Chapter 129

"...What did you just say?"

Joo Seowon froze, staring wide-eyed as if he’d just heard the most unthinkable thing. He looked borderline horrified.

'What the hell’s he so horrified about?'

"What. You told me to call you hyung."

"......."

"Though come to think of it, you don’t really need to come along. I just thought it’d be convenient to have you there in case something happened, but if it’s just killing time... maybe I should just book a room at the Carman instead? If I pay extra I can probably snag one. You don’t have to sleep, just wait there."

Even as I laid out the plan, he stayed dead silent. I gave him a few seconds, then repeated.

"So, you in or not?"

"...Hey, th-that’s... that’s not right."

"What are you babbling about. You not going?"

"I’ll go."

"Good. Wear something comfortable. Might be waiting a while—"

"Forget it, just call me by my name."

So he asked me to call him hyung, then turned on a dime. His mood swings were ridiculous. I stared at him, then tossed him a jacket.

"Fine, Seowon. Hurry up and put it on, we’re leaving."

"......."

He caught the jacket, clutched it awkwardly, then gave a stiff nod.

"Uh... let’s go."

Unbelievable. The guy had a thousand ways to embarrass himself.

Even under the dim light, I could see his ears flushed red as he slipped out the door.

Honestly, I hadn’t meant to keep calling him hyung anyway—it was just to mess with him. But his reaction was way too honest.

I clicked my tongue inwardly and followed him out of the room.

***

Back at the Grand Carman Hotel.

I parked Seowon at the ground-floor lounge bar, which ran until dawn, then headed downstairs to the party.

'Will there be a crowd?'

The more, the better. I didn’t need to talk—I could just listen in.

"Invitation, please."

"Here."

I flashed Nagao’s invite. After a quick check, I was let in. I’d used an item to fuzz my appearance, but entry was easier than expected.

'Maybe they’ll check again during the auction.'

Not like I was about to complain. I stepped inside without a fuss.

The party hall was, surprisingly, textbook.

'Closer to a high-society gathering.'

The world was ending, yet hunters were still hosting soirées.

Not a club with pounding music and strobe lights. This was suits and dresses, quiet dinners, exchanging intel.

Of course, I had no intention of mingling. Getting unmasked would be a pain.

I pretended to survey the hall and pulled up my Status Window.

'B-rank, B-rank, A-rank... another A...'

I randomly checked hunters nearby. Most were A or B, with the odd C sprinkled in.

'And I’m the only piece of trash here.'

Well, on paper, Nagao’s invite covered me as B-rank.

And speaking of B-rank, the beast sleeping in my hand was just that.

The thought made me recall the dungeon, when we’d fused. It had stayed quiet since, but I still felt like I was carrying a time bomb.

'Would be nice if this ended tonight.'

I skimmed conversations. Nothing special. Rumors of guild collapses, an S-rank switching guilds, a star A-rank sidelined by injury, rare dungeon loot surfacing...

All dull. After a while, regret started creeping in.

Then a name I knew popped up.

Name: Wang Tiansin

Age: 61

Rank: A

Title: –

Main Skills: Silent Blade (A), Third Eye (B)

Growth Limit: –

The very man Seowon had tried contacting.

"Usually sends proxies. That’s why I asked—he might actually show this time, since he’s slow to reply."

Right, I remembered.

And he was hard to miss.

A double-layered diamond necklace heavy enough to snap a neck. A silk scarf coiled tight around it. An ankle-length gown clearly tailored—same brand as the scarf. I didn’t know women’s fashion, but I’d never seen anything like it off-the-rack.

From that, I confirmed two things:

First, Wang Tiansin was here in person. Second...

'I know this character.'

The name alone hadn’t clicked, but the face and Window were too familiar.

Lavish clothes. Mouth clamped tight. Middle-aged woman, her sharp features giving off an intimidating aura.

And the kicker—her skill, Third Eye, which let her appraise others’ abilities.

In the original novel, she was a wealthy Chinese hunter who’d briefly clashed with Kwon Taehan. Not a major battle—Taehan had just teased her collector’s obsession.

She loved ‘collecting’ useful proxies. The criteria?

“Skills worth using.”

Though in her book, “worth using” meant “amusing enough to keep her interested.” Good looks were a bonus.

Basically, she paid top dollar to hire her own personal court jesters.

As I examined her Window, our eyes met. She lowered her thin glasses and scanned me up and down.

Third Eye (A) activates.

Smooth, aren’t you.

A moment later, she finished reading my skills and frowned slightly before turning away.

'So... boring?'

My skills weren’t half bad, even at my rank.

But knowing her from the novel, getting tangled up with her was asking for trouble.

The party dragged on without yielding anything useful. A few pointless chats later, even that shred of interest died.

'Waste of time.'

The only thing I’d learned was that Wang Tiansin was here in the flesh.

Afterward, before the real auction began, invites were checked again.

This time they were thorough. Locals showed ID; foreigners had passports cross-checked.

Even with an item blurring my features, I could get flagged. Just in case, I’d brought extra cash for bribes. Everyone here was on a payroll, after all.

When the hunter in front of me finished, the staffer asked, deadpan:

"Invitation and passport, please."

I silently handed over Nagao’s papers. His eyes drilled into me, flicking between my face and the photo. Suspicious.

'Busted?'

I clicked my tongue inwardly and reached for my cash.

Then a sharp voice barked from behind.

"Hurry up!"

"Y-yes! You may enter!"

The staffer jumped, shoved my documents back, and bowed.

No need to check who’d spoken.

'Wang Tiansin.'

Was she helping? Or just impatient? Hunters being assholes wasn’t new, so I didn’t dwell.

Either way, thanks to her ‘generosity,’ I made it inside.

I sat at a seat marked with a nameplate. About twenty minutes later, the auction began.

As the host strode onstage and bowed, the lights flared to life. Applause echoed. When it died down, he introduced himself, his words ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) mirrored in English on the giant screen behind.

"Thank you for attending. As always, this auction is limited to our VIP and VVIP clients. Today we’ll feature cherished possessions, dungeon artifacts without market value, and high-end items, each going to the one who truly recognizes its worth. Now, our first item!"

I clapped along, eyes on the goods.

Some hunter’s memento. A life-support trinket from an S-rank dungeon clear. An S-rank artifact rewarded from an A-rank dungeon...

All within expectations. Normally, some of these would’ve caught my eye, but the bidding wars killed the appeal. Watching genteel nobles bare their fangs was amusing, but I wasn’t here for amusement.

Finally, one item I was looking for appeared.

"Next up... said to restore vitality with a single sip. Found in the ‘House of Midas’ dungeon: ‘Tears of Gold.’ Isn’t it gorgeous?"

He gestured at a crystal orb, the size of a man’s fist, filled with luminous golden liquid.

After letting the crowd gawk, he began.

"Starting bid: 100,000 yuan!"

Hands shot up.

"100,000."

"110,000!"

"130,000."

I waited. I didn’t know the exact market rate—only an idiot bid recklessly high. Only clowns in movies shouted ten times the price from the start.

So I held off, letting the price climb.

"187,000."

"188,000."

"188,500."

When it looked like it was winding down, I finally raised my hand.

"189,000."

A few more bids came, but in the end, I won it at 191,000 yuan.

Holding the winning card, I settled back to wait for the next item.

After all, my real goal was Tae Hyunjin’s sword.

"...And that concludes tonight’s auction. Thank you all for your time."

'Ah... fuck. Seowon!'

Contrary to his prediction that it would open the auction, the damn thing never appeared. Tae Hyunjin’s sword didn’t show its face at all—not even by dawn.