Chapter 14: Pandora Cube

“Could it be…… that I had some relative I never knew about?”

Park Hayan asked with a trembling voice.

As far as she knew, she was a completely lonely orphan.

Her only family, her parents, had died in the plane crash.

But perhaps there was a possibility.

Maybe some distant relative she had never known, or an acquaintance of her parents, had heard the news and decided to help her.

Otherwise, no one would hand over such an enormous amount of money just like that.

However, the employee’s answer was unexpected.

“No. He said his name was Kim Jeongseok.”

“Kim…… Jeongseok?”

It was a name she had never heard before.

They did not even share the same surname.

No matter how hard she tried to remember, there was not a single memory connected to that name.

“We were surprised too. That person insisted strongly on one thing.”

the employee added.

“He said we had to make sure you could walk comfortably for the rest of your life. He also said that the cost didn’t matter.”

Her mind went blank.

Was this a dream?

This had to be a dream.

A sweet illusion caused by anesthesia.

She felt that once she woke up, she would once again find herself in the cold hospital room, crying while staring at her useless legs.

Just as Park Hayan was about to pinch her cheek.

“Truly, congratulations.”

The nurses smiled sincerely while applauding.

It was not a hallucination.

The air in the room, the smell of disinfectant, and the human warmth she felt on her skin.

Everything was real.

A complete stranger.

Without asking for anything in return.

Had saved her life.

It felt as if a ray of light had pierced through the dark world she lived in.

Then.

“Ah, right! I almost forgot.”

Another nurse hurried into the room.

In her hands was a white envelope.

“The sponsor left this letter. He asked us to deliver it to you personally.”

“……A letter?”

Park Hayan took the envelope with trembling hands.

It was a simple white envelope.

Could it be from that person?

That Kim Jeongseok who had saved her.

‘Why would he do something like this for me……?’

Half fear, half excitement.

She carefully opened the envelope.

Inside was a sheet of paper written in neat and clean handwriting.

Park Hayan slowly began to read.

[To Park Hayan.

You were probably very surprised by this sudden donation.

I imagined you would be curious about who I am and why I decided to help you, so I am writing these words.

I also lost my family in that plane crash.

My parents were on that plane.]

Park Hayan’s eyes widened instantly.

He was another relative of the victims.

Another person scarred by that horrible accident.

[You were the only survivor of that accident.

The person who survived while carrying the share of everyone who departed, including my parents.

That is why you must walk.

You must stand up again, walk, run, and freely travel the world.

That is what the people who passed away would have wanted.]

Her vision became blurry.

The letters distorted through her tears.

[Please do not feel pressured. I do not need anything in return.

I only want to see you live in good health.

I will be supporting you from afar.

You are not alone.

Sincerely, Kim Jeongseok.]

Plop.

A tear fell onto the letter.

“Ah…….”

The sobbing she had been holding back finally burst out.

“Sniff…… hng…….”

It was not only because of the money.

It was the comfort of knowing she was not alone.

The relief of understanding that surviving was not a sin.

The warmth of knowing that someone sincerely wished for her to keep living melted the frozen heart she carried inside.

Park Hayan hugged the letter against her chest as she broke into tears.

It was crying so painful and heartbreaking that everyone in the room fell silent.

That day.

The young woman decided to live again.

And she would live in order to someday repay that kindness.

**b

Behind the small glass window in the room’s door.

I silently watched the scene.

Park Hayan had collapsed while clutching the letter against her chest.

The way she cried as if the entire world were falling apart.

That confirmed my suspicions.

‘She’s not a god’s avatar.’

She was not acting.

Those were raw emotions that only someone who had survived while crawling up from rock bottom could show.

A desperate instinct for survival and relief that the gods could never imitate.

It was not exactly a small amount of money.

But I did not regret it even a little.

If anything, it had been cheap.

I knew her future.

‘Park Hayan, the Spirit Lord.’

Before my regression, she had been one of the last five surviving humans.

The companion who climbed the tower with me until the very end.

But I never completely trusted her.

Because of her nickname.

‘The White Devil.’

That was what people called her.

On the outside, she looked like a pure and flawless angel.

Always smiling.

Always speaking with a gentle voice.

But on the inside, she was completely rotten.

I still remembered the spirits she controlled.

Every single one of them had lost the light in their eyes while whimpering.

To her, spirits were not friends.

‘Tools.’

Consumables.

Slaves.

She used wind spirits to spy on conversations.

She arranged assassinations through shadow spirits.

Sometimes she even forced spirits into other people’s minds to turn them into puppets or alter their memories.

She even cheated in gambling games by switching cards.

To survive.

To win.

She never stopped at any method.

Evil.

She was undoubtedly a villain.

But I could not blame her.

‘Because she was only trying to survive.’

Her beginning was miserable.

Paralysis of the lower half of her body.

An orphan with nothing.

After the Great Cataclysm, a girl in a wheelchair had very little chance of surviving.

In order not to be used by others, she had to use them first.

In order not to be trampled, she had to crush others first.

Her evil was born from a desperate struggle to survive.

And because she survived that way, she never learned how to stop.

Even after gaining power, she continued feeling insecure and exploited others in increasingly worse ways.

In the end, her talent grew in a twisted manner, chained to the concept of “survival.”

But this time would be different.

I looked once more at the young woman beyond the glass.

She would heal her legs.

She would stand on her own feet again.

She would no longer have to drown in poverty or humiliate herself before anyone.

I had planted “hope” inside her.

The belief that someone was watching over her.

The relief of knowing she was not alone.

That would change her roots.

‘Don’t become twisted.’

You do not need to turn into a demon.

Do not become the ruler of dark alleys.

Become a proud sovereign beneath the sunlight.

If Park Hayan treated spirits as companions instead of tools.

If she allowed that overwhelming talent to bloom in the right direction.

‘Spirit King.’

And not only that.

Perhaps she could even control higher existences.

I was certain.

My investment would not fail.

She would grow into a companion far more powerful and trustworthy than in my past life.

“Grow well.”

I murmured quietly.

There was nothing more to see anymore.

I turned around.

My steps as I left the hospital hallway were light.

‘Money can always be earned again.’

I knew how to make money.

I knew where I needed to go.

And I also knew what would happen there.

‘A snowstorm will strike Daegu without warning.’

In two days, a snowstorm will fall.

The snow will pile up to 70 centimeters high.

And afterward, monsters will appear.

In other words.

‘There’s another god’s avatar there.’

***

Daegu, Icheon-dong Antique Street.

Heat.

An unbearable heat.

Every time I breathed, burning air filled my lungs.

Heat waves rose from the asphalt.

The road looked like a frying pan on the verge of boiling.

People called that place “Daefrica.”

A bitter joke comparing it to Africa.

I wiped away my sweat while raising my gaze toward the sky.

A blazing sun.

A blue sky without a single cloud.

‘In two days.’

Who could possibly imagine it?

That in the middle of this hellish heat, a snowstorm would fall.

And not just any snowstorm.

More than 70 centimeters of snow would paralyze the entire city.

That was not a natural phenomenon.

It was clearly a “disaster.”

Proof that an avatar of a god related to ice or freezing had settled nearby.

Before going after him, I had to stop by one place first.

I walked down the street while observing both sides.

Old worn-out signs.

Statues and ceramics piled up in front of the shops.

To ordinary people, it only looked like a street full of junk.

But my eyes saw something different.

‘A treasure.’

The world had changed.

It was not only living beings that mutated.

Ancient objects, relics filled with history and time, also reacted to mana.

Among them were hidden artifacts with special powers.

People still did not know.

They did not understand the true value of those old objects.

Within two weeks.

At most one month.

As soon as the awakened discovered the value of relics, the prices in this place would explode.

I entered an old wooden building.

Cling.

A bell rang, but no one came out to greet me.

The inside was dark and smelled of damp dust.

“Welcome.” an old man replied from the back while fanning himself wearing only a sleeveless shirt.

He glanced at me briefly before losing interest.

A young man in a hoodie.

He probably decided I was not a customer with money.

“Look around as much as you want, but don’t touch anything.”

Disinterest.

It did not bother me.

In fact, it was more comfortable.

I slowly began looking through the shelves.

Fake Goryeo porcelains.

Poorly carved wooden dolls.

Old rusted containers.

Most of it was trash.

But jewels were always mixed among the stones.

I stopped in front of a dust-covered shelf in the corner.

A small bronze mirror the size of a palm.

It was so rusted that it had long ceased functioning as a mirror.

‘It’s this one.’

I discreetly extended my hand.

At an angle where the owner could not see.

I let a small amount of mana flow into the mirror’s surface.

Hummmm.

There was a reaction.

An electric vibration ran through my fingertips.

It was not dead metal.

There was mana breathing inside it.

Definitely.

I picked up the mirror and went to the counter.

“How much for this?”

The old man stopped fanning himself and looked at the mirror through his glasses.

“That? Give me one hundred thousand won.”

He was overcharging me.

Normally, it would not even be worth thirty thousand.

But I did not haggle.

I pulled some crumpled bills from my pocket.

“Here.”

“Take it.”

As soon as he received the money, he lost interest again.

I put the mirror away and left the shop.

The moment I stepped back into the scorching sunlight.

Ding!

A system message appeared before my eyes.

[You have discovered a hidden relic.]

[You possess extraordinary perception.]

[The skill ‘Appraisal’ has been created.]

Just as expected.

Detecting the true value of an object through mana.

That act was the trigger for obtaining the skill.

I immediately activated the skill.

“Appraisal.”

Whoooosh.

A semi-transparent window appeared before me.

[Item: Mirror That Reflects the Truth]

[Rank: Rare]

[Description: A mirror used by a shaman during the Silla era. By injecting mana, it can reveal hidden things.]

[Effect (1): Detects invisibility and stealth within a 10-meter radius.]

[Effect (2): Increases resistance against illusion magic.]

Success.

Rare rank.

For an item obtained at the beginning, it was practically top-tier.

Especially the stealth detection.

It was an ability impossible to buy with money.

At that moment, a piece of junk worth one hundred thousand won became a treasure valued at hundreds of millions.

‘Not bad.’

I stored the mirror inside my coat.

And that was only the beginning.

I still had five hundred million won left.

Money remaining after donating one billion to Park Hayan.

For a normal person, it was a fortune.

But in the world of the awakened, it was barely enough to buy one decent piece of equipment.

However, here, in this street where relics still had no defined value.

The story was different.

‘I can spend like a king.’

I began sweeping through the entire street.

I entered shop after shop.

My eyes never rested.

‘Appraisal.’

[Normal: A cheap imitation porcelain.]

Pass.

‘Appraisal.’

[Normal: A mass-produced wooden doll.]

Pass.

It was like searching for gems in a pile of garbage.

Ninety-nine out of a hundred were useless.

But I did not give up.

Every time a blue light appeared before me, I opened my wallet.

“How much for this?”

“Fifty thousand.”

“Here.”

[Item: Vital Jade Ring]

[Rank: Uncommon]

[Effect: Slightly increases physical recovery speed.]

“And that one?”

“That one’s a bit more expensive. Around two hundred thousand……”

“Keep the change.”

[Item: Sword of an Ancient Bodyguard]

[Rank: Rare]

[Effect: Maintains its sharpness until durability runs out.]

I kept buying.

Rings.

Hairpins.

Scrolls.

Old swords.

Even though I looked like a junk collector from the outside, my inventory was filling with genuine relics.

The merchants looked at me like I was an idiot.

They whispered that some young man had gone crazy from the heat and was buying garbage.

I only smiled inwardly.

Because in one month.

Those objects sold for one hundred or two hundred thousand won would be worth tens of millions.

It happened when I reached the end of the street.

Dong— Dong—!

The sound of a bell rang through the air.

People began murmuring.

“Huh? Is today auction day?”

“Is it already that time?”

“Let’s go! Maybe something good will show up today.”

Merchants and curious onlookers began gathering in one place.

In front of a fairly large gallery located in the center of the street.

‘An auction?’

My interest was piqued.

An auction in a place like this could only mean one thing.

Stolen goods.

Or unidentified items sold for next to nothing.

In other words.

Objects that could either be a fortune or absolute trash.

I blended into the crowd and entered the gallery.

The air conditioning felt glorious.

On the stage, an auctioneer wearing a tuxedo held a microphone.

“Alright! It’s hot, so let’s start quickly!”

The auction began.

At first, boring objects appeared.

Sketches by famous painters.

Late Joseon porcelain.

They might have artistic value, but they were not relics imbued with mana.

I crossed my arms while holding back a yawn.

Just when I was thinking about leaving.

“The next item is rather peculiar!”

An employee pushed in a cart.

When the black cloth was removed, people let out small laughs.

“What’s that?”

“A rock?”

“Did they pick it up from a river or something?”

On the stage sat a small blue stone the size of a fist.

Its surface was rough and covered in moss.

It looked like an ordinary rock.

But.

“……!”

I narrowed my eyes.

My heart trembled.

I knew that thing.

It was not merely familiar.

I knew that object perfectly well.

‘Appraisal.’

I activated the skill.

[Item: Pandora Cube (Sealed)]

[Rank: Unknown]

[Description: A toy box created by the God of Luck. Neither the gods nor their wives know what will come out of it.]

Pandora Cube.

Among Tower veterans, it was known as “the devil’s gacha.”

The odds were absurdly cruel.

A 99.9% chance of getting garbage.

Rotten eggs.

A goblin loincloth.

Or simply a piece of paper saying “you lost.”

But.

‘A Legend-rank weapon once came out of one.’

A memory from my past life crossed my mind.

A ranker who surpassed the 30th floor obtained a Legend-rank piece of equipment from one of those boxes.

Thanks to that, he entered the world top 10 directly.

“Who would put garbage like that in an auction?”

“Who would buy something like that?”

Everyone looked at it as nothing more than a moss-covered rock.

But to me.

It was an opportunity to become absurdly rich.

No.

It was practically a guaranteed Legend-rank item.

Because.

‘I’m a man blessed by luck.’