering for owners of familiars with the fire attribute.
[Fire Friends]
More precisely, he was looking at the messages exchanged right before the auction began.
[Dong-geon (Busan)]: Everyone joining the battle today?
[Park (Gumi)]: Ah, I'll just watch. There haven't been any jobs lately. Business is dead.
[Shin (Gyeryong)]: Heh heh, I'll just watch quietly too.
[Dong-geon (Busan)]: I'm passing too. I got new armor last month, so my bank account's completely empty.
...Right. They had all said they weren't buying.
Cheol-ung had answered the same way.
[Cheol-ung]: I'm not interested either. I've got a truck, so I'll just use that.
‘...It was a lie, though.’
Cheol-ung's partner was Janggun, a Grade-1 brown bear with the fire attribute.
Cheol-ung had met Janggun as a cub small enough to fit in his palm. Now, it was as large as a minibus.
Lately, perhaps because it felt cramped, Janggun refused to get into the cargo bed of the small truck Cheol-ung had bought years ago.
Everyone else was popping spirit beasts out from their belts, while Janggun needed a five-ton wing-body truck called in for every job.
Then, just as Cheol-ung had been looking on in envy, that item appeared.
· Erupting Tiger (Fire)
― Can seal up to Grade 1 when the attribute matches.
― Additional effect: Enhances Fire Energy.
‘...What?!’
A Ritual Implement with insane performance that made a spirit beast stronger every time it went in and came out?
And it was limited edition, so if he missed it this time, there was no telling when another would be released!
‘Damn... I have to buy this no matter what.’
So Cheol-ung had secretly scraped together every last bit he had and prepared a hefty deposit.
‘Seeing everyone back out like that... The competition should be easier than I expected.’
...Or so he thought.
* * *
For the first hour, he watched without much concern.
But contrary to his expectations, bids kept coming in, and the price rose at a terrifying pace.
[Chat] Ah, there are so many damn resellers.
└ Seriously, it's so annoying. There are people who actually need these.
└ How do you know they're resellers?
└ If they're going to do it, they should keep quiet. They keep posting about it.
└ The loud ones are just troublemakers.
That was still fine. The price remained within his budget.
The Ungbi Exorcism Office was fairly established, and he had saved up quite a bit of money.
He had expected resellers to swarm something with this kind of insane performance, especially since it was limited edition.
Then a little more time passed.
[Daily Life] How high is this really going to go?
└ This is starting to get scary;;;
[Breaking] Lol, the resellers are starting to drop out
Everyone who planned to win and flip it at a premium is backing out.
If they buy at this price, there won't be any profit even if they resell it.
└ No, this is actually insane.
└ Then who the hell are the people still bidding?
They had a point.
Even if they slapped on a limited-edition premium and resold it, it was now hard to guarantee they would even break even.
The bubble had burst, leaving only those who truly needed it.
The sort who would stay until the end despite the price.
Either one of the handful of deep-pocketed House members.
Or-
‘...A Grade-1 spirit beast handler.’
The people desperate for this item in the first place were those commanding enormous spirit beasts with attributes.
Grade-1 spirit beast handlers.
There were only a handful in the entire country, and even fewer handlers whose beasts had the fire attribute.
And every one of those few was gathered in the same group chat.
‘These damn bastards.’
[BusanTigerDad has set a new highest bid.]
‘...Ha Dong-geon, you bastard?’
A Grade-1 handler in Busan who commanded a fire tiger.
Hadn't Dong-geon said there was nothing but dust in the account after buying new armor?
Cheol-ung called with trembling hands.
“...Yes, big bro.”
“You! Didn't you say you weren't buying?!”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“BusanTigerDad! That's you! I know it!”
“Heh heh, big bro, come on. Am I the only person in Busan raising a fire tiger?”
“You are the only one!!!”
“I'm telling you, it's not me.”
Click.
“You little...!”
Before Cheol-ung could even catch his breath.
[FlameRumble has set a new highest bid.]
[GyeryongFireCentipede has set a new highest bid.]
They were all familiar usernames that regularly shared useful tips in the Spirit Beast Handler Tab.
Most people used the spirit beasts they raised as their usernames, so there was no way he wouldn't recognize them.
‘...FlameRumble? GyeryongFireCentipede?’
Just looking at the usernames made one face after another rise in his mind.
Park from Gumi, who said business was dead because there had been no work.
Shin from Gyeryong, who claimed they would only watch quietly.
‘You maniacs...’
Every last one of them had joined the battle.
* * *
[Live] Lol, look at the lineup in the tiger bid window
BusanTigerDad / FlameRumble / GyeryongFireCentipede / General Woongi
└ Wait. I've seen this lineup somewhere before.
└ Aren't they all famous regulars from the Spirit Beast Handler Tab? lol.
└ To people raising familiars with the fire attribute, they're all like dads lol.
└ General Woongi is that bear office in Daegu.
└ Anonymous forum, everyone can identify everyone.
└ It's so fucking funny that you can tell who everyone is just from their usernames....
* * *
Around nine that evening.
A message belatedly pretending to be casual appeared in the previously quiet [Fire Friends] chat.
[Park (Gumi)]: Oh dear, the bids are crazy. Are you all watching? Haha. (Screenshot.jpg)
[Shin (Gyeryong)]: Seriously. There are so many rich people in the world, haha.
[Dong-geon (Busan)]: That's right, heh heh.
[Cheol-ung]: Park.
[Park (Gumi)]: Yes, big bro.
[Cheol-ung]: The top left of your screenshot.
[Cheol-ung]: Your username is showing.
[Dong-geon (Busan)]: Hahahahahaha.
‘...Damn it, why do you bastards have so much money?’
* * *
[General Woongi has set a new highest bid.]
After he pressed the button once more, Cheol-ung's deposit was nearly empty.
‘...This won't do.’
At this rate, he was getting nowhere.
Cheol-ung took a deep breath and posted in the chat.
[Cheol-ung]: Everyone, stop.
[Cheol-ung]: Quit pretending you don't know. We've all shown our faces to each other. Why are we doing this when we all know each other? It's a game of chicken. A game of chicken.
[Cheol-ung]: The only people benefiting from us driving it up are the spectators. Everyone freeze until midnight. I'll win it at the current price first. Then we'll get together later and work something out. What do you think?
Of course, Cheol-ung had no intention whatsoever of keeping that promise.
‘Once I win it, I'll just wipe my hands clean of this.’
[Dong-geon (Busan)]: ...Big bro does have a point.
[Park (Gumi)]: Agreed.
[Shin (Gyeryong)]: A man's promise.
[Cheol-ung]: Good. Man to man.
‘...Yes. This was how it should be.’
Still, he couldn't relax. Someone might stab him in the back right before the deadline.
He needed more ammunition, just in case.
Cheol-ung quietly gathered the office safe key and documents, then picked up his car keys.
And, as expected.
[BusanTigerDad has set a new highest bid.]
[Dong-geon (Busan)]: Ah, my hand slipped.
[FlameRumble has set a new highest bid.]
[Park (Gumi)]: I was putting my phone in my pocket and hit it by mistake.
[GyeryongFireCentipede has set a new highest bid.]
[Shin (Gyeryong)]: Oh dear, I put on Pororo for my youngest, and I guess the little one pressed it by mistake~
“You sons of bitches!!!”
Vroom-
* * *
Inside the moving car.
‘...Think calmly.’
The night air blowing in through the open window cleared his head.
He thought it over rationally.
Was it really worth paying this much, even if he had to use his office as collateral?
...Then.
Memories of Janggun slumped in the truck bed, always carsick, came to mind.
His little one, who groaned in agony every time they drove, no matter how much motion sickness medicine Cheol-ung gave it.
‘...I'm doing it.’
Cheol-ung stomped on the accelerator.
‘I have to.’
* * *
Goblin Bank late at night.
The banks in the arcade didn't close at night.
After all, ghost-hunting jobs usually happened after dark.
And this was the only place in all of Yeongnam that could hand out a large sum on the same day, especially at this hour.
“An office-backed loan. Give me the maximum amount.”
Cheol-ung stamped the documents and had just turned around.
Jingle-
The door opened.
“...”
“...”
“...”
Ha Dong-geon and Park from Gumi stood side by side.
“Big bro?”
“...Dong-geon. Park. What brings you two all the way here?”
“Haha, we ran into each other on the way. We just... uh, came to open savings accounts! Savings accounts. What about you, big bro?”
“...Me too. Savings.”
The three men smiled warmly at once.
Then they passed one another and calmly went their separate ways.
A moment later, Cheol-ung hurried back to the counter.
“How much did those guys just borrow?”
The bank employee waved both hands in alarm.
“Oh my~ We make our living on trust, you know. Customer information is more precious than our lives~”
“...Tch.”
* * *
[Live] The tiger still isn't over?? lol
└ A battle of pride among older guys with familiars that have the fire attribute....
└ It'll go blind soon. Bid status becomes private from 11:55 PM.
└ Huh? What's that?
└ It completely blocks any last-minute mind games.
└ That's fucking ruthless lol.
└ Whoever added that in the update is a straight-up devil.
* * *
11:55 PM.
[Notice: Bid status will become private five minutes before the deadline.]
From now on, no one could see how much the others had bid.
All they could do was bet everything they had and place their bids.
Even the noisy group chat fell silent.
“...”
Cheol-ung scraped together every last bit of his money, including the loan, and poured his entire deposit into his bid.
His trembling finger hovered over the confirmation button.
Thump. Thump.
“Please...”
‘...Janggun.’
Click.
[Your bid has been placed.]
11:59 PM.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Then midnight.
[The auction has ended.]
[Congratulations. The final winner of the ‘Elemental Sealing Key Ring ― Erupting Tiger (Fire)’ is-]
.
.
.
[General Woongi.]
“...!”
“I did iiiit!!!”
[Grrr...?]
Janggun, who had been sleeping in the backyard, jerked its head up.
“Janggun!”
Cheol-ung ran barefoot into the yard, grabbed Janggun's front paw, and jumped up and down for a long time.
“You don't have to ride in a truck anymore!!!”
[Grr, grrrr...?]
“You don't have to get carsick anymore!!!”
“Yaaaaaaah!”
The thrilling rush spreading through his body only lasted a moment.
“Haa, haa...”
As the dopamine peaked and began to fade, reason slowly returned.
“Phew.”
‘...But how am I supposed to pay off all this debt?’
The moment he remembered how much he owed, his hands began shaking.
‘...Ah, whatever!’
Janggun would earn it back!
“Janggun! Starting tomorrow, we're taking three jobs a day! Got it?”
[Grrr-?]
* * *
[12:00 AM]
[The auction has ended.]
Three product pages were stamped side by side.
[Deep-Sea Whale (Water) ― Sold]
[Erupting Tiger (Fire) ― Sold]
[Lightning Hawk (Lightning) ― Sold]
“It... ended...”
After watching all six hours from start to finish, Ji-an melted limply beside the cold chicken.
The forum was still burning.
[Breaking] It's over. Today's summary.
― Whale: Sold via Buy Now forty minutes after opening.
― Tiger: General Woongi, winner of the throne war among older guys with familiars that have the fire attribute.
― Hawk: Successful last-second snipe right before midnight.
└ The dopamine was insane....
└ This will go down in Goblin Fire history for real.
└ Six hours went by in a flash. I'm dizzy.
└ But seriously, who the hell are these maniacs?
I stared quietly at that last comment.
‘...Maniacs?’
Grin.
They were all our precious customers.
Footnotes:
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