According to Namgung Myeong, there were two broad ways to obtain D-coins in this scenario region.

First, obtain “D-coins” through the main or sub scenarios that appeared on a regular schedule.

Second, exchange other goods or tales for “D-coins” through the “auction house.”

The first method couldn’t be carried out right away. So we chose the second.

I headed to the “auction house” with Namgung Myeong.

“There is one more method, but that’s only possible for special people like Sein, so……”

It sounded like he was trying hard to avoid the topic, so I didn’t ask further. In fact, I could tell even without asking.

「Dokkaebi Yeonggi tried to take a part of Gyeong Sein’s soul.」

Thinking that way, it also made sense why Gyeong Sein’s soul had been damaged. He had probably been paying the price of the debt in a similar way, over and over.

But once I realized that, there was something that became harder to understand.

“Myeong, do you happen to know anything about Sein’s other companions?”

Gyeong Sein said it. That the other companions were already moving toward the ending in the upper scenarios.

But would the companions I knew really have agreed to leaving Gyeong Sein here?

“I don’t really know about them either. I’m ashamed to say it, but during the apocalypse region invasion, I ended up being infected by an Outer God’s tale, so I was bedridden for years.”

The time when Gyeong Sein and the companions were active was already something from seven, eight years ago. So Namgung Myeong said he knew almost nothing about the ascenders from that time.

“When I regained consciousness, my clan was completely ruined. I couldn’t adapt to the changed Murim, and I ended up out on the street… and it was Sein who took me in.”

“I see.”

“Yes. Still, there are a few ascenders I’ve heard rumors about. For example, ‘Demon Saint of Harmonized Blossoms’ who receives the protection of the Monkey King, and ‘Black Wolf Demon Lord’ who has a great archangel backing him… they’re famous even outside the New Murim Zone.”

Demon Saint of Harmonized Blossoms and Black Wolf Demon Lord. If I had to guess, Demon Saint of Harmonized Blossoms was probably Ji Eunyu, and Black Wolf Demon Lord was…… Killer King?

I immediately tried to connect ‘Midday Tryst’ to Ji Eunyu and Killer King.

[‘Midday Tryst’ cannot be connected!]

Was the scenario region too far away for it to reach? Or, since they were said to be in the upper scenarios, maybe they were too busy to even accept a tryst.

“Benefactor, we’ve arrived.”

Before long, the auction house entrance appeared. The moment we stepped into the front of the auction house, we could hear peddlers shouting to draw customers from all around.

“Old martial arts manuals, clearance sale!”

“Bulk sale on Old Murim equipment! Come take a look!”

Among the items being sold on the roadside, there were famous martial arts that you could recognize just by hearing the name.

—Vast Sky Boundless Sword Art.

—Lightning Flash Thirteen Sword Thunder.

Honestly, it was surprising.

Vast Sky Boundless Sword Art and Lightning Flash Thirteen Sword Thunder were exclusive martial arts of the old Five Great Families—things you couldn’t learn unless you were direct line, even among the clan members……

—10 D-coins.

But those martial arts were being sold for just 10 D-coins?

“Every time I come here, I have no face to show my ancestors.”

Namgung Myeong forced himself to avert his gaze with a bitter look. It made sense. The “Vast Sky Boundless Sword Art” being sold on that stall was the Namgung clan’s representative sword art.

If that kind of martial art was being sold off for cheap, there was no way Namgung Myeong could feel at ease.

And the items being sold cheaply on the stalls weren’t only martial arts manuals.

—Cloud Iron Fist Gauntlets.

—Heavenly Silkworm Flying Robe.

They weren’t on the level of the “Black Heaven Demon Sword,” but they were still famous items in the Old Murim in their own right.

—15 D-coins.

Those kinds of items were being sold at prices that even tempted me.

If nothing else, if Cloud Iron Fist Gauntlets or Heavenly Silkworm Flying Robe were 15 D-coins, they felt worth buying.

If I gave them later to an incarnation skilled in fist techniques, like Yoo Joonghyuk or Ms. Yerim, they’d be very useful.

“Benefactor, I’ll tell you just in case, but I don’t recommend buying Old Murim-era items.”

I didn’t have many D-coins anyway, so I had no intention of buying them, but I was curious why he was stopping me.

Namgung Myeong continued.

“Old Murim-era items have no value in this region. In the ‘New Murim Zone,’ items strengthened with D-coins are stronger.”

Come to think of it, there were quite a few weapons at the screening platform that had a “D” attached to their names.

“Items strengthened with D-coins can have their durability and power greatly increased, and they can even raise skill proficiency. People even say that a nameless longsword strengthened once with D-coins is stronger than a famous sword from the Old Murim.”

According to Namgung Myeong, an item strengthened with D-coins could only be matched by an item strengthened with D-coins.

Hearing it, I felt like I understood why D-coins had such high status in “New Murim.”

“Did you come here to exchange items into D-coins?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any items strengthened with ‘D-coins’?”

“I don’t.”

“Then it’ll be hard to get a high price at the auction house.”

As expected.

That was a problem.

The total D-coins needed to shoulder the company’s debt was 100,000.

But the D-coins I had on hand right now were……

[You have been given 5 D-coins as a sub scenario reward.]

Even counting that, was it 25?

I slowly looked around. From what I could see, there were quite a few other Murim people in the auction house besides us.

I examined the company symbols they belonged to, one by one, and asked.

“Do people from <Tamla Heavy Industries> come here too?”

Namgung Myeong tilted his head, not understanding what I meant.

“Huh? Of course, people from big companies visit too, but……”

“Then that ‘supervisor’ bastard will come too.”

The /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ king of thugs gave me one D-coin for one flicked bean. If so, meeting that supervisor bastard again and hitting him nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred eighty times is, for now, the fastest way to earn D-coins.

Realizing my intent belatedly, Namgung Myeong’s face went pale as he said,

“Benefactor, if you do something like that again, it’ll really become a problem. If you knew how terrifying <Tamla Heavy Industries> is……”

“Move!”

A group of incarnations shoved Namgung Myeong aside as they passed. Judging by the sinister Status leaking from their entire bodies, they were skilled.

Watching the Murim people around us naturally part to make way, I checked the company symbol on their backs.

—<Veda Biotech>.

Could there be someone among them who had the king of thugs as a sponsor constellation? With a bit of hope, I watched their movements closely.

The group headed straight for the center of the auction house and soon stopped in front of a machine that looked like a huge scale. A scale with blood vessels growing all over it, twitching as if alive. It was an object that reminded me of the “horror” of the apocalypse region.

“Request appraisal.”

A moment later, a screen like an electronic display rose above the machine.

[Item appraisal will begin!]

I could see the surrounding crowd gathering one by one.

“Oh, a new auction item. Did they get it in the latest collection?”

“Looks like Veda landed a big one.”

Namgung Myeong and I also stood among the crowd.

“What is that?”

“Ah, that’s the auction house’s specialty, the ‘appraisal scale.’ People usually use it when they want to appraise newly acquired items.”

“What they brought doesn’t look like an Old Murim item.”

“You’re right, Benefactor.”

Then I saw the man who looked like the group’s leader pull a small part-like object out from inside his clothes.

“That’s the most valuable item in the ‘New Murim Zone’—”

The moment I saw the tale clinging to that part, I felt like I knew what Namgung Myeong was about to say.

“It’s a part from an Outer God of the apocalypse region.”

That grotesque power unique to the apocalypse region flowing out of it.

Only then did a lot of things start to make sense.

“So the reason you were in the apocalypse region back then, Myeong……”

“Yes. I also participated in collection to obtain parts.”

“Why do they consider those parts valuable?”

“I don’t really know either, but I heard that parts that come out of the apocalypse region become the ‘source’ that makes D-coins.”

The source that makes D-coins.

Was that why I could barely find any fragments of Outer Gods in the apocalypse region?

“Oh, the appraisal result……”

A grade marker spinning like a roulette in front of my eyes. After a moment, the confirmed grade appeared on the screen.

[End-of-the-world-grade.]

Cheers erupted all around.

I saw the incarnations from Veda Biotech nod with meaningful smiles.

“My god, it’s end-of-the-world-grade?”

“Has that grade ever come out before?”

[The appraisal result for this part is 3000 D-coins.]

3000 D-coins.

At that huge sum—an amount you’d need to flick a bean three thousand times to get—the crowd around us couldn’t hide their shock.

“Three thousand D-coins for just one tooth fragment……”

“If it’s end-of-the-world-grade, could it be that ‘shark’ tooth fragment?”

“The last time an end-of-the-world-grade fragment came out was already two years ago. Hah, Veda Biotech really hooked a big one.”

Then [This Week’s Ranking] appeared on the display.

Rank 1. End-of-the-world-grade Outer God tooth fragment, Veda Biotech — 3000 D-coins.

The incarnations muttered in envious voices.

“So this week’s ranking reward goes to Veda.”

“At that level, it would’ve caught the Recorders’ eyes too. It’s basically a guaranteed ultra-fast promotion to executive.”

When I looked beside me, Namgung Myeong was also staring up at the display with envy.

I poked his shoulder and asked.

“Myeong. Can anyone go up and do an appraisal?”

“Yes, as long as you have an Outer God part, anyone can… Benefactor?”

The moment I heard Namgung Myeong’s answer, I headed straight for the appraisal machine. I could feel the Veda Biotech incarnations who had just finished appraising shoot me strange looks.

I shrugged at the ones whose eyes met mine and said,

“If you’re done using it, move aside.”

As Namgung Myeong hurried after me and came to stand at my side, a small commotion rose among the incarnations around us.

“What, another appraisal? Which company is it?”

“Ah, that company is……”

Even if the company had declined, there were still people who knew the name.

“Kuhahat, that’s where the young master of the Namgung clan is.”

“Is that guy next to him a rookie? There’s an incarnation who joins that company?”

When I looked beside me, Namgung Myeong was staring at me with eyes full of expectation.

“Benefactor… do you have an Outer God part?”

Namgung Myeong’s voice was trembling.

I said to him,

“Well, I was wondering if something like this would appraise.”

In my fingertips was a single strand of my hair, which I’d pulled out as a test just now.

Namgung Myeong looked at my hair with eyes that didn’t seem real.

I grinned and dropped the strand onto the scale’s platform.

“Wait! If you put just anything on the scale—!”

“It isn’t just anything.”

Just as the incarnations of <Tamla Heavy Industries> used “Dionysus’s Fur” as a tale, in this world, every part of a fable-grade constellation holds the power of a “tale.”

“This is my ‘tale.’”

Watching the hair drift down onto the scale, I thought of the Outer Gods I’d met. Tragedy-grade, disaster-grade, end-of-the-world-grade Outer Gods.

「What is the ‘most valuable thing’ in the apocalypse region?」

If this scale’s appraisal standard was the same as the Transcendent Alliance’s grading standard……

“T, that lunatic……!”

“What kind of freak came in here. He doesn’t even know that if you appraise the wrong thing, you get hit with the scale’s curse—”

Soon, the strand of hair touched the scale.

[Item appraisal will begin!]

Seeing the dazzling rays of light burst out from the scale, every incarnation—including Namgung Myeong—opened their eyes wide at the same time.

“What, what in the world is going on.”

“It’s showing a grade?”

The grade display was changing in real time, like a roulette spinning.

Tragedy-grade, disaster-grade, and then……

“……end-of-the-world-grade?”

“What is that…… Is the scale broken? That’s impossible……!”

The moment someone’s shock spilled out, acrid smoke began to pour out of the scale.

「The greatest existence in the apocalypse region.」

I recalled the second child, who sat on a small chair and looked back at me with a sad face.

「The one who understands all horror.」

The “King of Terror” grade measured by the Transcendent Alliance was as follows.

[End-grade.]

Along with the confirmed grade marker, the scale platform was covered in bright blue sparks.