CH 1

There are two things in the world that should not be inherited. The first is poverty and the second is sickness.

I was fortunate enough to avoid the former, thanks to my parents, who were Class A hunters. Well, I had a pretty good childhood. My birthday cake was always filled with strawberries, and I didn’t have to pay for a toy that cost $10,000 more to get my parents’ approval.

Of course, I was poor compared to the people in the auction videos I’m watching now.

-A billion. Number 30, you’re bidding a billion!

I wonder what it’s like to bid 1 billion for a dot on a white canvas. I’ll never understand the ecology of the rich until I die, even though I’m still eating triangular kimbap for lunch. Until I die. So…

“One year later.”

Too bad. If I could have lived to be eighty, I might have won the lotto, but I was destined to die in a year’s time, so I spent the rest of my life complaining about the price of eggs. I used to laugh at the fierce sellers, but now I’m beyond resignation and have reached the stage of mental victory.

“Maybe I should take out a life insurance policy now…. Oh, there’s no one to take it.”

Indeed. Poverty was avoided thanks to good parents, but illness was inherited. A curse, to be precise. My mother was cursed when she tried and failed to save a colleague who entered the gate.

<Destined to die>

The curse, with a name so vile that it consumed my mother, creeped up on me.

You must die exactly 10 years from the moment the curse is transferred. However, no matter what happens before then, you will not die until the appointed day. I was only 17 years old when I inherited the curse of mortality, and at the time I didn’t fully understand the meaning of “no matter what, I will not die.”

But now I know. I don’t die even if I do something really stupid. If I fall into the sea and suffer hypothermia, I live. If my head is crushed by an iron rod, I will not die. If the skin on my body is burned and melted, my lifeblood is still intact. I know this because I have been through situations that would have killed an ordinary person.

And yet I survived. I survived. I thought, Let’s make money off of this curse.

My mother used her cursed body to be on the front lines of the dungeon. For a Hunter who fights for her life, an immortal body is the best weapon, but alas, I did not inherit her sacrificial spirit.

So, my indestructible body became a moneymaker. I call myself an ‘errand boy’ for convenience, as I’ll do anything for a price. From harvesting monster skin to picking flowers from cliffs. No job is too big or too small, as long as it doesn’t break the law.

My latest assignment is a bit special. I was asked to attend one of the largest artefact auctions in Korea as a proxy. So, I borrowed a high-end suit that didn’t match me and went to the auction. I studied the auction process on video so that I wouldn’t make any mistakes.

[Have you arrived at the auction house?]

I got a call from the client, who was worried that I had taken the 500,000 won down payment and gone underwater. If so, he misunderstood me, a slave to capitalism. There’s no reason for me to do something stupid with a million won if I win the bid.

[Yes, I’ll be registering soon, don’t worry].

[Good, I’ll leave it to you].

I’m honoured that you trust me, but I still have doubts. I don’t know why they entrusted me, someone who doesn’t even have a business card, to handle the bidding when they could have left it to a professional agent or company. Now I’m nervous about making a mistake, so I asked for advice.

[Is there anything I should watch out for?]

[Not really. If they don’t come to the auction today, we’ll be fine].

[They?]

[There’s a strange group of people who only collect cursed artifacts].

I wrote, “So you’re the same weirdo who’s willing to pay 100 million for a cursed item…” and then quietly deleted it, thinking about the amount of money that would soon be on my bank account. Anyway, I’d find out whether the strange group had come or not when the auction started.

Just in time, an announcement came over the air.

-The auction is about to begin. Those who have not yet registered to participate should report to the lobby.

I hurried to the lobby and was greeted by a staff member who seemed to have been waiting for me.

“Welcome. Are you participating or observing?”

“Participating as a delegate.”

”Then please fill out these papers.”

The artefacts up for auction are nothing like the usual museum exhibits. Only artefacts that can enhance the owner’s physical abilities, temporarily change the weather, or perform miracles that can only be achieved in dreams are exhibited.

Artefacts with such special powers are called spirit objects.

“Have you ever been to an auction before?”

“No, sir. This is my first time.”

“Then I suggest you take a look at the catalogue.”

There are twenty spirits up for auction today. Unfortunately, it’s not the main auction, only the D-grade and below. Still, they must be worth more than you can imagine. Flicking through the catalogue, I ask the clerk.

“Are you sure that everything in this catalogue is available today?”

“Yes. That’s right. You’ll bid on them in the order they’re listed.”

“Oh…”

As I flip through the pages, I come across an item that the client has asked me to bid on.

A class D artifact. <Firebird Breath>

It is said to be the only surviving flower from an ancient civilisation that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Since then, a great fire has always broken out where this flower blooms. I don’t know why anyone would want to spend so much money on a flower that is considered a sign of bad luck. As someone who lives in a small one-room apartment, I can only imagine the feelings of a rich person who spends hundreds of millions of won.

I took out my mobile phone and took a picture of the Fire Bird’s Breath and sent it to the client.

[This is it, right?]

I had been waiting to hear back from him.

[Yes. The budget is 100 million, as I said, and it’s hard to get more than that].

[I’ll do my best].

One hundred million for a single flower, the world of the rich is beyond me.

I filled out the paperwork to participate in the auction and handed it over, and the staff gave me a paddle with a number on it. 323. That’s the number I’ll be called today instead of Shin Hajae.

“I hope you get the spirit you want.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

With a paddle in hand, I walk past the heavily guarded door and into the venue. The doors open to reveal an auction room the size of a concert hall. Beneath a loosely tied red velvet curtain is a stage for the auctioneer to take the floor, and luxurious leather chairs for the on-site bidders surround the stage. Against the wall stood the auction house staff in suits, ready to take phone calls.

I looked around at the overwhelmingly opulent interior, nervously adjusting my tie. As they say, rich people like to hire people, and most of the seats were occupied by agents like me. As soon as I sat down in the seat labelled 323, the lights went out in the auction room.

The auction was about to begin, with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line.

”Without further ado, we will now begin the auction.”

As the auctioneer took the stage, there was a tension in the room. Even as the auctioneer explained the details of this auction, my mind was focused solely on Breath of the Firebird. I must have it. Not for my client, but for my own money. If I succeeded in winning the auction, who wouldn’t be eager to receive 1 million won in cash?

“Hoo…”

A sigh escaped my lips.

There are many D-ranked spirits, and they don’t have any great abilities, so they are mostly ornamental, so according to common sense, 100 million should be enough. But we must remain vigilant. This is not the ‘cursed artefact collecting group’ the client warned me about, but a bunch of rich people who spend money like water.

Nervously fiddling with my paddle, I finally get the call I’ve been waiting for.

“Next up is a D-class artifact, the Breath of the Firebird.”

An employee walks onto the stage carrying a box covered with a red velvet cloth. The veil was then lifted to reveal a bouquet of flowers in a glass box, seemingly ordinary flowers, but everyone in the room knew that they contained a special spirit.

A special spirit is mixed in the bouquet.

“I’d rather show you the spirit than tell you about it.”

The auctioneer gestured, and an employee took a small torch from his pocket and lit the bouquet. In an instant, the petals burned black and fell off one by one, but the red flower in the centre remained unscorched in the ashes. As if to prove its name, the more intense the flames became, the more beautiful the red colour became.

“Wow…….”

A gasp escaped from everywhere. Damn. The price of an already expensive artifact had just doubled with that one performance. As expected, the auctioneer didn’t miss the excitement and spoke up.

“We know there are a lot of customers out there who were disappointed to not hear from us for a while after appearing in last year’s auction. so I hope you don’t miss this opportunity.”

I was told by the client that three Breath of the Fire birds sold for 10 million won last year. It’s a beautiful plant, but it’s demanding and doesn’t grow just anywhere, and it’s a recipe for disaster. So I thought I’d get a good deal this time.

But then the auctioneer announced a price that far exceeded my expectations.

“The starting bid is fifty million won, with bidding in one million won increments.”

What? A starting bid of fifty million won?