Oppa Is the Best

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I'd heard the word oppa so many times lately it was starting to lose its flavor. Ji-yun and Si-eun were constantly glued to my side, calling me that nonstop. But the oppa I just heard from Jun felt... different. Honestly, Jun was basically my noona. Sure, her body and face made her look way younger, and she was an impossibly beautiful, adorable fairy rather than human. Still, when someone like her bit her lip with tears shimmering in her eyes and called me oppa... fuck, it felt like it was awakening some weird new kink in me.

Jun kept her head lowered, eyes still brimming with tears, and spoke to me.

The tears that had been pooling finally spilled over, tracing down her cheeks. Even for me, this stung with guilt. I'd tormented a young girl (noona though she might be) a bit too hard. And yet... it felt dangerously addictive.

I reached out and gently wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Mm... sorry. I think I went too far. I'll take back what I said about not coming anymore. I'll drop by the shop often from now on, so don't worry too much. Alright?"

At my words, Jun's face lit up again as she looked at me. God, she's cute. Feeling bold, I reached out and stroked her hair too.

"Of course. The more you boost your sales performance as my personal shopkeeper, the better it is for me too."

"Th-thank you, Kang Min-gu customer... I mean, o-oppa! I'll serve you with complete sincerity from now on!!"

She really was adorable. I smiled and asked her, "Then could you explain how the shop works?"

"Ah, yes. Just tell me the category of item you want, and I'll display a list of everything you can buy with the gold you currently hold."

Jun launched into the explanation with sparkling enthusiasm. Pretty straightforward. I'd have to test the details myself.

"In that case... show me weapons first."

"Understood. What kind of weapon are you looking for? There are quite a few types..."

"Hmm... for starters, show me swords suitable for a swordsman."

"Yes, right away."

The moment Jun replied, a long list of swords materialized in front of my eyes with a shimmering sound.

Looking at the floating list, Jun sounded genuinely surprised.

"The amount of gold you possess... it must be enormous. To have this many items appear... Oh my, even things over a thousand gold...!"

I did have a decent amount. Three women went out hunting monsters every day, and all that gold funneled straight to me. Daejang-ajeossi hunted too, so his share came to me as well. Right now I was sitting on well over a thousand gold.

Of course, I couldn't spend it all. The entrance fee for the event dungeon opening soon would cost 250 gold total—for me, Daejang-ajeossi, Ji-yun, Si-eun, and Junieles. Ji-su's fee didn't matter since I'd just keep her inside the Cradle of Rest and summon her out once we were inside.

That left roughly 800 gold I could actually use.

Can't exactly call it a fortune. It's not like it's all for me alone.

I slowly scanned the list, looking for a suitable sword, when Jun spoke up urgently.

"W-wait a moment. Kang Min-gu... I mean, oppa. If you have that much gold, wouldn't you like to register as a member first?"

"Membership? What's that?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like. We have a tiered membership—Bronze, Silver, and Gold. A percentage of everything you spend here gets accumulated as points. Bronze gives 3%, Silver 5%, and Gold gives 10%. Points can be used just like gold later on. Plus, Gold tier has extra accumulation options, so it would be perfect for you, o-oppa..."

Huh. Like those supermarket membership programs. But if there are tiers, it probably isn't free.

"So how much does it cost to sign up?"

"Bronze is 100 gold, Silver 300, and Gold is 500."

Whoa, that was steep. Seeing my shocked expression, Jun quickly added,

"I-it's not exactly cheap, of course. But from a long-term view, I can guarantee that becoming a member will bring far greater benefits."

Hmm... it was tempting. Even I could see the value. It wasn't like I'd only use the shop once or twice. The accumulation rates were pretty high too. What to do?

While I hesitated, Jun kicked her sales pitch into high gear again.

"Didn't you say you can stay here for long periods without any risk, oppa? One of the Gold tier's extra options grants 3 points per hour spent in the shop. If you pick that and come here every time you sleep for about ten hours, that's 30 points a day for free. How does that sound? Pretty good, right?"

Thirty points was nothing to sneeze at. Points just for hanging around? If I saved for twenty days I'd already make back the membership fee.

"Isn't that too generous? Three points per hour? At that rate everyone would sign up for Gold and camp out here every time they slept."

Jun shook her head.

"Not at all. As I explained earlier, regular users are completely defenseless while inside the shop, so they can't stay long. Even with guards, there's a limit. That's why most people choose different bonus options. But you're different, oppa. That dimensional gap skill you mentioned—the one that lets you hide. That means you could stay here the entire time you're sleeping..."

Hmm. She had a point. It really was the perfect option for me. Camping out here while I slept was basically printing money. This is broken as hell.

Yeah. Long-term thinking it is. I made up my mind and told her,

"I'll register for Gold tier."

"An excellent choice!"

Jun's eyes sparkled. Her cheeks were faintly flushed—she looked genuinely excited. She waved her hand through the air, and a golden card materialized. It flew straight to me, pressed against my chest, then melted into my body and vanished.

"With this, Kang Min... oppa is now officially a Gold tier member. As explained, you'll receive 10% of all purchases as points, plus 3 additional points per hour spent in the shop. I don't think you'll regret today's decision."

I smiled at the visibly delighted Jun.

"Glad to hear it. Did that transaction help you out a lot?"

"Of course it did! That was a full 500 gold in one go! I doubt any other shop has seen a 500-gold transaction this early! Thank you so much, oppa!"

She looked so cute with her eyes sparkling that I reached out and stroked her hair again. Jun stared at my hand with a slightly troubled expression before asking carefully,

"B-but... you really are... my oppa... right?"

"Does it matter? The important thing is that I spent a lot of money here, and because of that you gained a huge benefit. Isn't that right?"

She seemed to ponder for a moment, then smiled again.

"Y-yes. You're right, oppa. Anyway, please take good care of me from now on. Do you want to buy anything else?"

"Ah, of course. I'll take my time looking through the list."

I slowly examined the items floating before my eyes.

Guess I won't be bored while sleeping anymore.

When I opened my eyes, Ji-yun was nestled in my arms. Deeper inside the space, I could see Junieles, Ji-su, and Si-eun chatting quietly among themselves.

Ji-yun, still curled against me, looked up.

"Oppa? You're awake?"

"Yeah... just woke up. How long was I out?"

"About seven hours. You can sleep more if you're tired."

"No, that's plenty. Time to get up."

I sat up from the mattress. That's when—

"Oh my? What are those? Where did they suddenly come from..."

The weapons laid out beside me. The things I'd bought while shopping. Between all the conversation with Jun and browsing, quite a bit of time had passed. On top of that, my body felt refreshed, like I'd had a proper rest. Come to think of it, the time I spent in the shop could be used pretty efficiently. Being able to do stuff even while sleeping was a huge merit.

I'd think about that later. For now, I picked up the weapons.

Buying all of these had cost me 300 gold. I was flat broke now. Whatever gold I had left needed to be saved for the event dungeon entrance fees.

Well, with my loyal thralls around, I'd be able to gather more soon enough.

I called Ji-yun, Ji-su, and Si-eun over, explained how the shop worked, then handed out the items one by one.

To Ji-su I gave a sword—a steel longsword that had cost 100 gold. It had an option that raised DEX by 3.

To Si-eun I handed a wooden staff. It looked crude, but the price tag was a steep 150 gold. For reference, it raised INT by 3 and reduced mana consumption by 2 when using skills.

And to Ji-yun I gave a large round shield—the cheapest of the bunch at 50 gold. It had an option that raised CON by 2.

All three women held their new gear with bright, happy faces, clearly thrilled. These should be plenty useful in the dungeon. The stat boosts weren't massive, yet the prices still felt high. That made sense—food and daily necessities had been pretty reasonably priced. A 20kg bag of rice was only 5 gold. If I converted it roughly, one gold was about 10,000 won in real-world money. Which meant the weapons alone had cost me the equivalent of three million won. Adding the membership fee, I'd dropped eight million won in one go.

Nice work, Kang Min-gu. Look at you, casually spending eight million at once. As expected, this world really was paradise for me. Once again, I swore to myself that I must never let this world end.

I gathered everyone and announced,

"Tomorrow morning we're heading for the area where the event dungeon will open. It's about 50 kilometers from here, so consider the entire day dedicated to travel. That means today's monster hunting should be relaxed—no overdoing it."

The three women besides Ji-yun—who would be with me today—all nodded.

"Alright, let's get moving early then. Si-eun, Ji-su, Junieles—head out for hunting right now and come back around dawn. We'll rest up and depart in the morning. Clear?"

As soon as I finished, the three of them stood. Ji-su and Si-eun looked especially excited, eager to test their new items, and headed outside with bright expressions.

Once the three women left, silence settled over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Cradle of Rest. It was still afternoon, the sun hanging high.

I looked at Ji-yun.

"We'll have to leave tomorrow morning too, so we can't take too long. Still, let's work hard and raise those stats."

Ji-yun looked at me and smiled shyly. I smiled back at her and said,

"Take off your clothes."