<Episode 29>
The posts that kept appearing were all basically the same.
“Why won’t the fish-shaped pastry shop owner take investments?” the questioning type.
Or:
“The owner is seriously so frustrating.” the scolding type.
Whenever someone commented, “Taking investments just creates headaches,” replies would immediately pour in:
“You clearly don’t understand.”
“Investment capital is essential if the shop wants stability.”
‘So that’s why customers keep coming to ask if I’m interested in investments.’
Any Hunter who frequented the Hunter forums would inevitably keep seeing posts like these and subconsciously start thinking:
Huh? Good point, actually.
I handed Kang Min’s phone back to him.
“Hunter Kang Min, do you use the Hunter forums often too?”
“Not really… but someone DM’d me asking if I knew anything about these rumors.”
Recently, Kang Min had been actively using Byulstagram to communicate with fans. Apparently he read and replied to every single DM he received, and someone had sent him the posts.
When I checked the DM he’d gotten, the account was, as expected… private.
Zero posts. One follower.
“Thanks for showing me. Looks like someone really wants me to take investments.”
“They want you to take investments? It’s not like someone directly approached you already, right?”
“They’re probably waiting to make an offer after spreading these discussions around first. People are easily swayed by public opinion.”
They probably assumed I was some clueless rookie who had suddenly Awakened and started running a shop without understanding anything.
Too bad for them, I’d spent well over ten years helping run my parents’ store.
I was long past the age of falling for shallow tricks like this.
“If the terms were good, I’d consider investments. But honestly? In cases like this, the conditions are usually terrible.”
Kang Min tilted his head as though he couldn’t understand my reaction, but he said he respected my opinion.
After he left, Hayang and I walked home together while I quietly thought things over.
‘Someone definitely knew Kang Min was easily influenced by other people’s opinions and intentionally leaked it to him.’
As a former idol, he was especially sensitive to public perception. Since I hadn’t reacted at all, whoever was behind this must’ve deliberately shared the discussions with him through DMs.
“Whoever it is must really covet our shop.”
Even back when I helped my parents run their business, there had been plenty of people like this.
People who whispered sweetly, dressing investments up as if they were the only path to success.
But I’d also seen countless shops collapse after accepting those same investments.
I gently scratched under Hayang’s chin while she tilted her head in confusion.
Apparently enjoying it, she purred softly. Watching her, I smiled faintly.
“It’s nothing. Someone’s probably jealous because our shop’s doing too well.”
***
“Just like you said, noona, the same kinds of posts really keep appearing nonstop.”
While chewing on spicy fish-shaped pastries, Kang Min spoke with an amazed expression.
Ever since he’d shown me the posts, he’d apparently kept checking the Hunter forums, and similar threads were being uploaded several times a day.
“Why? What happened?”
“Oh, people keep talking about the fish pastry shop on the Hunter forums. So I told noona about it.”
Curious, Ari listened while Kang Min explained what he’d seen.
True to his naturally sociable personality, Kang Min had already started casually speaking with Ari a while ago.
After hearing the story, Ari stuck out her tongue.
“Why do they care whether you take investments or not? People seriously obsess over the weirdest things.”
The person writing those posts probably didn’t actually care what other Hunters thought about our shop.
They only wanted one thing:
For me to see the posts and start becoming interested in investments.
And people like that usually revealed themselves once they decided the timing was right.
Just like today.
After Ari went home first, I was finishing up cleaning the shop when a neatly dressed man carefully approached me.
“I’d like to make Miss Haneul a very good proposal.”
Wearing a gentle smile, the man smoothly slid a business card toward me.
As though urging me to read it quickly, his eyes sparkled expectantly, and I awkwardly smiled back.
‘NP Investment Partners?’
Introducing himself as Assistant Manager Shin, he asked if we could talk nearby for a moment.
Even though I tried to refuse, he stubbornly insisted it would only take ten minutes… no, five minutes, and eventually I ended up sitting with him in a nearby café.
He introduced himself as a sales manager from NP Investment Partners.
Noticing me carefully examining his business card, he smiled confidently.
“To explain our company, we were the initial investors behind Nutrafill, the meal replacement pills for Hunters. Thanks to our support, they were able to expand nationwide.”
“Ah, Nutrafill.”
“And not just them. You know A-rank creator Hunter Shin Kyungho, right? And recently popular B-rank creator Hunter Kim Sunju too. We supported both of them heavily from the beginning.”
After taking a sip of iced coffee, Assistant Manager Shin continued.
“We’ve determined that Miss Haneul possesses just as much potential. That’s why we believed it was important to move quickly.”
Smiling faintly, I replied:
“Our shop is different from businesses like Nutrafill that distribute products on a mass scale. We’re just a small little store.”
“Being small doesn’t mean lacking influence.”
Assistant Manager Shin immediately countered.
“You can tell just by looking at recent Hunter communities. Some people are even saying your fish-shaped pastries are better than Nutrafill. Right now those voices are still small, but if we invest, that changes.”
It seemed he wanted to turn our shop into something distributed nationwide like Nutrafill.
Perhaps thinking I was interested, he pulled a brown envelope from his briefcase and handed it to me.
“If we work together, your business can absolutely grow much larger. Shop expansion, securing sales channels… even overseas expansion. Have you imagined it?”
“Thank you for the offer, but I’m not sure that’s really possible…”
“Of course it wouldn’t be possible alone. That’s why we’d help you.”
Stamped across the envelope were the words:
Investment Contract
“At least take a look at the contents. It’ll be financially very beneficial for you.”
His tone was filled with certainty that once I read it, I wouldn’t be able to refuse.
I pulled out the contract and flipped through it lightly.
Initial investment: 20 billion won.
Additional investments possible depending on conditions.
‘They’re offering quite a high number right from the start.’
Even if they saw potential in the items our shop produced, it was still a massive amount to invest in a tiny store that had only just begun growing.
“It’s not just the money. We’ll also support all marketing efforts.”
“If you say marketing, what specifically do you mean?”
He shrugged casually.
“Well, image management is important when dealing with Hunters. For example, you might suddenly feel like entering Gates and things like that.”
He said it jokingly, but the implication was obvious:
He knew I entered Gates.
‘…How does he know that?’
Only a very small handful of people knew I entered Gates to gather ingredients.
For it to be coincidence was far too suspicious.
“Are you satisfied with the amount?”
“Hold on. Let me read a little more.”
The contract was thick, packed densely with text.
Just looking at it made my head hurt, but I couldn’t afford to skim through carelessly.
So I settled properly into my seat and began reading it seriously.
Assistant Manager Shin asked uncertainly:
“…You’re really going to read all of it?”
“Of course. If you’re busy, you can leave first.”
“No, no. Take your time.”
The five minutes he’d originally promised had long since passed.
As I carefully inspected page after page, he seemed increasingly flustered, eventually pulling out a handkerchief to wipe away sweat.
“Ah.”
After reading for quite some time, certain clauses written in smaller text caught my attention.
And just as expected, there were some fatal poison clauses buried inside.
[All important matters related to store operations must receive investor approval.]
[The investor may request audits regarding all aspects of operation, including menu items, pricing, and hiring.]
A crooked smile spread across my face.
Accepting an investment like this would only chain me down later.
I slipped the contract back into the envelope and handed it back to him.
“It seems like a good proposal, but in reality you’re asking me to hand over complete control of my shop. I’ll have to decline.”
A crack finally formed in his perfect smile.
“I suppose you could interpret the clauses that way. But we only included them as safety measures. If you and I discuss things in more detail–”
“I’m sorry. I’ve already made up my mind.”
I shook my head firmly.
Honestly, I’d never been interested in investments from the beginning.
I was simply curious about what kind of conditions they’d try to force on me.
Investment could become wings for growth… or the fastest route to ruin.
‘My parents always warned me to be wary of people who approached claiming they wanted to raise me for no reason.’
They saw potential in me and wanted to invest?
Right at the same timing when posts about investing in our shop had started flooding the forums every single day?
Anyone would find that suspicious.
After a brief silence, he tucked the returned contract back into his briefcase.
Before standing up, he looked at me with a meaningful smile.
“Very well. The choice is yours, after all. However…”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“…you’ll likely have a hard time finding investors who can offer better conditions than we can.”
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