Cyborg-tl
“Haa…”
Jin-hyuk was holding his smartphone, deep in thought. As each day passed, his expression grew darker.
There had never been a time in his life when things didn’t go the way he wanted, but recently, everything seemed to be going in the exact opposite direction of what he had anticipated.
Accepting the current circumstances was proving to be overwhelming for him.
Seo Ji-soo’s words echoed in his mind.
Her face, looking at him with a mixture of pity and frustration, lingered in his memory.
‘Damn it… I have no talent? I’m just successful because of my parents? Bullshit! I have talent, and I can succeed on my own.’
This was something he had felt ever since he was young.
Everyone said the same things. It felt like no one recognized his true worth.
‘Damn it… what do they know about me?’
Because of that, proving his abilities had always been his focus from a young age. He wanted to prove himself, even if it meant pouring everything he had into it.
Their words cut deep.
‘Damn it… recruiting Chae Soo-hyun was supposed to be something I could be proud of.’
It was the first thing he believed he had achieved with his own abilities. But even after joining the guild, Chae Soo-hyun had done nothing.
‘Haa…’
And that frustration had led him to this point.
‘Baek Ji-hoon…’
He had just heard that the Ruby Sword had been listed for sale.
‘How is this guy getting S-rank items so easily? It’s insane.’
Jin-hyuk desperately hoped that Baek Ji-hoon was just getting lucky. He believed that if he kept funneling money into collecting rare items, he would eventually win.
‘It’s fine. The expenses are high, but I’ll handle it with some PR and funding injections. It’s expensive, but it’s rare…’
He immediately called Baek Ji-hoon.
“Hello, Ji-hoon.”
It hadn’t been long since they had met to discuss the Golden Armor deal, and now they were facing each other again.
“You obtained the Ruby Sword…?”
Jin-hyuk’s voice carried a hint of unease.
“Yes, I did.”
“Let’s get straight to the point… how does 500 billion sound?”
He sounded slightly desperate.
‘What the…? He’s just offering 500 billion like that? Hyung-seok was right.’
It felt like things were going exactly as Hyung-seok had predicted.
‘Stay calm, Baek Ji-hoon.’
I reminded myself to remain composed. Honestly, 500 billion was a jaw-dropping figure. Even after the fees, I’d still pocket 50 billion.
‘Fifty billion? I could just buy a house in Gangnam with that.’
It felt unreal. But I couldn’t let myself get swept up in it. I had to maintain my image.
“Hmmm…”
I pretended to be unimpressed. Seeing my reaction, Jin-hyuk seemed to get a bit nervous.
“Doesn’t it interest you…?”
“No.”
I cut him off sharply, giving him exactly the response I knew he was dreading.
“We calculated its value at…”
“700 billion.”
I decided to go all out and see how far I could push it.
“Considering the overall auction market value…”
“700 billion.”
I made it clear I wasn’t negotiating.
I felt confident that I held all the power here.
After all, Jin-hyuk had reached out to me as soon as the item was listed. Even if he didn’t accept my offer, I had nothing to lose.
‘If I list it on the auction, it’ll likely hit 500 billion anyway.’
At first, I hadn’t fully grasped the flow of the auction market, but now I was starting to get a feel for it.
‘Items that are the only one of their kind in the world have enormous value.’
“I think 500 billion is a very reasonable price considering…”
“700 billion.”
I was relentless, seeing who would break first.
Jin-hyuk’s face grew darker and darker. From what I could tell, he was desperate to get his hands on this item. I had sensed that about him from the way he treated the Soul Fragment, too. He was obsessed with items.
Even Hyung-seok had said as much, and the online reactions to him confirmed it.
‘Let’s see how far we can push this.’
“Baek Ji-hoon, 700 billion is an outrageous price…”
“700 billion.”
The one who’s desperate digs the well. I had nothing to lose here.
“Haa…”
Jin-hyuk sighed deeply.
“I feel like I’ve wasted my time. I’ll be leaving now to meet with my next buyer.”
I abruptly stood up, preparing to leave.
“Wa-wait!!!”
Jin-hyuk, clearly panicked, grabbed my wrist.
“Another buyer?”
“Did you really think you were the only one interested in this item? The only reason I met with you first is because you’re the heir of Taeyang Group. But now I see you’re too stingy. It’s a waste of my time to deal with someone who doesn’t recognize the value of my items.”
I shook off his grip and moved to leave.
It was all a bluff, of course.
“Who else is interested?”
I rattled off the names of several investment funds and hunter item investors I had read about online. With each name I mentioned, Jin-hyuk grew more and more flustered.
“I’ll be going now. My schedule is packed.”
“A-Alright… 700 billion…”
He finally caved, looking pale and defeated.
‘What the… it actually worked?’
I accepted his offer, careful to keep my reaction neutral.
Back at the office, Park Hyung-seok was frozen like a statue after hearing what I had done.
“Hey. Are you dead?”
“…”
“Are you dead?”
“…”
“If you’re dead, I’ll just keep your share.”
“AAAH!! No, hyung!”
He had been too shocked by what I had just told him.
“Did you really… sell it for 700 billion? 700 billion!? That’s the highest price for an item in history, isn’t it? Is this real?”
He was trembling uncontrollably, clearly unable to believe it.
“Yeah, it’s real. Do you want me to show you again?”
Even after showing him the numbers in my account, he kept asking.
“Oh my god…”
“Come on, pull yourself together. This is just the beginning.”
“I-I can’t… you keep doing things that make it impossible to stay calm…”
Knock, knock.
At that moment, Chief Cha entered the office, practically dancing with joy.
“What’s up, Chief Cha?”
“I’m dancing?”
“Yeah, but why?”
“Oh my~~~ Ji-hoon~~ I just overheard the Guild Leader say~~”
“Yes?”
“You sold it for 700 billion~~~”
“Yes.”
“Oh my god~~ At this rate, Ji-hoon, you’re going to be our guild’s top earner. You’re single-handedly carrying the guild’s revenue. At this pace, 90% of our earnings will come from you alone!”
“Haha.”
Chief Cha was looking at me with what could only be described as adoration. It was kind of uncomfortable.
“Keep it up! You’re doing great. But Ji-hoon, is the price really going up like this? Are you selling more and more expensive items each time?”
“It just kind of turned out that way.”
“Oh, I knew it! I knew from the moment you joined our guild that you were going to be special.”
“Thank you. I wouldn’t have made it this far without your help.”
It was an awkward but necessary exchange. Chief Cha had played a role in my success, after all.
“Keep up the good work~~”
“Will do.”
“Oppa, are you an idiot?”
“What?”
Jin-hyuk was getting an earful from Seo Ji-soo.
“Ugh. Just stop buying items. Stop wasting money. Do you think this is sustainable?”
“Hey! Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.”
Jin-hyuk snapped at her, clearly frustrated.
“I mean, I wouldn’t even pay 500 billion for it. Heck, I’d hesitate at 300 billion.”
“That’s because you have no sense of money.”
“No, oppa, the only reason it’s expensive is because it’s rare. But what if it’s not rare anymore? What then?”
“What?”
“Think about it. What if that Parfaris guy keeps getting and selling these items? What are you going to do?”
“That… that’s impossible.”
Jin-hyuk looked visibly shaken. It was clear he had never considered that possibility.
Caught up in the fierce auction wars, he had only been focused on the immediate competition.
“Ugh… you’re acting like a fool. Why do you keep doing this?”
Seo Ji-soo was starting to think Jin-hyuk was acting more and more foolish by the day.