TARRITW 05

The Auto-Looting Range Is Too Wide
Episode 5: How Much Can You Handle?

Kim Dong-pal quickly pressed the purchase button and entered the amount. Of course, the quantity was all 107! The amount was 5.35 million won!

‘Please! Please! I absolutely must buy this!’

The reason Kim Dong-pal was so fixated on this listing wasn’t simply because the quantity was large.

The Tower’s auction house basically allowed anonymous transactions. This seller had also listed the item anonymously.

However, buyers could send a message to the seller.

‘They put up 107 herbs all at once! They’re definitely a pro! If I can establish a connection with them, I’ll be able to receive goods consistently!’

It was possible that the quantity of 107 was an item they had accumulated over a long period. Even if he did manage to make contact, he might not be able to receive a stable supply as much as he hoped.

But that was a concern for later! Looking only at the product right in front of him, he had to secure it by any means necessary!

‘Please, let me be first! Let me be faster than anyone else! Sell to me!’

<You have successfully purchased ‘herbs’ listed by an anonymous seller.>

“That’s it!”

He was so happy that Kim Dong-pal stood up from his seat and cheered.

“Department head! You bought it?”

“I must have been faster than the others!”

“Wow! Congratulations!”

His subordinate rejoiced as if it were his own accomplishment. A smile never left Kim Dong-pal’s face.

“This is no time to just sit here. I’ll go send a message.”

Kim Dong-pal sent a message to the anonymous seller through the auction house.

‘If I just send a message, it might seem impersonal, right?’

As a bonus, he added an amount of 3 million won to the message.

“Please reply. Please reply. Please reply.”

Kim Dong-pal clasped his hands together and prayed again. Before he knew it, his subordinate was standing next to him, doing the same.

How much time passed like that?

• Dingring.

<A message has arrived.>

“It’s here! It’s here!”

Clenching his fists, Kim Dong-pal let out a cheer.

<All 107 ‘herbs’ listed on the auction house have been sold!>

“Oh? It sells this fast?”

The herbs were sold as soon as he registered them on the auction house.

He’d heard that herbs were popular lately, but he didn’t know they would sell out this quickly.

‘What should I do with this money? First, I’ll give some allowance to my mother, and then… a computer? Should I build a new one with the latest specs?’

Just as Mincheol was happily making plans in his head.

• Dingring.

<A message has arrived from the buyer.>

“A message?”

Mincheol opened the message with a curious expression.

<Hello, anonymous seller. I am Kim Dong-pal, a department head in the Material Procurement Division at Daehoon Pharmaceutical. If this action is considered rude, I sincerely apologize.>

“Daehoon Pharmaceutical? That’s the 3rd largest pharmaceutical company in South Korea, right?”

Having been unemployed and a job seeker, he knew most companies quite well.

That didn’t mean Mincheol had the specs to apply to Daehoon Pharmaceutical, though. It was like coveting a fruit he couldn’t eat.

To receive such a polite message from that place, which was like a pie in the sky, and from a department head no less.

‘Mincheol, you’ve really come up in the world.’

Mincheol chuckled to himself and continued reading the message.

-I was truly amazed that you listed as many as 107 herbs!
-Especially now, when demand for herbs is skyrocketing, supplies were desperately needed. It has been a huge help.
-I am sending this message wondering if you might be able to continue supplying herbs to Daehoon Pharmaceutical in the future.
-If you enter into a contract with us, we will purchase herbs for 70,000 won per item. If the overall market price rises, we will further increase the supply price.
-Of course, it’s only called a contract; there is no compulsion. Even after accepting the offer, if you’re not satisfied, you are free to terminate the deal.
-If you are willing to accept the contract, please accept my friend request.

<A friend request has arrived. Will you accept it?>

“Hmm, so they want a fixed transaction, right?”

From Mincheol’s perspective, this was a deal with no downsides.

There was no compulsion, and they were offering more money. They also promised to increase the supply price if the average market price rose.

‘More than anything, I like that they have a proper attitude towards the transaction.’

The amount of 3 million won that arrived with the message moved Mincheol’s heart.

<Would you like to add the sender of the message to your friend list?>

“I’ll add them.”

<To use the friend add function, you must set a pseudonym. Alternatively, you may use your real name.>

“Of course I’ll use a pseudonym.”

He was using the auction house to hide his identity; how could he use his real name?

<Please enter a pseudonym.>

‘What should I use as a pseudonym…’

Mincheol folded his arms and fell into thought. Deciding on a pseudonym felt much harder than the proposal in the message.

“Manmulsang? Okay, I’ll go with Manmulsang.”

<Pseudonym ‘Manmulsang’ has been registered.>
<Friend request accepted.>

‘Daehoon Pharmaceutical Dept. Head Kim Dong-pal’ was registered in his previously empty friend list.

As soon as he was added, a message arrived immediately.

-Daehoon Pharmaceutical Dept. Head Kim Dong-pal : Manmulsang, you accepted the friend request! Can I interpret this as you being willing to accept the contract?
-Daehoon Pharmaceutical Dept. Head Kim Dong-pal : (Emoticon of a 2-head-tall rabbit looking with expectant eyes)

“What? There’s an emoticon function too?”

Surprised by this unexpected feature, Mincheol stared at the emoticon with fascination.

Unbeknownst to Mincheol, there were even Awakened beings who made a living by registering and trading emoticons in the Tower.

-Manmulsang : Yes, the conditions seem good, so I’ve decided to accept. But is it true that there’s no compulsion?
-Daehoon Pharmaceutical Dept. Head Kim Dong-pal : Of course! Actually, even if we wanted to include compulsion, we couldn’t. The Tower doesn’t provide such a function.
-Daehoon Pharmaceutical Dept. Head Kim Dong-pal : (Emoticon of a 2-head-tall rabbit scratching the back of its head).

“These emoticons are charming. Maybe I’ll buy some later.”

Mincheol seriously considered it as he typed his message.

-Manmulsang : How much can you handle?
-Daehoon Pharmaceutical Dept. Head Kim Dong-pal : The more, the better!
-Manmulsang : If I put my mind to it, I could supply up to 500 items per day.

Mincheol’s words weren’t bluffing; they were sincere.

He had gathered 107 herbs just by walking around for an hour. Even then, he couldn’t gather more only because his inventory was full.

If that was the case when Auto-Looting was level 2, how much faster could he gather now that it was level 3?

“But why is there no response?”

After Mincheol’s message, no reply came. Mincheol looked at the message with a puzzled expression.

“Five hundred? What?”

Kim Dong-pal exclaimed incredulously after reading Manmulsang message.

“Does that even make sense? Even if he said he’d supply 500 per month, I wouldn’t believe it, but now he’s saying he can bring 500 per day?”

Currently, the total number of herbs registered on the auction house in Korea per month was about 1,000.

And in that situation, one person supplying 500? Even in a day? It was nonsense.

“What if this guy is some kind of weirdo?”

“But it could be real, right? We can verify the truth after accepting, it’s not too late.”

His subordinate was right.

And even if it wasn’t 500, just being able to receive 100 at a time like today would be an enormous help.

‘First, let me write a message.’

-Daehoon Pharmaceutical Dept. Head Kim Dong-pal : The more you can supply, the better, of course!
-Manmulsang : Understood. Then I’ll contact you again once the goods are ready.

With that, no more messages came through.

‘I hope what this guy said is true. Then I can really stick it to the research department.’

Just thinking about the hassle he’d endured from the research department made him shudder.

Kim Dong-pal earnestly prayed that this person called Manmulsang words were true.

The next day, Mincheol began preparing to enter the Tower.

<Title: Advice for Beginner Hunters Who Just Cleared the 1st Floor>
<Author: King Burger>

He checked the hunter community one more time. There was an informational post he had bookmarked yesterday.

It was one of the best informational posts, having received the most recommendations in the community.

-Congratulations on overcoming the big hurdle. You might ask, what hurdle, it’s only the 1st floor?
-Statistically, many Awakened beings give up without even challenging the 1st floor. Because unlike the tutorial, you can actually die here.
-It’s also the most dangerous period. It’s when confidence is high after passing the tutorial, making it easy to let your guard down.

Mincheol nodded. Even he, without the Auto-Looting skill, would have struggled against the hidden goblins.

-The Tower is a truly dangerous place. You never know what danger might strike.
-Always be alert, always be prepared. If you don’t, you could lose your life in the blink of an eye.
-Keep this in mind. The Tower is a place where even veteran hunters with over 10 years of experience die after letting their guard down for just a moment.

Mincheol engraved the advice from the guide deep in his heart. Always be alert, always be prepared.

-The next thing to do is to improve.
-You don’t need to be intimidated by the word ‘improve’. It just means remember your mistakes and never repeat them.
-Even small things are fine. Remember the mistakes you made while climbing the Tower and work on fixing them.
-Just doing this well will allow you to improve.

Mincheol thought back to when he challenged the 1st floor.

There were no major difficulties. But there were a few mistakes.

‘I couldn’t pull the sword out after stabbing it into the goblin’s body, right?’

Later, when he looked it up, he learned that if you stab too deep, the goblin’s muscles and internal organs tighten around the blade, causing this phenomenon.

Of course, he didn’t just learn the cause, but also the solution.

‘When fighting monsters, avoid using thrusts if possible. If you do stab the torso, don’t push it in deep. Stab shallowly, or twist the handle to pull it out.’

There was one more thing Mincheol needed to reflect on.

‘A message appeared saying I couldn’t use Auto-Looting because my inventory was full.’

When the message appeared, he had already killed over half the goblins. So it didn’t greatly affect the battle.

But what if there had been more goblins? What if it had been in the middle of the fight?

‘I need to always keep the free space in my inventory in mind.’

However, this wasn’t a fundamental solution. The problem stemmed from his inventory capacity being too small.

In fact, Mincheol had a way to solve this problem.

Mincheol opened his inventory. He took out the black ticket lying in the corner.

<Inventory Expansion Ticket>
-Description: Tearing the ticket increases inventory weight capacity by 5 kg.

It was one of the rewards he received for clearing the tutorial.

The reason he hadn’t used it was because he’d heard it was traded at an enormous price.

In the case of high floors, clearing a single floor could sometimes take over a week.

Therefore, inventory capacity was crucial when tackling high floors. You needed to carry as much food as possible.

‘I was planning to sell it later once I knew the exact market price.’

It was so popular that there wasn’t a single listing on the auction house. That meant it was that rare and sold for a high price.

But now wasn’t the time to save it.

Increasing inventory capacity would allow him to climb the Tower more safely and also bring back more materials.

<You have used the Inventory Expansion Ticket.>
-Inventory capacity 10 kg -> 15 kg.

Even though it was only an increase of 5 kg, he felt reassured.

Because Auto-Looting was his radar and his means of protection.

“Then, shall I challenge the 2nd floor?”

<Would you like to enter the 2nd Floor?>

“Yes.”

A halo of light enveloped Mincheol. Soon after, Mincheol was transported to the 2nd floor of the Tower.

The 2nd floor was a forest, just like the 1st. It felt like the trees were growing a bit more densely.

<You have entered the 2nd Floor of the Tower.>
<Find the green gem hidden somewhere.>
<However, the goblins inhabiting the forest will interfere with you.>

The halo of light surrounding Mincheol disappeared.

It was right after that.

“Keeeek!”

“Keeeek!”

Goblins burst out from the underbrush surrounding Mincheol. They leaped simultaneously, swinging their weapons.

If he stayed still like this, he would be cut down by the goblins.

It was too late to dodge. There were too many to block the attacks.

In that moment of crisis, Mincheol’s mind raced. His eyes quickly scanned the goblins’ weapons.

The goblins’ weapons were input into Mincheol’s mind. Mincheol immediately activated his Auto-Looting skill.

<Acquiring all ‘Goblin Clubs’ within a 300 m radius.>
<Acquiring all ‘Goblin Stone Axes’ within a 300 m radius.>
<Acquiring all ‘Goblin Blowpipes’ within a 300 m radius.>
<‘Goblin Stone Axes’ (6) acquired.>
<‘Goblin Clubs’ (3) acquired.>
<‘Goblin Blowpipes’ (4) acquired.>

All the weapons the goblins were holding vanished. The goblins’ expressions turned to utter horror.

<Using ‘Hwipungcham’.>
<Consuming 3 stacks of magic power.>

Mincheol’s body spun. The explosively accelerated slashes sliced through the goblins one after another.

Multiple lines of blood were etched onto the goblins’ bodies, and-

Woot woot-

Dismembered corpses fell from the sky.

The once-quiet forest was instantly stained with the stench of blood.