A Survival Guide for a Counselor in the Apocalypse – Chapter 132

Author: Cireng

Chapter 132

Whoosh

The dagger sliced through the air, and at the same time, the flashlight beam illuminated the spot.

There was nothing there.

More precisely, a tree branch had been stretched out by the wind, tapping lightly.

For a brief moment, the tension drained from my body, and I let out a very small breath.

Ah, damn it.

—

[Your nerves are starting to fray.]

—

At my sudden movement, Kim Taekjin, who had been following behind, flinched and stepped aside. He stumbled slightly, and Lee Hoin grabbed him.

I raised a hand slightly in apology.

They seemed to understand roughly what had happened, and both simply nodded without saying anything.

Everyone’s tension was at its peak.

It was impossible to tell whether the sounds we were hearing were just leaves rustling in the wind… or someone stepping on them.

Trying to pay attention to everything only made everything feel overwhelming.

I let out a breath and moved forward.

Finally, we arrived at the place Shin Giyeon had mentioned.

It felt more orderly than expected.

As if someone had properly arranged it.

At the center stood a small cabin.

Too crude to have been built by the local government… but not crude enough to have been slapped together carelessly.

A strangely ambiguous cabin.

—

[It’s only proper to bring a gift when visiting someone’s home.]

—

I gestured that we had arrived.

Lee Hoin turned back, continuing to watch the surroundings.

Kim Taekjin shone his light on the cabin door… which had no windows.

I stepped forward between them, took a breath, and knocked.

Knock, knock.

Then again.

Knock, knock.

Even after knocking about three times, there was no response.

A wasted trip?

As I stood there, feeling a wave of emptiness… the door opened slightly.

“…Who is it?”

From inside came the deep voice of an old man… along with the babbling of a small child.

He’s here.

I swallowed and answered quietly.

“Hello. We came for item appraisal…”

At that, the door opened a bit more.

A seasoned gaze stared at me.

His distinct horizontal pupils trembled slightly, then moved as if alternating between the two behind me.

Kim Taekjin lowered his flashlight with a friendly smile.

Lee Hoin continued scanning the surroundings.

The old man looked between the two of them and me for a moment… then opened the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened fully.

With the clopping sound of hooves, the interior came into view.

Despite having no windows, the cabin was cozier than expected.

A lamp hanging from the center of the ceiling cast a reddish-orange glow.

A table that looked like it had been picked up from somewhere… covered messily with tools and papers.

And in one corner, a small folding bed.

There was no child.

Yet the babbling continued.

The appraiser.

His name was probably Doul.

A minor character who appeared a few times.

I remembered him because of the peculiar detail… he was always accompanied by the sound of a baby babbling.

—

[Doul of the ‘Ruined World’ (Eons □□□)]

Importance: 1/5

???: 2/5

A character whose activities are confirmed only in certain chapters.

Search the chapters below to trace his appearances.

—

Doul.

And that “2” in the “???”…

Seeing that… It’s unlikely that it represents “affinity.”

If it were affinity, there’s no way it would be at 2, given his wary reaction.

“I don’t have anything to offer. So, you came for item appraisal?”

The old man sat down roughly in a chair, his hooves clacking.

The chair creaked noisily, as if it needed oil.

Once the door closed, all outside noise was completely shut out.

The crackling of the lamp’s flame…

Lee Hoin’s awkward cough behind me… and the rustling sounds of Kim Taekjin looking around… all became louder.

At some point, Lee Hoin stepped closer.

His gaze went to the old man’s legs.

Not human legs… but the legs of a beast.

The faint, strange sound they made.

Meanwhile, Kim Taekjin, seemingly uninterested in that, walked over to the table and asked:

“May I ask what this is? It doesn’t seem to be a script we recognize.”

“Old men tend to have a few tricks up their sleeves. It’s nothing complicated.”

Kim Taekjin became absorbed in examining it.

Lee Hoin still stared at the legs, visibly unsettled.

Between them, I slowly approached the old man and spoke.

“Yes. We have quite a few items, but we don’t know how to use them. We heard rumors and came.”

As I finished speaking… from somewhere came the sound of a baby babbling.

“Oo… waa… uh…”

It wasn’t the old man.

His mouth was closed.

Where is that coming from?

It was definitely near him.

After a moment, the old man lifted his head.

“Show me first. I need to see how difficult they are to appraise before setting a price.”

At that, Lee Hoin and I opened our bags and subspace and poured out the items.

The old man remained expressionless up to ten items… but once more kept coming out, he deeply furrowed his brow.

“Wait. Did you come here to kill me? You expect me to appraise all of this alone?”

At his words, Lee Hoin awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

It was a lot.

A whole pile.

If we had only met him after the Clown Event, it wouldn’t have been much… but because of the Brat Event, we had tons of items we weren’t even sure about.

“That is… a lot.”

—

[It is quite excessive.]

—

Both Kim Taekjin and the narrator added their comments.

“…Then could you first sort out the ones that aren’t even worth appraising? We don’t have an eye for this.”

At my request, the old man looked at the pile for a moment… then put on his glasses.

“At this quantity, I should charge even for sorting.”

“Yes. We’ll pay.”

He let out a sigh and began sorting.

Useless items… and useful ones.

Even after sorting, there were still quite a few worth appraising.

“Lee Hoin, take only the weapons from there. Throw away the rest.”

He nodded, picked out only the weapons, and put them back into the bag.

“How did you even obtain this many items? That alone is impressive.”

“Right? I’ve never seen anyone carry that much unless they’re in a group.”

Kim Taekjin had come over and started chatting naturally beside the old man as he worked.

Calming his complaints, he asked:

“Is there any way for people like us to sort these ourselves? At a glance, they don’t seem that different.”

After being coaxed for a while, the old man answered without thinking.

“This kind of thing is all about experience. Well, the simplest method is… if it doesn’t have a grand name, don’t even bother picking it up. Items always have grand names.”

“But some of the ones you sorted over here don’t have names either, yet you think they’re worth appraising.”

“That’s because those aren’t nameless… they’re hiding their names.”

The old man picked up two daggers, one he deemed worthless and one worth appraising, and placed them side by side under the light.

“Do you see the difference?”

We looked… but couldn’t tell anything significant.

Maybe the one worth appraising had a slightly more worn edge…

“Hmm… this is hard…”

“That’s how expertise works. Otherwise, experts wouldn’t be able to make a living. Look closely. This finishing material here, when you scratch it with your nail, doesn’t it react differently?”

As he said… the handle of the dagger deemed valuable showed almost no scratches or deformation.

The other one, however… scratched easily and deformed.

“This is the kind of difference. Items with names either have glory, imitate glory, or once had glory. So what does that mean? Wouldn’t they have spent money to make even the smallest part last longer?”

That made sense.

No one skimps on things meant to last.

If anything, they spend more to make them properly.

I quietly added:

“…So you’re saying we should develop an eye for quality?”

“Correct.”

—

[You are developing an ‘eye for quality.’]

[Why not become his apprentice? It might be very helpful!]

—

Lee Hoin silently listened while picking out weapons.

Kim Taekjin started trying to sort items himself… though he got about half of them wrong and got smacked for it.