Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Finally, the First of the Last Three Appears
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The host opened the box to reveal a bowler hat banded with gold.
"This is the Helm of Hades, imported from Europe."
"What's the Helm of Hades?"
"...Hades' golden hat."
There had once been rumors in the Tower that the gods' three divine artifacts had been discovered.
Poseidon's Trident, Hades' Helm of Hades, Zeus' Astrafe.
In the end, the rumors had circulated without any solid proof, dismissed as just another Tower ghost story.
"Who would've thought I'd see it here."
This was Korea's largest black market, but an item like this wasn't meant to surface in a place like this.
"Where on earth did they get it from?"
So Seori was genuinely shocked, but by now she was curious about the final auction item.
If one was the Cosmic Grimoire, what was the other?
"The god's hat that erases your very existence! This isn't some mere invisibility cloak! It's a helmet that wipes away recognition itself!"
After a brief explanation of the helmet, the organizers just stood there, dragging out the time without doing anything.
"Why aren't they doing anything?"
"Who knows... Did something go wrong?"
The customers, including the women, began to murmur.
"Ta-da! What do you think?"
The host suddenly reappeared on stage and set the helmet back down.
"Oh my God!"
"No way."
The host had literally slipped from their perception.
He had clearly been there, explaining and putting on the hat.
But until he took it off, they had completely forgotten his existence.
As if only the empty stage remained.
For that brief moment, both the hat and the host were utterly erased from the world. They hadn't even registered as gone.
"Now! With this divine relic of Hades, doesn't it make you wonder what you could achieve?"
"I have to buy that!"
"What's the starting bid!"
The auction patrons, grasping its power, gripped their paddles tightly, eyes locked in focus.
"That's way too dangerous an item."
So Seori now understood why rumors of the three divine artifacts had persisted without confirmation all this time.
"They won't let that one go easily."
In the hands of a villain, it could cause massive problems.
"You're just going to let that one slide too?"
"We should tip off the Association. For now, let's watch."
The bidding, climbing in increments of 100 billion won, had now surpassed 1 trillion.
There were plenty of rich people in the world. But few could move sums like a trillion won in real time.
Everyone here was someone who could sway the global economy.
People for whom money made everything boring.
"2.2 trillion won! Sold!"
Not bad—for a decent building went for 50 to 100 billion won, this was an insane sum.
"Next up, the order has been slightly changed."
"Huh?"
The second item was supposed to be the Grimoire, but it seemed they'd swapped it to last.
"Looks like Mr. Moon Byul's Grimoire is going final after all."
"Yeah, what a whim."
The next item came in a tiny case.
The host slowly opened it.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
They couldn't help but be stunned. It was something they knew well.
"World Tree Leaves! Brew them into tea and drink for a 100% recovery elixir that cures any disease! Gain a new life!"
"H-how is that...?"
It was the tea leaves Moon Byul had gifted her to drink.
The shocked So Seori glanced at Iru Ri.
"I-it wasn't me! Look, I still have mine."
She pulled several leaves from her wallet. Why keep them in her wallet, though?
That meant the rest were in the Wolverine Guild lab. Unless Moon Byul had given them to someone else afterward, the source of that item was the Wolverine Guild.
"I know it wasn't you... Let's just watch for now."
It sold for 3.7 trillion won—higher than the Helm of Hades.
"Sis."
"Yeah?"
Iru Ri's voice trembled, so So Seori looked at her anxiously.
"I'm rich too now."
"......"
Cheeky little...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ And so, the final auction item.
As expected, the rectangular silhouette was the Cosmic Grimoire.
"It's here!"
"It really came out."
She had known it would. Still, So Seori hadn't quite believed it until seeing the real thing.
The cover with its rotating stars. How could she forget?
It was unmistakably the Cosmic Grimoire.
"Last up is the infamous 'Cosmic Grimoire'! It's so well-known, I'll skip the details."
The host lifted the Grimoire high.
"I know the rumors that whoever grabs a Grimoire goes mad, but as you can see, no issues here! Don't miss your chance to become its owner and climb the Tower!"
So Seori and Iru Ri scoffed at the idea of becoming the Grimoire's master, but the patrons here didn't laugh.
For these bored billionaires with empty lives, the Tower and Awakening were precious hits of dopamine.
The slim hope of being chosen by the Grimoire to climb it was enough to raise their paddles.
"Bids in 100 billion increments. 200 billion, 400 billion, 500 billion—widening to 200 billion now."
Unbelievable prices at 100 billion bid jumps, but hands kept shooting up endlessly.
Among them was So Seori's paddle.
"Sis, how high can you really go?"
"......"
She silently raised her paddle again.
One by one, hands lowered, and the price hit 14 trillion before they knew it.
A sum matching a year's national defense budget, yet the bidding war raged on.
As fewer remained, she lowered her paddle.
"Huh, Sis!"
"Truth is, I'm broke. Where would I get trillions from?"
"?"
She stated the shocking truth matter-of-factly.
"Then why'd you keep bidding?"
"I was gonna buy it for real, but I didn't expect it'd go that high."
She'd planned to snap it up boldly around 400 billion.
Long before the Grimoire hit the auction block, she knew she couldn't secure it by following the rules here.
The moment the Helm of Hades broke into trillions, buying it outright was off the table anyway.
"16.3 trillion won! Any more?"
She could have seized it by force here. She was an S-Rank Climber, after all.
But the problem was the consignor: Han Yu Seong.
Escaping without blowing her cover was impossible.
That would force a clash with him. Even if she won, if he didn't get paid, he'd claim ownership and take it back.
The only option left was to check the buyer's info, leak it to the Association, and recover it cleanly and officially.
There should be time for a chat before it shipped to America.
No cleaner way came to mind.
"Congratulations! 16.7 trillion won to bidder 56!"
Yeah, this was best. Wrecking a black market this big wouldn't help...
"Huh? 56?"
Isn't that our number?
Stunned, wondering if she'd misheard, she turned to see Iru Ri holding up the paddle.
"You... you...!"
So Seori stared at Iru Ri in disbelief. She seemed surprisingly calm.
"We've got a few more leaves in the guild."
Sell those, and it'd roughly cover it.
"......"
Not wrong. Aside from the three she kept, ownership of the guild's leaves was Iru Ri's anyway.
Boom!
At that moment, a massive roar echoed as dust billowed from the stage.
"Eek!"
Startled patrons screamed.
"What the—?"
"Who is that?"
In that split second, So Seori caught it: someone dropping onto the stage at blinding speed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ As the dust cleared, a figure in a black robe holding the Grimoire stood at the stage's center.
"Intruder! Grab them!"
The stage guards rushed in, but they were no match for the robed figure.
From the movements, it looked like a high-rank Awakener.
As guards fell in heaps, one burly one behind finally grabbed them.
"Got 'em! Whoa—!"
The size difference was three times over, but the burly guard was the one flung into the air.
Slammed into the ground, he passed out cold.
"It's a woman!"
"Eh? Uwao!"
The robe tore in the scuffle, revealing her: a petite girl with pretty white hair tied up.
Boom!
Then a slashing strike flew in from somewhere, cleaving the stage in two.
"N-no!"
The girl dove to dodge, dropping the Grimoire. It lay alone at center stage, bathed in spotlights.
Had she not dodged, her body would've been bisected, but her eyes were fixed solely on the Grimoire.
"Stealing in a place like this? Bold move."
A man slowly walked out from where the strike originated. Han Yu Seong.
He wore neither robe nor mask.
He had no intention of hiding his identity or rage.
As an S-Rank's fury washed over them, the non-Awakener patrons froze solid, unable to move.
"Leave the Grimoire and I'll let you go."
"N-no, I can't."
The girl glanced around before lunging for the Grimoire.
"Tch."
He sighed in disappointment and unleashed another invisible slash—wind-attribute magic.
The white-haired girl sensed death and squeezed her eyes shut.
Clang!
The clash of metal rang out as Han Yu Seong's strike veered off.
On stage stood So Seori, who had blocked it in Dragon Humanization form.
"Han Yu Seong! Are you insane? If it weren't for me, that girl would've died—got it?"
"That's why I attacked her. Nice to see you here, Wolverine Guild Master."
"You bastard!"
This psycho had really meant to kill her.
The slash was real. Her arm that blocked it still tingled with pain.
"Sis!"
Iru Ri, who had rushed over, shouted.
"Why are you two here?"
"To grab the Grimoire."
"Then why not bid properly?"
"We did. We're number 56."
"......"
So Seori pointed to Iru Ri's paddle.
"But someone tried to steal it."
"Then you should've taken my side."
"She was about to die."
So Seori and Han Yu Seong faced off, locked in standoff.
The Grimoire was closer to him than her. The air atop the stage thrummed with tension.
One twitch, and attacks would fly.
"Whirr whirr."
Wisph broke the tension.
"W-Wisph!"
No one knew when it had slipped from Iru Ri, but Wisph now perched atop the Cosmic Grimoire at center stage.
"Wisph! Over here!"
"Whirr whirr."
Wisph headbutted the Grimoire repeatedly.
"Wait—!"
Han Yu Seong yelled, startled by the little fairy's antics, but it was too late. The Grimoire's constellations shifted into a square formation.
In a blaze of light, Moon Byul burst from the Grimoire.
"A p-person!"
"A person came out of the Grimoire!"
The patrons cried out at the astonishing sight.
Probably amplified by it being the 'Cosmic Grimoire.'
Moon Byul, standing center stage, finally opened his eyes and looked around.
The standoff, the seated patrons.
He flashed a bright smile toward the audience from the stage.
"That's right. I am a person."
He finally looked a bit human.
'But... why's the vibe here so weird?'