4.

With a blood-red shovel slung over his shoulder, Nodaji arrived in the now larger and more extravagant Rich Territory and headed straight for the lord’s castle.

It was a theme park within a theme park.

Inside this special area, which only Rich Kingdom VVIPs could enter three times by purchasing a ticket, the summoned Han Simin shuffled out lazily.

“You’re here?”

“Boss. We hit the jackpot today.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“If we enhance this to +15 and sell it, we’re looking at enough to buy a building, minimum.”

“Let’s see.”

Han Simin replied nonchalantly, as if this were nothing special, but his eyes gleamed as he asked the question.

At this point, ordinary items no longer produced profits big enough for him to feel anything, so he wasn’t easily satisfied. But Nodaji was always brimming with confidence.

Because this was something only he could do.

“Take a look at this. A pair of gloves that, once a day, will keep a man’s stamina going for three hours straight, like a Twin-Head Ogre.”

“Holy—! Where did you even find something this precious?”

That confidence was something Nodaji had gained only after working with Han Simin.

It couldn’t be compared to anyone else’s.

His prediction that Han Simin would react had been spot on. Sure enough, Simin carefully took the item in hand and looked at him.

“Chairman Sanseong has been telling me lately that if anything like this ever shows up, I should contact him because he’ll buy it no matter what.”

“Then we can just sell it to him.”

“As expected. It’s always worth trusting and waiting for you. Ha ha.”

“Ha ha ha. I had to go into a Forbidden Area and dig up the Twin-Head Ogre chieftain’s grave five times—and die five times—to get this, but it was worth it!”

The item was very much to Han Simin’s liking.

Which meant only one thing remained: haggling.

“Give me thirty percent, Boss.”

“Well now! Sounds like you’re getting pretty full of yourself these days. You keep trying to split things evenly.”

“I’m pretty sure I could make plenty even if I just sold it as-is.”

“Let’s not do anything we’ll both regret.”

“You know what they say, it’s best when both sides win.”

Han Simin stared at him.

“You’ve got your enhancement costs, and you go through the trouble of handling distribution and sales, so let’s just keep it clean at seventy-thirty.”

“I’ve raised a tiger cub.”

“Sir?”

“Nothing. We’ll do it that way.”

“Thank you. It’s my wife’s birthday this month, and I wanted to get her a car. Thanks to you, I think I’ll be able to save face. Ha ha.”

Having learned a great deal under Han Simin, Nodaji did an excellent job of securing his own share.

Of course, if he had wanted to, Simin could have paid him the bare minimum and taken the item, but he didn’t.

He no longer needed to cling to small sums.

More importantly, even if he didn’t cling to every last coin, he would never end up taking a loss anyway.

“Any extra costs that come up in the production process can just be passed on to the buyer.”

“Ha ha. Of course.”

The two of them clinked cocktails and toasted their successful deal, casually tossing out lines that would have anyone who overheard them filing a complaint with the consumer protection agency on the spot.

5.

Kenji did not give up.

Not even after losing everything.

His job skills as Pope were now restricted, but the innate skills of the class were still usable. And this was still a game, which meant the stats and items of the character he had raised all this time still existed.

He now had to hide his face wherever he went, and even entering cities, castles, or small territories came with restrictions—so much so that he could have just deleted his character and started over, or moved on to one of the new virtual reality games being released. But his choice did not change.

If anything, he became more passionate.

For Kenji, this kind of trial and hardship was an unprecedented experience, something he had never gone through once in his life.

When else would he ever fall this far to the bottom?

He had had minor business troubles a few times, but he had never lost everything and plummeted into the abyss like this.

It might be a game, but this place was another reality.

No matter how many other virtual reality games were coming out, none surpassed Fantastic World, which BetaGo had created. Even though users had decided among themselves that the Main Quest was over, the game still held a 97% market share, and the price of Gold was holding steady in the $200 range.

In this other reality, he wanted to overcome a crisis and rise again.

That was why he played even harder.

Effort never betrays.

And for the Kenji who was putting in that effort, good news finally arrived.

“Guild Master. We have breaking news.”

“What is it?”

“They say Simin has the Pope’s weapon. And it’s about to be put up for auction.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. Have you received any personal contact from him?”

“He contacted me a little while ago, saying he was short on cash and asking if I wanted a springboard for a comeback. I figured it was best to play hard to get, so I turned him down.”

“Then it’s highly likely the news is real.”

“He must be really strapped for cash...”

“Shouldn’t you contact him again?”

“No. It’ll be cheaper to buy it once it’s on the auction block.”

“Understood.”

Kenji began making preparations to seize this rare stroke of luck.

*

The auction was held in the Rich Territory.

It was an auction house that only VVIPs could enter.

Though he was living as a fugitive, Kenji had previously bought access rights from Han Simin, and thanks to that, he managed to slip in unnoticed as the auction began.

He ignored the other lots and waited.

He waited for the Pope’s royal staff.

He waited until it appeared.

The wait lasted all the way to the final item of the auction. At last, the item Kenji had wanted so badly went up for bid.

[+15 Holy Papal Royal Staff]

Grade: Epic Legendary

Equip Restriction: Legendary Legend Pope

Required Level: 150

Attack Power: 376 (+3,760) (varies depending on wearer’s qualifications)

Option 1: Divine Power +10% (+100%)

Option 2: Attack Power +100 (+1,000)

Option 3: High chance to apply “God’s Blessing” effect when casting healing or holy effects

Special Option 1: ??

Special Option 2: ??

Special Option 3: ??

The moment the brilliant, ornate hologram of the royal staff floated before his eyes, any thought of gauging the room and snagging it for a reasonable price vanished in an instant.

’I have to buy that.’

How could he possibly keep his reason?

Not when he was facing an item that was practically flinging its arms wide open toward him and him alone, begging him to take it.

He swallowed hard and closed his eyes.

As he mentally revised his budget, the auctioneer’s voice rang out.

“For this item, the seller has requested that the auction be conducted in cash only. As previously announced, participants should bid in amounts converted to U.S. dollars. The exchange rate will be set to the current rate. With that, we will begin.”

Bids started flying from all over the room.

Even with its equip restriction, the item was incredible. Its attack power alone was enough to smash a building to rubble. For people whose money was rotting in their accounts, an Epic Legendary-grade royal staff that others couldn’t obtain was bound to draw attention.

Which was why it was better to stay quiet at first.

Few people would be here with the same ironclad resolve as Kenji to buy it at any cost, and there was no need to join in early and needlessly drive up the price.

But this time, Kenji decided to break from the usual pattern.

He would spend a bit more, but he would skip the tedious process and blow away his competitors in one go.

“Ten million...”

If he showed an overwhelming price and the will to win the item no matter what, things would wrap up neatly.

It was certainly a tempting item, but even people with money to burn didn’t want to waste it recklessly.

Once the price went beyond the level of a hobby expense, they would all give up.

“Twenty million dollars.”

“......!”

His arrogant ten-million-dollar bid was, unfortunately, buried under a number twice as high that exploded out right after.

He turned his head in shock, but he couldn’t see the face of the bidder.

That person, too, had only been able to enter this place thanks to its anonymity.

His brow furrowed.

’Is this a trap?’

Han Simin’s face was the first thing that came to mind, but he had checked just five minutes ago and confirmed that Simin was currently somewhere else, pulling in cash with an enhancement stream.

Besides, even if it was a trap, he couldn’t back out now.

He had seen it; he had to buy it.

To have already given his heart to it, only to fail to take it home?

He had never even considered the possibility.

Such a thing had never once happened in Kenji’s life.

“Thirty million dollars.”

And then a third competitor joined in.

That was where Kenji’s reason snapped.

*

$700,000,000

“Becoming a billionaire is easy.”

Looking at the figure on the account statement he had just received from his asset manager, Han Simin’s lips curled up so high there was practically no room left for them to go.

Who would have believed, even two years ago, that a world was coming where you could earn seven hundred million dollars from a single item after fees?

But that world had arrived. When the story hit the nine o’clock news, more people envied the buyer for having the luck and money to purchase such an item than called him crazy.

That was the kind of world it was.

An era in which people judged that even if you spent $700 million in cash on Fantastic World, you could make more profit from that investment.

An era in which, even if you were an unemployed slob who did nothing but lie in a capsule and play games twenty-four hours a day, as long as you owned a small castle—or at least a small territory—people treated you like a chaebol with a coveted, stable job.

An era in which no one found it strange when people met in Fantastic World, got married, and started a life together.

That era had come.

So Han Simin accepted it with calm composure, neither awkward nor giddy.

Because now he could say it for sure.

“I made $700 million in pocket money. Maybe I should buy a cruise ship.”

He had left behind the days of a tiny, shabby studio apartment, when he barely scraped by on one bowl of instant ramen a day. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

His humble beginnings?

He was now living so well that unless the world ended and everyone was dragged back to a fair-and-square Paleolithic era, there was no way he could even look back on something like that.

They said a man’s position shapes him; now that he was rich, he had to act like a rich man.

He had already done his filial duty by giving his parents two buildings each, and Han Yeori, too, was thriving, having embraced not only her outstanding looks but also Han Simin’s worldview.

Above all, Han Simin was now living diligently not just in Fantastic World but in reality as well.

In fact, compared to the days when he had poured twenty hours a day into the game, Fantastic World was now nothing more than a hobby.

“Simin. If you’re buying a cruise ship, let’s go on a trip.”

“You paying for the fuel?”

“Yeah. My dad just gave me a fashion affiliate company, so I’m rich too. Heh heh. I’ll pay with money I earn myself.”

“Okay.”

“Should we go and make a baby while we’re at it?”

“Don’t say horrifying things.”

In the end, for Han Simin, games had always been nothing more than a way to make money for real life.