Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: It's Okay Because I'm a Genius, Even on a Time Limit
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"Bidding is available via the tablets provided at your seats. Instead of names, we'll call out numbers..."
With the host's succinct explanation, the auction began.
Cheon Seo-yoon suppressed her trembling heart and checked the auction order.
The higher-value items appeared toward the end, and the necklace was fourth out of twenty total lots.
That meant a low appraisal price, but value was relative anyway.
It was an irreplaceable piece of her life, proof of her growth—she vowed not to let it slip away.
The auction proceeded smoothly at first.
"-Lot 1, the ancient spinning wheel, sold for 50 million won to customer 542. Please come to the stage to inspect the item.
-80 million, 80 million, 80 million. Lot 2, the Yang Guifei pendant, to customer 75.
-Next lot... Oh, one moment."
The sudden confusion hit right then.
"-Apologies, customers. The order has changed; let me announce it again. Lot 3, the demon cavalry longsword auction..."
The item that was supposed to be fourth, the Lorelei Necklace, had been bumped up to third due to a last-minute quality inspection failure on the previous one.
Uncommon for an auction of this scale, they said.
Whatever.
Cheon Seo-yoon clutched her pounding chest and took a small deep breath.
She bit her lip hard, focusing, focusing again.
"-The Lorelei Necklace. This piece was custom-made by the renowned French atelier Troika, crafted from a mana crystal sourced from Germany's Lorelei..."
She listened to the host while hitting the participate button the moment it started.
"-Wow, customer 680. Quick on the draw. Looks like you're determined. We have a bid of 70 million right away."
Seeing her number on the front screen, she relaxed a bit.
"-Customer 43 bids 80 million.
-464 bids 95 million.
-683 bids 100 million."
...
But.
The competition was fiercer than expected.
She'd thought a simple accessory without side effects would go for a reasonable price...
Bids poured in from everywhere, like they'd been waiting.
"These people..."
Cheon Seo-yoon quickly adjusted the price and re-bid.
"-Customer 680 bids 150 million. Already past the appraisal of 100 million... Oh, immediately 110 million from 683!"
But 683 followed right away.
The same one who'd bid 100 million last.
Who the hell...
The persistent rival piqued her curiosity about their face.
She peeked over at the seat two spots away.
There sat a middle-aged woman dripping with class.
It was spring already, yet she wore a fur coat.
Her plump fingers sparkled with huge gem rings—red, blue, green, not the rainbow, but flashy enough.
"No way she needs another one when she has all that."
Cheon Seo-yoon gritted her teeth and raised the bid.
"-The competition is heating up. Customer 680 bids 115 million.
-Ooh, 683 counters with 120 million.
-680 again at 125 million.
-683 at 130 million!"
As the price climbed, her mouth went dry.
She had exactly 155 million total.
Not much left until her limit.
If she kept inching it up, they'd likely keep pace.
She didn't know auctions well, but her instincts screamed it.
"Crazy..."
She had to make a call.
Money could be earned back; she focused on reclaiming it...
Cheon Seo-yoon went all-in with everything she had and hit bid.
"-Whoa, customer 680 jumps straight to 155 million."
The host shouted excitedly upon confirming, and the room buzzed softly.
"Wow, that young lady's got guts."
"Is it really worth 50% over appraisal?"
Amid the worried murmurs were voices from her companions in the spectator seats.
They'd been shocked once already that the item she'd waited so desperately for was a necklace—
"Aren't you raising too much at once?"
"Yeah. Should've waited a bit."
Now they worried she'd bid too high.
But Joo Ah-rin, experienced in auctions, saw it differently.
"No, she did the right thing. If you want it, you have to bet that much."
"Why?"
"50% over appraisal is an unwritten rule. It signals to the opponent that you absolutely must have it."
Now it was up to 683's resolve.
If they were as desperate as Cheon Seo-yoon, they'd follow; if just possessive or curious, they'd aim for the next item instead.
Joo Ah-rin glanced at 683 and soon smiled faintly.
Fortunately, the latter.
"-Any more bids? Current high is 155 million."
As the host called out, 683 casually extended a hand, signaling forfeit.
"Wow, Ah-rin really knows everything."
Lee Dae-ho's sincere admiration marked the apparent end of the bidding.
"-Sold in three calls, then."
The host folded fingers one by one, calling 155 million.
"-155 million. 155 million."
Cheon Seo-yoon, who hadn't relaxed, finally let her shoulders slump.
Relief that it was over, triumph that she'd done it.
Five years to reclaim a trace of that dear person...
Fragments of those memories welled up, emotion surging.
"-Final call, 155 mill... What?!"
A new bidder appeared right then.
"-Ah, not over yet."
The number on the front screen: 21.
The bid: a whopping...
"-200 million! 200 million! Far surpassing the previous high of 155 million!"
The room erupted in murmurs.
"200 million? What?"
"What's so special about that necklace?"
Money wasn't the issue.
Most VIPs here could drop 200 million without blinking.
The real problem was double the appraisal.
At that ratio, it wasn't overpaying—it was throwing money away.
"200 million?!"
Cheon Seo-yoon shot to her feet.
Who the hell was sabotaging at the last second? She scanned for their seat.
But she couldn't pinpoint it.
Seats were spaced wide, and theirs was tucked in a corner...
"-Sold in three calls, then."
She wanted to follow, but didn't have the funds.
Ruined.
Her vision blurred; she bowed her head.
"-200 million, 200 million, 200 million. Sold to customer 21."
The host's words rang distorted.
"-We'll now proceed with item inspection. Customer 21, please come forward."
But the last part rang crystal clear.
If she wanted to track them later, she needed their face.
Clenching her fists, Cheon Seo-yoon looked up again.
...Huh?
She rubbed her eyes fiercely as a familiar silhouette headed to the stage.
No change.
Still the face she knew.
Cheon Seo-yoon muttered blankly, forgetting even anger.
"...Park Ha-yul?"
* * *
I walked calmly.
...
Kept walking.
Mutterings about my noticeably bright ears, how the young punk had no eye for value.
How I was just burning money.
...
And Cheon Seo-yoon's flustered voice buzzed in my ears, but I ignored it and kept going.
The real show was just beginning.
I soon reached the stage and faced the host.
No, the demon wearing the host's skin.
"Congratulations, customer."
He greeted politely with a friendly smile. I returned simple well-wishes.
"You've got a nice speaking voice. Why not switch to this line of work?"
"Pardon?"
"Never mind. Show me the item."
"Right away."
He clapped once, and a female staffer wheeled out a cart from behind the stage.
Atop it sat a fairly luxurious-looking box.
The necklace must be inside.
But that wasn't important—my eyes tracked the staffer, not the box.
Black bob haircut, vacant eyes laced with emptiness. And a burn scar between her brows, visible only up close.
Exactly as I'd pictured; no mistaking her.
She was the key figure in this terrorist plot.
The Bomb Demon.
Affiliated with the demon crime syndicate Demon Subjugation Society, she had the trait to turn anything she touched with demonic energy into a bomb.
She was how the demons had smuggled bombs past the auction's strict item checks.
Just three seconds of contact turned an ordinary necklace into a lethal weapon.
Likely done right before bringing it out, while placing it in the box.
No counter if you didn't know? Inevitable.
The cart, now a bomb, soon arrived before me.
I watched the Bomb Demon saunter off after delivery until the end.
Until another demon grinned slyly, inviting death.
"Sir, please inspect it."
He couldn't hide his excitement, his tone more aggressive than before.
He glanced down at the stage floor.
Following his gaze, sure enough...
Suspicious movements stirred in the dim auction hall.
Several shadows rose, slipping behind the crowd.
Planning to grab hostages amid the chaos once the bomb went off.
But what could they do? I had zero intention of playing along.
"Sure."
I smiled leisurely and opened the box.
The bomb's trigger was physical contact, but I plunged my hand in without hesitation, like a clueless fool.
...That instant.
KABOOOOM!
A deafening roar split my ears as crimson-black flames ballooned.
RUMBLE RUMBLE!
A massive shockwave followed, shaking the floor beneath us.
The explosion they'd craved...
"...What the hell."
The host's face twisted in confusion.
"Why's it acting up? Some prank?"
"But isn't that a famous piece?"
The auction hall buzzed.
The blast originated from the Gorgon's head, not the necklace.
I'd reached in without touching, activating the pre-engraved spell.
Fwoooosh.
Sacrificing the Gorgon's head, crimson-black smoke bloomed in a mushroom cloud, blanketing the ceiling before cascading down.
"Fuck, what is this all of a sudden!"
"Cough, cough."
Reactions came soon enough.
Some inhaled the smoke and started coughing; others collapsed, shuddering.
"You okay?"
Nearby guards rushed over, startled.
"Whoa."
But they quickly pulled back.
A bloody glint gleamed in their eyes.
"B-blood-red eyes!"
"Demons! Everyone fall back!"
This purge unfolded throughout the hall.
The smoke was a filter reacting only to demons.
Wind Control Technique, 32 strokes: Blood Cloud Incense.
Effect of the pre-engraved spell.
An obscure technique, practically obsolete classic.
Activated via the caster's blood, used for hunting to excite and lure demonic beasts.
But for green-grade demons, unable even to manifest traits.
The lowest rung of the standard six grades—same effect.
They'd lose half their reason, neutralizing their ace card.
Hostages.
No rationality left for thinking or acting.
Their hostage blackmail ploy was dead.
"Stupid bastards. That puny smoke?"
So the host—no, blue-grade demon Helmut—raged.
He glared between the necklace and me.
"...Who the hell are you?"
I smirked at my hand, pale from the blood offered for Blood Cloud Incense.
"Me? The owner of the necklace you idiots messed with."