Dungeon King: The Hidden Ruler-Chapter 79: [The Clean Coin Syndicate 2] The Festival of Forms

The next day, Raven sat inside the Frayed Ledger guild stall. Theo was already at the terminal, leaning back behind the vendor desk, while the NPC cashier stood in perfect posture beside them.

"So," Raven started, arms crossed, "we’ve got our first ghost guild and we just took our first step into messing with the big merchant guilds. But we’ve still got that cursed item. The Helix Scythe."

Theo chuckled. "Yeah, this damn thing’s a treasure and a landmine. We sell it raw, it’ll pull top value—but anyone tracking rare items will know exactly who it belonged to. Helix Media sponsored that drop. NekoNekoNyan cleared the dungeon live on stream herself."

Raven nodded. "Best case? The sale gets traced back and Helix Media adds us to their kill-on-sight list. Worst case? We get doxxed or flagged IRL. Surveillance, stalking, bans, take your pick."

Theo grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Still voting we dismantle it?"

Raven shrugged. "I’m not against it. But before we even get there—do you even know how the crafting system works in this game?"

Theo held up a finger. "Uh... A plus B plus C, slam it together, press craft, and... bam-bam-bam, thunk-thunk-thunk, done?"

Raven laughed. "That’s a very, very oversimplified way to put it. Have you ever played those alchemy games with fire, water, earth, and wind as the base elements?"

Theo nodded. "Sure, back in college. Fire plus water makes alcohol, right?"

"Right. Except here, you’re not just tossing them together. It’s more like solving a Rubik’s cube. Each input affects the output structure. Miscalculate, and the whole thing breaks. You lose the material, sometimes permanently."

"Damn. That’s way more complicated than I thought."

"For basic stuff, it’s fine. Make earth plus fire, add wind—boom, base metal. Add fire and wind in the right ratios, you get refined steel. But legendary-tier items like that scythe? They’re built from layers of high-purity base materials that take hours just to process. And the crafter has to align everything with the item’s elemental signature."

Theo rubbed the back of his neck. "So... finding a crafter who can pull that off?"

"Not easy," Raven replied. He opened the community forum interface with a sigh. "And good ones don’t advertise. They work under guild protection. Usually locked in contracts. That’s why most guilds with a good crafter can control whole sections of the economy."

Theo exhaled. "Yeah. Shit."

"That’s why I’ve never used a crafter. Too much exposure. Too much dependency."

Theo leaned forward. "So we’re stuck?"

"Not completely." Raven tapped a DM window and sent Theo a link.

Theo opened it and raised an eyebrow. "The Festival of Forms? What’s this, an event?"

"Yep. Just wrapped up. Started as PR damage control after the whole Throne War scandal that tanked the Summoner class. Titan Corp sponsored it to spotlight non-combat players. Basically a crafting contest. Anyone could submit."

Theo started grinning. "I see where this is going. Newbies, nobodies, and randoms who don’t know their own worth."

"Exactly. Some of them might be better than they know. We just need one who’s skilled and doesn’t care about fame."

They both started scrolling the thread—rows and rows of entries. Swords. Bows. Armors.Some were crafted by well-known players and looked like legendary gear. The medium level of those who just starting out. A few looked solid. Some looked bad. But nothing catches Raven’s attention.

Until Raven stopped.

"Check this one," he said, forwarding the link.

Theo clicked. "A... kettle?"

"And a storage bag that auto-sorts by color."

Theo blinked. "That’s... dumb."

Raven didn’t reply.

He stared at the crafting description. A custom spatial-fold enchantment embedded in cloth. Capacity lock based on object hue—adjusted dynamically based on environment filter.

"This technique isn’t standard," Raven muttered. "Spatial manipulation like this takes precise structure composition. If you mess up the ratios, the whole construct collapses—and sometimes you can’t recover the materials."

Theo leaned in. "Sorting by color? That’s not even a default item property. That’s... user-defined logic."

"And dangerous to pull off," Raven said. "You’d need a filtering method that bypasses visual overrides. Even dye-recolored items have to be recognized."

Theo scrolled to the comments. "Her post got roasted. Half these replies are laughing at her. And she’s laughing along with them."

"She didn’t post it to win," Raven said. "She posted it for fun."

Theo looked at the name. "User: Catria10304."

Raven searched her forum history. "Mostly screenshots. Scenic zones. NPCs. No builds. No flexing."

Theo used the in-game search. "One match. Username: Catria. Online now."

Raven leaned over. "Where?"

Theo checked the status panel. "Lunareth Vale zone. Velkarin Axis. Exact location: Silkpetal Crescent."

Raven smiled. "Artisan hub."

"Yep," Theo said. "She’s not just hiding. She lives outside the market system entirely."

Raven stood. "Then let’s go meet our Mystery Crafter."

Silkpetal Crescent was different from the rest of Lunareth Vale. There were no loud banners or glowing weapon displays here.

Most stalls were small, tidy, and specialized—focused on clothing, charms, and decorations. NPC vendors stood behind counters filled with dyes, accessories, and enchanted fabrics.

The lighting in the area was slightly dimmer, with a steady blue hue that gave the space a calm tone. Spell effects were muted.

Chat spam was rare.

It wasn’t a combat zone. It was a crafting and fashion district—more like a trade fair than a market. People walked slowly, taking time to examine each booth.

No one rushed. No one shouted.

Raven and Theo spotted her at the edge of the plaza, sitting by a booth that wasn’t even listed in the directory. She was focused on something small in her hands—maybe a charm or a clip.

Her character model was plain. Short, unstyled black hair. Simple cloth robes with no ornamentation. Her avatar didn’t wear accessories, cosmetics, or emotes.

No weapon on her back.

No fashion dyes or lighting effects. It was the default build—like she clicked through character creation without caring.

Just another quiet player you’d walk past without noticing.

Raven approached first. "Catria?"

She looked up. "Yeah?"

Theo stepped forward. "We saw your submission in the Festival of Forms. The sorting bag. It was impressive."

She blinked. "That thing? It was just for fun. I already sold it to NPC shop anyway"

Theo blinked. Selling to an NPC means it probably went for pocket change.

"You coded logic into a spatial item filter," Raven said. "Most people can’t even get basic storage enhancements to stabilize."

Catria shrugged. "Doesn’t matter. People laughed. That’s how it usually goes."

Theo offered a polite nod. "We’re not here to laugh. We’re here to offer something. Full access to materials. Complete creative freedom. You craft whatever you want. We’ll handle the rest."

"No creator tag?" she asked.

"No tag," Theo confirmed. "And a fair cut—30% to you, 30% to the guild, 10% covers the stall. Clean, quiet, no fame."

Catria stood slowly, dusting off her robes. "I’m not interested."

Theo blinked. "May I ask why?"

She hesitated, then gave a tired smile. "Every time I try to make something real, people either laugh or don’t look at all. So now I just make things no one needs. That way, I’m never disappointed."

She turned, already walking away.

Theo stood there, speechless.

But Raven watched her go. The tone of her voice, the words she chose—it wasn’t just disinterest. There was something else. Something bitter, personal.

"Wait," Raven said quietly, his eyes still on her retreating back. "Catria."

He stepped forward, just enough for his voice to carry. "That thing you made, nobody needed it. That’s why it stood out. It didn’t chase stats. It didn’t follow mainstream that the item should be monotonous. That’s rare."

Catria paused.

Raven kept going. "People laughed because they didn’t get it. But I do. Item that can bypass visual recognition? That is good."

He opened his private message window and sent her an empty DM—no text, no attachments. Just a blank thread she could reply to if she changed her mind.

Then he said one last thing, quiet and direct:

"Have you ever tried selling to the player market?"

Catria walked again, feeling that this man did not make his point touch her enough.

But still, she answered without looking back. "Nope. Never tried it. Don’t plan to."

Raven tilted his head slightly. "Then you didn’t know player market coins are valued as crypto tokens—and can be cashed out."

That made her slow down. Her step paused, just for a moment.

Theo stayed silent, letting it hang.

Raven continued, calm but steady. His tone didn’t push—it measured. Like he was laying out facts, not trying to persuade.

This was his last gamble.

Catria might bail out and they will never see her again, or she will turn around and continue the talk.

"That’s why Titan Corp is filthy rich. They take a cut from token sales, resell them externally on crypto market, and profit off cosmetics, DLCs, everything. But Catria..."

He took a half step forward, voice steady. He will lay his card on the table now.

"You’ve got talent as a game item designer. I’ve been playing since beta. I know how brutal the crafting system is. What you pulled off? That’s not trial-and-error. That’s high-level design. And you did it alone."

He let that hang. One last thread before he turned away.

"You don’t have to trust us. But someone should have told you by now—you’re good. Damn good."

Catria didn’t move. Her hands curled into fists—not angry. Just frozen.

"...Is that bag... any good?" she said, still not turning around.

Raven answered without hesitation. "Yes."

"I didn’t even put effort into that bag," she mumbled. "I made it because I was bored. I thought—if I posted something dumb enough, people would stop treating it like a real submission."

She finally turned her head, just a little. Not enough to make eye contact, but enough to show she was listening.

"You really meant it? Thirty percent cut, materials covered, no tags... and the payment can be converted to real money?"

Theo looked to Raven, then nodded. "That’s the deal."

Catria opened her interface.

Ping.

One message.

Where do I send the first piece?

The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆novelkiss