Chapter 148: Genuine Treasures (4)

The next morning.

I visited the bank together with the landlady.

“The requested account transfer has been processed without issue. Please visit us again!”

The bank manager bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

The corners of his mouth were stretched ear to ear in a huge grin.

It was because a 50 billion won deposit had just arrived at the bank.

The landlady’s antiques had sold for far more than their fair market value.

Even the country’s top appraisers had raised no objections to my valuations.

I knew every single detail about the hundreds of antiques—their names, production eras, uses, associated figures, and more.

Part of the credit goes to Global Appraisal Agency.

The appraiser Nam Yunjung, who had lost the bet, surprisingly accepted the defeat without complaint.

In fact, I was planning to purchase a large quantity of the antiques here from the start.

Global Appraisal Agency had bought up all the tens-of-billions-worth antiques in one go.

Related articles had been uploaded and were already trending across multiple communities.

Broadcast stations had even contacted the landlady for interviews.

Thanks to that, Global Appraisal Agency seemed to have enjoyed quite the advertising effect as well.

A so-called win-win strategy.

We got to sell at a good price, and they got their publicity.

I, too, had obtained quite a nice item through this whole affair.

I was leaving the bank with light steps when—

Grab—

The landlady caught my hand tightly.

“Thank you, young man. Thank you so much……”

Tears streamed down her face as she continued.

“No matter how many times I say it, it’s not enough.”

“I only helped a tiny bit so you could sell them at the proper price. That’s all.”

“Oh my. How can you call that tiny? My hands are still shaking.”

The net profit from selling the landlady’s antiques came to 12.8 billion won total.

That was after deducting all the miscellaneous taxes.

And the landlady had given me exactly half—6.4 billion won.

Even then, she had insisted on giving more, and I had barely managed to persuade her to take only half the net profit.

I had refused several times, but she would not take no for an answer.

“If it weren’t for you, young man, those things would have all been thrown away by the garbage truck. The money you earned for me… it doesn’t feel right giving you only this much……!”

“You have to think about taxes too. Otherwise the belly will end up bigger than the baby.”

“When showing gratitude, you shouldn’t calculate every little thing. If someone gives you ten, you should give eleven back. Anyway…… maybe I should have donated a few of the antiques to the country……”

“You don’t need to worry about that. That’s something the appraisers will handle.”

There were far too many bad examples when it came to donating antiques domestically.

I pulled up an article on my smartphone and showed it to the landlady.

[The names of individuals appearing in this article have been changed to pseudonyms (Mr. Nam) at the subject’s request.]

In 1962, Mr. Nam, a miner, went to Germany in search of work.

Later, he successfully bid on the house of a former high-ranking Nazi official at auction.

The problem was the large quantity of gold bars and bundles of cash discovered in the basement.

Their value at 1970 prices was roughly 3 billion won.

Mr. Nam’s ownership was recognized, and he proudly joined Germany’s list of wealthy individuals.

After that, he began collecting all kinds of antiques.

Kennedy’s postage stamps. Tapes with Hitler’s voice recordings. Firearms from the Napoleonic era. Picasso prints, and more.

Rare antiques that could support someone for life with the sale of just one piece started filling Mr. Nam’s house.

Yet around 1993, he donated all 4,400-plus items in his collection to Cheongju City in South Korea.

It was pure goodwill; he hoped it would help Korean students learn about Western culture.

Decades later, Mr. Nam deeply regretted that decision.

Hundreds of the antiques he had donated had vanished without a trace.

Even the pieces remaining in museums were in terrible condition, with severe damage.

Cheongju City officials were busy shifting blame between departments.

Mr. Nam, who had trusted the nation and donated his entire fortune.

“I wanted to show the light I had seen to the people of my homeland. But now I wonder if I did the right thing. It’s only made things hard for me, and every time I think about it, tears come……”

All that remained for Mr. Nam now were sighs and regret.

The landlady wore a bitter expression.

I looked at her and said,

“Goodwill doesn’t always produce good results. So I hope you won’t stress yourself over something like this, Grandma.”

“Yes, yes. You take better care of me than my own children. You really feel like a real grandson.”

“You feel like a real grandmother to me too.”

The landlady’s eyes grew red again.

But only for a moment.

“With the money I earned thanks to you, I’m thinking of buying a building. A nicer one, closer to downtown. I want to keep the monthly rent low so students or young people in difficult situations can move in.”

A smile bloomed on the landlady’s lips.

“My children have all grown up, so I have nothing to worry about, and they no longer need to worry about me. I’ll treat those struggling students like my own grandchildren and live that way. But first, I’ll have to put the original building up for sale.”

“I see. I’ll miss that house—I really grew fond of it. Guess I’ll have to look for another place.”

“Why would you? I’ll keep your room as the best one in the new building. Just bring yourself and move in. You’re the first grandson of our family, young man.”

Warmth spread from the landlady’s clasped hands.

***

Creak—thud!

After parting with the landlady, I returned to my studio apartment.

The familiar sight of the room looked somehow different today.

“It feels like I only just moved in here the other day.”

I set the wooden box I was carrying down on the table.

Another gift the landlady had given me.

I opened the wooden box.

Creak—

Black bells connected by a red knot came into view.

It was the antique related to Chi You.

The conversation I had shared with appraiser Kim Cheolhyun yesterday came back to me clearly.

‘Would you consider working at our association?’

‘I already have a job.’

‘What a shame. Still, about that bell you mentioned earlier… the academic world will never acknowledge the existence of an artifact related to ‘Chi You.’’

‘I understand. It must be because my knowledge is lacking.’

Appraiser Kim Cheolhyun had shaken his head and continued.

‘I’m not saying your eye is wrong. It’s just… the truth is simply too vast to fit inside narrow, prejudiced vessels. Frighteningly so.’

He had examined the bell several more times before leaving.

I took another look at Chi You’s bell.

An ancient Chinese-style bell.

Its preservation was eerily perfect.

It looked so pristine one could believe it had been made today.

Staring at it even gave off a strange feeling.

Anyway.

Clunk— clunk— clunk—

The sound the bell made was far from ordinary.

It was dull and dry.

It’s been bothering me ever since I first found it.

There was definitely something inside.

I peered through the crack in the bell.

This is……!

Inside the bell was a pure white molar.

It was larger than an ordinary molar.

The root was still attached, so it had clearly been pulled out while still alive.

Appraiser Kim Cheolhyun had been right.

It was old, but there was no way to identify the owner of the tooth or his status.

However.

<Gentleman Thief’s Monocle>/Accessory/A

An accessory once worn by the phantom thief who shook the Lokpia Continent hundreds of years ago.

It is said that wearing it allows one to see the true nature of objects.

The Gentleman Thief’s Monocle displayed the molar as genuine.

It was labeled Chi You’s Tooth.

I activated the Heat skill.

Rumble—

Soon the cargo from Morgue’s Magical Warehouse was summoned into the studio apartment.

<Coffin of the Dead>

-Storage Number: MRG-2368

-Storage Grade: Safe

<Archlich’s Finger>

-Storage Number: MRG-175

-Storage Grade: Observation

The core artifacts for creating Shadow Knights.

Place a relic inside the Coffin of the Dead to form the body, then summon the deceased’s soul with the Archlich’s Finger.

……All right. Let’s see just how impressive this thing is.

I carefully placed the molar from the bell into the Coffin of the Dead.

At that moment.

Ding!

[Shadow Knight summoning has failed.]

“What the…?”

An entirely unexpected situation.

A Shadow Knight summoning failure had never happened before.

Ding!

[Additional material—‘Styx River Sand’—is required.]

Shadow Knights were non-human entities. Summoning them required extra materials beyond the relic—specifically MRG-478 ‘Styx River Sand.’

This condition had never appeared when creating A+-rank Shadow Knights.

In other words.

……This means it’s an existence that surpasses A+ rank?

Still.

“Styx River Sand? Was there something like that? I don’t remember seeing it.”

Even after flipping through Featherback’s journal, storage number MRG-478 was nowhere to be found.

At that moment, a system window appeared.

Ding!

[MRG-478 ‘Styx River Sand’ is a cargo item located in the ‘Terror’ zone, the fourth layer of Morgue’s Magical Warehouse.]

“So it was in the Terror zone. No wonder I hadn’t seen it.”

The highest layer I could currently access was the third layer, the ‘Unrest’ zone.

To enter the next layer, I had to pass the warehouse keeper promotion test.

Based on my experience so far……

The promotion test quest had appeared after meeting two conditions.

1. Eliminate roughly 99% of the monsters in the corresponding zone.

2. The warehouse keeper’s growth value breaks through a certain threshold.

I looked at Chi You’s tooth.

An S-rank Shadow Knight that surpassed A+ rank.

……I still have a long way to go.

But it was a condition I could more than endure.

Then.

Ding!

[‘Heat’ command received.]

[Opening Morgue’s Magical Warehouse.]

A crack formed in the air, and the gates of hell swung wide open.

“All right, then. Time to work hard and get myself an S-rank subordinate!”