Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: The Judgment Spike
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"Hey, Do-jae. You made it."
"Yes, sir. Have you been well?"
Do-jae greeted Choi Woo-seok, the owner of the Heungjeong Mangjeong Wholesale and Retail store, warmly.
"As a matter of fact, those friends of yours stopped by for some treatment or another. Since then, my head's been clear like it used to be, and the fatigue is gone."
"That's a real relief."
Choi Woo-seok's face showed significant improvement.
He had asked Kim Soo-kyung to handle Choi Woo-seok's mental treatment, and it seemed to have been successful.
"Hello! I'm Song Ji-yoon from the Guardian Guild!"
Ji-yoon also greeted Choi Woo-seok in a cheerful voice.
"Welcome. I'm Choi Woo-seok, the owner of Heungjeong Mangjeong."
"The store's name is interesting! Does it mean to spend recklessly?"
"No. 'Heungjeong' means to buy and sell goods, and 'mangjeong' means something is fine or has turned out well. I combined them to mean 'goods well bought and well sold'."
Choi Woo-seok answered awkwardly, scratching his sideburns.
"I thought that's what it was, but I guess I was wrong. Doesn't seem like the kind of idea that would come from your head, sir..."
"You brat! Fine! The truth is, I originally meant it as 'spend money like there's no tomorrow'! But it's the meaning you give it that's important! The meaning!"
"Hahaha, that's what I thought. Still, you gave it a plausible meaning."
"Enough! Let's go see the items I prepared."
Choi Woo-seok said primly and headed into the back of the shop.
"You two seem pretty close."
"Yeah, he's one of the few good people I know."
"What? Why would you say you have only a few good people, Vice Guild Master? There's Hyun-jae, Jeong-gyu, the members of Team 3, and Director Young-jin. And me...!"
"You're right. More than I thought, I guess."
"Hmph. Anyway, let's go in. You vouched for him so confidently, so my expectations are high."
Ji-yoon quickly scurried after Choi Woo-seok and disappeared inside.
Do-jae slowly followed, picturing the faces of the people she had mentioned.
***
"Alright, weapons aren't my main business, so I don't have a huge selection, but there are some decent ones. Take a look."
As they went inside, they saw swords laid out in a row in an empty space to one side.
"When did you do all this..."
"I set it up as soon as I got your call."
"But you couldn't have had much time."
"Kid, haven't you heard the customer is king?"
It had taken Do-jae less than thirty minutes to arrive at the shop after calling Choi Woo-seok.
Do-jae was impressed that Choi Woo-seok had cleared out all the clutter and arranged things so neatly in such a short time.
*Thud-.*
"Ah, I was clearing things out in a bit of a hurry."
A large box fell, spilling its contents.
They were hardened, dried branches, items of unknown purpose.
"You keep looking around. Do-jae, you come help me clean this up for a second."
Do-jae went to Choi Woo-seok's side and started picking up the branches.
But then, Choi Woo-seok sidled up to him and whispered quietly in his ear.
"She's pretty. Your girlfriend?"
Do-jae glanced at Choi Woo-seok.
His serious expression was just begging to be teased.
"Yes."
"Really? How long?"
"A little less than half a year."
"What, so you were together the last time you came?"
Choi Woo-seok slapped Do-jae on the back.
Then, with a proud look on his face, he asked again.
"What about marriage? You're at that age now."
"We're thinking of having a kid first."
"A kid? You have a kid? Look at you!"
Choi Woo-seok's eyes widened in surprise.
Then he started muttering to himself in a pleased voice.
"Hehehe. Acting all innocent, but he's been busy. Ah, what should I get for our Do-jae's kid when it's born? No, wait. I can't even do anything for my own kid, why should I worry about someone else's? But why does a man with a child need a sword?"
Watching Choi Woo-seok, Do-jae stifled a laugh.
*Rumble-.*
As he placed the box filled with branches on the top shelf, another box was pushed aside, creating a space.
It looked precarious, as if it would spill again at any moment, but Choi Woo-seok just nodded and smiled.
"So, see anything you like?"
Do-jae approached Ji-yoon, who was deep in thought, and asked.
Ji-yoon, apparently still undecided, just shook her head.
"I don't know. They all look good to me. Could you pick one for me, Vice Guild Master?"
Ji-yoon gave up on choosing and stood up.
Just then, Choi Woo-seok looked at them strangely and said.
"Vice Guild Master? What kind of title is that? If you're still feeling awkward, just call him something more affectionate, like 'big brother'. He's older than you, after all."
"'Big brother'? What are you talking about?"
"Why, these days everyone's on familiar terms like that... Mmph!"
Do-jae immediately clamped a hand over Choi Woo-seok's mouth.
This time, it was Do-jae who whispered quietly in his ear.
"Sir, that was a joke..."
"Mmph, mmph!"
His mouth covered, Choi Woo-seok glared daggers and tried to shout.
Do-jae had to drag him outside before he could finally take his hand away.
"You brat! You never joke around like that. I thought it was real!"
"I'm sorry."
"You seem to be enjoying life these days, huh? You look better every time I see you."
"Do I look that way?"
"Yeah! Seeing you lately feels like a breath of fresh air."
Having shouted, Choi Woo-seok seemed to have calmed down, and he patted Do-jae's shoulder.
"Ji-yoon and I are just colleagues. She was my subordinate back in the Suppression Corps."
"Is that so? She called you Vice Guild Master earlier. Did you join a guild too?"
"Yes, I'm also a Vice Guild Master at the Guardian Guild."
"You've made it big! That's great, man."
Choi Woo-seok was genuinely happy for him.
Do-jae was truly grateful to him.
"It's a small guild, only seven members in total."
"Still, kid. Anyway, since things are going this way, you should give it a shot."
"Huh? What's going this way? I'm telling you, we're just colleagues."
"I get it. Let's go back inside."
Do-jae and Woo-seok returned to the room where the swords were laid out.
Ji-yoon watched them with a puzzled expression.
***
"What was that about, you two?"
"It's nothing. If you really can't decide, I'll pick one for you."
"Okay!"
Do-jae scanned them one by one with the Eye of the Golem.
While some were completely useless, ordinary swords, others immediately caught his eye.
Out of the thirty-two swords, three passed Do-jae's inspection.
Do-jae set those aside and placed two of them in front of Ji-yoon.
"These two should suit you well."
One was a sword similar in form to the heavy one Ji-yoon used to wield.
When Do-jae lifted it, the weight was also roughly the same.
The other was a rapier, slightly shorter and much lighter.
"The sword on the left is almost identical to the standard-issue one. You'll get used to it quickly without much trouble. The one on the right, on the other hand, is much lighter, with a completely different and slender shape. But the reason I recommend this one is because you're a hunter now, not a member of the Suppression Corps."
Do-jae placed the rapier in Ji-yoon's hand and told her to swing it.
*Swish-!*
"Whoa..."
Ji-yoon gasped in admiration at the sound of the sword cutting through the air, creating a gust of wind.
"Light, isn't it? You'll be able to carry it around without much strain. It's easy to equip and less cumbersome. For a hunter who's often on the move, I think that sword is the better choice."
Do-jae believed it would be better for Ji-yoon, who would be clearing dungeons from now on, to carry a light and portable sword rather than a bulky, heavy one.
Unlike the Suppression Corps, which was stationed in specific areas and only moved short distances, hunters often traveled to different regions and moved by car, making transportation a chronic problem for those with large weapons.
In that respect, Do-jae recommended the sword on the right.
"Then I'll take this one, just as you said, Vice Guild Master."
"It's a sword that's no worse than the ones we saw at Fernando's that cost thousands. The only difference is whether or not it has an eagle logo for decoration."
Do-jae took the remaining two swords and went to Choi Woo-seok.
"Sir, how much for all of them, including the one Ji-yoon is holding?"
"You picked all the A-rank ones, huh? 100 each, so 300 in total."
Do-jae was a bit surprised by the absurdly low price.
His eyes were never wrong, and it was baffling that three swords of this quality cost less than a tenth of a single sword from Fernando's.
"What? Are you sure you calculated that correctly?"
"What's wrong? A-rank is 100, B-rank is 50, and anything C-rank or below is 10. That's the price I set. No negotiations, I need to make at least a minimal profit."
That was it.
Choi Woo-seok was a merchant, not a blacksmith or an appraiser.
He could only distinguish how clean a sword was or how good its condition was; he didn't know its true value.
The hunter or whoever sold these items had likely sold them bundled with other spoils, unaware of the swords' true performance.
"No, no. 300 it is."
"Installments?"
"This is a debit card."
"Wow, look at you, all fancy now."
*Beep-.*
Taking Do-jae's card, Choi Woo-seok completed the transaction with swift, practiced movements.
Choi Woo-seok brought three long boxes and wrapped each sword in cloth before placing them inside.
"Oh, right, do you happen to have a lowest-grade mana stone?"
"A mana stone? Actually, I think one came in this morning."
Choi Woo-seok went into the back for a moment and quickly returned with a mana stone the size of a pill.
"I'll take this too."
"I'll just give you this one. In return, give me a good price on our next deal."
"I feel like I'm getting the worse end of that deal... but alright."
Do-jae took the mana stone and picked up the rapier before it was packed.
Then, using a small piece of scrap iron lying around, he used Golem Summon to attach a small ornament to the end of the rapier's hilt.
"And this, too."
Do-jae took a notepad and pen from beside the card reader, turned on his smartphone, found a number, and wrote it down.
He also wrote down the name 'Jeong Hoon-hyeon'.
"Who's this?"
"He's our Guild Master. We'll be doing all our business with you from now on, so make sure to answer when this number calls."
"Ooh! Wow, I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd benefit from you."
Overjoyed, Choi Woo-seok immediately copied the contact information into his ledger.
"We'll stop by again soon."
"Alright, take care!"
Leaving Choi Woo-seok waving until they were out the door, Do-jae and Ji-yoon stepped out onto the street.
"What should I name her?"
Ji-yoon asked, cradling the box containing the sword preciously in her arms.
"It has a name. Though you can give it a new one if you want."
"What is it?"
"The Judgment Spike."
"Ooooh..."
Hearing the name, her eyes shone even brighter.
She was already completely captivated by her new sword.
"It's an incomparably better sword than the one you used before. You'll feel the difference clearly when you use it yourself."
"Whew. I feel like it's too precious to even take outside."
"I'll get you a better one later if we find one, so don't be too sentimental. Besides, I bought it for you to use. What was the point of getting a new sword if you're just going to put it on a pedestal?"
"Yes...! Thank you, Vice Guild Master..."
Ji-yoon stopped in her tracks and bowed deeply to Do-jae.
Do-jae tapped her on the shoulder and started walking ahead.
"Since we're out, let's grab a bite to eat before we head back."
Ji-yoon followed after Do-jae with a bright smile.
Then she overtook Do-jae, turned to face him, and said.
"By the way, about what Mr. Choi said earlier… is it okay if I call you 'big brother'?"