Chapter 18;Money and Talent Pour In

  Chapter 18: Busking (1)

Staring directly at the single stick propped up in the hat, he called out to him.

“Excuse me.”

“…Yes?”

“What’s going on? I can help you.”

“Ah, th-thank you. I think I lost my smartphone on the way here. So I was wondering if I could borrow some bus fare…”

A look of relief spread across the gentle-looking face.

The despair lifted.

In an instant, a hopeful voice rose up.

“Ahh, I see.”

“Yes, that’s right!”

“I’ll lend it to you.”

“R-really?”

“Of course. You’re a soldier — the least I can do is help you out like this.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

He didn’t ask where the soldier needed to go.

This much would be enough.

He handed over two 50,000-won bills.

“Will this be enough?”

“Ah, n-no, this is too much. Even 50,000 won is plenty.”

“Just in case. Take it.”

“Ah…”

“And you’ll need to find your smartphone too.”

“Well…”

“Want to try calling it once?”

“Would that… be okay?”

“Of course. Here.”

The private carefully took the phone and dialed his own number. Fortunately, someone had picked it up and turned it in at the police station.

“You can go pick up your smartphone now.”

“Yes, really, thank you so much!”

“Take care on your way.”

“I’ll definitely pay you back for the fare!”

“It’s fine. Have a good leave.”

As Ryu Seong turned to walk away, the private snapped to attention.

“Attention!”

“No need for a full salute…”

Ryu Seong lightly bowed his head to accept the private’s salute. It was probably the soldier’s own best way of expressing his gratitude.

Man…

Still, it felt pretty good.

[Quest Cleared!]

[Calculating rewards…]

[Calculation complete.]

[Lowest-grade random card awarded.]

[Acquired 2 Good Deed Points.]

Doing a good deed and getting rewarded on top of it — pure bliss.

*

He spent his days peacefully yet energetically.

“You’re full of energy these days.”

Walking around the neighborhood three times a day — morning, afternoon, and evening — two hours each time, and he didn’t feel tired at all. He had never properly exercised before, so his base stamina had been rather weak. Clearly, this was the effect of the stamina enhancement potion he received as a quest reward.

“It’s great, but…”

The problem was that no new quests were appearing. Of course, he was expecting to earn quite a few points from the upcoming class reunion, but he still kept moving diligently.

For what came after.

Each little bit he accumulated now would shorten the time it took to reach that goal.

Before he knew it, the sky was turning red.

Below it lay a park perfect for an evening walk.

While strolling lightly through it—

“…Singing?”

A gentle melody reached his ears, and his body was naturally drawn toward it. Following the sound, he saw someone singing in one corner of the park.

♪♩♬♩♪♩.

Soon, a familiar melody and lyrics flowed out.

[The stars are forever out of reach

And today, too, I dream that kind of dream

Walking toward that unreachable place

You are still shining]

It was a song he liked.

He closed his eyes quietly and savored the lyrics.

An attractive voice.

It blended with the words and tickled his heart.

Without any stray thoughts.

For this moment, he was completely immersed in the song itself.

A faint something.

Something intangible slipped into his chest under the name of music. Those three minutes — neither particularly long nor short — felt like they purified so many things.

“Thank you.”

Before he realized it, the song had ended.

“Ah…”

Unconsciously, Ryu Seong let out a small sigh of regret.

He wanted to hear a little more.

Fortunately, the busker immediately launched into the next song. It was a soothing, healing melody that once again captured his ears instantly.

*This one’s good too.*

His heart felt at ease.

[Ding!]

At that moment, a sound interrupted his appreciation.

[Quest Activated!]

[What It Means to Stake Your Life on Music.]

[She possessed exceptional talent and worked tirelessly without growing arrogant, honing her skills to perfection. Yet, making a name for herself proved far more difficult than expected. Despite this, she devoted her life to song, vowing to make music until her dying breath. Today, too, she busks for donations while scraping by on various part-time jobs. Give a glimmer of hope to the nameless singer before your eyes.]

[Time Remaining: 30 minutes.]

[Success Reward: Random Card, Good Deed Points.]

[Quest Failure: Your clothes will catch on a tree branch and tear.]

It was the quest he’d been longing for, but right now, it felt like an unwelcome interruption, furrowing his brow slightly.

*Well, at least it popped up.*

As he slowly read through the details, he was a bit surprised.

“Hmm.”

The fact that someone with such emotive talent, capable of touching hearts with song, was struggling to make ends meet.

The world was truly unpredictable.

Anyway, it said to give her hope.

The answer was right there in the quest itself. He just needed to put some donation money into the open guitar case in front of the singer. It already had a few coins and a single bill inside.

He quickly checked his wallet — no cash on hand.

Just 20,000 won.

He couldn’t donate that, so he hurried to a nearby convenience store to withdraw some. It wasn’t a bank ATM, so he couldn’t get 50,000-won bills.

*Beep beep beep.*

The counting sound rang out, and the dispenser opened.

He gripped the wad of cash.

One hundred 10,000-won bills in his hand.

*This should be enough, right?*

He’d earned a ton from coins, but spending this much on a complete stranger wasn’t easy. Still, one thing was clear: he needed to get used to dropping large sums like this. The more he spent, the bigger the rewards.

“Better to spend as much as possible.”

Quests didn’t come whenever he wanted, so every one was precious. He had to maximize the rewards somehow.

*Time to go.*

As he started to move, the quest title suddenly came to mind.

[What It Means to Stake Your Life on Music.]

The weight of the word “life” clashed starkly with the 1 million won in his hand.

*This won’t cut it.*

No matter how many times he looked at it, it felt insufficient, so he decided to withdraw more cash.

Just 2 million more.

It still felt like not enough, but his pockets were small — carrying more than that would be a real burden.

*No choice.*

With a total of 300 bills in hand, he headed toward the sound of the singing.

His mood was strangely peculiar.

Tense, perhaps.

It was his first time carrying around such a thick stack of cash, after all. His smartphone showed over 200 million won, yet here he was, nervous over just 3 million in reality.

Even from his part-time jobs, he’d always received payment directly into his bank account. Come to think of it, this might be the first time he’d ever held a million won in physical cash. And yet, for all its graspable thickness in one hand, it carried a profound sense of reality.

*So this… is what money feels like.*

Absurdly, he felt its true weight.

*

He arrived at his destination.

The song drifted toward him.

As his earlier excitement settled, he fully savored the lyrics flowing in.

“It’s good…”

A song he could listen to over and over.

A few more songs followed.

Ryu Seong stood there, cash tucked away, listening.

Time seemed to melt away.

In its place, his soul filled with something profound.

A sense of fullness.

Finally, the singer began packing up to leave, snapping Ryu Seong back to reality. He hurriedly approached the still-open acoustic guitar case and set down the cash.

Perhaps because he placed it too hastily, the bills scattered inside the case.

3 million won.

Not an outrageous amount. But the visual impact of three hundred 10,000-won bills was more powerful than expected.

“Ah…?”

Their eyes met — the singer’s wide with shock.

“I enjoyed your singing.”

“Th-thank you.”

With nothing more to say, he turned to leave.

“Whoa, did you see that?”

“Insane. How much was that…?”

“Wow, crazy.”

He heard the murmurs from the others who’d been listening, felt their stares fully. It was quite burdensome, so he quickly slipped away from the scene.

“E-excuse me…!”

The singer, watching Ryu Seong walk away, hurriedly zipped up her guitar case.

“Oh, that’s it for today. Thank you everyone!”

She gave a quick bow and left the spot.

*

One video uploaded to Starstagram started gaining massive popularity.

An enormous number of hearts.

And the comments flying in nonstop caught everyone’s eye.

- Wow, how much money is that exactly??

- Regram!! Stealing this~

- Is this staged?

  Who would stage something like this?

  Idk, maybe

  I was actually there!! It’s not staged. Some young guy who’d been listening for a while put down the money, said “I really enjoyed your singing,” and left! The singer was totally flustered and stuttering

  Really?

  Yeah! I come to this park for walks all the time and post pics here often!

  Ooh…!

-Credibility +1000!

- Regramming ^^

- Looks like maybe one or two… three hundred? Seeing it in 10,000-won bills makes it hit different

- Right? We’re so used to just seeing numbers on screens

- Damn, the singing is actually really good too?

- For real

- How is someone this talented still unknown?

- Regram!

- The song is insanely good!!

- Wow… this is so nice…!

The moment you looked away, dozens more comments appeared.

Regrams were spreading just as fast.

The video exploded across Starstagram at an incredible speed. Once it crossed a certain threshold, internet articles finally started picking it up.

[Busker Receives Thick Wad of Cash Mid-Performance?]

[Who Is the Busking Singer Who Got Handed a Bundle of Money?]

[Song That Summons Money?]

Every headline was sensational.

Very occasionally, there were articles that simply reported the facts as they were.

They didn’t get nearly as many views, though.

Anyway—that was the beginning.

Before long, the story spread to all kinds of media outlets and even started getting mentioned on YouTube.

[Ah, that incident?]

[I saw the video too… it was pretty shocking.]

[The singing was really good, right?]

[Yeah.]

[It’s a shame the person giving the money isn’t clearly shown in the video. I was so curious…]

[At first it was just the singer, then you see a hand briefly putting down the money. After that it’s only the cash and the singer’s blank expression.]

[Her back view appears for like half a second.]

[Well, whoever that mysterious rich guy—or whatever he is—is, we don’t know. But one thing’s for sure: the song was genuinely amazing. How much did he love it to drop that kind of money?]

[Most people struggle to give even a few thousand won.]

[Exactly. It’s really not easy.]

[The bills scattering everywhere made it even more sensational, though.]

[It looked like she was sitting on a pile of money.]

[Yes! Exactly that vibe!]

With all the buzz, entertainment companies naturally started paying attention.

“Hmm… she sings really well.”

“The video’s a bit blurry, but her face looks decent too.”

“Right?”

“Yeah. Should we try contacting her?”

“Sure. Find her and set up a meeting.”

“Got it!”

They tried hard to track down the singer’s contact information. When that proved difficult, most of them simply started showing up at the park, waiting for her to appear.

*TOC*Previous