FVN Chapter 284: The Devil at the Exhibition (3)
Chapter 284: The Devil at the Exhibition (3)
Chapter 284: The Devil at the Exhibition (3) Translator: miraclerifle
I heard back from the publisher and they updated 279 - 290. They are going to be here because they took out some parts that I want everybody to have a chance to read so once 284 is released to the public, they will all be updated. 279 - 284 are all in this chapter for now so please use a
She was currently in her dormitory. Ju-Heon had broken through all the locks and shamelessly entered the women’s dormitory to rummage through Joy's room.
He didn't care whether he was throwing clothes, underwear, accessories etc... as he managed to find fifty artifacts.
“Little sister, you have hidden quite a lot of artifacts.”
Ju-Heon laughed out loud after succeeding in his treasure hunt.
Edward, who was next to Ju-Heon, sighed as he watched.
He had instantly flown over to Harvard thanks to Ilya.
“My goodness, Director-nim. You still can’t rummage through a lady's room like this.”
“Shut up. Old man. Do you want me to lower your salary?”
“.......”
Joy dropped her jaw in shock after seeing Edward shut up.
She could tell for real now.
Ju-Heon really was Edward’s superior.
“O, oppa, you really are the owner of Grave Company?”
“Yes.”
“Then were you the one who told the mister to help me......”
“Well, I told him to keep an eye on you. I never told him to hire you.”
Joy fell backward after hearing that.
Everything had been on the palm of this bastard’s hand.
That was right.
Edward had received Ju-Heon’s orders to approach Joy. He needed to keep an eye on her.
He originally did not plan to actually talk to her in case Chairman Kwon's spies found out, but......
He had no choice because her extremely high Affinity was a problem as it dragged a bunch of artifacts to the company.
He was also shocked by Joy's research abilities!
They say that blood does not lie and it seems to be correct as she was an extreme artifact geek.
She didn't like artifact users or using artifacts herself because of the trouble they caused but she did like researching them.
That was why he had hired her without Ju-Heon knowing about it. She was in their artifact research lab in the R&D team.
Ju-Heon clicked his tongue.
“You should have told me.”
“Aw, I was trying to surprise you, Director-nim. And to be honest with you, there is a Heirloom attached to Joy that even she does not know about...”
“Oh, there is?”
“I was going to take it for myself before telling you about it! If you had just given me a Heirloom early on......”
Ju-Heon’s eyes flashed.
While Ju-Heon was doing that, TKBM and the other Monarchs were busy recruiting Monarch level talents.
They were creating a grand alliance to go up against Seo Ju-Heon.
And then...
“Your exhibition will be quite an important thing. The exhibition is related to the Monarch of Fate’s prophesized third change.
Chairman Kwon threw them a newspaper while saying that.
[Yoo Jaeha, the Monarch of Pushoverness. His first personal art exhibition.]
[Julien, top official restorer. His personal exhibition is on the same day?]
[An exhibition of famous artists from around the world. Are they planning on suppressing the Monarch of Pushoverness after receiving TKBM's sponsorship?]
Chairman Kwon started to laugh.
‘We will gain a lot if we succeed this time. TKBM can be restored to its full glory in an instant.’
“Someone else will help you all with the exhibition. You guys just need to follow that person and proceed with the plan.”
“Yes sir.”
Julien and the other famous artists were confident.
In addition to the evil god artifact, they also had Michelangelo, Rafael, and other famous artists’ artifacts.
Michelangelo's artifact was said to be Jaeha’s Leonardo da Vinci's rival artifact.
“As you should already know, this artifact is the da Vinci's artifact's only weakness.”
Chairman Kwon looked at a little kid standing next to Julien as he said that.
“I have high expectations for you as well. You are our newest Monarch with an evil god artifact.”
“Don’t worry, Chairman-nim. I earned a great artifact.”
The former Monarch of Fraud and Yoo Jaeha’s son(?) Louie Martin smiled wickedly.
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Joy had instantly been stripped for Seol-A do a body search on her.
They said something about finding an artifact that Edward was trying to take from her.
To be more specific, it was not a Heirloom but one of the evil god artifacts that had suddenly shown up.
It was at that moment.
“You still haven't found the Heirloom?”
Joy jumped in shock while Seol-A sighed after hearing the voice outside.
‘Captain-nim, he really...’
“I haven't found anything. There are no evil god artifacts either.”
They could feel Ju-Heon's rage through the door.
Is it really not there?
Are you sure it’s not there?
That's what the chaotic aura seemed to be saying.
It probably really wasn't there if Seol-A couldn’t find it, but......
"Seol-A, come outside. I'm going to check myself.”
Both Seol-A and the naked Joy gasped at the same time.
“Oppa, are you crazy?!”
“C, Captain-nim!”
Seol-A had been the one to scream and prevent Ju-Heon from stripping Joy in the first place.
Seol-A had said that she would do it and took Joy to the other room.
But what?
“Come out. I'm going to check myself.”
“Captain-nim! Hold......!”
The door was destroyed and Ilya and Yoo Jaeha peeked in before quickly turning their heads away.
They momentarily saw a pair of perky boobs, slim waist and her stomach...
They couldn't see a lot because she quickly covered herself with a blanket but they did see the silhouette of Joy's killer body.
But their Captain would kill them if they said that they saw it.
They heard screams from inside the other room.
“Kyaaaaaa! What the hell are you doing?! What the hell are you looking at?! Where do you think you're touching?! You pervert!”
"Shut up, you fat pig. Who cares about a fat girl like you?!”
They could hear their arguments, no, to be more specific, they could hear Joy's cries.
Ju-Heon had inspected Joy's body quite thoroughly. Of course, he was not just doing it to find an artifact. He seemed to be looking for traces of any illnesses or tomb syndrome.
A few minutes later...
“It really isn't here.”
Ju-Heon clicked his tongue while Joy was crying in Seol-A’s arms.
How can a so-called older brother appear after 17 years to destroy her lab and her phone while stealing all of her artifacts! He was even forcing her into a body search!
He was willing to put her through that for a stupid artifact?!
“Just go die......! You idiot!”
‘I'm the idiot for worrying about this bastard until now!’
Joy was feeling really stupid.
“He could at least ask if I've been doing okay after not seeing each other for 17 years...... sob.”
She was actually dripping tears.
“He should just tell me if he hates me...”
Joy liked Ju-Heon. No matter what, he was her one and only family member left in this world.
She had been nice to him when they were younger so how did he end up growing up into such a terrible person?
Her one and only family member was supposedly the most famous and most terrible criminal in the world.
“Aigoo......”
Seol-A patted her on the back.
“Don’t worry, the Captain-nim might be acting like this but he cherishes you a lot......”
‘How can she say that after everything he just did?!’
"She's right, even when we went into the lab earlier, he grumbled and told us to fix everything because things were old. He destroyed things on purpose after hearing that you don’t get much funding.”
“Tsk tsk, he's a radical tsundere for an older brother. He destroyed his younger sister’s equipment on purpose to turn them new...... ugh!”
Bang!
The door was destroyed again at that moment. It was the same door that Ju-Heon had destroyed earlier.
“Aaaaah! Why did you do that?!”
“We just got it fixed!”
He then nonchalantly commented while looking at Ilya and Yoo Jaeha.
“Fix it properly. It broke when I just touched it. Restore it again.”
“#$$&#!”
It was his way of threatening them to not say useless crap.
The Ilya and Yoo Jaeha restoration combination got back to restore the door again.
Seol-A smiled bitterly while looking at them before whispering to Ju-Heon.
"Captain-nim, actually, Ju-Won’s leg...”
“I know, I saw it.”
Ju-Heon started to frown.
Seol-A looked at Joy's leg with concern.
“I heard that evil god artifacts take something away from you and I guess it is the truth.”
The proof was on her leg where it was quite visible that the evil god artifact had entered her body. It looked as if it had tried to take Joy's leg.
The fact that it hurt when Seol-A put her hand was proof. Her lower body was slowly becoming paralyzed along with the pain.
The reason Ju-Heon wanted to see his sister’s body with his own eyes was because he wanted to see how much damage the evil god artifact had done.
Ju-Heon needed to see it with his own eyes to feel relieved after losing her once.
The reason he wanted to make her work for him...
It was because that was the safest place for her.
Based on his experiences from the past life, Joy's Affinity was the reason tomb syndrome struck her worse than normal people.
She was okay now thanks to the medicine created from the Herb of Eternal Youth that Ju-Heon had Edward give to her.
‘It looks like she was a good girl and ate the medicine properly.’
She didn't seem to show any symptoms even with her unbelievable Affinity.
Even still...
‘I can’t believe she even dragged an evil god artifact to her.’
Affinity was an illness at this point. However, that evil god artifact was not visible right now.
Edward looked at Joy and found this to be odd.
“That’s odd. Where the hell did the evil god artifact go?”
“Where else would it have gone? It obviously ran away after noticing that the Captain was coming.”
Ilya sneered.
“You can tell how rushed it was from the fact that a damn parasite ran away from the host’s body.”
He was saying that it ran away without being able to even feed on Joy's body.
“I don’t know what kind of evil god it is, but it seems like quite the coward.”
Ju-Heon was probably the problem.
That was actually exactly what had happened.
‘Damn it, Seo Ju-Heon, you motherfucking bastard.’
The evil god was shaking in fear while hiding somewhere.
It had been thinking about hiding away to suck the life of its host but Seo Ju-Heon had suddenly appeared!
It had dropped everything and ran away for its life after feeling that dangerous Crow's aura.
‘He shouldn’t know that I am still here.’
However...
“It’s around here somewhere. It didn't go far.”
The evil god artifact that was nearby almost screamed after hearing that.
‘D, did he notice?!’
They quickly kept talking as if they had no idea where it was.
“It might look okay to let it be but it may try to harm Joy and steal a part of her body again. We should find it quickly.”
The evil god artifact smiled after hearing that.
‘There’s no way for a damn human to find me here!’
He could try his best but he would never find it.
‘I'll lay down roots in this bastard's body as well.’
The evil god artifact that had laid down roots in one of Ju-Heon’s team members after leaving Joy's body smiled wickedly.
“Damn, look at that woman. She’s beautiful.”
Inside a New York Art Gallery... Seol-A who was wearing a blue evening dress that came down to her knees was looking around.
Everybody was looking at her and complimenting her by saying that she was like a brightly shining fairy but she didn't care.
What she did care about was......
“Hey Jaeha, where did Louie go? He’s your assistant.”
Her question made Jaeha scream in anger.
“I don't know! Who the hell cares?! He left saying he was going to go buy some pigments and ran away! It’s already been a couple of days!”
Well, Yoo Jaeha didn’t seem to care since Louie tended to run away quite frequently.
"And that bastard isn’t the issue right noooooooow!”
Jaeha, who would usually not be seen wearing a suit like he was right now, was panicking.
“S, Seol-A, do you think that I will succeed? Will people talk shit about it? No, I don't care if they talk shit about me but what if it makes the Captain-nim look bad?!”
Yoo Jaeha was having a mental breakdown while grabbing Seol-A.
That was right.
This was the day of his private exhibition that Ju-Heon had prepared for Jaeha. There was only one hour left until the opening.
“This is a dream. If it is not, today must be the day I die. That must be why such a gift has been given to me.”
“......It really holds no weight when you are the one saying that.”
Ju-Heon had prepared this exhibition to celebrate Jaeha getting rid of the copycat accusations.
It was supposed to be a small exhibition but the gallery Ju-Heon reserved had connections with Chairman Kwon, so......
‘Hold on. That old fart did exhibitions for artists in that gallery?'
‘Ah, yes sir. It’s quite a good gallery...they’ve also sold a lot of paintings. I heard it was the highest amount of sales in history...’
Those words had made Ju-Heon’s eyes flash with a competitive spirit.
‘Call over all curators and art merchants when he is doing his exhibition. Close all other art galleries in New York that day. Make sure all of this bastard’s paintings sell, no matter what. Make them sell out.’
‘......E, excuse me?’
‘Yoo Jaeha. Make sure your personal exhibition is a success. I’ll kill you if you don’t make it a success when I created this opportunity for you.”
As a result...
[Yoo Jaeha, the Monarch of Pushoverness, going to have a fancy debut in New York? This will be his first personal exhibition.]
[Unbelievable publicity and promotion for the past four months.]
[Both experts and laymen have high expectations... Will it lead to the largest number of viewers for a personal exhibition?]
[Professors, appraisers, curators will all show up as Seo Ju-Heon is the sponsor.]
[The personal exhibition of a Monarch. Political leaders, CEOs of global corporations and royalty are all planning on attending.]
[The stage of judgment. What is his true abilities not as an artifact user but as an artist?”]
[According to a famous artist:
“He’s the true creator of Jean Richard's painting"?
Isn't he all talk?]
[Yoo Jaeha is just an unknown and untalented rookie.]
“Aaah! Captain-nim, why did heeeeeee!”
‘He promoted it too muuuuuuch!’
Yoo Jaeha started to cry.
He was so thankful for this opportunity that he could not thank Ju-Heon enough even if he had a hundred mouths.
He would never forget about what Ju-Heon had done for him.
But still!
“This is too biiiiiiiiiig!”
Yoo Jaeha was the Monarch of Fraud who had scammed the entire world but he was just a nameless copycat in the art world. He feared showing his paintings to people because of those false accusations of the past.
The first exhibition would have made him anxious no matter what, however... This became such a huge ordeal now.
There was also a problem.
[Artists sponsored by Chairman Kwon and the new Monarchs will have an exhibition on the same day.]
[The official restorers who are talented artists will all show up.]
[Numerous famous artists from around the world will be there.]
[Which one will more people visit?]
[Who will receive the better evaluation?]
"What the hell is that damn Chairman Kwon thinking?! Why the hell is he doing this?!”
Seol-A clicked her tongue.
‘It must be because of the third change in the prophecy.’
The first change was an incident (The Great Tomb Appearance).
The second change were items (Heirlooms).
The third was a location.
According to the Monarch of Fate’s prophecy, that location was the art gallery where Yoo Jaeha was having his personal exhibition.
That change was supposed to happen around now as well.
That was why the enemies were gathering.
They believed that destroying Yoo Jaeha's personal exhibition was related to the third prophecy.
But Yoo Jaeha, who had no idea about that, was in pain.
“Ah, this is driving me nuts.”
It would have been fine if people talked crap about his work but now they might talk crap about Ju-Heon as well.
“I didn’t know the princesses would sponsor me too!”
They said they were thankful for him always sending them news about Ju-Heon so Ju-Heon's fan club pulled some strings as well.
[Yoo Jaeha is a raw ore.]
They also send some extra messages as well.
[Mr. Jaeha, I look forward to your exhibition!
PS. Please make sure to take a picture of Ju-Heon-nim in a suit at the opening ceremony!?]
Returning to the present... The critics from around the world had been saying things about him prior to today.
‘He has no talent himself but is being carried by famous people.’
They were talking crap about him.
Those people were going to come and critique his paintings.
“The critics writing terrible reviews is like throwing crap at the sponsor’s face!”
It was at that moment.
“Then you should have painted them well enough to not have any crap thrown in my face. Right?”
“Aaaaaah!”
Yoo Jaeha started shaking while looking at Ju-Heon who was standing behind him.
“I, I need a chung shim hwan. A chung shim hwan.”
Seol-A patted Yoo Jaeha's back as he swallowed the chung shim hwan down.
“It’s okay, you gave it your best. You do have to be careful of a few things though.”
“What?”
“All of the Monarchs are going to show up. There’s been rumors that this exhibition is where the Four Emperors would appear.”
“T, the Four Emperors?!”
“I don’t know if enemies will appear or certain people will become the Four Emperors though. There will also be hyenas looking to cause trouble on purpose as well as old fogies trying to cut you down before you could sprout.”
"What?!”
“But the most important thing is what the Captain-nim did. He put some money down.”
“What?!”
“He made a bet with the enemies about whether your paintings or Julien's would sell better. It was a 1 billion dollar bet.”
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! 1 billion dollars?! That’s 1 trillion won!Does he have that kind of cash?!”
People started to arrive as he asked that question.
There were naturally hyenas mixed in with the crowd.
Yoo Jaeha staggered while looking but Ju-Heon was smiling brightly.
"Well, it’s fine. I won’t be angry even if you lose to their artists.”
‘That’s right! You won’t be angry! But you'll kill me!’
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"Wait a minute, that person......!”
The critics who had been ripping Jaeha’s work to shreds suddenly became anxious.
Maybe it was to be expected.
‘Why did it have to be this person?’
The person standing in front of Yoo Jaeha was the US president.
Everybody was talking in shock after the president appeared with the secret service.
Yoo Jaeha was in shock as well.
‘W, why would this guy...’
He recalled that the US president had a bad relationship with the Captain.
As a result, he, as Ju-Heon's subordinate, should be on the black list as well.
Ju-Heon’s eyes were open wide in shock as well. However, it was so trivial that only his team members would be able to tell he was shocked.
Seol-A quickly whispered.
“D, do you think he’s here to get revenge?
He wants to do that here?”
“Well, he's someone who might do that.”
They did take down General Keira, a Monarch working for the US and had looted the artifacts belonging to the US government during that incident at the Pentagon.
Although they made it seem as if Chairman Kwon had done it, they were still not cleared of all wrongdoings.
There was also that murder incident with Dan's trial. According to rumors, the true culprit who had falsely accused Dan... He apparently had some connections with the president.
There were many reasons this person would not look kindly upon them.
That wasn’t all.
‘Inaba Taichi, the man that the US president personally sponsors, is on the other side.’
President Grey was, without a doubt, on the other side.
Although he might talk crap about Yoo Jaeha's paintings, he would never praise them at all.
The tomb raiding team members frowned while the critics were smirking.
‘I guess he came to check out what the enemies have going on.’
‘Did he come to talk crap about Yoo Jaeha?’
‘Well, he probably doesn’t want his cherished Inaba to lose.’
Unfortunately for them, President Grey said the following.
“Would you be willing to take me on as a sponsor?”
“E, excuse me?!”
“I like your painting quite a lot. I'm sure that you’ll need a sponsor.”
“No, umm, wait......”
But at that moment...
“There’s no need.”
Ju-Heon appeared with a smile on his face. Murderous intent could be felt even though he was smiling.
He would probably have told the person to get lost if it wasn’t the president; actually, he probably would have said it anyway if other people were not around.
“I am this punk's sponsor. He does not need any more sponsors.”
President Grey smiled brightly and responded.
“That’s not for you to decide, Monarch of Predation.”
“It ain’t your decision either, old man.”
President Grey frowned while looking at Ju-Heon’s gaze.
It was quite threatening. Although Ju-Heon was being gentle with him, the pressure President Grey felt from Ju-Heon's eyes was strong enough to threaten one of the most powerful people in the world.
‘It’s at Keira's level...... No, he’s a bit stronger than her.’
He had confidently tried to start something with Ju-Heon after getting an artifact of his own but it was too much.
‘He definitely is not easy to deal with. He’s grown even stronger in such a short period of time.’
Ju-Heon was much different from how he had been prior to getting the Heirloom. It seemed obvious that Chairman Kwon and Pandora would be wary of him.
He then changed his target.
“Yoo Jaeha, I don’t think that the Monarch of Predation is a good sponsor who would help you succeed in the future. Why don't you switch sponsors?”
Yoo Jaeha's eyes opened wide.
“Of course, I would be honored to be sponsored by the President of the United ...... ugh!”
Yoo Jaeha almost suffocated because of Ju-Heon's Dominance. Ju-Heon’s Crow looked ready to rip apart and eat Jaeha's phoenix.
Yoo Jaeha was crying internally as he responded.
“I, I'm sorry, I can't do that but thank you for your kind words......”
President Grey smiled and turned around.
“Feel free to come look for me if you ever change your mind.”
“Why the hell would he change his mind? Get lost.”
Ju-Heon became angry while Yoo Jaeha sniffled once the president was gone.
"Damn it, he would have been my first true sponsor. Why did you stop him...... ugh!”
“You dumbass, do you really think that guy has pure intentions about sponsoring you?
It’s to steal you away!
TO STEAL YOU AWAY!”
“!”
Seol-A smacked Jaeha on the head.
“He’s so excited that he lost his wit.”
Julian chimed in as well.
“Yes. They don’t need the artist Yoo Jaeha, they need the restorer and Monarch Yoo Jaeha.
The US had lost one of the Four Emperors thanks to Ju-Heon. The US also lost the Number 1 title for artifacts in the world.
The current strong faction was the C-R Alliance. China was to be expected a leader thanks to having Zhen Cai Yuan
There were also the European Nations, Middle East, Korean, and Japan using artifacts to quickly become a strong nation.
Most artifact users were associated with a country.
‘If we don’t have any homegrown Monarchs, we can only steal them away from others.’
Ju-Heon’s tomb raiding team was special in that none of them were aligned with a country.
They would probably have been buried or plucked away a long time ago if they didn't have the protection of the Holtens, who had the political and economic power to even destroy the US army.
Their past life was proof of how they would have ended up.
They were an extremely desirable prey in many ways.
Now that the entry restriction artifacts were destroyed, there were quite a lot of hyenas who were salivating to drag Jaeha to their country.
“Nice to meet you. This is who I am.”
“Hello sir!”
They couldn't approach Ju-Heon because he was too scary so they were trying their luck with the others.
“Your painting was magnificent. Please look kindly upon our corporation.”
That kind of conversation happened over and over.
Yoo Jaeha gasped.
“Nobody came to see the paintings.”
He really meant it.
The nicer ones would at least peek at the paintings before trying to chat with him.
Ju-Heon said something as Yoo Jaeha sulked.
“It’s not like you didn't expect this.”
The others whispered to each other after hearing that.
“I think it’s just because the Captain-nim turned it into too big of an issue...”
“It might have been better if it was a small exhibition with no publicity. Then the people who came might have come for the art itself...”
Ju-Heon started to sweat after hearing those comments.
However, Yoo Jaeha shook his head.
“No guys, I'm truly thankful that the Captain-nim even gave me such an opportunity. How else would I get to do a personal exhibition like this?”
He was extremely lucky to have such an amazing opportunity.
Yoo Jaeha started chuckling.
“It’s okay. I really don't mind if I don't sell any of my paintings. I wasn’t expecting to sell any of them anyway.”
He was happy enough having people see his paintings.
Everybody started to sulk. Ju-Heon called out the doggies as if he had made up his mind.
“I'll be back after getting rid of all the useless fools.”
The rest of the team wanted to help as well.
“I'll use my ghosts to kick them out.”
"I can use my thunderbolts.”
“I have my knife.”
“Then I can use my power of destitution!”
Yoo Jaeha gasped and shouted toward them.
“Aigooooooooo!
It’s fine!
It’s fine!
You guys not doing anything is helping me out!
You’re going to make everybody run away!”
The critics were laughing quite hard watching this take place.
They had come after being bribed by Chairman Kwon’s side, however......
“The painting really sucks.”
“Even if selling paintings is important, anybody who buys them is just doing it to earn his favor.”
“There’s nobody buying it because they like the art itself.”
This happened quite frequently in the art world.
People would buy paintings from celebrities or the children of celebrities to network with them.
‘It’s the same for Yoo Jaeha.’
He was one of the many who would disappear without a trace.
Well, he might be able to continue his life as an artist if someone in a position of power or a wealthy sponsor liked his art and told him to continue.
“He should be happy to be a Monarch. He can continue promoting himself as an artist thanks to the attention he gets as a Monarch.”
“Maybe he can restore people's artifacts and force them to buy his paintings in response. Hahaha!”
“Alright, we got our money so let's go write our reviews. Yoo Jaeha's personal exhibition is the focus of the entire world right now.”
“I guess we can title it, ‘Terrible, Horrible.’”
As the critics were about to head out...
“Umm, is it possible to purchase this painting?”
“E, excuse me?”
There was one more viewer standing in front of Yoo Jaeha.
She was an older woman.
“Your paintings were all so great that it took me some time to look at all of them.”
The woman smiled brightly.
“I want to hang them at my school, is it possible to buy them?
Ah, maybe you’re not selling at all?
I'm sorry, I've never bought a painting before......”
Silence filled the room for a moment.
The woman who looked like a professor really seemed to like his painting.
The woman waved her hand after seeing Yoo Jaeha blankly standing there.
“Umm, excuse me......?”
Yoo Jaeha jumped up from the ground.
“T, thank you very much!”
“Can I buy it?”
“Yes, yes, yes yes!
O, of course you can buy it!
U, umm, please put this sticker next to the painting you like to show your intent to purchase and an employee will help you with the process...!”
“Thank you. I’ll make sure to stop by again if you have any more exhibitions.”
"Thank you very much!
Thank you very much!”
Yoo Jaeha bowed to thank her over and over. He looked like he wanted to cry but he couldn't help but smile.
‘I sold one for the first time in my life!’
This was the first time he had ever sold a painting. His own painting and not something he had forged had sold!
He was extremely happy about that fact.
However, it didn't end there. People started to gather around Jaeha one after another.
“Are you the artist?”
“The paintings were so great.”
The people who were true patrons of the art and not here for their own benefits came over to ask about the paintings and wanted to know when he would be having his next exhibition.
The number of people wanting to purchase his paintings grew as well with intent to purchase stickers being placed all around the room.
There was one on every painting now!
The rest of the team was happy to see this happen.
The employees were shocked as well.
“Holy crap, he's already sold that many?!
This is just the first day of the exhibition!”
“All of the brochures have sold as well!
We asked the print shop to print some more.”
The critics dropped their jaws in shock.
They could tell what had happened.
The people who came to look were buying Jaeha's paintings as well as the brochures that had an explanation about each piece.
These people weren’t as crazed as the people in the western hall but people really seemed to like the pieces.
That meant that these were good paintings!
As they were watching with disbelief...
“The pieces that the critics talked so much crap about are selling like wildfire!”
“Hey, this is a major scoop!”
The reporters who had come after sniffing a story rushed over to the critics with excitement.
“The paintings you said were terrible are selling quite well. Could you please make a comment?”
“Why do you think this is happening?”
The critics started to frown.
“It's because the paintings are cheap!
He's selling them for almost no profit.”
“Excuse me? Cheap? Ah... It is cheaper compared to the works of famous people but... They are priced normally for any new artists. To say that he is selling them cheap to sell more is a bit...”
“These prices are nothing to the rich.”
“But a lot of regular people are buying them as well.”
The critics didn't know what to say.
“The popularity of a piece and its quality are separate issues!”
“Just because a piece is popular with the masses doesn't mean that it is a good piece of art.”
They gave excuses while secretly grinding their teeth.
“We weren’t wrong. Those morons who don’t know anything buy his crappy paintings because they think it’ll make them look more cultured!”
“Those dumbasses are buying it with herd mentality because someone bought one! They don’t know anything and just think it’s great!”
It was at that moment.
“Hey, did you hear? Apparently it’s going pretty well for Yoo Jaeha.”
“What?”
The five artists selling paintings on the west side were hearing about Jaeha’s situation.
The patrons who had run away had returned and they were having no trouble selling their paintings.
But what?
“Yoo Jaeha has had so many people wanting to buy the paintings that he had to change it to auction style!”
“He is having trouble because he can't answer when his next exhibition is going to be!”
"What the hell did he draw?”
The five artists looked anxious seeing the curators all heading to the eastern hall.
“Are you sure that the son of a bitch didn’t use da Vinci's artifact?”
Inaba Taichi just started laughing.
“They’re just interested because it is a Monarch's painting. They probably think they could resell it for profit. Damn pigs.”
"But such tricks won't work in front of my master.”
“What? Your master...... Master Andrew?”
He was a famous artist who was currently serving as a critic as well.
“Master Andrew is here?”
“Yeah. He came to see my paintings. He said he might as well see Yoo Jaeha’s while he’s here.”
All of them started to laugh.
"Wow, he’s screwed. Master Andrew is extremely picky. He’s so blunt with his critiques.”
“He’s also extremely influential. One word from him and a person's image can plummet to the ground.”
“He was also pretty close to Jean Richard, wasn’t he? He was upset that Yoo Jaeha threw Jean Richard in prison.”
"Ah, Yoo Jaeha is done for.”
Andrew and other famous artists from around the world were entering Yoo Jaeha's exhibition hall at that moment.
Critics, curators, reporters... All of them, including the art merchants, turned toward them.
“Master Andrew!”
“Wow, pretty much all of the famous painters are here!”
They went around looking at Yoo Jaeha’s paintings. Even the general public was whispering.
Some of these artists were so famous that even people who knew nothing about art knew who they were.
The critics who had been talking crap about Yoo Jaeha approached them with excitement.
“Masters, what do you think about these paintings?”
“It’s just a copy of Jean Richard's, right?”
Andrew, who had been staring at a painting, frowned as he made a single comment.
“How stupid.”
“Right? That's what we thought.”
“Yes. You guys are extremely stupid.”
‘Excuse me?’
284
Maybe it was to be expected.
‘Why did it have to be this person?’
“Master Andrew!”
This was one of the world’s most famous artists.
It wasn’t just him.
“Wow, pretty much all of the famous artists are here!”
Maybe it was because it was such an eye-catching exhibition, but the famous artists, critics, curators, and reporters were all here. There were loads of art merchants as well.
They went around looking at Yoo Jaeha’s paintings. Even the general public was whispering.
Some of these artists were so famous that even people who knew nothing about art knew who they were.
“Holy shit, I should ask for an autograph...!”
The opposing artists became anxious after seeing them appear.
“That master is really here?”
“Yeah. He’s my master. He said he might as well see Yoo Jaeha’s while he’s here.”
All of them started to laugh.
"Wow, then he’s screwed. Master Andrew is extremely picky. He’s so blunt with his critiques.”
“I’ve never seen him praise anyone.”
“He’s also extremely influential. He’s done for if Master Andrew gives the word.”
“Wasn’t he close to Jean Richard? He was upset that Yoo Jaeha threw Jean Richard in prison.”
"Ah, Yoo Jaeha is done for.”
The critics And then... talking crap about Yoo Jaeha approached them with excitement.
“Masters, what do you think about these paintings?”
“It’s just a copy of Jean Richard's, right?”
Andrew, who had been staring at a painting, frowned as he made a single comment.
“How stupid.”
“Right? That's what we thought.”
“Yes. You guys are extremely stupid.”
‘Excuse me?’
The critics questioned their ears.
Had they heard wrong?
“Master Andrew, what did you.....”
“Are you fucking blind?”
“Excuse me?”
“I asked if you guys were blind.”
“Master Andrew!”
They were shocked. They never expected for Master Andrew to say that to them.
Andrew just snorted at them.
“You guys must be crazy. How can you say such crap in front of this genius talent?”
The critics almost fainted.
"Are you praising Yoo Jaeha's paintings right now?”
“Master Andrew, you are praising someone?”
This was someone who was famous for not even praising his own disciple. This person was praising Yoo Jaeha?
But why?
They became anxious and whispered to him.
“Master Andrew, what are you doing? You need your disciple to win as well...”
That would make Andrew's own fame go up and help him get richer through sponsorship.
“I also heard that you hate Yoo Jaeha...”
Andrew was glaring at the critics as if he loathed them.
“It is true that I hate Yoo Jaeha.”
He had been extremely close to Yoo Jaeha’s instructor, Jean Richard. He had heard that Jean Richard had plagiarized Yoo Jaeha's painting, but...
‘Was that really plagiarism?’
It was quite frequent in their field. People claimed someone else stole their work all the time.
That was why he had looked down on Yoo Jaeha. He believed that a fool with no talent had thrown his own instructor in prison to get famous.
However...
‘It’s obvious who the true artist is.’
Andrew had thought that Richard’s plagiarized painting had been great, but...
‘These paintings made Jean Richard’s plagiarism look terrible.’
That was how scary Jaeha’s talent was.
Quite a lot of different concepts were already in the world but this punk was creating a new concept of art.
There were still flaws and he still had a long way to go, but he had the aura of a master. He had the same aura as the masters who had developed the art world throughout history.
That was probably the reason. He didn't approve of Jean Richard’s actions, but he could understand the reasoning behind it.
‘Even I want to steal it.’
Jaeha’s talent was so great that it was scary. He even thought that Jean Richard had been crazy for trying to bury such a talented person.
“Anyway, critique properly if you guys have eyes that can see. This bastard is someone who will make a mark in this world.”
The critics could only stand there with their jaws down in shock.
The western hall turned into frenzy after they heard what had happened.
“What did you say?! Master Andrew said that?!”
His disciple Inaba looked completely out of it while the other artists couldn't believe what they had just heard.
“He’s never praised me even once...!”
“That son of a bitch, are you sure he didn't use da Vinci's artifact?”
More people rushed into Yoo Jaeha's exhibition.
The critics weren’t laughing anymore.
They had come after being bribed by Chairman Kwon’s side, however...... they had been publicly scolded by Master Andrew.
"Are you sure that Master Andrew wasn't a fake that he created?”
“That's possible.”
As they stood around in disbelief at what had happened...
The exhibition that had caught the attention of the world came to an end.
The rest of the team smiled while watching Jaeha being so happy about a successful exhibition.
As for Ju-Heon’s important bet...
[Eastern Exhibit Hall] - Yoo Jaeha - 47 paintings sold out.
[Western Exhibit Hall] - Inaba and 14 other artists - 62 paintings sold out.
Both sides had sold all of their paintings.
But both selling out didn't matter.
[Eastern Exhibit Hall] - Yoo Jaeha - 10,000 brochures sold (Sold out)
[Western Exhibit Hall] - Inaba and 14 others - 1,970 brochures sold.
The number of brochures sold was so different!
‘It shows how memorable Yoo Jaeha’s paintings were.’
That wasn’t all.
The electronic voting system they had set up outside the exhibit halls was the final blow. People who had visited today were asked to vote on which side’s paintings they liked better.
As a result...
[Yoo Jaeha: 41,580 votes (83%)]
[Inaba and 14 others: 8,420 votes (17%)]
The voting was quite one-sided as well.
The sponsors fell into shock and Jaeha’s opposing artists could not close their mouths.
“W, what the hell?”
They were people who used artifacts belonging to art masters of history. They already had an overwhelming fandom and they had so many different styles between the 15 of them that they had a clear advantage to sell more paintings.
Having more options is always better after all.
"So how the hell did Yoo Jaeha win?!”
“That bastard Yoo Jaeha is capable of defeating the auras of past masters?!”
The people who purchased the brochures and paintings were also the issue.
The prices of the brochures and paintings had been similar to keep things fair, however...
“Almost 90% of Yoo Jaeha’s stuff were bought by laymen.”
“But 90% of ours were purchased by our sponsors.”
They couldn't say anything.
“Are you sure that the son of a bitch didn’t use da Vinci's artifact?”
On the other hand, Yoo Jaeha was shaking with joy as he ran toward Ju-Heon.
“I won! We need to check the voting the next few days but Captain-nim, you won the bet!”
But Ju-Heon didn't praise him. In fact, forget praising him...
“Tsk, I didn't think you would really win.”
“?!”
‘W, what?!’
Ju-Heon started to grumble.
“I thought you might lose so I did some other bets aside from the ones with the Heirloom. Ah, I satisfied the conditions for the Tomb Appearance but I lost a ton of money.”
“What? What do you mean?!”
“What else? There’s no way that there would be no online gambling for such a big issue.”
Yoo Jaeha almost had a mental breakdown.
“Then Captain-nim, you bet that those bastards would win?! How much?!”
“100 million dollars?”
‘Holy shit, he bet so much!’
Ju-Heon wasn’t the only one.
"Ah, I was wrong. There goes 5 million won.”
“Vice Captain, 5 million won is nothing. I lost a 50 million won deposit. Man, why the hell did that pushover have to win...”
"Ah...... I also lost 10,000 won.”
The team members were all ripping up some papers. Yoo Jaeha grabbed the back of his neck in anger.
“You shitheads! You guys should have still bet on me! You traitors!”
“What? The odds have you at an overwhelming loss!”
There were people all around who were saying that they had lost money.
But Ju-Heon turned around as if it was nothing.
"Well, 100 billion dollars is fine.”
“Wow, you truly are loaded. You make it sound like it was nothing.”
“No. It’s not my money. It was the money I was going to give Jaeha as salary.”
Yoo Jaeha grabbed Ju-Heon by the collar after hearing that.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?! What the hell did you do with my salary?! Why did you bet on them?!”
“You told me you won't be paid. It’s fine since I just used money I saved by not paying you.”
“Damn it! But still! I thought you said you trusted me! Huh? You guys are all too much!”
Yoo Jaeha was disappointed.
“Ow, I should have bet on myself if I knew it would be like this!”
He could have easily gobbled up a couple billion dollars based on the odds!
Of course, there were some winners as well.
“Umm, uhh...... I got it right.”
“?!”
The team members all gasped while looking at Irene who was waving a piece of paper around.
“You bet on Jaeha?”
“......Uhh, was I not supposed to do that?”
Of course she could do that.
“Why don’t we go eat out with that money? We need to make sure we are well-fed before the Tomb Appearance happens around here. Since our pushover worked so hard...”
Yoo Jaeha snorted at them.
“Whatever. I don’t eat with traitors. I made a ton of money today so I'm going to go enjoy a nice steak on my own. I'm going to spurge properly!”
Seol-A tilted her head in confusion.
“You're going to spurge with the money you made today? Did you forget the contents of the contract you updated yourself?”
“......W, what?"