Escape from Gosiwon -2-
Gwanak-gu, Seoul.
A real estate agent’s office.
I was sitting across the desk from a real estate agent.
“Security is the most important thing.”
“Yes. I had a rough time, so I started to think that safety first.”
“As you know, a house with good security is worth more. You won’t be putting it up for sale, right?”
“Yes. I’m thinking of moving in on a monthly basis.”
“Hmm, hmm, rent. Rent.”
A real estate agent looks me up and down like he’s scanning me.
Old clothes. An equally old bag.
My gaze lingered on the bulging bag for only a moment.
The real estate agent asks in a cautious voice.
“What is your budget? I’ll try to match it as best as I can.”
“It is possible to pay up to 100,000 won in deposit and 100,000 won in monthly rent.”
“A hundred out of a thousand, a hundred out of a thousand······ Oh my, this is going to be hard.”
“Oh, really?”
For a hundred out of a thousand, wouldn’t you be able to find a decent officetel?
Even though the housing prices in Seoul are crazy, that’s not the case.
······No, no.
I frowned as I recalled one fact.
The fact that real estate in this world is two to three times more expensive than in the original world.
Even the 1-pyeong goshiwon I moved into today had a deposit of 50 and monthly rent of 40.
Does that make sense?
Even the 2-pyeong goshiwon I used to live in wasn’t like this!
It’s all because of overpopulation.
Because the population of South Korea has exceeded 100 million.
As expected.
The real estate agent dropped a bombshell.
“If you get a hundred out of a thousand, you won’t be able to move into an officetel.”
“Yes? It’s okay if the room is a little small. I just need to be able to sleep······”
“You know that housing prices are cheap around here, right? It’s the same. If you want to move into a 5-pyeong one-room officetel, you have to pay at least 3,000 won in deposit or 150,000 won in monthly rent. 100 out of 1,000 won’t do.”
My head started spinning.
In the original world, if you were to go for a thousand and a half, you could get a 1.5 room officetel, or if you went a little cheaper, you could even get a two room?
The culture shock I felt on the first day felt like a violent hit to the back of my head.
“Then where is it possible? A place with good security.”
“Ahem, security is better in an officetel or apartment······ Can’t you pay more in rent?”
“that is······”
It is possible.
Because I have twelve hundred dollars in cash and a ton of unsynthesized magic cores left.
But this is seed money for new traits that I will acquire.
You shouldn’t be held back from finding a home here!
When I showed signs of hesitation, the real estate agent rolled his eyes.
“Well······It’s not like there’s no way at all.”
“What should I do?”
“Let’s move into the managed studio.”
If it’s a studio, it’s a studio. What’s a managed studio?
The real estate agent lowered his voice and spoke in a whisper.
“Managed studio apartments are better than officetels or apartments in some ways. Officetels and apartments have armed security guards, right? That’s why they’re expensive and the management fees are high.”
“That’s true.”
“In a managed studio apartment, the owner manages everything from head to toe. There are armed guards, of course, and if a crime occurs, they will definitely retaliate. That’s why thieves and robbers can’t come in. If they rob you once, your wrists will be cut off, so they can’t come in because they’re scared.”
What do you find a bit strange when you listen to it?
Revenge?
Cut your wrist?
My voice also became lower.
“Who owns it?”
“There are several… Hmm, if we look around here, there’s probably the Dagger Faction or the Iron Fist Faction. The Dagger Faction is cheap, and the Iron Fist Faction is more expensive, but management is reliable. The two are competing, but the Dagger Faction is slowly falling behind.”
Dagger faction, iron fist faction!
What? You’re telling me to go into a one-room apartment managed by a gang?
As I sighed openly, the real estate agent swallowed his words in a hurry.
“Customer. The only place where you can get a hundred out of a thousand security is a managed studio apartment! Just a studio apartment? A goshiwon? If you live in a place like that, you’ll most likely get stabbed at night. Are you lucky if you just get your money stolen? A managed studio apartment has no disadvantages other than being in a somewhat secluded place. It’s clean, spacious, and safe. If you can be seen by the gang members, you’ll be safe on the street, right?”
“Whew, I’ll think about it.”
“Yes, yes. If you’re not going to live in a hotel 365 days a year, it’s better to move into a managed studio apartment. Or, you could raise the monthly rent to around 200.”
I said hello, got up, and went out.
The real estate agent sees me off with a thoroughly capitalist smile.
When I saw that, I couldn’t help but shudder.
I originally thought of that nice-looking real estate agent who had helped me buy my house in the real world.
‘It’s either this guy or that guy.’
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Managed studio?
If it’s so good there, you go live there!
There’s no way a place where you’re involved with gangs is safe.
Gangs need to make money too, so they treat their customers specially?
Nonsense. I’d rather be homeless than sleep in a gangster’s house.
“What should I do?”
Want to see other properties?
I crouched down on the street and tried using a real estate app.
Just like when I searched in the morning, properties that were two to three times more expensive than the market price I knew were coming up.
What kind of house prices are these?
How on earth do you live in a world like this?
“Housing is expensive and the salary is low······ Oh my.”
I think this is why people are flocking to goshiwon, multi-family homes, and studio apartments.
The reason riots don’t occur is because the prices of daily necessities and electronic devices like smartphones are cheap.
Anyway, I can eat and live, and there are things to enjoy.
‘Let’s go to the hotel.’
At the end of the chapter, we came to a conclusion.
If you can’t find a house, a hotel is your best option.
It’s a hotel, a hotel.
Armed guards are naturally on duty, and in luxury hotels, they even hire superhumans.
‘Special class hotels are a bit like that.’
Reason: Because it’s expensive.
It is incomparable to the world’s first-class hotels. I downloaded the hotel reservation app and checked, and it was priced at several million won per night.
It’s not a suite, it’s a regular deluxe room.
‘Business hotels······’
As expected, it is more expensive than the original world.
It varies by hotel, but is between 300,000 and 400,000 won.
Still, this is within the shooting range.
If you start mining seriously, you can easily make hundreds a day.
I made up my mind and headed to the nearest business hotel.
As I approached the revolving door, two large security guards blocked my way.
“Hello, customer. This is Bluestay Hotel. How did you come here?”
The tone is friendly and the mouth is smiling.
But the snow was incredibly cold.
In particular, he is looking at the large bag I am carrying.
One of the two had his hands in his pockets.
If you try to get it, it looks like you’re going to take out a gun.
“Oh, I’m planning to stay overnight.”
“Do you have a reservation?”
“No, I didn’t make a reservation.”
“It’s a weekday, so it won’t be full. Would you like to come this way? I’ll direct you to the reception.”
“thank you.”
As I entered the hotel, I felt stabbing gazes from all over the place.
Do I look that suspicious?
Well, if you have worn-out clothes and a bag that looks like it’s about to burst, anyone would be suspicious.
So I feel more reassured.
At least you won’t get robbed inside the hotel.
“Deluxe room for ten nights.”
“Yes, please bring your credit card for payment and your ID for verification.”
“Can I pay with cash?”
“Yes, sir.”
Check-in was completed quickly.
As I opened my bag, a wad of cash was slightly exposed, but the security guards who saw it had indifferent expressions.
Instead, he smiled slightly and said, “Have a nice day,” before stepping away.
It seems like he’s figured out my situation.
After checking in, the hotel staff handed me the key with a gentle smile.
“This is room 1909, sir. We hope you have a comfortable stay.”
“There are two keys?”
“Yes. Our Bluestay Hotel uses two types of locks for security. If you want to come and go easily, please use only the digital card key, and if you want to be more secure, please use the analog key as well.”
This is correct.
It’s a world where superhumans, superpowers, and all kinds of criminal organizations run rampant.
This level of security was necessary because there were many people with the ability to easily obtain things like card keys.
To make it stronger, you should add biometric authentication to the magic lock, but it’s hard to expect that in a business hotel.
I don’t know if it would be different if it was a luxury hotel that costs hundreds per night.
“Thank you. Thank you for your hard work.”
Take the elevator straight to the 19th floor.
After arriving, I put 9 million won in cash in the safe in the room and only then did I feel relieved.
“phew!”
I feel safe now.
I relaxed and looked around the hotel room.
It is not particularly different from other hotels in the world.
Actually, I’ve never been to a hotel, but I’ve seen it a lot on the Internet.
Pfft!
“Wow!”
As I throw myself into bed, a soft sensation greets me like a cloud of fleece.
This is a bed! This is a bed!
The beds in the original world’s goshiwons and the beds in this worst world’s goshiwon are nothing more than a haystack compared to this bed.
I rolled around on the bed for a while like a little kid and then closed my eyes.
‘Let’s take a rest.’
Although I forced myself to get up and move, the aftereffects of the mutation still remain.
As soon as I closed my eyes, I felt drowsy.
I slept like I was dead.
For three whole days.
It wasn’t a deep sleep. My body was clearly spread out and asleep, but my mind and brain were half awake, so it was even harder.
I spent my time in a state of near-dreaming, neither accepting nor rejecting external stimuli as I had done in the goshiwon.
“Ugh, ugh!”
So when I woke up three days later, I didn’t feel very well.
After lying in a daze on the bed for a while and ordering some lukewarm room service, I finally came to my senses.
“It’s really hard.”
It is not an ability that can be abused.
Let’s not bring up mutation-related traits unless it’s really urgent.
“after!”
WHACK!
I came to my senses by scratching my cheek.
“I have to work, work.”
You can’t let your guard down.
The amount spent on accommodation alone was a whopping 3 million won.
They said they gave a 300,000 won discount because it was a long-term stay, but the regular price was 330,000 won per night.
Should I have paid 200 million won in monthly rent and taken out an officetel?
But rather than wasting time moving in and doing other things, it’s okay to stay in a hotel for a while.
‘first of all······’
I held the bag upside down and threw it on the bed.
The magic cores fall out.
Most of them are worthless level 0 magic cores.
I counted them one by one and there were exactly 131 of them.
“Huh.”
Take a deep breath.
Change traits with one breath.
Remove the strength trait from the list and use synthetic traits.
Then the world turned red for a moment, and a red line was drawn between the magic cores.
They grabbed each other two by two and hit each other like balls of clay.
Ta-da-da-dak!
A small spark of electricity flashed and a wave of magical energy spread out.
All the strength drains from my body and a dull pain is etched into my heart.
Oh, this uses magic.
‘Removed Patience, Hardiness, and Wound Recovery. Added Magic Absorption, Magic Heart, and Deep Breath.’
Switch traits on the fly.
Magic power is rapidly restored, adding to the existing vitality characteristic.
It’s an urban area so the magic power density is low, but it’s better than nothing.
Swoosh.
As the heated magic light subsided, the synthesis results appeared.
A magical core the size of a little finger joint.
It’s still level 0.
It’s only natural that the game would become a huge success, as it would become a level 1 magic core at once.
You can’t get full from just one drink.
There are a lot of magic cores and a lot of time.
I continued to synthesize magic power with patience.
Although it consumed quite a lot of magic power, I decided to think positively.
‘I rather like it.’
Rapid consumption of magic power inevitably becomes a condition for generating certain characteristics.
Sure enough, after about an hour, I could feel my body trembling and my magical powers building up.
[Magic Recovery] trait.
In its current state, I removed the unnecessary pollution resistance and equipped magic recovery.
Synthesizes magic cores more quickly.
Level 0 to level 0.
Level 1 and level 1 obtained in this way.
A level 1 magic core obtained from the hedgehog head.
The magical power cores that had been over 130 were suddenly completely depleted.
“Whoa!”
It took a whole day.
Until I get one magic core in my hand now.
It’s not the size of a little finger.
It boasted the size of almost three fingers.
Moreover, the mana contained therein is so dense that even if you just hold it still, a rainbow-colored light of magical power will burst out like bubbles.
“Level 2 magic core······”
It’s a shame it’s not level 3.
Since you are treated as a true superhuman starting from level 3, the value of your magic core also increases significantly starting from level 3.
It doesn’t matter though.
Even if you only have a level 2 magic core, you can easily get hundreds.
If you collect and collect level 0 magic cores that are treated as trash and make hundreds of them, it is clearly a profitable business.
‘Sell this? Or not?’
That’s what I thought.
On average, you can obtain a higher-grade magic core by collecting and synthesizing 10 to 20 of them.
Of course, one level 3 magic core is several times more expensive than 20 level 2 magic cores.
If I think about it that way, leaving it alone seems to be the answer, but my gut tells me otherwise.
‘Let’s do it in moderation. Moderation.’
If your tail is long, you’ll get stepped on.
One day, a newbie suddenly appears and sells a level 3 magic core, and he’s been doing only level 0 cleaning work?
Anyone would notice that the newbie has synthesis abilities.
After that, you’ll be dragged away and canned.
They say that if you die while locked up, they will only synthesize magic cores.
Let’s stop at level 2. I’ll make level 3 later when I have the strength to protect myself.
“Hoo hoo hoo.”
Still, I can’t deny that it feels good.
After laughing once, I packed my magic core and bag and left the hotel.
I was planning to get rid of the magic core and earn some money while I was at it, and then eat some special food before returning.
“uh?”
By chance, my eyes met with a man standing in the alley beyond the hotel.
Early June.
The weather is cloudy but strangely unpleasant due to the humidity.
Yet he is wearing a long coat and turning up his collar.
He was wearing a baseball cap pulled down low and a black mask, so his face was unrecognizable.
Was it my imagination that the eyes briefly revealed under the hat looked familiar?
The man did not avoid my gaze.
After watching me silently for a few seconds, he turned his gaze towards the hotel as if he was not interested in me.
Even the hotel security guards look nervous in that suspicious atmosphere.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
When I spoke to them on purpose, the security guards lowered their heads.
“You too, sir, be careful. This doesn’t feel good.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Surely it’s not me?
Of course. Who would care about a pyramid like me?
but······
I took one look at the bag, one look at the guards’ bulging trouser pockets, and my mind was made up.
I need to buy a weapon.
Especially firearms.
