0-Sold
0-Sold
"Now, this next item is—!"
Gazes pouring down.
Noise.
Suffocating air.
I was standing on the high auction block.
Chains were connected to my wrists. A cold, flat metal number tag hung around my neck. Every time it swayed, it tapped near my heart.
354.
A slave.
"..."
I faced forward. I didn't lower my head. That, at least, I decided I wouldn't do. No matter the situation. No matter the gazes.
...Isn't it strange.
Just a few days ago, I had been the eldest son of the Stein family.
I had been on the side looking down at that from below.
There was a scene I didn't want to recall.
Even if I forced it down, it kept floating up.
Thank you for being born, Victor.
A warm embrace.
Embarrassing words.
...I always love you.
A face whose ears would redden.
Kwang—
And then.
When I opened the door.
There, my thoughts were cut off.
"This is the eldest son of the Stein family, annihilated for blasphemy!"
The murmuring grew.
Pointing fingers.
Overt gazes.
All of it was directed at me.
Starting from 10 million Ahn!
The price began to rise.
As the numbers climbed, I gradually distanced from being human. I became a product. Strangely, I couldn't feel the reality of that process.
...Ha.
A laugh came out. No sound escaped.
But.
Even in the midst of that.
There was something that wouldn't fade.
A burning mansion.
The smell of blood.
And.
A cold hand.
The hand that had been placed on my cheek.
S-sorry.
D-don't cry. Your voice will get hoarse.
...
Why.
Why did they say such a thing.
After killing my entire family.
Why did they spare me.
That voice still lingered in my ears.
...Why.
I couldn't understand.
If only they had said nothing at all—
"70 million!"
Pulled back to reality.
I raised my head.
A man was smiling. Slowly. Unpleasantly.
Ah.
It's over.
"No more bids?"
The hammer rose.
"Countdown begins!"
"10."
I intended to die.
Once sold.
The moment the shackles came off.
I planned to end it.
Because that's the easiest way.
"9."
Family.
Home.
"8."
Everything had vanished.
"7."
A reason to live...
"4."
That was when.
My heart sank, strangely.
Without reason.
Truly without any reason—
The feeling of someone watching me.
"..."
I turned my head.
The edge of the crowd.
One woman.
"1!"
She was panting slightly, as if she had just arrived. Her hair was a little disheveled.
But.
That gaze.
Was precisely directed at me.
Without hesitation.
Without straying even once.
As if—
She had been searching for me from the beginning.
W-wait a moment!
Murmurs. Sneers.
But I couldn't properly hear those sounds.
Our gazes didn't part.
"10 billion Ahn. I-I'll bid."
In that moment.
The auction hall fell silent.
"..."
Our eyes met.
That moment.
Her eyes trembled very slightly.
Her lips moved.
No sound was heard.
Even so.
I clearly saw it.
"...Thank goodness. I wasn't late this time..."
My breath stopped.
Why.
It was a face I'd never seen before. A face I'd definitely never seen before.
But why.
Why was that woman.
As she looked at me.
Making that kind of expression.
The sound of the hammer rang out.
Ttang—! Ttang—! Ttang—!
Sold!
Applause erupted. Noise returned. The world started moving again.
I looked down at her from the auction block.
She hugged something tightly to her chest and let out a short breath.
That expression.
Strangely.
Wouldn't leave my eyes.
"..."
She took a moment to steady her breath, then raised her head and met my eyes.
"...!"
A simple eye contact, truly without any interference.
But.
At that moment, I was certain.
My life.
Wasn't over yet.
And.
That it would continue in an even more horrible way.