Chapter 13

Chapter 13. The First Recovery

2:00 a.m.

The night in Ulsan was quiet.

My wife was working the night shift.

My daughter and son were already asleep.

Even the TV was off.

Only the faint ticking of the clock could be heard in the living room.

But my mind wasn't quiet at all.

Sinan.

Beneath the shipwreck.

Even deeper than that.

The metal door.

And the massive golden glow I had felt behind it.

"Haah."

I sat back against the sofa and scratched my head.

"Guess I have to go."

Honestly...

I couldn't resist.

I'd loved treasure-hunting stories since I was young.

Pirate ships.

Old maps.

Digging into the ground and finding treasure chests.

Even those stories had always made my heart race.

But this wasn't a story anymore.

Real treasure existed.

And I could reach it.

Honestly, someone who could sleep peacefully at home knowing that would be the strange one.

I quietly opened the front door and stepped outside.

After making sure no one nearby was watching, I closed the door behind me.

Then I teleported.

The next instant, cold sea wind brushed across my face.

The sea off Sinan in the middle of the night.

Waves echoed rhythmically through the darkness, but I couldn't feel the cold.

When I thought about it...

My body really was convenient.

No padded jacket.

No diving suit.

Not even an oxygen tank.

I looked down at my sneakers and jeans and chuckled.

"This ability is seriously cheating."

The Genie's voice came from inside my head.

"You've only just realized?"

"Yeah."

"You should have realized sooner."

"Be quiet."

I jumped straight into the ocean.

Splash!

Cold seawater wrapped around my entire body.

The surroundings instantly turned dark.

But by now, I was used to this environment.

I didn't need to breathe.

Pressure wasn't a problem.

A few minutes later, the shipwreck I'd found earlier came into view.

The collapsed hull.

The damaged cargo hold.

Even the traces left behind by Manager Park's people were still there.

I descended beneath the wreck.

And finally, I saw it again.

The metal door.

This time, I approached and examined it closely.

About three meters tall.

Roughly two meters wide.

The dark blue metal door was covered in markings similar to those engraved on the lamp.

More importantly...

It looked unbelievably heavy.

"How do I open this?"

The Genie calmly answered.

"Push."

"..."

I waited for more explanation.

None came.

"That's it?"

"You have strength."

Well...

He wasn't wrong.

I stepped up to the metal door and grabbed both edges.

Then I cautiously began applying force.

RUMBLE.

The door began moving.

A huge vibration spread through the sea.

Sand covering the seabed exploded upward.

Small schools of fish scattered in panic.

I used a little more strength.

The massive metal door opened completely.

And then...

Golden light poured from beyond it.

"Wow..."

The sound escaped before I could stop it.

It was real.

Gold coins.

Silver coins.

Ceramics.

Jewels.

An impossible number of items were piled like mountains inside the huge chamber.

Not hundreds.

Thousands.

No.

There had to be tens of thousands.

"Holy shit..."

I couldn't move for a while.

I simply stared.

The amount of money I could earn by working for the rest of my life?

This wasn't even comparable.

If everything was handled properly, not only my children...

Even their children could probably live comfortably.

"Hey."

"What?"

"I'm rich."

The Genie sighed.

"Not to that extent."

"This isn't rich?"

"The world is vast."

"Still. This definitely counts."

I picked up a gold coin from beneath my feet.

Its weight sat heavily in my palm.

"Wow..."

Real gold.

I couldn't tell the exact purity, but even by sight, it looked good.

I spent a while staring at gold coins, jewelry, and ceramics.

Then a very practical problem occurred to me.

"Ah."

"What?"

"How do I take all of this?"

There was too much.

Far beyond what a few bags could handle.

Even trucks might not be enough.

And this wasn't on land.

It was underwater.

Normally, I'd need ships and salvage equipment.

Then the Genie chuckled.

"You never considered that?"

"Considered what?"

"A pouch of greed, perhaps."

"...A pouch?"

"Open the lamp."

I took out the lamp and rubbed it.

Blue smoke spread.

The Genie appeared.

"You seriously keep calling me out for annoying things."

"You're one to talk."

"I'm hurt."

He didn't look hurt at all.

The Genie held up the lamp.

"Look inside."

Still doubtful, I looked through the opening.

Then froze.

"...What the hell is this?"

The inside of the lamp wasn't a normal space.

Beyond the opening was an endless area.

Calling it a storage room wasn't enough.

At a glance, it looked large enough to fit an entire soccer field.

"Storage space."

"This existed the whole time?"

"Yes."

"Why are you only telling me now?"

The Genie calmly answered.

"You never asked."

Again.

That damn line again.

I genuinely wanted to hit him.

But this time...

I decided to let it go.

Because this was far too useful.

I picked up a gold coin and put it inside the lamp.

Whoosh.

It vanished.

"Oh."

Then a silver coin.

It disappeared too.

"Oho."

I suddenly became excited.

I started picking up gold coins, silver coins, and jewels and putting them inside the lamp one by one.

It felt like collecting items and putting them into an inventory in a game.

One hour passed.

Then two.

I kept moving treasure.

Eventually, an entire small mountain of valuables disappeared.

"Phew..."

I straightened my back and exhaled in satisfaction.

The Genie smiled at me.

"You look happy."

"Very."

"How human."

"Because I like money?"

"Yes."

I didn't bother denying it.

"Of course."

"Why?"

I thought for a moment.

There were plenty of things I wanted to do with money.

"Send the kids to college."

"Hm."

"Buy them houses."

"Hm."

"Treat my friends to food."

"Hm."

"Buy a car."

"Hm."

"Drink."

The Genie nodded.

"So that is the real reason."

"..."

I couldn't argue.

By morning, I returned to my home in Ulsan as though nothing had happened.

After sleeping for a few hours, I woke around noon.

My phone was ringing loudly beside the bed.

Seungman's name was on the screen.

"What?"

"Hey."

"What?"

"You free today?"

"Why?"

"Come look at used cars with me."

I rubbed my eyes, still half asleep.

"Suddenly?"

"My car died."

That made me laugh.

"Fine."

That afternoon, I went with Seungman to a used-car dealership.

Seungman arrived in an old compact car that looked one step away from the junkyard.

I was honestly impressed it could still stand still without falling apart.

"Hey."

"What?"

"When does this thing explode?"

"I don't know either."

We walked around the dealership looking at cars.

But every time Seungman looked at the price tag, he backed away.

"Expensive."

"Yeah."

"I'm broke."

"Yeah."

Watching him gave me a strange feeling.

I had money now.

More precisely...

I had an absurd amount of it.

Seungman didn't.

And this bastard was genuinely my friend.

He had shared drinks with me since back when I had nothing.

Whenever things were hard, he stayed beside me without saying much.

Then I spotted a decent-looking used SUV.

"Seungman."

"What?"

"Take that one."

He turned toward me.

"What?"

"I'll buy it for you."

Silence.

Seungman stared blankly at me for almost five full seconds.

"Are you insane?"

"No."

"Still drunk?"

"I'm serious."

He immediately shook his head.

"No."

"Why?"

"It's too much."

"We're friends."

Seungman didn't answer.

I smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Pay me back after you succeed."

"What if I never succeed?"

"Buy me drinks."

Seungman finally chuckled.

"You lunatic."

"That's right."

Right then...

The map inside my head suddenly reacted.

Flash.

My expression immediately stiffened.

This time, it wasn't Sinan.

Jeju Island.

Not on land either.

Deep underwater.

A new golden light was shining strongly somewhere in the dark sea.

But something was strange.

It didn't feel like an ordinary treasure marker.

Beneath the golden light...

Much deeper...

I could feel something enormous.

It wasn't moving.

Almost as though it had been sleeping for a very long time.

The Genie muttered quietly.

"Something interesting is waking."

I asked inside my head.

"What?"

The Genie laughed.

"Adventure."

I stared through the dealership window.

Jeju Island.

Fine.

My first recovery in Sinan was complete.

The next destination had been decided.

The corners of my mouth slowly rose.

"This time, it's a business trip."