Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: VIP Customer
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“Looks like the customer here is really loaded, huh?”
“Pardon?”
Jang Sa-heon’s eyes sparkled once more.
“Not many people buy a whopping 50 million won item in one lump sum like this.”
“…I’m just spending it where it’s needed, that’s all.”
“If you feel like you need it, you can just buy it all, huh. As expected…”
“…….”
Sparkle, sparkle—!
This guy, Jang Sa-heon…
The way he’d been looking at me since earlier had changed. Those glittering eyes, as if he saw me right in front of him as a big-spending customer.
Really…
‘It’s making me so uncomfortable.’
That gaze treating me not as a normal human being in broad daylight, but as a walking money bag.
Even so, despite seeing me that way, his gratitude came through loud and clear.
“Still, thanks for the cool transaction as always. Big-spender customer☺.”
Along with Jang Sa-heon’s bright-eyed smile.
I avoided that smile of his and shoved the expensive item I’d just bought into my employee ID.
Slip—
Jang Sa-heon stared intently at the item sliding neatly into my employee ID from up close, then kept staring right through it.
“It really is amazing.”
He let out a sigh of admiration.
“An item infused with a ghost story… Incredible. Truly incredible…”
“…….”
Watching Jang Sa-heon gaze at my employee ID like he was about to drool any second.
It almost made me wonder, ‘Does my employee ID have a Charm effect on it?’ He was staring at it with such curious eyes.
Sensing the atmosphere where leaving him like this might lead to a barrage of weird questions.
I quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, for the item I just bought, are there any precautions or anything I need to be careful about?”
“Hm?”
“For something worth 50 million won, there must be some usage notes or warnings…”
“…….”
Jang Sa-heon fell silent at my question.
Of course, I already knew all the precautions for this item.
Even so, the primal reason I asked this question.
Was for confirmation.
A trick question to check just how much Jang Sa-heon knew about ‘this item.’
Sure, he’d seemed clueless at first glance…
But confirming twice wouldn’t hurt.
I waited for his response.
Jang Sa-heon paused the conversation, lost in deep thought like me.
“…Of course there are.”
He slowly moved his thin, straight lips.
“You already knew and bought it, so what’s there for me to tell you, customer?”
That evasive tone.
‘So he doesn’t know about this item after all?’
But Jang Sa-heon quickly added an explanation.
“Still, if I had to add a precaution… I think it’d be best not to rely on or overuse that ‘Mass-Produced Hero’ item too much.”
!
This guy…
He knows?
==========
/Item List
Mass-Produced Hero.
(A hope that will shatter someday.)
==========
An item that grants the wearer physical buffs on the level of a hero, true to its name.
And in what Jang Sa-heon just said.
There wasn’t a single wrong word.
But it didn’t give the nuance that he knew everything about the item either.
It was a truly ambiguous answer.
From Jang Sa-heon’s gentle, serene expression as he looked at me.
I felt an inexplicable sense of disconnect there.
I couldn’t read his true intentions.
The money-grubbing merchant uncle who’d only cared about cash until moments ago suddenly felt like a dangerous swordsman.
And the item I’d just bought.
-Mass-Produced Hero.
As Jang Sa-heon said, it was definitely an item that absolutely shouldn’t be used for long periods.
The maximum usage time known so far for this item.
Was five minutes at most.
It must never exceed those five minutes.
Even that five minutes wasn’t absolute.
There were records in the [Ghost Story Archive] of users showing abnormalities after just one minute.
And those abnormalities were precisely.
An erosion-type item that could, if mishandled, cause the user themselves to manifest variability on the level of an A-rank ghost story.
‘…So, this guy.’
Does he know, or doesn’t he?
Amid the baffling disconnect in that expression, Jang Sa-heon casually continued our conversation.
“Not buying anything else today?”
“…Yeah, well. I think I overspent more than expected. This should be enough for today.”
“I see.”
There was a hint of regret in Jang Sa-heon’s tone, but I turned on my heel without hesitation.
I’d judged that any more spending wouldn’t be good.
And though the item purchase was unexpected, this ‘Mass-Produced Hero’ could be useful depending on how it was used.
I decided to call it a day with this.
“Then I’ll see you next time.”
As I gave him a friendly farewell and turned to leave the shop.
“Ah, right! Customer!”
His voice urgently calling me back made my footsteps halt in place again.
The reason Jang Sa-heon stopped me.
“In the past few days, there’s been a woman looking for you.”
“!!”
A woman looking for me?
‘…No way.’
The moment I heard a certain woman had come looking for me.
The name ‘Kim Ha-eun,’ our yandere employee, flashed quickly through my mind.
I was really sick of it.
But.
The woman Jang Sa-heon mentioned wasn’t who I expected.
“She’s an old acquaintance of mine, but… it was a bit surprising. It’s the first time she’s shown interest in a man. Like with that black-haired woman last time… You seem really popular with the ladies, customer. I’m jealous.”
“…….”
Not Kim Ha-eun, but another woman came looking for me?
The story of some unknown woman coming all the way to this Ghost Story Pawnshop to ask about me.
‘This is no matter how you slice it….’
One hundred percent.
Someone from the GRA Agency.
Learning that not just ghost stories, but the GRA Agency was now watching me too.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
‘Can’t you just leave me alone? What’s the harm?’
Hiding the tremor in my voice as best I could, I asked Jang Sa-heon just in case.
“…Mind if I ask her name?”
“Come on~, you know better. You know it’s not allowed.”
“…….”
Yeah, it was a long shot.
But this confirmed something for sure.
From the ghost stories dying to kill me.
To the GRA Agency people trying to find me.
This must be the weight famous influencers have to bear.
Or something like that?
Famous celebrities always carry this weight on their shoulders.
…But.
‘This is way too heavy.’
My shoulders won’t hold out.
They’re gonna break.
Somehow, what was supposed to be a light item-shopping trip for the day just left me feeling even more down as I headed back.
But Jang Sa-heon, our money-grubbing merchant oblivious to my gloomy mood.
“Come visit again! Our valued customer!”
Gave me a warm send-off.
“…….”
And so, branded as a big-spender customer by Jang Sa-heon, I left the Ghost Story Pawnshop with heavy steps.
*****
Thud, thud.
Head hung low powerlessly.
Staring only at the braille blocks lighting the floor as I trudged forward.
Click.
…?
In the empty space.
The sound of high heels echoing at regular intervals reached my eardrums.
Even though it was clearly just ordinary heel clicks, my footsteps stopped as I warily listened.
No matter how ordinary the heel sounds.
The location wasn’t ordinary.
This place was none other than.
The moving passageway known only to Ghost Story Pawnshop patrons.
It couldn’t be an ordinary person.
I wished it was just some civilian who wandered in by accident.
‘But that’s unlikely.’
Most likely.
High chance it’s someone from the GRA Agency.
Click—
Soon, I came face-to-face with someone from the GRA Agency just a few steps behind.
So, the action I should take…
Was already set in stone.
Act confident.
Any awkward behavior would give me away.
Have to sell it.
Any employee using the Ghost Story Pawnshop probably wasn’t high-ranking anyway.
Click—
As the heel clicks assaulting my ears grew closer and closer.
Standing before me was a female employee in the same black suit as mine.
Her reaction…
“…Huh?”
“…….”
Came from her first.
I quickly scanned the woman’s appearance.
‘…Pure white eyes.’
A woman with long hair as white as snow, matching her eyes.
Her porcelain skin, as white as her hair, captured my gaze.
And I immediately sensed it.
No, realized is more accurate.
‘That woman….’
Definitely a named employee.
Just her looks screamed, ‘I’m a named employee. Nice to meet you☺.’
Her appearance stuck in my mind like the snow woman from legends.
Her sleek black suit followed the restrained curves of her silhouette.
A beauty with cleavage boldly on display, leaving me unsure where to look.
Putting all these features together.
Under that snow woman-like appearance and cold sneer in her eyes.
The person revealed online to possess overwhelming combat prowess. (Workaholic
‘
hikikomori
’
type woman.)
No need for Top Student Glasses.
‘Why are you….’
The person right in front of me now.
Was one of the top named in the GRA Agency.
R-Team Lee Jui Executive Director.
‘…Why the hell are you here?!’
This was bad.
An unexpected ambush.
No choice now.
Amateur acting wouldn’t cut it.
I absolutely couldn’t let conversation control slip to that woman, Lee Jui.
Any slip-up here, and I was done.
“Hey! Isn’t that R-Team Lee Jui Executive Director?”
“…….”
“Didn’t expect to run into you here, Executive Yi Sang-mu.”
The cold chill subsided like frost melting.
Lee Jui’s icy gaze fixed on me.
But.
I couldn’t let her atmosphere throw me off here.
‘Keep the pace, Park Yeon-jeong.’
With a calm, settled smile, I bowed to Lee Jui and continued my introduction.
“Sorry for the late introduction. I’m Park Yeon-jeong, the new A-Team New Employee.”
“…A-Team New Employee?”
Lee Jui tilted her head in bewilderment.
“…A-Team, unlike the others… is quite sociable… in greetings.”
“The other seniors are pretty stoic, yeah.”
I smoothly led the conversation.
My self-proclaimed Little Noise acting up to now seemed to have paid off.
But the real issue was.
That the other party was ‘Lee Jui,’ this woman.
I had no idea why an executive director was here.
But right now, I had to play it off lightly.
The silver lining was, even for an executive like Lee Jui.
She wouldn’t know the names of employees from other teams.
Especially not a newbie like me.
And from the ‘A-Team New Employee.’
The ‘A-Team Special Forces’ that even the GRA Agency treated specially.
By setting, the A-Team guys I mentioned were a highly insular organization.
You know that common trope?
-The best in the world.
-Absolute powerhouses.
-Elite unit.
-SSS-rank hunter.
Like the descriptors for such powerhouses.
In the [Ghost Story Archive], the group of such elites was called the ‘A-Team Special Forces.’
And true to its strongest organization setting.
A voluntary outcast group with virtually no interaction with other teams.
Meaning, no worries about my identity being exposed right now.
‘For now….’
“So, what brings R-Team Lee Jui Executive Director here?”
Right now, I shamelessly spout lies for a thorough deception.
Lee Jui seemed to think for a moment at my question.
“…I had some business here… briefly.”
‘As I thought!’
She didn’t question me being from A-Team. Seemed to drop any intent to probe.
In that case, what I needed to do next was simple.
Chat lightly.
Then go our separate ways.
“And what brings you here, Employee Park Yeon-jeong?”
“I had some business here too, briefly. I’ve just finished it now.”
“…I see.”
The conversation was going smoothly.
So, the next topic from me here.
Was a natural farewell.
“Ah, sorry. Seems I’ve held you up too long, Executive.”
“No, not at all.”
“Then I’ll head back to the agency. If the chance comes… I’d love to team up with you on the next ghost story exploration.”
“You’re… good at office politics.”
Lee Jui accepted my farewell with her characteristically soft voice.
For such a sudden named encounter, it went surprisingly smoothly—no issues. What a relief.
Bow—
Only after bowing deeply to Lee Jui one last time to show manners.
Thud—
I took the first steps.
Carefully passing by Lee Jui’s side.
‘…Good.’
Successful acting.
No mistakes at all.
Perfect handling.
I thought.
Until that woman.
“…Employee Park Yeon-jeong.”
Called out to me again.
“By any chance… in A-Team too, is there… talk about this recent ghost story matter?”
“…….”
“About the ‘Black Flame Man’… ghost story.”
Black Flame Man…
A ghost story name I’d never heard before.
But the moment I heard it.
Why?
Why…
‘Why does this name feel so familiar?’
For some reason, the ghost story’s name stirred a strong sense of inner familiarity.