NOVEL NEXT Episode 3
A few days later, the day had arrived again. Boss hunting day! The nickname auction would open in two days. If it opened on a weekday morning, many office workers wouldn’t be able to participate.
In the past, I might have thought it was greedy to try to get a nickname while working a full-time job, but now, with more competitors, it’s actually quite fun.
Why is it fun when more competitors are involved? Because I’m going to win anyway. The more competitors, the more fun it is. The light doping for the boss fight was complete.
[HARD – Heimdall]
[Enter]
Clicking the enter button.
By the way, last week, when I was still at the 100 million platinum stage, my clear time was 59 minutes and 57 seconds. I barely made it within the 1-hour time limit. So, how much faster will it be now with my combat power 5 times higher?
The moment I buy the items, check my combat power, and face the boss is the most exciting part.
My class: Idol.
A class that balances support, healing, and damage. Naturally, damage is lacking, but in Ragnarok Saga, items can make up for that.
Supporters aren’t favored by whales, but there’s no other class that can do what Idol does. When your gear gets stronger, everything…damage, survivability, and synergy…just falls into place!
I unleash my Idol skills!
I even sing along with the skill lines!
“Heart~~♡!”
When I did this with a male voice last week, even I thought it sounded ridiculous, but with this voice, it just feels full of cuteness.
“Hehe.”
After reaching 500 million combat power, I used my ultimate skill. The damage continued…
[HARD – Heimdall has been defeated!]
While my combat power had increased fivefold, the damage increase was even greater. A boss that used to take an hour to defeat now falls with just one ultimate skill. I basked in the joy of this power surging from somewhere deep inside me.
Unfortunately, the boss reward was only the basic one.
I had already obtained Heimdall’s Eye last week, so I didn’t care about the drop, but I wanted to stir things up in the gallery again.
[You have purchased +0 Heimdall’s Eye.]
I’ll need it later to upgrade to +10 anyway, so I might as well get one now. 90,000 won for the gallery hype? How could I resist?
[Title: Hoee~ Yeo Ah-Jang got Heimdall’s Eye two weeks in a row!~]
[Content: Got it for 90,000 won again~]
Wow
Wow
Wow
Damn, Yeo Ah-Jang is lucky, f***
Blocked, blocked, blocked, blocked
…
…
“Hehe.”
With a mischievous smile, I continued hunting bosses. It felt like I was playing as a munchkin from an anime. Bosses that used to take nearly an hour to defeat now fell with one hit or two ultimate skills. After all, I’m in the top 100 among all Ragnarok Saga players. Being in the ultra-high-spec ranks, this was to be expected.
[HARD – Fenrir]
The highest-level boss available for a two-player party, Fenrir.
Defeating this boss would solidify my position as a true frontrunner. But I’m sure the time is fast approaching for that day.
A two-player party.
Where can I find a partner? For now, I need to think slowly. The nickname auction is a more immediate concern.
Meanwhile, the Ragnarok Saga community is buzzing with talks about the big event, the nickname auction.
BaeKk <<< How much will this sell for?
HealLe, it’s similar to a rare nickname, so it should sell for at least 20, right?
Reserve your spot for Jamp! It’s a good value deal.
…
…
It’s chaos. As expected, if you can sell, you might as well farm gold first. This is typical Ragnarok Saga. Standing at the forefront of rice-eating players, watching from a step back now, it’s like watching a comedy. Still, BaeKk is worse than Dttip.
That’s when it happened.
Phew~!
A strange sound, and then my computer shut off.
Click. Click. Click.
No response, even when I pressed the power button.
“…”
I knew instantly.
My computer was dead.
Right before the nickname auction, no less. Maybe it was for the best. If it had happened during the auction, it could have been disastrous. Since I have the money, maybe it’s time to get a new computer. A proper one, worthy of rank 1. Now, I lie down on my big, comfortable bed and pick up my phone.
“Value-for-money computer…”
Wait, what am I doing?
The word ‘value-for-money’ just slipped out automatically. I don’t need to worry about that anymore.
[2025 No Value-for-Money, The Ultimate Super Computer Price]
“Let’s see.”
I check the quotes, and they’re in the range of 10 million to 20 million won.
A price that’s nothing compared to my assets. Since I’m not using someone else’s quote, I’ll draft it myself.
[Yeo Ah’s Computer]
[Estimated Price: 100,000,000 (100 million) won]
“Wow.”
I kept clapping as I looked at the computer I’d designed. Now, this is a proper rank 1 computer. I’ll place the order. The store has all the parts in stock, and they’ll assemble it and deliver it in just two days.
Assembling the computer is part of the fun and a way to save some money, but right now, I’m in Yeo Ah’s body. I’d probably collapse if I tried to assemble it myself. With plenty of money but little stamina, I’ll just let them handle it.
[Do you want to pay 100,000,000 won?]
As I went to confirm the payment, my phone rang. The number matched the one I’d used for the computer quote.
Hello, is this Ms. Yeo Ah? You’re the one who wanted to finalize the payment for the super computer, right? The quote is for 100 million.
“Yes.”
I said ‘yes’ without thinking, and a bit of Yeo Ah’s cute voice slipped out.
Ah, yes. Is this for server management or AI deep learning purposes? We could recommend a more cost-effective product if you like. But if you’re not comfortable sharing that, it’s perfectly fine.
“I’m using it for Ragnarok Saga.”
I tried to keep my voice deep, but it still sounded too cute.
Ah~ You’re going to run a Ragnarok Saga server… I see. I used to play that game a lot back in the day too. Sorry for not realizing it sooner…
“Not exactly. I’m just playing Ragnarok Saga.”
There was a brief pause, and then the manager’s voice got louder.
You’re playing a game from 20 years ago, and you’re spending 100 million on a computer?! You could get one that runs fine for around 2 million…
“100 million.”
[100,000,000 won payment confirmed.]
“I’ve paid.”
After the payment was confirmed, the manager’s voice softened, clearly flustered.
Yes! No problem! I’ll personally assemble it and deliver it to you in two days! Thank you so much for your order.
*
The morning of the nickname auction day.
The auction will open at 7 PM.
Knock knock.
“They’re here.”
Meanwhile, the computer manager, after the 100 million payment, had been incredibly friendly, explaining each step of the process, from assembly to delivery, and making everything completely transparent.
“Good day!”
When I opened the door, the manager and an employee brought in the computer tower as if they were treating it like royalty.
“Is this your daughter? Hi there. I have a daughter around your age too. How old are you?”
“It’s me, Kim Yeo Ah.”
“Ah, thank you so much for the order! Now, where should I…?”
The broken computer tower was too heavy, so I decided to leave it to them.
“Please put it over here.”
“Sure.”
Carefully, they set the computer tower on the desk, and the operating system installation began smoothly. Then, they showed me the specs of the computer.
“As you requested, everything has been set up…”
Everything arrived as expected. I’m satisfied.
The manager handed me a business card, bowing at a 90-degree angle as if I were his superior.
“If there are any issues, feel free to contact me. I offer 24/7 lifetime free support.”
Free?
I don’t need those words anymore. I took out ten 50,000-won bills from my wallet and handed them to the manager.
“Here, for your daughter’s allowance.”
“No, no! You really don’t have to… this is too much.”
“My arm hurts.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
I couldn’t send the staff off empty-handed, so I took out another stack of 50,000-won bills and handed them over.
“Th-thank you!”
After sending them off, it was finally time to download Ragnarok Saga.
[Remaining Storage: 100GB (0%)]
[Download Speed: 10mb/s]
Look at that internet speed… This is going to take a while.
I immediately called my internet provider.
“Gigabit internet.”
Yes, understood.
[Download Speed: 1 Gbp/s]
“Whoa.”
A huge upgrade!
Downloading Ragnarok Saga would take less than 10 minutes now.
[Ragnarok Saga]
[Loading…]
Since loading will take a while, I decided to take a quick bathroom break.
[Connection Complete!]
“Wait?”
Wow.
The loading finished in the blink of an eye.
I never realized how big the difference between HDD and M.2 SSD would be. I had been missing out on this good stuff.
6:55 PM.
Only 5 more minutes until the nickname auction opens.
The Nickname Auction.
In this auction, you can only participate using cash, not in-game gold. It’s clear the Ragnarok company is trying to make some extra money off this.
Either way, it’s an opportunity I can’t miss.
Looking at it now, Dttip was a bit too much. If any decent rare names come up, I’ll buy them. I don’t know if anything will come up, but the name I want the most is a two-character nickname: Heart.
This is because, for an Idol class, many of the skills involve ‘heart’ in their names, and the main character of the Idol class also has ‘Heart’ in their name. It feels like the perfect fit. Even if it’s not that, Heart itself is a rare nickname.
7:00 PM sharp.
As soon as the nickname auction opened, a flurry of nicknames started appearing.
[BaeKk]
[Ryoson]
[Hello]
[Nice to meet you]
[Knight]
…
…
“Hmm.”
Amidst the strange and random nicknames, I could see a few rare ones scattered about. Knight was definitely going to sell for a high price, but it didn’t fit my Idol character, so I won’t bid on it.
Names like Thor, Odin, Loki, and Tyr inspired by Ragnarok’s Norse mythology were showing up, but the nickname I wanted still hadn’t appeared. For now, I decided to just watch the other auctions.
[Knight]
[Current Bid: 10,000,000 (cash)]
“What the hell.”
Knight has already reached 10 million?
It hit me all of a sudden. There are so many whales in this game. Is this how much these names really go for?
[Knight]
[Current Bid: 11,000,000 (cash)]
“Wow.”
It seemed like the Knight nickname was really desired. The bid increased by a million right away. Isn’t anyone else going to bid? Is the auction about to end like this? It seemed like the person who bid 10 million wasn’t interested in bidding more. It looked like the auction might end here. At that moment, an interesting idea popped into my head.
[Knight]
[Current Bid: 12,000,000 (cash)]
“Heheh.”
I wasn’t planning to buy it, but I sure was ready to cause some chaos!
Time to stir up the auction!
[Knight]
[Current Bid: 12,000,000 (cash)]
[Knight]
[Current Bid: 13,000,000 (cash)]
It seemed like someone really wanted that Knight nickname. The price quickly jumped to 13 million. Here, timing is everything. If you’re not careful with auction trolling, you’ll get burned. So, I just added one more million casually.
[Knight]
[Current Bid: 14,000,000 (cash)]
[Knight]
[Current Bid: 15,000,000 (cash)]
Add a million, and the other person adds another million. Repeat until…
[Knight]
[Current Bid: 20,000,000 (cash)]
That’s where I stopped. The Knight nickname just didn’t suit me, I wasn’t about to be some rigid, straight-laced knight.
“Hehe. This is fun.”
They bought it for 20 million instead of the 12 million I expected. While watching the auction, suddenly…
[Heart]
[Auction Starting]
Finally, the nickname I wanted appeared. I wasn’t the only one aiming for it, I’m sure.
[Heart]
[Current Bid: 20,000,000 (cash)]
“Oh ho.”
Starting with 20 million cash?
Well, the Idol class is one of the core classes of Ragnarok, so the Heart name, being tied to the main character, is of great value. Even without that, the Heart nickname itself is highly desirable. The bidding price skyrocketed quickly, so I decided to wait and observe for a moment.
[Heart]
[Current Bid: 22,000,000 (cash)]
[Current Bid: 23,000,000 (cash)]
…
…
Again, it’s important to remember that this auction isn’t using in-game gold. It’s being transacted in cash, with a 1:1 exchange rate.
[Current Bid: 30,000,000 (cash)]
“30 million, huh.”
And then it went to 31 million. Then 32 million, 33 million… The price barely increased by a million each time.
Enough.
That’s where I stop.
“500 million.”
[Heart]
[Current Bid: 500,000,000 (cash)]