This was quite an unexpected message.

He had never expected such a message to pop up with this timing.

‘I remember is…’

Ju-Heon recalled the reward from the previous mission. He had learned about the existence of after using the healing artifact he received as a reward to heal the injuries he received from Muramasa.

[You have successfully survived the artifact's venomous aura and healed yourself.]

[You have learned about the existence of .]

It said something like that.

That tolerance had become awakened after receiving the Monarch of Destitution's attacks! It had awakened at the perfect time when he was thinking about how he could awaken his tolerance skill.

‘This is an extremely useful ability.’

On the other hand, the surrounding area was totally chaotic because of the Monarch of Destitution.

“W, where did my wallet go?!”

“W, wake up! Someone’s fainted here! Call 911!”

“Ack! Someone scratched my car!”

“Kyaaaa! My dress ripped!”

Ju-Heon was probably the only one who could not frown in such a situation. Everybody else was suffering drastically from being around the Monarch of Destitution’s area of influence.

That was why Ju-Heon quickly looked toward Chairman Kwon. He was curious if Chairman Kwon would also be impacted by the Monarch of Destitution. The Chairman Kwon of old would immediately try to leave this place or defend somehow, however…

‘There’s no way he knows about the Monarch of Destitution yet.’

And lo and behold.

“W,what is going on?! T, the company stock……!”

Ju-Heon’s suspicions had been correct. Yoon Shi Woo was the first to scream. A secretary whispered something in Yoon Shi Woo’s ear before he urgently checked something on his phone and started to scream.

“W, what the hell?! This is an unbelievable level!”

He adjusted his glasses as if it was unbelievable before checking and checking again. However, the stocks he owned were sinking at unbelievable rates no matter how many times he looked.

“Damn it!”

“What is going on?”

Yoon Shi Woo anxiously put his phone away after hearing Chairman Kwon's question.

“N, nothing, Chairman-nim. There was just a problem with one of the companies I’ve been helping recently……hahaha. Nothing for you to worry about, sir.”

However, something that Chairman Kwon needed to get anxious about happened this time.

“Chairman-nim. We have a situation.”

The secretary who had been checking on things urgently started to speak to Chairman Kwon and Yoon Shi Woo. The secretary was wary of their gazes as she started to speak.

“There was a sudden fire in the Chinese factory so all of the T-line materials that were set to be exported……we will not be able to export them on time like this. Furthermore, the damage is greater than expected……”

"What did you say?!”

They could not hide their astonishment at this sudden bomb. Chairman Kwon had a rare look of anxiousness on his face.

His face that had been full of joy had instantly stiffened up.

Ju-Heon started to smile after confirming Chairman Kwon’s expression.

‘As expected.’

Chairman Kwon had no idea about the Monarch of Destitution right now. That was why he was anxious.

And Yoon Shi Woo who had been observing Chairman Kwon’s expression by the millimeter also turned pale. He made his move before Chairman Kwon exploded.

“Damn it, hey! How the hell are they running things over there?! Do those zhǎngguìs want to get fired? [1] How can a fire just randomly start?!”

Yoon Shi Woo was Chairman Kwon’s youngest daughter’s potential future husband. As one of the many potential husband candidates, Yoon Shi Woo could not help but be wary about keeping his potential father-in-law happy.

The secretary who became anxious after hearing Yoon Shi Woo shout lowered her head as she responded.

“That, they don't know if there was any issues with how they were storing things, they said something just unluckily caught fire……they are currently investigating the causes.”

Yoon Shi Woo who had been peeking to see Chairman Kwon's reaction turned red. The incident had happened in a factory under his jurisdiction.

Why did it have to happen on this trip when he needed to make Chairman Kwon happy and earn some points?

“Damn it! Why did it have to blow up now?!”

‘Why else would it happen now?

Who told you to be in the same place as the Monarch of Destitution?’

Ju-Heon started to chuckle. He could hear Yoon Shi Woo loudly because they were close by.

It had been a while since he saw Yoon Shi Woo shouting in anger like this.

‘You deserve this.’

He never expected that the Monarch of Destitution who brought disasters would be this helpful!

Of course, many people knew about the Monarch of Destitution’s usefulness in the past as well. She was the goddess of disaster who could get rid of a rival company or another country that was a thorn to their eyes.

The problem was that even the person who commissioned her would suffer losses as a result, making them have to be ready for damage to get what they wanted.

That was why everybody was busy running away from the Monarch of Destitution whenever they saw her.

However.

[Tolerance has increased after being attacked by an artifact.]

[The effects of the opponent’s artifact has decreased due to .]

Ju-Heon saw his tolerance go up by simply standing next to the Monarch of Destitution.

Thanks to that, Ju-Heon could not help but smile.

‘Good, good job. Keep on rising! Rise some more!’

People were screaming with misfortune around him, but the damage to Ju-Heon was slowly going down probably because of the effects of tolerance.

Wasn't this a great advantage then?!

He was just disappointed that it was not rising faster.

That was why Ju-Heon became a bit greedier after seeing his tolerance.

‘I need to raise my tolerance more.’

It should not be hard to achieve. Toughness was something you developed by getting beat up over and over, so wouldn’t his tolerance go up if he faced a bunch of attacks like an idiot?

Ju-Heon’s eyes sparkled as he smiled.

The Monarch of Destitution.

He had thought she was a goddess of disaster he should avoid at all costs, however, she seemed to be a monster who would bring benefits to Ju-Heon.

‘Good. It looks like it would benefit me to stay in the same place as the Monarch of Destitution like this.’

At least one person had no reason to escape from the auction house now.

‘50 people. The numbers have gone down a lot.’

Ju-Heon chuckled as he sat inside the auction house.

The seating that resembled the inside of an opera house had about two thirds of the seats empty.

Some of them were transported to the hospital after receiving the Monarch of Destitution’s attacks, others ran to their companies or elsewhere to deal with the misfortune they faced.

‘Now there are only a third of the people to bid against.’

It was better to have less competition to guarantee that he would get the artifacts that come up.

Those people would find their issues resolved once they move away from the Monarch of Destitution, however, the auction house doors would already be closed by then.

However.

‘Chairman Kwon's side is still here.’

Ju-Heon started to frown.

It looked as if Chairman Kwon was planning on still participating in the auction. The reason he would stay here even when there were issues with the company…

It must be for the artifacts.

‘Those bastards must already know about artifacts.

I guess that is necessary for them to monopolize the artifacts during the beginning stages.

I may end up fighting with Chairman Kwon for the artifacts.’

Ju-Heon frowned as he was a bit worried since he knew his opponent’s financial power. He had earned a lot of money in the casinos but it was nothing compared to the Chairman of a world renowned company.

And at that moment…

Bang!

“We will now start the 74th auction.”

The lighting in the seats went out and a spotlight focused on the stage to get the auction started.

Some well-trained employees soon brought out an item inside a wooden box, with the large electronic display showing the first auction item.

“……Okay then! This is the first item! Wine ordered by the last Russian royalty of the 20th century! Do you remember how they recovered this sunken item in 1997?! That item has reappeared in the world today! The 1907 Heidsieck! The starting bid will be $500,000 (500 million won)!”

People started to raise their hands to increase the bid as soon as he finished speaking.

“Yes, $505,000! $508,000! $600,000!”

However, Ju-Heon paid no attention to the wine.

The rich colossus might be interested in wine that costs hundreds of millions of won, but Ju-Heon did not care.

‘I guess there are a lot of useless collectibles for the rich because the Great Tomb Appearance hasn’t happened yet.’

The artifacts were scheduled to show up near the end of the forty auctions items.

Ju-Heon expected that some of the artifacts would be pretty popular. They were disguised as items that would make humans go wild.

'Chairman Kwon is one thing, but I have to defeat the other colossus in this auction house.’

If things continued like this, it would be difficult for him to defeat all the rich people here to easily take the artifacts.

So, it would be great if there was a way to get rid of the competitors.

But how?

It was at that moment.

"Excuse me……”

Ju-Heon heard a familiar voice next to him. Ju-Heon felt his heart thump at that moment.

The Monarch of Destitution, no, Irene was approaching the empty seat next to him.

Ju-Heon’s body shook for a moment out of reflex as if a vicious predator was approaching him. Ju-Heon was anxious because he had thought that he should be in the same place as her, but had never expected her to sit right next to him.

‘Why is this woman here?’

Ju-Heon's artifacts that started to lose durability once again because of the Monarch of Destitution’s artifact started to scream loudly.

[@#(@#!&@!#!]

[@#^&!#&#)!]

[@#^&!#&#)!]

He couldn’t understand what they were saying, but they were most likely saying something like, ‘what are you doing? You damn bastard of a master!’ ‘Hurry up and move, you bastard master!’ Of course, Ju-Heon would have normally started to escape but his thoughts were different now.

The speed of his artifacts losing durability had decreased as his tolerance increased. Furthermore, having her next to her made his tolerance level increase as a scary rate.

In that case, was there a need for him to dodge her?

The only thing that could bother him was that his artifacts would be in pain.

However.

‘Who cares about whether the artifacts are in pain. It's fine as long as I don't die.’

This was the attitude of this so called artifact master.

The artifacts would go, ‘this damn bastard of a master!’ in response, but Ju-Heon was being serious.

‘Good. I might as well increase my tolerance next to her.’

Of course, this was a gamble. Being next to the Monarch of Destitution could be dangerous. However, being next to this woman would allow him to increase his tolerance.

‘It definitely is a gamble, however……’

He would not be able to go into places like tombs if he didn’t have this much guts.

That was why Ju-Heon confirmed the speed of the artifacts’ durability decreasing through his spy skill as he looked toward Irene.

“Did you need something from me?”

“You are the lucky man who hit a ton of jackpots in Las Vegas, right?”

“Yes.”

Irene smiled brightly as if she was relieved to finally have found him.

However, something weird happened at that moment.

[The strength of the other party's artifact is increasing based on her emotions.]

[The other party's artifact's strength is increasing at an explosive rate.]

Ju-Heon’s eyes opened wide at this unexpected situation.

‘Hold on. The strength of her disasters went up because she’s happy?

What the hell?!’

The after storm then hit the auction house.

[The presence of a strong artifact can be felt in 1 km radius.]

[A serious case of misfortune is exploding.]

[The artifacts in your possession are experiencing serious damage.]

[Warning. All artifacts in your possession may be destroyed in a single moment.]

Boom! An explosion shook the auction house at the same time. The earthquake was so strong that it was making their chairs shake.

People started to scream in fear. The gold axe silver axe and the rope were screaming in pain as well.

Ju-Heon also felt as if he was getting a stomach ache again. Ju-Heon had to bite down on his lips because of the pain.

‘Tsk, I guess being around this woman really was a gamble!’

Had he looked down on this future Monarch of Destitution too much?

He couldn’t let this continue. He needed to leave as this would be dangerous.

However, shocking messages bombarded him the moment Ju-Heon was about to leave.

[Tolerance has increased after being attacked by an artifact.]

[Tolerance has increased after being attacked by an artifact.]

[Tolerance has increased after being attacked by an artifact.]

[Your tolerance is increasing at an abnormal rate.]

[Tolerance has increased after being attacked by an artifact.]

[Tolerance has increased after being attacked by an artifact.]

.

.

[The effects of the opponent’s artifact has decreased due to .]

[The effects of the opponent’s artifact has decreased due to .]

[The effects of the opponent’s artifact has decreased due to .]

.

.

[You have gathered enough experience and your Tolerance skill has increased to E-rank!]

[Tolerance (Awakened)]

Level E-Rank

Your tolerance toward the venomous aura coming from artifacts has increased slightly.Your tolerance toward attacks from artifacts has increased slightly.Your tolerance toward the venomous aura coming from tombs has increased slightly.Effects of E-Rank: Your tolerance toward illnesses have increased significantly.

[Your Tolerance skill has increased to E-Rank and rescued you from the dangers of illnesses.]

[The increasing speed of your tolerance has increased a notch due to the increase to E-Rank.]

Ju-Heon subconsciously dropped his jaws.

The reward of his gamble was sweet honey.

1. This is a derogatory term Koreans use for Chinese, supposedly because it sounds like jjajangmyeon. I would equate it to being similar to chink? but that is just my opinion.