1,000,000 Won [Quest Complete!]
You have acquired 1,000,000 won as a reward!
Before I knew it, two days had passed since the Hwangbo Ji-eun stalking incident. The quest was complete, and the reward of one million won had been deposited into my account. At first I thought it seemed pretty cheap—after all, I had faced off against a guy wielding a kitchen knife and saved a person. But then I saw the actual balance.
The current balance in your account is 1,000,091 won.
Once I saw the money that had actually come in, and after struggling to survive an entire week on just thirty thousand won, I realized it was definitely not a small amount. Besides, the Ring had said my physical stats had been more than enough to handle the situation. It really hadn’t been that hard. Even with my old body, I probably could have managed it somehow. The Starter Package had simply made everything smoother.
Man… what the hell am I supposed to spend this on?
Just having money in my account completely changed my mindset. When I truly didn’t have a single penny to my name, even meeting someone made me feel self-conscious. There was nothing I could actually do. In a world like this one, everything except breathing cost money.
If this were the old days, I would have bought new clothes, new shoes, thrown some cash into games, and snacked on whatever I wanted…
Things were different now.
“Ring, once I get home, can you pull up a list of things I can buy with this money?”
Since I had the Money Ring now.
Understood.
Anyway, there were no problems on this front. What was actually bothering me these days was…
“Oppa, thank you. For walking me home again today.”
“Hey, it’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing! My heart’s still pounding like crazy these days. When I ride the elevator alone, I can’t breathe, I break out in cold sweat…”
If I had to name it, I’d call it… woman trouble?
It wasn’t a lie. The fingers of Hwangbo Ji-eun, who was clutching my collar, were trembling violently. It seemed my little sister and I had been right to worry; some trauma had definitely remained. Well, that was only natural. After something like that happened right in front of her eyes, how many people could just brush it off?
“…I’ve been having nightmares lately, too.”
“What?”
“That man jumps out of a dark alley with no one around… he cuts my face, stabs my stomach… and even when it’s not that, I dream that I’m trapped in a corner of my room, completely broken.”
…Was this what people commonly called a precognitive dream? To think she was dreaming about something that would have happened if I hadn’t received the Ring’s quest. Seeing this, life really was mysterious beyond words. No one could know what would happen.
“Even if it wasn’t that nightmare, if it hadn’t been for you, Oppa… I would have been in serious trouble. That much is certain.”
“Come on, don’t think like that. You would have run away just fine.”
“No, I wouldn’t!”
“…Huh?”
“I’m not… I’m not that strong of a woman…”
I couldn’t help but flinch. To be exact, I had been trying to pull away because it was time to part ways, but Hwangbo Ji-eun’s grip on my collar was so strong that it looked like I had flinched.
…She was holding on way too tightly.
“I’m still scared, Oppa. Right now.”
“……”
“If I just go to sleep tonight, I feel like I’ll have another nightmare… If it’s okay with you, Oppa, how about we have a drink at my place? Just for a little while?”
“……”
It was a sweet yet somehow uneasy suggestion. Was I the weird one here? I thought developments like this only happened in romance novels…
But it felt different from the romance novels I had read. Why did it feel so off?
A pretty, cute young woman like Hwangbo Ji-eun inviting a guy over for a drink at her place when she lived alone—anyone would normally jump at the chance. In a normal novel, the reader would be full of anticipation wondering what would happen, only for it to fizzle out in the end. That way the readers’ hearts would burn with frustration.
But this was reality. And on top of that—
Reject Hwangbo Ji-eun’s proposal.
Reward: 50,000 won
The fact that the Ring was giving me this quest said everything. Hell yeah, free money. Jackpot.
“Sorry. It doesn’t feel right for a guy to go into a woman’s house alone this late at night.”
I refused as politely as I could, but—
“I-I’m not thinking of doing anything weird, Oppa! R-really, I just want to talk until I get drunk…”
“……”
What the hell? She was rejecting my rejection. And more than that, why did it sound to my ears like she was saying she would do something weird?
“I’m really scared… I’m so scared. If I have a nightmare I’ll wake up in cold sweat again. My condition hasn’t been great because of it lately. If you’re there, I’ll feel safe and I think I’ll be able to sleep comfortably…”
“……”
“A-and of course I won’t do anything weird, but… if you, Oppa, feel like doing something like that… it would be okay…”
Hwangbo Ji-eun’s face turned adorably red as she said that.
“……”
I was going crazy. No matter when I looked at her, she was insanely pretty. Honestly, was it because I was just as much of a loser as the guy who had stalked Hwangbo Ji-eun? The “queen bee” type I had admired once or twice during my school days was seducing me like this. It wasn’t easy to resist.
Yeah. If it weren’t for the quest…
“Sorry. I really don’t think I can. Still, if you’re that worried, just send me a text or something.”
“Ah… I understand, Oppa. I don’t want to bother you any more than this…”
Hwangbo Ji-eun trailed off and muttered something in a voice too small for me to hear. I couldn’t make out what she said this time either. If I raised my hearing through the Ring later, would I be able to hear mutterings like that? I thought I caught the word ‘As expected…’ What was “as expected”?
“I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you’re making on your own, but I’ll be going now. You worked hard today too. Don’t think too much about what happened back then. This is the prime of your life—enjoy it while you can.”
“Of course.”
She had returned to her usual self. “Don’t worry.”
Hwangbo Ji-eun waved with a bright grin.
“I’m giving it my all more than ever right now.”
I waved back at her, then turned and headed home. But I felt like someone was staring at me from behind.
Whoosh!
I whipped my head around, but of course there was no one at the entrance of the one-room villa. The lights were off too, so it wasn’t like anyone was there.
“Am I being too sensitive?”
I scratched the bridge of my nose and started walking home again. While I did, I checked the Money Ring’s product list that I could buy with my current funds once more.
Strength (2) — 500,000 won
Agility (2) — 500,000 won
Swordsmanship — 300,000 won
Dimension Travel Magic — 1,000,000,000 won
Shield Magic — 500,000 won
Telekinesis — 1,200,000 won
The price for stats had risen from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand won. Wow, that was ridiculously expensive. It meant two hundred and fifty thousand won total just to raise every stat by one. I wondered if a hot deal service would pop up this time too.
……
…So this was how people got trained. In the middle of all that, the fact that swordsmanship was even on the shop list was legendary. What the hell was all this?
“Pass.”
In a world where guns existed, of course, and even biochemical weapons, what would I even use swordsmanship for? Besides, simply possessing a bladed weapon was illegal.
For reference, items like this exist as well.
Dimension Travel Magic — 1,000,000,000 won
…Dimension travel magic? And the price was a billion won?
Fuck, are you kidding me?
Of course, some people might think that being able to travel dimensions for just a billion won was a steal, but with only a million won in my account right now, it was an astronomical sum. Besides, who knew what kind of risks there were? How could I carelessly learn and use a spell like that without knowing what was on the other side?
“Don’t you have anything useful for defense?”
What I had realized while facing the man with the kitchen knife this time was that while offense was good, defense was truly important. No matter how well you attacked, if you got hurt yourself, it was all pointless.
Shield Magic — 500,000 won
Shield magic, huh. At a glance it seemed like a good spell for protecting my body. Hmm, maybe I should look around a little more? My funds weren’t enough for impulse buying anyway. And more than that, I didn’t want anything too noticeable.
I think an ability that I can use in daily life without people noticing would be best.
Something practical. Defense was good, but if it could attack too, that would be killing two birds with one stone.
Aren’t you asking for a bit too much?
“H-hey, that’s just how humans are!”
Well, that is true.
Human greed has no ‘end,’ so it is impossible to predict where it will leap next.
That is why even ‘gods’ find humans difficult to predict.
“That sounds kind of scary, you know?”
It is indeed a scary thing to say.
Did you not see it just the other day? The eyes of the man holding the kitchen knife. From right in front of him.
“……”
The Ring’s words brought back a memory I didn’t want to recall. It came back even more vividly than when I had first faced it. Those eyes that looked half-mad. The blood vessels bulging in both eyes. The faint trembling of the hand holding the kitchen knife. And yet the killing intent that was crystal clear.
“Damn it, I’m probably going to have a nightmare tonight too.”
If I have offended you, I apologize.
“It’s fine, you bitch.”
To be honest, even when the Ring showed this side of itself, I didn’t particularly feel unpleasant. No matter what.
“You give me quests that benefit me. And most of those quests are about saving people, right?”
If it just gave me money, I could accept quite a bit of dog-like behavior. The cause was good too. How could I hate this thing?
That’s nice to hear.
I like it too, Master.
At first I wondered why God would grant power to such a pathetic guy.
But it seems God’s insight was not wrong after all.
It feels like the right person received it.
That was when it happened.
“Oh?”
One product caught my eye.
Telekinesis — 1,200,000 won
It was an ability that struck right at a man’s heartstrings.
“Okay. I’m definitely buying that once I save up.”
So, when was the next quest coming?
While I was killing time with that thought, I shook my head.
Quests are good, but I shouldn’t let myself get too swept up in them.
That was what life was like. Once you became obsessed with one thing, your field of vision narrowed, and it was easy to slowly become strange. Just like the guy who had stalked Hwangbo Ji-eun. People who fell into depression were probably similar.
But…
“That’s strange. Have you seen the coffee I was drinking? There was still about half left. I came back after making a smoothie and it’s gone.”
“Hic, I’m sorry, Hyun-woo. I threw it away. The ice had all melted… I thought you weren’t going to drink it.”
“Ah! No, it’s fine, Boss. If anything I’m the one who should apologize. I didn’t finish it quickly enough and made extra work for you.”
“Hehe, it’s nothing like that. As an apology, I’ll brew you a fresh cup. Oh, right! We’re adding a new dessert to the menu. Would you like to try it? I’d like to check if it’s good.”
“Sure, of course.”
Moyong Sunae’s usual gentle smile. She was even kind enough to clean up the coffee of a mere employee like me. So why did it feel so strange…?
While I was thinking that.
“My shoulder fracture brace can come off starting today. Hehe. To celebrate, how about the three of us go out for dinner? I heard a new place nearby does really good grilled beef tripe.”
“I’m in!”
“Then let’s close a little early today.”
“Boss, nice shot!”
A dinner outing had been decided.