“One hundred thousand dollars. We have one hundred thousand dollars. Any higher bids?”
It was the experienced auctioneer who broke the suffocating silence that had fallen over the hall. The Pathfinder Auction House was frequented by the proxies of some fifty thousand renowned Hunters, and it also drew the interest of great magnates. Jumps in bidding of this magnitude had happened from time to time, so it was no cause for alarm.
“Alright, one hundred thousand dollars. Is there anyone who wants to go higher?”
The auctioneer skillfully continued the proceedings, his eyes scanning the crowd for a new bidder. The people before him had surely attended auctions like this many times, yet the situation was strangely quiet. The restless atmosphere was palpable.
Is it because of that man?
The auctioneer glanced back at the man who had just bid one hundred thousand dollars. His vibrant features, the Western-style bridge of his nose, and the unusual light in the eyes you reached when following that line, all contrasted with his pale skin, reminiscent of a patient deep in illness. This alone was enough to draw people’s attention, but there was something else that was more unsettling.
He was wearing a gentle smile that could be called the epitome of a kind grin, yet for some reason, it exuded an inexplicable eeriness and sinister aura. A kind of oppressive presence that felt as if every cell in one’s body was screaming to get up and run away emanated from the man.
Even for him, who had frequently met S-rank Hunters, this kind of pressure was not something one could easily feel.
It was as if something were slowly tightening around his heart. Like dying from a paralytic poison.
“……”
As he found himself staring at the man, the bidder who had lowered his number paddle narrowed his eyes.
“It seems there are no further bids.”
A cold voice that matched his inhumanly beautiful appearance cut through the silence. The auctioneer, experiencing an auditory hallucination of a popping sound somewhere, quickly snapped to his senses and looked around. As the bidder had said, no one was holding up a numbered paddle. Considering the market price for an A-rank item, one hundred thousand dollars was a bit excessive, so it was unlikely anyone would offer a higher price.
10, 9, 8…
He counted down and announced the winning bid. The auctioneer had a feeling that he would never, for the rest of his life, forget the way the man’s lips curved into a gentle smile at the moment the item’s ownership was confirmed.
“One hundred thousand dollars, are you crazy? Are you just rolling in money, or is that item really that good?”
As the item was finally sold, Geon-joo poked Sa-yoon in the side. A heated stream of nagging was whispered into his ear. Listening to the tickling voice as if it were a song playing in a jazz bar, Sa-yoon nonchalantly lifted his glass. After calling a staff member to clear it and getting a new wine glass, he could feel Gyeongjin and Jaehee sending him disapproving looks, but they didn’t try to stop him. Rather, it was Geon-joo who grabbed Sa-yoon’s wrist as he was about to tilt the glass.
“Stop drinking, hyung. I think you’re drunk.”
It was a ridiculous joke.
“I’m not drunk.”
“A sober person wouldn’t just throw around that kind of money, th-that…”
The man frowned, at a loss for words. Sa-yoon smirked at his incredibly timid spending habits. As they say, only those who have spent money know how to spend it. This auction seemed to be quite a shock for him.
Then I’ll have to get him used to it.
Sa-yoon shook off Geon-joo’s hand with force, tilted the glass, and took a sip of wine. He swallowed and drew a red arc with his lips.
“What are you so surprised about? This is just the beginning.”
At his playful tone, which suggested he hadn’t even started, Geon-joo’s eyes wavered. He looked at Gyeongjin and Jaehee as if asking for help, but Jaehee was just sitting there like he was watching someone else’s house burn down,¹ and Gyeongjin just shook his head. It meant he couldn’t be stopped.
“Just leave him be. The Night Rats Guild isn’t going to go bankrupt even if he spends a hundred billion won here.”
Geon-joo blinked at the words, which sounded more like encouragement.
As he was thinking that he seemed to be surrounded by people who had lost all sense of money, the second item was introduced. And from that point on, Geon-joo was able to keenly feel the truth in the words that it hadn’t even started yet.
“One hundred thousand.”
“Five hundred thousand dollars.”
“Seven hundred thousand.”
“One million.”
“One point five.”
As the auction progressed, the numbers coming out of Sa-yoon’s mouth grew bolder. He didn’t show interest in every item, but he never failed to raise his paddle for any weapon that would catch anyone’s eye. Especially when clothing items came up, he raised the price like a man possessed. The proxies who had been competitively bidding against him at first eventually seemed to give up after exchanging calls with their masters and kept their mouths shut. It was a scene of one-sided shopping, hard to believe it was an auction.
“How much have you spent so far?” Geon-joo asked blankly, in the eye of this unbelievable storm. Gyeongjin nonchalantly said “five hundred.”² The voice sounded as casual as if he were saying he had spent ten thousand won to treat someone to a meal, and he turned his head.
At the end of his gaze was a man laughing heartily, as if he had enjoyed the crazy spending spree.³ He was an impulsive man who showed no caution at all when bidding.
A renewed sense of distance was felt. Just as Han Geon-joo’s gaze fell, something tapped his cheek.
It was a wine glass.
“I bought it all for you, so why the long face?”
“…What did you say?”
His voice rose unwittingly. Feeling the gazes of the people in the room turn to him, Geon-joo realized his mistake and leaned his body toward Sa-yoon.
“What did you just say?”
“I said I bought it for you, so why do you have that look on your face?”
His voice was quite sharp, as if he were displeased with the situation. He looked as if he would flip the entire auction house upside down if he said he didn’t want it. Frowning in bewilderment, Geon-joo’s eyes met with Gyeongjin, who was desperately shaking his head as if to say ‘don’t do it.’ He sent him a pleading look, begging for his understanding. Unable to ignore it, a sigh escaped him.
“I, I don’t need anything that expensive.”
“What’s so expensive? How much do you think those potions you wasted when you were a B-rank cost?”
“……”
It was an irrefutable comeback, and his mouth was temporarily shut. Still, he couldn’t give up. He pulled on Sa-yoon’s collar toward him and opened his mouth.
“Is it okay to spend money like that just because you have a lot?”
“It is.”
The complaint he had managed to muster was shot down before it could even do its job.
Whether he was intimidated by the amount of money or feeling shabby himself, Han Geon-joo’s lips moved as if he had something to say, but he couldn’t easily voice it. Sa-yoon, who had been watching him with frustration, irritably downed the rest of his wine and propped his head on his hands on the table, looking at Geon-joo.
“I haven’t even spent ten billion won yet, so why are you being so shabby?”
It’s all going to be yours later anyway.
He barely managed to swallow the words he had almost added. But he couldn’t hide his dissatisfaction.
He had bought five or six items, but none of them were S-rank or higher. It wasn’t that there were no such items up for sale, but they didn’t catch his eye, so he had already passed on six items without making a bid.
Since I came all the way to the Pathfinder Auction House, I wanted to get him a decent SS-rank or higher item to show off.
He was already in a bad mood because there was nothing he liked, and with Han Geon-joo acting like this, he was getting annoyed.
He stared at the unresponsive man, sighed, and opened his mouth.
“Then what do you want?”
At that moment, the auctioneer raised his voice.
“This is the first highlight of today’s auction. We are proud to introduce for the first time at the Pathfinder Auction House, the masterpiece of the artifact craftsman, Perse. The demon spear Keltar, purified with prayer and holy water to create ‘Ruin’ and ‘Keltar’!”
With the voice that deeply penetrated the eardrums, a description window appeared on the screen.
[Ruin (Divine Artifact)]
A blessed necklace made by the European craftsman Perse, who washed the tip of the Divine Artifact ‘Demon Spear Ruin Keltar’ with holy water and offered prayers to God. It forms a pair with Keltar. When Ruin and Keltar are worn by different people, the Destiny Set Effect is activated.
- Faith +10% when worn
- Cannot be unequipped or transferred to others when worn
- 30% resistance to all demonic attribute abilities
- Resistance to S-rank or lower curses
- Set effect activates when worn with Keltar or when with a user wearing Keltar
- Set effect is revealed upon activation.
The red cloth that had been covering the two necklaces was lowered. Sa-yoon’s eyes lit up as he saw that the description window for Keltar, displayed next to Ruin, was identical.
There was another Divine-rank item.
This was information he hadn’t heard. Thinking it an unexpected gain, he was about to raise his paddle, but Han Geon-joo’s earlier words bothered him. His gaze unconsciously drifted to Geon-joo’s face. And in that moment, Sa-yoon confirmed that Han Geon-joo’s eyes, which had shown little interest in any of the auction items so far, were now fixed on the two necklaces on the stage.
His eyes had narrowed as if in thought, but what he was showing was clear interest and fascination.
“…You, you asked what I wanted.”
The fact that it wasn’t just his imagination was confirmed a moment later by Han Geon-joo’s words. He rubbed the back of his neck as if embarrassed, lowered his head, and then stealthily raised his gaze. The tips of his ears were slightly red, and his mouth hesitated, unable to form the words. Whether it was due to pride or not wanting to be indebted, it was amusing to watch.
“Hyung.”
At the finally uttered call, Sa-yoon smirked.
Does he think he can get away with anything by acting cute?
And he lifted the number paddle that had been sitting meekly before him for the past few turns. With the appearance of a Divine Artifact, the price had already surpassed two hundred million, five hundred million, eight hundred million, and was now at one billion won.⁴
And Sa-yoon, after considering the remaining assets in the guild treasury, the China Number Six account, the amount of future requests, and the winning bid for the Desert’s Punishment, rolled his tongue and opened his mouth.
“Ten billion.”
The silence from a moment ago returned, like déjà vu. Geon-joo looked at Sa-yoon in surprise, but there was no time to speak. As it was a Divine-rank item, few people were willing to give up this time.
“Twenty billion.”
A new bid came immediately. Twenty-two billion, twenty-five billion. As the price skyrocketed, Sa-yoon confirmed that the bidder at twenty billion was the rabbit mask from before and tilted his head. A crooked smile played on his lips, and when the price finally jumped to thirty billion, Sa-yoon raised the stakes.
“One hundred billion.”
To a level no one could rashly jump into.
“……”
The new playing field was large enough to overwhelm the auction house, but no further bids were made.