Yongsan auction house.
As the auction with the largest scale in Korea, the items that appeared in the routine auction that took place every month were of such high quality that even foreigners would take interest and participate.
“Haa,” Heun, who had just arrived at the auction’s entrance, exhaled out of nervousness.
Tap, tap, tap—
Using the cane, she entered the building.
“Will you participate in the auction?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Then please fill out this document first.”
When she arrived at the counter after having to repeatedly ask for direction, the employee handed out a document.
Heun put up an awkward expression.
The employee, who was absent-mindedly looking at Heun, let out a short exclamation after looking at the cane grasped in her hand.
“Ah… I apologize. Do you perhaps not have a guardian accompanying you?”
“…Yes. I don’t.”
“Hm. Then is it okay with you if I fill it out in your place?”
“Yes. Please do so.”
The service was incredible, as expected of the auction with the largest scale in Korea. Heun received a waiting number after answering basic personal information questions the employee asked. Heun would be able to enter right away if she was a VIP, but there was no other method than waiting for Heun, who had narrowly passed the entry conditions.
After around two hours passed—
“Admission will begin~ as entering during the auction is restricted due to security reasons; please take care of all your business before entering!”
—the admission started.
Bump, b-bump—
“Ah… w-wait.”
Heun’s body was pushed here and there when the people who were waiting started to crowd over. She was able to avoid the tragedy of falling over since she possessed a superhuman body, but she couldn’t prevent her body from being shaken around.
“Seriously, these bastards…”
Frustration soared in, but it wasn’t like she could make a fuss there. Heun waited until the passing people flooded out and slowly entered the auction house.
“Hey, could you tell me where seat P-17 is located?”
“Yes? Ah… go straight right from here.”
Every time Heun stopped someone passing by to ask for her seat, she could hear small mumbling.
-Even blind people participate in auctions these days?
-This was something you couldn’t dream of a couple years ago.
-But why does she have no guardian?
-Tch, tch. Who would want to live with a disabled person in these times?
Ridicule and exclamation…
Voices mixed with pitiful sympathy…
Grip—
Heun roughly clenched her fists.
Her fingernails dug into her palms.
It hurt.
Not her palms but her heart.
‘It’s okay.’
If only she could get her hands on the Dragon’s Cursed Eye, all her pent-up anger and remorseful pain could be relieved.
“Now then~ December’s Yongsan auction will begin!”
The auctioneer got on the platform.
“The first item we will introduce to you today is the [Censer of Gray Light] known to be the best star relic of the 4-star rank!!! It is a star relic that has a reputation for being useful in real combat!!!”
The auction started with the buttered-up sentence. As usual, the auction started with a star relic that served as an appetizer.
“The starting bid is $10,000! The buyout price will be $1,000,000!! Ah, right, everyone knows that buyouts are only possible with cash, right?”
Buyouts were only transacted with cash, as there were too many cases of people purchasing buyouts without having the money in actuality.
‘Since that would mean they’re in need of the item that desperately.’
You didn’t have to look that hard to find cases of people—who were backed up against a corner—lying, after all.
“$100,000!”
“$130,000!!”
As soon as the auction started in earnest, the atmosphere inside the auction house started to heat up. The 4-star relic [Censer of Gray Light] was truly what the auctioneer had called it—a star relic that performed greatly amongst 4-star relics.
“$340,000!”
“$400,000!”
The price soared at a quick pace.
“$670,000!!”
“$670,000!! $670,000 has come out! Is there anyone willing to top it?”
“Okay! Then the final bid for [Censer of Gray Light] has been taken by number 157!”
$670,000.
It was a price two times higher than all of the money Heun possessed.
“…Ah.”
Money that couldn’t even buy a 4-star relic.
Her head that was filled with hope quickly settled down.
“N-No.”
Her clenched fists slightly trembled.
Wasn’t the [Censer of Gray Light] a star relic that was very popular, after all? Maybe there was still hope because the Dragon’s Cursed Eye was much less versatile.
“Then the next item to introduce to you is…!”
The auction continued on.
Around when the 4~5-star relics that came out as appetizers were all successfully bid…
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“Haha! You have all been waiting long~! It’s about time we start introducing the main characters of today!”
Gulp—
The prologue had just finished; now it was time for the real auction.
“Iya~ This item has emerged after a really long time! A star relic you can obtain by an extremely rare chance from dragon-type monsters!! A star relic that possesses the incredible effect of dispelling all curses!!”
Finally.
“It is the 6-star relic [Dragon’s Cursed Eye]!!!”
Clap, clap, clap—
The perfunctory sound of claps could be heard.
‘Alright!’
Judging from the fact that there were nearly no cheers, it didn’t seem like there would be much competition.
“This star relic isn’t the type of item that you carry around but an absorption-type star relic! In other words…!”
Her mouth dried up.
“There is no need to inconveniently carry this around, and you will permanently obtain the power to ‘dispel’ all kinds of curses! Kyaa! Everyone! Don’t you think that this star relic will be reassuring inside gates when you don’t know what kind of incidents will happen?”
Shiver—
Her cheap prosthetic leg shook slightly.
“The starting bid is $100,000! The buyout price will be $10,000,000!”
“$1-100,000!”
As soon as the bid started, Heun shot her hand up and shouted out loud.
“Pfft!”
“Did she actually start the bid with that?”
“Hahaha! It seems that she’s a beginner.”
“Huhu. Or maybe she’s a beggar who’s aiming to strike it rich?”
The cackling sound of mockery could be heard.
Heun’s face turned red.
From those suppositions that hit the mark, she ducked her head and gently bit her lips.
“Hm~ Haha. Yes, $100,000! $100,000 has come out! Is there anyone who wishes to top it?”
The auctioneer also snickered with an expression that seemed to say he had an approximate understanding of what was going on.
‘Please.’
Heun desperately prayed with her two hands intertwined together.
‘Don’t do it.’
Her shoulders trembled.
And then…
“$2,000,000.”
“$2,500,000!!”
“Yes~! A higher bid has come out!! Hahaha!”
Without any unexpected events, without any abnormalities…
The last threads of hope for a miracle were whisked away.
“Ah…”
A short exclamation flowed out.
Moisture filled up her gray pupils that had lost their focus.
“$3,200,000!”
“$3,260,000!”
The price continued to increase.
Not the buyout, but just topping the bid would require her to have ten times the amount of money she currently possessed.
“Ha… haha.”
Her hope cooled down.
A scornful laugh flowed out between her pink lips.
“Yeah… there’s no way… I would be able to buy it.”
The items that were sold at a minimum of $5,000,000 were 6-star relics. How could one act up in an attempt to buy it without possessing even half of that money.
Heun bit her lips to the point of bleeding.
‘Why, why, why?’
She thought about what she did so wrong to deserve this.
“At least once…”
Hadn’t she lived a life filled with treacherous roads?
Hadn’t she been thrown away by her parents, whom she did not even know the face of, and struggled to survive through this shitty life?
But just why…
“At least once… isn’t it okay for a miracle to happen?”
She didn’t expect much.
She didn’t want the world.
Just once…
At least once…
“I just… with Ohjin…”
She knew it was greed.
She knew it was a self-centered thought.
Ohjin had his own life.
He had his own aspirations and desires.
Heun had already restricted his life during the long period of five years, no, even before that time had started. Cursing him with the curse named ‘Song Heun’, she had pulled him down into her pitch-black darkness.
“Ah, uh.”
Tears flowed down her cheek.
“$4,100,000!!”
“$4,230,000!!”
“$4,300,000!”
Even during her time of tears…
The Dragon’s Cursed Eye grew more distant.
Even though it was already at a distance she couldn’t reach.
Then—
“Fufu. Have you perhaps come to obtain the Dragon’s Cursed Eye?”
—she heard a sly voice speak to her.
It held an unpleasant tone entwined with desire and greed.
“…Who are you?”
Heun’s voice aimed sharply towards the direction in which she had heard the voice.
“Ahh, I’m Choi Jongchul from the Starlight Lake Guild. You’ve heard of the guild’s name, right?”
Starlight Lake Guild.
As a guild made of Awakeners of Aquarius, It was a guild specialized in healers.
“…So?”
“I’ve been observing you since the waiting room.”
It was a sticky voice.
“You’re trying to buy the Dragon’s Cursed Eye, correct?”
Heun shut her lips tight.
A viscous displeasure spread from her spine.
“$5,000,000. No… I can lend you up to $6,000,000.”
Heun’s gray pupils opened wide.
The embers of hope sparked up once again.
“If you want it…”
She could feel Choi Jongchul getting closer.
He placed his hand on top of Heun’s thigh.
“Are you f*cking cra—”
Heun’s clenched hand suddenly halted, an expression of disgust on her face.
Six million…
The stunning amount of money circled her head.
“Fufufu!”
The sly sound of laughter could be heard.
“Could you… spend the next five years as my ‘friend’? Well, I’m not expecting much. Just eating together when we have time, having drinks, and then… you know even if I don’t spell it out, right?”
Tremble—
Heun’s shoulders shook.
A sensation of filth poured over her thigh.
Nausea soared up from the intolerable displeasure.
‘…But.’
Six million…
With that money, there was a possibility of getting her hands on the Dragon’s Cursed Eye.
She could escape her pitch-black darkness.
She could continue to live on.
…Together with Ohjin.
‘But, but, but…’
Heun’s mouth dried up.
The tears that crept down her cheek formed a droplet at the end of her chin.
“How is it?”
Tightly closing her two eyes…
Forcefully pushing back the soaring nasua…
Forcefully opening her lips that refused to open…
“…Oka—”
Bang!—
At that moment, the door of the auction house opened violently.
“H-Huh?”
“Hey, who are you!”
A sudden commotion.
Thud, thud!—
There was the sound of bodyguards rushing towards the entrance in great haste.
“You cannot enter during the auct…”
“…Huh?”
“S-Special Officer?”
“Why is a Special Officer here…”
“Wait a minute. Isn’t that person that guy? The one at Seoul Station a couple days ago…”
The bodyguards sounded freaked out.
And—
Step—
—the quiet thudding of footsteps…
Made its way to her ears.
“—Huh?”
Her gray pupils shook.
‘What’s this?’
Step, step—
The footsteps sounded familiar.
Step, step—
It was the sound of footsteps that wouldn’t be heard.
Step, step—
It was the sound of footsteps that shouldn’t be heard.
“Why, why…”
‘Why are you in this place…?’
“Khm! I-I apologize for the brief commotion, everyone! Uh…what business does Mr. Association Special Officer have here…?”
Putting up an awkward smile, the auctioneer looked towards the uninvited guest that had broken in during the auction.
Kkrrrr, kkrrrr—
Bang!—
The uninvited guest threw the two large trunks that he dragged over onto the ground. Stacks of cash poured out like confetti from the trunks that hit the floor.
A sunken voice echoed throughout the auction house.
