Chapter 296. Fact
< 2nd Day. Tokyo Artifact Auction >
The waiting room has been noisy since morning.
In Japan, everyone tried to keep it quiet, but how could any secrets be kept in an event where foreigners and the internet were free to roam?
“Did you hear? There was an explosion in this building somewhere before we arrived.”
“Oh, really?”
“Where?”
“Probably in the eastern section marked as ‘Exhibit Closed.'”
It’s around 3 PM, just before Tokyo’s highlight auction.
“Anyway, as long as there’s no problem with [Triaina], I don’t care.”
France.
China.
India.
And many others.
Given that dangerous items with abilities even more threatening than a train are being traded, today’s auction followed the principle of direct receipt.
S-Class hunters from around the world crowded into Haneda Airport starting from around lunchtime on the second day to avoid wasting time.
Contrary to Japan’s concerns, the number of participating S-Class hunters was quite substantial.
“There are a total of three competitors.”
Compared to a typical market, the bidders might seem fewer, but…
“I hope I can buy something. Somehow that Chinese person I saw at the airport is bothering me.”
“Chinese?”
“They drew a line saying they belong to different guilds on the surface.”
Energy is money.
In this energy-driven society, how could an Awakened who continually acquires new resources like magic stones have little wealth?
Each S-Class hunter is a capitalist with extraordinary wealth, so the auction’s prices would never end up trivial.
“Friend, this is really obvious. It’s so boring. That hunter from China is probably a substitute for Zhu Han, and she’ll likely sell the gear she buys to her country’s Celestial Demon.”
_Haha._
The young hunter from France laughs out loud.
He spoke to his fellow countrymen who arrived with him.
“As you know, the IHT from China was heavily rigged.”
“I remember. That necklace that wouldn’t break no matter what.”
“But despite the manipulation, he lost to Enzo Chiano. Zhu Han probably would need that item but would be too prideful to come here herself.”
Since the main item released by Japan is [Triaina], it’s only natural that hunters from abroad would discuss it casually.
“It’s just ridiculous.”
The French hunter enjoys small talk while waiting for the auction to start.
Amidst their chatter, a familiar question in one Japanese hunter’s mind was similarly brought up.
‘By the way, how did Enzo manage to win when he enjoys drinking [God’s Droplet] so much?’
Everyone knows that American Brooklyn Morgan is a heavy drinker.
With a whopping 20 bottles of God’s Droplet as the second-place prize, it was suspicious for him to win.
‘Hmm…’
Of course, Enzo Chiano never said, “My goal is second place.”
If his abilities supported it, selling the first-place prize for drinks would be a more profitable move in capitalism.
‘………’
Is it really the Spectrum’s whim?
That’s the assumption, but without solid evidence, it’s just a rumor circulating among the people.
The rumor that the USA, having lost Brooklyn Morgan, pressured its guild for results was just that.
After all, what benefit would there be in fussing over such gossip?
Then the auction announcer’s energetic voice rang out over the venue’s speakers, starting the bidding.
The hopeful auction participants began to rise from their seats, preparing to head to the auction floor.
.
.
.
A few minutes later.
Inside the perfectly set auction hall.
“नमस्ते (Hello)!”
Those seated checked the minimum bid and bidding increments displayed on the monitors.
At that moment, somewhat stiff Hindi was heard from somewhere.
“My apologies for the late greeting. I only just heard you arrived in Tokyo.”
It was the greeting of Iori, using a translation device from Pixie Corp.
Until a moment ago, Iori had been highly tense protecting epic-class items. Now, she had finally swapped roles with other S-Classes.
Is it time to relax a little and greet familiar faces?
“Sonakshi. Have you been well?”
“Yes, I’ve been doing just fine.”
An older woman calmly accepted the other’s greeting.
The person Iori responded to was an S-Class hunter from India.
“I’m glad to hear that. It’s a precious connection to meet at a partying venue so far away in the US. It’d be lovely if we could stay healthy for a long time!”
_Haha._
By the way, in an auction room that could seat about 200 people, only four hunters were competing for items.
“But I’m not sure if you heard, but there’s something we should apologize for…”
Iori was trying to bring up a certain topic, but the Indian hunter gently interrupted.
“The cancellation of one epic item’s auction.”
“Oh, right!”
“We haven’t even seen it. But that artifact went berserk yesterday afternoon and was pulled from sale… Yes, we already received that notification, so please don’t worry.”
“But you were hoping to buy that unreleased one…”
“Again, there’s no need to apologize. I simply came out to get some fresh air because I was feeling bored.”
The Indian hunter, both in tone and appearance, looked somehow melancholic.
“I came to watch the auction at my own will, so please don’t refund the flight ticket… It’s starting now.”
Before Iori could respond, the lively voice of the auctioneer announcing the event rang out.
Finally, it was the moment everyone had been waiting for—the start of the [Triaina] auction.
-Now accepting bids!
But just a minute after the auction started…
“Um…”
The Indian hunter sitting in the back of the dark room turned to speak to the event staff standing against the wall.
“Yes, Sonakshi. What can I do for you?”
“Watching the rate the bids increase, I was wrong. If I get involved in this fight, my precious assets will be crushed beneath the weeds of those people.”
“Ah.”
“It seems wrong to buy something, so I just wanted to chat with you.”
A quick decision.
Considering that an item starting at 20 billion yen nearly doubled in price in just seconds, who wouldn’t want to give up on such competition?
Iori scanned the hunters from China and France, throwing prices back and forth.
She leaned toward the Indian hunter, nodding as if to express understanding.
“Yamasaka.”
But I never expected the middle-aged man wanted to chat about this.
“By the way, this might be an improper question, but is that person still inside the Tokyo venue?”
“Who?”
“The S-Class from the Asian countries who appeared last year.”
Sonakshi, the Indian, turned on her phone and showed the profile of someone.
The results she secretly searched for showed a familiar face.
Golden hair.
With the whites of his eyes fully exposed.
The person was looking for the Korean who wasn’t present.
“You mean Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo.”
Currently, the minimum bid for the ongoing [Triaina] auction was 200 billion won, and someone was left behind…
“If it’s Kim Gi-ryeo, he’s probably still in Japan. Although he isn’t participating in the auction.”
According to what they discussed the day before, after the Dragon Raid, they couldn’t easily approach that Korean due to the immense inconvenience caused by the guards’ terror.
Hence, the Japanese didn’t think that Kim Gi-ryeo had given up due to lack of funds. They simply assumed, as they heard upon entry, that he had “no interest in Triaina.”
“Is that so…?”
However, hearing that Kim Gi-ryeo was still in Tokyo, the Indian began to show an odd response.
“Why are you reacting this way?”
Is there a problem or something?
When Iori asked this, the Indian pondered for a moment.
At that moment, fierce competition was ongoing amongst hunters in the front rows.
On the furthest display stand, Moritake Ito was seen closely guarding Triaina.
As if he had secured some good deal, he had been looking proudly into his pocket.
“Yamasaka.”
After a short wait, the Indian hunter reopened his mouth.
“We recently had a transaction among equal S-Class hunters, right?”
“Yes?”
“The Beast. Since we know each other, let’s share information when we find out something about that beast…”
After a long time, the name brought back memories.
But it was a promise that Iori clearly remembered.
When the ‘Beast’ was rampaging in the world, countless hunters worried about it becoming a target and initiated searches.
“Ah, yes. That’s certainly what happened.”
These two hunters, meeting again through an auction, weren’t in vastly different positions.
Iori had chased the Beast out of concern for the safety of Japan’s upper-ranked awakened talents, and the Indian had kept watch over the beast, only in case it threatened his beloved family.
Only now, after that mysterious awakened one had completely stopped their activities, did some news finally emerge from the Indian woman after much hesitation.
“There’s a new paper being researched in India.”
To be exact,
Although the awakened they were on guard against was already dead.
“What paper?”
“The results of various statistics conducted on Awakened… Most hunters with the skill ‘space movement’ also showed aptitudes towards ‘telekinesis.'”
“…!”
“Even if you obtain a telekinesis skill stone, if you lack sufficient talent, it’s a difficult skill to handle. The fact that a specific group surpasses it with nearly a 99% probability means the elements required by both attributes are likely similar.”
“…?”
“What do you think is the requirement for both ‘space movement’ and ‘telekinesis’?”
“…”
“The answer is superhuman depth perception.”
The Indian and the Japanese in their conversation were unaware of the events’ truth.
Brooklyn Morgan’s identity was declared missing, but externally, the Beast still seemed very much alive.
Therefore.
“At this point, something begins to feel suspicious, right? Yamasaka. This isn’t something that came from your mouth, but I once heard rumors while gathering circulating information.”
“What kind of…?”
“I heard that during the Black Dragon raid, a Korean used [Binding].”
“……!”
“[Binding]… This is a power that uses a light ribbon to freely bind something, and it’s already been confirmed to have connections with telekinesis. How coincidentally, that force was wielded by an Asian powerhouse whose attributes remain undefined during the raid.”
Soon, they shifted into a serious discussion.
“Could all of this really just be a simple coincidence?”
At that same moment, the sound of a bid being won by a female S-Class hunter from China echoed.
And the research results mentioned in this conversation happened to be truly coincidental.
*
…How much time had passed since then?
‘Kim Gi-ryeo is the Beast? Nonsense.’
_Schwap._
Iori drank a stamina recovery potion through a straw instead of a caffeinated beverage.
‘Of course, there are many who change their behavior based on the person, but I don’t think that Korean hunter looks that different.’
It was now the night of the second day, after the highlight auction had concluded.
‘Maybe not. Most importantly, today’s achievements are all thanks to Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo. Definitely, if the incident in Building A had escalated, the auction itself would’ve probably been canceled…’
But even as everyone was heading to bed, this side still had plenty of work to do.
Or rather, for Iori, who had hardly moved while guarding the items, this was truly the start of her active time.
‘Anyway, should I contact the Awakening Dispatch Center?’
He wanted to investigate the previous day’s terror not relying on the authorities, but through his efforts.
‘If those arrogant fools get involved, will the police conceal information like last time…?’
Iori opened her phone and began composing a business-style email.
As she spent the night alone, her gaze unexpectedly fell on her item box.
【 ? ? ? 】
[Grade: ? ? ?]
[Function: ? ? ?]
This was the legendary item that somehow was at the center of all the trouble.
But now, it had become nothing more than a useless trinket, with no function revealed, just like the number one ranking from a neighboring country in her pocket.
“Ha.”
Once a member of the Imabari Guild, Iori had obtained the rental rights for this item through her contract with Moritake.
And now, since many S-Class hunters were in the country for the event…
Surely, being legendary, it wouldn’t break, so she’d continuously carried it throughout her epic-class security mission.
“This is just an unbreakable club… ”
It was infuriating just to stare at it.
Having failed to reveal its function, it ended up as half an ornament, and while Japan feared losing it, they actually suffered losses trying to cling on to it.
‘Come to think of it, Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo never expressed a desire for this at all.’
Huh.
‘When at the event, it seemed like he didn’t even mention the word legendary…’
Just a fleeting thought.
Could it be that the Korean recognized its uselessness right from the start?
‘Nah, that can’t be.’
Iori pretended to think for a moment before refocusing on her email writing.
Tomorrow, she heard the Korean hunter would be leaving, so she needed to finish this quickly and prepare to bid him a lavish farewell.
‘The limitations of the [Emotion] skill we both have are probably quite similar.’
But this judgment was not merely an oversight on his part.
The moment Kim Gi-ryeo first laid eyes on that item, he vaguely sensed that the essence of the legendary artifact was creating vibrations.
[Master, master, master! I’m running low on magic power!]
[It seems you need to exchange some magic stones to resharpen me.]
[ㅇㅅㅇ]
[I’m truly running low; the timing for sharpening has long passed!]
[Master, what are you doing?]
[Master, I’m telling you the cylinder is completely empty!]
[Master, it sounds like the durability of your auditory organs is declining; if you enter a command, I will proceed to remove the organs you don’t use.]
Thus, Japan spent another calm night, cradling a treasure that was just as much a ticking time bomb.
