Chapter 133
On the verge of bankruptcy, I fell silent for a moment.
Kim Taekjin only raised an eyebrow slightly, while Lee Hoin and I sank into thought.
If it were just the lowest-grade stones, we could negotiate a bit… but the lower-grade ones were the real problem.
—
[Wow, you’ve really been caught properly.]
—
Even trying to substitute with more lowest-grade stones would be tight.
And Doul wasn’t the kind of person to grant that kind of convenience.
As the atmosphere sank, Kim Taekjin watched for a moment before suddenly speaking.
“Since we’re entrusting you with multiple items, could you give us a bit of a discount?”
He smiled warmly and approached the old man without hesitation.
The old man looked at him for a moment and snorted.
“I already gave you the best price I could on the sorting. At this point, it’s practically free. Appraising this much doesn’t cost a coin or two.”
“I know. I do. But since we’re leaving this much with you, couldn’t you lower it just a bit more? We can’t exactly empty everything we have here. This is the entire fortune barely gathered by kids who just turned twenty.”
He murmured, subtly weaving in a story meant to evoke sympathy.
“Appraising this many items means we’ve survived well so far… and that we can keep surviving. And if we take these items with us, those chances only increase. So if we ever come back to find an ‘appraiser’ again, wouldn’t we come to you, sir?”
Whispering about becoming a regular, he continued:
“We’re just young people trying our best to survive. Please help us out a little, sir.”
The old man fell silent.
His gaze moved between Lee Hoin and me, hesitation flickering in his eyes.
In the stillness, the sound of a baby whining echoed.
As if reflecting his thoughts… or ours.
“Please. If we survive, you gain a regular customer, right? And next time, we’ll bring just as many items again.”
It was practically a blank check.
Everyone here knew that even if he said that, the chances of us coming back were slim.
—
[And yet, isn’t it only human to fall for it?]
—
Affection. Sympathy. Compassion.
Words leaning on those things.
Even in a world like this… asking for a small bit of humanity.
‘It’s basically the same as saying that outright.’
Normally, a typical agent would never agree to this.
Behind them stood a “third party” pressuring them to bring back stories.
Not every agent lived comfortably under that favor.
More often, they struggled to gather stories to offer.
Because only through that struggle could more desperate, tragic stories be obtained.
And that didn’t guarantee survival either.
Unless the “third party” was willing to spend time, money, and effort to revive them… which they usually weren’t, they were even harsher.
‘Of course, there are “third parties” that show kindness.’
Though rare, they do exist.
Like the First Eternal Pleasure Seeker, who cherished his agent obsessively… Some care for their agents.
Or at least treat them humanely.
Doul’s “third party” was one of those.
Allowing an appraiser to roam outside at all was already a sign of that.
If a carefully raised appraiser died outside, the loss fell entirely on the “third party.”
It wasn’t just the appraiser dying.
All the items, traits, and stories invested in them would scatter.
Raising a non-combat specialist required considerable effort.
Not much was said about Doul, but I remembered that his being outside was by his own will.
“……Please.”
I bowed my head slightly as I spoke.
The old man lifted his seasoned eyes, thinking.
He looked between the pile of items and us… then let out a long sigh.
“Haah… fine. I’ll meet you halfway. About how much do you have? Hah… it’s not like I’m running a charity…”
He grumbled, but accepted.
I proposed a number within what I could afford and what he could accept.
After some back-and-forth, we managed to leave with a bit of margin.
Kim Taekjin helped too, chiming in at just the right moments.
“Here.”
The old man handed us something as we were finishing up.
It was a small locket pendant.
“Once the appraisal is done, I’ll follow that to deliver it. Now go on back.”
I nodded.
“Thank you.”
We prepared to leave.
The baby’s babbling continued.
Inside that space… There was only the old man in a robe and us.
No child.
***
We opened the door in silence and stepped out slowly.
Things had gone better than expected, thankfully… but the moment we left the cabin, the tension snapped back into place.
—
[They say not to go into forests or mountains at night. Well, our narrator isn’t one to listen.]
—
We walked slowly.
Animal sounds still echoed.
Somewhere, mutants cried.
Wind roared through the trees.
—
[All kinds of sounds cling to your ears.]
[The moon is strangely bright,]
[and doesn’t a peculiar sense of unease wrap around your body?]
—
The narrator was talking too much.
Better to move faster.
I quickened my pace.
—
[Are you sure you’re going the right way?]
—
I’m following the path.
I’m going the right way.
—
[But what if that’s a lie?]
—
It’s an obvious trick.
A trick to gnaw at the mind.
I can’t fall for it.
Even as I steadied myself…
I could feel my mental strength being chipped away.
What’s the point of raising it through meditation if it gets eaten away like this?
—
[Humans are like that.]
[Weak and inferior beings, aren’t they?]
[You, narrator, can face that weakness more closely than anyone.]
—
I exhaled briefly.
Faster. I needed to move faster.
Get somewhere safe…
‘They might get dragged in like me.’
The narrator would definitely try to shake us.
That’s how stories are made, more dramatic.
So before the others get affected…
I suddenly stopped.
A chilling sensation ran down my back.
At some point… the beams of light behind me were gone.
I turned around reflexively.
—
[Oh my.]
—
…fuck.
Separated again. Damn it.
The ones who should have been behind me… were gone.
I stood alone in the middle of the path.
It was definitely the right road.
The same well-maintained trail.
I was going the right way.
Then where did those two go?
Why did they disappear?
‘Should I go look for them?’
From where?
I don’t even know when we got separated.
My head throbbed.
‘Do they know the way back?’
I quickly pulled out my phone and sent multiple messages to Lee Hoin.
“Where are you?” filled the chat.
I ran a hand through my hair.
If I move carelessly, we might miss each other completely.
Or I might get lost too.
I pressed my brow and sighed.
—
[At this point, I wonder who’s truly unlucky!]
[The narrator who lost his companions? Or the companions unlucky enough to have chosen him?]
—
Then… a faint sound of wind grabbed my ears.
—
[Perhaps the misfortune is still aimed at you.]
—
The two who were left behind blinked.
A sudden gust of wind… and Nam Muyeong, who had been ahead, vanished.
Leaving the two alone on an empty path.
Finding the path wasn’t difficult, so they walked.
But no matter how long they walked, it felt like they weren’t quite getting anywhere.
Eventually, they stopped… and looked at each other.
So… we’re screwed, right?
That kind of look.
The surroundings, once full of noise,
had become eerily quiet.
Still.
As if everything had been swallowed.
Kim Taekjin looked around and spoke.
“What should we do now?”
At his sudden voice, Lee Hoin frowned and covered his mouth.
Kim Taekjin shrugged and kept talking… as if it didn’t matter.
“If making noise was dangerous, we would’ve been in trouble already when we started making footsteps halfway through.”
“…?”
“Look around properly. It’s stopped.”
Only then did Lee Hoin look around.
It was stopped.
As if time itself had frozen.
—
[The narrator needs to cool his head.]
[Trying to control and coordinate everything is understandable. Most transmigrators follow that path.]
[But right now, the narrator is far too pressed. Like a hamster wheel, constantly spinning, as if he has too much to do alone. It makes things dull. Far too dull.]
[The best way to cool your head is…]
[to return to the primitive.]
[Discard useless thoughts and focus solely…]
[on the ambition to survive.]
[Chapter 23: Let’s cool your head! ▼]
[〉 Run away.]
[〉 Counterattack. (Dagger skill possessed)]
—
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