You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 53

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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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53

 

 

 

As the airplane door opened, the hot tropical air wrapped around my face.

 

I got into the waiting black van and headed to the wharf.

 

The destination for this vacation was a remote island near Hawaii.

 

Since we rented the entire island, we planned to enjoy our vacation without any interruptions.

 

The island we reached by boat was the perfect embodiment of a resort that could appear on TV.

 

White sand beach and emerald sea, along with exotic buildings that gave off Hawaiian culture vibes.

 

And our accommodation situated on the quiet beach.

 

Though it looked like a traditional house on the outside, the interior of the accommodation was state-of-the-art.

 

Clean interior design and air conditioning.

 

In this humid climate, air conditioning was essential for Koreans.

 

“Phew…”

 

As the cool air conditioning hit her, Han Jia threw herself onto the bed as if collapsing.

 

“This is definitely Hawaii, so why is the weather like Korean summer…”

 

“Unpack your luggage and rest.”

 

While I was casually nagging, Jin-woo came in.

 

“Elder Brother, have you finished unpacking?”

 

“I’m about to unpack now.”

 

I glared at Han Jia who was ignoring my nagging.

 

“More importantly, are the guild members resting well?”

 

“Yes, of course. We set up their accommodation on the completely opposite beach from ours, so unless they’re going to the village, there’s hardly any chance of running into each other.”

 

“That was well done.”

 

I had specifically asked Jin-woo to be careful about the accommodation location.

 

Even though we came on a group vacation, what employees would want to run into the president and vice president?

 

“Han Jia, I’ll wait outside, so get ready quickly and come out.”

 

“Got it.”

 

After confirming that Han Jia was reluctantly getting up, I came out to the beach with Jin-woo.

 

“Since this is private property, even the island residents can’t enter.”

 

This was also something I had discussed in advance.

 

Though the accommodation was a standalone house, there was a reason it consisted of three buildings.

 

Our Asin doesn’t only have humans.

I began summoning the goblins with ghostly energy.

 

Forty goblins excluding Dolsoe revealed themselves on the beach.

 

As the goblins appeared one by one on the beach, noisy voices burst out.

 

“It’s the sea! The seaaa!”

“Mister Kim, the water here is transparent.”

“You can see all the sea creatures moving.”

 

With forty goblins in plain clothes appearing, the Hawaiian beach instantly became a folk village.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

“Oh, the goblins came too?”

 

Han Jia came out of the accommodation and waved with a pleased expression.

 

“We’re going to the village, do you want to come along?”

 

“No, Elder Brother. I come here often. Please have a good trip with your younger sister.”

 

“Don’t you need anything?”

 

“No, I don’t. I’ll stay here and play with the goblins.”

 

“Alright.”

 

“You need to be back by dinner.”

 

“Sure.”

 

***

 

The small village in the center of the island.

 

Perhaps because today happened to be market day, every alley was bustling with people.

 

Under the palm trees, tents were set up with street stalls lined up selling various handicrafts, tropical fruits, and local crafts.

 

“Wow, this is pretty too!”

 

Han Jia was moving freely among the people like a fish in water.

 

When we came out, she was wearing a short-sleeved tracksuit and shorts,

but before I knew it, various accessories like necklaces and bracelets had found their place on her.

 

It wasn’t even a tourist area, but a real local market of the island, so the prices weren’t expensive either.

 

The food was also diverse.

 

Honestly, my thought that ‘all fruits are pretty much the same’ melted away the moment I took a bite.

 

True to the tropical climate of the equator, as soon as I bit into it, juice poured out like turning on a faucet.

 

It was a moment where I could experience firsthand why the ‘tropical fruits are on another level’ syndrome exists.

 

Moreover, their warmth was overflowing.

 

The Fruit Vendor Grandmother saw Jia stuffing guava into both her cheeks and gave her a mango as a service,

saying that if she only wore a bracelet on her right arm, her left arm would feel left out, so she gave another bracelet as a 1+1 service,

and I was experiencing this thing called human warmth quite intensely.

 

‘Well, who would have thought I’d feel Korean warmth in Hawaii.’

 

Seeing my expression, I could understand the warmth of Hawaiian people to some extent from Han Jia’s face.

 

If a blonde foreigner in hanbok ate hotteok while shouting ‘Delicious!’, wouldn’t you want to give them something extra too…

 

Still, I didn’t dislike this kind of attention.

 

Just as we were about to move to the next shop with bags full in both hands,

 

I heard a familiar voice from afar.

 

“In-seon, how about this hat?”

 

Park Ju-yong, wearing sunglasses, was trying on a traditional hat and getting confirmation from Shin In-seon.

 

“It suits you well?”

 

The two were affectionately browsing the street stalls.

 

I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I unconsciously hid behind a food stall.

 

“That’s probably it, right?”

 

I silently nodded at Han Jia’s question.

 

“Ashin’s couple number one.”

 

I had thought I might run into Guild Members.

But I never thought I’d catch Guild Members in a secret dating scene.

 

‘Well, both of them are people with no lacking qualities.’

 

They were a fairly well-matched couple.

 

“Oh, they’re moving. Should we follow them?”

 

Han Jia whispered quietly with an excited expression.

 

I stared blankly at Han Jia and lightly flicked her forehead.

 

“Ow!”

 

“We should respect their privacy.”

 

The genre almost changed from shopping to stalking.

 

I pretended not to see and walked in the opposite direction.

 

Just as I was about to turn after making a round through the alley,

a small tent at one end caught my eye.

 

“Fortune telling…?”

 

Among the Hawaiian street stalls, a Korean sign reading ‘Fortune Telling’ was proudly positioned.

 

It was definitely a Fortune Telling Tent.

Except for the fact that the fortune teller sitting there was Samoan.

 

“Oh, there’s a Fortune Telling Tent too?”

 

Han Jia’s eyes sparkled as she approached the stall.

 

“Grandmother, are you Korean?”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“Oh, the sign has ‘Fortune Telling’ written in Korean.”

 

“Ah, that sign? It was thrown away at a junk shop, but it looked pretty so I took it.”

 

“Oh, then this isn’t a Fortune Telling Tent?”

 

“I obviously look like a fortune teller. Don’t you want your fortune told?”

 

“Oh, let me see.”

 

The Fortune Teller Grandmother began shaking the container filled with wooden sticks vigorously.

 

I watched the scene with my arms crossed.

 

It was quite a rare sight.

 

Several sticks fell out like that.

 

“You’re not good at studying, are you?”

 

Han Jia stammered in confusion at the fortune teller’s fact-based attack.

 

“N-no, that’s not true. I’m good at studying. I’m in the top 20 at school.”

 

‘Can she see even that?’

 

It was fairly accurate.

 

Since Han Jia had omitted the word “in my class” when she spoke.

 

“Still, you have family luck. You have talent in what you’re doing now, and if you work hard, you’ll succeed.”

 

The words that followed were predictable ones.

 

Exercise more, don’t drink too much cold water—the kind of advice you commonly hear at hospitals.

 

After hearing the fortune, Han Jia stood up from her seat.

 

“Are you going to get yours read too, oppa?”

 

“No.”

 

I shook my head and was about to leave.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

– You should be careful of the most ordinary daily life.

 

“…?!”

 

My steps stopped.

 

The fortune teller’s voice hadn’t reached my ears, but had echoed inside my head.

 

When I turned around, the fortune teller was examining another customer’s palm as if nothing had happened.

 

“Oppa, hurry up! This man says there’s a great mango juice place here!”

 

“Oh… okay.”

 

I glanced at the fortune teller once more and left the tent.

 

‘…Did I mishear?’

 

I tried to shake off the thought, picked up some souvenirs for Jin-woo, the goblins, and the guild members, then returned to our accommodation.

 

***

 

When we arrived at the beach, we could hear bustling sounds from far away.

 

Not only Kim Jin-woo and the goblins, but all of Ashin’s guild members were gathered there too.

 

‘This defeats the purpose of assigning separate accommodations.’

 

Park Ju-yong had apparently finished his date at some point and was wrestling with the goblins.

 

“In-seon unnie!”

 

Han Jia spotted Shin In-seon and ran over, waving her hand.

 

Seeing them play together so freely without any reservations made me smile without realizing it.

 

“Well, this isn’t bad either.”

 

After that, the resort party atmosphere continued.

 

Guild members kicking balls on the sandy beach, wrestling, and playing in the water.

 

As the sun set, the evening party began immediately.

 

The goblins especially took care of the food.

 

They were very Korean dishes like buckwheat jelly and boiled pork.

 

Since it was about time to start missing Korean food, it was even more welcome.

 

Moreover, whatever magic they used, it was better than most high-end restaurants.

 

To borrow Han Jia’s expression, it was “an enchanting, fantastic taste.”

 

As the night deepened, the goblins began secretly bringing out rice wine they had hidden away.

 

I dropped Han Jia, who wanted to keep playing, off at the accommodation and turned my steps back toward the beach.

 

Unlike the commotion at the beach, this path was quiet and peaceful.

 

I sat on the stone wall and looked out at the sea.

 

The cool sea breeze of the night brushed against my cheek.

 

It was a sense of leisure and peace I hadn’t felt in a very long time.

 

I thought that this was what I had been living so hard for.

 

Actually, I never even imagined such a day would come.

 

I, who had been struggling day by day at the bottom as a Porter—

and my younger sister, who had wanted to help the family even a little, was now walking toward her dreams.

 

And someday…

 

‘It would be nice if Mother could come with us too.’

 

I was organizing my thoughts like this and slowly taking steps when—

 

“Elder Brother, you were here. Please come quickly. Everyone is waiting.”

 

“Just go ahead, why are you waiting around?”

 

“Come on, how could we start without you, Elder Brother?”

 

I chuckled at those words and got up from my spot.

 

And so, Ashin Guild’s first summer night quietly stretched on.

 

***

***

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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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