Chapter 39
I’m translating the full chapter and keeping the in-universe special material in styled HTML blocks where needed. The source is mostly prose, with dialogue and several scene shifts, so I’m shaping it into novel-style paragraphs rather than line-by-line fragments.CHAPTER_TITLE: The Hidden Masterpiece of Jeong Seon
Culture Heritage Appraisal Committee.
Basement Level 2, Precision Appraisal Room of the National Palace Museum of Korea.
Chief appraiser Park Tae-joon unfurled the hanging scroll and, with growing suspicion, thought of the man named Kim Si-woo.
This young man... what on earth is he?
Lately, Kim Si-woo had been on his mind more and more.
A young man who kept unearthing national treasures, making one big splash after another.
First, he had identified the owner of a sword as Kat? Kiyomasa.
Then there was an independence movement relic whose value was beyond measure.
And what about the two paintings by Hyewon Shin Yun-bok?
Now even a Baekje gilt-bronze seated Maitreya Buddha.
Each discovery came with a story that was anything but ordinary.
He was finding national-treasure-class relics that even archaeologists who had devoted their lives to the field might go a lifetime without ever seeing, as casually as if he were stopping by the convenience store down the street.
Lines formed at the corners of Park Tae-joon’s eyes.
Honestly, it made no sense.
And this time, he’s saying it’s a painting by Jeong Seon.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Who was Jeong Seon?
The master of true-view landscape painting, the pinnacle of Joseon-era painting and a field forever plagued by forgeries.
This time, no matter how absurdly lucky Kim Si-woo had been, that luck would not carry him through.
Park Tae-joon examined the scroll more closely.
His first impression was dreadful.
The ink had bled in all the wrong places, and the perspective of the mountain ridges looked less like a bold artistic choice than simple inexperience.
There’s no way Master Jeong Seon would have made mistakes like this.
Shaking his head, Park Tae-joon gave a cool order.
"Run AMS dating first. Check the paper, the ink, and the seal paste. All of it."
"Understood."
Scientific analysis would shatter Kim Si-woo’s ridiculous legend.
That was what he believed.
The researchers worked through the night, and time dragged on.
Park Tae-joon stood with his arms folded, watching the researcher at the monitor.
"Chief Park, the results are... rather unexpected."
The researcher brought up a graph.
"You know carbon dating has a margin of error, so it’s hard to pin down an exact year. Usually it comes out in broad terms, like between 1700 and 1900."
"Right. That’s how most eighteenth-century objects are."
"But this sample is remarkably clean. There are no impurities, so the result points very precisely to one period."
The researcher tapped the numbers.
"Even allowing for the full margin of error, there’s over a ninety percent probability that it dates somewhere between 1710 and 1760."
"......!"
Park Tae-joon’s brows twitched.
1710 to 1760.
The prime years when Jeong Seon held his brush and painted.
The year of Jeong Seon’s death was 1759.
It lined up with eerie precision.
Park Tae-joon’s expression turned grave.
The paper is real. But...
That alone wasn’t enough to make him believe it outright.
"Just because the paper is eighteenth-century doesn’t mean the painting is."
There had long been a common trick: obtain a 300-year-old damaged book, tear out the blank pages, and paint on them while claiming the work was genuine.
He folded his arms and glared at the monitor.
"If the paper is from that era... then what about the ink? Bring up the ink analysis right now."
Park Tae-joon’s gaze sharpened.
"The ink is pine soot ink. It contains none of the additives used in modern inks."
The researcher continued.
"We’ve also confirmed the seal paste. It’s traditional, made from natural minerals. No modern chemical pigments were detected at all. The paper is traditional Korean hanji, made from mulberry bark by hand. We can see yellowing between the fibers. Those are signs of natural aging that only appear after at least two hundred years."
Not a single flaw could be found.
Is it really genuine?
Could one person keep discovering national treasures in such a short span of time?
His suspicion had not vanished yet.
"Then... enlarge the so-called oil spread that Appraiser Kim Si-woo mentioned."
On the 500x magnified screen, a faint ring of oil, spread around the edge of the seal paste, came clearly into view.
"......!"
Studying the image, the researcher said, "That’s extremely hard to fake artificially. It’s clearly the kind of trace that would only appear after oil slowly diffused through paper fibers over three hundred years, Chief."
Park Tae-joon opened the appraisal report Kim Si-woo had submitted and read it again.
Jeong Seon deliberately broke from existing conventions in order to express Geumgang Mountain on a rainy day. The blurred ink represents the rain, the softened contours evoke scenery veiled by falling water, and the rough paper was chosen to preserve the texture of rain itself.
He reviewed the rest of the examinations in detail.
The more he doubted it, the more every scientific test supported Si-woo’s claims.
"Wha... Well, now."
Park Tae-joon was utterly shaken.
Are they saying this is genuine?
He had no choice but to accept it.
He began writing the appraisal report, putting his own name on the line.
"So Jeong Seon’s finest work after Clearing Mountains After Rain has surfaced. A hidden masterpiece by Jeong Seon, revealed to the world after three hundred years..."
Park Tae-joon gave a self-mocking smile.
Working at the Culture Heritage Appraisal Committee, he had no choice but to appraise countless items and regard them with skeptical eyes.
There had never been a shortage of questionable objects.
Kim Si-woo seemed to possess a special eye that looked beyond form and straight into the essence of art.
Everything he brought in had, so far, turned out to be authentic.
* * *
Third floor of Eterna Gallery. Special exhibition hall.
"Careful! Slowly!"
"Temperature check complete!"
"Humidity levels are stable!"
The tense voices of the staff filled the exhibition hall.
The specially designed transport case from the National Museum of Korea was opened with great care.
What emerged from within was the Baekje gilt-bronze seated Maitreya Buddha.
A masterpiece crafted fourteen hundred years ago by a Baekje artisan who had poured heart and soul into the work.
"Move complete. Base secured."
"Final check on the lighting angle."
"Security sensors activated."
Every procedure was carried out with meticulous precision.
The Nutflix documentary crew was filming the whole scene.
Finally.
Shin A-young felt her chest swell.
Even if they could not own it, thanks to Si-woo, Eterna Gallery had been designated as the managing institution and would be able to exhibit it.
"Representative, installation is complete," the chief curator reported as he approached.
"And the lighting?"
"Set exactly as planned. Just a single spotlight in the darkened space, illuminating the Buddha."
Shin A-young looked around with visible satisfaction.
"Good. Everyone did well. Now let’s test it."
A moment later, all the dark lights in the exhibition hall came on, and several bright floor lights rose to illuminate the Baekje gilt-bronze seated Maitreya Buddha.
At once...
"......!"
Everyone gasped in admiration.
There was nothing else in the hall.
Only the Buddha, and the space built entirely for it.
Out of the darkness, the smile of Baekje emerged.
Its right hand was raised lightly, resting near the chin.
The left hand lay naturally on the knee.
Its head was slightly bowed, the expression deep in quiet contemplation.
At the corners of its mouth, the mysterious and compassionate smile of Baekje lingered.
Shin A-young gazed at that smile as she walked slowly closer.
The gilt-bronze surface gleamed more brilliantly beneath the lights.
Fourteen hundred years.
Traces of time remained.
But if anything, that only made the Buddha seem more noble.
The elegant curves running through its form.
The folds of its robe flowing from shoulders to arms.
The shape of its crossed legs.
Everything existed in perfect harmony.
"It’s truly... beautiful," Shin A-young murmured.
The staff nodded as though in complete agreement.
It shone alone in the dark.
Shin A-young stood before the Buddha for a long time.
The chief curator’s congratulations brought her back to herself.
"Congratulations, Representative!"
"This will become the most celebrated treasure in our gallery."
"Anyone who sees it will never forget it, and they’ll want to come back again and again!"
"It’s an incredible relic!"
Shin A-young turned to look at Si-woo beside her.
"If it weren’t for you, Mr. Si-woo, we never would have been able to exhibit the Buddha as the designated managing institution."
Si-woo shook his head.
"Not at all. I wanted to do it too. Seeing it here, I’m satisfied as well. I’ll have to come by and look at it whenever I have time."
* * *
Si-woo drank coffee in Shin A-young’s office.
What did she say this was called again?
Panama Geisha, maybe.
The name was complicated.
With the first sip, a floral fragrance spread across his tongue.
The more he drank, the more he understood why it was expensive.
It really is different.
A pour-over coffee personally brewed by Shin A-young.
The fact that it was absurdly expensive had already been stamped into his mind.
But...
Still, instant coffee is still the best.
He had made enough money by now, but he still found himself thinking in terms of value for money.
Shin A-young set the cup down lightly on the desk and got to the point.
"I have good news for you, Si-woo."
"Good news?"
What on earth could it be?
Something occurred to him, and he asked hopefully, "Don’t tell me the Culture Heritage Management Committee approved Jeong Seon’s Clearing Mountains After Rain?"
At his question, a soft smile curved Shin A-young’s lips.
He was right.
"That’s right. The committee has informed us that Jeong Seon’s Clearing Mountains After Rain has been determined to be authentic."
"Ah. I’m relieved."
"Your appraisal was right again this time. To think you found it from a relic that appeared on NutTube... Even now, seeing the result, I still can’t believe it."
"Not at all. I just got lucky."
"Maybe once or twice, that would be luck. But it keeps happening, doesn’t it? You’re the one who’s special, Si-woo. And congratulations. I hear you’re receiving the Order of Cultural Merit this time?"
"Yes. The Cultural Heritage Administration has been very accommodating."
Shin A-young must have already heard the news.
Not even a proper article had been published yet.
Still, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to know.
"By any chance, are you planning to purchase Jeong Seon’s Clearing Mountains After Rain?"
"Hmm... Honestly, I’d like to buy it, but I think it would be better to inquire with Raum Museum first. They’d likely have a strong attachment to Jeong Seon’s work. They may value it more highly than we do."
Shin A-young spoke with regret.
"Then I’ll contact Director Han Jung-sik first."
* * *
A restaurant on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.
"All right, here comes the braised short ribs!"
Han Jung-sik, apron on, moved busily between the kitchen and the dining room.
Ding-a-ling.
The phone in his pocket rang.
When he looked at the screen, it was Appraiser Kim Si-woo.
Han Jung-sik hurriedly set down the ladle and answered at once.
"Hello? Appraiser Kim Si-woo, what is it?"
- Director Han Jung-sik, this is Kim Si-woo.
"Oh, Appraiser Kim! What’s going on?"
- Today, the Culture Heritage Appraisal Committee officially recognized Clearing Mountains After Rain as genuine.
"W-what did you say?!"
Han Jung-sik’s voice rose, and the tongs he had been holding clattered to the floor.
"I-is that really true?!"
"Hey, Han! What are you doing? What about my braised short ribs?"
A regular seated in the dining room shouted out.
"Oh, Mr. Kim, wait just a moment. Please take a drink from the refrigerator over there. It’s on the house! On the house!"
Han Jung-sik tore off his apron and ran outside the restaurant while continuing the call.
"Appraiser Kim Si-woo! You’re really... really saying it’s authentic?"
His throat tightened.
He could hardly speak through the rush of emotion.
He had been on NutTube under difficult circumstances.
The Jeong Seon painting he had received as collateral after lending money to a friend twenty years ago.
How devastated he had been when it had been appraised at only fifty thousand won.
After his oldest friend’s betrayal twenty years ago and the loss of everything he owned, he had drifted through life with a sick heart.
Then he met his wife, pulled himself together, and opened this restaurant to make a living.
But happiness was short-lived, and misfortune returned.
Three years ago, his wife died of cancer, and until the end he had been unable to work properly because he was caring for her.
What remained were enormous hospital bills and debts of every kind.
Even now, he was still struggling every month just to pay the interest.
He had lived his entire life as nothing more than a useless, apologetic father to his daughter.
Now... now I can stand tall in front of my daughter.
Tears gathered in Han Jung-sik’s eyes.
- Congratulations. Truly.
Si-woo’s calm voice came through the line.
"Thank you... thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, Appraiser Kim, I would have gone through my whole life never knowing."
Han Jung-sik managed the words with a voice choked by tears.
- But sir, I think I should ask the owner, you, how you’d like to proceed with the sale now.
Han Jung-sik wiped his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Oh, what would I know? I’m going to trust you, Appraiser Kim. I’ll follow whatever you decide!"
There was nothing but sincerity in his voice.
If it hadn’t been for Si-woo, that scroll would have rotted away, gathering dust in some corner of a wardrobe for the rest of its life.
- If that’s what you’d like, I understand. I’ll look into it and contact you again.
"Yes! Please do!"
After ending the call, Han Jung-sik looked up at the sky.
The blue above seemed brighter than usual, dazzlingly clear.
The tears would not stop.
"Honey..."
He murmured in a trembling voice.
"I think I’ll finally be able to pay off our debts. That little daughter of ours is getting married this year... I was never able to give her a proper dowry, and I’ve always felt sorry to you for that... Maybe now I can finally hold my head up."
Han Jung-sik wiped his tears with his sleeve.
It had been so long since he’d felt hope like this.
He stood there for a while, staring up at the cloudless blue sky.
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