chapter 8
chapter 8
Suspicious Secret Merchant (4)
“What’s going on over there?”
A hooded, suspicious-looking man and a young girl who looked like a student standing together was already strange enough, but with the girl jumping around and shouting, it was impossible for any normal person not to pay attention.
“No!!! Nothing’s going on!!!”
Shine reacted intensely, worried that it might cause trouble for me.
I let out a small sigh and slightly lifted my hood, giving a brief nod to the man who was staring at me suspiciously.
By showing my face, I was signaling that I had no intention of committing any crime.
After all, if I showed my face now, I’d be easily caught later if I did anything wrong.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but you look like a student. Be careful.”
“Yes, yes~! It’s really nothing. I’m just happy, so don’t worry.”
With Shine smiling brightly, the man could no longer interfere and stepped back.
Now free from suspicion, I held out my hand toward Shine.
“Hm?”
“You should give it back. We haven’t signed the contract yet.”
“Ah… ah…”
Despair spread across Shine’s face.
The weapon she was clutching tightly in her arms was, unintentionally, enjoying luxury.
‘Damn… I’m kind of jealous.’
Since I looked like an adult on the outside, a criminal thought briefly crossed my mind.
I shook my head quickly to drive away the bad thought.
Perhaps it looked like a gesture telling her to hand over the weapon, because Shine spoke with a teary expression.
“I already gave you that as collateral. Can’t we just proceed with the rental right away?”
“…You really like it that much?”
“Yes!! Please trust me. I won’t run off with it. Ah! I’ll give you my student ID as collateral.”
A student ID was quite important at the academy.
Using it as collateral was more than enough to establish trust.
“Alright. You’ll need time to test the weapon anyway. Next week… should we meet a bit earlier?”
“Yes, yes, yes, yes!”
“Then let’s meet here at 10 in the morning.”
“Thank you!! You’ll be blessed, mister!”
I’m not a mister…
Well, compared to Shine, who’s eighteen, I guess a thirty-year-old like me is one.
Still, hearing it hurts.
Worried I might take the weapon back, Shine hurriedly greeted me and dashed off.
She was probably too busy testing the weapon’s performance to think about anything else.
‘Does she really like it that much?’
I expected she’d like it since it was exclusive equipment, but I didn’t think her reaction would be this intense.
It was reassuring for future sales, but also a bit concerning.
‘What if someone tries to kill me to take it?’
Maybe it was because of my time as a mercenary.
I kept thinking in the worst-case scenarios.
It couldn’t be helped.
That mindset was built from experience.
And not every character I summon would have a personality like Shine.
Each character would have their own traits and ways of dealing with me.
Shine treated me as a suspicious man but didn’t report me because of her desire for the equipment.
But others might become curious about how I obtained such items.
‘Even Shine casually asked where I got it from. Selling equipment like this can only work once or twice. I need proper authorization to sell goods.’
Trading equipment on the street was too dangerous.
I needed an official merchant license.
And to get that—
“Money.”
In the end, I needed money again.
Nobles and commoners didn’t even use the same scale of currency.
So the money I saved as a mercenary wasn’t nearly enough to obtain a merchant license.
Fortunately, I now had something truly valuable in my hands.
The money I saved as a mercenary?
‘That wouldn’t even last a few months here.’
The cost of living was outrageous.
Honestly, it was scarier than monsters.
At least monsters gave me money.
Living here—eating, sleeping, everything—cost an absurd amount.
I looked at the silver fur in my hands and smiled.
“I wonder how much this will go for.”
To be honest, I was surprised when Shine suggested renting.
I hadn’t even considered it.
‘Since it’s equipment only she can use…’
I had to sell that exclusive equipment to Shine.
Outwardly, I acted like I had the upper hand, but in reality, I was the one at a disadvantage.
But Shine proposed a new method—rental—and even offered additional profit.
‘I was planning to just take this and hand it over…’
From Shine’s perspective, I was getting the short end of the deal.
After all, the equipment’s value would skyrocket in her hands.
But that equipment only had value with its owner.
‘If it’s not with its rightful owner, it’s worth nothing.’
That’s why I was willing to hand it over when she brought the werewolf fur.
Of course, now I not only had the silver fur but also a deal that would continue generating profit.
“What a waste…”
Before converting it into money, I opened the shop window with my ability and checked its value in Korean currency.
2,350,000 won.
A whopping 2.35 million won.
It was the first time I had seen a monster byproduct worth over a million.
‘If I sell this here…’
It might be worth as much as a house.
The thought of spending that amount tempted me.
I calculated how many gacha pulls it could get me.
If lucky, I might be able to obtain about a third of the SSR characters.
‘If I let greed change my priorities, I’m done. First, I need a safe place to sell items.’
Once I had a proper place to sell, everything else would fall into place.
Of course, I still needed to summon SSR characters, but that was less risky than acting suspicious near the academy.
‘If I mess up, I’ll get kicked out.’
I had spent fourteen years getting here.
As a commoner, I couldn’t afford to offend nobles.
“Hm… you want to sell this?”
“More precisely, I want to exchange it for a merchant license and a shop.”
“The location will matter. What’s your minimum requirement?”
“Even somewhere with little traffic is fine. As long as it’s near the academy. My goods are for students.”
“If there’s little traffic, students won’t come. What do you plan to sell?”
“A general store. Various goods.”
I went to a merchant who mediated fair trades.
He was an NPC from the game.
And he actually existed.
Fascinating.
“Hm… even near the academy, not all locations are expensive. If what you say is true, many would want to trade.”
I was a commoner.
Even with valuable monster byproducts, I couldn’t just sell them freely.
But there was a workaround—trading goods instead of money.
I planned to exchange this for a merchant license and a shop.
And after a few days—
The NPC did not disappoint.
He arranged a trade where I received a merchant license valid for ten years and a shop that, while old, was fairly close to the academy.
It was a satisfying deal for both sides.
Creak—
“Cough! Cough!”
…The location wasn’t as remote as I expected.
In fact, it was closer to the academy than I had planned.
But it was obvious why the previous owner gave it up so easily.
The alley leading to the shop felt dark and dangerous.
And the building itself was small and run-down.
Inside, it was filled with dust and insects.
Turning this into a proper shop would take serious effort.
‘But honestly, this kind of atmosphere might suit me better.’
I couldn’t reveal the origin of my goods.
And my customers were limited.
Of course, I’d sell ordinary items so it looked like a regular shop.
But the real goods—
Were the exclusive equipment of the characters I summoned.
That was how I’d make real money.
‘To summon characters, I need monster byproducts.’
And summoning characters wasn’t enough.
I also needed their exclusive equipment.
There were still many I hadn’t obtained.
And there was no such thing as having too much money.
“First… I need to clean this up so it at least looks like a shop.”
Turning this place into a general store—
That was my top priority.
Nobles might tolerate an old building, but not filth or insects.
If I wanted nobles to step inside, cleanliness was essential.
And since I’d be living and working here—
Cleanliness wasn’t optional.