Chapter 21
I’m translating the chapter and preserving the in-universe text as styled HTML blocks where required, while keeping the prose natural and consistent with the glossary.CHAPTER_TITLE: The Foundation and the Forged Legend
A few days later, the articles came out.
At twenty-eight, Kim Si-woo has been appointed a director of the Kim Hak-jun Foundation.
After that, famous celebrities one by one began posting proof shots of their own donations on Starbook, and the donation wave kept spreading.
The donation challenge caught on like a trend, and proof photos started appearing everywhere.
At one point, the Kim Hak-jun Foundation’s homepage was even temporarily knocked offline from the traffic.
During all that, Si-woo sat in his room, chuckling as he read through the comments.
Fortunately, there were no serious comments along the lines he had worried about.
Still, he had to keep his regular smartphone turned off.
Just like last time, the moment the article went live, countless messages and texts had started pouring in without pause.
Then his second phone rang.
The name on the screen made Si-woo’s mind go blank for a moment.
Mrs. Gong.
What now?
Come to think of it, he hadn’t told his mother anything.
He answered cautiously.
"Hello?"
"......"
Only silence came through the line.
He could feel the stillness, heavy as the calm before a storm.
"Mrs. Gong?"
"Si-woo."
"Yes, ma'am. Go ahead."
"Should I be hearing about my own son from the ladies in the neighborhood?"
The voice was quiet, measured.
That made it even scarier than usual.
"Ah, I should have told you even if it was late. I forgot."
"Forgot what?"
"Ahem. That I’d been appointed as a foundation director."
"The ladies were saying, ‘Mrs. Gong, your son is amazing. Did you see the article?’ and I had no idea what they were talking about."
"Mrs. Gong, there’s a reason for it. I’ll explain it in a way that makes sense."
"Explain what?"
Si-woo broke into a cold sweat.
He needed an excuse, and fast.
"Well... ahem. Before the article came out, there was an embargo. Even family members weren’t supposed to say anything carelessly. But I didn’t know the article would go up today either. That’s why I couldn’t tell you."
The excuse seemed to work, and Mrs. Gong’s voice softened a little.
"Is that so? Oh, I had no idea..."
"By the way, Mrs. Gong. You don’t have plans this weekend, do you?"
"The weekend? Not really. Why?"
"Then how about a little trip to Seoul? I’ll come pick you up."
"Why would a busy boy go to all that trouble? Just rest on the weekend."
Si-woo laughed at her words.
"No, I can’t have my mother making the trip up here all inconvenient like that. I’m coming to play the escort, so just wait for me."
"Oh? You really don’t have to. Don’t make it hard on yourself."
She sounded very pleased despite the words.
"This is exactly when I should be filial, isn’t it? Then I’ll come get you on the weekend."
"Hoho. Thanks to my son, I get a little trip to Seoul."
"Yes. Get some rest."
The call ended.
He let out a breath of relief.
Then he suddenly remembered the shabby bag he had seen his mother carrying last time.
A black handbag with worn leather and whitish scuffs along the corners.
This time, I’m taking her to the luxury floor of the department store first, no matter what.
Si-woo smiled in quiet satisfaction, already looking forward to the weekend.
* * *
"This is... impossible."
Cold sweat ran down the forehead of Professor Tanaka, the chief appraiser of the Japan Cultural Properties Association.
His hands trembled as he stared at the appraisal report and swallowed dryly.
Beside Tanaka sat a renowned curator from the Oriental Museum, an advisory appraiser from the Metropolitan Museum, and a special committee member from the Cultural Heritage Administration, all of them tightening the atmosphere even further.
This was an all-star verification panel, with authorities from Korea, Japan, and even a third country brought in for good measure.
That alone was proof of how historically important this artifact was.
"Professor Tanaka, please give us your opinion."
Shin A-young asked in Japanese with a relaxed smile.
Tanaka bit his lip.
At first, the Japanese side had not even believed that the sword would turn out to be real, let alone that it might be Katou Kiyomasa’s sword.
They had come in convinced it was a meticulously crafted fake.
And who could blame them? A legendary swordsmith from four hundred years ago had supposedly scattered the strokes into dots and hidden his lord’s name inside them?
It sounded like something out of a novel.
They had assumed it was fiction invented by a young Korean appraiser.
But then.
"Carbon dating shows that the oxidation of the blade and tang matches the late sixteenth century exactly," said the American expert, sliding forward charts and data.
"A multi-angle analysis of the dots engraved into the tang using specialized equipment confirms that they are not the result of natural corrosion or later scratches made by hand. They were precisely carved in at the time of manufacture."
A famous overseas curator delivered the final blow.
"X-ray imaging shows that the internal fold pattern of the blade matches perfectly with other genuine works by Fujiwara Masakuni, the second-generation swordsmith of the Doujikan line. This cannot be forged. It is unquestionably authentic."
The Japanese appraisal team fell silent.
"What do we do? There’s no way to deny it."
"If we insist it’s fake, we’ll only embarrass ourselves internationally!"
"This... we have to accept it."
Professor Tanaka looked down at the sword before him.
He was a scholar, too.
The evidence was sitting right in front of him.
He could not deny it.
So the Japanese side changed its strategy.
If they could not deny the sword’s authenticity, then they would acknowledge its value and elevate it instead.
Tanaka slowly lifted his head.
"......This is a miracle."
As he spoke, the room fell silent.
"This is not a simple sword. It is a blade in which the skill of a legendary swordsmith continues to breathe across four hundred years, a sword infused with loyalty to its lord. Fujiwara Masakuni engraved his devotion to Lord Katou Kiyomasa into the very form of his name!"
He spoke with great fervor.
"The very idea of dispersing the strokes into dots to encode the lord’s name is brilliant. This is not merely technique; it is art, the very pinnacle of bushido spirit."
Everyone looked at him, as if wondering what on earth he was talking about.
"So you’re admitting it?" Shin A-young asked.
Tanaka nodded.
"Y-yes. It is genuine."
* * *
The Japanese side changed its tune quickly.
The next day, Japan’s major newspapers all splashed the story of Katou Kiyomasa’s sword across their front pages.
Words like "suspicion" and "authenticity controversy" vanished without a trace.
In their place came words like "loyalty" and "legend."
Katou Kiyomasa’s beloved Aoen was miraculously discovered in Korea.
Korean and overseas researchers unanimously confirm it is authentic.
The cipher hidden in the sword’s tang is decoded after four hundred years.
Japan’s academic world is stunned by the genius idea of scattering strokes into dots.
Professor Tanaka: "This is a miracle and a historical discovery."
"An artifact you must see when visiting Korea" becomes a hot topic on social media.
Eterna Gallery is preparing a special exhibition.
Reading the articles, Shin A-young let out a small laugh.
"Not long ago, people were talking nonstop about forgery and suspicion."
Then a gallery employee came in to report.
"Ms. Shin, the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan has officially requested a visit. He says he wants Katou Kiyomasa’s sword exhibited at Kumamoto Castle, and they’re offering an annual rental fee of 5 billion won. On top of that, they’ll pay 10 percent of any additional exhibition revenue as royalties. Insurance and transport would, of course, be on their side."
"Five billion won a year?"
It was an enormous sum, but Shin A-young didn’t even blink.
"Turn them down. Money isn’t the issue now. Eterna Gallery is about to become a place Japanese tourists want to visit whenever they come to Korea. More importantly, its value will only rise with time. Reject every other offer as well."
Jeong Hae-won agreed without hesitation.
"Indeed. Simply having it in our possession gives the gallery tremendous promotional power."
Then Shin A-young smiled at a text that had just arrived on her smartphone.
"The Cultural Heritage Appraisal Committee’s decision on the two unpublished works by Hye-won Shin Yun-bok has come in."
"Really, ma'am?"
"Yes. They’ve been judged authentic."
"As expected... I thought they were genuine from the start. Now you have official validation. Congratulations, ma'am. This is a historic discovery."
Shin A-young nodded.
"We’re only going to get busier now. This will deal another fresh shock to both the public and the academic world."