After leaving the wide opening, Han JinHo headed towards the place he had been planning to visit.
It was an alley approximately 20 minutes away from the school. The alley was quite long, and near the middle of the street was a small shop.
Han JinHo walked into the shop without hesitation.
There was only a white signboard with the letter 'A' written on it; that was the name of the store. From the outside, one wouldn't be able to guess what kind of a store it was.
More importantly, the place wasn't something anyone would be able to find.
'A' was a space dedicated to Han JinHo. This place served as Han JinHo's workshop as well as a storage.
In the officetel, he only made things that could be finished on the day. And after completing it, he would always carry it around on his person until he came here to store it.
Han JinHo faced the cabinet that encompassed one whole side of the workshop, and placed a ring on it. He had made the ring yesterday.
He then went to the bar section of the workshop.
On the table was a gold metal plate. The metal plate had an extremely complex pattern carved on it. On closer inspection, one would find that it wasn't a simple pattern made of lines.
Every single line had the shape of a 3D tube, and each tube also had a complex pattern engraved on it. It looked as if someone drew a pattern on the metal plate, and had a hologram of complex patterns drawn on top of it.
And this was the extremely special relic that Han JinHo first found.
A large glass bottle with clean water in it was placed on top of the relic. The bottle of glass also had complex patterns carved on its surface.
Han JinHo carried a cup and poured water into it from the glass bottle.
Surprisingly, the water in the glass bottle was replenished. The metal plate continuously emitted a gentle light. It was an extremely special power.
He then made a coffee with the special water in his cup.
The coffee with the best aroma and flavour, plus a special power in it; the best coffee in the world was completed!
While drinking his coffee, he once again looked at the cabinet.
"Now, what should I sell this time?"
The cabinet had a large amount of goods placed in an orderly manner. The items varied from bracelets, rings, knives, and even pens and guns.
Han JinHo took out a small bottle from the cabinet. Inside the bottle was a liquid that had the colour of a rainbow and gave off a mysterious light. People called this holy water.
"This time, I choose you."
Holy water had quite a high price but was easy to make. Till now, there were three occasions where holy water appeared in Luina's auction, but they weren't sold by Han JinHo, and instead were found in ruins.
And of course, the buyers were different people.
In other words, if he sold this off, it would mark the appearance of the fourth holy water.
Han JinHo placed the bottle of holy water on the table, sat down and slowly drank his coffee. Every time he sipped, mana strongly forced its way in.
He closed his eyes and soothed the mana that was wreaking havoc inside him. After completely absorbing the mana, he sat still for a while and rested.
He glanced at the silver bracelet on his wrist. It was very useful today, and helped him out a lot.
What he did to the three men today, was a magic that forcibly subordinated others. It was in fact a tremendously dangerous thing to forcefully subordinate people.
Since it wasn't a simple brainwashing, if the subordinate dies or if the connection is broken, the caster himself would also receive some backlash. And in utterly unfortunate situations, the caster could also die from that damage.
The thing that acted as the stopper was the bracelet on his wrist.
It had a silver colour, but wasn't manufactured with silver. The metal was natural-made, with mana in it.
The complex patterns engraved on the bracelet ensured that the special power within remain inside. It was commonly known as a magic circle. The bracelet, in other words, was a magic artifact.
While observing the bracelet, Han JinHo muttered.
"When would I be able to make something like this?"
This unfortunately wasn't something he had made. It was a relic he had discovered from a special ruin. The bracelet was an artifact that absorbed the backlash from magic.
For example, if a magician fails while attempting mind control, the backlash of the magic could explode his brain. The artifact acted as a stopper in such situations.
While using the subordinate magic today, Han JinHo used the bracelet as a catalyst. If a problem occurred or if the connection was severed, the bracelet would receive all the reflected damage.
It was a safety measure.
Of course, it was hard to make; a precious artifact. Han JinHo's current skills would be far from enough to even think of try making.
Anyways, the magic was successfully cast. As long as he desired, he would be able to share their sense of sight and hearing. He could also speak directly to their brains.
If something happened, he would be able to find out immediately.
"That should be good enough for that side…"
There most likely won't be anyone else approaching for some time. However, he wasn't planning on stopping there.
"It's now time to settle the scores with SangPil ajussi."
***
Han JinHo finished a few things he had to do.
For instance, sending money to Lee MyungHoon's group of three and sending the good to Luina to be auctioned off. After that, he did some assignments that he had to do in order to avoid failing, and before he noticed, it had already become dark outside.
Checking the time, he realised it was slightly over 9 o'clock.
While walking down the town, he picked up his phone and made a call.
"I contacted you earlier than you were expecting, right?"
- Ohh, it's JinHo! Yes, what's up? Do you have time already?
"Where are you right now?"
- I'm at the workshop as always. Some good things came in today, so I was in the middle of checking them. Why? Are you gonna come?
"I thought so, I'm on my way there right now."
- Oh, is that so? That's good. Come quick. I need your eyes. I'm not sure if this is real or not. It seems somewhat fake…
"I'll be there soon."
Han JinHo hung up while smiling.
Some time later, Han JinHo arrived at a street full of antique stores. He spotted a signboard that read, 'Ancient Relics' and entered the building.
The light was turned off, but the door wasn't locked. He walked to the deepest area and opened the door.
This was Jung SangPil's workshop.
"Oh, you really came quickly."
While saying that, Jung SangPil looked at Han JinHo. He then realised that something was off. He could sense the slightly unusual expression and the change in Han JinHo's eyes. He had amazing observation skills.
"Sit down for now. I'll show you the goods."
In response, Han JinHo spoke while smiling.
"Why did you do it?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
Han JinHo didn't continue, and only stared at Jung SangPil with a smile. Even under the pressure, Jung SangPil maintained his poker face and asked.
"Tell me what's going on. How would I understand what you want if you're just staring at me?"
"Je-Il Agency."
Hearing that one sentence, Jung SangPil's expression froze.
"Sam-Young Construction, Shin-Young Security."
When he heard the names of the other two companies, Jung SangPil heaved a sigh.
"Did they tell you? For goodness sake, they don't have even a speck of morality in them."
Han JinHo was speechless. Who's talking about morals now?
"So, what do you want? For your information, I've no money. I've used it all already."
Jung SangPil gazed at a table on the side while saying that. On the table were the goods that Jung SangPil had bought.
To his shameless behaviour, Han JinHo replied indifferently.
"If you don't have money, you can pay with your life. You've done quite a bit for me, so I'll at least send you away without much pain."
Seeing Han JinHo talk of taking lives without batting an eye, as if he was just taking some things out of his pocket, Jung SangPil got goose bumps.
He didn't think Han JinHo would actually do it, but scary things were scary things. Hearing it in an indifferent manner was incomparably more frightening than being threatened with a frowning face.
"JinHo, let's think rationally. What would you get from killing me? Isn't it better to just get some compensation from me? You don't want the police going in and out of your house, right?"
"I can take care of it so that the police don't come to me. You don't need to worry about things like that."
Although fretting, Jung SangPil faked a nonchalant expression.
"Ei, fine! Take all the things I bought. I'll give this to you on top of that."
He took out a thin metal plate and placed it on the tabletop. It was as thin as paper, but shined as if made of gold. Drawn on it were strange and intricate patterns. They weren't magic circles; it was some kind of a pre-determined code. It was a definitely a ticket that proved something.
"It's an invitation."
"An invitation to what?"
"An invitation that allows entry into a special auction. If you understood the kinds of pain I had went through to obtain this, you'd be shedding tears."
Jung SangPil acted his best to portray a confident attitude but there was an unmistakable fear in his eyes and his expression.
"Give me more details."
Jung SangPil was startled at Han JinHo's cold tone, but nonetheless continued speaking.
"Once every three months, an extremely special auction opens. The location changes every time, but the invitation has the time and place written on it. After you check that, you can enter the auction if you carry the invitation with you."
"What do you mean special auction? Do they… sell people or something?"
Jung SangPil was frightened.
"What scary things are you saying? There's no way I would do such a thing! I'm just a person who seeks true values for artistic goods. In that auction, they sell relics. Relics that are still unknown to the world."
"Relics unknown to the world?"
Han JinHo made a strange face. Their system was very similar to Luina's methods, but it definitely wasn't Luina.
"How do I read the time and place on the invitation card?"
"There's an app. You can take a picture with that application. It's this app."
Jung SangPil quickly took out his smartphone and opened an app. A camera popped up when he did so, and when he took a picture of the invitation card, a simple map appeared along with the time of the event.
"How is it? Well… they're too expensive so you won't be able to buy anything but, to people like us, even just seeing it gives us experience and enlightenments, right?"
Han JinHo nodded his head then glanced at the goods placed on top of the table nearby.
"Those are relics I bought for high prices at the black market. I'll give you all of them, so please forgive me this time."
On the tabletop were five relics. They were relics that were quite well-made.
"That's a relic from a ruin somewhere in Mexico. It's a priceless good."
Jung SangPil wanted to boast how he bought such a priceless good at a low price after haggling, but he controlled the urge. Right now wasn't the time to talk about such things.
Han JinHo was left speechless. It's obviously a fake that only looks decent. Why did he buy it?
"I'm fine with just this one."
What he picked up was a coin, the size of a baby's palm. It was relatively big compared to normal coins, but the numbers and patterns carved on it were quite articulate.
Jung SangPil who saw that enlarged his eyes.
"W, wait. Don't tell me, all of those are fake? Huh? Is that how it is?"
Han JinHo coldly turned after picking up the invitation card.
"Let's not contact each other after this."
As he was leaving the antique store, he heard Jung SangPil heave a sigh - a sigh of relief.
'It isn't the time to be relieved, though.'
Han JinHo didn't feel like warning him.
Chairman Choi NamHee wasn't a normal person. He knew of the power within special relics and he could use it to a reasonable level. There was no way that a person of such level couldn't even find the person who scammed him.
Most likely, he would soon find out the truth behind the case, and go looking for Jung SangPil.
There was no need for Han JinHo to deliberately leak it to Chairman Choi NamHee. With time, they'll without doubt find the mastermind.
After leaving the antique store, Han JinHo headed back home.
The date on the invitation card was one week away.
"This… I think I need to do some investigating beforehand."
He couldn't blindly trust the invitation card. While feeling slightly upped, Han JinHo lightly carried his steps.
Translator: Rain27 Proofreader : Uptime
After leaving the wide opening, Han JinHo headed towards the place he had been planning to visit.
It was an alley approximately 20 minutes away from the school. The alley was quite long, and near the middle of the street was a small shop.
Han JinHo walked into the shop without hesitation.
There was only a white signboard with the letter 'A' written on it; that was the name of the store. From the outside, one wouldn't be able to guess what kind of a store it was.
More importantly, the place wasn't something anyone would be able to find.
'A' was a space dedicated to Han JinHo. This place served as Han JinHo's workshop as well as a storage.
In the officetel, he only made things that could be finished on the day. And after completing it, he would always carry it around on his person until he came here to store it.
Han JinHo faced the cabinet that encompassed one whole side of the workshop, and placed a ring on it. He had made the ring yesterday.
He then went to the bar section of the workshop.
On the table was a gold metal plate. The metal plate had an extremely complex pattern carved on it. On closer inspection, one would find that it wasn't a simple pattern made of lines.
Every single line had the shape of a 3D tube, and each tube also had a complex pattern engraved on it. It looked as if someone drew a pattern on the metal plate, and had a hologram of complex patterns drawn on top of it.
And this was the extremely special relic that Han JinHo first found.
A large glass bottle with clean water in it was placed on top of the relic. The bottle of glass also had complex patterns carved on its surface.
Han JinHo carried a cup and poured water into it from the glass bottle.
Surprisingly, the water in the glass bottle was replenished. The metal plate continuously emitted a gentle light. It was an extremely special power.
He then made a coffee with the special water in his cup.
The coffee with the best aroma and flavour, plus a special power in it; the best coffee in the world was completed!
While drinking his coffee, he once again looked at the cabinet.
"Now, what should I sell this time?"
The cabinet had a large amount of goods placed in an orderly manner. The items varied from bracelets, rings, knives, and even pens and guns.
Han JinHo took out a small bottle from the cabinet. Inside the bottle was a liquid that had the colour of a rainbow and gave off a mysterious light. People called this holy water.
"This time, I choose you."
Holy water had quite a high price but was easy to make. Till now, there were three occasions where holy water appeared in Luina's auction, but they weren't sold by Han JinHo, and instead were found in ruins.
And of course, the buyers were different people.
In other words, if he sold this off, it would mark the appearance of the fourth holy water.
Han JinHo placed the bottle of holy water on the table, sat down and slowly drank his coffee. Every time he sipped, mana strongly forced its way in.
He closed his eyes and soothed the mana that was wreaking havoc inside him. After completely absorbing the mana, he sat still for a while and rested.
He glanced at the silver bracelet on his wrist. It was very useful today, and helped him out a lot.
What he did to the three men today, was a magic that forcibly subordinated others. It was in fact a tremendously dangerous thing to forcefully subordinate people.
Since it wasn't a simple brainwashing, if the subordinate dies or if the connection is broken, the caster himself would also receive some backlash. And in utterly unfortunate situations, the caster could also die from that damage.
The thing that acted as the stopper was the bracelet on his wrist.
It had a silver colour, but wasn't manufactured with silver. The metal was natural-made, with mana in it.
The complex patterns engraved on the bracelet ensured that the special power within remain inside. It was commonly known as a magic circle. The bracelet, in other words, was a magic artifact.
While observing the bracelet, Han JinHo muttered.
"When would I be able to make something like this?"
This unfortunately wasn't something he had made. It was a relic he had discovered from a special ruin. The bracelet was an artifact that absorbed the backlash from magic.
For example, if a magician fails while attempting mind control, the backlash of the magic could explode his brain. The artifact acted as a stopper in such situations.
While using the subordinate magic today, Han JinHo used the bracelet as a catalyst. If a problem occurred or if the connection was severed, the bracelet would receive all the reflected damage.
It was a safety measure.
Of course, it was hard to make; a precious artifact. Han JinHo's current skills would be far from enough to even think of try making.
Anyways, the magic was successfully cast. As long as he desired, he would be able to share their sense of sight and hearing. He could also speak directly to their brains.
If something happened, he would be able to find out immediately.
"That should be good enough for that side…"
There most likely won't be anyone else approaching for some time. However, he wasn't planning on stopping there.
"It's now time to settle the scores with SangPil ajussi."
***
Han JinHo finished a few things he had to do.
For instance, sending money to Lee MyungHoon's group of three and sending the good to Luina to be auctioned off. After that, he did some assignments that he had to do in order to avoid failing, and before he noticed, it had already become dark outside.
Checking the time, he realised it was slightly over 9 o'clock.
While walking down the town, he picked up his phone and made a call.
"I contacted you earlier than you were expecting, right?"
- Ohh, it's JinHo! Yes, what's up? Do you have time already?
"Where are you right now?"
- I'm at the workshop as always. Some good things came in today, so I was in the middle of checking them. Why? Are you gonna come?
"I thought so, I'm on my way there right now."
- Oh, is that so? That's good. Come quick. I need your eyes. I'm not sure if this is real or not. It seems somewhat fake…
"I'll be there soon."
Han JinHo hung up while smiling.
Some time later, Han JinHo arrived at a street full of antique stores. He spotted a signboard that read, 'Ancient Relics' and entered the building.
The light was turned off, but the door wasn't locked. He walked to the deepest area and opened the door.
This was Jung SangPil's workshop.
"Oh, you really came quickly."
While saying that, Jung SangPil looked at Han JinHo. He then realised that something was off. He could sense the slightly unusual expression and the change in Han JinHo's eyes. He had amazing observation skills.
"Sit down for now. I'll show you the goods."
In response, Han JinHo spoke while smiling.
"Why did you do it?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
Han JinHo didn't continue, and only stared at Jung SangPil with a smile. Even under the pressure, Jung SangPil maintained his poker face and asked.
"Tell me what's going on. How would I understand what you want if you're just staring at me?"
"Je-Il Agency."
Hearing that one sentence, Jung SangPil's expression froze.
"Sam-Young Construction, Shin-Young Security."
When he heard the names of the other two companies, Jung SangPil heaved a sigh.
"Did they tell you? For goodness sake, they don't have even a speck of morality in them."
Han JinHo was speechless. Who's talking about morals now?
"So, what do you want? For your information, I've no money. I've used it all already."
Jung SangPil gazed at a table on the side while saying that. On the table were the goods that Jung SangPil had bought.
To his shameless behaviour, Han JinHo replied indifferently.
"If you don't have money, you can pay with your life. You've done quite a bit for me, so I'll at least send you away without much pain."
Seeing Han JinHo talk of taking lives without batting an eye, as if he was just taking some things out of his pocket, Jung SangPil got goose bumps.
He didn't think Han JinHo would actually do it, but scary things were scary things. Hearing it in an indifferent manner was incomparably more frightening than being threatened with a frowning face.
"JinHo, let's think rationally. What would you get from killing me? Isn't it better to just get some compensation from me? You don't want the police going in and out of your house, right?"
"I can take care of it so that the police don't come to me. You don't need to worry about things like that."
Although fretting, Jung SangPil faked a nonchalant expression.
"Ei, fine! Take all the things I bought. I'll give this to you on top of that."
He took out a thin metal plate and placed it on the tabletop. It was as thin as paper, but shined as if made of gold. Drawn on it were strange and intricate patterns. They weren't magic circles; it was some kind of a pre-determined code. It was a definitely a ticket that proved something.
"It's an invitation."
"An invitation to what?"
"An invitation that allows entry into a special auction. If you understood the kinds of pain I had went through to obtain this, you'd be shedding tears."
Jung SangPil acted his best to portray a confident attitude but there was an unmistakable fear in his eyes and his expression.
"Give me more details."
Jung SangPil was startled at Han JinHo's cold tone, but nonetheless continued speaking.
"Once every three months, an extremely special auction opens. The location changes every time, but the invitation has the time and place written on it. After you check that, you can enter the auction if you carry the invitation with you."
"What do you mean special auction? Do they… sell people or something?"
Jung SangPil was frightened.
"What scary things are you saying? There's no way I would do such a thing! I'm just a person who seeks true values for artistic goods. In that auction, they sell relics. Relics that are still unknown to the world."
"Relics unknown to the world?"
Han JinHo made a strange face. Their system was very similar to Luina's methods, but it definitely wasn't Luina.
"How do I read the time and place on the invitation card?"
"There's an app. You can take a picture with that application. It's this app."
Jung SangPil quickly took out his smartphone and opened an app. A camera popped up when he did so, and when he took a picture of the invitation card, a simple map appeared along with the time of the event.
"How is it? Well… they're too expensive so you won't be able to buy anything but, to people like us, even just seeing it gives us experience and enlightenments, right?"
Han JinHo nodded his head then glanced at the goods placed on top of the table nearby.
"Those are relics I bought for high prices at the black market. I'll give you all of them, so please forgive me this time."
On the tabletop were five relics. They were relics that were quite well-made.
"That's a relic from a ruin somewhere in Mexico. It's a priceless good."
Jung SangPil wanted to boast how he bought such a priceless good at a low price after haggling, but he controlled the urge. Right now wasn't the time to talk about such things.
Han JinHo was left speechless. It's obviously a fake that only looks decent. Why did he buy it?
"I'm fine with just this one."
What he picked up was a coin, the size of a baby's palm. It was relatively big compared to normal coins, but the numbers and patterns carved on it were quite articulate.
Jung SangPil who saw that enlarged his eyes.
"W, wait. Don't tell me, all of those are fake? Huh? Is that how it is?"
Han JinHo coldly turned after picking up the invitation card.
"Let's not contact each other after this."
As he was leaving the antique store, he heard Jung SangPil heave a sigh - a sigh of relief.
'It isn't the time to be relieved, though.'
Han JinHo didn't feel like warning him.
Chairman Choi NamHee wasn't a normal person. He knew of the power within special relics and he could use it to a reasonable level. There was no way that a person of such level couldn't even find the person who scammed him.
Most likely, he would soon find out the truth behind the case, and go looking for Jung SangPil.
There was no need for Han JinHo to deliberately leak it to Chairman Choi NamHee. With time, they'll without doubt find the mastermind.
After leaving the antique store, Han JinHo headed back home.
The date on the invitation card was one week away.
"This… I think I need to do some investigating beforehand."
He couldn't blindly trust the invitation card. While feeling slightly upped, Han JinHo lightly carried his steps.
Translator: Rain27 Proofreader : Uptime
