You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 158

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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158

 

In front of the logistics hub warehouse, a small platform had been set up.

 

People filled the wide space where logistics flowed back and forth.

 

It seemed all the affiliated delivery drivers had gathered.

 

Despite quite a large number of people gathering, there wasn’t even a murmur of conversation.

 

Rather than being disciplined, they seemed unable to grasp what kind of place they had become part of.

 

I slowly climbed up onto the platform.

 

Without immediately speaking, I slowly surveyed the area below the platform.

 

In the front row sat Asin’s executives,

 

behind them were the newly hired personnel,

 

and finally, the existing drivers and logistics staff were seated.

 

I grabbed the microphone and spoke my first words.

 

“Welcome, everyone who has become members of Asin Logistics.”

 

It was a simple welcome greeting.

 

“Nothing much changes by becoming part of Asin. Except for two things.”

 

I boldly skipped grandiose procedures like introducing distinguished guests or future visions.

 

The distinguished guests were faces everyone already knew anyway, and vision is something you show, not something you talk about.

 

“Your affiliation and salary have gone up.”

 

Small laughter erupted here and there.

 

“You can continue working as you have been. Just remember one thing.”

 

I paused for a moment.

 

“As long as you bear Asin’s name, if you experience any unfair treatment during work, I will personally step in.”

 

The atmosphere subtly changed.

 

“Conversely, if you do anything unfair, I will personally step in for that as well.”

 

Well, it was an obvious thing to say, but it makes a difference depending on who says it, doesn’t it?

 

“You should have received body cameras when you signed your contracts.”

 

Small body cameras were attached to the drivers’ vests.

 

Rather than body cameras, they were closer to traditional design brooches with dancheong patterns.

 

“They’re simple artifacts.”

 

To be precise, they were goblins disguised as artifacts.

 

“They don’t have amazing effects. Your luck improves a little, and you develop a sense of belonging.”

 

Small murmurs spread at those words.

 

What company would provide artifacts to all staff members numbering over ten thousand?

 

Even if they didn’t have amazing effects.

 

“They’re also linked to your vehicle dashcams. Please wear them at all times during work.”

 

I continued with a slight smile.

 

“The design turned out quite well, so you can wear them like accessories in your daily life too.”

 

It was a light joke, but attention was already focused on the word “artifacts.”

 

Higher base pay than their previous jobs.

 

Additional incentives based on performance.

 

And an enhanced welfare system.

 

The confidence in my voice created a sense of belonging that hadn’t existed before.

 

That was what I was aiming for in the first place.

 

People give their loyalty to places that recognize their abilities.

 

It’s a simple principle, but quite a few companies don’t follow it.

 

I put down the microphone and shouted with my natural voice.

 

“Now, let’s begin work.”

 

Mixed with a slight sound transmission.

 

It was a bit of divine staging.

 

They said my sound transmission felt similar to a divine oracle.

 

People scattered to their respective vehicles, and the logistics area that had been packed became empty.

 

At the end, their expressions showed something beyond company loyalty—almost like religious devotion,

 

but I had no intention of exploiting them, and if they work hard, it’s a win-win for everyone, isn’t it?

 

‘I think I could do pretty well as a cult leader too.’

 

It was excessively short for a launch ceremony, but that was Ashin’s way.

 

Of course, it was shorter than the time it took to set up the chairs,

 

but thanks to that, it even made the news headlines, so wasn’t it a fairly satisfactory result?

 

[Ashin Logistics officially launches! Live broadcast of launch ceremony shorter than chair setup time.]

 

[Hunter Han Sang-in’s launch speech, check it out in shorts.]

 

[Delivery within 6 hours of ordering? Ashin Logistics’ challenge! Really?]

 

***

 

‘The response is better than expected.’

 

I quickly scrolled through the articles.

 

The 6-hour delivery was also more stable than expected.

 

Well, since I had thrown Golden Fragrance items at every part where sorting and delivery could be streamlined, efficiency had to be maximized.

 

‘If I push it just a little more, even 3 hours might be possible?’

 

It was much easier than when I was at Ashin’s Mediterranean branch anyway.

 

During the Mediterranean branch, I created a system from nothing,

 

but in the domestic case, I had absorbed existing systems to maximize efficiency.

 

The surveillance system through the logistics network had already entered a stabilization phase.

 

‘More than that, the Saint’s faction is being too quiet.’

 

If Yun Seo-won wasn’t an idiot, he couldn’t not know that I had intervened.

 

At the time Park Si-on disappeared,

 

ownership of the abandoned quarry dungeon was transferred to Ashin,

 

and Ashin’s Mediterranean branch was established near the Vatican.

 

Even though I had thoroughly hidden Park Si-on and Father Matteo’s identities, there were more than one or two suspicious circumstances.

 

There was just no physical evidence, but circumstantially it was no different from Ashin already becoming Park Si-on’s biggest supporter.

 

These were the guys who committed atrocities close to house arrest to deal with the Park Si-on Faction.

 

‘There’s no way such guys would stay still.’

 

Though no definite movements had been detected yet, they must be preparing something behind the scenes.

 

‘I need to find the Director of the Holy Knights quickly.’

 

He had gone into hiding claiming to enter secluded training, but I didn’t believe that at face value.

 

After the Director of the Holy Knights entered secluded training, Yun Seo-won appeared with Longinus,

 

and the Holy Guild, one of Park Si-on’s biggest forces, was completely purged.

 

Considering that the Vatican showed no movement even though Father Matteo, who supposedly went to the home country, had gone missing, there were more than one or two suspicious aspects.

 

‘There might have been problems within the Vatican home country as well.’

 

It was also strange that there was almost no information about the Saint.

 

Despite rising to such a large faction, no past records or traces of her activities remained.

 

It was as if only the shell called ‘Saint’ had been created.

 

‘This is also similar to methods frequently used by cults.’

 

I tapped the Saint’s profile that only had basic personal information.

 

“I’ll have to change direction.”

 

I planned to reduce some of the surveillance personnel on the Saint’s faction side,

 

and put effort into searching for the Director of the Holy Knights.

 

If the Saint’s illegal activities were secured, the person who could provide the greatest support, overthrowing the neutral Pope, would be the Director of the Holy Knights, who was number two.

 

I adjusted the direction and sent orders to Yamyeong.

 

Just as I finished the urgent work and sat in lotus position for energy circulation,

 

a new report arrived on my terminal.

 

‘The system is already working.’

 

I smiled and reached for the terminal marked ‘Ashin Logistics’.

 

“…”

 

I checked the contents of the report and stood up from my seat.

 

It seemed I would have to postpone personal training for a while.

 

[Ashin Logistics]

 

– Near Mokpo, external force using ghostly energy detected.

 

***

 

I was quite confident when it came to surveillance and tailing.

 

I had experience lurking in all sorts of places during assassination missions in the Heavenly Demon’s training.

 

Becoming an assassin of the Death Curtain didn’t unfold like the ‘shadow-like supreme assassin’ that only appears in games.

 

I had learned the hard way that all those things were just part of creative works reflecting readers’ fantasies.

 

Have those guys in stories ever hidden in a pond and nearly crossed between life and death from hypothermia?

 

Or have you ever hidden in a cesspit and experienced the toxic fumes rising up?

 

Besides, why do these so-called masters always fight on cliffs and places like that?

 

I climbed the cliffs of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains to assassinate those bastards, driving my sword into the cliff face like Jang Cheong-ye and even camping there overnight.

 

In any case, I was confident that the current surveillance meant nothing to me.

 

That’s what I had thought.

 

“Geum-ja, why aren’t you showing up?”

 

I voiced my complaints to Geumja, the goblin from the Sadang faction who had become the head of Asin Logistics.

 

“Isn’t that just how undercover work always is?”

 

Geumja, who wore a peculiar traditional hat and small sunglasses befitting her name as the peddler goblin, answered with a yawn.

 

Waiting leisurely in a delivery truck with the heater blasting because it’s cold, waiting until the target passes by – that’s a stakeout?

 

Then what were the stakeouts I had done?

 

Rather, since I had never done a normal stakeout, I felt like I was going crazy from restlessness.

 

What drove me crazy was that I couldn’t take my eyes off for even a moment.

 

How frustrating would it be to miss them while playing on my phone?

 

Since it was a surveillance system through the logistics network, anomalies could be observed, but the problem was that was the limit.

 

After observation, detailed investigation had to be done separately.

 

If it weren’t for the fact that they were Ghostly Energy users, I wouldn’t have come personally.

 

I stared out the window with a blank expression.

 

Time passed slowly.

 

Nothing happened.

 

“If I had known it would be like this, I should have bought more coffee.”

 

“How much bread is left?”

 

“Two pieces left.”

 

The bread bags already piled high at my feet showed how much time had passed.

 

“I’ll go to the bathroom and stop by the convenience store.”

 

It was when I finally got out of the car, unable to overcome the boredom.

 

The convenience store door opened with a ding!

 

The convenience store door opened with a jingling sound.

 

I stared blankly in the direction of the sound.

 

In the bags they carried, I could see canned beer, snacks, and cup ramen.

 

‘Having a drink at the pier would be quite romantic.’

 

They say there are so many good restaurants in Mokpo, but sitting in a car for hours with a gloomy man, no, goblin, made me feel unfairly wronged.

 

As I passed by the group of men to go to the bathroom, I stopped in my tracks.

 

I slowly turned around.

 

I immediately sent a sound transmission to Geumja.

 

– The men passing by now, they’re the ones.

 

A very faint scent of Ghostly Energy.

 

Guys like these always appear just when you’re about to go to the bathroom.

 

***

 

Those bastards always show up right when you need to use the bathroom.

 

***

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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