'Okay, I've got a rough idea of the numbers now.'
Hae-jin spent some serious time thinking for the first time in quite a while.
As he scribbled whatever came to mind on a sheet of paper and considered his options, things that had once seemed vague gradually became a little clearer.
Today's income was three hundred and twenty million won.
Adding that to the money he had already saved brought his total to a little over four hundred million won.
Where and how should he invest it?
Hae-jin stared quietly at the list written on the paper.
'First, option one. Spend three hundred million won outright and buy another house. That's probably the safest choice.'
Especially when he considered the Skill he had recently acquired.
[A Landlord's Gravitas]
-Attack Power increases according to the value of the properties you own.
-Leased Properties do not provide this effect. Only properties under your direct Ownership are recognized.
Since Hae-jin had invincibility, the most important Stat for him was naturally Attack Power.
And this was an important Skill that increased exactly that.
'It goes up by 1% for every hundred million won, so if I buy a three-hundred-million-won house, that's a 3% increase. Hmm... It's good, but....'
Something about it still felt lacking.
Until now, he had practically coasted through life as a Hunter, and suddenly he was supposed to make a sensible investment into his Stats?
It was not a bad option, but it honestly felt far too ordinary.
What was he supposed to do with a mere 3% increase in Attack Power?
'Then there's option two. Conduct another experiment with my abilities.'
Perhaps it could be considered an extension of the successful shack experiment.
It was a little embarrassing to admit, but Hae-jin still did not fully understand his own abilities.
He had never even heard of a Job called God Landlord before.
It was such an unusual Job that no information about it existed at all.
So what else could he do?
He had no choice but to test things one by one and learn for himself.
'The most important thing I'm curious about right now is exactly how far the definition of "property I own" can be stretched.'
Even the crude shack he had built in an empty field had been recognized as a building.
If that was possible, perhaps he could try something even more audacious.
'Honestly, the odds don't seem that high. But if it works....'
A jackpot.
No, perhaps it could make today's three hundred and twenty million won look like pocket change.
'It'd put winning the lottery to shame. Yeah.'
Having made up his mind, Hae-jin gave a firm nod.
Then he muttered quietly.
“Good. This is worth trying.”
Three hundred and twenty million won.
It was an amount of money he had never imagined having.
But instead of being satisfied with it, he intended to put it straight back to work.
Early the very next morning—
Hae-jin got up and immediately left the house.
Today's destination was neither the shack he had established as a base nor the Hunting City.
It was downtown Seoul, where his old semi-basement apartment was located.
Joining the bustling morning rush, Hae-jin headed toward the store where he had made a reservation the previous day.
'Oh, there it is.'
[Hyunseong Rent-a-Car]
It was the largest rental car company in Korea, operated by a major corporation.
The moment he stepped inside, a salesman in a suit approached him.
“Welcome to Hyunseong Rent-a-Car, where we rent happiness! Is there a particular vehicle you're looking for?”
“I made a reservation under the name Lee Hae-jin.”
“Ah, Mr. Lee Hae-jin... You're the customer looking for a camper van, correct?”
“Yes.”
That was right.
There was a reason Hae-jin had suddenly come to a rental car company.
He wanted to rent not an ordinary vehicle, but a camper van.
'If you think about it, renting something isn't that different from paying monthly rent, right? And a camper van is basically a vehicle designed to function as a small house you can live in.'
Then what if a camper van could be recognized as real estate?
It would become a mobile invincible fortress.
A house with wheels.
That was Hae-jin's reasoning.
“The camper van you reserved costs two hundred and fifty thousand won per night. The minimum rental period is three days and two nights.”
“Can I rent it for just one day?”
“I'm sorry, sir. Other vehicle types may allow that, but camper vans have a fixed minimum rental period.”
“Then I'll take it for two nights.”
Even with hundreds of millions of won in his possession, his miserly nature had not gone anywhere.
Since there was still a chance the experiment might fail, he had wanted to rent it for only one day and keep the cost as low as possible.
Unfortunately, that would not be possible.
“Thank you! We hope you enjoy your camping trip, sir!”
For now, Hae-jin rented one camper van for three days and two nights.
He twirled the key around his finger as he walked outside and climbed into the vehicle waiting in the parking lot.
“Now then, let's see!”
Would a camper van be recognized as real estate?
Could his dream of mobile invincible property finally become reality?
Filled with anticipation, Hae-jin started the engine.
VROOM-!
“Ugh... Did I dream a little too big?”
Hae-jin drove along in the rented camper van.
For now, he had set The Forest Lodge as his destination and was traveling down the highway.
'No System message is showing up.'
Even if it was only rented for three days and two nights, leased property was still property.
If the System recognized it, a message should have appeared immediately and the list of his Leased Properties should have been updated.
But even after more than three hours of driving and trying various things, there had been no response from the System whatsoever.
Usually, it annoyed him by constantly going DING! DING!, yet now that he actually wanted to hear it, it remained completely silent.
What an utterly heartless System.
'Does that mean this experiment failed?'
He had just wasted a full day and five hundred thousand won.
Hae-jin briefly wondered whether he should accept that conclusion.
'No. It's still too early to give up. Let's try everything I can. That's what experiments are for, right?'
While he continued thinking through the possibilities, the camper van arrived at his destination.
VROOM-!
He passed through the large gate and entered the yard.
Guard, who had been peacefully taking a nap, spotted Hae-jin's vehicle and came running over with his tail wagging.
Hae-jin intended to rest for a while, so he parked the camper van on the empty land behind the lodge.
At that exact moment—
-DING!
“O-Ohhh!!”
The System notification he had been desperately waiting for rang brightly in his ears.
[You have discovered a new property!]
[Would you like to register this property with the System?]
“Yes! Absolutely yes!”
-DING!
-You have acquired a new property!
-The list of available properties has been updated!
[Owned Properties – 26]
[Leased Properties – 3]
“Nice!!”
The camper van was immediately registered as one of Hae-jin's properties.
Since it was rented, it had been classified as a Leased Property.
'Just as I thought!'
Hae-jin had not attempted this experiment based on nothing more than blind hope.
The hypothesis he had come up with yesterday was as follows.
First, he needed to ask a more fundamental question.
What exactly was real estate?
When he looked it up in a Korean dictionary, he found the following definition.
[Real Estate]
[Noun]
[1. Property that cannot be moved or relocated, such as land or buildings.]
That was it.
That exact part.
'Property that cannot be moved or relocated.'
Apparently, that sentence had been the key.
Realization dawned on Hae-jin, and he nodded.
'So, to sum it up, while I'm driving the camper van, it isn't real estate. But once I stop the vehicle and occupy a piece of land with it, the System recognizes it as real estate, right?'
To be a little more precise—
'That means my ability is based on land, not buildings. Okay. Now I know for sure.'
Unfortunately, it seemed difficult to perfectly realize his dream of mobile invincible property.
Still, he had discovered something even more important.
That alone was enough.
“Good. If that's how it works... then this is definitely possible.”
Now that he had proven his hypothesis, it was time to put it into practice.
Hae-jin immediately intended to move on to the next stage of his plan.
Camper vans were a far more expensive and luxurious hobby than most people realized.
Even a camper van converted from an ordinary SUV cost at least thirty million won.
Proper models could cost anywhere from seventy million won to more than two billion.
But Hae-jin was a miser.
No matter how much money he had, buying a brand-new one felt like a terrible waste.
So he quickly picked up the cheapest used camper van he could find.
The used price was an astonishing twelve million won!
It was so cheap that he almost felt nervous about driving it.
And sure enough—
RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE---
“What the hell? Why does this camper van sound like a tractor? This thing isn't going to explode, is it?!”
The moment he got behind the wheel, all he could do was laugh helplessly.
The vehicle was not merely old.
It was practically rotting away.
If he took it to a repair shop, they would probably recommend scrapping it rather than repairing it.
'I know I bought it because I trusted my Skill and wanted to save money, but... wow. Isn't this a little too much? Did the person who sold this thing seriously have a conscience?'
Hae-jin gripped the steering wheel anxiously and prayed.
Please.
Just please.
Could it at least make it to the destination without breaking down or exploding?
Perhaps his desperate prayers were answered.
Although the vehicle shook violently the entire way, he somehow managed to arrive safely.
“Whew... I survived.”
Hae-jin wiped away the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead and parked the camper van.
His destination was not The Forest Lodge.
It was a hunting ground deeper inside the Demonic Zone.
It was the same place where he had built the shack several days ago and hunted the Basilisk.
'Now then, if I'm right, all I need to do is park it on ownerless land like this.'
Then he registered the camper van as property once again.
-DING!
-'My Comfortable Home' activates!
Suddenly, a brilliant light flashed from the camper van.
Under the effect of the Skill, the vehicle began repairing itself in an instant.
The paint that had almost completely peeled away was restored to a flawless finish, while the engine that had sounded ready to explode was repaired until it ran perfectly.
The transformation was completed in the blink of an eye.
When Hae-jin opened his eyes again, a gleaming camper van stood before him, looking as though it had just rolled out of the factory.
“Now that's what I'm talking about!!”
The sight of it drew an exclamation from him immediately.
How much had this camper van cost when it was new?
He vaguely remembered it being a little over sixty million won.
'I could sell it exactly as it is and make nearly fifty million won in profit. This is insane!'
Was this not what it truly meant to make proper use of one's abilities?
But this was not what Hae-jin wanted.
Not 'merely' this much.
He had already reached the point where simply repairing camper vans and reselling them could no longer satisfy him.
'Heh-heh-heh... Good. If this works, then the restrictions of space and distance have been reduced quite a bit.'
It was somewhat limited, but he now had a movable house.
So what should he do with it?
Use it to make money, of course.
'Let's go. Time to get rich!'
VROOOOM--!
Unlike the rattling wreck it had been earlier, Hae-jin's camper van sped away with a smooth, powerful engine roar.