The Golden Toad Heist
— Special Quest Complete!
Special Quest: Raise the Affection of Grace Territory (Village 1) Citizens
✅ Successfully completed
🎁 Reward: Activate one new location of your choice (limited to places you have personally visited)
“What?”
Ha Dong-hee had been imagining some luxurious, high-end jewelry store somewhere in the world, but the condition that she could only activate places she had actually visited left her feeling utterly deflated.
“How many places have I even been to?”
Besides, a jewelry shop was somewhere she had never even considered stepping inside. When you’re struggling to put food on the table every single day, what possible reason would you have to visit a jewelry store?
Was activating a jewelry shop simply impossible?
Suddenly, every quest looming before her felt impossibly distant.
Just that morning, she had been brimming with hope at the constant ding-ding of notifications, thinking she might finally be able to open a jewelry shop.
“What do I do now…?”
She racked her brain for any place that might be worth money when the name of the jewelry shop she had once delivered to during her restaurant part-time job suddenly popped into her head.
“That’s right! I delivered to Borimdang!”
She hadn’t gone there to buy gold, but she had still gone. Since the status window hadn’t specified that she had to have purchased anything there, she figured she could open it as an activated location.
“I want to activate Borimdang as a new location.”
Please state the exact name of the jewelry shop you have visited. A single incorrect character may negatively affect already activated locations.
Negative effect?
Suddenly Dong-hee wasn’t sure if it was Borimdang or Boram-dang.
“Ugh, what do I do!”
She had never felt this kind of pressure, not even before a job interview.
After racking her brains and nearly tearing her hair out for a long time, Dong-hee suddenly lifted her head and spoke in a trembling voice.
“Bo… rim… dang?”
Her heart pounded wildly with every single syllable.
Please, please be right!
The moment the words left her mouth, the status window displayed “Loading…” as an arrow began spinning round and round.
Several minutes passed. Just as Dong-hee’s patience was about to run out, the status window etched the next message clearly before her.
Your activated locations have increased by 0.5 levels.
“Not even a full level, but 0.5? Why? Was the name wrong?”
She stared at the blue status window with anxious eyes, but it showed no further changes.
With a mixture of excitement and worry, she waited. Finally, the updated status window appeared before her.
“Yes!”
Dong-hee shot up from her seat, thrusting both arms into the air with a triumphant shout.
The jewelry shop had finally been added as an activated location. The activity radius becoming 2.5 instead of 3 felt a little off, but at least the name was there now. That was good enough for the moment.
Then she should go check it out!
After confirming her inventory was completely empty, Dong-hee stood in front of the front door that still stood proudly against one wall of the room. Her heart was pounding so violently she thought it might leap straight out of her mouth, so she pressed her lips tightly together.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Today the sound of entering the passcode seemed unusually loud. She was just going into her own room, yet her mouth went completely dry as if she were sneaking in to commit a burglary. At this rate, she felt like she might faint before she even reached Borimdang.
Strictly speaking, it did feel a bit like burglary.
Dong-hee took several deep, calming breaths, then flung the door wide open and stepped inside the studio apartment.
The first scene that greeted her was the same as last time. Through the hazy fog, at the end of the short path, the convenience store glowed with bright lights. Right beside it stood Borimdang with its old purple sign.
Thump. Thump.
The sound of her violently beating heart seemed to travel up her throat and echo inside her head.
What if it was empty? What if the owner was standing right there? What would she even say?
Even as she walked steadily toward Borimdang, her head spun with complicated thoughts.
The closer she got, the clearer the items displayed behind the glass walls became.
The jewelry inside the cases wasn’t the trendy designs popular among young people. Since it was an old shop, instead of light, delicate accessories, the pieces were heavy, substantial, and carried a dignified weight.
Thick gold bracelets as wide as a finger, necklaces studded with large gemstones, pearl necklaces and bracelets that glowed with a soft white luster, and matching earring sets.
On one side, colorful gemstone rings—the kind wealthy housewives might wear on every finger—were lined up in neat rows, sparkling brilliantly under the lights.
But the real highlight, without a doubt, was—
“Golden toads!”
Golden toad figurines ranging from the size of a pinky nail to the size of a fist. The largest one even had a sparkling jewel set into its eye.
Standing in front of the brightly lit Borimdang, Dong-hee pushed open the glass door with a heart full of nervous excitement.
“Hello?”
Feeling a little scared, Dong-hee glanced around the interior and called out in a long, thin voice.
Your Earth is currently !@#$%@#$^$@%&%^* due to !@#%^&!@#$^&*) and is in the middle of *^((^&%$%$#^%. As mentioned before, no other living beings exist in this space besides you. I shouldn’t have to repeat this every time, right? It’s annoying dealing with a user with a bad memory…
“Hey, I can see everything. If you’re going to mutter to yourself, at least hide it.”
Dong-hee snapped irritably at the last line, which was written in small but clear letters.
Every time she came here, she didn’t want to be reminded that no other living beings existed in this space. It was too frightening.
The moment it heard her voice, the status window slowly erased the text.
Dong-hee glared at it until the last letter disappeared, then slowly looked around Borimdang again.
That was when it happened.
The incompletely activated location you are currently in will close in approximately 10 minutes. Once the level increases, the time limit will disappear.
Would you like to begin the countdown now?
At the shocking news, Dong-hee’s voice rose on its own.
“What?”
Understood. Beginning 10-minute countdown now.
“Hey!”
09:59
Dong-hee yelled, but the status window had already switched to timer mode. Startled, she stopped looking around and began frantically opening display cases, sweeping necklaces, rings, and gold items into her inventory.
“The big ones! The big ones!”
Since the inventory counted by quantity rather than weight or volume, Dong-hee busily grabbed bulky items like necklaces, bracelets, and golden toads instead of small rings or earrings.
It felt eerily similar to looters smashing into stores during a riot in America and grabbing everything in sight.
While frantically sweeping up gold items, Dong-hee kept checking the status window.
The time was decreasing rapidly.
If you remain longer than the permitted time in an incompletely activated location, activation will be canceled and all acquired items will disappear.
The warning that heightened her anxiety flashed alternately with the blinking timer.
04:35
Thanks to her swift movements, the 400 inventory slots were filled with two minutes to spare.
“Ugh, I’m shaking so hard I might die.”
Even as she spoke, her voice trembled like a goat’s.
01:45
She wanted to take more, but there was no space left in her inventory, and she didn’t want to leave in such a rush either.
After one final check to make sure the inventory number had reached a full 400, Dong-hee flung the glass door wide open and stepped outside.
The moment the cool air touched her face, her wildly racing heart finally began to calm down a little.
When she turned back to look through the glass wall, just like at the convenience store, the items she had taken were back in their original places, completely filling the display cases again.
“Jackpot!”
A laugh escaped her lips involuntarily.
“I’m rich now?”
The jeweler arrived at the estate faster than expected. Claiming he had been passing nearby and the timing was perfect, he strutted arrogantly. Butler Scrooge hurriedly escorted him into the drawing room.
Even in front of the lord, he kept his head held high, staring at Dong-hee with a haughty, leisurely expression. The wrinkles between his plump brows suggested he was displeased at being dragged to such an insignificant estate.
His hair was slicked with oil and parted in a precise two-to-eight ratio. His thick, dark brown eyebrows matched his hair color. Beneath heavy eyelids, his greedy amber eyes gleamed sharply. With his blunt nose and thick lips, the man looked exactly like the golden toad Dong-hee had stolen from Borimdang not long ago.