Taehu shrugged off his jumper, draped it carelessly over the chair, and pulled himself close to the desk as he rolled his stiff neck from side to side.
CRACK.
With the crisp sound of his joints, the fatigue that had accumulated throughout the day eased slightly.
His eyes felt rather dry from spending all day examining the mountains of miscellaneous items piled up at the appraisal center, but his expression was lighter than ever.
Taehu took the heavy Small Lead Shielding Case for Hazardous-Material Transport out of his backpack and placed it on the desk.
When he released the lock and opened the lid, the thick plastic zipper bag inside came into view.
The moment he broke the seal on the bag, an unpleasant chill slowly seeped out, as though the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped.
What rolled out of the plastic was a crude iron ring radiating a sinister, murky dark-red aura.
"It really does look more vicious every time I see it."
Resting his chin on one hand, Taehu murmured as he studied the ring with interest.
This ring was the malicious waste item he had legally acquired earlier that day after persuading the Management Department and paying the company a mere 100,000 won as a disposal fee.
To the people at the appraisal center, it was nothing more than a D-rank cursed item that viciously ate away at its wearer's mind. There were even rumors that the Porter who had found it had suffered nightmares for days before collapsing and foaming at the mouth, so it was only natural that everyone avoided even going near it.
But to Taehu, it looked like an item from an entirely different world.
The golden text shimmering above the ring even now was proof of that.
The true rank of this hideous thing was none other than A-rank.
At some point in the past, someone had crudely attempted to forcefully extract its mana, severely tangling the delicate Mana Circuit within. As a result, the power that should have protected its wearer had become corrupted into a curse that stabbed directly into the mind.
Even though the damage was not physical, a magically twisted cursed item like this still revealed every last detail before Taehu's Appraisal Window.
Most importantly, the exact method for removing the curse and restoring it to its original A-rank state was displayed before his eyes.
Taehu opened his backpack and took out the materials he had purchased from the Hunter Market on his way home from work.
There were only two items: a dark-gray stone about the size of his thumb and a small glass vial sealed with a cork.
The stone was a Low-grade Dark-Attribute Magic Stone, one of the least sought-after monster by-products and something that could be bought for next to nothing. The glass vial contained a small quantity of refined Light-Attribute Powder.
Together, they had cost him barely more than 30,000 won.
'An ordinary Appraiser or Mage would have gone completely down the wrong path trying to restore this ring.'
Even if a Mage had miraculously discovered that the ring was originally A-rank and attempted to restore it, they would undoubtedly have poured millions of won worth of top-grade purification agents or holy water over it.
After all, conventional wisdom dictated that a curse should be forcibly suppressed and washed away with powerful light-attribute mana.
But aside from how absurdly expensive that method would be, it was far too crude.
If too much power from the holy water entered the ring, the delicate protection Mana Circuit originally engraved within it could burn out completely, leaving behind nothing but a useless shell.
By contrast, the Restoration Formula revealed by Taehu's Special Appraisal was a far more precise solution that addressed the root of the problem.
"Save money and restore it properly. That's my way."
Taehu opened his desk drawer, took out a pair of thick rubber-coated work gloves, and pulled them firmly over both hands.
After taking a light breath, he picked up the Low-grade Dark-Attribute Magic Stone.
"Instead of suppressing it with an opposing force, I'll make it resonate with something of the same nature as the curse and draw it out."
He pressed the flat side of the Magic Stone firmly against the thick iron rim of the ring.
SCREEECH!
A skin-crawling sound like metal claws scraping across a blackboard struck his ears.
A piercing chill crawled up his arm even through the glove, but Taehu merely pressed the Magic Stone harder against the ring with an impassive expression.
The sticky dark-red energy clinging to the ring's surface began to churn violently.
The curse waves that had been tangled together with nowhere to go sensed the energy of the Magic Stone, which shared a similar nature, and slowly stretched toward it like snakes.
The murky energy escaped the ring and was rapidly drawn into the Dark-Attribute Magic Stone.
The Magic Stone gradually turned black, as though saturated with rotten blood. Conversely, the ominous red glow radiating from the ring visibly faded.
It was the twisted mana at the root of the curse unraveling and being drawn out like a tangled ball of thread.
'Just a little more.'
Taehu's gaze sharpened.
Almost all the red light within the ring had disappeared, while the Magic Stone had reached its capacity and begun to tremble violently.
It was the exact moment when all of the distorted mana had been extracted.
"Now."
Taehu quickly pulled away the Magic Stone that had reached its limit and moved it far aside. With his other hand, he flicked the cork from the glass vial open.
Without hesitation, he scattered the softly glowing Light-Attribute Powder over the ring.
FLASH!
Bright light filled the cramped room as it completely neutralized the faint traces of negative energy that remained.
The initially dazzling light soon softened into gentle waves and seeped into the surface of the ring.
"Done."
On the desk, after the light had completely faded, the suffocatingly ominous aura was nowhere to be seen.
The crude and ugly lump of iron had regained its original dignified silver sheen and now gleamed brilliantly.
Taehu removed his gloves and carefully picked up the silver ring.
Instead of the biting chill that had pierced his skin before, only a pleasant warmth lingered at his fingertips.
At the same time, the Restoration Formula text floating in the air dispersed, and updated item information appeared in its place.
[Guardian's Ring]
-Rank: A
-Effect 1: Increases the wearer's Mental Resistance by 20%.
-Effect 2: Automatically activates a Barrier once upon detecting a potentially fatal attack. (Cooldown: 24 hours)
After confirming the restored information window, Taehu broke into a broad grin.
"This is incredible."
The brief exclamation escaped him involuntarily.
Even among A-rank defensive equipment, items with Mental Resistance were practically priceless among Hunters. If someone fell victim to a monster's hallucination or fear skill deep inside a dungeon, an entire party could be wiped out in moments.
On top of that, the ring possessed an automatic Barrier that activated on its own when the wearer's life was in danger.
Equipment of this caliber was so rare that even someone carrying stacks of cash and camping out in a top-tier private room at a major auction house could fail to find one for sale.
If it appeared on the market, it would undoubtedly fetch at least tens of millions of won, and with the right buyer, the price could easily climb into the hundreds of millions.
The 100,000 won disposal fee he had paid the company and the 30,000 won he had spent on materials at the market.
A miracle accomplished for a mere 130,000 won—one that would make anyone who heard about it think he had lost his mind.
Just then, a small line of text appeared at the very bottom of the information window.
[Hidden Growth Condition Exists]
"Huh?"
Taehu's eyes widened.
It was a message that would never appear in the blue windows seen by ordinary Appraisers, visible only to Taehu.
It meant that despite already being A-rank equipment, the ring still had room to evolve further.
'What does it need to grow? A high-rank Magic Stone? Or perhaps the essence of some special named monster?'
Taehu rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment before chuckling and dismissing the window.
"There's no reason to obsess over a condition I can't figure out right now."
Since the Appraisal Window was not displaying the Growth Condition in concrete terms, it was clearly not something he could easily fulfill at his current level.
In any case, the ring's present specifications were already excellent enough to be more than Taehu could reasonably ask for.
There was no reason to waste time and money recklessly chasing some unknown evolution condition.
He had no intention of becoming the strongest in the world overnight and playing the hero.
Taehu's goal was clear.
He wanted to uncover the true value of items being sold for next to nothing or simply thrown away, earn money from them legitimately, and use that wealth to enjoy a peaceful life with his parents.
His highest priority was preserving the warm, peaceful life they had now—one where his father could take his new fishing rod out to sea without worrying about money, while his mother could carry an expensive camera and go on photography outings.
To achieve that, earning money was important, but he also needed enough defensive ability to make sure he could return safely from dungeon expeditions without suffering some absurd injury.
Without hesitation, Taehu slid the silver ring firmly onto the index finger of his left hand.
SLIP.
The moment the ring settled snugly around his finger, a clear, refreshing energy that seemed to wash his mind clean spread throughout his body.
Even the lingering stiffness and fatigue from the workday seemed to vanish.
It was proof that the Mental Resistance effect had activated immediately, strengthening the protection around his mind.
"This really is something. I didn't expect my head to feel this clear."
In the dungeon he had recently entered with a temporary party, he had acquired the Knight Commander's Seal and evolved the broken sword into the Sword of the Fallen Knight Commander. Adding the Tracker's Glove had given him considerable offensive power focused on striking enemy weak points. After obtaining the Special Skill Knight's Footwork, his previously poor mobility had also improved dramatically.
His one and most critical weakness was that, as an Appraiser-type Hunter, his raw physical abilities were only around F-rank. His durability and survivability were woefully inadequate.
His body was so fragile that even a glancing blow from a monster could easily break his bones.
But this single ring perfectly filled that gap.
An A-rank Barrier that would automatically block a potentially fatal injury once per day.
Inside a dungeon, it was practically the same as having a second life.
With this level of balance, he could now enter a higher-level dungeon alone without being absurdly swept away by an unexpected attack.
The vague anxiety tucked away in the corner of his mind—the fear that he might die in a dungeon and leave his family behind—vanished as though it had been washed clean.
Taehu lightly clenched and unclenched his fist as he looked down at the softly gleaming ring.
"Now I really shouldn't die easily, no matter where I go."