A New Opportunity and a New Lead
Shin A-young looked straight into Si-woo’s eyes.
When a beautiful woman fixed him with such a focused stare, it was hard not to feel a little flustered.
“Mr. Kim Si-woo.”
“Yes.”
“Would you consider working under me?”
It was so unexpected that Si-woo blinked.
“Pardon?”
“As you saw, our gallery has many pieces that need appraisal. They’re holding secrets that haven’t been uncovered yet. Advisor Jeong Hae-won is brilliant, of course, but even he can’t do everything.”
Shin A-young pointed to Gato Kiyomasa’s sword.
“Take this sword, for example. It had gone unanswered for a long time, but you found its secret the moment you looked at it. Whether that was luck or skill, you’re exactly the kind of person I need.”
Jeong Hae-won nodded in agreement.
“I share that view. The eye you showed today was no ordinary thing. Following the traces left on the blade and identifying its hidden owner is not something just anyone can do.”
Si-woo hesitated.
It was an appealing offer.
No, honestly, it was an incredible opportunity.
But...
I can’t appraise every antique in the world.
His ability only worked on glowing objects.
The reason the status window had appeared for Gato Kiyomasa’s sword today was because he had seen a black light.
What if a relic came in without any light at all?
He wouldn’t be able to do anything.
He couldn’t afford to stand there and look helpless in front of it.
“I know it’s a good offer, but I’m afraid I can’t accept.”
Shin A-young’s brows lifted slightly, then settled again.
“Today you were fortunate. But there’s no guarantee it would always turn out this way. If you fall short of expectations, it would become awkward for both of us.”
“That’s fair. Thank you for your honesty. Still, it’s a shame. I’d try to hold on to you if I could, but that wouldn’t be proper, so I’ll stop here.”
She took out a business card and handed it to Si-woo.
Against a white background, Eterna Gallery Shin A-young was printed neatly in gold, with a phone number beneath it.
“Keep this for now. If you change your mind, contact me anytime.”
“Thank you.”
“And I’ll make sure you’re compensated separately for today’s appraisal.”
“Compensated?”
“Of course. You solved a problem we’d been stuck on for a long time.”
Shin A-young looked to Jeong Hae-won.
“Advisor Jeong. What would be an appropriate appraisal fee?”
“Well. Appraisal fees are usually based on the item. But if we consider the merit of identifying this as Gato Kiyomasa’s sword, something no one else knew...”
Jeong Hae-won paused for a moment.
“Two hundred million won would be appropriate.”
Si-woo’s eyes widened.
He had only looked at the status window and identified the owner.
And yet they were paying him two hundred million won as an appraisal fee?
He knew that without him, it might have taken a very long time to discover the answer.
But the amount was far beyond what he had expected.
“That seems like too much.”
“Not at all.”
Shin A-young shook her head and spoke firmly.
“You found the sword’s owner and raised its value. You deserve this much. If you refuse, I’ll be the one who feels guilty.”
In the end, he didn’t refuse her.
“All right.”
Shin A-young held out her hand.
“You were truly amazing today. The vase, and the sword both.”
Si-woo took her hand and shook it.
“Please do call me if you change your mind. You’ll always be welcome.”
As he left the gallery, Si-woo glanced back.
An opportunity to work under Shin A-young.
She clearly seemed to be someone connected to a wealthy and influential figure.
A stable income, social standing, a network of experts, access to all kinds of relics.
It would have been a lie to say he wasn’t disappointed.
Just then, a notification flashed on his smartphone that money had been deposited.
200,000,000 won from Shin A-young
Since leaving the company, a staggering total of seven hundred million won had landed in his account in just a few days.
After leaving the gallery, the next place Si-woo headed was a tax accountant’s office.
He had suddenly made a great deal of money, and he had no idea how to handle the taxes.
Searching online only produced vague warnings that every case was different, and if he filed incorrectly and got hit with a penalty surcharge, the loss would be even worse.
In the end, he had no choice but to consult a professional.
“Seven hundred million won?”
The tax accountant’s eyes widened. Si-woo nodded.
“Yes. But all seven hundred million isn’t appraisal income. Two hundred million was the appraisal fee, and five hundred million came from selling an item I had.”
The accountant’s pen stopped moving.
His gaze shifted from the documents to Si-woo.
“You sold an item? What kind of item was it?”
“An antique. A vase.”
“How did you acquire this vase? Did you buy it, or was it inherited or gifted to you?”
Si-woo answered honestly.
“I found it on the street. It was in a box someone had left out, saying anyone could take it when they moved.”
“......Pardon?”
The accountant removed his glasses and stared at Si-woo.
He looked as if he were checking whether he had heard correctly.
“And you sold that for five hundred million won?”
“Yes.”
“Good heavens... That’s remarkable. So this is what an appraiser can do. Picking up treasure off the street. I’ve been doing this job a long time, but I’ve never seen a case like this.”
“I was lucky.”
“Luck alone doesn’t explain it. You have to have an eye for it to even recognize something worth picking up. I would have walked right past it. Haha.”
The accountant put his glasses back on and tapped away at the calculator.
After entering the figures and studying the screen for a moment, he nodded.
“Let’s start with the five hundred million from the vase sale. For calligraphy and antiques, that counts as other income.”
“Other income?”
“Yes. Antiques are a little unusual. The law changed in 2021, so even if you sell them repeatedly, they can still be treated as other income.”
“So I don’t need to register a business?”
“Not if you’re only selling antiques. Under other-income treatment, 80 to 90 percent of the transfer amount is recognized as necessary expenses. So the actual tax comes to about 4.4 percent of the sale price. On five hundred million, that’s roughly 22 million won.”
“22 million?”
The tax was much lower than he had expected.
“Yes. Antiques are very favorable tax-wise. If you sold real estate or stocks, tax would be applied to the full capital gain, but antiques have a special exception. It was created to stimulate the art market.”
The accountant scribbled something on the paper with his pen.
“The problem is the two hundred million appraisal fee.”
“Is the appraisal fee different?”
“Yes. Appraisal services don’t have the same special treatment as antiques. If it’s a one-time payment, it can be treated as other income, but if you plan to keep doing it, then it becomes business income.”
“What counts as ‘keep doing it’?”
“There isn’t a clear standard. The tax code only says it has to be continuous. But in general, if you get requests three or four times a year or more, it’s often considered a business.”
Si-woo fell into thought.
In any case, it wasn’t easy to get appraisal requests.
He had grown confident in his ability, but he still couldn’t tell which items would glow.
He also didn’t know what the different colors of light meant.
What if appraisal requests keep coming in?
“Then it would be better to register as a business. If income keeps coming in repeatedly while you’re unregistered, the tax office will treat you as a business owner. Then penalty taxes get added on.”
The accountant tapped the calculator again.
“If you register, you can report the appraisal fee as business income and the antique sale as other income separately. Even if you register a business, antiques can still be treated as other income. As long as you’re not operating with a business premises or physical facilities and trading professionally.”
Si-woo nodded.
He had thought it was complicated, but it turned out to be fairly straightforward.
“Now I’ll tell you exactly how much you need to pay.”
That was the part he had been most curious about.
“The five hundred million from the antique sale will be taxed as other income at about 22 million won. The two hundred million appraisal fee, if it’s just this one time, will also be treated as other income, at about 8.8 million won. Altogether, you’ll owe just over 30 million won.”
“30 million won?”
He had braced himself heavily, but the tax was far less than he expected.
Even the lottery took a brutal cut.
“Antiques and works of art are the best when it comes to tax savings. Rich people don’t invest in this field for nothing.”
After paying about 30 million won in taxes, he would still have around 670 million won left.
It was a satisfying amount.
“Oh, and if you’re planning to keep appraising, you don’t need to start grandly. Start small. Get an officetel and register it as a one-person office. There are a lot of shared offices these days too. Some places let you register an address for just a few hundred thousand won a month.”
Si-woo nodded.
That was useful information.
“And you don’t need to accept every appraisal request. You must have a specialty, right?”
“Pardon?”
No. I don’t.
He swallowed the words he wanted to say.
He was interested in history, but only at an ordinary person’s level.
He wasn’t close to the level of a true history fanatic.
There was no way someone like that could have a specialty.
“Lawyers don’t take every case either. If you ask a criminal-defense lawyer to handle a divorce suit, they’ll turn it down. Doctors tell you to go to another hospital if it’s outside their specialty. Isn’t an appraiser the same?”
There were many specialized fields even within artifact appraisal.
But Si-woo only needed to find glowing objects and appraise them.
Of course, finding them would not be easy.
Among the countless objects he had seen at Eterna Vault, only Gato Kiyomasa’s sword had glowed.
“Just go ahead and register for now. If there are no requests, file for a temporary suspension. If there are, handle them then. Keep your options open. If you wait until later, you’ll have to prepare documents and lose time all over again, but if you do it now, it’ll be easier.”
“Understood. I’ll register for now.”
“Good decision. Have you thought of a business name? You’ll need one when you register.”
“...No, not yet.”
“Take your time. It doesn’t have to be rushed. Let me know when you decide. I’ll prepare the paperwork.”
“All right. Thank you.”
Just as Si-woo was about to stand, the accountant hesitated and said awkwardly, “Um, sir.”
“Yes?”
“If I happen to see something decent on the street, could I contact you too?”
“......”
The accountant gave an embarrassed smile.
“Ah, no, that is... I’ve been getting interested in asset management lately. I keep losing on stocks, and real estate has such a high barrier to entry. But I’d never really thought about antiques. Could I send you a video instead?”
Send it in a video?
A good idea flashed through Si-woo’s mind.
Maybe he really could find glowing objects in a video.
It was worth trying at least once.
After leaving the tax office, Si-woo headed straight to a nearby café.
He ordered an Americano and sat down.
Then he took out his laptop and opened the internet.
Could I see light in a video too?
The accountant’s comment had given him a hint.
Running around in person to find glowing objects was inefficient.
But if light could also be seen in videos or photos?
Then he could search through relics across Korea, no, across the entire world.
He typed “national treasure” into the search bar.
A list of National Museum of Korea holdings appeared.
There were detailed descriptions along with high-resolution images.
Gilt-Bronze Maitreya Bodhisattva Half-Seated Thinking Statue, Celadon Inlaid Cloud-and-Crane Pattern Meiping Vase, the Hunminjeongeum Haerye, and more.
Just to be sure, he looked up images and videos.
But nothing glowed.
So it really doesn’t work?
Si-woo’s expression hardened.
In case he had missed something, he searched overseas artifacts too.
None of them glowed.
He quickly scanned dozens of videos: antique auctions, documentaries on relic restoration.
Play a video, skip ahead, repeat.
That cycle went on until an hour had passed in a flash.
Then it happened.
One thumbnail in the recommended list caught his eye.
Apparently the algorithm had surfaced it for him.
10,000 views.
It wasn’t a popular video.
He almost passed it by, but clicked absentmindedly.
A shabby old hanok in the countryside appeared on the screen.
It was a fairly large abandoned house, with half the roof tiles having caved in.
The YouTuber walked inside with a camera.
“All right, today we’re touring an abandoned house in the Yeongju area of North Gyeongsang Province.”
Inside the rooms of the empty house, there was a dust-covered wardrobe, broken dishes, and faded bedding.
It was eerie enough, but otherwise a rather ordinary video.
Just as he was about to move on to another one...
As the camera swept past one corner of the frame, something faintly flashed into view, then vanished.
...No way.
Si-woo’s hand froze.
He rewound the video.
He paused the moment when the YouTuber was scanning the room.
Light was leaking out from the top of the wardrobe.