I'm a Millionaire!
"I'll let you propose the price first," Bukjin said.
He didn't have a deep understanding of this particular industry yet. After a moment of deliberation, Yang Chim-ju spoke up.
"One hundred gold coins."
Hearing that, Bukjin's heart began to race. One hundred gold coins a year? It sounded like a pretty decent deal.
Yeong-juk added another comment to her husband's offer. "Even though one hundred gold coins a month might seem a bit low for now, once our shop's influence grows and we secure a stable distribution network, we can always renegotiate the price. Bukjin, if you have any other requests besides the usage fee, please let us know. We can discuss them together."
Wait, hold on! One hundred gold coins a month? Bukjin was stunned. They're giving me that much? That's enough to fully charge my smartphone several times over!
"Fine," Bukjin said, keeping his voice steady. "Let's go with that price."
In truth, he could have pushed for more. But Bukjin wasn't an overly greedy man. Honestly, his personality wasn't exactly suited for this kind of business. Besides, once the Iron Hammer Head Weapon Shop made the Heavenly Horse Meteor Arm famous, he could find other ways to make money by leveraging other weapon merchants and the broader market.
"And as for my other requirements..." Bukjin paused, thinking for a moment. "Please don't advertise that the blueprints for the Heavenly Horse Meteor Arm came from a mere student like me. I just want to focus on my training every day. I don't want my pure heart to be tainted by the distractions of wealth. So, if other weapon merchants come looking to negotiate for sub-licensing or distribution rights, you two decide how to handle it. I trust your professional judgment completely."
Yang Chim-ju and Yeong-juk were both deeply moved. He trusts us this much?
The value of the Heavenly Horse Meteor Arm was beyond most people's imagination. If its incredible power became known to the market, there might even be people willing to cut off their own arms just to equip such a formidable weapon. The Heavenly Horse Meteor Arm was, quite literally, a goose that laid golden eggs—a tree that grew money.
As they spoke with him, the couple realized that Bukjin didn't yet fully grasp the true value of what he held. And yet, he was still placing his full trust in them. This realization made Yang Chim-ju and Yeong-juk feel a wave of shame.
When they had first met Bukjin, they had judged him as a spoiled brat because of his notorious reputation and scandals, and they had overcharged him by about two hundred gold coins. Even just moments ago, Yang Chim-ju had been tempted to rip him off again because of Bukjin's annoying attitude.
Guilt washed over them. They exchanged a brief look. After some careful thought, they decided that the boy standing before them wasn't a bad person at all. In fact, they felt he was far more generous and loyal than any other boy his age. Well, except for the things that came out of his mouth.
They began to see Bukjin in a new light. After a brief silence, Yang Chim-ju spoke.
"Bukjin, how about this? I'll give you a twenty percent share of the net profits generated by our weapon shop every month. Of course, that's assuming we don't have a deficit that month."
Bukjin answered immediately, as if there was nothing to think about. "Deal! That sounds great! Does that mean I can also deduct the cost of any weapons I buy here from that twenty percent dividend?"
Yang Chim-ju burst into a hearty laugh. "Haha! If there's a weapon in my shop that catches your eye, just take it. It's yours for free. And that's not all. From now on, any custom orders or repairs you need will be completely free of charge. I, Yang Chim-ju, don't acknowledge people easily, but once I do, I treat them with total sincerity. I overcharged you once before, and I want to apologize for that and make amends right now."
After explaining in detail what had happened during Bukjin's first visit to the shop, Yang Chim-ju pulled out two hundred gold coins and handed them over.
"This is the money I unfairly took from you when I bought those two broken swords. Here, take it."
Damn it! He looks so honest, but he was actually that cunning! Bukjin cursed inwardly. However, he wasn't actually angry. The man was a merchant running his own shop; making money was his job. You couldn't expect everyone to be completely selfless.
Bukjin stared at the two hundred gold coins for a moment before speaking. "Let's use this money toward the materials for the bow and arrows I ordered. Brother Chim-ju, I'm counting on you. Please finish the weapons I requested as quickly as possible. I'll need them for the upcoming Academic & Martial Arts Competition."
However, Yang Chim-ju forced the two hundred gold coins into Bukjin's hands. "That's a separate matter. Take this money. I'll have the Steel Wall Bow and the Four Dragon Arrows finished by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. Once they're done, I'll ask your sister-in-law to bring them to the training grounds for you."
Yeong-juk, who had been listening to the conversation, blushed at the mention of "sister-in-law" and gave Yang Chim-ju a playful punch. Yang Chim-ju just laughed loudly. "Bukjin, you're already like a younger brother to me."
Bukjin thought for a moment and then accepted the money without further protest. Yang Chim-ju continued, "I've already fully mastered the blueprints for the Heavenly Horse Meteor Arm. Moving forward, I plan to research ways to simplify the design and categorize the power into three stages, creating three different grades of the weapon. Then, we'll release the Grade 3 version to the market first and introduce the higher grades as new, upgraded models later."
Huh? That's impressive! His market analysis and understanding are almost on par with entrepreneurs back on Earth. At the very least, his business sense is far superior to mine—I was just a guy who played games in his room all day!
"Sounds good. I'll follow your lead, Brother Chim-ju. I'm leaving all business decisions in your hands."
With that, Bukjin declared his intention to stay completely out of the commercial side of things. Cho Heun, who had been watching the entire scene from the sidelines, was practically speechless.
About an hour later, Bukjin and Cho Heun left the Iron Hammer Head Weapon Shop and stood in the night street. That was when Cho Heun asked, "Kid, that way of winning people over... you didn't learn that from your father, did you?"
"Winning people over?" Bukjin replied. "Dean Cho, how could a pure-hearted boy like me think of something so complicated?"
Cho Heun sighed. "I've known Yang Chim-ju for a long time, and it took me forever to earn his trust. We had to go through countless hardships and life-or-death situations before we became sworn brothers. And yet, you managed to secure twenty percent of his shop's profits and win over that prickly bastard's heart in just a few hours. He looked like he was ready to bow down to you!"
"Dean Cho, do you think Brother Chim-ju and my sister-in-law got the short end of the stick?" Bukjin asked.
Cho Heun shook his head. "No. In the long run, you're the one who lost out on potential profit."
"Exactly. That's why I've gained a great friendship through my burning sincerity." Bukjin gave a sly grin and continued. "By the way, Brother Chim-ju is my brother now. And since you and he are brothers, does that make us brothers too? Hahaha!"
Cho Heun snorted. "Hmph! Inside the academy, you will call me Dean Cho!"
Bukjin chuckled and stared intently at Cho Heun. The Dean eventually gave in. "Fine, you brat. Just try to save some of my face, will you?"
By the time Bukjin finished everything and returned to the Bamboo Garden, it was already 1:00 AM by Earth's time.
"It's that much?" Bukjin was listening to a report on the money earned from the gambling den today, and he was shocked to hear the total was sixteen thousand gold coins. He had tried to prepare himself, but the amount was still staggering.
Sixteen thousand gold coins. Converted to Earth's currency, it was an amount you'd only get by winning the first-place lottery ten times over. Bukjin had never seen this much money in his entire life.
"The money? Where is it? Hurry up and show me!" Bukjin said, unable to wait.
Wang Chung bowed his head. "Young Master, please do not be angry with me for handling this on my own. Since the amount was so large, I deposited most of it into the Heavenly Sword Bank. I took the liberty of obtaining a VIP Payment Crystal for you. I only kept one thousand gold coins in cash for immediate use. It is all here."
As he finished speaking, Wang Chung handed over a thin, rectangular crystal fragment smaller than a palm. At the same time, he held out a pouch containing one thousand gold coins.
"Hmm..." Bukjin accepted the crystal and the pouch with a hint of disappointment. To be honest, he had wanted to fill a bathtub with sixteen thousand gold coins and soak in the feeling of being surrounded by glittering wealth. But on second thought, Wang Chung's method was much safer.
Even though Bukjin could store gold coins in his Storage app, that app was linked to the wallet menu in the Messenger app, which made him uneasy. He was worried that if he kept too much money in his smartphone, he might get electronically scammed by Geomseol Mumeong again. Keeping it in a payment crystal—this world's version of a debit card—felt much more secure.
Staring at the small, golden rectangular crystal, Bukjin suddenly felt ecstatic.
With the money in here, I'm a millionaire! He couldn't help but think how much better it would be if he had this kind of money back on Earth.
The amount in this crystal is more than most people could even see, let alone earn, in their entire lives. I could spend money like water every day and still never run out... Ah! Why didn't I have this kind of luck with money back on Earth? I wish I could take this money back with me!
After a moment of euphoria, Bukjin gradually regained his senses. That was when Wang Chung, looking a bit hesitant, reported on Gong Gong's activities.
"Young Master, actually... I took a very small portion of the money I earned and gave it to Gong Gong to plant people throughout the city. I've instructed them to gather information. If there is any special news or anything unusual, they will be the first to inform us. Please punish me for acting without consulting you first."
"What? You dog-like butler!" Bukjin began to curse.