A rundown commercial building in the city.
Dong-sik and I opened the shabby door of an office on the fourth floor and stepped inside.
A sign hung outside, written in red letters on a yellow background.
[Gold Purchase Exchange – Highest Prices for Gold, Silver, and Other Precious Metals]
Inside, a middle-aged man with thick calluses covering his hands and two large, muscular young men were waiting for us.
…What is this vibe?Why does it feel like a gang hideout?
Something felt off the moment I saw them.
But this was a shop Dong-sik had recommended, so I decided to trust him.
"Oh! Dong-sik! And this must be your friend. Welcome, welcome.We don't often handle deals of this size, so I had to withdraw some cash in advance.Sorry for the delay."
The middle-aged man standing between the two younger men spoke.
He must be President Kim, the shop owner.
"President Kim, this is my childhood friend. Please take good care of the price," Dong-sik said with a laugh.
"Of course. My shop always buys at the highest price. Don't worry."
Judging by how naturally they spoke, they seemed fairly well acquainted.
"Well then, first things first.We need to verify that these are indeed pure gold.Not that I don't trust you—but rules are rules."
"Of course."
"Go ahead. Let's take a look."
I took out the zip bag I had been guarding closely.
Inside the transparent plastic, gold pieces glimmered softly.
I handed the entire bag to President Kim.
"Wow… this is no joke.Just by the weight, it feels like pure gold.Still, let's do this properly."
Gold has an extremely high density.
Anyone who had handled gold professionally could tell immediately by lifting it.
"Bring the touchstone, aqua regia, and the volume-measuring kit."
"Yes, b— I mean, sir!"
…Did I hear that right?
"Boss?"
President Kim quickly laughed and smoothed things over.
"These kids used to run around in rough places, but they've decided to live honestly now and work here.Their speech is still a bit rough—please don't mind it."
The two young men hurried to the storage room and brought back the requested tools.
"All right. Let's check."
President Kim picked up the largest gold piece and scraped it firmly against a black touchstone.
A golden streak remained.
He dripped a small amount of aqua regia onto it.
"This is aqua regia—nasty stuff.Even gold dissolves in it.You know hydrochloric or sulfuric acid alone can't dissolve gold, right?"
I nodded.
"If the gold residue disappears completely, it's pure.If impurities remain, it's an alloy."
A few seconds passed.
The golden residue vanished without a trace.
"Well then. At least on the surface—it's pure gold."
Next, he submerged the gold pieces in water.
The same method I had used at home—Archimedes' principle.
Primitive, perhaps.
But extremely reliable.
The displaced water volume matched perfectly.
"Yeah. This is the real deal. Pure gold."
President Kim weighed it again.
2.5 kilograms.
Worth over 300 million won at current market prices.
"You're selling all of it, right?"
"Yes."
Without another word, he opened a safe and began pulling out stacks upon stacks of 50,000-won bills.
He stuffed them into a large paper shopping bag.
"All right… 350 million won.Here's the receipt.You can check online—the price is almost exactly the market rate."
The bag was filled to the brim with golden-colored banknotes.
For a moment, reality felt distant.
Just days ago, I'd been hauling boxes and bricks all day just to earn a few of those bills.
And now—
This much money, so easily.
With this, I could pay off every debt.
Hospital bills would no longer be a concern.
No—I could move my father to a better room and get him better treatment.
What exactly was money?
Lost in thought, I accepted the bag.
"Thank you."
"No, thank you for bringing in such fine gold.By the way…"
"…Yes?"
"Do you happen to have more gold like this?I'd be happy to buy it at a good price as well."
I hesitated.
I still had enough catalyst solution left to produce another batch.
After a brief pause, I replied,
"Yes. There is more.If you're interested, when should I bring it?"
Dong-sik looked startled.
"Wait—there's more?"
President Kim smiled faintly.
"Wow. Looks like you found a treasure chest."
I forced a laugh.
"It was inside a family heirloom box."
"Ha! That's better than winning the lottery. Congratulations."
With that, President Kim escorted us out.
But something bothered me.
His tone.
His expression.
Was I imagining things?
I'd always been sensitive.
Maybe it was just unnecessary anxiety.
We got out of the taxi back in our neighborhood.
The taxi drove away, engine humming.
Dong-sik and I stood there silently for a moment.
Dong-sik spoke first, sounding slightly hurt.
"Si-woo… did you hide the fact that you had more gold from me?"
I waved my hands quickly.
"No! Of course not.I just didn't mention it.It felt awkward to brag about having more."
"…I see."
"If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have shown you the gold in the first place.That wasn't pocket change."
Dong-sik seemed relieved.
"Yeah… you're right."
"And thanks again for introducing me to that shop."
As I spoke, I pulled out 1 million won from the bag.
"Thanks to you, I got a great price.I should at least do this."
Dong-sik panicked and waved his hands.
"No! I didn't help you for money. Put it away!"
"Friends should be clear about things like this."
I practically forced the bills into his hands.
"I'm going to visit your parents soon and repay what they lent us.If it weren't for them, my dad and I might've already hit rock bottom.I'll never forget this."
Dong-sik scratched his head awkwardly.
"Idiot…We're neighbors. That's just what you do."
"Even so, not everyone would go that far."
He quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, President Kim said to come back tomorrow at the same time.Let's take a taxi again then."
Tomorrow.
Plenty of time.
The iron submerged in the solution would take about 12 hours to turn into gold.
Meanwhile
"That gold… it's not ordinary."
"…Boss?"
"Those are raw nuggets.High-purity ones."
"Do we even have land like that in this country?"
"Not much these days.But a hundred years ago, this peninsula was full of gold mines.Westerners and the Japanese dug most of it up."
"Oh! Right! Wasn't Silla called the Kingdom of Gold?"
"Heh. You know more than you look like."
"So… you're saying they found an untouched gold vein?"
"Exactly. Now you get it."
"Yes, boss."
Back Home
I returned home and opened the shopping bag again.
It was filled with stacks of bills up to my knees.
"…This is real?"
349 million won.
Even after paying off all debts, a massive sum would remain.
Hospital costs. Daily expenses.
All the suffocating pressure was gone.
And this had all happened in just a few days.
The system had confirmed it.
The Akashic Records contained knowledge capable of curing my father.
Then there was only one thing left to do.
Unlock as much knowledge as possible—
And extend my father's life until I found the cure.
I prepared another batch of the gold-making solution.
Blood.Sulfuric acid.Platinum.Red phosphorus.And the glowing Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone.
Red smoke rose once more.
A ruby-colored solution formed.
I submerged iron pieces into it again.
In twelve hours, they would become gold.
I sat before the quantum computer to check the decrypted knowledge—
When suddenly, a warning message appeared.
[System Message: Warning.Suspicious activity targeting Hyun Si-woo has been detected.]
"…What?Suspicious activity?"