TNHAS 14

Chapter: 14

Kerk’s Compass

15 minutes before entering the auction house.

The waiting room was a completely different world.

The space stretched endlessly, and along the walls were long display cases filled with jewels that all looked incredibly expensive.

[Amazing!]

[It’s practically a museum!]

A video began playing on the exhibition information screen.

The video that followed showed Anne Boleyn’s head being severed by someone’s sword….

The next jewels on display were Marie Antoinette’s diamond necklace, the Blue Hope Diamond, and the Regent Diamond of the Pitt family, which had also been associated with Napoleon.

Whatever their histories might have been, every one of them was a dazzling jewel.

[They said this was a jewelry auction, and they really live up to the name, don’t they?]

[I’ll make money later and buy them all! I will!]

As Cha Junhyeok said this, his eyes really did burn with desire.

Was he unexpectedly the type to have a lot of greed for material things?

But if he did that, he probably wouldn’t live to see the end of his lifespan.

Because that was practically a list of cursed jewels.

…Ah, was that why he was already dead?

I was briefly mourning Cha Junhyeok’s short and tragic life choices when someone dropped their cellphone in front of us.

Thud—! Crack!

Unfortunately, the cellphone bounced once more after hitting the floor.

The slightly cracked screen shattered completely, and at the same time, an intense ringtone began to ring.

Riiiiing─!

That was when it happened.

Slice─!

The execution of Anne Boleyn that we had just seen was reproduced exactly in reality.

In an instant, the cellphone owner’s head flew through the air.

Blood flowed in a long stream from the severed neck, soaking the floor of the waiting room.

But the man holding the sword showed no change in expression whatsoever.

“Please maintain order.”

[There he is! The auction house guide!]

He continued speaking in a calm voice.

“We will verify the list of attendees. Please line up in order.”

[The list of attendees?]

[They normally do that. Probably for checking the number of people or something.]

Chae Seonhwa flew behind the guide and sneakily checked the list.

Then, with surprised eyes, she frantically made an X with both hands.

[It’s not there! It’s not there!]

[What?]

[Landlord’s name!]

That was only natural.

[And Kerk’s name isn’t there either!]

“Kerk too?”

[How can that be?]

[I’m serious!]

[I’ll check too!]

Cha Junhyeok’s face had turned pale after checking the list together with Chae Seonhwa.

[Could it be that the landlord is going to end up like us too?]

[Th-then…! Where are we going to live from now on?]

[We’ll have to go back to sleeping on the streets.]

[…Uh, uhhh.]

Chae Seonhwa turned to look at me with sad eyes.

[I… I’m okay.]

However, Chae Seonhwa’s voice trembled as she said this. It seemed that, in their minds, both of them had already decided that I was a person who would be dead within a minute.

“Done.”

[Y-yes, yes. Me too. I’m ready, …all ready.]

[Landlord! Being a ghost isn’t so bad!]

Cha Junhyeok habitually rubbed his nose.

But I had absolutely no intention of dying right now.

And they had definitely said something at the entrance.

That VIP guests were precious.

I took the iron mask out of the paper bag.

The gift I had received exclusively as a precious VIP guest.

[Huh? What’s that?]

[Ah! That! From earlier!]

They had clearly told me to wear it in an emergency.

I would use it first, and if it didn’t work, I could simply go back outside.

…But was it possible to leave the auction house waiting room immediately?

Click.

As I brought the mask to my face, I heard a sound as though something were connecting together.

Then another layer of cold sensation settled over my face.

“Hmm, you there.”

The reaction was immediate.

The guide stopped checking the list and approached me.

“Are you a VIP guest?”

“That is correct.”

The guide took out a PDA and scrolled through it.

His gaze stopped at one place.

“There is one VIP among today’s attendees….”

Fortunately.

The reason Kerk’s name hadn’t been on the list seemed to be because he had been classified separately as a VIP.

“This way.”

The guide’s sword melted away with a soft sound.

He politely showed me the way.

Next to the place marked as the entrance to the auction house was a golden door.

As he opened the ornately decorated door, the guide spoke.

“Our auction house respects our VIP guests. We keep the identities of our VIP guests strictly confidential, to the point that even we cannot determine their identities.”

That was good to hear.

“However….”

When he opened the door, transparent stairs could be seen in the darkness.

“You must prove your qualifications.”

That was the signal.

Everything around me disappeared, leaving me standing in front of the stairs.

“We respond to only one kind of value.”

I could no longer see the guide, but I could hear his voice.

“The stairs lead to the VIP seats.”

Pop─!

The stairs lit up.

The transparent stairs sparkled as they caught the light.

They looked so fragile that they seemed as though they might break at any moment.

But there were empty spaces in these stairs.

Thin, circular spaces that seemed to require something to be fitted into them.

“One kind of value.”

Was this it?

I took a coin out of my inventory and held it against the empty space.

[It fits perfectly!]

[This is it!]

As expected, the coin slid perfectly into place.

The stairs, now filled with coins, quickly transformed into sturdy, golden stairs.

[These things have really become obsessed with money.]

[Seriously!]

The door we had entered through was already closed.

If I couldn’t get out from here, it was practically the same as being trapped in this space.

I climbed the stairs, inserting coins one by one.

There were 144 stairs in total.

When I stepped onto the final stair, click, the door opened.

We emerged onto a VIP-exclusive second-floor balcony seat, completely separated from the lower floor.

[They really know how to treat their guests here.]

[Isn’t this a little too capitalist?]

The lower floor was empty, and entry into the auction house hadn’t even begun yet.

Regardless of whether there were people there or not, the first item appeared on the screen.

Then an auction house employee pushed out a luxurious cart carrying the auction item.

The oval red ruby pendant displayed on the screen slowly rotated 360 degrees.

I nodded.

Somehow, that seemed likely.

Beside the pendant stood something that had once been a person.

She refused to let go of the pendant.

Of course, because a ghost couldn’t touch the pendant, the ghost’s hand simply hovered in the air.

[That thing has a ghost attached to it.]

[Th-that’s scary…!]

“…….”

But then, the ghost turned to look in this direction.

The ghost tilted her head with unfocused eyes and stared at us for a long time before….

[Aah! Th-that ghost is coming over here!]

[Shoo, shoo!]

Regardless, the ghost came right up to me and stood directly in front of me.

[You! Can you see me?]

“…No.”

[Good job, landlord!]

[Ignore her! Ignore her!]

[…….]

The ghost glanced at the corner ghosts in my household.

Then she put a hand to her head as though she were exhausted.

[I already knew you could see me when I came here.]

Since we had already exchanged words, it was difficult to continue ignoring her.

“So?”

When I answered, the ghost’s face brightened slightly.

[Help me.]

[Isea, did you leave something with our landlord?]

[Hey! You’re Cha Junhyeok, right? When did you die?]

[Recently. Even someone as strong as me is bound to die someday. They say heroes die young.]

Heroes die young?

I had never heard that expression before.

[What are you talking about? I knew it from the moment you started piling up karma with your mouth. Be honest. You were betrayed somewhere, weren’t you?]

[…….]

Isea rubbed salt into Cha Junhyeok’s wound with an incredibly accurate diagnosis.

But Cha Junhyeok remained unfazed.

[Don’t be ridiculous. And Isea, why are you attached to a jewel? Are you an evil spirit?]

Chae Seonhwa suddenly became serious at Cha Junhyeok’s words. Her voice even trembled.

[An evil spirit?! What on earth are you after…!]

[…Cha Junhyeok, have you finally lost your mind? Seriously, this is ridiculous. Why would I be an evil spirit?! And what do you mean, what am I after? Do you think I’m saying all this for nothing?]

[Then?]

[Are you going to repay our landlord somehow?]

[Of course.]

Repay me?

[My fortune. I’ll give you all of the fortune I hid away. I’m dead anyway. All of it. However….]

“There’s a condition?”

[Yeah. First, win that pendant for me. And….]

“And what else?”

[Find a cat for me.]

A cat?

[Wow! Isea, what are you doing? Are you trying to force our landlord to adopt one?]

[Landlord, you’re not allergic to cat fur, are you?]

As far as I knew, I wasn’t.

[Would that really be worth it? How much hidden wealth do you have?]

[How much? Probably about…?]

The ghost fell deep into thought.

[About 50 billion won?]

[Fi… fifty billion won?!]

[What?! Are you some kind of chaebol?]

The ghost neither confirmed nor denied Chae Seonhwa’s words.

[Don’t tell me… Isea. Was that rumor true?]

[What rumor?]

[That you were the hidden child of Bill Yates…?]

The ghost stared at Cha Junhyeok.

It was an expression of utter disbelief at his stupidity.

I could understand.

In her current form, the ghost looked unmistakably like a native Korean.

At least in this state, even if she were reincarnated hundreds of times, there was no way she could be mixed-race.

[Not Bill Yates. Lee, the character Cheol, the character Woo. That’s my grandfather’s name.]

Lee Cheolwoo?

Could it be…?

“Jinseong Group?”

[That’s right! You know it?]

There was no way I didn’t.

If it was Jinseong Group, it was the No. 1 conglomerate in Korea, ranked sixth among global brands, and a company widely regarded as having achieved true globalization.

[You’ll help me, right?]

[Just trust our landlord!]

[Landlord is a really good person. Do you perhaps sleep on the streets? The night air is cold, so don’t do that. Just come live at our house!]

“…….”

Auction Item No. 1 remained at its starting price.

1,000 coins.

I entered 1,000 coins into the digital auction bell and rang the bell at my balcony seat.

<Yes! Number 1! A bid of 1,000 coins! We have a bid! Is there anyone else?>

Of course not.

I was the only person in this auction house.

The auction had begun a full 15 minutes before the scheduled auction time.

Naturally, the entrance to the first floor was blocked, and the auction house didn’t seem to have any intention of opening the doors early either.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

<Isea’s Cursed Pendant! The winning bidder is Number 1!>

[Thank you!]

[That’s great!]

[Congratulations, Isea.]

I had exchanged 1,000 coins for 50 billion won, so I didn’t regret it at all.

As the auction continued, the seats on the first floor gradually filled up.

Interestingly, the auction held here was divided into Part 1 and Part 2.

Part 1 was, fittingly for a jewelry auction, primarily focused on jewels, while Part 2 was an auction of various valuables containing jewels.

The Kerk’s Compass I had been waiting for appeared as soon as Part 2 began.

<Today’s surprise item! The third one! The Golden Goblin Kerk’s Compass! It’s one of our auction house’s bestsellers. A beautiful compass with a diamond-decorated cover. It’s back for Season 3! Bidding starts at 1,000 coins!>

I entered 1,000 coins into the auction bell and rang it.

<Yes! 1,000 coins! Is there anyone else?>

Ding!

Bell sounds rang from various places, and the bidding price continued to rise.

<Kerk’s Compass, 3,000 coins. We have 3,000 coins. If there are no other bidders, it will go to Number 9. From now on, I will call out the winning price three times.>

Ding!

I rang the bell again.

<4,000 coins! We have 4,000 coins!>

But my opponent didn’t back down either.

Ding! Ding!

<5,000! We have 5,000 coins!>

In that case, I would bid 6,000 coins.

Ding!

<Yes! Number 1! A bid of 6,000 coins! Is there anyone else?>

This time, my opponent hesitated slightly.

Ding!

6,500 coins.