By Zephyria However, Mana Stones weren’t something you could easily sell just because you wanted to.
Mana Stone transactions mainly took place in the Hunter Market, which required a Hunter registration card for entry, making it inaccessible to ordinary people. It seemed like transactions also occurred discreetly in online Hunter communities, but these also required registration.
‘Ordinary people can’t even get close.’
He even considered shamelessly selling them to regulars at the Hanover Soup Restaurant, but he knew the word would inevitably leak out. And everyone would ask.
‘Hey, how did you, who isn’t a Hunter, get your hands on these Mana Stones?’
Honestly, if an ordinary person possessed such high-purity Mana Stones, he would ask the same question. There were so many things to worry about. Truly, the life of an ordinary person was so arduous.
‘Should I just say a regular gave them to me to help with living expenses?’
Eui-jae shook his head as if answering his own question. The regulars at the Hanover Soup Restaurant were more like a community than just customers. Even if there was someone he had only brushed shoulders with, they were all connected by two degrees of separation. If they dug into each other’s backgrounds, it would quickly become clear that no one had given such a thing to a mere part-timer.
In the end, only one option remained for the ordinary Cha Eui-jae.
The local secondhand trading app, ‘Tomato Market.’
Tomato Market, which had been in service since before the Day of the Rift, greatly helped survivors share information and survive while waiting for rescue as the world fell apart after the Day of the Rift. People who didn’t even know their neighbors felt the warmth of community through Tomato Market and persevered.
‘It was quite helpful in rescuing survivors….’
Would Mana Stones sell if he posted them on Tomato Market? It was worth a shot. Eui-jae immediately installed the Tomato Market app and tried to log in. However, his existing account seemed to have been deleted due to inactivity. It had been eight years, so it was understandable. He pressed the ‘Sign Up’ button.
[Please set a nickname.]
What should he choose? He tried entering Garlic, Hangover Soup, Blood Curd, Pork Ribs, etc., but only received messages saying that all of them were already in use. Annoyed that even ‘Hangover Soup1234’ was rejected, Eui-jae randomly entered some alphabet.
[EZ]
[Welcome to Tomato Market, EZ! Turn on GPS and register your location!]
Alright. Eui-jae, who had finally succeeded in signing up, logged in and clicked around the app.
Fortunately, he found that a Hunter category had been newly established! Of course, the main items traded were past exam papers for Hunter civil service exams and merchandise of famous Hunters, which seemed slightly different from Eui-jae’s purpose.
‘Would it sell if I listed it for around eighty million won?’
He didn’t know if a transaction worth tens of millions of won would be easily concluded… but he would list it first, and if it didn’t sell, he could sell it to a regular then. If he begged them to keep it a secret, promising to match their desired price as much as possible, wouldn’t they have enough loyalty to keep their mouths shut?
Eui-jae reverently laid newspaper on the green table, adjusted the angle so that the golden, shimmering flakes were clearly visible, and carefully placed them on top.
Click.
Click.
After taking pictures from various angles, he selected the best shots and wrote a post on Tomato Market.
Title: Selling Mana Stone
Writer: EZ
Price: 80,000,000 won
High-purity Mana Stone without impurities.
Negotiations possible, please chat.
Feeling a bit better after adding the phrase ‘Negotiations possible’ as a last bit of conscience, thinking he might have listed it too expensively.
‘If this sells, I’ll buy Ha-eun and Grandmother winter coats, and help with the surgery costs. And buy a new ladle.’
A flawless plan. It was the moment Eui-jae posted the listing on Tomato Market, dreaming sweet dreams.
Beeeeep―
Beeeeep―
Beeeeep―
Beeeeep―
The phone suddenly started vibrating like someone thrown into -30 degrees Celsius. What was going on when the contract wasn’t even over yet? Worried that it might be broken by the incessant vibrations, Eui-jae hurriedly checked his phone, Malttukbakgi from Majang-dong: Hey, I’m reporting you to the Bureau of Rift Management for fraud lol If it’s not fraud, please reply to the chat? Would you do me a favor?
XLevel: Face-to-face transaction
GoodNeighbor: Fraud Legend
PooPatPongCurry: Where are you? I’ll go to where you are, just tell me the address, I can bring money right away. I can make you sit on a pile of money, I can pave a red carpet with money.
White: You’re posting bait to meet up and kidnap someone, right?
GoodWordsToTellYou: What?
Hiing: Do you have more Mana Stones like this?
Mackerel: Address
:
:
He was faced with a flood of Tomato Market chat notifications piling up in real time….
Less than 30 seconds had passed from unlocking his phone and checking it to understanding the situation, but a red ‘+99’ speech bubble was attached to the cute Tomato icon.
‘I’m screwed.’
The messages that kept piling up seemed to whisper to Eui-jae, ‘Yeah, you’re screwed.’ It had been a long time since he had sweated this much. This was probably not a wise choice. No, he had definitely done something incredibly stupid!
Did he list it too cheaply? Are Mana Stones more expensive than he thought? Of course, Eui-jae hadn’t just listed the price randomly. He had spent enough time swimming in the sea of information before listing the Mana Stone on Tomato Market. However, every time he clicked on a post related to Mana Stone prices, a window popped up asking for Hunter authentication, so he just added a few thousand won to the price based on a rough estimate.
It had risen so much compared to the past, just how much higher had it jumped….
Eui-jae left his constantly vibrating phone alone, clasped his hands together as if praying, and closed his eyes. He needed a moment to get away from reality.
‘Life is really tough.’
From the System spitting him out in South Korea eight years later, a person’s life couldn’t be more twisted than this. However, as the saying goes, “The one who tied the knot must untie it,” he had to finish what he had started. Eui-jae quickly gathered his scattered wits and concluded.
‘…Let’s run away for now.’
In the end, Eui-jae decided to ignore all the chats and run away. It was impossible to reply to every message that was piling up in real time anyway. He ignored the constantly popping up chat notifications and went into his account information to press ‘Delete Account.’
[Are you leaving? We’re really sad to see you go.]
Even at this moment, chats were pouring in. Eui-jae earnestly prayed that Tomato Market would no longer hold him back. However, Tomato Market desperately clung to Eui-jae’s pant leg. It felt tougher than the suction cups of the Grade 3 giant octopus he had sliced up in Namhae about nine years ago.
[We’re curious why EZ is trying to delete their account.]
Even if he was in a hurry, he had to answer this much. Eui-jae calmly checked two items.
[✓Others are using my posts too much.]
[✓I met a user with bad manners.]
[Other: They’re swearing at me even though we just met, these .]
Delete. Delete app.
Eui-jae, who had completed all the procedures quickly and accurately, sat limply on the chair and stared blankly at the ceiling.
‘Didn’t I deal with it pretty quickly?’
However, a life that had gone wrong once didn’t flow as easily as he thought….
Hunter Net, an anonymous community for Hunters that Cha Eui-jae couldn’t access. It was burning hotter than hell with one anonymous post.
Title: [Anonymous] Recent Tomato Market Status…JPEG
(Picture)
An A+ grade Mana Stone listing came up on Tomato Market yesterday and was deleted in 2 minutes lol Comments (99+)
―Tomato Market is the future
―Damn, it’s so dazzling
―Wow… what do you have to catch to get an A+ grade Mana Stone? The best I’ve ever gotten is a B grade └You have to catch at least a Grade 2 Dungeon boss Monster. But if it’s a high-purity, clean Mana Stone like in the picture, it could be from a Grade 1 Monster.
└Then the guy who posted that is a high-ranking Hunter?
└Yeah. Maybe one of the Rankers posted it.
―Since Tomato Market is a direct transaction, you don’t have to pay market fees and taxes lol └Did they post it on Tomato Market to avoid taxes? That’s harsh └It’s only 80 million won though;; It’s practically giving it away └Maybe they posted it with two zeros missing?
└That seems the most plausible
―Can you tell it’s an A+ grade Mana Stone just by looking at the picture?
└Is it a picture they stole or a composite?
└Hong Ye-seong posted on Inhart lol He’s asking why they didn’t post something this precious on the Hunter Market └Ah, if Hong Ye-seong certified it, then it’s legit └Wasn’t he cutting off ties with the world and forging weapons in the Artisan Village of Jirisan?
└Yeah, Jung-bin went to Jirisan himself and caught him trying to escape to Seoul └ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Jung-bin has the most extreme job
Title: [Anonymous] Hong Ye-seong’s Inhart post lol xxYeahsungH
EZ, I don’t know who you are, but name your price for the Mana Stone, let’s trade directly #Jirisan #WantToLeave #Seoul #TomatoMarket #TheWayOfTheArtisan #BlankCheck #NameYourPrice #WhyDidntYouPostThisOnTheHunterMarket #NextProductionEquipmentIsEmergencyEscapeButton Likes 604k
jungVin80
Why is there Wi-Fi?
Comments (99+)
―Jung-bin’s one word is so scary.
―LOL He must be cutting off ties with the world and making equipment again.
―Is Hong Ye-seong rich? He’s offering a blank check lol └Of course, if Hong Ye-seong makes and sells one S-Class Weapon, he makes billions └Friend… that person is the only S-Class maker in the world…
└Yeah, he’s going to get richer when the auction opens in Songdo this time~
Caw― The cry of a magpie nesting in a pine tree echoed through the quiet mountains. A man sitting on the wooden floor of the main hall turned off his phone screen and looked at the surrounding scenery.
A serene traditional Korean house located on the ridge below Banyabong Peak in Jirisan. A slightly unusual point was that the stone walls and pine trees surrounding the house were covered with straw ropes and talismans. In addition, a huge kiln was prominently located in one corner of the yard, which was two or three times the size of other people’s front yards.
And next to it,
A man wearing a white fleece was lying sprawled out….