Chapter 4: Money and Talent Pour In

 

           Chapter 4 : Changing Hearts (2)

**[Quest Activated!]**

**[Namul contains various nutrients?]**

[A grandmother raising her young grandchild alone is selling several types of namul that she personally foraged. If namul is foraged improperly, all its nutrients die off. The namul sold by this street vendor grandmother has all its nutrients evenly preserved, making it excellent for consumption. Immediately buy all the namul she’s selling and use them as food to balance your unbalanced body! At the same time, gift her a short break to ease her arduous life, even if just for a moment.]

**[Remaining time: 10 minutes]**

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

**[On Quest Failure: You will feel a headache.]**

Is it because I’m drunk?

I seem to be in a slightly more emotional state than when I found that kitten. Because of that, various thoughts resurfaced once again.

If it weren’t for the quest.

He surely would have passed by this place without a second thought.

“Ridiculous.”

Knowing that fact, he couldn’t bring himself to move easily.

Hoo.

But he couldn’t just not go either. Since the quest had already popped up, he had no desire to take the penalty, and even less so to miss out on the reward.

Above all, turning a blind eye even when pushed this hard would make him feel too ashamed of himself.

Step.

Before he knew it, he arrived in front of the grandmother.

“Oh my, young man. Here to buy something?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, what can I get for you?”

“Um, everything you have here, please.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Everything, please. I have a gathering today and need a lot of different types of namul.”

“Oh my, really? Thank you, thank you so much. I’ll pack it up nice and cheap for you.”

The grandmother kept thanking him nonstop as she packed the namul into a black plastic bag. The process felt incredibly long and drawn out. Her hands moved quickly, but Ryu Sung’s uneasy heart made it seem slow.

“Today, I can buy something tasty for my grandchild, huh. All thanks to you, young man. Thank you, really.”

“I’m buying it because I need it too.”

“This is the first time I’ve had an experience like this. Who buys everything all at once like this?”

“Haha…”

“How could this even happen, really? I’ve been selling here for over ten years, you know. Never in my life did I imagine I’d be heading home this early. Oh, I’ve talked too much, haven’t I? Just wait a moment—I’ll pack it up cheap for you.”

Perhaps influenced by the grandmother’s delighted expression, his uncomfortable feelings slowly faded away, leaving only a small smile on Ryu Sung’s lips.

“It’s fine, take your time.”

“Oh my, such a good personality too.”

“Ahem.”

“There, all packed up. Let me see… this…”

The grandmother finished calculating.

The total came to 30,000 won.

The price for everything she sold while sitting on the street all day long.

For a moment, his breath caught in his throat.

…That’s it?

All this namul for just 30,000 won?

“Here’s 50,000 won.”

“Eh, wait a second. Let me get your change…”

“It’s okay…”

“What nonsense is that! That’s not right. Just wait a bit!”

While the grandmother approached nearby merchants to somehow scrape together change, Ryu Sung slipped away from the spot. As if sensing it, she came running over, shouting. Realizing he couldn’t just leave like that, he approached the grandmother.

“How can you just go like that! Here, your change!”

“Really, it’s fine.”

“Hey now, you can’t throw money around like that! I get that you’re thinking of me, young man, but getting just the price I set is more than enough.”

“…”

Ryu Sung admitted that his own thinking had been shortsighted.

“I’m sorry, Grandmother.”

“No need for apologies. I’m just grateful. Truly thankful.”

He stared at the change she’d painstakingly handed him for a long while before putting it in his pocket. By then, the grandmother had returned to her spot and was packing up her stall.

**[Quest Clear!]**

**[Settling…]**

**[Settlement Complete.]**

**[Lowest-Grade Random Card issued.]**

**[Acquired 2 Good Deed Points.]**

**[To use the card, you must strongly express your will to open it.]**

Right now, the flickering text hovering before his eyes wasn’t registering properly.

It was because of his peculiar mood.

Looking straight ahead once more, he took a step forward.

“Man… this is so awkward.”

He’d ended up doing something he’d never normally do, using the quest as an excuse. The fullness he felt from it was definitely a strange kind of sensation, yet for some reason it kept tickling his chest.

*

He returned home and fell asleep feeling good.

Yes, that’s how it was.

So why was he having this nightmare?

A giant hammer was pounding his entire body. Malice poured in from all directions and clung to the hammer, and the more it did, the more destructive power the hammer gained.

BOOM! KWAANG!

Even though it was a dream, he could feel the pain.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

Isn’t this a bit too intense?

But the hammering didn’t stop.

It kept going.

THUD, THWACK, THUD!

At that moment, along with a shaking sensation, he snapped awake.

“…Huh?”

When he opened his eyes, Ryu Hyeon-ah was kicking him.

“Wow, seriously. How long are you gonna sleep?!”

“I-I’m awake…!”

Even though he clearly showed signs of waking up, Ryu Hyeon-ah’s kicking didn’t stop.

“Like this? Still not waking up?”

“Ugh, ugh! Stop it… If I get up I’ll die…”

“Dad told me to wake you! Hurry up or we won’t make it to the outlet!”

“Outlet…?”

“We’re going today, remember?!”

“…”

“Wow, insane. You actually forgot?”

He vaguely remembered hearing something about it before heading out to see Lee Shin-woo. Forcing his sleepy eyes open, he dragged himself up.

“I didn’t forget, I know everything, okay?”

“Know my ass! Everyone’s already waiting, so get out here quick!”

It was a rare family shopping trip, so he had zero desire to skip it.

He didn’t really have anything else to do either.

He got up, went to the bathroom, splashed water on his face, and finally felt a bit more awake. He threw on some clothes, put on a cap, and left the room.

“Hm?”

No other family members were around—only Ryu Hyeon-ah sprawled on the sofa, grinning like an idiot while watching TV.

“What the…?”

“Wow, you got ready fast?”

“What is this?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? We still have like thirty minutes before we leave.”

“Argh, you little—!”

He charged at Ryu Hyeon-ah and smacked the back of her head.

THWACK!

It must have had more pushing force than actual pain, because she staggered.

“KYAAAA!”

She quickly regained balance and spun around.

“You—!”

As if refusing to back down, she launched a flying kick.

THUMP!

It landed squarely in his stomach.

Well, it was a sensation he felt pretty often, so he recovered quickly and countered.

“Alright, let’s see who wins!”

From the morning, the energy was really overflowing.

*

Even after the big morning battle with Ryu Hyeon-ah, there was still plenty of time left.

“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”

While lying sprawled on the sofa staring blankly, he suddenly remembered something he’d forgotten.

Ah, the lowest-grade card!

He’d been so caught up in random thoughts lately that he’d momentarily forgotten about it. No one knew what kind of great reward might pop out of the card, so unconsciously, anticipation started building up.

“Up we go.”

He sat up and leaned back against the sofa.

What could it be?

The card he got from collecting 500 won at the hospital had given him a whopping 10 million won. The two cards he had now were earned from spending several hundred thousand won on the kitten’s hospital bills and 30,000 won on the namul.

He’d spent way more money than just 500 won this time, so there was no way he wouldn’t be excited.

Money would be great.

Or maybe something a little more special.

He decided to draw one first. Among the countless spinning cards, he picked the one that drew him in the most. It zoomed in as if enlarging, and a tremendous light struck his mind—but that only made it feel better. It felt like something extraordinary was about to come out. Soon the light faded, and the result appeared.

[You have selected the lowest-grade ‘Gift’ card.]

[Reward: Lottery ticket acquired.]

In his hand was a single lottery ticket.

It was one of those common scratch-off tickets you see sold on the street.

Thump, thump.

As expected, it was definitely something out of the ordinary.

It has to be a winner, right?

How much would it be?

First, he scratched the top-right corner where the prize amount was hidden with his fingernail.

The numbers appeared.

Prize amount: 100,000,000 won!

A full 100 million won.

The lucky number was 6, so now if just one 6 appeared in any of the three blank spaces below when he scratched them, he would win the prize.

“Come on, come out!”

He scratched the first space at the bottom with his nail.

Scrape, scrape scrape.

The shape of the number slowly revealed itself.

“Ah…”

He knew instantly it wasn’t it.

Anyone could tell it was a 1.

Moving to the next space, he scratched again, and this time a round shape appeared.

No way…!

He scratched faster in excitement.

“Hmm.”

The number that came out was 8.

It looked a bit like 6, but no matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t 6.

No need to feel too disappointed yet.

It’s not over until it’s over.

“This is a reward, there’s no way…”

Believing it had to be a guaranteed win, he scratched the last space.

Silence fell.

Instead of the hoped-for 6, a 3 had appeared.

[No reward has been acquired.]

[What a shame. Try harder next time!]

The message popped up as if taunting him.

Yes. It was a dud.

“Seriously… a complete dud?”

He barely managed to pull himself together.

A slight surge of anger rose, but he quickly decided to accept it.

It was already over.

No amount of regret would bring it back.

Above all—

There was still one card left.

When he selected that card, once again a bunch of cards flew out and began spinning in a circle.

This time it’ll come, right?

The memory of the hospital was still fresh. That day when he drew the card and got nearly 9 million won in cash—he still couldn’t forget that moment.

[You have selected the lowest-grade ‘Cash’ card.]

And now.

The same ‘Cash’ card as back then had been drawn.

“Ooooh…!”

The card zoomed in dramatically.

[You have selected the lowest-grade ‘Cash’ card.]

[Bad luck, huh?]

The reward he received was a mere 50,000 won.

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