Beware of Liquor and Women (5)
Baek Jin-yong had arrived.
"Euuugh! The smell!"
I'd caught a whiff of something foul from afar, but I never dreamed it was coming from him. His once-pristine sky-blue martial robes were now stained with shit and piss marks.
"How did the owner end up here......?"
Baek Jin-yong stared at me with a look of utter disbelief, my nose pinched shut. Then, out of nowhere, he lunged forward and grabbed my hand in a death grip.
"Wh-what?!"
"Just as I thought! You brought my winnings, right? You came to save me!"
"Y-yeah... but maybe we could talk from a little farther aw—"
Baek Jin-yong yanked me into a bear hug. With his shit-stained body pressed right up against me.
"Wahaha! Thank you, great hero! Only a true hero would know my righteousness and chivalry! Haha!"
"No, get off—"
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"Get OFF me!!!"
My kick sent Baek Jin-yong tumbling far away. Ughhh. It got on my convenience store vest. It stinks......
Utterly unfazed, Baek Jin-yong sprang back up and struck a pompous pose.
"Ahem! As I said—what was it I told you? That paper was worth a hundred gold bars, wasn't it? As a righteous Murim warrior who knows my honor and loyalty, I'd forgive you all if you'd just apologize sincerely...... Huh?"
No sooner had Baek Jin-yong finished than two warriors seized his arms, one on each side.
"Wh-what's this? I paid my debt!"
"It ain't paid till the money's in."
"Wh-what?! Owner! I didn't pay up?"
Like hell you did. I'd left the store to Yoo Hwa-yeon—how was I supposed to guard a hundred gold bars all by myself?
Cheon Hyang ignored Baek Jin-yong's idiocy and turned to me.
"I've shown you he's safe. Now, shall we talk business?"
"Even if I go back to the store, I can't carry it alone. Lend me some of these sharp... er, warriors here, and I'll—"
"No."
Cheon Hyang smiled at me.
"I've been curious anyway. I was too busy working last time to really react, but that inn of yours was so mysterious. Let's go together. To that convenience store or whatever you call it."
Looks like I'd scored a pretty customer. Meanwhile, Baek Jin-yong wailed,
"Wh-what about me?!"
"Work till you're told to come."
"B-back in the sh-shit pit?!"
"Hurry up."
"Aaaah! No! I can't! You pig-nosed bastards! Try it yourselves! I'm gonna puke... urgh! Just thinking about it makes me hurl! Take me with you! You fucking assholes!!"
Screeeeech—A long, straight drag mark scarred the floor where they hauled Baek Jin-yong away.
I climbed into the carriage Cheon Hyang had prepared. She slipped in after me with a smile, and soon the carriage began rolling slowly forward.
Honestly, it was pretty novel from my perspective. Sure, I'd ridden cars, but never a Murim carriage. The bumpy ride must've shown on my face, because Cheon Hyang asked in her usual silky voice,
"First time in a carriage?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Pretty much."
"How long have you been running the inn?"
Why's she asking that? Even a normal question's tough for me to answer. I'd crash-landed in this Murim world just three months ago. Do I say three months? Or count my modern life too? Tough call.
"Been in the business since I grew up, I guess."
"And your age this year?"
"Twenty-eight."
"I'm four years older, then."
She flashed me a smile. '!!!'
Damn. How's she that gorgeous? They say you gasp at unreal beauty, and smiling Cheon Hyang was exactly that. I couldn't meet her eyes, so I stared out the window instead.
They always say: Beware of liquor and women. Snap out of it, Kim Jung-hyun. You've got a hundred gold bars—you're a tycoon now. You think she's smiling 'cause she likes you? In your dreams. A pretty noona like her smiling at a guy like me, who's never gotten a girl's smile in his life? Yeah, right. She's bewitching you like some fox spirit to steal all hundred bars. No way. No way am I falling for it. Women can't be trusted.
Slap! Slap! Cheon Hyang jumped at the sound of me smacking my own cheeks.
"Oh my. What was that......?"
"N-nothing. Anyway, how much was the debt?"
Leaning back against the seat, she murmured, "I wanted to talk more......" before continuing.
"Ten gold bars."
"Damn, that's a lot."
"And it's snowballed that much. Even with just ten percent interest. Speaking of business— what the hell makes that scrap paper worth a hundred gold bars?"
Cheon Hyang was sharp as hell. Every Murim warrior who'd visited the store had called fluorescent lights "night pearls," painkillers "special meds," ramen "namen"—whatever fit their fancy. But not her. She cut straight to the core. No blind acceptance. That made me even warier.
"Just know I've got the hundred gold bars. That's all."
"I know every bigwig in Hubei Province, and I've never heard of you. Gold doesn't fall from the sky."
It kinda did. Lottery. How do I explain? As I racked my brain, she said,
"You're a strange one, sir."
The air grew heavy in an instant. What did she mean by her gaze? "Strange" as in she didn't buy it?
"I don't mind secretive men... but hide too much, and the charm fades."
She leaned back casually, like it was nothing.
"Everyone's got their reasons. I'll wait till you're ready to spill. I just want my money anyway."
I sighed inwardly in relief. She'd let it slide? Sure, she'd been cool about it, but I couldn't blab about the convenience store system. They'd never get it—and it'd paint a target on my back. One Murim bullseye, and my life's over. Gotta protect the store at all costs. It's my bare-minimum safety net in this world.
"Thanks for understanding."
"No biggie."
Cheon Hyang gazed out the window. Market crowds streamed by. I stole a glance at her profile.
A beauty like that, running a brothel at her age? And a gambling den too. In modern terms, she's like the boss of a nightclub mob. What story got her owning Manokru at thirty-something?
"How'd you end up as a gambling den madam?"
She whipped around, eyes unreadable.
"Why? Bad to be a gambling madam? That awful?"
"N-no, not like that......"
"Same old story: parents needed cash, sold their forbidden treasure of a daughter to the brothel."
That's 'ordinary'? I felt bad now. Shouldn't have asked.
"Why that look?"
"Sorry. Didn't mean to poke at old wounds."
Listening closely, Cheon Hyang suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hahaha!! You're even stranger than I thought."
What's so funny?
"Don't feel too bad. Every courtesan's got a backstory like that. Normal guys just want the body—they don't care about the tale. You're the first like this."
Maybe she had hidden scars I didn't know. Made her seem a bit different. Sure, she ran a gambling joint and collected debts like a loan shark, but everyone's got their reasons.
As I mulled that over, the carriage halted.
"Madam. We're here."
We stepped out. Amid the eerie bamboo forest—like an ink drop spilled on a perfect painting—stood the utterly out-of-place modern convenience store.
"Wait here a sec."
I rushed inside and scanned the first-prize lottery barcode at the POS terminal.
[Prize Claim]
The Claim button flashed like it was begging to be pressed. Hitting this would dispense a hundred gold bars at once. Never won the lottery in twenty-eight years, so my heart raced. Even though it wasn't my money.
I pressed it.
Step away from the POS terminal!
I bolted from the counter. Then—whoosh!
Gold bars gleaming like they'd truly fallen from heaven tumbled out as the cash drawer flew open.
"Whoa."
I'd known it wasn't your average store, but this defied human logic. A gasp escaped me.
Thud! Once the last bar dropped, the drawer shut on its own. A hundred gold bars piled high on the counter floor, each shimmering gloriously.
I grabbed ten and headed out. Cheon Hyang's lips parted wider and wider at the sight in my hands.
"It was real."
"What would've happened if I'd lied?"
"Your inn wouldn't be standing."
"Haha... dodged a bullet there."
That casual about smashing my store?!
"Baek Jin-yong's debt is settled with this."
She beckoned a warrior behind her, who approached.
"Go free Baek Jin-yong."
"Yes, ma'am."
The warrior vanished in a blur.
"Anyway, business is done."
"Huh?"
"Care for a stroll?"
What twist was this?
"I'd like to chat more."
She pulled a spotless liquor bottle from her ample bosom.
"Truth comes out with drinks, right? Hehe."
She pressed right up against me with an irresistible sway. A thick, intoxicating floral scent wafted from her. Her eyes locked on mine, expectant.
And I said,
"Nah, pass."
I said no.
Crash! The bottle slipped from Cheon Hyang's hand and shattered to pieces.