269 – The Nymphs and Haildo Buy a House!
Seo Ye-rim had all her saved money, vehicle, and home confiscated by Telos.
She was completely broke.
“So, Haildo, I think I need to stay at your house for a while.”
Seo Ye-rim said she would need to stay at our house for a few days?
Well, we had plenty of spare rooms, so it wasn’t a problem…
At that moment, Ahn Young said one more thing.
“…That well house was also purchased because you stretched your budget too much, Ye-rim. I heard that the Telos Ministry of Finance is going to sell that well house too…”
Wait, what?
Is it true?
Seo Ye-rim’s situation is creating such a huge snowball effect?
“Eek…! All the Nymph Coin accounts that Illinois had are frozen…! It’s a big short…! It’s the return of the Lehman Brothers disaster…!”
The situation was perplexing in many ways.
I checked the well house listings on the real estate market online.
There were a lot of zeros.
“One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand…”
2,000,000,000 won.
It was 2 billion.
“Yikes!”
The amount was so large that it made my head spin.
I knew very well how valuable this well house was.
Sometimes, cracks appeared in the well, and it was prime land in Primal Village, where Squirrel Beasts, honey ants, ghost spiders, and tiger owls made appearances.
Of course it would be expensive.
“My bank account…”
I scrutinized my account.
Since I had gone through all sorts of cracks to become an A-ranker recently, the profits and spoils I obtained from there must have been accumulating nicely.
But…
“I recently bought a new combat suit, so I’m a bit short on cash…”
I had about 1 billion in my account.
That was still a huge sum of money, but it was not enough to buy a house.
Maybe I could take out a loan specifically for Awakened individuals.
Since I was an A-ranker, I could probably get a decent loan.
“Alright. Let’s do this. I’m going to buy a house. I’m really going to become a homeowner now.”
“Aah! I think this is a wonderful idea from Inoi…! It’s the moment when a true homeowner becomes the true master of their house…!”
We took the subway and bus to get back to the well house.
Inoi dashed to his room and came back with something—it was Pignoi.
“I, Inoi, want to contribute to buying the house…! I want to buy a piece of land in Inoi’s room and yard with the coins I’ve worked hard to collect…!”
–Koiinn…!
Chink-chink-.
Inoi shook Pignoi like a skilled bartender making a cocktail.
Chink, chink-.
As the sound of coins rang loudly, something bizarre happened to Pignoi.
–Breeee-.
The piggy bank Pignoi opened its mouth and began to spit out coins!
Zshhhhhh-.
The amount of coins it spat out was quite considerable, and it was a truly mysterious sight.
“I, Inoi, can make Pignoi spit out the coins it has eaten…! This is Inoi’s unique method that no other Nymph can do…!”
Pignoi dashed away whenever someone tried to touch it.
Only Inoi could probably shake Pignoi to make it spit out coins.
“I, Inoi, want to collectively buy land together with the Nymph sisters…! All Nymphs want land just as much as they want to fly in the sky…!”
“Of course…! In this ruthless capitalist world, even the earth goddess Gaia is just a commodity that can be bought and sold, isn’t it…! Very Nymph-friendly…!”
I inspected the whispering coins.
There were lots of big and small coins.
Considering that whispering coins are sold at high prices in the market, I could expect to get more than double their original value.
At that moment, my secretary Ahn Young spoke urgently.
“Il-do, we need to act quickly…!? They say the real estate auction for the well house will start this afternoon!”
Is this for real?
Are things moving that quickly?
I thought it must be the pressure coming from the quasi-legal corporation Telos—specifically from Seo Ye-rim’s father, Seo Sang-yong.
In this fifth industrial world, corporations are above the government.
Seo Sang-yong must have started pressuring Seo Ye-rim and the involved parties upon hearing about his daughter’s break.
The reason Seo Ye-rim had incurred “debt” was probably for such reasons.
Was it a challenge to endure even this?
# # #
“Title: Have you seen the well house listed for sale?
Content: Is 2 billion a reasonable price? Should I buy it?”
└ Can I see Squirrel Beasts every day if I buy there?
└ If Haildo moves in, the Squirrel Beasts and honey ants will probably move too, lol
News about the well house auction was already spreading online.
I took a taxi and arrived at the auction house.
There were quite a few people seated, and the atmosphere was somewhat chaotic.
Of course, Kkungkkungi, being the best Squirrel Beast, had a very outgoing and extroverted personality, so he loved being around people.
–Kkungkkung…!
Kkungkkungi darted between people’s legs or climbed onto the shoulders of interesting people without hesitation.
People marveled at the sight.
“Look! A Squirrel Beast! It looks big and impressive, just like the top Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi!”
“The presence of Kkungkkungi implies that Haildo is also here, right?”
“Look over there, it’s Haildo!”
“Wow, it’s Seo Ye-rim and Haildo, isn’t it?”
We were among the relatively popular ones.
I was satisfied.
People recognized Haildo before Seo Ye-rim, which was a nice feeling.
My fame was increasing.
“I, Inoi, am also here…! Inoi is the top Nymph…! Among the Nymph sisters, Inoi is the best…!”
Strut-!
Inoi proudly puffed out his chest and shoulders in front of the people.
People commented things like “Is that the Nymph Inoi?” or “Wow, more impressive than I thought,” expressing their admiration.
Could it be said that Inoi’s reputation was rising day by day?
Anyway.
Under such circumstances, the real estate auction began.
And the first item up for bid was the very well house I used to live in.
I had about 2 billion won.
Would that be enough to purchase it—?
“2 billion.”
“2.2 billion.”
“2.5 billion.”
However, the price skyrocketed quickly, faster than I had expected.
The auction price soared to 3 billion before I knew it.
Inoi, holding Pignoi, trembled slightly.
“Eek…! Even if I went all out, I couldn’t raise that much money…! I might have to leave the yard and garden that I had grown fond of…!”
I felt it was a bit wrong to leave a village I had somewhat grown attached to.
It was a nice location between Seoul and Makcheon City, well-suited for a variety of animals to live.
Tsk-.
Seo Ye-rim clicked her tongue.
“Should I take out a loan? I can easily make 1 billion or 2 billion if I catch some villains or break through a few cracks, you know?”
That was true.
But didn’t Seo Ye-rim have zero flames now?
Could she even perform in the cracks?
“3.5 billion. Sold for 3.5 billion. Bang bang bang.”
“Why are you mimicking the sound of a gavel with your mouth…? That’s an order for Il-do to answer…!”
In the end, the well house was auctioned for a price far beyond my expectations—3.5 billion—to a young man.
Looks like that young man has a lot of money.
And then he came over to me.
“Is that you, Il-do? My name is Park Hyo-nam. I work at a securities company. I’m involved in fund management and various products—”
The man, who introduced himself as Park Hyo-nam, handed me his business card.
I didn’t know much about securities or funds, but he seemed to be a competent person.
“I ended up being able to buy the well house for less than I expected. I thought it would go up to about 5 billion. In that sense, I can sell you this title deed for the amount of money you have.”
“Excuse me? Why?”
“Because that was my intention for participating in the auction from the start. Professor Park Lee-soo, the village chief of Primal Village, is my father and Kim Sa-mo’s mother is my mother.”
The son of the village chief?
Now that I think about it, the village chief always mentioned, “I have a son like you who earns a lot of money in Seoul. He is too busy to even see his face during the holidays.”
Looking closely, he did resemble the village chief.
“You can think of it as the village elders showing their favor for the effort you put into patrolling the village every day. I’m employed by the village elders, after all.”
Oh.
So the elders of Primal Village commissioned Mr. Park Hyo-nam to help me get my house back.
Is this perhaps the connection of neighbors?
At that moment, whispering Ilinois chuckled mischievously.
“Indeed, Primal Village has become famous as a Squirrel Beast village where the house master resides…! It’s a place where land prices have skyrocketed, and residents’ incomes have also increased considerably…!”
“Well, of course. For the village people, it’s only beneficial for Il-do to remain in the village to continue doing business and receiving guests for a long time, right? It’s a win-win situation.”
I see.
Since I came, the people of Primal Village had all increased their income to the extent that they could store two sports cars in their garages.
That was because they gained a lot of money by selling peanuts or renting rooms to tamers who came to catch Squirrel Beasts or honey ants.
If I leave the village, the Squirrel Beasts and honey ants would probably follow the top Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi or the emperor ant Ahn Ahn to other locations.
Then, the income of the Primal Village people would surely take a hit.
Mr. Park Hyo-nam said,
“There’s really no need for you to be grateful to me.”
“No. I’m still thankful.”
Regardless of how it happened, receiving help from others was always something that felt very grateful but also awkward.
Because I was always the one providing help to others, whenever I received help in return, it would feel ticklish on my back as if honey ants were clinging to me.
–Zzzt-!
After placing Ahn Ahn, who had been clinging to my back, on my shoulder, I signed the document Mr. Park Hyo-nam presented to me. It was a real estate document for purchasing land with my own money.
“Now, the well house is entirely yours, Il-do.”
I finally had a house in my name!
“That took a while. I didn’t expect it to be so hard to buy a house in Korea!”
“I, Inoi, have also purchased a piece of land equivalent to 5 pyeong…! The yard is my domain…! I, Inoi, am the ruler of the yard…!”
