The hallway outside Lecture Hall 3 was cool and empty, a stark contrast to the heated whispers I left behind.
I checked my phone. 12:45 PM.
I had secured my Fridays, but I still had the rest of the week to survive. And more importantly, I had a bank account balance that was dangerously close to zero.
'50,000 won (approx. $40).'
That was my net worth. In the Hunter world, that wouldn't even buy a single potion. It barely covered a box of ammo.
I adjusted the strap of my bag, planning my route to the downtown Hunter Market. I needed to sell the goblin core I snagged last night.
"Lee Jin-Woo."
The voice was cool, clear, and carried an authority that didn't belong to a freshman.
I stopped. I didn't turn around immediately.
[Goddess of Love]: OOH! Is it her? Is it the girl from the corner?
[God of Mischief]: Here comes the interrogation. Don't fold, kid.
I turned slowly.
Leaning against the lockers, arms crossed over a pristine white blazer, was Park Se-Seol.
Up close, she was even more intimidating than I remembered. Her eyes were a dark, icy grey—a trait of her rare Ice-attribute mana. In my past life, those eyes had stared down S-Rank monsters without blinking.
Right now, they were dissecting me.
"Park Se-Seol," I said, keeping my face neutral. "Top of the class. Can I help you?"
She pushed off the locker and walked toward me. She didn't invade my personal space, stopping exactly three steps away. Calculated.
"The simulation," she said. "You threw dirt."
"It was effective," I replied.
"The simulator doesn't register 'dirt' as a weapon," she countered. "It registers environmental data. For the system to calculate a 'Blindness' effect, you had to hit the sensors in the eyes with 90% accuracy within a 0.1-second window while the target was moving at 40 km/h."
She tilted her head slightly.
"That wasn't luck. And F-Rank mana doesn't give you that kind of reaction speed."
She was sharp. Too sharp. This was why she became the youngest Guild Master in history in the original timeline. She noticed the details everyone else missed.
"I played a lot of FPS games," I lied smoothly. "Hand-eye coordination."
Se-Seol stared at me for a long moment. Then, unexpectedly, the corner of her lip twitched upward. A microscopic smirk.
"FPS games. Right."
She reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out a business card. It wasn't a student card; it was a sleek, black card with gold lettering.
[Titan Guild - Scouting Division]
"My father's guild is looking for analysts," she said, flicking the card toward me. I caught it out of the air. "People who can see what others miss. If you get tired of being mocked by idiots like Professor Kim, give me a call."
She turned on her heel and walked away, her heels clicking rhythmically on the linoleum.
"Don't die in a dungeon before then, Lee Jin-Woo."
I watched her leave.
[Goddess of Love]: KYAAA! She gave him her number! (sort of)
[God of War]: She called him an analyst. She thinks he's a nerd. Insulting.
[Goddess of Wisdom]: She suspects he is hiding his strength. A smart ally. Keep her close.
I pocketed the card. "She doesn't want an ally," I muttered. "She wants a pawn. But... I can work with that."
[Location: Seoul Hunter Market, District 4]
The Hunter Market was a chaotic sprawling bazaar of neon signs, shouting merchants, and the smell of grilled monster skewers.
It was the place where low-rank hunters came to buy second-hand gear and sell their loot. The high-end shops were in Gangnam; this was the slums of the industry.
Perfect for me.
I pulled my hood up and navigated through the crowd.
"Goblin claws! Freshly harvested! Good for potions!"
"D-Rank shield, slightly dented! Half price!"
I ignored them all and ducked into a narrow shop squeezed between a noodle stand and a weapon repair shop.
[Old Man Choi's Junk & Antiques]
The bell chimed as I entered. The shop smelled of rust and oil. Piles of broken armor and dull weapons were stacked floor-to-ceiling.
Behind the counter sat an elderly man with a robotic eye, tinkering with a broken mana rifle.
"We're closed for browsing," Old Man Choi grunted without looking up. "Buy or sell. No window shopping."
"Selling," I said, placing the small goblin mana stone on the counter.
Choi's robotic eye whirred as he zoomed in on it. "F-Rank. Small. Impure. 40,000 won."
"50,000," I countered. "The edges are clean. It was a surgical extraction, not a smash-and-grab. The mana density is preserved."
Choi paused. He looked up at me with his good eye. He grunted.
"45,000. And you buy something from the bin."
"Deal."
He tossed a wad of cash onto the counter. I pocketed it. 45,000 won plus my original 50,000. I had roughly $80.
I walked over to the "Discount Bin" in the corner. It was filled with rusted swords, cracked shields, and bent spears. Trash that even rookies wouldn't touch.
[God of War]: Why are we here? This is a graveyard for steel. It's depressing.
[God of Mischief]: Is he going to buy a spoon? Kill a dragon with a spoon?
"Mana Perception," I whispered.
[Skill Activated.]
The pile of junk lit up with faint auras. Most were gray—dead metal. Useless.
But I was looking for something specific.
In the original timeline, a famous S-Rank craftman revealed in an interview that he found his greatest material in a junk shop in District 4. He called it "Sleeping Star Steel." Metal that looked like rust until you pumped mana into it.
I dug through the pile.
Rusty mace... no.
Cracked helmet... no.
Bent dagger...
My hand brushed against a black, corroded short sword at the bottom of the bin. It was about 40cm long, covered in a thick layer of grime. It looked like it would snap if you hit a pillow.
But under my Mana Perception, it didn't glow gray.
It pulsed with a faint, rhythmic violet light.
'Found you.'
I pulled it out.
"How much for this scrap?" I asked, holding it up.
Old Man Choi squinted. "That? I used it to prop open the door last summer. 10,000 won."
I threw the bill on the counter before he could change his mind.
"Pleasure doing business."
I walked out of the shop, the heavy, corroded bar of metal in my hand.
[God of War]: You bought a doorstop. I am unsubscribing. This is ridiculous.
[God of Mischief]: Wait wait, look at his face. He's doing the creepy grin again.
I ducked into a deserted alleyway.
"System," I said. "Open Shop."
[Divine Shop Open]
[Current DP: 350]
"Purchase [Item: Universal Solvent (Small)]. Cost: 100 DP."
[Purchase Confirmed.]
A small vial of glowing blue liquid appeared in my hand. It was an item used to clean high-tier equipment without damaging the enchantments.
I uncorked the vial and poured it over the rusty short sword.
Hiss...
Smoke rose from the blade. The thick layers of grime and false rust dissolved instantly, dripping onto the pavement like black sludge.
Underneath, the metal wasn't silver or steel.
It was a deep, matte black, absorbing the light around it. Along the edge, a faint violet vein pulsed like a heartbeat.
[Item Identified!]
[Name: Nameless Void Shortsword]
[Rank: Growth-Type (Currently D-Rank)]
[Durability: Indestructible]
[Effect: Mana Conductivity 200%. Absorbs blood to repair durability.]
[God of War]: ...
[God of War]: HOLY SHIT.
[God of War]: GROWTH TYPE?! IN A JUNK SHOP?!
[God of Mischief]: LMAO THE OLD MAN GOT SCAMMED! 😂
[Goddess of Wisdom]: Luck? No. He knew. He specifically searched for it.
I gripped the hilt. It felt perfectly balanced. My mana, usually sluggish, flowed into the blade as if it were an extension of my nervous system.
"It's not luck," I said to the chat. "It's knowledge."
I swung the blade. It sliced through the air with a terrifyingly silent whistle.
"Now I have a weapon."
I checked the time. 2:00 PM.
"Time to grind."
I pulled up the map on my phone.
"Destination: The Abandoned Subway Station, Line 4."
It was a restricted area. A 'Yellow Zone' where low-level monsters spawned naturally.
"Let's go get me to Level 10."
[Status Update]
Name: Lee Jin-Woo
Equipment: Nameless Void Shortsword (Growth)
DP: 250
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