BOPE 50

Chapter 50

— You have selected the supermarket where you used to sneak bites more than actually work at the food sample booth as your newly activated region.
User Chloe Grace, the newly activated areas you can now access are: the moldy basement studio, the convenience store that only ever had expired food, the vicinity of Borimdang within 20 meters, and the supermarket. Congratulations on the expansion to four total locations.

The thought briefly crossed her mind that the rewards were far too generous for the difficulty of the quest—but only briefly. Once inside the supermarket, there was a wealth of things to gain.

Donghee first emptied out her entire inventory.

“Next time I get points, I need to expand my inventory first.”

To pack her bags full at the supermarket, inventory space was the top priority.

With a flutter of anticipation, Donghee opened her front door and stepped out.

There was no time limit for activated areas acquired through basic quests, which gave her peace of mind.

“Come to think of it, this status window acts all reserved, but it’s surprisingly generous. Two names and now the supermarket unlocked? Revitalizing a territory is gonna be a breeze!”

Chirping happily to herself, Donghee passed through her studio and climbed the stairs. She even started humming.

Her steps were lighter than ever as she walked the path through the foggy mist wall. Today, she didn’t need to stop by the convenience store.

“The supermarket has more types of ramen, more dumplings, more bread~!”

Talking to no one in particular, she walked right past the convenience store. With a stash of gems already tucked away, she could even skip Borimdang today.

The supermarket stood tall on the opposite side of Borimdang, with the convenience store in between.

“Now that’s what I call a supermarket. Thank you, status window, for tossing me such a fine activated region as a reward. So bold!”

After showering the status window with praise, Donghee stepped into the supermarket.

But moments later, her praise turned into a stream of expletives.

“Hey! You fraud! What the hell is this?!”

Inside the supermarket, the only area Donghee could access was the frozen dumpling section—where she used to work handing out samples.

Fuming, she crammed her inventory full of frozen dumplings.

She briefly considered stopping by the convenience store or Borimdang to pick up other things, but a weird sense of pride stopped her.

“Flat dumplings, galbi dumplings, spicy pepper dumplings, veggie dumplings, boiled dumplings, king-sized dumplings, shrimp dumplings…”

Donghee packed every kind of dumpling she could find into her inventory, then glared at the invisible status window and left the store.

“Ugh, there’s so much stuff on the other floors! Clothes, shoes, cosmetics! And all I get is the stupid dumpling section? Are you kidding me?”

She shouted loud enough for the status window to hear.

But the status window stayed dead silent.

Normally, it would have already started nagging her with snarky remarks like “How shameless” or “Where’s your conscience?”—but nothing.

Without anyone to respond to her complaints, Donghee quickly quieted down. Yelling by herself was just a waste of energy.

“Guess I’ll go fry some flat dumplings for Delma. Oh! Or maybe I’ll have Dural make some. Dural-skin dumplings! Dupi dumplings for short! It sounds weird, but it has a nice ring to it.”

Donghee forgot her grumbling in an instant and happily left through the front door to return to her room.

“Ray, I’m pretty sure Chloe’s come into a lot of money.”

Erma shook Ray’s drunken, slumped body in frustration.

Ever since they were kicked out of Grace with nothing, Ray had been drowning himself in alcohol daily.

The table in front of him was a mess—half-filled glasses, empty bottles, and scraps of leftover fruit strewn everywhere.

Everything had been going so well—or so they’d thought.

They weren’t from a particularly wealthy noble house, but if he married Chloe, Ray’s lowly status would rise significantly. He might even be able to reclaim the viscount title that had been taken by Viscount Patrasche.

The business venture they had planned to invest in was practically a golden opportunity. But now, someone else had seized it.

Ray felt like he’d just let a gold nugget slip through his fingers.

The more he thought about it, the more agonizing it felt. He suddenly sat up and downed the rest of the alcohol in his glass, letting it spill down his chin and wiping it off roughly with the back of his hand.

“This is all your fault.”

Red-faced, Ray glared at Erma. The stench of alcohol was so strong it could make anyone standing nearby drunk by proxy.

“What are you talking about?”

Erma covered her nose and mouth with her hand and frowned.

Already irritated from their failed plans, she was now furious at being blamed out of nowhere. But Ray was far too drunk and upset to care about her feelings.

“You kept tagging along to Grace, and that stupid Chloe started to catch on!”

“So you’re saying this is my fault?”

Erma was speechless. Who was the one sneaking around holding hands and kissing behind Chloe’s back?

“How is this my fault? I told you to stop bringing me there. I said Chloe might notice!”

“When did you ever say that?! You’re the one who laughed at her, saying she’s too dumb to notice anything!”

“Whatever! It’s all your fault, so take responsibility. I barely got the investment deadline extended to tomorrow. Get the money no matter what. Sell your precious body if you have to! Who knows? Maybe that old man hitting on you will pay up big for one night!”

Ray screamed, thinking of the lecherous old noble who’d been pestering Erma.

“Are you done?!”

Erma shot him a look that could kill.

She wanted to kick him out of the house immediately, but doing that would destroy their last shred of hope.

After all, Chloe Grace had once been so hopelessly in love with Ray.

Even if her feelings had changed, it was hard to believe they could disappear overnight.

Something was off.

It was a waste to give up now, after all the time and effort she’d poured in. And finding another gullible mark like Chloe wouldn’t be easy. Erma forced herself to calm down and assess the situation rationally.

As always, she came to a self-serving conclusion.

“Ray! What if Chloe did all this out of jealousy? Because of us?”

“Jealousy?”

Ray nodded, taking her words seriously. Who was Chloe Grace, after all?

A woman who had used every trick in the book just to have him.

And now she was supposed to give him up this easily?

Ray knew just how handsome he was, and how to use that to his advantage.

He fixed his disheveled hair and wiped a bit of apple peel off his cheek.

Just tidying up a few strands already made him look far more dashing.

Erma felt even more convinced she was right.

“Exactly. Jealousy. There’s no other explanation. Chloe Grace’s obsession with you was common knowledge around all of Pran. And suddenly, she’s over you? That doesn’t make sense.”

Ray, who had been sulking with a scowl, slowly brightened as he listened.

The more he heard, the more it made sense.

“Yeah… Chloe loved me—no, she loves me. She’s never once refused a favor I asked.”

“That’s what I’m saying! Still, just in case, maybe you should sell that villa she gave you?”

“Ah! The villa! I totally forgot about that! I could sell it and use the money for the investment!”

Ray broke into a wide smile as he remembered the villa Chloe had given him.

“Also, get changed. Fix your hair.”

Erma urged him to his feet, but Ray was too drunk to stand properly. He staggered and collapsed back into the chair, then suddenly gagged.

“Ugh! I can’t do anything right now…”

Hearing his slurred voice, Erma sighed deeply—then clapped her hands, struck by a brilliant idea.

“Ray! You don’t need to change. Let’s go to Grace like this!”

“Like this?!”

Ray knew just how terrible he looked right now. As someone who lived and died by appearances, that was unacceptable. He shook his head hard—so hard the room spun.

“Ugh! So dizzy. I’m gonna puke.”

Erma looked down at the retching Ray with exasperation, then hauled him up again.

“This is perfect. You’re so drunk because you’re heartbroken. You’re going to Chloe in despair, broken by love.”

“Huh?”

Even in his intoxicated state, it sounded like a solid plan. Ray suddenly felt himself sobering up.

“Keep going.”

Seeing Ray starting to agree, Erma lit up and eagerly continued.

“Cry in front of Chloe. You used to act, remember? Crying was the one thing you were good at. Remember?”

“Of course I do. When I cried, even noble ladies in the audience would sob with me.”

Just a few years ago, Ray had been a promising stage actor—until his inability to keep it in his pants got him booted before he could shine.

“So get going to Grace. Cry, beg, whatever it takes. Get that idiot to give you money. How long are you gonna live like this? You promised me. You said we’d make a killing and live the high life. Keep that promise.”

Erma’s eyes shimmered with tears.