Ultimately, Eren decided to store all the boss drops in specific portions: 10,000 Alpha Core Fragments, 2,000 Gloomfang Hearts, 300 Shadowstep Boots, and 1.3 million Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
His inventory ended up completely full.
He could no longer store anything.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"
Eren cursed repeatedly as he looked at the mountains of drops still remaining.
He hastily threw away his worn-out shoes, picked up one of the scattered pairs of Shadowstep Boots, and wore them immediately.
[Shadowstep Boots
Forged from the hide of a Gloomfang Alpha, still carrying the lingering essence of shadow.
• Increases Speed by +5
• Grants Tier 1 Stealth effect, reducing presence.
Effective against Tier 2 and below, but ineffective against higher levels of perception.
Durability: 100/100
Grade: Tier 1 Rare
Bound to: -None-]
Eren used his spiritual energy to bind the item.
The "Bound to" section now displayed his name instead of -None-.
Without wasting another second, he grabbed a handful of Low-Grade Spirit Stones and stuffed them into his pockets.
Only eight stones fit into each pocket, resulting in sixteen Spirit Stones in total.
Wuuuuummmmm… fssssshhhhh…
The exit portal slowly began losing its brilliant color as time passed.
"Why?"
Eren asked himself in a depressed tone.
"I poured millions of Spirit Stones into leveling up my inventory… and it's still not enough?"
Even though he knew he had to abandon the remaining items, his heart couldn't bear to see them wasted.
"My billions…"
His voice cracked slightly as he stared at the ninety percent of spoils still left behind.
Fssssshhhhh…
Another soft dimming sound echoed from the portal, urging Eren to shake his head and reluctantly step through the gate.
Outside the gate, three people teleported out of a white-colored portal.
All of them wore huge smiles on their faces.
"YES! WE DID IT!" one man exclaimed in joy.
"With this, we can finally Tier up!" another added.
The third nodded enthusiastically.
The three of them had received a Tier-Up quest requiring them to kill 100 monsters each, in a Normal difficulty Abyssal Dungeon with three or fewer participants.
It was considered an average Tier-Up quest with manageable risk.
After a month of planning and dungeon experience, they had finally succeeded.
One of them pulled out a necklace adorned with beast fangs like an ornament and exclaimed excitedly.
"Not only that, the Elite monster dropped a Necklace of Grimfang!"
"Hey, what's the current market price for it?"
One of them took out his phone, searched the Association app, and replied immediately,
"It's selling for 605,000 Alliance Coins! We can each get around 200,000…"
All three wore expressions of disbelief upon hearing it.
"200,000… My father barely earns 300,000 per month at his job… I earned two-thirds of that in a single day?"
The remaining two stayed silent, sharing the same emotions in their hearts.
Then, the portal beside them turned deep blue.
The tall youngster they had seen before entering the dungeon calmly walked out of the gate with an unpleasant expression on his face, as if someone had just robbed him in day light.
"…!"
Eren merely gave them a slight nod as he walked past.
All three remained silent until his figure disappeared entirely from their sight.
"Hey… did you guys see what I just saw?" one of them asked.
The others nodded, wearing the same stunned expression.
"Y-Yeah… that guy just walked out of a blue gate…"
The color of a dungeon gate represented its difficulty.
White gates indicated Normal difficulty, like the one they had chosen.
Dark blue gates represented Hard difficulty.
Red gates signified Nightmare difficulty.
Just like Eren's previous beginner dungeon, all dungeons were divided into zones within a single confined space.
The outer regions were considered Normal difficulty, the mid-regions were classified as Hard difficulty, and the inner regions were designated as Nightmare difficulty.
"Y-Yeah… and he didn't use an Escape Talisman like we did. He walked out through the gate… It means…"
"He… cleared a Hard difficulty dungeon… all by himself!"
Whoooosh!
A gust of wind passed by as the three fell into deep silence.
Their eyes moved in unison, from their proudly obtained drop to the direction where the youngster had disappeared.
There was no joy left on their faces that day.
For the second time, they realized the gap between people after their collage entrance exam.
"This is my ID…"
Oblivious to what the three guys were going through, Eren politely handed over his Awakener ID and registered his exit time.
Once the registration process was over, Eren asked, "Can I sell some of my drop items here?"
The old man looked at him briefly and nodded.
"Yes, we can. But we take our commission fee along with tax deduction. If you want to sell them at a higher price with no service deductions, you'll have to go to the main branch. You know that, right?"
Eren nodded and placed sixteen Spirit Stones on the appraisal tablet.
"Sixteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones… Current market price is 572 per stone. After 30 coins per stone for tax and service fees, the total comes to 8,672 coins."
Within the next five minutes, the amount was directly credited to his account.
Eren watched his balance go from two digits to four digits.
"With this, the taxi fee is secured…"
When he stepped outside the building, he saw the sky painted in deep orange, indicating late evening.
More than seven hours had passed inside the dungeon, and his stomach growled loudly.
Ding!
He opened the message he had received.
It was from his mother, saying that she and his sister were currently at the healing hall.
His friends had also arrived there, so she told him to come directly.
After booking a taxi, Eren bought some food from a restaurant along the way.
"Eren!"
The first to greet him was Garrick, who was standing outside the emergency ward.
He walked toward him with heavy steps and a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha… I heard from your mother that you arranged all the treatment fees and that your father is completely fine now…"
His large arm patted heavily on Eren's shoulder.
If Garrick had patted him this hard two days ago, his shoulder would have felt sore.
But now, Eren felt nothing as he stood there calmly.
"Your mother didn't tell me how you got that much money, but you really did a good job. You truly are Alan's proud son aren't you?…"
Eren just smiled as Garrick praised him enthusiastically, while Eren's friends stood behind him, glaring intensely without saying a word.
What the hell is wrong with these guys?
Before he could ask, his sister hurried out of the ward, grabbed his arm, and pulled him inside.
"Hurry up, Dad just woke up and is asking to see you…"
Garrick nodded.
"Yeah, you should go see him first."
Mira led him into the room where his father was staying.
His father was resting on the bed, already changed into clean clothes.
When he saw Eren, he tried to sit up.
Elena quickly moved to help him.
But his father gently removed her hands and let out a heavy sigh.
"Honey, I'm completely fine now… Stop treating me like a patient. I'm more than good enough to be discharged right away…"
Despite his reassurance, Elena still looked at him with concern.