Several days had passed since the beginning of the month and Keith was still nowhere close to completing his mission.
"Sir, you have spent quite some time looking at my wares. Have you decided what you want to purchase?" the shop owner asked Keith as he had spent an hour and half looking around, examing his wares in detail.
He knew a thing or two about antique wares from his collections in his past life so there were specific things he would look for in the wares to determine their worth
—Trying his best not to use his Eye Of Apollo skill as he's only allowed to use it three times in one day.
From Keith's appearance, the shop owner had a hunch that Keith was one of those antique enthusiasts that knew nothing about antiques at all, but wanted to hit big with luck.
Meanwhile, Keith didn't know much but he wasn't totally ignorant either.
Without the luxury to use his Eye Of Apollo skill to discern the authentic antiques with the counterfeits that were mass produced every day, he was stuck in the worst position.
Whether it be through reselling of both authentic and counterfiet antiques, the system only recognizes income transactions only if the item sold is authentic and if the price he sold the item for was higher than the cost price.
Therefore, he needs to find an authentic antique through the mountain of junk at a low cost and resell it for the system to recognise it.
It made sense since doing a discount event for the purpose of promoting a restaurant is common, but selling an antique below the cost price for the purpose of promotion is not.
"Sorry, I'm almost done." Keith replied with coy smile.
Then, all of a sudden, his peripheral vision caught something unique.
Immediately, he grabbed the item that caught his attention and started to observe it carefully.
It was a wooden horse made of modern dark wood. The horse was roughly the size of a human's palm.
What made it unique to him was the poor craftsmanship of the item and how crudely made it was.
When placed together with the rest of the attractive counterfeit antiques that the vendor was trying to sell, it stood out like a sore thumb.
"Hey, shop owner, what's the story with this artifact?" Keith asked the vendor while holding up the object.
"You mean that horse" the shop owner squinted his eyes and observed Keith for a while before replying.
"That belongs to the great family of Harlem, passed down by my great grandfather. It was a palace toy that was played by the famous emperor Druisi around 500 A.D! If you like it, I can sell it for you about thirty thousand dollars. No more. No less".
"Come on now. You know that's a bullshit story." Keith laughed. It was obvious the vendors in Orchard Street were trying to jack up prices to fool customers.
Nonetheless, it was an unspoken rule for the antique world that once a transaction was completed, it would be final even if the item is a counterfeit. This is because the value of an artifact varies for different people after all.
'Should I use the Eye Of Apollo on this horse?" Keith pondered for a while.
He had used it several times throughout his ventures on promising pieces of antiques for sale looking for treasure in Orchard Street, but unfortunately, he had no luck thus far.
Compared to the obvious counterfeits around him, the ugly antique was much more intriguing to him. He wanted to see what's the deal with this horse.
"Skill…" he intoned. "Eye of Apollo…"
Ti-tiring.
[Active Skill> Eye Of Apollo]
Channeling his mind to work, his pupils dilated. Soon, his irises started to change their colour, gradually turning to the signature colour of the system— Gold.
After he activated the skill, Keith turned his sight to the horse carving in his right hand. And when he did so, his hand trembled and he almost dropped his jaw.
Ti-tirng.
[Object Acquired]
[The Ashen Halo]
[A rare fusion of Obsidian and Diamond gems Imbedded inside a wooden horse carving, The Ashen Halo originated during 12,000 A.D and was hidden inside a hideous horse carving. The owner of the statue was trying to hide his prized possessions from others by sealing it inside a wooden horse carving.]
[Target Value]
[Horse Carving> $40]
[The Ashen Halo> $135,000]
Keith read the system description that was displayed on the holographic screen.
The more he read, the more his eyes widened in shock! He had struck a literal goldmine!
Who knew that the most hideous item in an antique shop would be the most valuable item of all!
Maintaining his composure so as to not give up the impression that he just discovered something price full, Keith pointed to another item available for sale to avoid the shop owner's suspicion.
"Hey boss, what about this vase? How much is it?"
"Oh this vase has a rich history. Produced by the craftsman in…"
"$10 for the vase…" Keith intentionally cut the vendor off. "Price is final, if you don't want to sell it then I will leave right now."
"Wait a minute, how about $100?" the shop owner counter offered.
"If you are that insincere, I will be leaving now…bye!" Keith replied and took conscious steps, showing the vendor that he was serious.
"Alright! Alright! Wait a second! Jeezz! You are one tough customer…" the vendor stopped Keith in his tracks with his arms wide open.
"Give me forty bucks and the vase is yours…"
Keith narrowed his eyes to a slit. "Twenty bucks…"
"Thirty bucks it yours…" the vendor countered again.
"Twenty five bucks…"
"Thirty five bucks it yours chief…"
"Throw in that hideous horse carving as a freebie and you've got yourself a deal…" Keith said with his palm open, inviting him for a hand shake to seal the deal.
"It's a deal! Here you go." after Keith handed over the thirty five dollars to the shop owner, he passed over the pretty vase and the horse carving to Keith.
Once the deal was done, the shop owner smiled inwardly. "What a fool! Paying thirty five dollars just for a counterfeit vase and a worthless wooden horse!"
Meanwhile, Keith was ecstatic inside as well. He had such great success just a first few days of the month.
If he could sell the Ashen Halo successfully at the valued price, he would become a multimillionaire in just a single day!
"Wait a minute, how much did you charge the man for the horse carving? I'll pay double the price!"
Right when Keith was about to leave the place, a sweet feminine voice stopped him dead in his tracks.