Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Ticket to the Thousand Gold Hall
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"No. Just something I got off a smuggler I busted. Came from China."
A total bald-faced lie, but a plausible enough answer. China was this massive landmass that still hadn't fully sorted out its problems. In fact, there were spots in China you could visit while playing the game. Though, after those quests, you'd get hit with disasters like the Beijing collapse or an avatar descent... so it was best to steer clear if you could.
"Anyway."
I cut in before anything more annoying could come up, redirecting the conversation.
"How's the payout?"
Jeong Eun-taek gave me a suspicious look, but he shrugged it off soon enough.
"Eh, whatever. Two grand each makes eight."
"What?"
Even being generous, these could've fetched a hundred and twenty million. Haggling was one thing, but slashing it to forty million?
"I'd pay more if I had it. Peaceful times like these make this business tough."
In the game, he'd pull the same wordplay routine before shelling out two hundred million or three hundred million without batting an eye, so no real surprise there.
"I'm making a big concession here. Just give me a clean hundred million."
"No money."
"You really don't have it?"
"Yeah."
Getting bolder by the second.
"Fine then. I was gonna buy something anyway, so you'll make money off that."
"Hah, fine. What're you buying?"
I pulled a paper from my pocket and handed it to Jeong Eun-taek. I'd listed out the items I needed ahead of time.
His wrinkled face scrunched up even more as he took it.
"What the hell is this? You holding a rite or something?"
"Kinda like that. Buy all this, deduct it from the mana stones, and just hand me a hundred million in cash."
"What?! You trying to rob me blind?!"
Can't blame him for yelling.
The stuff I'd requested tallied up to about fifty million.
Fifteen million for four mana stones was a bit steep even for high purity, but considering his costs, he could still pocket a decent margin.
He seemed to catch on late, and his expression softened.
"You... this is the exact same pattern as last time..."
Yup. Same haggling tactic I used when offloading other goods here before. Looked like he just realized he'd fallen for it again.
"But you started the same pattern first, didn't you?"
"Urgh... damn it... trying to rip out my whole foundation... hold on."
Jeong Eun-taek carefully pocketed the mana stones, muttering like he was on his deathbed, then shuffled off to the back room with the safe.
The second Grandpa disappeared, Jeong Ye-eun scooted right up and started talking.
"Uncle, Uncle."
"Yeah?"
"You catch ghosts too? You a shaman?"
"Nope."
"But why the rite?"
"Not doing a rite."
"You said you were earlier?"
"Said it was something similar. When'd I say a rite?"
"Hmm... really?"
Jeong Ye-eun's face shifted to bored already.
"Ghosts keep showing up at our house every night. That's what you're gonna catch, right?"
"Whoa, for real?"
Her eyes sparkled. Never really interacted with her much in the game, but turns out she was into this stuff.
"Yeah."
"But you're not a shaman. How do you catch ghosts?"
"Like bugs. Spray some pesticide, lay out sticky traps—ones that die, die; ones that leave, leave. Tough ones, you wrap 'em in the sticky stuff and toss 'em outside."
"Hmm... for real?"
Now she looked skeptical, just like her grandpa's suspicious face sometimes.
I didn't hide it and told her straight up, and she let out a furious yell, jumping around like crazy.
"Hey... careful, you're gonna..."
Crash! Rumble...
Stuff behind Jeong Ye-eun came tumbling down.
Thought she was behaving today...
Luckily, it was better organized than last time, so no chain reaction disaster.
If she hadn't panicked and hopped away, that is.
Thud, shatter! Clatter—
Nope. Ended up with the full-blown breakage-and-smash level of chaos anyway.
"Hey, Jeong Ye-eun!"
Jeong Eun-taek came charging out, bellowing.
"No, Grandpa, this is..."
"Argh... what the hell's wrong with you... when are you gonna clean that crap up..."
Jeong Ye-eun looked doomed trying to dodge his rage, but it wasn't gonna be easy.
Even after that, his nagging and her backtalk dragged on forever. When the hell are you gonna get your act together? Better off if I ran the shop alone. You take your allowance regular but keep causing trouble? Ugh, Grandpa, cut me some slack—this place is a mess to start with. Stacking stuff all willy-nilly makes it fall!
Didn't wanna interrupt their cozy grandfather-granddaughter chat, so I waited a bit, but it showed no signs of stopping.
"Sir, I gotta head out now."
"Urgh... yeah, yeah. Go on."
No, seriously—this guy... go where exactly?
"...After you settle up the mana stones and items."
"Oh, right. Ugh... Jeong Ye-eun! You clean all that up!"
"Ah, Grandpa! How am I supposed to clean this alone?!"
"Don't care! Your mask buddy's gotta go!"
Jeong Eun-taek yelled a few more times, then stormed back inside without mercy.
Jeong Ye-eun shot me a pleading look, but I just gave her a thumbs-up of encouragement.
Not my fault no matter how you slice it, right?
"Ahem!"
Jeong Eun-taek came back quicker than expected.
A big metal tray piled high with stacks of bills. Why the hell serve money like that?
Let's see...
He'd sworn he only had eight million, but there was exactly a hundred million stacked up neat.
"Said you only had eight million—how'd you scrape up the rest?"
Of course, the "only eight million" bit was just a cheap haggle ploy.
A guy running a risky back-alley pawnshop in Paju, banking on his hidden cash stash—think he'd really be short a hundred million in cash? Probably billions stashed back there.
"Hmph."
Jeong Eun-taek just snorted at my jab and fiddled with the other items he'd brought.
Yeah, that's how you make money in business.
While he fussed, I inspected the bills closer.
"Here. The stuff you wanted."
Big wooden chunks, a few boxes, bottles, and bags in black plastic.
"This the warding wood...? And these bottles are holy water, right?"
Plain plastic water bottles, no labels.
Holy water and warding wood didn't do much on their own as material items, but infuse 'em with mana, and you could expect some solid buffs.
"Yeah. Got 'em from the shaman house the other day. Not stuff I stock regular, so you got lucky."
"Good timing."
"And that big box there."
Jeong Eun-taek half-assedly pointed at one of the boxes I was holding.
"This one?"
"Yeah. That's got the spirit mirror in it."
"Oh."
A spirit mirror was what shamans used for rites or divining.
No sacred power meant I couldn't divine with it, but enchant it right, and it'd work as protective gear against possessions.
'Though it wouldn't stop an abyssal entity from crawling into my head...'
If I played it smart, maybe block a nightmare or two.
"Thanks."
"Hmph. That settles it?"
"Nah. One more thing."
"What now?"
"Wanna go to the Thousand Gold Hall."
Jeong Eun-taek's grumpy, annoyed face twisted further. He held an ambiguous expression wordlessly for a bit, only speaking up right as Ye-eun started sensing something off.
"...What makes you think you're qualified?"
"No qualifications, but you could make that happen, right?"
He scowled hard, sighed, and said,
"You work under Tudor? She tip you off?"
"Nope. And I'm not under Tudor to begin with."
"Grandpa, what's the Thousand Gold Hall?"
Jeong Ye-eun, unable to hold back her curiosity, butted in.
"The Thousand Gold Hall is... nah, nothing you need to know."
"Come on, what is it?"
"Tell that damn witch Tudor if she pulls this again, no soup for her."
"I told you, not Tudor."
"Then who? Gwang-rim?"
Why's Park Gwang-rim's name popping up? Leave him be, and he'll list every broker in Paju.
I tapped my mask fingers idly, then pulled out another item I'd brought with the mana stones to show him.
"If you don't wanna introduce me, just dispose of this for me. No need to go to the Thousand Gold Hall then."
"What? You punk—in Paju, you think there's anything I can't fence...?"
What I held was a tiny metallic scale.
Discolored black now, but up close, you could still guess its original sheen. Once gleamed with an eerie golden hue—a scale harvested from the Golden Dancer.
Jeong Eun-taek peered at the scale, jolted back in shock, and retreated.
"Whoa, hey! You lunatic!"
He made a warding gesture and yanked Ye-eun behind him.
"Eek, Grandpa, what's that for?"
"...Tell the truth. You crossed the Imjin River, didn't you?"
"Told you no."
"No way something like that spawns anywhere but beyond the Imjin!"
Well, it came from Tanhyeon right under the Imjin. No need or reason to mention that.
"Grandpa, what's that thing?"
"Jeong Ye-eun, stay put!"
She flinched and backed off at his shout.
"Traded here and there, and an opportunity just kinda came up."
"Fine... you ruin your own life, who am I to stop you."
"So, can you write the recommendation?"
"Recommendations aren't handed out like candy. Plus, no spots open now."
"Someone'll leave soon. Put me on the waitlist."
"...Give it a week—no, to be safe, two or three weeks. Come back then. I'll feel him out."
"Got it."
"No guarantee there'll be a spot even then."
"Don't care. Looks like the best help I can give is to scram quick, so... see ya."
"Come again!"
"What's got you so excited?!"
"Come on, you said greet customers when they leave!"
"This the time? Ack, hold up—this one's really broken. Oh man... do you know how much that cost..."
I bolted out of the pawnshop, leaving their fresh round of bickering behind.
Now my bag held the items from the pawnshop and a hundred million in cash.
Like Jeong Eun-taek said, some things you can't buy even if you want to if the timing's off. Lucky to grab it all in one go without a second trip.
More items and bulk now, but way lighter than the mana stones.
Fancy calling 'em mana stones—they were basically just hunks of rock by weight.
But psychologically? This felt heavier.
Add in what's already in the bank...
'Four hundred million?'
Truth was, peanuts compared to the value of stuff shoved in my room.
Factor in top-tier artifacts like the Butcher's Hook, sell everything I'd collected so far, and I might be counting in billions or tens of billions soon.
If I were peaceful-world Kim Shin-hwa, I'd probably declare economic freedom at this point.