Chapter 24
—
Amid Lee Shin driving Chae Dong-ha to the brink of exploding with just his expression, they finally arrived at the auction house.
The gathering gazes.
Without a single exaggeration, all eyes were on Lee Shin.
People stared at him through the openings of their masks, their eyes glued to him.
Lee Shin even managed to wave leisurely at everyone with his signature harmless smile.
“Would you like an explanation of the rules of the auction house?”
“It’s fine. But we need to have a private conversation. Could you excuse us for a moment?”
“Understood.”
The staff reluctantly left with disappointment written all over their faces. Only after Chae Dong-ha checked that no one was watching did he grind his teeth furiously.
Lee Shin grinned at the sight and opened his mouth.
“Why are you whining again? So cute.”
“Whining?! Did you just call this whining?!”
“Whoa, whoa, calm down. I have my reasons for being here. Now, hand me the catalog.”
“Representative!!”
Sitting with his legs crossed on a high-end sofa in a luxurious carbon black color, Lee Shin unfolded the catalog.
“Socrates once said, ‘Know thyself.'”
“Why are you suddenly bringing up Socrates?”
“Don’t you know about self-awareness? I know myself well. Even the esteemed SSS-tier commander wouldn’t have strategies that come to my mind.”
“That… that may be true, but…”
“Actually, a few did come to mind. Teehee.”
“Are you kidding me?!”
What was he supposed to do with this?
Chae Dong-ha fumed.
But Lee Shin, still focused on the catalog, continued the conversation in his relaxed tone.
“I know my limits, and I know my strengths. Strategy and tactics? I’m just good at them, but I’m not the best.”
“What does that have to do with shopping?!”
“Oh, it’s starting.”
” Representative!!”
“See for yourself.”
“Ugh!!”
The moment Lee Shin winked and drove Chae Dong-ha crazy, the lights in the auction house turned off.
The stage lights came on, and a host wearing an A-line suit that accentuated their figure stepped forward to greet the audience.
After a brief introduction, the auction finally began.
The first item was a mink coat.
“The first session is always a warm-up. As always, this is an unidentified item. From normal to unique! The opportunity is open to everyone. Test your luck!”
In other words, it was a gamble.
Would it be a normal item worth just a few million won, or a unique item worth the price of several houses?
However, the gaudy pearl-studded mink coat that looked like something a nouveau riche aunt would wear left people hesitant.
Even if performance mattered, appearance was still important for items worth billions. It needed to meet basic standards, even if not for show.
In that sense, the mink coat was a fail.
As people’s interest waned and the atmosphere grew cold, the host skilfully reignited the excitement.
“Just to elaborate, our skilled appraisers at this venue declared it unassessable. This could mean that it’s potentially a high-grade item.”
“Ooh…!”
Exclamations of amazement spread.
The grade of an item and the difficulty of its appraisal were often proportional.
Though the tacky design was off-putting, if the host’s words were true, it was undoubtedly a high-risk, high-reward gamble.
There was now a reason to bid—a reason to spend money.
Eyes that had gone cold just moments ago now sparkled as if nothing had happened.
Everyone gripped their paddles, ready.
“We’ll start lightly at 10 million won.”
At the host’s signal, paddles began rising one after another.
20 million, 30 million, 70 million… wait, 100 million!!
The price rose steeply, and the heated atmosphere filled the auction house.
However, the heat dissipated as if it were all a lie when Lee Shin intervened.
“One billion.”
Lee Shin.
The warrior of wallets had appeared.
“One billion, not continuing?”
* * *
Why was he suddenly reminded of the old days?
Back when he squeezed into a packed morning bus to go to work. In hindsight, he really worked like a dog.
Overtime every day, and just when his body screamed, “I’m dying, I’m dying!!” he would suppress it with caffeine as if it were a painkiller.
His incompetent boss, who couldn’t even stay still without causing trouble, would make all sorts of messes, and cleaning them up meant giving up his weekends. Come to think of it, he had been called out even while gaming back then. The more he thought about it, the more infuriating it was.
Anyway, he slaved away, shaving off his lifespan, and got a paycheck of barely 3 million won.
And yet, in just two hours of bidding, Lee Shin had spent over 4 billion won.
Three million? Even 6 million wouldn’t accumulate that much in a lifetime, yet he had burned through it in just two hours.
Lee Shin felt a bit strange.
Many people often said this.
That there were things more valuable than money, that too much money would only bring unhappiness, that money couldn’t buy happiness.
That’s why it felt strange.
“This belt here, for example, stores 500 throwing knives in a subspace.”
“Five billion!!”
All of that was a lie.
…That’s so damn cool.
* * *
At some point, the auction house had grown cold.
“‘Viper’s Amplification Potion,’ five bottles. For those unfamiliar with the Viper, let me explain briefly…”
“200 million.”
The steady son of a mid-sized company and the son of a guild master.
“The next item we’re introducing is also famous. It’s the luxury necklace for all magic professions, the ‘Pearl Eyering Necklace’…”
“500 million.”
An elderly regional influencer and a city councilor obsessed with wealth.
“This bracelet, which enhances the rotation rate of mana within the body, comes as a set of two…”
“300 million.”
The prominent figures of Busan’s society had all fallen silent. Not a single word escaped their lips.
There were likely many reasons these people came to this place.
Maybe it was simply because the item they wanted was up for auction.
Or perhaps it was to join the elite community formed around the exclusivity of this venue.
Or maybe, they came to flex their wealth by casually spending amounts that salary workers could never dream of, while hearing things like, “Wow, you’re amazing, boss,” or “You’re so cool, oppa!”
But.
Judging an item’s value came naturally to people.
If it was worth acquiring, Lee Shin snatched it up first.
Privilege? Community? Lee Shin neither acknowledged such things nor cared about them. Even if he did know, he would just scoff.
Then there was the matter of showing off.
Greed is often wielded by those who are lacking or half-baked.
As the eldest grandson of the Lee Do family, part of the most elite class of chaebols from birth.
Lee Shin himself was the ultimate display.
That was the concept of “Lee Shin,” a character crafted by the world’s one and only “old god,” Lee Shin.
“Three hundred million!”
“Six hundred million!”
“One billion!!”
Know thyself.
Lee Shin knows himself better than anyone.
In this world, he is the perfect manual.
Without needing to check a status window, he can see through the grade, options, and hidden “stories” of those items.
It is this Lee Shin who, as an SSS-tier commander, has absolute trust in the Mountain King.
If he speaks of doing his best rather than being the best, it truly means that the best is the limit.
If this were a game interface, it would mean there is no choice available.
At least in “strategy and tactics.”
Then.
He must change his approach.
Not through strategies or tactics, but through his own, unique Lee Shin method.
What Lee Shin possesses, his strengths.
Alongside his unparalleled charm, Lee Shin has another weapon.
And that is.
The overwhelming wealth emanating from his limitless black card.
“Seven billion!!”
By the time everything concluded, Lee Shin had spent 15.7 billion won at the auction house.
“…This is astonishing. So this is what you meant by shopping.”
“How’s that? Spec shopping. Pretty fun, isn’t it?”
“Not sure about fun, but it does make me curious.”
“About what?”
“About what you’ll shop for next.”
“Heh heh heh. Feel free to look forward to it.”
Whatever you imagine, it will be beyond that.
The Rolls-Royce drove away from the black market in the early morning mist.
* * *
Gwangil Middle School.
Across the classroom, where groups of students laughed and chatted, there was one child sitting alone.
“Hey, your boyfriend’s over there.”
“Do you wanna die?”
“Did you see it? That clip of him tripping? It was hilarious.”
Short stature, hunched shoulders. Scruffy hair and thick, nerdy glasses.
Sitting in a dark corner of the bright classroom, exuding a gloomy aura, was a boy named Park Soo-bin.
He was currently the hottest topic as the most controversial rookie in the renowned Mir Guild.
“What gives him that kind of confidence? Thinking he can become a hunter with talent like that? He should just focus on studying instead.”
“He’s bad at studying too, though.”
“Still better than tripping all over himself, isn’t it?”
“True that.”
“Ha ha ha.”
“Ki kik.”
Jealousy, ridicule, scorn, and contempt.
Amidst the murmurs filled with malicious intent, Park Soo-bin buried his head on the desk, trying to block it all out.
It was clear as day. In this classroom, Park Soo-bin had no allies.
No, outside of his family, Park Soo-bin had never had someone he could call a friend.
He had been pathologically timid since birth.
In a world where instinct often trumps reason and strength outweighs rules, his innate timidity made him an excellent target. From elementary school to middle school, even after his awakening, he continued to be ostracized.
“Hey, wasn’t he kinda famous? For awakening super early? Guilds were practically lining up for him, weren’t they? So why is he like this?”
“Heh heh, I know the story. That idiot stuttered during interviews and got blacklisted.”
“Some people spend hundreds of millions of won trying to awaken by taking academy courses. And this fool, who’s got nothing, awakened. Life is so unfair.”
“Even if I awakened now, I’d do better than him. Right?”
Park Soo-bin hated his timidity too.
Even when opportunities came, he couldn’t seize them, too paralyzed to say a single word. His own weakness disgusted him.
And he hated those mocking him, whispering behind his back, “What makes you think you’re so great?!”
He hated everything, to the point of wanting to die.
Perhaps that’s why he grabbed Lee Shin’s hand when it was extended to him one day.
—“Your potential is real. I can see it.”
He was confident. Overflowing with self-assurance.
With an otherworldly appearance that even comic book characters couldn’t compete with, and two eyes shining with conviction, he seemed radiant beyond words.
A person brimming with human charm.
The complete opposite of someone like him.
Park Soo-bin thought.
If I take the hand extended by this dazzlingly brilliant Lee Shin… could I change too…?
Though afraid of getting hurt again, Park Soo-bin instinctively knew. The hand Lee Shin offered was the last chance to change his miserable, maggot-like life.
And so, summoning all his courage, he took that hand.
And though he truly poured every ounce of effort into it—
[Mir Guild’s ‘Park Soo-bin’ succeeds in debuting at age 16, the youngest ever. However…]
-Park Soo-bin (Rating: 1.8)
Not prepared at all. A defensive sorcerer who can’t even cast a proper shield.
Closer to a trainee than a prospect.
So unremarkable it wouldn’t matter if he weren’t there.
Don’t know why they forced such a risky debut…
The result was failure.
The ridicule only grew louder. Nothing had changed.
Was it impossible after all? Was this all he was capable of?
As the last of his desperate efforts crumbled, so did Park Soo-bin. He had fallen off the edge of the cliff.
Now, there was nothing left for him.
Darkness consumed Park Soo-bin’s eyes.
- ·
And then.
At that moment.
A light appeared in Park Soo-bin’s eyes.
“Boy, are you in despair?!”
“!!”
The side panel of a truck parked near the school gate swung open, accompanied by cheap dry ice smoke and an over-the-top “Jaga Jaga~!” entrance theme music straight out of a comic book.
What the heck, what’s going on?
Kids pulled out their phones and rushed toward the truck.
“Lights, lights, hurry!”
“Hold on… found it!”
As the cheap lights flickered on.
Through the smoke, he appeared!
“I, Lee Shin, have come to save you!”
A spark of light shone in the otherwise dull eyes of Park Soo-bin.
A light of bewilderment.
—
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