ALL NOVEL Chapter 39 - The Auction (2)
I got into the car. The black market vehicle I had purchased through a proxy was just as shabby inside as it appeared outside. Not that it mattered, since I would only be using it this once.
After loading our luggage into the rattling car, I had Han Seo-hyeon and Kim Jae-ho get in as well.
From the passenger seat, Han Seo-hyeon glanced at the backseat and whispered to me:
“Are you sure it’s okay to bring him along?”
“I told you to call him hyung.”
“It feels odd calling him that after seeing his current state.”
Seeing Kim Jae-ho pressed against the window with his mouth agape, Han Seo-hyeon shook his head.
Unlike Han Seo-hyeon, whose hair I had trimmed, Kim Jae-ho’s long, tangled locks draped down like Tarzan, making him look even more unkempt today. At least I had managed to put some clothes on him, restoring a semblance of humanity, but that shaggy mane remained unmanageable.
On top of that, he was still wearing that collar, which I wanted to remove but couldn’t approach him without provoking vicious growls.
Dealing with Kim Jae-ho made me feel like Dr. Amaryu from that famous parenting program.
Is the tantrum over now? Alright, time to get dressed.
Are the convulsions done? Now let’s brush our teeth.
The Kim Jae-ho Humanization Project seemed more arduous than conquering any gate.
Well, at the very least…
He was obeying my instructions for now.
“By the way, do you really need to wear that mask?”
“I am a nationally wanted fugitive, you know.”
From earlier, I had been wearing the mask. The hologram used the pre-registered appearance of a man in his forties, causing Han Seo-hyeon to flinch whenever he saw my face.
But in my current status as Kang Yi-sin, I couldn’t even set foot in Seoul, so I had no choice.
As soon as we arrived in Seoul, we visited a hair salon. Only then did Han Seo-hyeon’s visage return from a duck to human form.
While Han Seo-hyeon didn’t normally care much about appearances, even he couldn’t tolerate that rat’s nest of a hairstyle.
I had tried trimming Kim Jae-ho’s hair too, but the wily bastard vanished somewhere until it was finally time to eat.
Tsk, that quick one.
Next, we checked into a nearby hotel.
“Two guests, please.”
Towards the front desk staff, I immediately drew upon my mana. Using lies to bypass the identification and other formalities, I stepped into the elevator.
“By the way, where did that person – no, Jae-ho hyung – go?”
While we were checking in, Kim Jae-ho had once again disappeared somewhere.
“Who knows, hopefully he’ll find his way back here.”
“What if he just ran away like that?”
“Um. That would be troublesome, wouldn’t it?”
At my indifferent response, Han Seo-hyeon admonished me for my attitude. But I was being sincere.
—You’re not planning to chase after him if he runs away?
‘As I mentioned last time.’
Regardless, I had no intention of brainwashing Kim Jae-ho like Seol Rok-jin did. It was entirely Kim Jae-ho’s choice.
“Yeek! You scared me!”
Upon opening the door, Han Seo-hyeon let out a shriek.
Somehow, Kim Jae-ho had already entered the room. Heh, how had he known we would be in this specific room?
As we stood there stunned, Kim Jae-ho spoke:
“Hungry.”
Well, I suppose it was about time he said that.
I lightly nudged the frozen Han Seo-hyeon and said:
“Order some room service then, whatever you want to eat.”
After piling the table high with copious room service orders, I opened my mouth:
“Jae-ho is sitting out this operation.”
While the future Kim Jae-ho would be impeccable, I knew nothing about his current self. At my words, Han Seo-hyeon asked:
“Then why did you bring him along?”
“Who else is going to feed him?”
Was that really the only reason? Han Seo-hyeon looked at me as if asking that, but I was serious.
“The only personnel needed for this operation are you and me.”
“You really think just the two of us will be enough?”
It was a question he had asked before – could just the two of us really handle it?
Objectively speaking, the combat strength of our organization – no, of our team that couldn’t even be called an organization – was pathetically lacking.
But at this auction, it would be possible.
This was an operation made possible precisely because of the multitude of hunters present at the auction.
The auction was now three days away. While three days remained, security personnel were already densely present in the vicinity.
Befitting the items to be auctioned, the surrounding security was immense. And the details of this security system had been fully uncovered by our proud Han Seo-hyeon.
Han Seo-hyeon reported:
“There are around fifty external personnel, with about the same number inside. Particularly underground, there are many people gathered, but that area is protected by artifacts, so not even a mouse could easily approach.”
Han Seo-hyeon smiled wryly as he continued.
“But after positioning Rat nearby, some interesting information came to light.”
Incredibly, even the Awakener Crimes Team was included among this auction’s security detail. Specifically, ‘Do Chae-hee’ had been stationed nearby for the past three days on guard duty.
“Do Chae-hee, that person who visited the hospital once before.”
At Han Seo-hyeon’s words, I focused my attention.
“She asked if I knew anything about you, Boss. She didn’t seem like someone who would give up easily.”
“Hmm.”
So Do Chae-hee had been assigned to my case. Damn, that woman is quite tenacious.
“Apparently, high-ranking National Assembly members are coming too.”
It seemed they would be holding a conference regarding awakeners down below. What surprised me was that the person Seol Rok-jin was listed among the attending assembly members.
Well, it would be stranger if Seol Rok-jin wasn’t involved in such matters.
While politically taking an anti-awakener stance, his reputation among the top hunters wasn’t particularly bad. Because outwardly he only spouted insults, while covertly associating with them behind the scenes.
‘Laughable.’
Just two months ago, he had openly criticized the Sirius Guild in the news. Yet now he was coming to engage in secret dealings with that same Sirius executive team – how disgustingly two-faced.
The longer Han Seo-hyeon spoke, the more my expression darkened.
Naturally, people from the Crimson Hound Guild would also be present at this event. Including Master Kim Myeong-cheol and my friend Jeong Ho-san.
In many ways, this would be a veritable minefield for ‘Kang Yi-sin.’
The problem was that amidst this minefield lay a tantalizing treasure.
An incredibly tempting treasure.
This artifact absorbed surrounding blood to enhance the wearer’s healing abilities.
Depending on the type of gate, it could become a completely useless artifact. But considering most monsters bled, it was an extraordinary item.
Possessing just that one item could tremendously extend combat endurance.
There was no better item than this for those assigned to the vanguard role.
‘It would be perfect for Jeong Ho-san.’
But the Vampiric Lord’s Ring wasn’t what I was after.
While mana stones naturally formed from condensed mana within gates, the magic stone was a type of inner core found within monster bodies.
Naturally, it held greater value than mana stones. Especially if obtained from high-ranking monsters, the magic stone itself was already an excellent artifact.
Crafted into a staff, it would become a legendary staff. Embedded into a blade, a legendary sword would be forged.
While the
I also heard about the remaining items, but those could be easily obtained elsewhere.
Ultimately, the important factor was the auction order for those two key items.
They wouldn’t be saved for the climax of this auction, so they would likely appear towards the latter half of the bidding sequence.
And that would be our moment to make our move.
We only had three days to prepare.
“Are you mentally ready?”
Han Seo-hyeon gulped hard before nodding. I glanced sideways at Kim Jae-ho, who was ravenously devouring the remaining food.
Please don’t cause any trouble.
Three days before the auction.
Like a noble lady awaiting her social debut, I felt an excited flutter.
* * *
Stacking coffee cups into miniature mountains on the coffee table, beside it on the sofa lay a woman humming while wearing the very image of slovenliness. Her unkempt hair was tied up in a messy bun with strands sticking out everywhere, clad in a faded gray tracksuit riddled with holes.
At first glance, she appeared an ordinary slob. But standing beside this woman were three impeccably suited individuals awaiting her without the slightest lapse.
Amidst this unbalanced scene, Jin Yeon-hwa pushed up her glasses that had slipped down to her nose bridge and spoke:
“Ueueum, so in other words. No matter what, it seems this auction will be tough for us to claim.”
Her habit of elongating the ends of her sentences induced a frustrating sensation in the listener, despite her words being innocuous.
“Not being able to easily acquire the desired items, it tarnishes the Sirius name, it does.”
Having said that, Jin Yeon-hwa flopped face-first into the sofa.
“Ah, they could have yielded to us just this once. With everyone being so greedy. If Yoo Seon-je gets just one staff, it would at least save our guild’s face.”
The recently recruited S-rank potential hunter Yoo Seon-je was Sirius’ new face.
While they had already secured four S-rank hunters, Yoo Seon-je was special. A talent that freely commanded lightning. A handsome appearance. An affable personality.
He was an awakener rumored to potentially surpass not just the youngest 7-Circle, but even 8-Circles.
From an entertainment perspective, there was no better gem to market. But properly faceting that gem required substantial resources.
“I really want to obtain the Red Flame Mana Stone at least. But if I bid for it, I’ll be heavily criticized afterward, won’t I?”
To bid on the Red Flame Mana Stone appearing at this auction required not only carefully stockpiled funds, but also cautious management of surrounding influences.
The problem was that Sirius had ‘overdone it’ at the previous auction, as they said. As such, even the Master had advised treading carefully this time around regarding external perceptions.
“They don’t even have an S-rank prospect, yet they’re being so high and mighty.”
Sprawled on the sofa, Jin Yeon-hwa blinked her eyes as she lay there. There was no issue with securing the Red Flame Mana Stone through money alone. But considering the inevitable political maneuvering afterward, it gave her a headache just thinking about it.
“This is really frustrating.”
Lying there, Jin Yeon-hwa glanced sidelong at the woman beside her before speaking:
“Why don’t we just steal it instead?”
“We can’t.”
Jin Yeon-hwa’s secretary, Lee Hye-won, gave the sensible response anyone would expect.
While Jin Yeon-hwa was a core Sirius executive known for her innovative ideas, she also frequently voiced such outrageous nonsense. And Lee Hye-won’s role was to reasonably dissuade her from such notions, but…
“But if we don’t do something like this, we’ll have to yield the Red Flame Mana Stone to others. And I don’t want that.”
If Jin Yeon-hwa blindly heeded Lee Hye-won’s advice, she wouldn’t be Jin Yeon-hwa. With a sigh, Lee Hye-won told her:
“The auction is only three days away now.”
“Three days is plenty of time, isn’t it?”
Saying that, Jin Yeon-hwa abruptly sat upright.
“Yeah! That’s not a bad idea. Yes, that’s what we should do. If everyone thinks it was us but can’t prove it, won’t that work?”
Lightning seemed to strike Jin Yeon-hwa’s mind.
Why hadn’t she thought of this sooner?
If they couldn’t bid openly and properly, then they could simply steal it from behind the scenes, couldn’t they? Sirius had plenty of personnel for handling such dirty work. She just needed to assign them the task.
“As long as we don’t get caught, that’ll work, secretly.”
Watching Jin Yeon-hwa snicker as she said that, Lee Hye-won let out another sigh. She knew her boss was about to engage in another outrageous scheme, but she had no authority to stop her.
“You must ensure it’s done flawlessly.”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
All she could do was hope Jin Yeon-hwa’s plan would be perfect.