18
“Ah, come on, seriously...!”
Kim Cheol-hyeok let out a deep sigh and struck the tabletop.
Thump!
A little of the madness drained from Ki Ja-hyeon’s eyes.
A very little.
“I-I cannot broker this!”
“Hmm? Why? Why can you not? For what reason?”
“I-I will not. Please go to someone else.”
Of course, he could go to another licensed real estate agent.
There might be no one to buy the land, but how could there be no one to sell it?
But good things should remain good, and right now, Ki Ja-hyeon was standing before Kim Cheol-hyeok.
Because this man felt comfortable.
On top of that,
‘He is blue.’
Because he knew the man was a good person!
And yet, even though Ki Ja-hyeon was telling him to take his money, Kim Cheol-hyeok did not budge.
“It seems you liked this area, but this land truly has no investment value. No, I am telling you, the land price keeps falling! Why are you trying to enter an antlion pit even the building owners are desperate to escape from?!”
Kim Cheol-hyeok harshly tore into that area.
Even adding some exaggeration!
But Ki Ja-hyeon’s clear eyes flashed.
Everyone was desperate to sell?
‘That is even better...!’
From the perspective of someone trying to buy everything, what could be sweeter words than those?
“So you are saying everyone is selling...!”
“Of course they are. If you buy this, then you are simply declaring, ‘I am a sucker angel.’ A sucker angel!”
“Hello, my name is Ki Sucker Angel.”
“......”
“Let us sign the contracts immediately. Hurry and call everyone!”
“Eek, I seriously cannot get through to you!”
Bang!
His hand struck the table again.
“Eek! Why are you trying to take a loss?”
At this point, Ki Ja-hyeon became curious instead.
“That is what I am wondering. Why are you trying to take a loss?”
“......?”
“Is it not better for you the more real estate you broker?”
“...That is true. I did make quite a bit of money from the last transaction.”
In the first place, Kim Cheol-hyeok had been brokering only Area 4 outskirts land.
Thanks to his diligence, he did not go hungry, but he was a small business owner who worked according to his convictions even if it meant losing a little, and who wished to naturally(?) climb upward that way.
Because of that, it was true that he had been full of expectation when Ki Ja-hyeon came to him with 400,000,000 credits.
He had thought that at last, an opportunity had come to him to broker prime Area 4 land.
After all, how often did someone come to him with that much money?
‘Good. I will use this chance to move into prime land!’
Prime Area 4 land did not accept rookie agents.
It was a market where transactions happened through connections.
To enter that market, one needed a record of having brokered prime land.
An ironic league where one needed experience brokering prime land in order to broker prime land, and where newcomers could hardly enter.
How welcome Ki Ja-hyeon had been when he arrived with 400,000,000 credits!
However,
“You betrayed my expectations and bought shit land.”
“Hehet?”
That was right.
Ki Ja-hyeon had wanted shit land located on the outskirts even within Area 4.
The chance to broker prime land had flown away, and in the first place, brokering shit land like that had weighed on his conscience, so Kim Cheol-hyeok had tried desperately to stop him.
But Ki Ja-hyeon had stubbornly entered that cesspit.
And now he had come again to say
he would buy all the land nearby!
“Is that bad?”
“It is not, but...rumors, you see.”
Apparently, it was true that after closing a 400,000,000-credit listing in one go, he had earned quite a bit in commission.
But because of that, Kim Cheol-hyeok had been suffering headaches.
To be precise, he was wrapped up in a somewhat strange rumor.
– A competent man who sold a lump of shit land at full price!
“Is that not good? Like a salesman selling a refrigerator to someone in the Arctic?”
“Krrgh... It was good. But bad rumors follow good rumors.”
“What rumor?”
“...A greedy bastard who sold shit land to a sucker at full price!”
“Oh my my!”
Land that everyone knew was shit land.
He had sold that land.
That was competent.
But he had also earned the nickname of a ruthless licensed real estate agent.
A money-grubbing, iron-faced licensed real estate agent!
Of course, it was a neighborhood nickname, but the problem was that this business was a neighborhood business.
Most of all,
“I hate that nickname... I truly hate it!”
This was a world where people killed themselves over a single malicious comment.
There were always people with weak mental fortitude, and he was one of them.
Perhaps because he had lived according to his convictions in his own way, he hated having his life denied, and felt wronged.
Because of that, even now, mindful of that rumor, he was doing licensed real estate brokerage with even more, far more conviction.
“So that is why you are refusing my transaction?”
“...I like the rumor that I am competent, but I hate the label of a money-grubber.”
There were at least fifteen buildings in the area Ki Ja-hyeon had pointed out.
Even by simple calculation, it was a matter that would move hundreds of millions!
A large sum would come in at once, but once again, he would become the money-grubber who sold shit land at full price.
He did not want that.
It was an opportunity to make money, but if he could nod in a situation like this, then he would have lived his entire life that way from the start.
By deceiving others into thinking shit land was gold land.
After hearing that much, Ki Ja-hyeon grabbed Kim Cheol-hyeok’s hand.
“I understood exactly what you are thinking in an instant. I respect it!”
“Khhup...!”
Kim Cheol-hyeok even felt a little grateful to Ki Ja-hyeon, who seemed to fully understand his feelings, and nodded.
“I will say this one last time. That place really is hopeless shit land. Please reconsider....”
“Please hurry and call the building owners.”
“Reconsider... Ah, seriously!”
Kim Cheol-hyeok hated this situation.
Would he feel good about throwing away an opportunity to make money?
He had told him to go elsewhere, had even explained the reason, so why was he acting like this?
When he was someone who said he understood him!
“Did you even listen to what I said?”
“I listened very well. That is why it must be you all the more!”
Kim Cheol-hyeok had tried desperately to stop him because this was bad land, and was now stopping him even more because he said he would buy the entire area.
But there was something Kim Cheol-hyeok did not know.
“This place is not shit land. Rather, it is land worth its weight in gold. I guarantee it. This land I am about to take over will soon become the most expensive land in Area 4. And you will be the one brokering land like that! Why, you ask?”
Grab!
Ki Ja-hyeon gripped Kim Cheol-hyeok’s hand tightly.
“Because I will make it that way!”
“......!”
A bright gleam flashed in Ki Ja-hyeon’s clear eyes.
An expression of sincere desire and passion!
But from Kim Cheol-hyeok’s perspective....
‘Am I getting entangled with a c-crazy person again...?!’
He simply could not escape from those madness-filled eyes.
***
Sure enough, Ki Ja-hyeon’s eye was accurate.
Kim Cheol-hyeok was an extremely capable person in this area.
Unlike how he had refused earlier, once Kim Cheol-hyeok decided to do it, his drive was terrifying.
His recent reputation had gotten bad. No, it was heading in a bad direction, but did the good reputation he had already built up disappear anywhere?
Every person Kim Cheol-hyeok called picked up,
and everyone believed what Kim Cheol-hyeok said.
On top of that, this was cheap shit land even within Area 4!
When someone said they would buy their buildings, the building owners welcomed it with both arms.
Three houses, five five-story small villas, and seven buildings made of planks.
The total cost of buying those fifteen buildings was,
“1,020,000,000 credits.”
“What? That is cheap.”
Even Ki Ja-hyeon was surprised by what he had said, and his eyes went round.
1,020,000,000 credits was cheap?
When only a few months ago, he had laughed and cried over 100,000 credits?
But soon, he accepted it.
He was now a man with a monthly income of 1,200,000,000!
‘This is natural now!’
In any case, it was too cheap, almost absurdly cheap.
He had expected at least around 3,000,000,000.
Because,
“My house was 400,000,000, was it not? And it was going up little by little too.”
“That was because it was a single 330-square-meter plot. There are not many properties that can possess such a large chunk. It is because of overpopulation. As the law slowly changed, people became unable to own land with living space over 165 square meters, and then that changed again, so now they cannot own land over 83 square meters. Even if it is 660 square meters, you have to build a structure divided into ten 66-square-meter units. In that respect, that land did have quite a bit of merit.”
“Aha.”
So that was why the price had gone up, even if only slightly, despite it being shit land.
That was why the other buildings were this cheap.
Prime land was extremely expensive, but the outskirts were extremely cheap.
The typical real estate market of South Korea was the same now in Hyeonmu Shelter as it had been back when this place was Seoul.
In any case, it was fortunate.
“This is money I can pay in full.”
“......”
Since he had purchased all the nearby land, now he had to remodel it.
Who would want to come live in buildings that looked like they were about to collapse?
The tenants Ki Ja-hyeon would soon accept would be even more sensitive to such things.
But in order to remodel, there was something he had to do first.
Like that,
Knock, knock, knock.
Ki Ja-hyeon stood before one house.
Creak. When the door opened, the boy welcomed Ki Ja-hyeon happily.
“Hyung! What brings you here?”
“Hey. Is your father doing well?”
“Yes! He came back from work and is resting!”
“Oh, he is working now? Is his leg all healed?”
“It is still uncomfortable for him, but I think it will heal soon!”
“That really is fortunate.”
“Ah. Mr. Ja-hyeon! What brings you here?”
The father and son looked happy.
Ki Ja-hyeon also smiled happily and said to the boy,
“Get out.”
“...Pardon?”
That was right.
For remodeling, the existing tenants had to leave!
Because,
“the remodeling will take a month!”
“Huh...!”
Of course, he did not simply tell them to leave.
He gave them money.
Because the boy and his father would need lodging and living expenses while the remodeling was being done.
This was precisely the proper attitude of a building owner!
Beep!
[6,000,000 credits deposited.]
“Huuuh!”
“Come back in one month. The rent will remain frozen.”
“Y-You do not have to give us this much...!”
“But I can give you that much...!”
“Th-That is!”
To the father and son, Ki Ja-hyeon must have been the best angelic building owner.
Ki Ja-hyeon willingly became an angelic building owner for the woman next door as well, and for the young housewife two doors down who had a middle school daughter.
But he was not an angel to everyone.
“You, get lost.”
“What?”
It was that arrogant hunter.
The hunter, who had recently Ranked up to F0 and was excited about it, frowned deeply at being suddenly told to get lost.
But soon, he smoothed out his expression.
Because he had heard the rumors that this sucker had bought all the buildings nearby and was remodeling them.
Being told to get lost? Fine.
It probably meant he should move aside because of the remodeling, and he could move aside all he wanted.
‘The house across the street got 6,000,000 credits, right?’
Sure enough, a notification sound transmitted to him: beep!
[600,000 credits deposited.]
“...Hey. Are you not missing a zero?”
“If this much is moving expenses for the likes of you, it is generous.”
“What? Why should I leave this place!”
Ki Ja-hyeon said nothing and simply stared at him.
As if asking whether he truly did not know.
In that instant, the words he had said to Ki Ja-hyeon’s dog came to mind.
Aside from that, spitting around the neighborhood, throwing garbage carelessly, jaywalking, making loud noises at night...!
“I-I will do better from now on! Change your mind!”
“No. I will not change it. Go away.”
Of course, there were reasons like that for Ki Ja-hyeon treating him coldly.
But there was an even more fundamental problem.
Even before Awakening, Ki Ja-hyeon had shown a little of his druid nature.
Now that five months had passed since he Awakened, that nature had grown even stronger.
For instance,
‘I can roughly see karma.’
If he stared into someone’s eyes, he could see their karma.
He could not see details such as how many robberies or murders they had committed, but he could see the total amount of all those things.
When he looked into this guy’s eyes, the color of sewage seeped out.
This kind of color did not appear just because someone had done a few bad things.
It was not murder.
If he had done that, he would already be rotting in a government-run prison.
Even so, Ki Ja-hyeon had no intention of letting someone like this into his building.
Moreover, this place was rich in mana!
Ki Ja-hyeon could not tolerate growing such trash.
“I-I will pay rent properly too.”
“I have no intention of changing my mind.”
“I will not smoke in the remodeled house either...!”
“Get out quickly!”
“Eek! What if I do not leave? Are you something special? My fist is faster than the law, is that it?”
The fist that stretched out like that was,
Grab!
“Slow.”
“Ugh...?”
“I said you are slow.”
“Kkuugh... What strength...!”
“I am F+. You are F0.”
“Y-You were an Awakened...!”
“Can you feel the difference in power, F0?”
N-Nod!
Like that, the hunter whose name he did not even want to remember was driven out.
If one thought about it, it was only natural. This was the outskirts of Area 4.
Poor public safety meant there were that many more wicked people.
Ki Ja-hyeon judged them one by one, then ordered them to move out.
Of course, there were still many people who held out, saying they would not leave,
but now, there was no need for Ki Ja-hyeon himself to take action.
“We have handled things like this as routinely as eating meals. That is what being a licensed real estate agent in Area 4 means.”
“Oooh...!”
Professional enforcers came and drove them all out.
Like this, in some respects, there were actually parts more convenient than before the world had fallen.
Unnecessary laws that protected intruders and the like did not exist in Hyeonmu Shelter’s Area 4!
“This place is being vacated.”
Enforcers intervened!
Then there were times when Ki Ja-hyeon went in himself.
“Grandmother. I will take you somewhere else for one month.”
“Oh my, young man. I see you again.”
The grandmother’s inflamed eyes.
But the light shining from within them was nothing short of radiant!
“Krrgh...!”
If this was not an angelic tenant, what else could be?
Like that, after moving everyone out, the interior work began.
Real estate was not the only thing Kim Cheol-hyeok brokered.
– This friend is a principled man who does good interior work.
Sure enough, good people had good people beside them.
“You are faint, but blue.”
“...Pardon?”
“I am saying I look forward to working with you!”
The old villas turned into villas where people could live comfortably, and the standalone houses that had been on the verge of collapse also became excellent houses.
Like that, one month later, all the good existing tenants had moved back in and were giving double thumbs-up in satisfaction!
Like that, out of 108 households, 8 were occupied by the existing tenants, and now 100 households remained.
Ki Ja-hyeon planned to fill these 100 households with tenants at ten times the existing price.
He did not worry about vacancies at all.
If people knew the value of this place, there would be plenty of people who would come here even if they had to pay twenty times the price, let alone ten!
But even three mal of beads had to be strung to become treasure.
To make this place’s value known, Ki Ja-hyeon stood before a cutting-edge laptop.
This was, in every sense, the age of self-PR!
Like that,
“Hello. I am the Forest-Access Druid.”
The Huntuber Thundercloud debuted.