Meeting the Enchanter
After my meeting with the principal, I now stood in front of a luxurious accessory shop in Cheongdam-dong. The shop had a sign that read Nui Loa.
NUI LOA
I opened the door and stepped inside. The interior unfolded like a high-end clinic. Women who appeared to be staff handled registrations at the reception desk while customers sat waiting in the lounge. The key difference from an actual hospital was the overwhelmingly luxurious décor that adorned every surface.
A long line of people stood in front of the reception counter, each waiting their turn.
“Next customer, please step forward.”
The man who heard the call strode forward confidently and spoke.
“I have a reservation to meet someone named Baek Rin today. Can I see him immediately?”
“Ah… one moment please. I’ll need to make a call.”
The woman at the desk dialed a number. After speaking briefly, she hung up with a heavy sigh.
“I’m afraid Mr. Baek Rin has unavoidable personal matters today and cannot meet with anyone. I apologize.”
“What? I made a reservation and came all the way here. What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Something urgent came up and—”
“You think that’s an acceptable excuse?”
“I’m truly sorry.”
“Haa… just my rotten luck. Fuck.”
The man scowled fiercely and spun on his heel.
“Just wait. I’ll make sure that Baek Rin bastard comes out whether he wants to or not.”
With those parting words, he pulled out his phone and made a call. It looked like he planned to use his connections to force Baek Rin to appear.
“Next customer, please.”
“I also reserved a meeting with Mr. Baek Rin and came here today.”
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Baek Rin is currently unable to meet with anyone.”
“But I have a reservation?”
“I apologize.”
The next customer, and the one after that, had all come for the same person. Each time, the receptionist sent them away with apologies. The long line in front of the desk vanished in moments. Every single one of them had been here to see Baek Rin.
I nodded to myself. It made sense. Artifacts were normally discovered inside dungeons or fields. But on very rare occasions, there existed ability users capable of creating them. These individuals could imbue magic into objects to manufacture artifacts. In other words, possessing one allowed the user to activate the magic sealed within it.
Of course, there were clear limits to what magic could be imbued. Those limits varied from creator to creator. Their market value was decided by the highest circle of magic they could successfully grant. That was precisely why Baek Rin’s price was astronomical—he could imbue magic up to the 4th Circle.
Considering that most enchanters topped out at the 2nd Circle, he was undeniably a monster in the field. In Korea, he ranked among the absolute top class. Demand for his work never dried up despite the exorbitant cost. His schedule was booked solid six months in advance.
I walked straight up to the reception desk.
“…Yes, sir. How may I help you?”
The receptionist’s voice was drained of energy. She sounded exhausted, and for good reason—she had just endured a nonstop barrage of complaints.
“I’m here to see Mr. Baek Rin.”
“…Ha.”
She let out a deep, weary sigh.
“Did you not hear the conversations just now?”
“Pardon?”
“Mr. Baek Rin is unable to meet with anyone at this time. Furthermore, you don’t have a reservation. Your name isn’t on the list.”
Her tone had grown noticeably irritated.
“Ah, that’s not a problem.”
“Not a problem? Even people with reservations can’t see him. If you came without one, then—”
“Could you please deliver a single message to Mr. Baek Rin?”
“…Haa. Fine. What is it?”
“Tell him I was referred by Cha Jiyun.”
“!!!”
Her eyes flew wide open.
“You mean the Cha Jiyun who recently became president of Samhwa Bio?”
“Yes. Just tell him I came on her recommendation.”
“Understood. I’ll relay the message immediately. Please take a seat over there while you wait.”
Her attitude had flipped a full one-eighty. I walked to the chair in the back and sat down. The cushion was incredibly soft. Yet I could feel a persistent stare boring into me from the side. When I turned, I saw the same man who had argued with the receptionist earlier. He looked me up and down.
“Hey. How old are you?”
He started with informal speech right from the first sentence.
“Me? None of your business.”
Since he’d opened with banmal, I saw no reason to bother with politeness either.
“What? Look at this kid’s attitude. Do you even know who I am?”
“…”
I decided to ignore him completely.
“You know Hanshin Chemical, right? I’m the president. And I’m only twenty years old. Pretty impressive, huh? Already sitting at the head of a company at twenty.”
He shrugged arrogantly.
I had heard of Hanshin Chemical before. It was also a stock I remembered never to touch. The president ran the company like a spoiled brat and drove it straight into the ground.
“You look like an academy student. Let this hyung give you some advice. Forget this place and go to a normal artifact shop. Buy some cheap ones for a few hundred thousand won.”
“…..”
“This place is way out of your league. You should get artifacts that match your station, don’t you think? There’s no point coming here just to feed your vanity.”
He smirked.
“And I overheard you say you wanted to meet Baek Rin?”
“…”
“That lunatic cancels reservations on a whim even when people show up with them. Want me to teach you how I meet him?”
“…”
“Yeah, I’ll tell you. You seem like a cute dongsaeng, so I’ll help you out.”
“…”
“You have to pressure the bastard through every connection you have.”
“…”
“But you don’t have any connections like that, do you? Well, of course not. What kind of network could a mere academy student possibly have? Obviously none.”
“….”
“Just so you know, I already called every city councilor and district representative in this area. That guy won’t be able to hide. You should hurry and call your own people too if you want to meet him.”
I chose to keep ignoring him.
When I remained silent, he laughed under his breath.
“Ah, right. Even if I tell you the method, it’s useless for you. Since you don’t have the connections, you couldn’t use the information anyway. Kekeke—”
He cackled. The whole speech had been nothing but mockery from the start.
Creak—
BAEK RIN’S PRIVATE ROOM
The door labeled with that plate swung open. Every customer seated in the lounge instantly turned to stare.
“Whoa, is that really Baek Rin?”
“First time I’ve seen him come out of the private room.”
“Wow, never seen him in person before. Doesn’t he usually refuse to come out?”
Baek Rin was a surprisingly young-looking man with messy hair and heavy dark circles under his eyes.
“See? You couldn’t stay hidden forever. Should’ve come out sooner.”
The man beside me grinned.
“Kid, you watching? That’s the power of connections. Ah, but you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
He looked at me and smirked.
Surprisingly, Baek Rin began walking straight toward the man.
“Yes, yes. This is exactly it.”
The man grinned wider.
Baek Rin stopped in front of him and spoke in a tired, listless voice.
“Is it you?”
“Yeah, it’s me. President of Hanshin Chemical.”
“What is your name?”
“Me? Kim Min-sik.”
Baek Rin shook his head.
“Ah. Then it’s not you.”
“…What?”
The man’s face twisted. He glanced sideways, and our eyes met.
“May I ask your name?”
“It’s Nam Doyun.”
“You were introduced by Jiyun?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then I’ll just take one photo for confirmation.”
Click—
He snapped a picture with his phone and sent it somewhere. A moment later, his phone chimed with an incoming message. It seemed he had received confirmation from Cha Jiyun.
His expression brightened at once.
“You really are one of Jiyun’s acquaintances. Please follow me to my private room.”
He smiled warmly, an expression that seemed completely out of character.
“…Wh-what? You’re meeting him instead of me?”
The man beside me stuttered in panic.
“Who are you?”
Baek Rin asked with a puzzled tilt of his head.
“…What? Didn’t you get the call from the councilor?”
“Ah. So that call was about you.”
He gave a light nod, then looked at me, completely treating the man beside me as invisible.
“Anyway, let’s go, Doyun. Pay him no mind.”
I stood up. Before following, I turned back and spoke.
“Was that connection you were bragging about really that weak? Pfft—”
I smirked. All eyes in the room suddenly focused on him. His face flushed crimson in an instant.
As I followed Baek Rin, he spoke to the receptionist.
“Put the president of Hanshin Chemical on the blacklist. Ensure he is never allowed back inside.”
“Yes, understood.”
The seated customers began glancing at him and whispering among themselves.
“What on earth did he do to get blacklisted?”
“Seriously. What an embarrassing scene.”
“Ugh—”
The man glanced around nervously, then bolted out the door.