Chapter 12 …
– Special Quest!
You have completed the special quest to raise the favorability of the citizens of the Grace Territory (Village 1).
As a reward for successfully completing the quest, you may designate one place you’ve previously visited as an activated area.
Note: Only places you’ve personally visited can be activated.
“What?”
Donghee, who had been imagining something like a world-famous luxury jewelry boutique, felt hopeless at the condition that only previously visited places could be activated.
“How many places have I even been to?”
Besides, a jewelry store was not somewhere she ever had the luxury of even considering entering.
She barely scraped by day to day—when would she have ever had reason to buy something from a goldsmith’s shop?
Was activating a jewelry store even possible?
Suddenly, all the quests ahead of her began to feel impossibly daunting.
Just this morning, the beeping of her alert notifications had filled her with hope that she’d finally be able to open a jewelry shop.
“What should I do…”
Donghee thought hard about anywhere remotely profitable she might’ve visited, and suddenly remembered Borimdang, where she’d once delivered food while working at a restaurant.
“That’s right! I delivered to Borimdang!”
She hadn’t gone there to buy gold, but she had been there. The status window didn’t specify that she had to have bought anything—so surely she could open it as an activated area.
“I’ll activate the jewelry shop.”
– Please state the exact name of the gold shop you’ve visited. Even one incorrect letter may negatively affect already activated locations.
Negative effects?
Donghee suddenly couldn’t remember if it was Borimdang or Boramdang.
“Ugh, ughh! What do I do!”
Not even job interviews had stressed her out this much.
After clawing at her head in despair for a while, Donghee suddenly lifted her head and spoke in an uncertain voice.
“Bo… rim… dang?”
Her heart pounded wildly with every syllable.
Please, please let it be right!
As soon as she spoke, the status window showed a spinning arrow with the words loading.
After what felt like forever, when Donghee’s patience was about to run out, the status window finally updated.
– Your activated area level has increased by 0.5.
Not even a full level? Just 0.5? Did I get the name wrong?
Donghee glared nervously at the blue status window, but no further changes appeared.
As she waited with a mix of anxiety and excitement, the status window finally reappeared in front of her.
[Status Window]
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User Name: Chloe Grace
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Occupation: Part-timer / Lord of Grace Territory
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Ability: 0.5 / Power-Up Fist (when wearing gloves), Grace Terrain Info Level 1 (limited to Morta Village)
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Activity Range: 2.5 / Basement studio, convenience store, Borimdang
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Trait: 0.01 / Still a dirt-poor territory (When will it finally prosper…?) ★Tends to obsess over chocolate roll cakes
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Citizen Favorability: 2
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Inventory Level: 4 / Base storage capacity (0/400)
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mp: 75 / 86,400
“It worked!”
Donghee jumped up and threw her arms into the air.
She had finally added a jewelry shop to her activated areas.
The fact that her activity range was 2.5 instead of 3 still bugged her, but it was good enough for now.
That meant it was time to go!
After confirming her inventory was empty, Donghee stood in front of the door that still proudly held its place on one side of her room. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might leap out of her chest, and she clamped her lips shut.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
The password input sounded unusually loud today. Even though she was just going into her own space, it felt like sneaking in to steal something. Her mouth went dry. She really might faint before even reaching the jewelry store.
Well, technically, this was kind of stealing.
Donghee tried to steady her breathing and then threw open the front door and stepped into her room.
The first thing she saw was the same as before: a path through mist, leading to a brightly lit convenience store, and beside it, the old, purple-signed Borimdang.
Thump. Thump.
Her heart was pounding so hard it echoed in her skull.
What if it was empty?
What if someone was inside?
What would she even say?
As Donghee walked toward Borimdang, her head swirled with anxious thoughts.
The closer she got, the clearer the display inside the glass wall became.
The jewelry on display wasn’t trendy or fashionable among the youth. But being an old shop, the pieces weren’t lightweight accessories—they had weight, and character.
Thick gold bracelets as wide as fingers, gem-encrusted necklaces, lustrous pearl sets of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.
On one side, vibrant gemstone rings lined up under the lights like something out of a rich madam’s jewelry drawer.
And the highlight of the display—
“The gold toads!”
From ones the size of a pinky nail to others as big as a fist, the gold toads glimmered. The biggest one even had a jewel embedded in its eye.
Donghee stood in front of the brightly lit Borimdang, heart fluttering, and pushed open the glass door.
“Hello?”
Nervously, she peeked inside the shop, calling out in a soft, stretched voice.
*– Due to !@#$%@#$^$@%&%^, your Earth is currently in a state of !@#%^&!@#$^&) and undergoing ^((^&%$%$#^%. As previously stated, there are no other living beings in this space besides you. Let’s not go over this every time, yeah? Dumb users are annoying…
“Hey, I can see that. If you’re going to mumble, at least do it where I can’t read it.”
Donghee snapped irritably at the final line, which was faint but clearly legible.
She didn’t want to be reminded that she was alone here every time. It was terrifying.
The status window slowly erased the letters after hearing her voice.
She kept glaring at it until the last character vanished, then looked around Borimdang again.
That’s when it happened.
– The semi-activated area you are currently in will close in approximately 10 minutes. Once your level increases, this time limit will be removed. Would you like to begin the countdown now?
The sudden warning made Donghee cry out involuntarily.
“What?”
– Understood. Beginning 10-minute countdown.
“Hey!”
– 09:59
Donghee shouted, but the status window had already switched to timer mode.
Panicking, she stopped looking around and began opening display cases, frantically stuffing necklaces, rings, and gold into her inventory.
“The big ones! The big ones!”
Since the inventory was limited by quantity, not weight or size, she skipped small rings and earrings, grabbing thick necklaces, bracelets, and gold toads instead.
It felt like watching news footage of looters breaking into stores during riots and grabbing whatever they could.
Frantically sweeping gold into her inventory, Donghee kept an eye on the countdown.
– If you stay in the semi-activated area past the time limit, activation will be canceled and all acquired items will disappear.
Warnings like this, blinking in sync with the timer, made Donghee even more anxious.
– 04:35
Thanks to her fast hands, she filled the 400 slots in the inventory with two minutes to spare.
“God, I’m gonna die from nerves.”
Her voice trembled like a baby goat, even as she spoke through choppy breaths.
– 01:45
She wanted to take more, but the inventory was full—and she really didn’t want to get kicked out at the last second.
After confirming the 400/400 inventory capacity one last time, she flung open the glass door and stepped outside.
The cold air on her face finally calmed her wildly racing heart a little.
When she looked back through the glass wall, the display inside had returned to its original state—just like what had happened with the convenience store.
“Insane…”
She couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m rich!”
The jeweler arrived in the territory faster than expected. He smugly said it was perfect timing since he was passing through nearby anyway, and Scrooge the butler quickly escorted him to the reception room.
Even in front of the lord, he kept his chin high and looked at Donghee with a lazy smirk. The wrinkles between his fat brows made it obvious that he wasn’t pleased about being dragged to such a shabby estate.
He had a precisely parted 2:8 hairstyle slicked down with oil, thick dark brown eyebrows that matched his hair, and heavy-lidded amber eyes glinting with greed. His blunt nose and plump lips made him look exactly like the gold toad Donghee had just stolen from Borimdang.
