In some far-off dimension,
the Southphern Empire of the Olmus Continent.
Joseph Southphern, the former emperor, was gnawing on his fingernails.
Dimensional traveler Joseph.
For smooth travels, he handed the throne over to his child and had been holed up in a hidden imperial vault for over a hundred years.
His son—the current emperor—probably didn't even know whether his father was alive or dead.
It didn't matter.
Ever since becoming a dimensional traveler, his values had been completely overturned.
An emperor?
Ruling a continent no bigger than a speck of dust—how could that compare to being a dimensional traveler?
The qualification to travel dimensions gave Joseph more pride than the imperial throne ever did.
And yet even he had failed to win the bid for the Catech Flip Grand wristwatch.
"Fuck!"
How dare someone outbid an item an emperor himself was targeting?
Truly infuriating.
It was stolen right before his eyes.
Was it because he lacked one hundred thousand kilograms of top-grade mana stones?
Not a chance.
It was a physical problem.
The actual act of touching the holographic auction panel and pressing the top-bid button.
He simply wasn't fast enough.
Even though Emperor Joseph had reached the rank of Grand Master.
Of course, it didn't help that the big-spending dimensional travelers all rushed in at the final moment.
"Those dog bastards."
He should have bought it this time.
Who knew when auctions of Earth items would stop again?
Will another one go up?
Please. Please.
Joseph waited anxiously.
And then—finally!
"Gasp!!!"
It appeared.
And not just anything—
Smart device: Apple Pad Pro 13-inch, 2TB Black
(Large quantity of movie and drama content stored)
Starting bid: 1,000 kg of top-grade mana stones
"Are you—are you insane?!"
A tablet.
And one loaded with movies and dramas.
Unbelievable.
Such a precious item.
It's like that Earth dimensional traveler read my mind.
I'll accept this gratefully.
How many tickets do I have again?
Hundreds of red tickets.
Dozens of blue tickets worth a million each.
Plenty of funds.
"I'm buying this no matter what!"
No charger included, but that doesn't matter.
Does Joseph lack electronic devices?
He's used the auction house for ages.
A rated-voltage, rated-current supply magic circle will do just fine.
Whoooom!
Joseph drew aura from deep within, circulating it through every corner of his mana roads.
The match is decided one minute before the auction ends.
His hands must be fast.
He has to hammer the top-bid button relentlessly.
If it were just him, maybe.
But countless rival dimensional travelers would be mashing the same button like mad.
This time, I must—
Before that, he'd raise the price high enough to shake off the riffraff.
Fewer competitors meant an easier final sprint.
The penniless trash would try to lower the price with last-minute bid cancellations to join the fight, but to big spenders, that was laughable.
Let's jack the price up hard ten minutes before the end.
At around three hundred thousand, plenty would drop out.
So first—stay relaxed.
Practice touch inputs for bidding.
Time passed.
The full 24-hour auction dragged on, boring Joseph to death.
Finally, one hour remained.
Now it was time.
Current bid: 170,557 kg of top-grade mana stones
Already 170,000.
Then—ten minutes before the end.
Current bid: 305,661 kg of top-grade mana stones
Three hundred thousand.
Enough.
He could raise it more, but restrained himself.
If he spent everything here, how would he bid in the next auction?
The other dimensional travelers knew that too, which was why everyone was carefully managing the price.
It's begun.
Tap tap tap tap!
Emperor Joseph hammered the bidding hologram with a crazed expression.
One touch triggered an automatic top bid.
But someone else would immediately overbid.
From one minute before the end, he had to press it like a madman.
Because the ending time wasn't exact.
No one knew when the auction would end.
Due to time differences between dimensions, it might end seconds early—or seconds late.
That uncertainty drove people insane.
"AAAAAAARGH!!!"
Joseph screamed as he tapped,
brilliant aura clinging to his body,
his hands moving at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap.
It's mine.
I'll have it.
And then—
[The auction for Apple Pad Pro 13-inch 2TB Black has ended.]
Former Emperor Joseph Southphern stood there completely stunned.
The auction end message appeared.
But there was no success notification.
"Damn it!"
Another failure.
"Haaaah…"
From a hidden chamber deep within the imperial vault of the Southphern Palace,
a deep sigh quietly leaked out.
White Tower, 17th Floor.
Juhyeok wore a beaming smile.
"So much for a dimensional tycoon."
"Ahaha, say that again later. If you keep sucking up mana stones, you'll be a tycoon yourself someday."
"I didn't expect the tablet to be this popular."
"Of course it is. Travelers or not, most of them are country bumpkins from backwater dimensions. Seeing paradise-tier items probably made their eyes pop."
"Hey now! Calling them bumpkins—those are our precious bidders."
"Ah! My mistake. The customer is king."
Exactly.
Someone dropped five hundred thousand kilograms of top-grade mana stones on a single Apple Pad.
Just two auctions produced absurd results.
After fees, he held fifty-eight tickets worth 10,000 kg each.
Item information on one ticket:
Effect: Contains 10,000 kg of top-grade mana stones. When torn, the mana stones pour out.
Feature: The ticket itself can be used as currency.
Damn!
How much money is one of these worth?
The mana stones haven't even hit the market yet, but their upper-grade mana value is a thousand times higher.
"Alright, now that the money's in, I'll buy items for each of you—pick what you want."
Ding!
"Mari, since you're well-behaved, I'll buy you both gold ingots and silver ingots."
The others had already picked what they wanted.
Gwangma wanted Great Return Pills.
Princess Dallae wanted high-quality cinnabar for drawing talismans.
Rajiks wanted a small hammer containing true gold.
El wanted dwarven hand-craft gloves.
Mackenzie wanted a Demon-Realm wood staff.
Major Bae, Kosak, Gobang, Bardin, and others chose various weapons and equipment.
And Duu wanted herbs—
he planned to extract seeds and plant them.
Diamart wanted the Demon King's Heart.
And Jephet—
"Royal Blood Essence? What's this?"
"Literally royal blood—the pure essence of blood. A Blood Crystal."
"Ah!"
"If you absorb it, you become Royal. As in, a vampire lord."
"That's good."
"Yes."
Of course he'd buy it.
It cost about the same as a Dragon Heart.
"But, Jephet."
"Yes, sir!"
"Why do you talk like that?"
You're not a knockoff Kosak.
Well—Juhyeok imitates him sometimes too.
"U-um… if I don't talk like this… I thought… people might not pay attention to me…"
Oh dear.
Our poor, zero-presence Jephet.
How badly did he want attention?
It'd probably have the opposite effect—
especially with the original glaring daggers at him.
Anyway, time to bid.
Opening the auction board and touching an item made a bid button appear beside its name.
Touch it, and—
[Placing a top bid on 100 kg of silver ingots.]
[If your top-grade mana stones are insufficient, the bid button will be disabled.]
[Upon successful bidding, the cost will be automatically deducted from physical mana stones or tickets.]
The bid increment varied with each press.
Small amounts increased by 1 kg, then later 3 kg, 5 kg, 7 kg, 11 kg, 13 kg…
No complaints about the pricing system,
but if there were many competitors, it'd be a headache.
You'd have to keep pressing nonstop,
glued to the board.
For ultra-popular items like tablets?
Competition would be fierce.
Like reserving tickets for a superstar concert—
hogging five PCs in a net café, mashing the mouse.
Fortunately, the items Juhyeok wanted weren't popular.
Top bids barely happened.
Still, someone might outbid occasionally,
so someone had to stay there.
What do I do about this?
I can't even rest.
Wait—
"Kosak?"
"Yes, sir! Original Kosak reporting."
"You see the bid button, right?"
"I see it."
"Try touching it."
Kosak raised his hand and touched the bid button.
[Placing a top bid on 100 kg of silver ingots.]
"It works?"
"It works!"
"So it does."
"Yes, it does."
"Whoa."
It works.
Auction boards are shared, and proxy bidding is possible.
Well, summoned ones and the summoner aren't strangers.
"Take turns proxy bidding and buy the items. I'll give you mana-stone storage tickets."
"No worries. I'll first entrust the tickets to Rajiks, the dimensional farmhand."
"As expected of our number-one auctioneer. Reliable as ever. Hahaha!"
"Hehehe! You flatter me."
On the 17th floor of the White Tower, laughter bloomed.
Even without climbing the Tower, there was this much to do.
Time flew by.
Every day, once a day, he stopped by the auction house—registering items for auction and bringing back the mana-stone tickets he received in return.
They won plenty of items too.
Just the top-grade mana stones spent for the summoned ones amounted to about 400,000 kg.
Not a waste at all.
To someone sprinting toward becoming a dimensional tycoon, that was pocket change.
How do you retrieve items won at the auction?
Simple.
They put those into tickets as well.
Like this:
Effect: A Shaolin Great Return Pill is stored inside. Tear it to obtain the pill.
Feature: The ticket itself can be traded.
Extremely convenient.
At this point, the auction house fully deserved its commission.
Before long, the number of red tickets approached two hundred.
That meant 2,000,000 kg of top-grade mana stones.
In tons, that was 2,000 tons.
Once the number of red tickets grew large enough, a high-value exchange menu opened in the dimensional auction house.
[You may exchange 100 red tickets for 1 blue ticket.]
Oh?
Then let's exchange just 100 red tickets.
[Please place 100 red tickets into the locker exchange slot.]
And then—
Shhshshsh!
The 100 red tickets vanished, and a single blue ticket appeared.
Effect: Stores 1,000,000 kg of top-grade mana stones. Tear it to release them.
Feature: The ticket itself can be traded.
It was basically a check.
After blue, what comes next?
If 100 blue tickets make 100 million… black? Or gold?
Guess I'll find out once I collect a hundred.
It wouldn't take long.
The enthusiasm for Earth goods was still blazing hot.
In the meantime, he listed all kinds of items.
Luxury bags, premium liquor, high-end cigarettes, assorted snacks with chocolates and candies.
Those sold well too.
But they couldn't compare to tablets and laptops.
Especially media devices packed full of content.
Those fetched the highest prices.
He had just bought and listed the latest gaming laptop as well.
The bidding price shot up at a terrifying pace.
Senior dimensional travelers—
I'll keep supplying plenty for you.
For your junior, spend as much as you like.
Let's plant a World Tree on the 17th floor of the White Tower.
While he was completely immersed in auction fun,
the long-awaited event finally happened.
Homebody Mari completed two alchemy items at once.
Thanks to the pure gold and pure silver ingots, it was finished faster than expected.
One was a homunculus body.
The other was a reinforcement elixir.
"So this is the reinforcement elixir?"
It was a golden liquid.
Just looking at it, the luster was dazzling.
But the quantity was absurd.
A full 1.5-liter PET bottle.
"Before drinking it, you should cleanse your body and cultivate your mind."
"This old man thinks so too."
"Don't spill even a single drop."
Hmm.
In genre novels, enhancement potions usually cause excruciating pain after drinking.
What if it hurts too much?
Could I even endure it?
Classic weak-man trait—
the moment it gets tough, I give up fast.
Still, Mari made it with care.
… I'll drink it slowly.
First, separate Baek Dana from the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal using the homunculus body.
Kosak brought the homunculus kit from Mari's place.
A spherical object like a ball.
When placed on the floor—
Shrrrrk.
The metal sphere began transforming into a large, human-sized silver homunculus.
Like a metallic mannequin.
Its surface was soft and fluid, like mercury.
"Hm."
One peculiar thing—
it was a female body.
Clear curves at the waist, chest, and hips.
"Is the Ice Crystal female too?"
Ding!
Which meant—
"Hm."
"Ahem."
"Mm."
"Lady Baek, the Young Palace Mistress, is impressive too."
Impressive how?
Anyway—
"Let's separate the Ice Crystal first."
The method was simple.
Baek Dana just had to hold the homunculus body's hand tightly.
Then it would naturally transfer.
So they did.
Nothing happened.
Why?
Baek Dana spoke.
"It says the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal can't move."
"Hmm. Because it's a homunculus?"
"No. The energy of the White Tower is blocking the transfer."
Blocking it?
"Alright. Let's go outside and try."
Rajiks put the homunculus body into a subspace backpack.
Juhyeok moved to the penthouse, then summoned everyone.
"Let's do it now."
"Yes."
Baek Dana and the homunculus body stood facing each other, hands tightly clasped.
She activated ice arts.
Tsssss—!
A blizzard raged through the penthouse living room.
After a moment—
The homunculus body began turning pure white.
Tsssss—!
Did it work?
What about Baek Dana?
Name: Baek Dana
Rank: LSSR (Legend Special Super Rare)
Type: Martial Artist (Human)
"Oh!"
Success.
Even after separation, still LSSR.
"Congratulations."
"S-sniff… th-thank you. How can I ever repay this kindness?"
"Kindness, nothing. Just live comfortably from now on."
"Yes!"
What about the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal?
Did it transfer properly?
But—
"…What?"
Tsssss—
The Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal homunculus was frozen solid, completely motionless.
Like an ice doll taken straight out of a freezer.
"Why on earth—"
At that moment—
Ding!
[Would you like to grant summoned status to the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal in exchange for 10 Platinum Badges?]
"Huh?"
[If the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal gains summoned status, it can immediately be recruited into the catalog.]
"Ah…"
[Granting summoned status and catalog recruitment will impose a penalty on the player.]
I've experienced this before.
Exactly like when recruiting El, the magitech engineer.
Just with a different number of Platinum Badges.
[…The penalty applied to the player is suspension of random summoning for 100 days.]
Hmm…
I think I understand.
Until now, the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal had been parasitizing Baek Dana's soul.
That's why it behaved almost like a summoned being.
But now it was fully separated.
Even if it possessed personality and spirituality, it wasn't a summoned being.
It didn't come from the world of souls—
so could it really become part of Juhyeok's catalog?
Its current state was ambiguous.
Not an Earthling.
Not a summoned being.
An existence that was fundamentally abnormal.
It might soon be expelled somewhere—
or simply disappear.
But with 10 Platinum Badges, he could grant it qualification.
Immediate recruitment.
Permanent residency on the 17th floor of the White Tower.
They really like making people agonize over choices.
The next random summon was only two days away.
Should I do it after that?
[The opportunity to grant summoned status is valid for 5 minutes.]
[After 5 minutes, the opportunity will disappear, and the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal will be destroyed.]
"…Damn."
If he didn't accept it,
because it was an alien existence, it would simply be erased?
What about the Ice Crystal?
He'd bonded with it, at least somewhat.
But if he accepted it,
the 100-day suspension of random summoning was painful.
"Wouldn't it be better to accept it?"
"This old man agrees. It seems highly useful."
"I also support it. Its power is exceptional—strong enough to freeze even an ancient dragon's true body."
Alright.
So what if random summoning slows down a bit?
"Grant summoned status!"
[Granting summoned status to the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal using 10 Platinum Badges.]
Good.
Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal—
let's live well together from now on.
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