BOPE 25

Chapter 25 …

It likely referred to villages they had yet to visit.

Lassen, known for its tomato cultivation, was probably one of them.

The status window’s ominous warning—that favorability would once again plunge into the negatives the moment the next village opened—was something Donghui silently agreed with.

It would’ve been strange if it didn’t drop.

Lost in thought for a moment, Donghui glanced up as the status window disappeared, then returned to the kitchen, where Delma and the head chef were still munching on dural fritters.

“Delma, I’ll be in my room for a bit. Head Chef, steam and fry the rest of the durals I left outside.”
“M-me?” Delma stammered.

Scruge had already tapped out, clearly unable to eat another bite. He now sat beside them, his rounded belly cradled with satisfaction, idly rubbing it with a pleased look on his face. The basket of dural fritters that had once been heaping was now nearly empty.

“Unless you’d rather I do it? You saw how I did it earlier, didn’t you? You’re smart and capable. I bet you could cook something even more impressive than mine. I’ll be counting on it. Once you’re done with all the dural, distribute it to the servants.”

Donghui nearly let a forbidden word slip but caught herself just in time, quickly dashing up to her room.

She was itching to explore the newly unlocked areas around Borimdang.

In the beginning, it had felt awfully wrong to take things from abandoned shops. But now? It felt surprisingly natural—like plucking fruit from a tree in the wild.

Most importantly, anything she took eventually returned to its place, so her conscience remained relatively unburdened.

Even the action of stepping through the front door, or changing into comfortable clothes in her room, had become second nature. To move more freely within the activated zones, Donghui had started ditching her cumbersome dresses in favor of her old, worn-out sleep pants and a hoodie—her battle armor of choice.

“Let’s stay at Borimdang for ten minutes, then head somewhere else.”

Stepping out of her room and approaching Borimdang, a glowing [10:00] appeared above her status window.

Separately, Donghui set the timer she brought from home to 8 minutes. She didn’t want to mess up due to a panicked mistake.

“All right, let’s go!”

Like an athlete preparing to compete, Donghui braced herself and opened the door to Borimdang.

[09:59]

The moment the glass door opened, the timer began to tick down.

Having visited several times now, Donghui knew the layout well—where everything was, what to grab.

Since she’d be hitting other shops too, she decided to fill only 100 slots in her inventory for now.

She didn’t just sweep things randomly. Instead, she carefully chose only the most expensive-looking items. Time flew. Thanks to the 8-minute timer she had set, she exited Borimdang just before the limit.

As soon as she stepped outside, new shops emerged from the mist that had previously obscured them.

At the same time, her status timer reset to 10:00. She immediately restarted her handheld timer. She had just 8 minutes. Her heart began to race with urgency.

To the right of Borimdang stood a gold exchange and a clothing store. On the left were another jewelry store named Gold Diamant and a hot dog stand. Another shop, partially hidden by fog, appeared further off—it seemed sketchy, and Donghui instinctively decided to avoid it.

“Jackpot.”

She headed toward the gold exchange first.

Gold was king, after all.

With this place secured, it felt as if she had access to her own private gold mine.

The revival of the Grace Estate was practically guaranteed now.

“Hehehehehe.”

Standing in front of the gold exchange, Donghui couldn’t help but chuckle wickedly to herself.

But then she caught sight of her ticking timer and scrambled inside.

Her heart thundered in her chest.

Just like Borimdang, there wasn’t a soul in sight.

But there was a problem.

“What the—there’s nothing here?!”

The gold exchange was not just empty of people—it was devoid of even a single speck of gold.

Even the display shelves were coated in a thick layer of dust.

With a look of dismay, Donghui swiped her finger across one of the shelves, revealing a sad, empty surface.

Damn it!

“It was a closed shop!”

Suppressing a surge of irritation, she shook the dust from her hand and bolted outside. Her panic had already cost her more than three minutes.

Only about seven minutes remained. Her handheld timer showed just over five.

“Gold Diamant!”

Donghui dashed to the shop on the opposite side, her heart pounding.

What if this one was closed too?

But to her immense relief, Gold Diamant was filled with as many glittering jewels as Borimdang—maybe even more.

Seeing the full display cases put her at ease.

“Thank goodness!”

Donghui began scooping up the contents and tossing them into her inventory. Even though she hurled the items in with wild abandon, the intelligent inventory system neatly arranged everything in place.

Nice catch!

While Borimdang’s jewelry had more of a vintage, traditional flair, the items here were uniquely styled, more in line with younger tastes. While their gold content was somewhat lower, the modern designs were far more appealing.

Donghui hurriedly worked, eyes darting between her timer and the display cases.

It was her first time here, and the unfamiliar layout plus her urgency had her sprinting breathlessly.

She felt like a high-stakes burglar on the run.

Beep, beep, beep, beep!

The timer blared—only one minute left.

“No time!”

There was no room to linger or lament the inventory space she hadn’t filled. Donghui dashed outside. Though the main status timer still had time, she couldn’t afford to be late returning home.

She ran full tilt toward her apartment.

“Haa, haa!”

She hadn’t run far, but nerves made her breath short.

She couldn’t let the newly opened area vanish because of a foolish mistake. There would always be another chance.

She didn’t need to rush.

But the swelling greed inside her kept making her impatient.

Thankfully, she made it home before the ten-minute mark.

With the door swinging shut behind her, she collapsed onto her mattress.

As her ragged breathing slowed, her eyes settled on the ceiling, stained from leaking rainwater. Once, she’d thought it mirrored her miserable life. But now, it didn’t bother her at all.

Her thoughts were filled only with jewelry shops.

“If only the time limit were lifted,” she muttered.

Donghui looked through the treasures she had brought back, regret tugging at her.

She should’ve scoped out the gold exchange better.

Still, having at least visited Gold Diamant made it worthwhile.

With her breath finally steady, Donghui exited her apartment again and headed for the convenience store. She was newly grateful that there were no time limits there.

The moment she stepped inside, she felt comforted, as though she had returned to her own space.

The 100 or so empty inventory slots quickly filled with convenience store food.

Donghui wandered the aisles with a relaxed pace, pulling out a bottle of Bacchus and chugging it down.

“Ahh, that hits the spot.”

It was such a relief that the fridges still worked.

The reality of her situation struck her again as she set down the half-empty bottle and glanced around.

Just that bit of running had made her hungry. She picked herself up and grabbed a spicy bibim cup noodle she always liked.

She peeled back the packaging and lid, filled it with hot water, and sealed the top using the disposable chopsticks.

Three minutes.

She stared blankly at the cup while waiting, her eyes unfocused.

The image of two angry chickens glaring at each other on the packaging seemed absurdly intense.

As the silence pressed down, almost deafening, the timer ticked down.

Slurp, slurp.

The noodles were spicy and scalding hot.

Her nose tingled, sweat beaded under her nose—but she didn’t stop until the cup was empty.

She stood, about to throw the empty cup in the trash—but paused.

For some reason, she left it behind.

Part of her wanted to see if it would still be there next time. Another part felt a weird spiteful reluctance to clean up after herself.

Stepping out through the front door, she checked her inventory—and sighed heavily without meaning to.

Despite all the excitement about expanding the activation zone, the haul felt disappointingly small.

“I should’ve grabbed a hot dog too…”

She belatedly remembered the hot dog frying in the shop next to Borimdang. Though no one was there, it had been sizzling in oil, plump and golden, with chunks of potato stuck all over it.

“If I leave it, will it burn? Or will it just… stay like that? That’d be super greasy if it keeps cooking.”

Unable to shake the image of the hot dog from her mind, Donghui decided she’d simply try it herself next time.

After hiding the jewels in the dressing room, she returned to her room just as a knock sounded at the door.

“My Lady, are you in there?” Delma’s voice called.

Donghui opened the locked door to find Delma standing there, her face beaming.

“Yaaawn… What is it?” she said, stifling a yawn.

The frantic run around the area had worn her out. She really needed some sleep.

“My Lady! The servants ate all the dural dishes you made!”

That news was music to her ears. Her fatigue vanished in an instant.

“No one had any issues?”

“No! They said they were full and it was delicious—and asked if we could have it again tomorrow!”

Delma looked genuinely surprised, unable to contain her excitement.

“See? I told you it was tasty. Tomorrow, let’s have the Grace Castle staff go harvest some dural.”

“Near the Black Forest?”

Delma’s voice wavered slightly.

The cheer on her face gave way to a flicker of concern.

It made sense.

Traditions don’t disappear in a day.

Even she wouldn’t feel comfortable planting cemetery grass in her own front yard.

To these people, dural must feel like something far worse than that.

“No need for anyone scared to go. Just tell them those who do will be paid handsomely. It’ll be a special wage—completely separate from their usual salary.”