The stay time at the Dimensional Traveler–Exclusive Auction House was one hour.

Not even thirty minutes had passed yet, so he still had plenty of time.

But someone else might come in.

Another dimensional traveler who used this place.

Just because someone was a dimensional traveler did not mean they were all good people.

And if he did run into one, he would not even know what to say.

Let’s go back.

The blood-summoned entities would be worried.

The link gate on the other side was still open.

Juhyeok quietly stepped inside.

“Gah!”

“Summoner Bong!”

“Hooray!”

“You’re back!”

“See? I told you there was nothing to worry about.”

“You returned safely.”

The blood-summoned entities were still waiting for him.

“How was the auction house?”

“Our big-spending Summoner Bong, did you splurge at the auction?”

“I am certain he did. He is a dimensional tycoon beyond Earth itself.”

Big spender? Dimensional tycoon?

More like a dimensional pauper who could not bid on anything.

“...I’ll explain the details later, once we get back to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} White Tower Floor 17.”

“Yes, sir!”

They took the elevator back to White Tower Floor 17.

Then Juhyeok briefly explained what had happened at the auction house.

The blood-summoned entities listened with fascinated expressions.

When he mentioned the auction items and bid prices, their mouths fell open.

Items like that were sold there?

Top-grade Magic Stones were the currency?

And the prices were beyond imagination?

After finishing the rough explanation, Juhyeok opened the White Tower Floor 17 owner menu.

Ding!

[Basic][Placement][Grant Residency Rights][Resident List][Auction Status Board]

There it was.

An Auction Status Board that allowed him to check the auction’s progress from White Tower Floor 17.

He raised his finger and touched the menu.

FWOOSH!

A flood of auction items scrolled upward.

“Oh?”

“Wow!”

“Eek? What is that?”

“Oh! So that is what the status board looks like.”

“WAAH!”

Huh?

The blood-summoned entities were reacting.

Meaning—

“Can you see the status board?”

“Yes, clearly.”

“It is very visible.”

“Crystal clear.”

So it was shared with everyone.

The item names and bid prices were displayed in Korean as well.

“Plum Blossom Sword Technique? That thing is already over three tons of top-grade Magic Stones?”

“So even martial-world items are listed.”

“Look there. Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng.”

“Look at that dragon heart. The price is vicious.”

“Lightning Storm is an ultimate lightning spell. Do you think a Meteor spellbook might show up too?”

“What is a true gold ingot?”

Ding!

<Mari>: True gold? That’s listed too?

The shut-in alchemist Mari showed keen interest as well.

From her residence area, she opened a window and stared at the status board through a telescope.

<Mari>: What about true silver? Is true silver being sold?

Judging by the page indicator, there were more items.

So Juhyeok swiped through.

<Mari>: ...Ah! There it is!!!

Mineral: True Silver Ingots, 100 kg

Current bid: 4,178 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

What?!

True silver was even more expensive than true gold.

<Mari>: That is normal. True silver is the best alchemical enchantment material.

Ah.

That made sense.

True gold was stable, but the bid on true silver was still climbing.

From 4,178 kg to 4,185 kg.

Dimensional travelers are bidding in real time.

The other items were the same.

The bids kept rising.

When he tapped an item, detailed information appeared automatically.

He poked the dragon heart listing.

Starting bid: 10,000 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

Auction ends in 3 hours. Total duration: 24 hours.

Exchange possible for an Ancient Blue Dragon Heart. Send exchange request message.

Bid cancellation allowed until 1 hour before auction end. Currently cancellable.

So auctions ran for 24 hours total.

Exchange requests could be sent through messages, and bids could be canceled until one hour before the end.

“The dragon heart auction closes in three hours. If we had that, we could make one more elixir.”

So what?

One heart cost more than 50 tons of top-grade Magic Stones.

Honestly, dragon hearts were on the cheaper side.

There were items that were unimaginably expensive.

Droplet of Creation.

Primordial Flame.

Breath of Light.

Dust of Origin.

Godslayer’s Long Spear.

World Tree Sapling.

And more.

Items he had never even heard of.

The minimum bids ranged from 1 billion to 10 billion kg.

And those were only the starting bids.

No changes meant no one had bid yet.

Naturally so.

It felt like a salaried worker earning three million won a month staring at a 30-billion-won Han River-view apartment.

Who would buy something that expensive?

Unless they were a true dimensional tycoon.

Of course, there were cheaper items he could actually afford.

When he swiped through the auction board pages—

Weapon: Star-Infused Meteorite Divine Sword

Current bid: 547 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

Material: Mandragora ×10

Current bid: 8 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

Equipment: Dwarven Craftsmanship Skill-Enhancement Gloves

Current bid: 812 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

Material: Bundle of Ice Spirit Grass

Current bid: 5 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

Stuff like that.

Judging by the descriptions, some of them seemed worth buying at least once.

Ding!

<Mari>: Don’t buy mandragora. It’s a waste of money. You can substitute it with tower herbs.

Really?

Baek Danya came over as well.

“Ice Spirit Grass is decent for cultivating ice arts, but compared to the cold of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal, it is trash.”

“Ah, yes.”

True.

How could a mere herb compare to the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal?

“If you wish to cultivate ice arts, Summoner, all you need to do is hold my hand tightly.”

Sorry, but he had no intention of cultivating ice arts.

Still, there are a few things worth buying.

Because they were cheap.

“Oh, right!”

He had almost forgotten.

“What happened to the wristwatch I listed?”

He had not expected much.

Even weapons, equipment, mandragora, and Ice Spirit Grass—confirmed treasures—were going cheap.

In a market like this, how much could a wristwatch that only told time be worth?

If someone bid on it at all, that would already be a blessing.

Let’s see, the wristwatch...

Hmm.

Come to think of it, that was strange.

There were no Earth-made items like wristwatches listed at all.

Well, of course.

If something as trivial as a watch showed up among treasures, people would laugh.

Ah, I shouldn’t have listed it.

Regret welled up.

He should have listed a piece of equipment instead.

Then he noticed—

“Ah! There it is.”

An entry with the name Bong Juhyeok at the top.

And beneath it, in small text:

Items currently being auctioned.

Active bids.

He raised his hand and tapped it.

Ongoing Auction

Accessory: Katek Flip Grand Complete Wristwatch

Interesting.

...Even the product name is exact?

The watch Juhyeok had listed.

It had been about an hour since he posted it.

The bid price?

Current bid: 3,335 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

“...Huh?”

What?

“Holy...”

Three thousand?

And only an hour had passed?

“What the hell...?”

He thought he had misread it, but no.

Tap-tap-tap!

Even now, the bid was climbing at a terrifying speed.

A dark room.

WHIIIRRR!

The noisy fan of an old gaming laptop spun loudly.

An old man furiously clicked his mouse and keyboard, fully immersed in a game.

A moment later—

Phew, that’s the ending.

Another character completed.

That makes... ninety-nine completed characters?

The old man’s name was Lumos.

He was a great sage of the Gintervar Continent, and he had secluded himself in the Forest of Delusion for a hundred years.

Even games are getting boring now.

Naturally so.

He had devoted thirty years to a single game.

If only I could play multiplayer. But there’s no such thing as a network connection.

Electricity was not an issue.

With a bit of adjustment to lightning magic, he could supply the laptop with stable voltage and current.

Oh, right. What time is it?

Lumos raised his wrist and checked his electronic watch.

A solar-powered digital watch.

One hour left.

About one hour remained until the Lightning Storm spellbook he had listed in the Dimensional Traveler–Exclusive Auction House finished selling.

“Auction Status Board.”

Instantly—

FLASH!

The auction list appeared before his eyes.

Ongoing Auction

Spellbook: Lightning Storm

Current bid: 3,054 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

“Hm.”

Three thousand.

A decent price.

But soon—

Bid has been canceled.

“...”

He had expected it.

“Damn it!”

Some bastard always bid on his items, drove the price way up, and then canceled.

Just messing around.

It was a common occurrence in auction houses.

And it had not happened only once or twice.

It had happened yesterday too.

Anything that seemed even slightly expensive was always canceled one minute before bids became non-refundable.

That dragon heart or martial arts manual would be canceled too.

Guaranteed.

“If I ever meet that bastard, I’ll kill him.”

But he did not know who it was.

And even if he visited the dimensional auction house in person, there was no way to meet them.

Even if he went there, he would be alone anyway.

That was simply how the dimensional auction house worked.

Dimensional travelers could not meet one another face to face.

There were many users, but all of them were isolated from each other.

They could only use their lockers—placing bids, receiving winning items, or inserting and retrieving exchanged goods.

Dimensional travel.

It had been about a hundred years since Lumos became a traveler.

Just when he, as a great sage, had grasped the principles of the world and realized there was no more truth left to learn, something appeared before him.

A rift in empty space.

A link gate leading to another world.

Using that gate, he experienced countless worlds.

The dimensions Lumos visited included a world of magic, a world of spirits, a world of martial arts and internal energy, a world of magitech, and a world of demi-humans.

Lumos realized it then.

The world was not singular.

As many worlds existed as there were stars in the sky.

Perhaps hundreds of thousands.

Millions.

No—hundreds of millions of worlds.

Thus, Lumos traveled dimensions.

At first, it was fascinating and exhilarating.

After all, they were worlds completely different from his own.

But little by little, he grew indifferent.

They were unfamiliar, yet at the same time, strangely familiar.

In the end, they were all much the same.

Civilizations built upon magic power and mana.

What was so special about that?

Then—just once.

Perhaps due to a malfunction of the link gate, he ended up in a civilization he had never seen in his life.

A strange world called Earth.

Earth.

A civilization with no mana and no magic at all.

One built entirely upon the laws of science.

Good heavens.

Such a civilization existed?

Lumos was instantly captivated by that world.

Like a country bumpkin arriving in the imperial capital for the first time, he wandered Earth in a daze, drinking in its civilization.

But the time was far too short.

He was allowed to stay in Earth’s civilization for only three days.

Before he could truly experience anything, he was expelled back to his own world.

He could not even take a single item with him.

Other worlds had not been like that.

He could stay a month, two months—as long as he liked.

He could take any item without restriction.

Fine.

The first time had been chaotic.

He had not even looked around properly.

But the second time would be different.

He would prepare thoroughly and experience it to his heart’s content.

But that was the end of it.

A second chance never came.

The link gate to Earth never opened again.

The regret was overwhelming.

Was there truly no way to go again?

Then one day, Lumos acquired the qualification to use the dimensional auction house as a dimensional traveler.

Through that, he also learned that there were countless dimensional travelers besides himself.

And then—

After submitting his first auction listing and browsing the status board, he saw it.

A gaming laptop.

A laptop!

Was that not a machine born from Earth’s scientific civilization?

And he was seeing it here?

Lumos’ eyes went wild.

Even if he could not go to Earth itself, he could obtain Earth items through the auction house.

He poured his entire fortune into it and succeeded in winning the bid.

It was a used item.

It even had game programs installed by its previous owner.

After that, many more items from Earth’s civilization appeared in the auction house.

Cameras that could take photographs.

Various clothes and hats.

Stationery.

Watches and other accessories.

They were explosively popular among dimensional travelers.

Lumos himself barely managed to win only this laptop and a digital watch.

But that did not last long.

Suddenly, items from Earth’s scientific civilization stopped appearing altogether.

Overnight, the supply was completely cut off.

And decades passed like that.

“Haah...”

Why were they not appearing?

If he had never experienced them, that would be one thing.

But he had already tasted it.

The dimensional auction house only had magic books, martial manuals, weapons, equipment, and materials now.

Just like today.

Dragon hearts.

Martial arts manuals.

Alchemy materials.

“Why would I buy this crap?”

Lumos absentmindedly turned the page.

And then—

“...Huh?”

What?

Was he imagining it?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again.

Accessory: Katek Flip Grand Complete Wristwatch.

“Gah!”

A wristwatch.

And not just any watch.

A luxury brand so expensive even on Earth.

“Insane!”

Had Earth items suddenly resumed appearing at auction?

The bid price?

Current bid: 4,124 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

Four thousand.

It had clearly only just begun.

“This is mine.”

He could not let it go.

He would bid aggressively, no matter what.

And it was not just Lumos.

Countless dimensional travelers were plunging into the bidding war.

The martial world.

Former Murim Alliance leader Geum Cheolmyeong was once again staring at the Dimensional Traveler–Exclusive Auction House from his residence.

A hundred years ago, after personally slaying the demonic Heavenly Demon who had plagued the martial world, he entered secluded cultivation to heal his internal injuries.

In the process, he attained enlightenment.

He achieved rebirth through bone transformation and rejuvenation to youth.

Then, before him, appeared a strange oval-shaped rift.

A connecting gate that allowed travel between dimensions.

After acquiring the qualification of a dimensional traveler, he toured countless worlds.

Worlds where magic was a bizarre discipline.

Worlds inhabited by races he had never heard of.

Curiously, there were many versions of the martial world as well.

A martial world where the Heavenly Demon conquered the Central Plains.

A martial world where the Mad Demon stood supreme.

A martial world where the Emperor forced all orthodox and unorthodox martial artists to kneel.

A martial world ravaged by the Blood Demon.

A martial world where the Wudang Sect reigned supreme.

Then he experienced Earth.

Just once.

It was truly a kaleidoscope of wonders.

Such abundance.

Such convenience.

Foods he had never tasted, iron carriages that moved on their own, and skyscrapers soaring into the heavens.

But he was quickly expelled.

He could never return.

Later, Geum Cheolmyeong also obtained the qualification to use the dimensional auction house.

And with it, he learned that Earth items appeared there.

He would at least buy those.

As a way to reminisce about Earth.

The auction house currency was top-grade Magic Stones.

So first, he had to secure funds.

How?

By traveling to mana- and magic-based dimensions.

Slaying magical beasts there had a slim chance of yielding them.

Sometimes, they could be exchanged for gold.

Or he could list herbs or martial manuals cheaply in the auction house.

Earth clothes.

Earth shoes.

Earth food.

Earth cigarettes.

He bid diligently and bought many of them.

Then, suddenly, the supply of Earth items stopped.

Now, Earth items no longer appeared in the auction house.

“Why...?”

If he had to guess—

Either the Earth dimensional traveler had died.

Or the world he lived in had been destroyed.

Or Earth’s civilization itself had vanished.

Geum Cheolmyeong felt deep regret.

To think he could never experience that abundant world again.

And then, today—

An anomaly occurred.

“K-Katek Flip Grand Complete?”

That was his watch.

He was bidding, no matter what.

But the auction price was climbing ferociously.

“Damn it! Who dares place a higher bid on my watch?!”

Wretches.

I’ll tear you apart.

Even so, he would not back down.

Juhyeok and the blood-summoned entities sat huddled together in front of the Auction Status Board.

They could not tear themselves away.

Because—

“Ohhh! It went up again.”

“There is real competition now.”

“Good heavens.”

“Yes! It broke six thousand!”

And the auction was not even close to ending yet.

Nineteen hours remained.

Just how high would it go?

Current bid: 6,007 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

Only about five hours had passed.

Current bid: 6,084 kg of top-grade Magic Stones

The bid kept climbing without rest.

“Is this a jackpot?”

“It is a jackpot.”

“It is a jackpot indeed.”

“A jackpot.”

“A jackpot.”

“Jackpot! Guaranteed win! Congratulations!”

“WAAH!”