Chapter 12
Translator: IPO
Chapter 12
“3 million…”
“4 million…!”
“5 million!”
“10 million dollars!”
“11 million…!”
“W-Wait! Please calm down! The auction atmosphere seems to have become too overheated, so we will take a short break!”
Even the auctioneer, who had witnessed all sorts of things at The Beetle’s Nest, could not hide his bewildered expression at the current situation.
The auction house managers and auctioneers exchanged glances among themselves, trying to understand this situation.
‘What in the world is this….’
‘There’s absolutely no reason for this Violin to be this popular…?’
‘Could it have some kind of mental contamination enchantment on it?’
‘No, we’re not being affected at all. Besides, the mental protection spells installed on this building alone cost 3 billion won a month.’
And for good reason. David’s Violin could hardly be considered an Artifact with outstanding or powerful quality compared to the other auction items.
If one were to forcefully point out something special about it, the only notable fact was that it had been made using 187 children as materials.
Meanwhile, the other auction items being sold alongside it were things that were practically helpful to Hunters and Awakened Ones—such as the Dragon Heart that increases Innate Energy and Mana, the Abyss Spear that grants a certain level of correction within Water-Attribute domains, and a Flame-Enchanted Shotgun with an Infinite Magazine.
Compared to those, David’s Violin provided absolutely no benefits for an ordinary Awakened One who purchased it.
It couldn’t even be used in combat. At best, its usefulness was about the same as hanging it on a wall like a piece of modern art collected by wealthy collectors.
Of course, considering it had been created by David, a villain, terrorist, and murderer infamous for his brutality, it was indeed a top-tier auction item in terms of rarity and curse-related value.
But even so, it was absolutely not an item worth surpassing 10 million dollars in the blink of an eye.
And discussions were also continuing in other VIP Rooms of the auction house.
“…Master, what shall we do?”
“This isn’t some trick by the Hoyeon Guild, is it?”
“Even the Hoyeon Guild cannot know the auction items here in advance.”
The leaders of massive guilds, high-ranking Awakened Ones frequently appearing in the news, and promising rising talents were gathered here.
“The big shots up there have lost their minds over that one item. If that’s the case, there must be a reason.”
“Honestly, there’s no reason to pour that kind of money into a single Violin. But if it means screwing that bastard over, then it’s nothing.”
And even the children of certain Chaebol Families.
Successful businessmen of the underworld, and even the heads of criminal organizations.
The sudden heat of the auction stimulated the desires of many people.
“The thing we actually needed to obtain this time was the Wyvern Egg….”
“We were planning to distribute a Wyvern to each guild member….”
“But the Hoyeon Guild and the others have gone crazy over that thing right now. I don’t know about other matters, but they aren’t people incompetent in business, nor are they the type to spend money recklessly….”
“So that Violin must have some kind of value or reason behind it?”
“Then shall we use everything available?”
“Yes. Use everything we can.”
And Jaehee, who was watching all of this from the highest seat of the auction house, was not in the slightest bit impatient.
In truth, all Jaehee had done was ignite the flames of desire.
Everyone here was a powerful figure who possessed their own forces in both the light and the shadows.
Naturally, such people would be drenched in all kinds of desires.
And this auction hall was, in other words, a place where every person present—except oneself—was a competitor and someone who would one day need to be surpassed and cast aside.
Looking down at the enchanting spectacle where desires danced wildly, Jaehee grasped the Brandy brought by an attendant serving the VIP Guests.
“La~”
At the light humming, a secret charm settled throughout the auction hall.
As if the melody of a Violin were resonating, the air of the auction hall slowly began to change.
“Then we shall resume the auction!”
“David’s Violin, a legendary cursed masterpiece created using 187 children as materials!”
“The spells and effects imbued within it are all unknown!”
“As you already know, we ask that all participants deliberate carefully! At the Kaklashteun Auction, all transactions are conducted in cash, and if it is determined that you lack an invitation or the ability to pay, you will be permanently expelled!”
“The bidding will begin at 10 million dollars!”
“…11 million!”
“11.5 million!”
The moment the auction resumed, the atmosphere inside changed drastically once again.
Though invisible to the eye, the subtle change that had initially seeped between people gradually formed into the shape of a human.
A human figure filled with desire.
Some people suddenly felt that their own breathing sounded unusually loud.
Others began to feel uncomfortable about the presence of the person beside them.
This small discomfort would soon become the seed of great chaos.
“30 million!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You don’t even have that kind of money!”
“Shut up! What do you know!”
As the auction continued, the situation gradually worsened.
Of course it did.
The charm spilled by the Empress was like a slowly spreading deadly poison. If one did not notice the abnormality at the beginning, they would become intoxicated by it and lose their reason without even realizing it.
“I-I will pay 100 million dollars! Give it to me immediately!”
“N-No! That belongs to me!”
“You want to try me?!”
“Hoyeon Guild! Come down here right now! In this very place I’ll—!”
“You lunatic…!”
And thus, at last, the auction hall fell completely into a cauldron of chaos.
The voice of the auctioneer had already been drowned out, and the people lost their reason and moved according to their desires.
They pushed and stumbled among themselves, swept into the vortex of desire.
Some fought while shouting higher prices, while others began swinging their fists in order to seize what they wanted.
‘Ahaha, it has begun, hasn’t it?’
Desire is something primal.
And when something primal is obstructed, violence naturally erupts.
Like the protagonist upon a stage, I moved quietly.
Amid the chaos, I walked leisurely through the crowd and approached the Violin.
Those who had lost consciousness in desire and charm were hardly visible among them, and the ones drowning in chaos did not notice her intentions at all.
At last, she obtained the Violin at the center of the chaos, and at that moment the turmoil of the auction hall reached its peak.
To me, all of this chaos felt like a kind of artwork I had created.
The spectacle of chaos created by the mixture of desire, anger, anxiety, and greed gave her the thrill of perfect victory.
A disgusting pleasure.
Base and dark human desire.
It is something that feels truly unpleasant, yet I do not deny it.
Even such negative desire becomes nourishment for beauty.
However, that is not what I am pursuing right now.
“Come here.”
At my gesture, the Violin floated into the air.
As if it possessed a will of its own.
As it approached me, it whispered.
—….
—….
They whispered to me.
In small voices.
The voices of children.
Of boys and girls.
They sounded like faint echoes.
“Ah…”
It hurts.
My mind is becoming contaminated and eroded… an immense curse is contained within it.
If it were not me—
If another human had touched this—
They would have slowly gone mad from the children’s grief and curses.
Perhaps the auctioneer might even be making money by retrieving this Violin again through the downfall of its maddened owner, reclaiming both the Violin and the owner’s ruined fortune.
Of course, that might not be the case.
“What grievance troubles you so deeply?”
Voices of resentment.
Voices of curses.
Sorrow and grief.
Screams and cries of pain.
Ah… but it was only after hearing them that I realized.
“Ah… even after death… you have still not found rest…”
The children who had become the materials of this Violin were still vividly alive.
Trapped inside the Violin, screaming tragic and miserable cries that no one could hear, slowly turning into the wails of a curse.
Poor children.
Unfortunate and sorrowful children who had been captured and murdered by a cruel being worse than a beast that had cast away its humanity.
The children still could not go to sleep.
This Violin was their prison.
Their iron bars.
A dark basement.
The foul leather sack they had been placed inside when they were abducted.
“Now, please speak to me.”
I listened to the children’s desires.
Though no one else could hear them—though they had screamed until their throats bled and no one had ever listened—
“I can hear you.”
So please speak to me.
Come here.
—Where■■is this?
—Mom■■■where are you?
—It hu■■rts.
—I’m sc■■ared.■■
—It’s da■■rk.
—I don’t wa■nt ■to.
—I want ■to li■■ve.
—I can’t br■■eathe.
—I’ll ki■■l ■you! I’ll ki■■l■■!
Countless voices echoed in my head.
The voices of the auction hall filled with desire and chaos could no longer be heard.
Because these voices mattered more than those of the adults.
“How pitiful.”
Their voices.
Their souls.
The little remaining turbid life force and vitality were grasped in my hand.
Even leaving things like this would be beautiful.
A tragic beauty.
For there is also beauty born from screams.
“But that is not my taste.”
My taste…
The beauty I pursue is something a little more lovely, something more pleasing for many people to behold.
It may be beautiful for these poor children to sink into rotten soil.
But for beautiful flowers to bloom again from those children who had become rotten soil…
For tainted brilliance to regain its shine once more.
That is the beauty I find most beautiful.
“And flowers and brilliance… I also call them something else.”
“The smiles of children.”
The smiles of children.
Something so ordinary, yet the most precious thing in the world.
And also something that is now the hardest thing to see in this world.
“Today, I want to see the smiles of children.”
So I picked up the Violin.
I know nothing about Violins.
Even after becoming a Succubus, and even before that.
I never lived a life related to music or Violins.
However, a Succubus Empress possesses a certain level of correction regarding ‘all beautiful things in this world.’
Even without knowledge or experience, I can handle beautiful things—or things that could appear beautiful—to a certain degree.
“I’m holding one for the first time.”
How do I look right now?
A Violin and a bow that I am holding for the first time in my life.
They are light, and a little flexible.
How beautiful must I look holding them?
Ah… it would have been nice if there were a mirror.
But it’s fine.
I’m sure it must be beautiful.
In the chaos, no one gave me any attention.
But that is fine.
Because right now this is not for them, but for the poor children trapped within this Violin.
It feels like standing in the middle of a quiet forest under darkness.
The light of the chandelier descended around me like a silver veil containing moonlight, and a gentle breeze from somewhere caressed my hair.
As if separated from the world into another dimension, I stood in the chaos holding the Violin.
With my hand, I gently stroked the surface of the Violin.
Its black and strange luster contained a darkness with no end, like a deep well.
Following where my hand guided me.
Following the beauty that whispered to me.
I embraced the Violin and moved my hands.
Though I was clearly touching it for the first time, it naturally fit perfectly with my hands and body.
Music for the first time.
Performance for the first time.
Violin for the first time.
Yet my hands moved naturally.
As if it had always been natural for them to move this way.
The melody was quiet.
And clear.
Like a flower blooming silently at dawn amidst chaos.
Like a spell calling the souls of the lost, it called the children’s souls one by one.
Ah… if I must give this a name…
“[The Forgotten Lullaby]
The Forgotten Lullaby.”
Since you were forgotten, I will remember you.
I whispered as I played.
Then the auction hall, where people had been fighting in drunken desire and chaos, fell silent.
All eyes—
Filled with doubt, curiosity, and confusion—
Turned toward me.
Did the melody I clumsily played shake their hearts?
I hope so.
Today is the day the children fall asleep.
The day the children who cursed in sorrow close their eyes.
So if everyone here would join in this gentle requiem, I would be grateful.
Ah… though of course no one will know.
‘Child suffocated inside a box. Child hiding in fear from parents’ quarrels. Child fleeing from Satan, plague, rage, disease, and hunger. Come to me.’
Forget the pain.
Forget the loneliness.
Forget the sorrow.
You children should simply smile.
For you are children meant to smile.
My melody is only a simple comfort, but I promise you this one thing.
You will bloom in my hands and remain beautiful.