I put a leash on Catastrophe

The pharaoh looked around with interest, but his interest seemed to fade quickly, and he started to look bored. This place was amazing for Zhi-wu, but for his eyes, it clearly fell short.

Sensing that the pharaoh’s expression didn’t bode well, Zhi-wu hurried to quicken his pace.

So, roughly in the center of the black market, they finally reached the place Zhi-wu wanted to get to.

‘HS PAWN BANK’.

Translated into Korean, it meant HS pawnshop. Although there were many other pawnshops everywhere, this one, occupying a large space in the center, looked the best of all.

‘Even the sign is different.’

Apparently, because it’s difficult to bring workers to this place, other places limited themselves to inscriptions on wooden boards, but here was a fairly decent sign.

Not only was the exterior amazing, but the inside was even more astonishing.

“Wow.”

The overall structure of the interior, painted entirely in white, resembled a bank.

Near the entrance stood a machine for issuing waiting tickets, and next to it on the wall were chairs lined up for waiting people.

And opposite were several windows and even a monitor with ticket numbers hanging on the ceiling, so it’s no wonder it resembled a bank.

Zhi-wu, having recovered a bit from his surprise, pressed the button on the machine, took a waiting ticket, and sat down on a chair.

Unlike the deserted outside, there were several people inside, and the faces of the sitting people could be divided into two categories.

Those who trembled with anxiety with haggard faces, and those who waited for their turn with relaxed looks.

Zhi-wu and his two companions belonged to the second category, but there was one difference from the others. Except for them, the rest of the people were dressed in expensive clothes.

If judging only by appearance, Zhi-wu was similar to the first category, but by facial expression – closer to the second, so it was difficult to unambiguously attribute him to either of them.

People, noticing this, glanced briefly at Zhi-wu and his companions but soon lost interest. Perhaps they thought that dealing with them might be problematic, seeing Martin, who stood as if protecting Zhi-wu.

As they waited, the queue number gradually decreased, and soon it was Zhi-wu’s turn.

“Are you client number 179?”

A woman who looked like an employee approached Zhi-wu, who was already about to stand up and prepare, seeing his turn approaching, and asked.

When Zhi-wu silently took out the ticket and showed the number, the employee checked it and raised her hand, pointing in one direction.

“Could you please come this way?”

She was not pointing towards the windows. It was an office with the sign VIP.

‘What is this?’

Zhi-wu checked if he hadn’t accidentally taken the wrong ticket, but the ticket only had “Window” and a number written on it.

Although he thought it was strange, he had no fear arising in an unfamiliar situation. He had two pillars behind his back.

When Zhi-wu opened the door and entered, his eyes lit up seeing the person inside.

“Oh, you’ve come? Sit down.”

Unlike the staff at the windows outside, dressed in uniforms and sitting like bank clerks, the person sitting in the VIP room was dressed very flashily.

A slightly shiny Versace shirt was unbuttoned by a couple of buttons at the collar, and a thick gold chain was visible inside.

He was sitting in the chair, almost lying down, with his feet on the table, and slightly waving his hand resting on the armrest, so it was unclear whether he was going to conduct business or start a quarrel.

However, none of those present looked displeased with this sight. Zhi-wu’s eyes just lit up, the emperor smiled cheerfully. And Martin showed no interest at all.

Among the three, the emperor was the most noticeable with his bright appearance, then Martin attracted attention with his size, but the gaze of the man sitting casually didn’t leave Zhi-wu. As if he knew that Zhi-wu was the real boss among these three.

When Zhi-wu approached and sat down on the chair opposite the man, separated by the table, the man finally smiled widely.

“Nice to meet you. Here, take a business card.”

The man took out a business card from somewhere nearby and placed it on the table, pushing it towards Zhi-wu. The card had the name Kim Hwan-su and contact information written on it.

Looking at Zhi-wu, who was examining the card with a gleam in his eyes, the man, Hwan-su, asked:

“Well, what brings you here?”

Zhi-wu smirked, seeing how Hwan-su was behaving friendly, like an old friend, and opened his bag, taking out a plastic bag from it.

Hwan-su looked surprised at the unexpectedly appearing black plastic bag, but when Zhi-wu untied the knot on the bag, his face changed to extremely surprised.

“Huh?”

Seeing the contents of the bag, he was stunned. He alternately looked at the jewels filling the bag, tied in a circle like a kilogram of pork from the market, and at Zhi-wu’s face.

“… Crazy?”

It was a mutter full of bewilderment. If these jewels weren’t fake, it was incomprehensible why they were packed so that they knocked against each other.

He straightened his casual posture and sat up straight, accepting the bag that Zhi-wu was holding out. Then he opened a drawer and took out several items.

A soft black velvet cloth, several small trays with a silicone cushion at the bottom, a magnifying glass that could be worn on the eye, and gloves.

Spreading the velvet cloth on the table, he began sorting the jewels from the bag one by one while wearing gloves. Although there were quite a lot of them, because there were also large stones among them, it didn’t take much time.

After finishing the sorting, he took the largest stone and, putting the magnifying glass on one eye, began examining it.

“Oval cabochon, large enough that it could be re-cut. The transparency is also good. The color is pure, without a single flaw – top grade.”

He placed the stone on the velvet cloth covering the table. Then he selected several stones of similar size, examined them through the magnifying glass, and put them back, repeating the process.

“For stones that have been handled so carelessly, there are no problems. We’ll look at the small ones later, let’s check the gold items?”

After finishing speaking, he placed the sorted gold on unusual scales. The numbers on the scales quickly grew and stopped just above 500g.

“Pure gold. If calculated at today’s gold price… after deducting our commission, it will be about this much.”

He tapped on the calculator on the table and turned it, showing Zhi-wu the numbers.

“3000…”

Zhi-wu opened his mouth, seeing the amount of almost 35 million, starting with 3000. Although he thought it would be expensive, when his vague ideas collided with such a specific price, he felt dizzy. To think he brought 30 million won in a plastic bag…

‘Wait, this is just the price of gold. What about the precious stones?’

What he calculated was only for the gold items. This was the price without considering the gold with precious stones and beautifully cut gems, so Zhi-wu was even scared of how much larger the final amount could be.

He involuntarily glanced at the pharaoh, but he seemed more interested in the devices the man was using than in the amount.

“Let’s count only the large ones, without the small stuff.”

Hwan-su attracted attention by opening his mouth. He pointed his finger at the area next to the largest stone.

“Three weeks ago, I sold a stone that was a bit smaller than this, but with a similar size and transparency.”

“…”

“This is suitable goods for an auction, but since it was urgent goods that couldn’t wait until the auction, it had to be sold at a reduced price, and it was 2000.”

If this is the price for one, and now there are five lying there…

‘100 million?’

This was an amount Zhi-wu had never encountered in his life. When his head started spinning again from the huge sum, Hwan-su asked:

“What do you want to do? Sell at auction? Or will you sell to us? If you sell now, I can give you cash right away.”

Zhi-wu came to his senses at this question.

‘At a reduced price, 100 million. And how much would it be at auction?’

At least, more than 100 million. Zhi-wu was tempted for a moment but changed his mind.

‘It’s funny.’

It was funny that in a normal situation, he would be grateful if he was given 100 million, but now that he was told he could get more, he became greedy.

Zhi-wu had something more desirable than this. The expulsion of calamities. No matter how much money he collected, if the world perished, they would just become pieces of paper.

What he brought today was only a part of what the pharaoh gave, so if more money was needed, the rest could be sold.

With such thoughts, Zhi-wu was about to choose to receive cash now.

“We’ll sell at auction.”

The one who spoke was none other than the pharaoh. Hwan-su frowned, looking at the pharaoh who suddenly intervened, standing silently until now like a screen, and then looked at Zhi-wu as if seeking confirmation.

“I’m curious about what an auction is.”

The pharaoh spoke again, looking at Zhi-wu. Under the gazes of the two people, Zhi-wu thought for a moment. Was it right to take the pharaoh to an auction?

Looking at the pharaoh’s smile, which was becoming brighter as his deliberations dragged on, Zhi-wu shook his head. It seemed he had only one choice.

“…When will the auction be held?”

“You’re lucky. The regular auction will be in 4 days. Saturday evening at 6 o’clock.”

“If we put the goods up for auction, can we also participate?”

“Well, yes. But when putting goods up for auction, in addition to our commission, there’s an additional 5% auction commission.”

Even with the commission, it would still be higher than the offered 100 million, so Zhi-wu didn’t feel particularly averse. The pharaoh didn’t seem to either.

He seemed completely uninterested in whether Zhi-wu would sell the jewels he gave for 100 won or 10 billion. The only thing that interested him, it seemed, was the auction itself.

Zhi-wu finished his deliberations.