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Instinctively dodging the flames, I turned to look at the merchant.

‘He doesn’t actually intend to fight here, does he?’

However, there were many people in the world who defied common sense. I had only called trash trash, but the merchant was huffing and puffing, glaring at me as if he would kill me right then and there. Judging by the way people were starting to stare, he seemed afraid that sending me away would reveal his fraudulent activities as fact.

‘He’s the one who started shouting, though?’

I was taken aback in my own way. Was this how a life-threatening crisis came about?

It seemed that among the magic stones the swindler was selling, there was a Flame Stone. Even if I had disparaged it as trash, was a C-rank hunter really going to use a B-rank magic stone against an F-rank hunter? If he messed up, he could die.

‘Should I run?’

I glanced sideways to secure an escape route. Even if he only intended threats and intimidation, there was a good chance I, with my weak physique, could end up dead.

Fortunately, however, the feared event did not occur.

“It’s troublesome if you cause a disturbance here.”

Just in time, a man wearing a black half-mask, who had entered the store, stopped the merchant.

The man in the half-mask was wearing a suit and white gloves. One peculiar thing was that even though I was clearly looking at him, I felt like I was looking at a blurry shadow. The reason was….

‘It’s an item.’

Black Mask (A)

An item that makes it impossible to identify the wearer.

Perfect for concealing your identity!

By the way, the status window’s tone seems a bit different. Who wrote this?

Just then, the merchant, whose face was red as if he would explode at any moment, suddenly put down the magic stone in his hand as if he had been hypnotized by the man’s words.

‘…Ha. Look at this.’

The man praised the merchant’s instantly subdued behavior in a very gentle and soft tone.

“Good. Well done.”

“Yes….”

“But, Mr. Cheol-woo. Are all the magic stones the same type?”

“Yes? No, uh… yes.”

“Hmm, I see. So they’re all the same magic stone….”

The man, who had been staring intently at the merchant who was confessing everything as if he were possessed and even nodding his head, suddenly picked up one of the magic stones. After examining the magic stone under the light, the man gave a soft smile and crushed the magic stone with a single burst of strength.

Crack. The B-rank magic stone turned into dust in the man’s hand and fell to the floor.

“And it’s not even S-rank.”

“…”

“This is troubling.”

Troubling, he said. The man didn’t do anything else after saying that, but I could see the merchant’s pupils gradually dilating.

‘What kind of skill…’

The man’s skill had been applied to the merchant since earlier. From the very moment he entered this store and spoke to the merchant.

The ability to manipulate one’s mind at will, controlling their actions and making them reveal the truth.

‘It’s a mental skill.’

And not just some B-rank or C-rank ability, but a clearly high-level skill.

Just witnessing the activation of such a skill sent shivers down my spine.

I could feel a pressure that crushed the air coming from the man, who was of similar height and build to me.

Without realizing it, I felt suffocated and gasped for breath, unbuttoning one of my shirt buttons. No physical force was applied, and the skill was even activated on the merchant, not me, but the immense difference in power that I felt crushed me mercilessly.

‘This is rough?’

I had felt the difference in mana when I briefly encountered Ryu Tae-yeong or Joo Seo-won, but it was something that even I, an F-rank, could endure. Maybe it was because neither of them had used their skills with malice towards me, but when I faced them, I only felt unpleasant, not this extreme pressure.

I knew that the higher the rank, the greater the gap between ranks, but I didn’t know it would be this much.

‘This is interesting.’

Adrenaline slowly surged as the man’s power crushed my entire body. The man completely incapacitated the merchant and then slowly turned his head towards me.

My mind raced, trying to figure out where this pressure came from and what emotion it could be classified as. The answer was clear.

‘It’s fear.’

It was an emotion I had never felt before, so it even felt a little thrilling.

As I became accustomed to the gaze behind the man’s black half-mask, the suffocating fear gradually disappeared. However, even after the pressure disappeared, a tingling sensation remained in my hands and feet. It seemed the man had adjusted his mana. Well, since the merchant had fainted while standing, there was no need to activate the skill any further.

Finally, the man, who had completely withdrawn his skill, slightly raised the corners of his lips and asked.

“An Appraiser?”

An Appraiser? Come to think of it, there was such a profession.

The ability of Appraisal skills varied greatly depending on the rank, and high-level skills were very useful even in Dungeons. That’s because you could tell whether something was S-rank or A-rank just by looking at it. It was perfect not only for identifying items but also for identifying dangerous elements.

Wait, when you think about it, aren’t I an Appraiser too? Although I used the status window instead of a skill.

While I didn’t answer, the man started talking to himself.

“You look young, are you a college student? No matter how good an Appraiser you are, it’s troublesome if you talk like that. There’s such a thing as etiquette in the world….”

From what point had he been watching? There were too many hunters nearby, so I didn’t notice him approaching because I had turned off the status window.

Of course, even without the Status Window, it was a problem that I hadn’t noticed this much mana. Although things like hunters and mana were still unfamiliar concepts to me, it wasn’t just because I was clumsy.

“Of course, that’s not important. Anyway, you seem to have a pretty good Appraisal ability, do you belong to a guild?”

This man was just overly skilled at hiding his mana.

By the way, getting street-casted here. As I live my life, all sorts of things happen.

“I don’t belong to a guild.”

“Really? That’s unexpected….”

“I haven’t Awakened for very long.”

“That’s even more unexpected.”

The man, who smiled, didn’t actively recruit me, considering he had asked if I belonged to a guild. Instead, he asked something else.

“Hmm…. What did you come here to buy?”

“I came to buy some magic stones, but they don’t seem very good, so I’m going to look somewhere else.”

“Then shall I give you some recommendations? Since we ran into each other by chance.”

The man tilted his head and smiled as if he was happy to give me guidance. When I nodded, the man started talking to me and left the store. As I followed the man out, I glanced back and saw someone who looked like a bodyguard entering the store.

If so, it was certain that this man was the manager of the store, which was quite unexpected. It was such a big piece of information that it didn’t make sense that it didn’t appear in Im Seong-yeon’s novel.

* * *

“This store mainly deals with S-rank items. It’s pretty good, do you want to take a look?”

“Yes.”

The store that I arrived at following the man sold high-rank items and quite expensive magic stones.

There was no point in getting items that could be used as weapons here right now, what I needed now was….

‘This is it.’

Teleport Box (A)

A pair of two. Limited to one use, teleportation to the installed box is possible regardless of location.

However, be careful as it is for one person only.

Even though the price was evil, its ability was so overpowered that it would be good to buy a few. Being able to move regardless of location was almost like a cheat code that could save your life.

‘So it’s definitely beneficial to buy a lot.’

“How many of these do you have right now?”

“Right now? Seven pairs of Teleport Boxes.”

“Give me all of them.”

“All of them?”

The stern-looking young woman who ran the store lowered her glasses and scanned me. For reference, those glasses were also an item.

Glasses of Truth (A)

‘O’ appears to the person who is telling the truth.

‘X’ appears to the person who is lying.

Not only the merchant in front of me but everyone around me was wearing items all over their bodies. As a result, the Status Windows that appeared around me were literally at the level of a misconfigured pop-up.

‘I consciously turned it back on just in case, but it’s annoying.’

Anyway, I bought a few simple items, including the Teleport Boxes.

“Is there anything else you want to buy?”

“No.”

I was planning to come again next time, so this was enough for today. Smiling at the satisfactory shopping, I put the items in the Space-Saving Box I had bought earlier.

When I checked my phone, a text message from Joo Seo-won had arrived.

Customer, are you done shopping?

Why is he talking like this? As I ignored the text message in bewilderment, I received a series of messages.

You’re going to ignore me anyway, right?

How perceptive.

Do Ye-hyun found out your location, so contact him.

Well, it’s okay if his tone is weird as long as he’s good at his job. I replied with a grateful heart.

Then, after a pause, a reply came.

Your attitude is crazy. If you’re going to reply like that, send at least two.

Ha…… What a pain in the ass.

Clicking my tongue, I ignored the reply and put my phone away, when I felt a gaze from beyond the half-mask.

“You seem busy.”

“I have a schedule afterward.”

“Really? Then I’ll leave it at that for today… I hope we can have a conversation next time. Everyone wants to work with a good Appraiser.”

The man smiled again and casually added.

“It was a good time, Ye-hyun.”

He hadn’t even been told my name, but he was so nonchalant. My personal information had probably been completely exposed since he first came in. Even so, the fact that he kept asking me questions meant that he was trying to see my reaction.

If I had known that this person was managing this place, I would have taken some action. It was a late thought, though.

No, but even if I had, it was only a matter of time before we got involved, so does it matter?

“Me too.”

The man’s smile deepened at my answer. Was he planning to use a skill? I sighed and added.

“I’m a fan.”

That would be troublesome. I raised the corners of my lips and looked at the man.

In fact, this was a statement that was half impulsive. He wouldn’t be very happy to have his identity exposed when he had even appeared wearing a half-mask. But since he was the one who provoked me first, it was okay to do this much, right? Besides, since we were going to clash later anyway, there was no harm in leaving a strong impression in advance.

As expected, the man’s expression subtly hardened as if he had understood the meaning of my words. With the corners of his lips slightly lowered below the half-mask, I left the store, which I had criticized for its poor taste, with a pleasant feeling.

To think that I would find out so much information just by going to get a few items.

Name: Im Hae-kyung

Age: 32

Rank: S

Title: –

Main Skills: Brainwashing (S), Mental Suppression (S), Mental Manipulation (S)

Maximum Growth Rank: S

To think that he was the Guild Master of Comet. I never imagined I would run into him so quickly.