Return of the Irregular Appraiser
Chapter 29

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – Prototype]

Chapter 29: A Special Arraiser

Crunch! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A bloody explosion echoes here and there.

Kaaaah!

Help!

Please! Ghost, ghost, ghost!

Aaaaaaaaah! Mom! Dad!

The situation was dire, with desperate screams and cries echoing all around.

The gang members desperately tried to light up with cell phones and lighters, but they only became targets of the hunters.

Ordinary people, outnumbered and outmatched, stood no chance against the ruthless hunter in this dark environment. It was a massacre waiting to happen.

Hiding in the corner, Woogil, Ahjeong, and Daehyun waited, listening to the sounds emanating from the darkness, hoping for the situation to resolve itself.

After what seemed like an endless cacophony of screams, the cries began to subside, and with a creaking sound, the iron door swung open, allowing light to flood into the space.

Yang Jiwon stood in the brightly lit room with her hair hanging down, her face covered in blood and a murderous glare.

She looked like a warrior who had just returned from the battlefield.

I flinched as she cleared her throat, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, we’re fine”

“Good sense, thinking of breaking a light bulb in there.”

She said with her usual smile, but the blood on her face made me avert my gaze.

“Haha… Let’s call for backup first.”

“Okay, we should.”

Ahjeong went outside for a while to stabilize, then found the cell phone they had hidden and called for backup.

Meanwhile, inside, as Jung Taejin lay with a broken ankle, he glared at Sung Daehyun and gritted his teeth.

“You crazy bastard… Instead of trying to save your father, you brought in Salvation to hunt me down? You and your father, I’ll kill you both no matter what-”

“What did you say?”

Jiwon interrupted, stomping on his broken ankle.

“Aaaargh!!”

“What’s unfair, huh? Does it hurt? Others have suffered more than this, you scum!”

With each word, she mercilessly beat Jung Taejin, who lay writhing on the ground, unconscious.

“K…uh…uh….”

Spitting out blood, Jung Taejin collapsed, seemingly unconscious.

Looking down at him, Jiwon smiled with satisfaction.

“Now I feel better!”

After waiting for about 30 minutes, the Inspection team arrived.

They arrested all the remaining members of the Taejin faction and cleaning up the scene, Sung Daehyun was also handcuffed by Jiwon.

“Why did you do that?”

Jiwon never thought that Sung Daehyun would be the anonymous informant.

From inspection team’s perspective, they were grateful, but sacrificing his life just to capture Jung Taejin was too much.

“…I wanted revenge.”

“Was it worth risking your life for revenge?”

“At first, I helped the Taejin faction to save my father, but later I realized that choice was my only refuge. I had blinded myself to the truth.”

Jiwon swallowed her saliva.

Knowing Sung Daehyun’s situation, she understood his feelings.

He had to save his father, so he had to help the Taejin faction. But how desperate he must have felt when he found out that the Taejin faction was the one that made his father like this.

“Even though you were used, you can’t avoid punishment.”

“…I see.”

Sung Daehyun seemed resigned.

Looking at him I said.

“Everyone makes mistakes. They make wrong choices. What matters is what happens after you realize it.”

As he was being dragged away in handcuffs, Sung Daehyun stopped and turned to look at me.

“Good job.”

With a wry smile, he replied.

“I guess we’ll have to postpone our meal for later.”

Then, he walked away with Jiwon again.

* * *

After the case was closed, Oh Geomsu received the fee for this case.

A total of 31 million won.

The first two artifacts were appraised at 1,950, plus 150 for other minor items, plus a 1,000 commission fee, for a total of 3,100.

In fact, the Valley of Peace is a masterpiece of a 1.5 billion painting and should be appraised at 5% of 1.5 billion, but I initially priced it at 500 million for a Class B artifact, so that’s what I got.

It wasn’t unexpected, and it didn’t matter intentionally.

If anything, it would have been more bitter if the inspection team had paid 1,500 in appraisal fees for a great work that they wouldn’t accept for free.

According to Yang Jiwon, capturing Jung Taejin made it okay.

Furthermore, they were pleased that they even managed to uncover Sung Daehyun’s violation of Salvation’s regulations.

Anyway, since the money wasn’t theirs, they didn’t mind.

A few days after the incident was wrapped up, I went with Junpyo to visit Yeoljin and Shin Ahjeong.

Yeoljin was still wearing his leather clothes, and Shin Ahjeong had developed a hobby of collecting items from other dimensions with Yeoljin.

“There’s not much, but please enjoy.”

Ahjeong proudly served me and Junpyo a table full of side dishes.

Although Jiwon was too busy to join them, she said she would visit separately when she had time.

“Thank you so much.”

“We’re the ones who should thank you for helping us.”

I promised to appraise a few more items for free before leaving.

“How was it?”

“What?”

“Did you feel anything working together this time?”

“Hmm… I felt like I wanted to see more appraisal items. Seeing the appraisal process and its results on-site felt different. It’s like getting a better sense of how to proceed with work in the future.”

It was a good development. Honestly, even if there had been no progress from this incident, it wouldn’t have mattered much.

I didn’t expect much, but he had done even better than expected.

“Here, this is your paycheck for this job.”

“Oh.”

Junpyo took the white envelope with a excited look.

“…W-What’s this? Why is it so much? 500,000 won?”

It’s almost a month’s salary. There was also the intention to compensate for the risk and to entrust him with future tasks. I felt a little guilty.

They said all the medical expenses were covered by the Salvation. In addition, they said they received a bit more commission fee at Yang Jiwon’s request.

“I trust you’ll work hard with what you’ve received.”

“Um… Woogil!”

Junpyo hugged me tightly. I managed to free myself and told him to go inside before returning home.

A few more days passed.

I spent my time reading ancient books I hadn’t been able to read properly before when the phone rang.

Ring- Ring-

[Oh Geomsu, Head of Inspection Team 3]

“Hello, this is Kim Woogil.”

– This is Oh Geomsu. The disciplinary action against Sung Daehyun has been decided. He’s suspended from being an appraiser for a year and imprisoned for three months.

“A year suspension and three months in prison… Isn’t the punishment lighter than expected?”

– It can’t be helped. Sung Daehyun isn’t an ordinary appraiser, and moreover, isn’t he a young genius who rose to the position of team leader at a young age? Honestly, revoking an appraiser’s license isn’t easy. Especially for someone at the team leader level. Also, considering that he caught Jung Taejin by himself… Well, you could say it’s commendable… Haha.

The connections among appraisers are deeper and stronger than one might think.

They are a group of top-tier elites, and in a situation where there are no alternatives to replace them, each individual is valuable.

Even so, the punishment for Sung Daehyun seems surprisingly lenient. Could he have connections higher up?

“When will visitation be allowed?”

* * *

Woogil headed to the Seoul East Penitentiary where Sung Daehyun was being held.

Among awakened individuals, those with weak combat abilities are housed with other ordinary criminals.

They might be administered drugs to prevent them from using their abilities, rendering them no different from ordinary civilians during their time inside.

However, for those who awakened relatively recently or have low mana adaptation, prolonged drug administration can sometimes result in irreversible loss of mana.

For those who haven’t awakened, losing mana after experiencing it once is akin to losing a limb, which is why awakened individuals fear Salvation so much.

“He’ll be here soon.”

The guard said before leaving the visitation room.

The visitation room, about the size of a small studio apartment, had special mana-enhanced glass in the middle, allowing visitors and prisoners to face each other on either side.

As I waited inside the visitation room, Sung Daehyun entered wearing prisoner attire a while later.

“Long time no see.”

“Yeah, it has been. I don’t look for a senior.”

Contrary to his words, Sung Daehyun’s face looked quite relaxed.

Ironically, he seemed more shadowed when we first met for the interview.

“You said we’d grab a meal, but you missed the appointment.”

“I did say that, but I think we’ll have to postpone.”

Sung Daehyun chuckled. I asked directly.

“How did you know?”

When we rode in the van with the Taejin Faction, Sung Daehyun sent a text to me.

[I’m the anonymous informant who reported Taejin Faction’s corruption to Team leader Oh. Junior Kim Woogil. And I plan to capture Jung Taejin today. You’re with Salvation, right? Help me out.]

It was a sudden message. He seemed to have mistaken me for the employee sent by Salvation. I wondered how he knew.

“I mentioned before that I know someone in the association, right? That person is the Vice Chairman. The Vice Chairman personally selects newbies every time. Well, I didn’t pay much attention until then, but then the Vice Chairman came to the Appraisal Department and we met. And I remembered you, junior.”

Having connections with the Vice Chairman was the last thing I expected. And who could he meet at the Appraisal Department.

“…… I had no luck.”

He smirked and continued.

“I got a reply saying, ‘There is no one named Kim Woogil. What are you talking about?’ That’s when I thought. Maybe you’re not the one Salvation sent.”

“And when I met an appraiser named K, I didn’t think much of it. I was sure that the results wouldn’t change no matter who came. But my confidence crumbled after hearing the evaluation. It was when you criticized me. When I said Korea was a decent country. That’s when I knew. Oh, this person is the Kim Woogil I interviewed back then. It felt like I got hit in the head with a hammer.”

When Korea started to collapse and he lived the life of a plunderer with the director, he traveled like a vagabond to numerous countries.

He realized then. Korea was a decent country.

“A true genius says this kind of thing. I felt it was a good decision not to go abroad after WAEC ended.”

“……”

No wonder. The appraisal you were so confident in was shattered right in front of your eyes, by an appraiser much younger than you.

Even for normal appraisers, it wouldn’t be unusual for their mental state to crumble.

“I’ve thought a lot after hearing your words. Actually, looking back, I’ve been avoiding many challenges. It was partly out of fear and partly rationalization. I’ve been feeling it already, but I’ve been deliberately ignoring it. Truth be told, I was planning to mess with Jung Taejin and end up dead. But because of you, I changed my mind.”

“Why?”

“Suddenly, I felt competitive. When you were stubbornly trying to delay time by lifting the chair in front, it seemed pathetic to me at first… But when I looked again, it was impressive. That’s when I realized. Ah, this is the difference in mentality!”

He spoke as if he were exhilarated, or perhaps dejected, as he candidly expressed his emotions from that time.

“For a while, I didn’t really have a goal. It was just a vague thought of making money and working hard to get the relic from Taejin Faction to save my father! It was actually escapism. I was just numb until Taejin Faction approached. Even the goal I had came from their deception, making me feel like a fool and pathetic enough to want to disappear. But now I have a goal.”

“What is it?”

“To surpass you.”

His eyes were burning unlike before.

It was almost visible how his determination was rising like a predator with its prey in front of it.

“It felt like I regained myself when I was at Salvation Academy. You said it. When you look at the Valley of Peace, if you call it a common item, it’s third-class, if you evaluate it as an artifact, it’s second-class, if it’s a relic, it’s first-class.”

“That’s right.”

“Then what made you think it was a forgery?”

There was a strong fervor in his voice.

Being someone’s target could be intimidating and unappealing, but I didn’t feel that way.

Instead, I found the burning determination and clear desire in his eyes oddly pleasing.

‘Past Sung Daehyun disappeared one day without a trace.’

That’s why I didn’t have many memories of Sung Daehyun.

But what about Sung Daehyun now? Would he be buried silently like he was then?

I didn’t think so. People with such determined gazes had become renowned figures worldwide, after all.

“First-class. A discerning appraiser who can discern that level could be called a first-class appraiser.”

“First-class…”

Sung Daehyun continued to ponder those words. While making a vow that someday he too would become such an appraiser.

“Why would someone like you hide your identity?”

“Because I’m still lacking.”

Sung Daehyun looked at me as if shocked by my words. Then he shook his head.

“Ha, you stupid bastard.”

It was a lamentation about his past self. Where did his confidence go that overflowed only when participating in the WAEC?

But at least, at this moment, he could recall the self he had forgotten for a while.

“I too will become a first-class appraiser like you.”

I smiled, receiving Sung Daehyun’s fiery gaze.

“I look forward to it.”

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – Prototype]