Taehu's fingers moved busily as he scrolled the mouse wheel.
Rows upon rows of inventory records filled the company intranet window on his monitor.
The breastplate fragment he had secured yesterday for a mere 800,000 won was the first trace he had found of Legendary equipment.
One line from its Status Window had refused to leave his mind.
[Can be combined with fragments of the same series.]
That meant other fragments had to exist somewhere.
Taehu focused his attention on the B-rank dungeon known as the Night Sky Ruins, where the breastplate fragment had been found. The dungeon had already been cleared numerous times, but that only meant countless Hunters and scavengers had passed through it, increasing the odds that debris they had collected was now scattered all over the place.
As Taehu continued scrolling through the records, the corners of his lips rose slightly.
"Just as I thought."
Iljin Appraisal Center's purchase ledger for the past month was packed with records of miscellaneous items recovered from the Night Sky Ruins.
A considerable portion consisted of troublesome inventory that Hunters had deemed unworthy of even paying an appraisal fee for, leaving the disposal rights to the appraisal center.
Those items were currently piled like mountains in the Disposal Holding Warehouse beneath the appraisal center.
Without delay, Taehu opened the company's internal messenger.
[I would like to inspect items awaiting disposal as potential purchases for personal collection and research purposes. Please authorize access to the basement warehouse.]
Approval from the Appraisal Center Director came in less than a minute.
From the company's perspective, an employee offering to purchase garbage with his own money when it would otherwise cost them money to dispose of was more than welcome.
Taehu rose from his seat and headed straight for the Warehouse Management Department on the first floor.
The warehouse management employee he had met early yesterday morning was sipping instant coffee when he noticed Taehu and gave him a slight bow.
"Appraiser Hwang. I saw your message. Let's head down to the basement disposal warehouse."
"Sorry to trouble you when you're busy."
"Not at all. We were going to call a contractor this afternoon and send the whole lot to the crushing facility anyway. If you can find something worth paying for before that, the company benefits too."
The employee's voice was as dry and businesslike as ever.
The two took the elevator down to the second basement level.
The moment the massive iron door opened, the stale smell of dust and metal rushed over them.
Fluorescent lights flickered to life, revealing a warehouse that looked like an enormous scrapyard.
Chipped blades, shattered pieces of armor, and stones completely drained of mana had been thrown into piles without even being properly sorted.
"Everything in this section came from the Night Sky Ruins. Take your time looking around."
After turning on the lights, the employee leaned against the wall.
Taehu nodded lightly and made his way between the dusty piles of junk.
He removed his glove and casually brushed his bare hand across the nearest lump of scrap metal.
An ordinary blue System Window appeared without fanfare.
[Deformed Iron Sword Fragment]
[No Use]
Taehu immediately looked away and moved on.
Blue windows rapidly appeared and vanished with every object his fingertips brushed against.
An ordinary Appraiser would have needed days to inspect each object individually with machines and verify its readings, but Taehu's Appraisal Ability was both intuitive and fast.
The moment he touched something, he could immediately tell whether it was garbage or not.
He had been searching the deeper parts of the warehouse for about ten minutes when something caught his eye.
An old, dented wooden crate had been abandoned in one corner.
Inside lay a piece of cloth burned so thoroughly black that its original form was almost impossible to recognize, along with a fist-sized stone of murky gray.
Taehu casually reached out and touched the cloth.
FLASH!
Brilliant golden text filled his vision, illuminating the dark warehouse with dazzling light.
[Inner Lining of the Starlight Armor]
[Original Rank: Legendary]
[Status: Severely damaged. Cannot be used independently.]
[Special Effect: Can be combined with the breastplate fragment.]
Taehu's heart seemed to drop into his stomach before beginning to pound furiously.
'Found it.'
It was a Legendary fragment that matched perfectly with the breastplate fragment he had obtained yesterday.
Barely suppressing the trembling in his fingertips, Taehu carefully reached toward the murky stone lying beside it.
[Starlight Armor Restoration Catalyst]
[Status: Mana nearly depleted.]
[Special Effect: A single-use medium capable of combining damaged Starlight-series equipment.]
Taehu cheered inwardly.
Even the adhesive needed to join the fragments together had conveniently been left inside the same box.
Ordinary appraisal machines would undoubtedly register zero mana response from these objects, so the Hunters who found them had probably dismissed them as nothing more than a burned scrap of cloth and a common stone.
Taehu kept strict control over his expression.
Showing even the slightest sign of excitement would invite unnecessary suspicion.
With a perfectly calm face, he picked up the entire wooden crate and carried it over to the warehouse management employee.
"I'll purchase everything in this box."
The employee pushed himself away from the wall and came over to glance inside.
A scrap of black cloth and a dirt-covered stone.
To his eyes, they looked like nothing but garbage destined for the crushing facility.
"All of this was going into the crusher anyway. Well, I'm sure you'll find some use for it. I'll remove it from the disposal ledger. Would 600,000 won be acceptable?"
"That's fine. I'll pay immediately."
Without hesitation, Taehu transferred 600,000 won to the corporate account through the company's payment system.
Once he had also signed on the employee's tablet, the legal transfer of ownership was cleanly completed.
"Thank you. You've saved us some disposal costs."
"I'm glad I found something useful too."
After exchanging a brief farewell, Taehu tucked the crate under one arm and stepped into the elevator.
The smile on his lips remained until the iron doors slid completely shut.
The moment his workday ended, Taehu headed straight back to his studio apartment.
Inside the bag slung over his shoulder were the wooden crate he had acquired that day and the breastplate fragment he had purchased yesterday.
His steps felt twice as light as usual.
When he unlocked the door and stepped inside, familiar silence greeted him.
As soon as he removed his shoes, Taehu put the convenience-store lunchbox he had bought into the microwave.
At that moment, his smartphone gave a short chime.
It was a message from his mother, Kim Misuk.
[Son, don't skip dinner. Make sure you eat properly.]
Taehu chuckled and typed a reply.
[Yes. I just got home. Something good happened today too.]
[Really? Tell me about it next time you visit. Eat first.]
"I found something even better than a bonus."
Muttering to himself, Taehu took off his jumper and draped it over the chair.
After checking the door lock and the window curtains one after another, he carefully lowered the bag from his shoulder onto the desk.
The air in the room seemed to grow strangely heavy.
Under the light of his desk lamp, Taehu placed the heavy breastplate fragment from the leather case beside the charred inner lining he had acquired that day.
Then he gently set the gray Restoration Catalyst between them.
"All right. Let's see you come together."
Taehu drew a short breath and placed his hand over the catalyst.
A faint vibration began inside the dull stone that had shown no reaction whatsoever before.
HUMMMMM.
The subtle trembling soon caused the surrounding air to ripple.
Fine cracks spread across the surface of the stone, and mysterious blue light began leaking through the gaps.
CRUMBLE!
The stone soon disintegrated like fine sand, and particles of light pouring from within rapidly seeped into the breastplate fragment and inner lining on either side.
It was as though they were being pulled by a powerful magnet.
The charred inner lining, its original shape almost completely lost, floated slightly into the air before snapping firmly against the torn inner surface of the breastplate fragment.
CLINK.
With a satisfying metallic sound, the two fragments locked firmly together.
CRACKLE. CRACKLE.
Sparks flew as mana crossed between them.
The wrinkles in the badly crumpled lining smoothed out, while some of the scratches across the breastplate fragment filled themselves in.
Only two pieces had been joined, yet its silhouette as a piece of armor had already become noticeably clearer.
Taehu watched the transformation without breathing.
Then new System notifications filled the air before him.
[Starlight Armor Restoration Catalyst consumed.]
[Fragment combination successful.]
[Current Restoration Rate: 11.3%]
[Combination Synergy detected. Some Hidden Properties have been activated.]
"Haa..."
A heated breath escaped Taehu's lips.
The Restoration Rate, which had previously been only 4.7%, had more than doubled in a single leap.
On top of that, Combination Synergy had activated additional Hidden Properties.
In its current state alone, the piece would probably sell for far more than most A-rank armor if he put it on the market immediately.
But its true value lay in the fact that it was still revealing barely more than ten percent of its complete potential.
If he collected all the remaining fragments and eventually restored it to a full one hundred percent, the resulting item might be something no one could even dare put a price on.
He had pulled a truth no one else could see from a pile of discarded waste.
And with his own hands, he had begun piecing it back together.
Taehu carefully cradled the armor fragment, now restored to 11.3%, in both hands.
The heavy warmth of its mana traveled through his palms and sent an exhilarating sensation through his entire body.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The microwave's completion alarm snapped Taehu out of his daze.
He looked down at the armor fragment glowing faintly on the desk and let out a soft laugh.
"I should eat first."
Taehu lightly tapped the fragment's rough outer surface with one finger.