Hell Auction.

Despite the terrifying name, it was, apparently, a more or less “ordinary” auction house.

“Auction shows were a common event on big cruise ships like this back in the day,” Razor explained. “They’d lure in tourists with a free glass of champagne, sit them down, and then sell off some ridiculously overpriced artwork or souvenir crap at an insane markup.”

Jae-hee broke into a cold sweat. “That’s no different from some snake oil salesman…”

“Pretty much. But that was back when this was a cruise ship.”

Razor gestured toward the hideous sign that read ♨HELL AUCTION♨. “This auction is a little different. Here, real goods and Credits change hands.”

The prisoners had needed a place to trade useful items and Credits, so the guards had authorized a system for regular, official transactions.

That system was the auction house.

“They sell everything from valuables like watches and jewelry to cars and houses from the outside world. Even the Gate Gear we take on missions. It’s a place where you can sell anything and buy anything.”

“Whoa…”

“But the best part, the real treat, is the Death Auction.”

“D-Death Auction?”

The gruesome term made Jae-hee flinch, but Razor was unfazed.

“Think about how often we have to clean up inmate corpses around here. You think their personal effects get processed properly?”

“Oh, don’t tell me…”

“Yep. Whether they die on a mission or get shivved in a brawl, we collect anything useful from their belongings and sell it off cheap right here.”

Beside them, Status Window suddenly began dipping down and snapping back up, mimicking a pickup motion. “The warmth of the dead remains~”

“What kinda creepy thing is that to say?”

Status Window’s incomprehensible references were just part of daily life now. Jae-hee quickly got back to the point.

“Anyway, you’re saying you listed the Outing Permit for sale at this auction?”

Both Razor and Status Window nodded.

Jae-hee’s face crumpled in despair as he shrieked, “You should have sold it to me!”

“You never said you wanted to buy it desu…”

“I forgot!”

“All that rough-and-tumble lately has really done a number on you desu, Boy-kun.”

Jae-hee tore at his hair, then jabbed a finger toward the auction house. “Can’t you cancel the listing? I’ll give you a good price!”

“We’d love to, but it’s against the rules. The moment an item is registered, it’s out of our hands.”

“Graaaargh…”

As Jae-hee let out a pained groan, Razor grinned, clearly amused.

“Well, since it’s come to this, you’ll just have to join the auction and buy it. They sell a lot of interesting stuff here, so it’s perfect. We can all go check it out together later.”

And so, it was decided: Jae-hee would have to attend the auction to acquire the Outing Permit.

His face a mask of misery, Jae-hee asked, “How much does a seven-day permit usually go for?”

“Market price. Pure market price. It all depends on how many people want to buy it. When it’s cheap, it’s around a hundred thousand Credits. When it’s expensive, I’ve heard it can go up to three hundred thousand.”

The unexpected price range made Jae-hee clutch his cheeks and let out a piercing shriek.

“Three hundred thousand Credits?! You could get three thousand days off your sentence with that! Why would anyone buy an outing permit instead of just getting out of prison sooner? That’s an insane waste of money!”

“That’s the logical way to think about it,” Razor said with a shrug. “But when you’re staring down a sentence of a few hundred, or a few thousand, years, getting out is pretty much impossible anyway. I guess they just want a breath of fresh air now and then. Besides, there are plenty of people here who’d go crazy if they couldn’t get out for a bit.”

Prisons, by their very nature, don’t operate on rational, logical thinking.

After all, people who live their lives with rational, logical thinking rarely end up in prison in the first place.

“So why do you need an Outing Permit, anyway?” Razor asked. “Don’t tell me you’ve gotten a taste for the outside world.”

“No, I mean, the outside was nice, but… it’s just that…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Jae-hee confessed everything: how he had offered the permit to Ghost to secure the master-disciple contract, and how he needed to procure another one to extend his training.

Status Window tilted his head. “Isn’t seven days of training enough desu? You’re already super strong, Boy-kun. What more do you need to learn desu?”

“B-but… there’s still so much I haven’t learned…”

Razor chimed in. “Must be because you never finished school. You’re just desperate for a lesson. C’mon, brat. After a week of training, you’ve basically earned your elementary school diploma. That’s more than enough to descend the training mountain.”

“But I’m not ready to descend…”

“And if you were really a talented, pretty, and favored disciple, don’t you think your master would’ve kept you around? What do you think her asking for another permit means? It means she doesn’t feel the need to keep you.”

“E-excuse me what?!”

“Take the hint and descend the mountain yourself. It’s what’s best for your master, you disloyal little apprentice.”

Jae-hee ground his teeth. “I will never descend. And if that’s what my master truly thinks, then all the more reason to extend my lessons! I’ll torment her to the very end!”

“Look at him, taking the bait instantly. Hey, you. Stay far, far away from anyone selling snake oil.”

Razor cackled, but Jae-hee was dead serious.

He didn’t know what Ghost really thought, but now that it had come to this, he’d keep extending those lessons until the day the world ended!

Besides, price isn’t the issue.

The opportunity to learn the sword directly from Ghost—an S-Rank Awakened and one of the Old Five Heroes—was a value that couldn’t be measured in money.

“The Outing Permits… I’ll buy them all!” Jae-hee raised an arm high in the air and declared proudly, “I’ll show the entire world the glorious power of the wealth I have amassed!”

Getting into the spirit, Razor and Status Window applauded. “Wooow!”

After all… watching someone else piss away their money is always a good show.

***

The auction was scheduled for 9:00 PM.

Until then, Jae-hee returned to the 10th Deck to organize his Credits and see if he had anything else to sell. He headed for the Bank.

“Anything to sell… of course not.”

The only sellable item among his possessions was the cassette player, but it probably wouldn’t fetch much, and he didn’t want to part with it anyway. His Gate Gear was obviously not for sale.

“Bank balance… let’s see. 2,840,000 Credits.”

His balance had been 2.8 million before he commissioned his new gear and bought the Refill Injector. After that, his hospital stay had cost him 10,000 Credits, but he’d received 50,000 in consolation money for the failed mission, bringing his total to 2.84 million.

Jae-hee propped his chin on his hand and hummed.

This should be more than enough ammo.

A seven-day Outing Permit went for between 100,000 and 300,000 Credits, so he had plenty to spare. The real issue was that the permits were rarely issued and thus quite scarce.

The key was how many he could hoard now that some were available.

There are at least two up for auction, so I have to get both of those. If more show up, how many can I secure?

As Jae-hee was lost in thought, a middle-aged man’s voice called out from beside him.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Boy!”

Jae-hee turned. “Oh, Mr. Jung Kwan Jang!”

It was the man in the sleeveless shirt, his body a mass of rock-hard muscle. None other than the permanent resident of the 2nd Deck gym, Jung Kwan Jang.

He was also the one responsible for pushing Jae-hee, a total gym newbie, to the brink of death on his very first day.

“What are you doing here? Why didn’t you come to the gym today?”

“Mr. Jung Kwan Jang, what was that all about yesterday?! It was my first day! You pushed me so hard I ended up in the clinic!”

His body still aching all over, Jae-hee protested with a deeply aggrieved expression.

But Jung Kwan Jang simply crossed his arms, flexed his biceps, and answered with grave sincerity. “Mr. Boy. Do you know the principle behind muscle growth?”

“Huh? No, I don’t…”

“Muscle, my boy, grows in the process of being torn and then healing. In other words, to build muscle, you must intentionally push it to its limits!”

Jung Kwan Jang struck a series of magnificent bodybuilding poses. “It is only by overcoming adversity that we can truly grow, just like in our own lives! That is the essence of muscle!”

“Uh…” Jae-hee asked, skeptical, “So… ‘no pain, no gain’?”

“Precisely! Pain is youth, and only through pain can there be muscle!”

Hearing this, Jae-hee finally had a thought.

Is this guy running a cult?

Now that the initial rose-colored glasses were off, the gym-rat inmate was starting to look more and more like a snake oil salesman.

“Now do you understand why I was so hard on you from day one?”

“Even so, you shouldn’t push someone until they end up in the hospital…”

“Ahem, I apologize for that. It seems my enthusiasm got the better of me.”

Jung Kwan Jang waved his hands dismissively. “To make up for it, for one week—one week!—I will help you train for free, no protein shakes required. This time, I won’t push you too hard. We’ll do it properly! Safely!”

“Hmm…” He was still suspicious, but it was probably better than working out alone.

Jae-hee finally nodded. “All right. I’ll be in your care, Mr. Jung Kwan Jang.”

“Heh heh. A wise choice. Ah, but think of it as a small down payment… could you perhaps buy me just one protein shake on our way down later…?”

The persistent Jung Kwan Jang only backed off after securing Jae-hee’s promise.

Smiling with satisfaction, he stepped up to a kiosk, apparently having business at the Bank as well. He began withdrawing an assortment of small items from storage, placing them in a basket he’d brought.

A grimy little dumbbell, a kettlebell, a jump rope, a weightlifting belt and wrist guards, a well-worn fitness magazine, its pages so thumbed-through they shone… 

Seeing him gather all this junk, Jae-hee asked, “What are you going to do with all that stuff?”

“This? The auction’s tonight. I’m planning to sell it all there.”

“Oh! You’re going to the Hell Auction too?”

“Ahh, yes. I am indeed.”

A smile spread across Jung Kwan Jang’s gaunt face. “An item I’ve been waiting for is finally up for sale. I’ve been saving every Credit I could to buy it. I didn’t even have enough for a protein shake, so I had to approach a gym newbie and mooch off him…”

“What was that?”

“Ah, nothing, nothing. Ahem! Anyway, I absolutely must buy that item, so I’m scraping together every Credit I can. I figured selling all this might help a little…”

Watching him prepare to sell off even these shabby—but clearly cherished—possessions, Jae-hee asked out of pure curiosity, “Wow, what item have you been waiting for so eagerly?”

“An Outing Permit.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s an item called an Outing Permit.” Jung Kwan Jang offered a good-natured smile. “I have a reason I absolutely must go to the outside world.”

“…”

“So, no matter what it takes, I have to get that permit.”

Jae-hee paused, deep in thought.

He was seriously contemplating how to eliminate the competition in front of him.

Quietly and without a trace.

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