CHAPTER 57: BIG MONEY FROM UNKNOWN ITEMS

When Sam opened his eyes, the soft light filtering through the curtains told him it was morning.

He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes and glancing at the time on his phone. It was just past 9 a.m.

"...Twelve hours?" he muttered to himself, blinking in disbelief.

Apparently, his body had needed more rest than he thought.

Given the fight against the [Black Sun], he wasn’t surprised, but still, it was rare for him to sleep that long.

’My body must’ve been seriously drained,’ Sam thought as he stood up, stretching with a groan.

He moved into the small kitchen area of his hotel room and started preparing a simple breakfast.

Eggs. Toast. Nothing fancy.

The life of a Primordial wasn’t easy.

Sure, it came with strength, more than most people could ever dream of, but it also came with pressure.

The world seemed to want him dead more than it wanted anything else, and the number of enemies he had to face as well as their strength kept climbing with every layer he conquered.

Being strong was great, but he was only level 1 of the Adept Rank now, and even though he had abilities well above his level, that didn’t change the fact that the higher he went, the more dangerous things would become.

He was stronger than most, but not invincible. Not yet.

He needed to get stronger. He needed to prepare for the [Battle Realm], which would open in about a month.

But before all of that, he had items to sell.

Sam didn’t have a base of operations like most of the larger guilds.

Most guilds had full buildings to operate from, sometimes even entire streets.

He, however, was a one-man operation. His cheap hotel room served as his "guild headquarters," for lack of a better term.

Still, it was enough, for now.

Before heading out, he decided to check on his status window, just to get a feel for how far he’d come.

---

[Name: Sam Walker]

[Class: Primordial]

[Guild: Primordial (Leader)]

[Rank: Adept]

[Level: 1]

[Strength: 18 → 23]

[Agility: 17 → 22]

[Constitution: 18 → 23]

[Soul: 34 → 44]

[Affinities: Shadow, Chaos, Void]

[Class Skills: Spatial Inventory, Primordial Evolution, Hell-Mode Analysis, Chaotic Fate, Void Watcher]

[Skills: Primordial Sword Technique (Forsaken), Abyssal Obliteration (Forsaken), Eternal Barrier (Forsaken), Tendrils of Oblivion (Forsaken), Sovereign Inferno (Forsaken), Void Rush (Forsaken), Chaotic Clone (Legendary)]

---

Not bad.

His skill list was getting longer, and the quality of each one had gone up massively since the beginning.

Every time he advanced, he gained more power.

Then he tapped on the guild line to check on its status.

---

[Primordial Guild]

[Position: Leader]

[Members: 1]

[Status: Registered]

[Guild Ranking: 64]

---

"HOLY SHIT," Sam blurted out.

He knew defeating the [Black Sun] would draw attention, but still, jumping into the top 100 was already crazy.

Climbing to Rank 64, with a guild of exactly one member? That was something else entirely.

He figured most of the guilds in the top 100 were already pushing through the third layer, maybe even nearing the fourth.

While the top 25 were likely elite groups with dozens, if not hundreds, of high-level awakeners.

At this rate, if Sam kept going as he was, he might break into that upper circle sooner than expected.

But for now, there were errands to run.

He changed into a clean outfit, slid his gear into his inventory, and exited the hotel.

The [Awakener Association] wasn’t far. He reached it quickly, walking past a growing crowd of people gathered around digital displays and holographic screens outside the building.

Every single screen seemed to be showing one of two things.

The first was expected.

[An unknown awakener has killed the Second Layer’s mechanic. The "Black Sun" is gone!]

Sam’s name showed up briefly in the ticker below the main headline, but no photos of him were shown.

Nobody outside the system really knew who he was.

’Except for the higher-ups in the association,’ Sam thought as he walked in. ’They definitely know.’

Whether that would be a problem or not remained to be seen.

He didn’t plan to make trouble, at least not right now.

But the second piece of news playing on the screens caught his attention much more than the first.

Conversations buzzed all around him.

"They’re launching a third expedition right now? That fast?"

"Yup. They just announced it. Third layer’s about to get intense."

"What a time to be alive... Third Expedition. No more Black Sun. Everything’s changing."

Sam listened as he passed them, trying to make sense of what was being said.

His gaze flicked toward the text streaming across the top of the largest screen.

[The Third Expedition has been announced. All Top Guilds will enter the Third Layer to attempt and clear it.]

"Huh," Sam mumbled.

He didn’t have time to linger. He walked through the sliding doors and made his way straight to the exchange rooms.

For the third time now, he stepped into the familiar quiet chamber, and just like before, the same man was waiting.

The worker looked up, recognized him instantly, and raised a brow.

"Back again, huh?" the man said. His tone was a little more cautious this time. "So, how’s it feel, being famous?"

"Not really feeling it," Sam replied with a shrug.

He reached into his spatial inventory and began unloading the items.

There were hundreds this time. He’d made sure to gather everything after the [Black Sun] battle, especially the drops from the [Black Sun Vessels].

The man let out a slow whistle.

"You know, I see a lot of awakeners in here every day," he said. "But you? You always bring the weirdest stuff."

Sam knew what he meant.

Things like the [Corrupted Spear] and [Black Sun Armor] weren’t just rare, they were unique.

Items like those hadn’t even shown up in the association’s databases before. Some of them were probably one-of-a-kind.

But the association had the money to buy everything, and more importantly, they knew these items would fly off the shelves. Every strong awakener wanted an edge.

After several minutes of scanning and calculating, the man looked up with the final offer.

"I mean, it’s starting to get difficult to judge these items since I’ve never seen them but... We can give you $338,271 for all of this."

Sam’s eyebrows shot up. "...Holy shit."

The amount surprised even him. It felt like every time he came here, the money he earned just kept increasing.

"Deal," he said, watching as the digital transfer completed.

As he turned to leave, the man behind the counter spoke again.

"Be careful, kid."

Sam paused. "Huh?"

"If you keep going like this... Never mind," the man said, smiling faintly. "Do what you want."

Sam gave him a long look, then nodded. "...Alright."

He exited the room, expecting to head straight back to the hotel.

But this time, someone was waiting for him.

A man stood just outside the exit, dressed in fine, sharp clothes, robes lined with blue-gold, a scepter in his right hand, and a crown set neatly on his head.

Sam recognized him immediately.

He was one of the three figures he had noticed on top of the table in the [Guild Meeting], which meant he was part of the [Awakener Association].

The man smiled as Sam stepped into view.

"Sam Walker," he said, voice deep and measured. "I’ve been waiting for you."

[You have a bad feeling about this... but you feel like it might be worth it.]

’Damn.’