Chapter 11
Hwi-min's artifact.
It caused a huge stir in the gallery.
After the Cheol Gangmin incident, countless companies that had been monitoring the place around the clock also went into an uproar.
"It increases persuasiveness?!"
'It's a cheat item of unparalleled proportions!!!'
The artifact's description was flashy to begin with.
It increased one's powers of persuasion?
What an incredibly valuable ability.
Of course, it would only be a little helpful to ordinary people, and not particularly useful to Awakeners.
But… what about those at the very top of the power hierarchy?
What if it were a conglomerate chairman who moved trillions of won with a single word, or a politician who represented an entire country?
-Gulp.
'They'd probably pay at least hundreds of billions.'
It would become the most expensive auction in Blue Auction's history.
Many people guessed as much.
…Those familiar with Awakeners thought a little differently.
"Chairman, apparently an item like this has appeared."
"You mean an item appraised by that Cheol Gangmin?"
"Yes, sir."
"Hmm, 'slight' persuasive power. What a shame."
The Cheonghwa Group chairman's office.
A white-haired old man stroked his chin.
He was Lee Chang-gil, head of Cheonghwa Group.
"If it weren't for the word 'slight,' it would have been worth trillions of won."
He thought to himself.
The fact that an Awakener item had the modifier 'slight' attached meant it was genuinely weak.
At most, it might make someone waver for a very brief moment when they were undecided.
For someone like Lee Chang-gil, it was as good as useless.
To begin with, the people he dealt with were all big shots, so it was impossible to win them over with a single artifact like that.
"Hmm."
'Even so, considering that….'
After calculating everything in his head.
Lee Chang-gil quickly came to a conclusion.
"Think about going as high as ten billion won."
"……!?"
Ten billion won.
The secretary inhaled sharply in surprise.
It was more than she had expected.
Even Lee Chang-gil thought so.
'Even factoring in a rise in the stock price, would it be worth seven billion?'
The fair price he had in mind was seven billion won.
Then why had he budgeted three billion more?
The reason was extremely simple.
It was because of the three syllables in the name Cheol Gangmin.
'An artifact like this goes up for auction, and Cheol Gangmin happens to appraise it? That's too coincidental.'
…Normally, one wouldn't be suspicious of something like this.
After all, who was Cheol Gangmin?
The seven great Gates were calamities where clearing even one would make someone a national hero.
Cheol Gangmin was the Awakener who had given away the strategies for them without taking a single penny.
For him to be blinded by pocket change… Well, it was a lot of money to call pocket change, but anyway.
To be blinded by such pocket change compared to his abilities and stage such a pathetic self-made drama?
It was hard to suspect him.
'The odds aren't high, but it's worth a shot.'
But Lee Chang-gil was different.
His intuition shouted that there had to be some connection between this artifact and Cheol Gangmin.
Even 3 billion won, an amount an ordinary person might never touch in their entire life, seemed cheap as the price of a lottery ticket that might let him meet him.
"If he's not Cheol Gangmin, will you cancel the deal?"
"Have you lost your mind? You want to throw away Cheonghwa's hard-earned trust for a few pennies?"
"But, Chairman, he offered 12 billion won…."
"Even better. Bring him here at once."
Perhaps that was why.
Even when the amount rose from 3 billion to 5 billion, Lee Chang-gil remained unperturbed,
"Hee-chan, I'm sorry, but could you do a bit of work for me?"
"Just say the word, Chairman."
"A fellow named Ryu Hwi-min is coming. Take a few information-type Awakeners and examine him. He might be Cheol Gangmin."
"Understood."
Hwang Hee-chan was summoned out of nowhere.
He agreed without complaint.
If there was even a one-percent chance he might be Cheol Gangmin, it was right for him to greet him personally.
…For Hwi-min, it was a disaster.
-Creeeak.
"Um, from Blue Auction… Eek!?"
'Hwang Hee-chan!?'
With an escort, Hwi-min entered the reception room.
His eyes widened like saucers.
His mouth fell open too.
Why was hyung here?
His expression practically cried out for a caption like this.
"Hmm…?"
Hwang Hee-chan's eyes narrowed.
A stretched-out T-shirt, worn-out sneakers. A tense expression.
He was about a million light-years away from the Cheol Gangmin he'd imagined.
'No, even that could be an act.'
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hwang Hee-chan."
Swish—
He offered his hand first.
'Good thing I put the ring in my Inventory…!!'
"I-I'm Ryu, Ryu Hwi-min!"
Hwi-min clasped that hand with both of his, as if overwhelmed by the honor.
He had already safely tucked away his other artifact, the Dragon Ring, in his Inventory.
Thanks to that, Hwang Hee-chan let it pass without much suspicion.
"Don't be nervous. Could we take a look at the item first?"
"Ah, yes!"
Clatter.
A brooch was placed on the table.
'He's not going to grab it and run, is he? If he does, I'll expose him with a post in Cheol Gangmin mode.'
Hwi-min watched it anxiously, but…
What he really needed to worry about
was something else entirely.
"Then please appraise it."
"…Yes!!"
The Awakeners standing behind Hwang Hee-chan.
They all reached out their hands at once.
Even Yuna, who had been assigned monitoring duty, was no exception.
[—The artifact isn't what matters. We need to find out whether he's Cheol Gangmin….]
'If that's really Cheol Gangmin, I can finally work in the scouting department for real!!'
The information-type trait holders of the Cheonghwa Guild.
Yuna was the only one from the Beginner's Tower; all the others were from the Challenger's Tower.
There were ten of them, so even the great Cheol Gangmin couldn't hide his identity in front of them.
They all thought so.
And they thoroughly…
-Ding.
[Ryu Hwi-min]
[Level: 36]
"……Huh?"
'Level 36?'
The truth of Hwi-min's actual stats was never revealed.
Before they could even complete the appraisal.
A notification had appeared for Hwi-min as well.
-Ding.
[The trait 'Dragon Eyes' has detected traits being activated against you.]
[Judging….]
['Dragon Eyes' overwhelms the other traits in rank!]
[It interferes with the activation of 3 Common traits, 6 Rare traits, and 1 Unique trait.]
(Confirmed to be information-type traits. You may permit access to whichever information you choose.)
(Currently permitted information: 0 items)
'…Huh?'
While the other Awakeners were still attempting appraisals that took several minutes each.
Hwi-min immediately realized everything.
For some reason, they were trying to check his Status Window.
'Since my level is 369 right now, can I make it display only 36?'
Hwi-min cast a sidelong glance.
Then, ding—!
The letters in the notification window changed at once.
[Currently permitted information]
- Name
- Level (Censored)
[Would you like to permit access?]
[Permission granted.]
'Will this do?'
Hwi-min then glanced at the Awakeners one by one.
His anxiety only faded after he saw the Awakeners' hollow laughs.
'Level 36… Did he just clear the first tier?'
'He's from the Egen Tower, huh.'
To them, Hwi-min was a newbie.
He was a complete newbie who hadn't even cleared the Wimp's Tower.
Yuna, who came from the same Tower, saw him the same way.
-Whisper, whisper.
"He's level 36."
"What are his traits?"
"I couldn't check that much, but they usually don't show up well anyway. They're probably nothing special."
"Hmm, I suppose so."
Thanks to that, Hwang Hee-chan's suspicions also faded.
To him, Hwi-min was a clumsy young man from the Wimp's Tower, the sort who would even bore himself.
He was definitely not Cheol Gangmin.
"What was the appraisal result for the artifact?"
"It's exactly as Cheol Gangmin analyzed."
"Good. Then handle it as the chairman instructed."
Scrape—
Hwang Hee-chan, having lost interest, stood up.
Unless Hwi-min's identity was Cheol Gangmin, staying here any longer would be a waste of time.
'I thought he might be able to save that person, but what a shame….'
"Oh, right. By any chance, are you Cheol Gangmin's Awakener Analysis 2?"
Even then, unable to shake his disappointment, he asked with lingering hope.
Aren't you actually Cheol Gangmin?
He had ended up asking so bluntly, but,
"…No, that came out wrong. It was a joke, so forget it."
'In the kids' parlance these days, they call someone like that a wimp. There's no way a perfectly healthy wimp who only goes to the Beginner's Tower could be Cheol Gangmin.'
In the end, Hwang Hee-chan never figured out that Hwi-min was Cheol Gangmin.
"…Phew."
'I thought 12 billion would be sweet even accounting for the risk of getting exposed, but I really got investigated. I need to be more careful from now on.'
He had no way of knowing that Hwi-min had also resolved to act even more like a wimp from now on.
* * *
The storm had passed for the moment, but anyway.
"Um, when will the money…."
"We've deposited it into the account you provided. We've also sent the documents to the bank, so you'll be able to use it right away."
"Thank you, thank you!!!"
Hwi-min repeatedly bowed at the waist.
Then he headed into the hallway at top speed.
Unlike when he entered, he wasn't given any lavish treatment, but he didn't care about that.
[Balance: 12,023,915,020 won]
'12 billion!!!!'
His eyes fixed on his phone,
he was busy checking the banking app over and over.
The corners of his mouth, which he couldn't control, shot upward.
"Heh heh."
'Serin, we're rich now!!'
Step, step.
His footsteps quickened too.
His identity hadn't been exposed, and he'd made money, too.
He thought all that remained was to get his little sister treated and live happily.
'Let's go straight to the Tower!!'
Hwi-min was about to return to the Tower immediately, but…
-Grab.
"Wait a moment!!"
"…Huh?"
Just as he was about to leave the building.
Someone grabbed him by the shoulder.
When he turned around, it was the person he'd just seen.
"Haa, haa… Thank goodness. You hadn't left yet."
"Ah! The one who was appraising earlier…."
"I'm Cha Yuna."
"……."
'Is there something else?'
Hwi-min froze.
Is she after my 12 billion?
Or was she trying to dig out information like before?
His worries piled up, but,
"Um, you're climbing the Beginner's Tower, right?"
"Huh? Ah, yes."
"You're on the second tier right now? It's hard, right? The orcs' smell and everything made it really hard for me too."
"……?"
Yuna was asking whether he was having trouble with the second tier.
"I know because I climbed all the way to Floor 50 myself. Everyone says it's easy, but it's harder than you'd think because it's actually scary."
"That is true, but…."
"Since we've met like this, could you give me your contact information? I'll help you with whatever I know."
I'll give you strategy info, so hand over your number.
Pure goodwill descended upon Hwi-min.
'People always ignore me, but anyone climbing the same Tower will understand!! They'll realize how amazing I am!!'
…Of course, in reality, she intended to raise a newbie.
It was what online communities commonly called "newbie raising."
Yuna, who had been treated like an afterthought at the Cheonghwa Guild, wanted to hear praise, if only to bolster her self-esteem.
"Uh, um…."
'But I don't need it?'
The other party was actually a monster of a rookie cosplaying as a newbie, but anyway.
"I'm fine, though. There are strategy guides all over the internet…."
"Don't be shy! Here, hurry and take out your phone!"
"Uh, um. Okay."
In the end, Hwi-min obediently exchanged phone numbers with her.
Even if she was up to something, he could just block her.
That was why he accepted it for the time being.
Yuna could never have imagined what he was really thinking.
"If you have any questions about Tower strategies or the Awakener industry, text me. As a senior Awakener! I'll teach you!"
"Um, thank…."
"Shall I give you some second-tier tips first? By now, you must be struggling to escape the lower level of the prison with Luka, right?"
Yuna asked warmly.
Unlike the other Awakeners, she had combed through every floor with her information-type trait.
She believed she could be of great help to Hwi-min.
"……?"
'I breezed through it, but is there something else?'
She was brimming with confidence.
Even Hwi-min was momentarily tempted.
"Then, Senior Yuna, may I ask you one thing?"
"What is it?"
"Then…."
And Hwi-min asked,
"Has any Awakener ever managed to keep Luka alive all the way to the end?"
"……."
'Why did he have to ask about that of all things!!'