After the Divorce, a Treasure Map Made Me a 1,000-Trillionaire Chapter 11
The old man stayed silent.
“Sir, are you selling these paintings?”
Maybe he couldn’t hear me well? I called out again, louder this time. But the old man still didn’t respond.
What’s going on? So… he’s not selling them?
I stopped and took a closer look at the paintings.
The style—was it spray paint? Or maybe prints? I wasn’t sure. But for some reason, the images felt familiar.
Rats? Monkeys? I’ve definitely seen these somewhere before…
I glanced back at the old man.
No matter how I look at him, he’s not a “young old man” like the hint said.
The treasure map had clearly mentioned a “young old man selling paintings.” But this man was clearly well into his seventies.
I was about to just go home when I decided to give it one more try.
“Sir! Are you selling these paintings?”
This time, he kept his mouth shut for a while… then quietly spoke.
“I’m not deaf, you know.”
“Oh… it’s just, I kept calling you and you didn’t answer. I thought maybe—”
His voice carried a bit of grumpiness, like he was slightly offended.
I looked back at the paintings and asked,
The old man stretched out one hand, showing me five fingers.
“Five hundred thousand won each.”
“Five hundred thousand?! For one?!”
What the hell… why so expensive?
A street-sold painting… for 500,000 won?
I remembered—back before my divorce, I once bought a small painting from a street vendor on my way home from work because the house felt too empty. That one had cost me 100,000 won.
And now this man wanted five times that amount for something even smaller.
It’s even smaller than that old one…
While I hesitated, the old man added,
“You buying or not? I’m clearing things out soon.”
Honestly, I didn’t know if this was the treasure. And the man definitely didn’t fit the “young” part of the hint.
If this really is the treasure, and I skip it, I could be losing out on more than 100 million won…
The old man began wrapping the painting.
There were about ten of them laid out.
If I buy them all… that’s 5 million won. If this is the treasure, it’s better to buy every single one.
“I’ll take them all.”
The old man refused without hesitation.
“No. I only sell up to three per person.”
“Three? Why not sell them all?”
“My choice. Now pick three.”
“…Alright, fine. Then I’ll take this one with the rat, this one with the monkey, and… that big one over there.”
The old man wrapped them and held up two fingers.
“Two million won for the lot.”
“Two million? You just said 500,000 each!”
“The big one’s a million. Take it or leave it.”
He started putting away the wrapping paper.
“Okay, okay! I’ll take them. You’re quite the salesman, sir.”
I pulled out my phone.
“I’ll transfer it to your account. Give me your bank details.”
Again, he refused immediately.
“I don’t do bank transfers. Cash only.”
“Cash? I don’t have enough on me right now…”
He pointed toward the ATM across the street.
“Withdraw it there. But if you’re not back in 10 minutes, I’m leaving.”
“Fine, I’ll be quick. Wait here.”
“Hurry. I mean it—10 minutes.”
Worried he might really leave, I rushed to the ATM. Luckily, there was no line, so I withdrew the cash right away.
On my way out, though, I noticed a rotisserie chicken shop by the ATM.
— Whole rotisserie chicken, only 10,000 won~!
Come to think of it… Grandpa used to love these…
When I returned, slightly out of breath, the old man was just finishing wrapping the paintings.
“You took your time. I almost left.”
“Haha, sorry. Here’s the money.”
I handed him the envelope with 2 million won inside.
“You didn’t count it?”
“Don’t worry, it’s all there.”
After taking a peek inside, he handed me the paintings.
Then, I gave him another bag.
“Here. For you to have at home.”
“Rotisserie chicken. They were selling it just over there. That’s why I was a bit late, haha.”
He was silent for a moment. Then, softly,
“…Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Haha, you reminded me of my late grandfather. He loved rotisserie chicken.”
“Is that so? Was he as stubborn as me?”
I couldn’t help laughing.
“Haha, yes. Very much so.”
He loaded the paintings into his handcart, and I helped push it to a smooth road before heading back to my place.
Back in my tiny room, the first thing I did was check the treasure map.
If what I’d just bought was truly the treasure, the hint should have changed. But it hadn’t.
What? So… it wasn’t the treasure?
Knowing it wasn’t the treasure, the big painting suddenly felt like a bad purchase.
Should’ve bought something smaller… now where am I even going to put this?
And looking closely… it wasn’t even that well-painted.
“I could probably draw something like this myself…”
Still, even though I’d wasted 2 million won, I wasn’t too upset.
Eh, whatever. I’ll just find the next one.
I leaned the paintings between my desk and the wall and went to bed.
When I woke up the next morning, my phone was buzzing with messages—from Manager Kim Yoon-tae and Assistant Manager Jung Mina.
[Sorry, Deputy Kang! I drank too much yesterday, haha. I don’t know what kind of business you’re running, but I’m glad it’s going well. Let’s meet again soon. And if it gets big, let me in on it! — Manager Kim]
[Deputy! I’m so sorry!!! I was embarrassing last night, wasn’t I? Ugh… so shameful. Oh, and the meat was delicious! Next time, drinks are on me! — Assistant Manager Jung]
Looks like they all got home safe.
I washed up, got dressed, and packed the treasure map just in case.
Huh? Where’s the hint?
It was there yesterday after I came home. But now, it had completely vanished.
Don’t tell me… someone else found the treasure first?
Before I could think too much, my phone pinged.
It was Jung Mina again.
[Deputy! Isn’t this near where we drank last night?! Apparently, for one hour yesterday, Banksy had a local acquaintance sell his paintings here in Korea! If anyone bought one, they hit the jackpot!!!]
I clicked the link she sent—
The man in the photo was the same old man from yesterday. And the paintings… they were the exact ones I bought.
After reading both the article and the Instagram post, it became clear: yesterday, that old man had been selling paintings on Banksy’s behalf.
So the reason the treasure map didn’t change yesterday… was because the paintings hadn’t yet become treasures. Only when Banksy posted them on Instagram this morning did their value skyrocket. That’s when the map’s hint disappeared.
So… it really was the treasure.
I carefully loaded the paintings into my car and headed to H Auction.
Team Leader Min greeted me right away.
“Ah, sir! About the Harry Potter first edition you left with us yesterday—someone contacted us wanting to buy it before the auction, at a high price.”
“Haha, we made a good profit thanks to you.”
He lowered his voice.
“So, what brings you here today? Another rare book?”
“No, a painting. You buy those too, right?”
His tone dipped, but then he perked up again.
“Yes, we do handle paintings. But the conditions are stricter. Unless it’s from a popular artist, the buyback price will be low.”
“That’s fine. You can judge for yourself. The paintings are in my car—could you help me bring them in? They’re a bit big.”
Truth be told, I could carry them myself, but I didn’t want to risk damaging them.
We went to the parking lot, and when he saw the size of the biggest painting, he seemed impressed.
“Wow, that’s huge. Oh, but I should mention—if the artist is unknown, we can’t buy it.”
“They’re not unknown.”
I slowly unwrapped the newspaper covering the paintings.
The moment the images appeared, Team Leader Min froze—then practically collapsed to the ground.
In a trembling voice, he asked,
“Th-this… this is a Banksy…?!”
“Yes. The very same one that appeared on Banksy’s Instagram this morning.”
“So… what do you think? Worth buying?”
“Then let’s move them inside and talk numbers.”
But he quickly stopped me.
“Wait! I’ll get a dolly and some padding. Please, wait here!”
He rushed back in, returned with a cart lined with layers of soft cloth, and carefully placed the paintings on top.
“Alright, sir. Shall we go inside?”