(TL: This is the second of the sponsored chapters that should have been released on Sunday.)
(TL: This chapter is here thanks to these generous donors: Gerald C, Keneth P, Donevin T, Mario R, Erik A, Maxwell G, Dale B, Timothy W, Karlis A, Jan B, Stephen M, Donald B, Robert R, Martin G, David R, Daniel T, Dennis D, and Philipp G. Thank you for your support.)
Within the VVIP hall of the Hyunwol Auction House, hundreds of important figures had gathered. They were the kind of people that held prominent positions in their chosen field of profession.
Nominally, only the Knights could potentially purchase the Treasure grade weapon, but there were quite a few people participating as a representative of other Knights in order to build personal connections as well as to broaden their horizons.
That was probably why there was such a diverse melting pot of people that ignored race, nationality, and species within the auction venue, where Knights, big shots from the world of politics and commerce as well as mega celebrities the likes of which South Koreans had never experienced before were busy rubbing shoulders currently.
But all these men and women of great fame were looking for one man’s whereabouts in particular.
And that person was Kim Sae-Jin.
"...Why isn’t he coming?"
As the auction went under way, a worried Yu Sae-Jung repeatedly looked around while asking Jo Hahn-Sung. For some strange reason, she seemed to be shrinking away like a loser which was quite unlike her usual proud and confident self.
"Even I’m not... Well, he did say he’ll come before the finale, but he also mentioned not to wait for him."
"...Fuu."
Sae-Jung let out a sigh. However, it was closer to a relieved sigh rather than a worried one.
In all honesty, she was feeling quite worried.
Currently, there were just way too many Elves and Fox-type Soo-ins who were famous the world over for their blinding, transcendent beauty everywhere she looked within this venue. And they were the reason why Yu Sae-Jung had lost all of her usual confidence.
She felt that, compared to those women, she seemed to be lacking in so many areas. Why did her face have to be so angular, and why were her legs so short? For the first time in her life, she began to feel resentment towards her dad.
"He’s coming for sure, you’ll see. Don’t you worry." (Joo Ji-Hyuk)
Joo Ji-Hyuk, still clueless, tried to comfort her unnecessarily. Sae-Jung nodded her head lightly, pulled out her phone and then began typing a text message. The recipient was ’Sae-Jin Oppa~’. Only his name had the honour of having an emoticon next to it, among hundreds saved in her list of contacts.
[Oppa, we will take very good care of the auction, so if there’s something urgent going on, you don’t have force yourself to come.]
And just as she hit ’send’...
"Finally! We shall commence with the last lot of the auction, the one all you’ve been looking forward to!"
As the emcee’s loud voice settled down heavily on the auction venue, the Orc Blacksmith’s masterpiece revealed itself to the world.
The ’treasure’, wrapped tightly in a thick veil, was moved to the centre of the hall. The collective sounds of people swallowing their saliva echoed around the venue.
"The one that will go down in the annals of history. I present to you, the true treasure crafted by the brilliant Orc Blacksmith, the sword ’Gram’." (TL: just in case some of you readers are not familiar with Norse mythology, Gram is the name of the sword wielded by Sigurd to slay the dragon, Fafnir. Google is your friend. Yes.)
A chaos broke out in the auction hall when it was revealed that the Blacksmith dared to pilfer the name of the legendary artifact for his own creation.
"According to the Blacksmith himself, he tried his very best to replicate the Gram of the legends as exactly as possible."
The moment emcee pulled the veil of
f the sword, all that doubt and dissatisfaction morphed into admiration and amazement.
Some Knights couldn’t sit still anymore and shot up from their seats, even.
The lengthy, pure-white mithril blade; the hilt shining with an exquisite golden hue; the sword that boasted a smooth and neat appearance, the Gram reflected the lights from the venue to a blinding level.
The now-trademark symbol of the Orc Blacksmith - the intricate carvings - was absent on its exterior, making it look a bit plain, but all the Knights gathered here instinctively knew. That truly was one of the greatest ’treasures’ the world have seen yet.
"And so, the auction will commence from now on. The starting bidding amount will be set at $4.5 million USD. The minimum increase will be $100 thousand USD...."
Just as the emcee announced this...
Suddenly, the entrance to the auction hall opened.
And the man who showed up from the opened gap was, without a doubt, the protagonist of this auction - Kim Sae-Jin himself.
Looking bashful for his interruption, he quickly moved his feet and went towards his assigned seat.
Of course, people wouldn’t let him go by just like that. Every single one of them tried their best to engage Sae-Jin in a conversation, and so, the start of the auction had to be delayed for another 20 minutes.
*
> >>
...That was, as long as they leveled up properly, of course.
"Nice. They are quite obedient, aren’t they?"
These creatures were pretty quick on the uptake. They were hard workers and were easy to educate as well. Well, he did threaten them a bit while in the Lycanthrope form so there was that but still, they displayed unexpected amount of loyalty and honesty.
"Keep on making those potions as I showed you, got it? And Witchcraft Goblins continue on with your research."
Kim Sae-Jin shouted out at the Goblins. They replied back with their own shouts of Kkyahahk-!
"Is it because of the good ’welfare benefits’? They unexpectedly work so hard," said Kim Yu-Sohn, with a smile on his face.
Although it was weird to say ’welfare benefits’ for Monsters, it was actually happening right here. The Goblins living in this place were blessed with humane living quarters, and received clean food and drinking water three times a day. The food was leftovers from the Society’s cafeteria, though.
"Well, besides that - how goes the gathering of information so far?"
Changing back to the appearance of a human before anyone had noticed it, Sae-Jin asked Kim Yu-Sohn.
"Sir. It seems that Miss Yu Baek-Song’s immediate superior is the Minister in Charge of Bureau of Monster Affairs, Kim Hahn-Seol. As he had served as the former Chief of National Police, his martial prowess is considerable, and he also has many personal connections, such as members of Parliament, an executive director in the Dawn Corporation, etc, etc. He is your typical ambitious, driven man."
"Oh, really?"
Kim Sae-Jin fell into a thought, while scratching his chin.
And exactly ten seconds later, his phone vibrated. He narrowed his brows and checked out who the caller was - it was Jo Hahn-Sung.
"Hello?"
- "Guild Master, it’s Jo Hahn-Sung. We just received a request for a meeting with a government’s representative over the matter of the Guild registration. And he’s a Minister, as well."
"Keheum... Okay, what’s his name?"
Sae-Jin couldn’t help but feel rather emotional at the fact that from being an orphan, he had climbed up in the societal ladder to enjoy a private meeting with a government minister. But such an emotion only lasted for a brief moment.
- "He’s called Kim Hahn-Seol, the Minister in Charge of Bureau of Monster affairs."
"...Oh? Well, I got it. Please inform the other party that I’d like to meet him as soon as possible."
- "Yes, sir. I understand."
Sae-Jin ended the call.
"What’s the matter, sir?"
Kim Yu-Sohn asked from the side.
"Just now, a reason to meet up with that minister just came around. Looks like... I’ll be able to properly check out what kind of man he is."
Sae-Jin smiled thickly and replied.
*
The following day.
As usual, Sae-Jin headed off to the Monster field.
The first thing he did was to change into the Hero Orc Form and went to the village to see what was what. The number of the Orcs living there had increased to three digits, and judging by the fact that the two ’real’ leader Orc Jaguars had seemingly leveled up to Orc Great Warriors somehow, it was clear there was no longer a need for him to worry about their survival anymore.
Feeling relieved, he then headed towards the upper Mid Tier hunting ground.
>>> >
He then quickly began searching for Monsters to smash. But during all that, he ended up running into a rather bothersome individual. Actually, he was the one who went to see them first.
It was Kim Yu-Rin.
And she was currently with an unknown man.
From what he could overhear from the distance, this man’s name was definitely ’Kim Hahn-Seol’.
Although they were scheduled to meet in three days’ time... it wouldn’t be so bad to see what this guy’s attitude and personality were like beforehand.
Fin.
(TL: Now there’s only two remaining in the queue. Will probably get to clear that this weekend. Yep.)
(TL: Also, a small announcement - I’d like to take the next week, the Christmas week, off. It’ll be from the 25th, which is a Monday. How long will this break last, you ask? Hmm. I haven’t decided it yet. Probably a week, maybe more since, you know, there’s the New Year and all...)