16 Big canine required (1/2)
Joonbum smiled as he drove towards Jinchul's store as he remembered his conversation with Jinchul regarding the request.
”You're here.”
”Hello!”
Jinchul was waiting with a cigarette in his mouth.
”What's with all the hurry?”
Joonbum saw Jinchul's frown and bowed.
”Sorry about that.”
”It's in the corner. Don't expect too much though. It was kept in storage and the stuff wasn't taken care of due to slow business.”
”Oh.”
Joonbum gasped a little.
”Bastards, canceling orders left and right. Not helpful to a business. I heard it was good for a while, but it's hard to even keep it up nowadays. There are those weapons from Japanese anime stuff too. I heard there's a set of full body armor from that one anime.”
”Wow!”
Joonbum closed in on a pile of weapons and armor as Jinchul explained things to him. Most were in bad condition - they were rusty and caked with dust.
”Whoa!”
Joonbum was amazed at the sight. Jinchul shook his head, not understanding the excitement Joonbum was showing. He did not mind it being in such bad shape.
”You like that? It's all junk. But it did cost me junk also.”
”Junk? Did you buy these that cheap?”
Jinchul frowned at his question.
”You think I'd pay more for these? Scrap metals are like garbage these days. Papers would cost more. These are easy to make nowadays. With just some lasers and grinders on hardened steel, you have a sword. Look at this. It will cost more money to make it shine again than to make a new one.”
Jinchul tapped on a rusty sword he picked up from a pile. Joonbum's eye shined in response to such a sight.
”Wow! That! Wow!”
”Oh, you recognize this? This is that famous lich king's sword from the game. I heard this was the most popular thing back in the day, so they brought in more. Of course, it didn't last long enough, so too many were left. Most of these are like that.”
It was a sword from a once-popular computer game. There were times when gun shops or blade stores carried these animation-based replicas to keep up with the trends. But the trend faded away as the economy took a hit, forcing the stores to get rid of their old merchandise.
”Green Dragon Crescent Blade… General Lee's Sword… It's full of rust but it still looks cool.”
”Yeah, it kind of does. You know, a natural beauty perhaps? I think General Lee's Sword is all about the writings on the blade. Look around and take what you-”
”I'll take all of it.”
”What?”
”I'm taking all of it.”
Joonbum nodded, and Jinchul frowned once again.
”All these? Some are too rusty. It's better to throw it away.”
”I have nothing better to do. It can give me some video time to work on it.”
Jinchul put a hand to his head as he realized the grinning Joonbum's intentions.
”Oh well, you seem to be shooting all day these days. Take it then.”
”How much is it?”
”Hmm. Five hundred thousand won should do.”
It was expensive considering that it was junk, but it was way cheaper than what Joonbum originally expected it to be. Joonbum was startled at the price and stared at Jinchul.
”Only? Is that enough?”
”Sure. It's not worth crap. I don't think it will get me more than maybe ten or twenty thousand at most. But I couldn't pay that much when I bought it, you know. I knew the guy and I couldn't just ignore his struggles. The price mostly includes my labor and shipping fee. I had to bring it up from Busan. It's a hard world. Economy's been so bad nowadays.”
Jinchul seemed to have mixed feelings. It was a proof that he wasn't doing that well either. Joonbum thought his wrinkles had gotten deeper as he watched Jinchul light up a cigarette and take a long draw.
”Hah, nevermind. Take this too.”
He pointed at a small wooden box.
”What is it?”
”It's for maintenance. I heard you just need to slab it on to avoid rusting. Although you need to take the rust off first.”
”Thank you.”
”Let's load it up then.”
”Sure.”
Joonbum could feel his hospitality.
Chapter 9.
[Ahh, this guy is unleashing his anger on the environment!]
[He seemed shocked. But still, this is too much.]
-I think this is necessary. You need a clear view.]
[A big tree was sawed off. Destroyer of the environment.]
[How much more is he going to cut off?]
[He'll be maxed out on his lumberjack skill soon. A true lumberjack!]
[Can you please do something else? For pig's sake!]
[He's cutting trees again?]
[Hey, there are some good views now. It was suffocating to see all the trees before.]
[That's about 150 feet wide.]
[He's good at pulling out tree trunks with the tractor now. Not like the amateur he was before.]
[Is this pig building a village? Is that it?]
[WHAT! Maybe he is. He must be building a village!]
[A city simulation game now?]
[What a wicked plan… scary…]
[Success! You just created a frontier village!]
[Let's go! Build a town!]
Joonbum scrolled through all responses. After some scrolling, the more recent responses captured his attention.
[Hey! Is that what I think it is? Is that the lich king sword?]