Hammurabi Style - Chapter 6

Kimin grinned in front of the owner who was only able to roll his eyes.

“It’s my turn to decide. Um… Should I kill him or not?”

The owner’s eyes looking at Kimin became terrified. The owner tried to roll his eyes desperately. He kept giving a sidelong glance to one side to try to tell Kimin about something. 

“Oh, the security camera? No worries. I’m…like. Hm. A curse magician.”

Kimin thought of how to make an excuse about his skills and then he came up with a curse magician.

“I don’t have to kill you right here. You know, it’s safer for me to make you die by a heart attack after you get off work.”

‘A curse magician???!’

When Kimin answered with laughter, the owner became one step closer to passing out.

“How’s the paralysis curse?”

The owner blinked his eyes madly. Kimin giggled.

“Well, you have to pay the price if you aimed your gun at a curse magician.”

The owner started blinking again.

Kimin walked behind the owner and went toward the counter. Then, he pulled out a business card on display. Kimin read the card slowly.

“Hyungdoo Seo. Oh, Skyclo isn’t a franchise. Did you start this business on your own? But you look fucking young… You have a backer who gave you this store, right? I should remember your name first. Hyungdoo Seo. Hyungdoo Seo. Hyung. Doo. Seo. Hyung! Doo! Seo!”

Hyungdoo Seo was going crazy. The curse magician who was calling his name seemed like the grim reaper.

Curse magicians were rare, powerful, and expensive existences.

He was terrified because the curse magician was calling his name repeatedly. He felt like his heart was stopping whenever the curse magician did that. 

‘I really didn’t know that he was a skill user… And even he was one of the rare curse magicians…’

A capable curse magician could paralyze someone without any catalysts, mediums, spells, or driving motions. He must have been an executive of the debuff team in a monster hunter group. If he was someone like that, it made perfect sense for him to have that high-quality gallbladder.

‘What an idiot… an idiot… Thank god, I didn’t shoot him…’

They were told that the most powerful curse magicians could cast the spell called ‘Last Sentence’ on themselves.

When somebody killed a curse magician, the ‘Last Sentence’ would be revealed. Then, the one who killed him got a much stronger curse than all the curses the curse magician ever used in their life.

In other words, curse magicians were like poisonous frogs.

Once someone annoyed them, the person couldn’t stay undamaged afterward.

‘I was just lucky so far, but what am I going to do now… I made the curse magician mad… Shit… Shit!!’

Spit was dripping from Hyungdoo Seo’s paralyzed mouth.

Even though there were laws and judges, violence was always closer than them. If Hyungdoo Seo just died even before he tried to do something to the skill user, the law would not protect him at all. 

He couldn’t control his sadness, so tears just came out of his eyes automatically.

“Oh, is this pussy crying? He is!”

Kimin laughed out loud at Hyungdoo Seo who was crying like a baby after getting all the pricey stuff from the counter. 

“I’m just letting you know that I’m taking some compensation. I will watch what you do today and spare your life… However, you know what’s going to happen… if you call the police, right? I’ll remember your name.”

Kimin tapped Hyeongdoo Seo’s shoulder, pushed the door, and came back in again.

“Oh, right. I almost forgot.”

He pulled out a handful of Hyeongdoo Seo’s hair and thrust it in his pocket. Then, he shook one of the hairs in front of Hyeongdoo’s eyes.

“From now on, you should be careful about whom you offend if you don’t want me to nail your doll. Got it?”

It was perfect acting until the end.

Kimin opened the door and left cheerfully and Hyeongdoo Seo’s tears became thicker.

Ring, ring!

The refreshing bell on the door rang while Hyeongdoo Seo was still paralyzed awkwardly.

***

“It’s a gallbladder. It’s preserved very well. I don’t know who the preservation skill user is, but he or she must be the best in the field.”

As soon as an old man, the owner of Saehyun Monster Shop, saw the gallbladder, he nodded his head.

He didn’t even care about Kimin’s outfit or smell. He only stared at the gallbladder through a magnifying glass.

“Our shop normally purchases this kind of quality product at one hundred thousand dollars.”

It was the same price that Kimin learned through Youtube and other media even though he did it a year ago.

However, Kimin thought, ‘Gallbladders and the like are ingredients for the highest awakening drugs once refined a bit. It’s an ingredient that can boost a significant number of skills temporarily without any side-effects.’ 

‘The demand for it should’ve increased. It doesn’t make sense if it decreased. It should especially increase much more if college entrance exams still exist and many other kinds of certification exams. Korean parents must be seeking this voraciously.’

‘Even hunting a bear is not easy at all for anyone. The supply shouldn’t be increasing.’

Bears didn’t live in the jungle.

Kimin met them at the foot of a mountain in the outer forest.

He recalled the bears that were as big as a small office building, then finished recalling his memory.

‘Ok. I’m betting on it.’

“Sir. Isn’t the price you are talking about from a year ago?”

When Kimin asked and smiled, the old man’s mouth showed that he was startled.

Kimin continued talking.

“Sir, don’t try to negotiate. Please just give me a good price. Honestly, can you find anything like this kind of quality somewhere else? As you said, the preservation is like an art. My friend’s ransom is very expensive.”

‘Indeed. I’m not that cheap.’

The old man hesitated and gave a deep sigh.

“Ok. Have you thought about the price?”

“Two hundred thousand. Then, I will trade the next gallbladder here again. The next one’s quality will be a lot better than this.”

Kimin talked confidently. Also, the last sentence was true. The one he was trading at the moment was the smallest and had an unattractive sparkle amongst the gallbladders he had.

However, the problem was the first sentence he said. He asked for a good price and even doubled it.

The old owner fell into deep thoughts while tapping on the counter after Kimin’s words.

It wouldn’t be a loss for him, but he would gain almost nothing if he bought it at two hundred thousand. In fact, it was almost a loss if he thought about distribution expenses and others.

Also, this customer totally looked like a homeless person. This gallbladder might be a stolen one. If it was really stolen, he would be in big trouble.

However, his experience and his age were shouting at him strangely, ‘Do not fool yourself with the customer’s appearance. You must reel him in.’

“Hm…”

The owner tapping on the counter made a decision and bit his lip tight.

His eyes looked at Kimin from the top to bottom once instantly.

‘What was that? His eyes shined for a second.’

“……”

The owner’s eyes started shaking madly.

He couldn’t hide his surprise but tried to control his facial expression.

“Sir. I need to tell you something first.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“From a businessman’s perspective, the gallbladder’s fair price is one hundred fifty thousand dollars. Then, I can leave some profit for myself and sell it somewhere else. But…”

The edge of his mouth raised up and he opened his mouth.

“…In this trade, I should give up on being a businessman.”

“…Keep going. I’m listening.”

“I will buy this gallbladder at two hundred thousand dollars. Just… remember what I said, please.”

“What?”

Kimin was surprised by the old man’s answer because he didn’t expect it at all.

“I won’t ask you to sell the next product at my shop. I just want to thank you for trading this here.”

Kimin stared at the old man blankly.

“Do you think it’s strange?”

“It is incomprehensible.”

“There is nothing I can do if you think I’m tricking you like other ordinary merchants. Hahaha… I’m old-aged but I’m highly sensitive.”

“…”

“My senses are telling me that you are not an ordinary person. I would like to invest in you.”

The owner smiled with his wrinkled face while looking at a glorious halo behind Kimin’s head that only he could see.

He wrapped up his smile and opened his mouth quietly.

“How would you like to receive the money? Cash? Bank account deposit?”

“Hm…”

Kimin Kim thought about it. He had a bank account under his name.

However, he was not going to use it.

Someone might track it down.

“…I will take cash for now. And…”

Kimin put his brain to work and then went back to pick up the words he had left off.

“I will buy one subspace pocket.”

‘It is expensive but I need it… If I have to, I can just sell one more gallbladder.”

A subspace pocket was crafted with the specially processed leather pocket and the deep-sea monkfish’s stomach.

The leather pocket had to be processed for durability and strength, but catching a monkfish monster was also ridiculously tough too, making the entire process expensive. Besides, there were not many craft skill users who could combine the pocket and stomach perfectly.

In other words, the subspace pocket was priced as listed.

The owner didn’t change his facial expression and just asked calmly.

“If you tell me the price and the size you want, I will help you find one.”

“Hm… I’m thinking about two hundred thousand.”

The owner answered Kimin while closing his eyes to search through his head.

“I have a nice one just in time. The size is pretty small though. It’s about a 71 ft² sized room, however, it is skillful and has recognition, security, return, and even auto-repair skills. If your major criterion is size, I can find another one up to 142 ft².”

To organize this again, the subspace that had more skills instead of more space was only two hundred thousand;

it had a recognition skill that only recognized Kimin as the subspace owner and opened its entrance for him,

a security skill that made everyone except for its owner roasted chicken with an electric shock,

a return skill that would back to the owner’s arms when separated by a certain distance,

and an auto-repair skill that healed minor damage on its own.

It was such a generous trade only for Kimin.

‘This kind of item is only two hundred grand on sale….?’

Kimin was being tactful.

He wasn’t an idiot who didn’t know the price was just for him.

“I will take that. I appreciate your kindness. Oh, and…”

Kimin answered and started looking for something between his inner thighs.

“Could you please look at this one, too?

There was an incomparable red sparkle that was much better than the previous gallbladder in Kimin’s hand.

The old owner let out a sigh as soon as he saw it.

“I need to go and get more cash.”

***

After Kimin finished the satisfactory trade, he got the owner’s business card and left Saehyun Monster Shop.

‘Saehyun Jae…’

Why did he do me a favor?

Kimin kept worrying about the reason while trading.

He had never gotten this kind of goodwill in his life.

At the moment he was…

He moved his hand and touched his hair that he cut hastily in the jungle and his unspeakably overgrown beard. His face must be so tanned and dirty that he looked like a homeless guy.

‘What on earth did he see in me?’

He must not see Kimin’s skills.

Because all of his skills were hidden from detection skills.

Ha.

‘I don’t know.’

Kimin let out a sigh.

‘Am I going to get the answer if I meet him again? Or maybe I should just ask him directly.’

He touched the subspace pocket and straightened his back.

‘I should find my own dignity since I have money now. Setting a goal is good, but I should at least live like a decent human being.’

Objectively, he knew that he looked like a nasty homeless person. If someone like him stays at a clothing store for too long, just that will cause a nuisance to people. 

Kimin looked around a few street shops, bought a set of display clothes quickly, and came out of the store. 

Then, he went to a motel that looked pretty decent.

The reason why he went to the motel and not a hotel even though he had a lot of money was that hotels required an ID when checking-in.

‘I have to get a new fake ID soon.’

Kimin smacked his lips and went to the bathroom in his room while humming.

After about an hour, a contradicting looking hippie who was clean but shaggy walked unhurriedly out of the motel.

The hippie went to a hair salon.

“Welcome.”

There were already customers sitting on the chairs but thankfully no one was waiting in front of him. An idle hairdresser welcomed Kimin.

“Shave my beard first and then give me a two-block hairstyle.”

“There will be a charge for shaving. Is that ok with you?”

“Yes, please.”