Chapter 181: The Terra System?
’The Young Dragon’s Heart.’
The loot he’d gotten after exterminating a Bone Drake in the past. Its description had also said it permanently enhanced base physical abilities when eaten.
So he asked about it.
"Yes, that’s right. That’s a kind of elixir too."
Elma nodded.
Walfred’s eyes lit up.
Enhancing base physical abilities meant the boost applied multiplicatively, separate from the physical enhancements he got from skills or blessings.
’Hope something useful shows up.’
Walfred wanted to get stronger.
Strong enough, at minimum, that he wouldn’t panic at the sight of the Leviathan. So barring anything unusual, he decided elixirs would be his top priority purchase.
"Anything else you’re curious about?"
"No, nothing for now."
"I see. Then let me leave you with one last piece of advice before you go into the Auction House."
She drew in a deep breath.
A moment later, Elma met his eyes and spoke in a low, level voice.
"Once you’re inside the Dimensional Auction House, don’t trust anyone except the caretakers, staff, and auctioneers who belong to the Dimensional Merchant Guild."
It sounded loaded with meaning.
Walfred didn’t bother asking why. He already knew.
The people at that auction weren’t allies so much as competitors. He had no intention of trusting them, or of talking to them at all, for that matter.
’Nothing to gain from getting friendly with beings from another dimension anyway.’
Once he’d sorted out his thoughts.
Walfred nodded quietly.
"Understood. I’ll keep it in mind."
"Yes, that’s all I ask."
Only then did Elma break into a bright smile.
And at that moment.
Ding!
[A Dimensional Auction invitation has arrived.]
[Sender]: Dimensional Merchant Guild
[Would you like to view it now?]
The alert he’d been waiting for appeared.
Eyes gleaming, Walfred touched the confirm button floating in the air.
And a moment later.
The contents of the invitation were revealed.
-----
[Dimensional Auction Invitation]
※This invitation is sent automatically to customers who have met the entry conditions for the Dimensional Auction House.
※If you wish to connect to the Dimensional Auction House, please touch the entry button below.
※Touching the entry button will transport you to the Dimensional Auction House immediately. Please be aware that this process may cause mild headache and nausea.
▶[ Dimensional Auction House - Enter ]◀
-----
While he was looking it over.
Elma spoke up quietly.
"Looks like the invitation came."
Quick to read the situation, she gave a gentle smile and bowed her head.
"Take care in there. Leave organizing the extermination force and guiding the non-Awakened evacuation to us."
"Right. I’m counting on you."
"Yes. I’ll pray you come back with good results."
Seen off by Elma.
Walfred touched the entry button.
And in that instant.
Flash!
A pillar of pure white light rose.
And his body vanished like smoke.
---
His vision washed out to white.
Then his consciousness went distant as dizziness and a headache surged in together. The side effects of the transport process the invitation had warned about, presumably.
The pain didn’t last long, though.
His clouded vision cleared back to normal, and the headache vanished as if it had been wiped away.
"Where is this...?"
He blinked a few times.
Walfred slowly looked around.
A sealed room, maybe 350 square feet. No windows, no doors, not even a chair in sight.
’Kind of small for an auction house.’
And not a soul from another dimension either.
Just as the strangeness of it was settling in.
Ding!
Along with the familiar alert tone.
A semi-transparent hologram appeared.
[Hello, valued customer.]
[Welcome to the Dimensional Auction House.]
The message printed out in midair.
But it was a little different from the system alerts he saw every day. How to put it? The font of the system message was subtly off.
While he was registering that small sense of wrongness.
A new message printed out.
[A basic guide has been prepared for customers visiting the Auction House for the first time. If you have any questions, please touch an item below.]
[Operation of the Dimensional Merchant Guild’s system is identical to the Eden System or the Terra System.]
The moment he saw it, his confusion cleared up.
It seemed this was a different type of system from the Eden System. Then, as he read on through the guidance message, the last part caught his interest.
’The Terra System?’
What was that? He’d never heard of it.
His curiosity spiked for a moment, but there was no way to satisfy it. There wasn’t a single clue anywhere about what the Terra System was.
’Focus on the auction for now.’
He shook off the stray thoughts circling in his head.
Walfred decided to go through the items listed at the very bottom of the guidance message one by one.
▷[What is the Dimensional Auction House?]
▷[Entry conditions for the Dimensional Auction House]
▷[Items handled at auction]
▶[Register goods for sale]
It was a basic guide, exactly as advertised.
The most fundamental knowledge for a first-time visitor to the Dimensional Auction House. Walfred lightly touched the item at the top.
-----
[What is the Dimensional Auction House?]
[Through contracts with various transcendent beings, it refers to an auction house conducted for the dimensional realms managed by the Eden System and the Terra System.]
[The Auction House is operated by the Dimensional Merchant Guild, which also operates the Hunter Shop that so many of you use.]
-----
After reading through it.
Walfred felt like he had a rough idea of what the Terra System, the thing that had piqued his curiosity, actually was.
’A system used by hunters in another dimension?’
It kept getting mentioned alongside the Eden System, after all. But that was pure speculation, so he quickly moved on.
’I already know the entry conditions, so skip that.’
He might as well look at the items handled at auction.
He’d already been told which items to prioritize, but separate from that, he was curious what kinds of goods went up for sale.
-----
[Items handled at auction]
[Fundamentally the same as the Hunter Shop.]
[However, there are far more rare and special goods, including Transcendent and Mythic rank items that cannot be obtained even at the Dimensional Exchange.]
[In addition, artifacts may be registered starting at Rare rank, and elixirs starting at Magic rank.]
-----
"Mythic rank, huh."
Walfred shook his head in amazement.
A single Legendary rank artifact alone would dramatically raise your survival odds, to say nothing of how much it helped in a fight.
An artifact above that rank? He couldn’t even picture how good it would be.
’And one more thing.’
There was a special condition.
Only artifacts of Rare or higher and elixirs of Magic or higher could be put up for sale.
Probably a measure to keep junk from getting registered and clogging up the auction. Walfred nodded and touched the final item.
-----
[Register goods for sale]
[Register goods to be put up at the Dimensional Auction House.]
[Once registered, an item cannot be withdrawn. The auction fee is 20% of the final winning bid. No fee is charged if the item goes unsold.]
▶[Go to registration]
[Time remaining until listing: 03:47:28]
-----
The listing category.
And one part of it stood out above all the rest: the fee.
’Cheaper than I expected.’
Compared to the 50% sales fee at the Dimensional Exchange, it felt like a blessing. With a satisfied smile, Walfred touched the registration button.
There was a piece of loot buried in the corner of his backpack.
Time to unload the [Legion Commander’s Baton].