Chapter 62

Sigh, they say that when you have to go, it’s a busy day.

Still, I was going to try and mention the conditions I wanted. You can always check things out in your spare time.

"Ah, customer, please wait a moment."

But before I could bring it up, Hangan-hee answered the phone in a hurry.

I helplessly opened the quest list.

[◇ Secure a home in Seoul.]

[◇ Remaining time: 5 days 22 hours 31 minutes]

Only 5 days left now.

But since they only gave me 7 days, it seems the ‘securing a home’ is based on signing the contract, so there was still some leeway.

Without knowing my thoughts, the call was dragging on.

"So! I think the same, sister? I didn’t think anyone would play tricks with the engagement gifts. No matter how expensive they are, we’ve already done our part."

And she started to vent, as if confiding in someone.

Yesterday, I went to two reputable appraisal shops. They examined it thoroughly. Holographic serial number, leather, stitching, strap... They touched it, looked at it with a magnifying glass, and even used a magnet, causing quite a commotion.

Hangan-hee pointed to various parts of the bag and then slammed it down.

"But why are all their opinions different? I don’t know which to follow. It feels like the whole world is lying, really."

"You must have been so frustrated. You couldn’t even talk to anyone about it."

"Really. I couldn’t tell my son or his father, in case something went wrong... But."

Hangan-hee slightly turned her head and glanced at me sideways.

"Can you really appraise it?"

It was natural for Hangan-hee to be skeptical.

But if it’s appraisal, I’m pretty sure our Tam Coco is the best in the world. I just can’t say it out loud.

‘What a good one, but how can I explain it?’

I looked straight at Hangan-hee and said,

"Manager, if the Korean Luxury Appraisal Institute says it’s genuine, would you trust that?"

"Now I have to. What else can I do...?"

"Still, wouldn’t you have doubts in your heart? Could you look at it without suspicion when meeting your daughter-in-law and her family?"

"······I don’t know. I’m really going crazy."

"Trust me. I’ll appraise it thoroughly."

Then I handed her my phone.

It showed the Christie’s sales contract and receipt with my English name clearly printed.

"Oh my, how much is this? 7 million dollars?"

"That’s right. I appraised and sold an antique for 7 million dollars."

"Hmm······."

"Don’t worry too much. You can always get it appraised by me and then go to the Korean Appraisal Institute. If we both agree, it’s even better, right?"

"That’s true······ then I’ll ask you."

Hangan-hee subtly pushed the bag towards me.

I extended a memo paper from the table.

"Ah, then write this down briefly. Who bought it, where, for what purpose, and how it was given to whom."

"······Is that necessary?"

Hangan-hee asked suspiciously, but I answered clearly.

"The level of counterfeit can vary depending on the purchase route. Counterfeits come in through so many different channels these days."

"Oh, I see. Here, I have these too."

Hangan-hee took out other items from the shopping bag.

Department store receipt, item description, and a genuine guarantee card.

"At second-hand luxury shops, they say receipts can be forged these days. I can’t trust this either."

The price on the receipt was around 14 million won.

‘Oh······.’

I hid my surprise and picked up the bag.

"Then I’ll examine it carefully now."

"Yes, please do. Be thorough."

Hangan-hee watched with a worried face and then scribbled something on the memo paper.

*

I thought of three appraisal methods.

First, feed the bag directly to Tam Coco.

It was the easiest way.

If it’s a fake, the ‘Eagle Eye’ skill would activate.

And I could immediately explain where the fake marks are.

If it’s genuine? Tam Coco would rattle off the details like last time.

‘But I can’t take this anywhere.’

Hangan-hee was sitting in front of the computer, clicking furiously while occasionally sending me a watchful glance.

"Hmm."

I pretended not to notice and held up the memo paper Hangan-hee had written.

‘This is more realistic.’

Second appraisal method.

Feed the paper to Tam.

I read the content of the memo paper first.

[About 5 days ago, the bag was bought by the future daughter-in-law at the 1st floor of XX Department Store’s luxury brand section as an engagement gift. But a sister who knows a lot about luxury items said it looked like a fake, so I went to several appraisal places, but the results were all different. The department store only checked the serial number, and the result was genuine.]

Just reading it was confusing.

Almost like Rashomon or a Korean drama.

‘Don’t be swayed by this.’

I recalled a news story I had seen before.

I added more text.

[······The bag is a fake. It’s a fake with a genuine serial number embedded in the hologram tag. And someone swapped the fake with a genuine one and put it on display.]

When I gave it to Tam, it turned out to be true.

‘There was an internal issue.’

Just as the news had shown.

But I didn’t dig into who, how, or why.

I knew how to solve this problem even without that information.

Instead, I started a simple repetitive task.

I had to explain why it was a fake.

[The bag Hangan-hee received as an engagement gift from the future daughter-in-law is made of the same leather material as the genuine one.]

[The strap weaving method of the above bag is the same as the genuine one.]

And so on.

‘Ugh, what a hassle.’

After a while, I opened the bathroom door and stepped out.

No matter the appraisal result,

I felt I could tell Hangan-hee what she most wanted to hear.

*

"Manager, it’s a fake."

"Ah······."

Hangan-hee’s face contorted, and she clutched her head.

It’s not that she was suffering because it was a fake.

A successful person like her could buy luxury items anytime if she wanted.

She was worried about her son’s future and his marriage.

So I told her the truth.

"But it’s not the fault of the future daughter-in-law."

Hangan-hee immediately lifted her head.

"What? What do you mean?"

"The future daughter-in-law bought it from the department store, thinking it was genuine, but there seems to have been an issue within the store."

"From the store?"

"Yes, they displayed a fake with only a genuine serial number."

"······Really? How did you know that?"

"It’s a common tactic."

I couldn’t say Tam knows, so I added a bit of embellishment.

I picked up the genuine guarantee card.

"This card and the serial number are genuine, but the bag is a fake. Doesn’t that seem odd?"

"So, it really was the store······."

Hangan-hee tilted her head and muttered, and I quickly suggested a solution.

There was no need to make a big deal out of it.

"The best way is······."

"Refund it and buy another one from a different store!"

Hangan-hee clapped her hands, as if an idea had struck her.

Her face finally lit up.

"Haha, that’s right. Tell the future bride that another model caught her eye, and suggest a refund. Then go to another store and buy the same one."

"Ah, that would work. Phew."

"Or you could tell her it’s a fake. She might feel sorry and suggest going to get a refund together."

"That’s true. She’s such a good and gentle girl. That would work······."

Hangan-hee closed her eyes and stroked her collarbone with one hand.

The future daughter-in-law is not at fault: indeed, that was the most important truth for Hangan-hee.

It was really fortunate.

If she had only received a fake appraisal report without the context, it would have caused chaos among the bride and groom and their families.

‘Phew, I saved a couple.’

A broken engagement was enough for me.

Hangan-hee soon got up and approached me.

"Customer, thank you so much."

"No, no, haha."

"It feels so good to hear such a straightforward answer."

"I just told you the facts."

"But why is it a fake?"

I told her all the facts I had discovered through the many phrases I wrote.

"It was a very convincing fake, hard to spot. But there’s a difference here, see?"

I pointed to the leather and logo buckle joint.

"Look at the pressure here. The leather is less compressed and the buckle is slightly loose, right?"

Her eyes widened as she examined the joint closely.

"Really? That’s true?"

"It’s because the leather grade is lower. The material itself is the same as the genuine one, but they used leather with defects in strength and color."

"Oh, I see."

The subtle difference in leather grade.

It was a difference identified by the ‘Eagle Eye’ skill.

Of course, the part about the loose buckle was something I made up.

"You’re going to the Korean Luxury Appraisal Institute today, right?"

"Yes."

"If you tell them what I said, they’ll probably recognize it right away."

"Phew, I’ve been so stressed about this! What’s a luxury item, what’s an engagement gift!"

Hangan-hee laughed heartily despite her loud complaint and put the bag back in the shopping bag.

······Phew, mission accomplished.

"I don’t know how to thank you, really."

What’s there to thank?

I told you from the beginning.

"Manager."

"Yes?"

"The iced green tea should be ready by now?"

I gestured to the table in front of the sofa.

The ice in the teacup had almost melted.

"Oh! Look at me! Right, you came to see the house. Sit down. Hurry."

Anyway, Hangan-hee had to visit the appraisal institute.

The quest time limit was ticking down, but...

"I said I’d find you the best house, right? You came at the right time. I’ll definitely find it. Tell me exactly what kind of house you’re looking for."

It seemed I had won her heart with that time.

I had a good feeling.

*

Two days later.

I entered the Sinchon branch carrying a large box.

It was so big that it blocked my view when I held it with both hands.