Return of the Irregular Appraiser
Chapter 2

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – ChiSync]

Chapter 2: Awakening

A feeling of exhaustion washed over me.

“Ugh.”

My body feels heavy, and I feel nauseous. As if I’ve been drinking.

[Awakening conditions have been met.]

[Awakening mana.]

[Acquiring Insight Eyes.]

A mysterious message appeared mid air. Beyond it, a white ceiling and an old desk are visible.

“What is this?”

What is Insight Eyes, and what are these messages appearing in the air? Where am I?

“Why does this feel so familiar?”

I looked around in a daze. The moldy wallpaper, the worn bookshelves, the creaking bed frame, it was only then that I realized where I was

“What the hell is this?”

With puzzled eyes, I frantically searched through the books on the crooked bookshelf.

“Kim Woogil… my room?”

Looking at my name written on the book cover and the sticky notes attached to the desk, I realized.

They were clearly things I had written.

“Come to think of it….”

[You can turn back time.]

[Would you like to go back?]

[Turning back time.]

The messages I saw just before dying.

I was so disoriented that I didn’t even have time to think about whether it was true or not. All I could think was how desperately I wanted to turn back time.

Lowering my gaze, I thoroughly examined my body. No wounds, no traces whatsoever.

Frantically, I dashed out of the room and looked into the mirror in the bathroom.

“This is insane….”

A face with untreated, glowing skin and no scars. A high bridge of the nose and piercing eyes.

I splashed water and wiped the mirror tightly, but it was the same.

This was undoubtedly me in my twenties. My past self.

This time, I left the bathroom and looked for my phone lying around somewhere. I rummaged through my bed and found it.

May 12, 2035.

Whether this was a dream or reality, even after slapping my cheek three times to wake up, I didn’t. Pain was just an added bonus.

‘Is this… even possible?’

Frantically, I searched the internet. Not only news, articles, and various communities, but I even looked up game update information.

“Really…, it’s 2035, isn’t it?”

Woogil, who flopped down on the bed, calmed his excitement and calmly organized his thoughts.

“Awakening, Insight Eye, Regression….”

There’s no way all of this suddenly happened to me. There must have been some important trigger…

“The Autobiography of Teraunus!”

At the same time, Woogil recalled Teraunus’s life.

The infinite talent to interfere with time and the eyes that could penetrate the essence of everything.

‘And his last words.’

[There will be a gift. To you, with infinite possibilities, our story will not end with the last sentence of this autobiography.] Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NøvᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

‘Surely it was written like that.’

[Insight Eye]

Using mana to penetrate the essence.

The Insight Eye that emerged within Woogil was clearly the same as what Teraunus possessed.

‘So, this was what he meant by gift….’

Everyone from the excavation team had been disappointed by the fact that all the effort to reach the king’s tomb resulted in just one autobiography.

But the value held within that small book was immense, irreplaceable by any artifact.

“The reward for the first decipherment of the ancient book…, I never would have imagined it would be something so unbelievable….”

Not only being able to turn back time but possessing special abilities as well… It was beyond belief.

“Ha, hahaha…, hahaha….”

I suddenly began to laugh as if I had lost his mind.

After about a minute, his eyes, filled with complex emotions, changed.

“You must have known about this situation, right? Isn’t that so?”

I asked Teraunus.

If you were so great, if you saw all the truth, if you knew that I would get this autobiography, wouldn’t you have deliberately given me the opportunity to get revenge?

I have lived a hell of a life, ravaged by Salvation, betrayed by those I trusted, and lost all my friends.

With nothing but hatred, enmity, and anger for them to sustain him, I finished his autobiography, deciphered it all, and now I’m back.

“It’s 2035…, if the meeting with the chief is in 2040, then there are 5 years left?”

There is enough time to uncover the secrets.

Whether the traitor of Salvation sought to eliminate the excavation team, or if Salvation had abandoned them, and if so, why did they try so viciously to kill everyone, and who was the person who ultimately killed him.

“Let’s uncover it all.”

Woogil was confident.

In my past life, I lived on, barely surviving until the moment of death without ever awakening, devoid of mana.

But this time, not only did I awaken my mana, but I also gained the special ability of Insight Eyes.

– Woogil, do you know why I chose you? It’s because you’re the most tenacious one among all those I’ve seen! Haha! If you awaken, you’ll become my greatest asset!”

That was what the chief used to say. Now that I’ve awakened, I can find out if that statement is true or not.

‘I’ll prove it. Chief.’

The various textbooks lined up on the bookshelf.

They were all about appraisers.

“Appraisers….”

There is no profession better than an appraiser to uncover secrets.

Now that I’ve awakened my mana as well, I have confidence that I can easily surpass the countless appraisers in the world and climb to the top.

Even comparing appraisers now to those of 20 years later seems laughable.

‘Since it’s come to this, I’ll become the greatest appraiser and fulfill the chief’s wishes.’

Prevent the downfall of Korea, find the traitor of Salvation, and once again return to Teraunus’s tomb.

That was the only purpose that came to mind right now.

“Hmm.”

Once my thoughts were somewhat organized, I instinctively searched for a cigarette in my pocket.

“Oh…”

Back then, I hardly smoked to save money.

But upon searching my pockets and the desk, there was no sight of cigarettes.

‘It might be a good idea to quit smoking now.’

It’s better to quit while my lungs are somewhat healthy.

However, when I inadvertently opened the slightly open desk drawer, I saw a blue cigarette pack deep inside.

“What kind of cigarette is this? Did I smoke this before?”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t remember. It wasn’t because it was too long ago, it was just that the memory was just hazy.

Woogil always smoked the same brand of cigarettes.

[Insight Eyes activated.]

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – ChiSync]

Suddenly, his head felt dizzy, and mana was sucked away.

[Oriental Tobacco]

This is a cigarette made from tobacco imbued with mana. If you smoke it to utilize mana, you can absorb the mana inside.

∥Solar Calendar 2033, March 19th

∥Smoking increases mana slightly.

“Ugh….”

As mana was depleted, he felt a slight dizziness.

‘Is this what Insight Eyes is like?’

It seems that Insight Eyes activates when I focus on something using mana.

Woogil immediately checked the pen rolling beside him.

[P71 Pen]

A pen made by Pelikana. Made of stainless steel with gold coating, it exhibits clear sharpness and appropriate sensitivity.

∥Solar Calendar 2035, January 8th

‘Solar…, does that mean the year of manufacture?’

It certainly seemed so. It seemed to provide information such as name, summary of the item, year of manufacture, and effectiveness level.

‘It seems to require a lot of mana.’

Setting aside the pen, Woogil picked up the Oriental tobacco. The initials ‘D.K.’ were engraved on the tip of the cigarette.

Reading the description, I remembered. I had bought it desperately, thinking I could gain mana by smoking it.

But instead of mana, I found the taste unsatisfactory and angrily shoved it into the drawer.

“So, this required mana from the start.”

With trembling hands, I picked up the cigarette and put it in his mouth. Then, using the lighter that was also in the drawer, I lit the end of the cigarette and drew it in.

“Whew….”

I don’t know why my fingertips are trembling like this, even though I’m not a regular smoker.

A bitter and stale taste filled my mouth. But even that had its own unique flavor. It felt different from the taste I remembered from back then.

Tap, tap…

After tapping off the ash, I felt a slight surge of mana within my body.

‘There’s really an effect, isn’t there?’

To increase mana, one must fundamentally understand its usage, breathing techniques, storage methods, and so on.

But the fact that smoking a cigarette alone could increase mana was quite revolutionary.

“Where did I buy this?”

Because it was so long ago, my memory was fuzzy. I seemed to have bought it from some street vendor in a back alley…

“D.K…, D.K….”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t remember.

Quickly putting on some clothes and slipping the cigarette into the pocket of my jacket, Woogil headed straight for the Trade Center in Yongsan.

‘I have about 15 million won in my account. Let’s first check if there’s anything I need.’

It was the money I had saved after working hard and saving it for three years. It was money I had saved with the promise of awakening someday, but I never imagined I would use it in this way.

Among the various items and consumables for awakened individuals, there was the Trade Center, Seoul’s largest shopping district.

In particular, the street on the side of Yongmun-dong was lined with small shops, and there were many street vendors, especially unknown artisans.

Most of the items were of low quality, but occasionally, unexpected items would pop out. Thus, there was a steady demand in the neighborhood.

“Young man! Come over here! I have a lot of good stuff!”

“There’s nothing over there! Before you go there, take a look around here first!”

“Hehe! Look here. This is something I specially ordered this time…”

Ignoring the merchant’s sales pitches lightly, I scanned through the items quickly, moving on.

‘Cigarettes, cigarettes, cigarettes….’

Even after roughly looking around all the shops in Yongmun-dong, I couldn’t find anything resembling Oriental tobacco, let alone cigarettes.

But there wasn’t anything particularly appealing anyway.

“Hmm?”

[Ancient Bookstore]

The signboard was very simple and unassuming. It seemed like the kind of place people would pass by without a second thought. Inside, the owner, an elderly woman, was watching TV and chuckling to herself.

“Boss, can I take a look around?”

“Uh, Sure.”

The elderly woman casually nodded and gave a brief explanation.

“Just take a quick look around. There are ancient books written in ancient languages in that corner.”

“Oh, really?”

“Oh! What’s with the ‘oh’? Can you read them?”

“Hahaha, I’m just quite interested in ancient languages.”

In reality, I had been studying ancient languages for nearly five years while interpreting Teraunus’s memoirs. But the volume of ancient languages was so vast that memorization alone wasn’t enough to interpret them like any other language.

Even though my appraisal ability had improved dramatically in the five years after my regression, it was still impossible to read ancient languages on the spot without an interpretation.

The elderly woman muttered something about ‘young people and their pretensions…’ before quickly losing interest and turning back to the TV.

Woogil casually browsed the shelves and, with little expectation, headed towards the section with ancient books.

‘There’s hardly any chance of finding any proper ancient books in a place like this.’

Most of the ancient books that poured in like a torrent from other dimensions were usually novels, diaries, scribbles, and other useless things, so ancient books like these were often left neglected in the market.

The problem is that many of the useful books among those ancient books are often passed around on the market because they cannot be interpreted.

Moreover, if perfect translations of ancient languages weren’t achieved even twenty years later, what could one expect now?

Excluding professional appraisers, no one even attempts to decipher ancient languages.

Among them, the true value of the really important ancient books would be astronomical, but finding them would be akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Most likely, the ones here are all useless books.

Woogil quickly scanned the shelves.

[ⴒⴖⴚⴇⴍⴒⴞⴠⴡⴢ]

[ⴔⴉⴘⴗⴇⴚⴝⴍⴄⴔⴄⴥⴤⴚ]

[ⴍⴌⴚⴘⴉ…….]

The ancient language, resembling some kind of cipher, wasn’t easy for me to interpret on the spot.

But…

[Insight Eyes activated.]

The language of the ancient book I was holding began to read naturally to me.

[Understanding of Mana]

[How to Throw a Spear]

[Using the Wind….]

“This is fucking crazy….”

Unconsciously, I reached for a cigarette within the embrace, as if drawn into my hand, and put back the cigarette I had grasped back into my pocket.

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – ChiSync]

Sᴇarch the NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.