Open for Business

Summer vacation was already here. Back when I was living as a bread shuttle, the semesters felt agonizingly long. It felt like break would never come, but now that I'd escaped that shuttle life, the semester had flown by.

I still remained invisible to everyone. Well, almost everyone. Kwon Jua kept paying attention to me. It seemed like she'd even stopped by my house a few times. I figured it out when I found instant ramen sitting on the wooden platform outside—ramen that hadn't been there before. I didn't even eat that brand. She just bought whatever she wanted without even knowing my taste.

I had no idea what was going through her head, why she was showing interest in me or why she kept coming to my place. Honestly, it looked like she didn't even know her own mind, so how was I supposed to? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Not that I wanted to know anyway. If I had to guess, she probably just missed the sense of liberation she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠felt here that day and came back a few times to chase it. She was probably using it as a spot to blow off steam whenever she got stressed. I had a pretty good idea, but I pretended not to notice. I didn't want myself or my house to be used as someone else's stress-relief valve. If you want to relieve stress or feel liberated, go hiking, go to a campsite, go to a coin karaoke booth, or work out. Why come to my house? It just made things awkward. So, I made an effort to ignore her even more coldly.

With vacation starting, I decided to get a part-time job. Actually, scratch that—it wasn't a part-time job, it was a business. I needed money. Thanks to my Inventory, I had no trouble putting food on the table, but cash was still tight. I had tried buying and selling things on Danggeun Market, but after doing it a few times, I realized it wasn't for me. If things didn't sell, I'd get stressed and find myself lowering the prices. I was also constantly paranoid about getting caught. Food wasn't an issue since I could just eat it myself, but physical goods left a paper trail. Maybe that's why it kept me on edge. I couldn't keep selling stolen goods from the mart on Danggeun Market forever. I still had some cash left over, but money was a constant necessity. So, while looking for something to do over the summer break, I decided to sell ice cream at a mountain peak.

The idea had come to me during a recent hiking trip with the boxing gym to build up our stamina. Once we reached the summit, the director had sighed. "Ah, man... hitting a cold ice cream up here would be absolutely killer."

"Huh? If you brought ice cream all the way up here, it'd be completely melted. How could anyone eat ice cream up here?" the coach scoffed, treating the director's words like utter nonsense.

"You don't know? In the old days, people used to sell ice cream at mountain peaks. They'd carry them up in coolers."

"Really?"

"Look it up on that internet you love so much. Of course they did."

"Hold on... let me search. Huh? It's true!"

Watching from the side, I was just as surprised. People really sold ice cream at the top of mountains? They climbed up with those heavy coolers just to sell them? While I found their dedication impressive, another thought simultaneously crossed my mind: What if I sold ice cream during summer break? I had my Inventory, after all. If I wanted ice cream right now, other hikers would surely feel the same.

"But why did they stop?"

"How should I know, you punk? Probably because it was too exhausting. Plus, everyone carries insulated tumblers these days, or they freeze their own water bottles at home. Since people have ways to bring cold drinks up themselves, ice cream sales probably dropped. That's probably why they quit."

That hiking trip got me thinking. What if I sold ice cream at a mountain peak during summer vacation? I figured it was a solid plan. I began preparing in advance. First, I went to a mart and put a decently sized cooler into my Inventory. This was a crucial test. If the cooler was too big to fit inside the Inventory, the entire business would be dead in the water. Frankly, I had zero confidence in my ability to carry a heavy cooler up a mountain. Filled with anxiety, I placed my hand on a fairly large cooler—one that looked like it might not fit—and willed it into the space.

Slide.

It slipped inside effortlessly. Perfect. It worked. Now, all I needed was the ice cream.

I could have just bought it from a regular mart, but I wanted to get it even cheaper. I headed to an unmanned ice cream shop. Standing in the empty store, I felt a sudden, fleeting urge to sweep everything into my Inventory. But I held back. It was one thing to dodge a camera or two, but stealing this volume of stock was asking for trouble. Besides, this was a business venture. I didn't want to build my business on stolen goods. I wanted to run this one fair and square. First, I had to select my inventory. I was staring at the freezers, trying to figure out which ice creams would sell best, when a man who looked like the owner walked in. He immediately began tidying up the store. I naturally picked up a single ice cream bar and paid for it. The owner glanced at me briefly before returning to his work. I decided to strike up a conversation.

"Excuse me, are you the owner here?"

"Yeah. Why?" his voice was a bit gruff. Did I look like a difficult customer? Was he worried I was going to complain about a half-eaten ice cream being melted and demand a refund?

"I'm sorry to pry, but could you tell me how much you pay wholesale for these ice creams?"

"What? Why are you asking that?"

"I want to sell ice cream at a mountain peak during this summer break."

"You're going to carry these up a mountain to sell them?"

"Yes."

"Forget it, kid," the man said, his tone softening into a more relaxed, grandfatherly register.

"I don't know what kind of rumors you heard that made you want to sell ice cream on a mountain, but you need to be realistic. How many ice creams do you think you can actually sell in a day up there?"

Damn. I hadn't actually thought about that.

"About a hundred?"

"Do a hundred people even pass by the spot where you'll be standing? And do you think every single one of them is going to buy an ice cream?"

"I'm not really sure about that."

"At the very least, shouldn't you figure out how many people pass by your spot a day, what time is the busiest, what the age demographic is, and what those age groups actually like?"

"I suppose so."

Honestly, I had no clue. I had assumed I could just go up the mountain and start selling. I had only focused on how easy it would be to transport the goods using my Inventory, completely neglecting to think about who my actual customers would be.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Do you think you can even fit a hundred ice creams in a cooler? I think that's going to be tough. The weight of a hundred ice creams plus the weight of the cooler itself adds up. Coolers are pretty heavy. And you're going to carry that all the way to the summit? It's absolutely not easy. Even if you manage to bring a hundred, can you sell them all before they melt? What if you don't? You'll have to throw them all away. Have you calculated that?"

The owner continued, "Let's say you get lucky and sell all one hundred. That's great. But how much profit does that actually leave you with? From what I see, no matter how much you markup, you can't make more than 2,000 won per bar. Sell a hundred, and that's 200,000 won. It's not pocket change, but considering the sheer physical labor involved, it's not exactly a goldmine either. You have to factor in the losses from unsold melted stock, and you have to value your own labor. Looking at it from that perspective... just focus on your studies. That's your best bet. If that's not an option, go learn a trade. Don't go throwing yourself into half-baked business schemes."

Every single word he said was painfully accurate. People always said the truth hurts, and now I finally understood what they meant. I had never been hit with such cold, hard facts before. Then again, nobody had ever cared enough to talk to me like this. Still, the old man wasn't one hundred percent correct. I had something other people didn't: my Inventory. I didn't have to lug a heavy cooler up the mountain, nor did I have to worry about the ice cream melting. Inside the Inventory, items remained in their exact original state. I could just pull out what I needed as I went. I had said a hundred a day, but who knew how many I could actually sell? More than anything, I just wanted to try.

"I still want to try. I really want to do this."

"Well, if you're that set on it..."

"Can I buy the ice cream from you?"

"A hundred of them?"

"Yes."

"Right now?"

"Not right now. I need to start once vacation begins, so in three days."

The owner pondered for a moment before speaking. "Most of the ice cream bars here retail for 700 won. Depending on the brand, I usually get them wholesale for around 400 to 500 won. Tell you what, I'll just give them to you for 500 won a piece. A clean 50,000 won for a hundred bars."

"Oh, thank you so much! I'll pay in cash. No receipt needed."

"Is that so? Then I'll throw in some dry ice for free as a bonus."

"Thank you so much."

With that, I completed all my preparations and was ready for summer break to begin.

The first day of vacation, and the official start of my business. I had picked up the ice cream from the owner the day before. After storing the cooler packed with a hundred ice cream bars into my Inventory, I headed toward the mountain. The mountain I chose was Bukhansan Mountain. Why Bukhansan? The reason was simple. It was the number one hiking destination in South Korea, drawing seven million visitors a year. That averaged out to about twenty thousand people a day. If I wasn't going to sell here, where else would I go? Though the climb was a bit grueling, the stamina I'd built up from boxing paid off, and it wasn't as exhausting as it could have been. After nearly two hours of hiking, the summit came into view. Taking the shop owner's advice to heart, I had climbed the mountain a couple of times beforehand to scout out the perfect spot. My choice was the very peak. There were already plenty of shops at the entrance of the trail, and even at the rest stops and mountain shelters. The summit, however, was completely empty. There was also a decent amount of flat space. I set up camp in a shaded area and prepared to sell. I pulled the cooler out of my Inventory, set up a folding camping chair, and sat down. Then, I hung up a makeshift sign I'd scribbled on a piece of cardboard.

I had agonized over the pricing. In the end, this felt right. If it was too expensive, people wouldn't buy it. They could easily just hold out and eat one once they got back down. What they were buying here was a fleeting moment. It wasn't just the taste of the ice cream; it was the sweet taste of success, paired with the sense of accomplishment from conquering the peak. They wanted to enjoy that feeling with a cold treat. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠If the price was too steep or unreasonable, they'd pass on it.

I reached the summit around 10:00 AM. As soon as I set up my makeshift stall, a middle-aged man resting nearby walked over.

"You selling ice cream?"

"Yes, sir. Which one would you like?"

I flung the cooler wide open. Inside, the ice cream bars were neatly arranged by type.

"Oh, wow. You don't see this one around much these days."

The man picked out a BB-Big, a classic red bean-flavored bar. He handed me 3,000 won in cash and walked off.

After that... people started swarming in, one after another.

"Four of these is 10,000 won, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"How much for three?"

"7,500 won."

"Do you take card?"

*As if.* I was running an unregistered business and evading taxes here; did they really think I'd have a card reader? Why didn't they just ask for a cash receipt while they were at it?

"Do you have any water or drinks?"

*What, do you think this is a supermarket? Why don't you ask if I have makgeolli too?*

"Hey, you don't happen to have any makgeolli, do you?"

Someone actually asked for makgeolli.

"Do you have gimbap or anything to eat? I'm starving."

*I'm starving too.* If I'd known it would be like this, I would have eaten a hearty breakfast before coming up.

"How old are you? You're quite handsome. What time do you finish today? Once you sell all of these, you're done, right? We'll buy the rest, so why don't you come hang out with us afterward?"

*Ma'am, if you hang out with me, you're going straight to jail. I'm a minor.* And if you're going to make an offer like that, at least do it when the cooler is full. There are only a few left at the bottom; making a grand gesture now is a bit much.

Even though I'd only been selling for a short while, I encountered all walks of life. Thanks to the rush, I sold out completely before it even hit noon. I had only been selling for barely two hours. With no more ice cream left, I packed up immediately.

The 50,000 won investment had turned into 250,000 won in just two hours.

*Wow.* Incredible. Was making money really this easy? I had just been sitting there. The only real effort I'd put in was climbing the mountain. Other people climbed mountains just for their health, but here I was, getting a workout *and* making bank. What an absolute steal. I was going to go all-in on this for the rest of the summer.

On my way down, I called the ice cream shop owner.

"Boss, I'll take five hundred ice creams tomorrow. Also, could you freeze two cases of 500ml water bottles? Yes, yes, twenty-four bottles per case. I'll take those too."

—*What? Five hundred? That's crazy! You won't even be able to carry them all. And water bottles on top of that?*

"Don't worry. A friend agreed to help me."

—*If you split the profits with a friend, you'll barely make anything.*

As expected, the owner was a worrywart.

After descending the mountain, I bypassed my house and headed straight to the traditional market. The market was a sensory overload of food. Mung bean pancakes, tteokbokki, pig's trotters, blood sausage, fish cakes, dumplings... there were endless delicacies triggering my salivary glands, but I wasn't here to buy food for myself. Today's sales had shown me that the customers' needs were incredibly diverse. While I couldn't cater to every single demand, I figured it wouldn't hurt to stock up on a variety of items. After all, food never spoiled inside my Inventory.

"Give me some cucumbers and apples, please."

"Ten rolls of gimbap, please."

"Five orders of cold noodles, packaged separately, please."

"Ten hamburger meals, please. Package them individually."

I also stopped by a large warehouse mart to stock up on various beverages, and then hit a camping supply store to grab a proper camping chair and a table.

I could hardly wait for tomorrow's business to begin.