Chapter 48. Quit
It was lunchtime at the office.
While leisurely sipping coffee in the break room, Juhyeon scrolled through online community posts on his phone.
– Couldn’t buy it again today…ㅠㅠ
– I even rushed at the opening, but still couldn’t get the bag. Is it even possible to buy one?
– Can’t they sell it at other shops too?? It’s way too hard to buy…
└ “Oh dear… that must be hard. But maybe try a bit harder? Maybe it’s your lack of effort?”
└ “…Are you an INTP, you jerk?!”
└ “Just empathize with me~!!”
└ “Don’t wanna. I already bought it, lol.”
└ “…There are demons… real demons here…”
– Village Owner! You might not see this, but please increase the bag stock! I’m begging you!
└ “Holding my breath until stock increases… huuup!!”
└ “Me too…”
“Hmm… it’s true the number of bags sold is low.”
Juhyeon took another sip of coffee.
He had already tried to increase the supply somehow, but it wasn’t easy.
When he asked Alfredo, the answer was simple.
‘Later, you’ll be able to use village reputation to increase supply. Until then, there’s no other way.’
Apparently, it would be possible in the future — though Alfredo didn’t say how.
“Such a profound game, really…”
Village Reputation.
It was one of the essential resources needed to run the village.
“Juhyeon!!”
The break room door opened — Kim Min-soo came in.
“Oh, hey. You were out on field work today, right? How’d it go?”
“Of course it went well.”
“Then why’d you ask to meet here?”
Juhyeon tilted his head.
He was here because Min-soo had specifically asked to meet during lunch break.
What could it be?
“Hmm? What’s going on?”
Suddenly, Kim Min-soo dropped to his knees in front of him.
Completely caught off guard, Juhyeon blinked.
Then Min-soo shouted.
“Please! Get me one of those bags, Mr. Juhyeon!!”
“…”
“Please! I lined up last time, but it sold out right in front of me! Please!”
“You came to my village?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why didn’t you call me?”
“I did… but I got locked in the guardhouse.”
Locked in the guardhouse?
He had heard some players were detained for causing trouble that day — but he hadn’t expected Min-soo to be one of them.
“We’re friends, right? Please, just one bag!”
“Fine.”
“Really? You can get one?”
“Yeah, I saved a few extras. Just come to my village later — I’ll give you one.”
He could do that much for a friend.
After all, it was thanks to Min-soo that he had even started Illusion — the one who lent him the access device.
And during the tough times, Min-soo had been there to encourage him.
Even if Min-soo wouldn’t say it, Juhyeon considered him a true friend.
So a favor like this was no big deal.
“Thanks, man! But… I kinda feel bad asking another favor right after this…”
“What is it? Something else?”
“Could you, uh… get me out of the guardhouse today?”
“…”
Sometimes, he really did want to end this friendship.
* * *
“My friend!”
“…”
After work, Aren (Juhyeon’s in-game name) arrived at the village guardhouse, where Min-soo was imprisoned.
Min-soo was wearing armor and a helmet — clearly playing a warrior class.
The captain of the guards, Hansel, looked doubtful.
“Are you certain this outsider is your acquaintance, Lord Aren?”
“…Yeah.”
“I told you! He’s my friend! You didn’t believe me…”
“What exactly did he do to get arrested?”
“He lay down in front of the general store, shouting that he was Lord Aren’s best buddy — said you two went to the sauna together and ate meals…”
“…So that was you.”
Should he apologize for having such a troublesome friend?
Or should he just cut ties?
Why did he feel embarrassed by this?
“What should we do with him, my lord?”
“Let him go.”
“Understood.”
Hansel opened the cell.
Min-soo smiled brightly and stepped out.
“Did you bring it?”
“What? Oh, the bag? Yeah, here—”
“No! Come on, man, where’s your sense? When a friend gets released, you’re supposed to bring tofu! That’s, like, tradition!”
“…”
“I really wanted to taste tofu after getting out, but man… zero sense for ceremony. How do you even work as a carpenter like that?”
“Should I put him back in?”
For a brief moment, Aren almost said ‘yes.’
But he barely managed to stop himself.
“Just… be quiet. By the way, what’s your in-game ID again?”
“Huh? Oh right! I never told you. It’s Reckless. Add me as a friend.”
[Reckless has sent you a friend request.]
[Accept?]
→ “Yeah.”
[Reckless has been added to your friend list.]
“You’re Aren, right? Got it~”
“Here, take this.”
“Oh! Thanks!”
Aren handed over the bag.
Reckless immediately used it, expanding his inventory space with glee.
“Ahh, finally! No more inventory stress! Man, thanks a ton! But… I kinda feel bad just taking it for free…”
“It’s not free.”
Aren smiled calmly and held out his hand.
“That’ll be 5 gold, sir.”
“…You’re charging me?”
“Does gold grow on trees? But since you’re a friend, I’ll make it 4 gold. You’re welcome.”
“…Tch.”
Reckless grudgingly handed over 4 gold coins, and the two walked out of the guardhouse together.
Outside, Reckless finally sighed in relief.
“Phew… that was terrifying.”
“What was?”
“The guard captain! He just picked me up — no words — straight to jail. Two muscle guys on either side… I swear it was like a horror movie.”
Remembering it made him shiver.
The village guards here were nothing like in other towns. Their intimidation factor was on another level.
Especially the captain — that pressure was unreal.
“You’ll get used to it eventually.”
“Ugh… I still get chills thinking about it.”
Reckless rubbed his arms.
Sure, the guards looked scary, but once you got past the first impression, they were decent people.
Though… sometimes, running into one during a night patrol still made him scream.
Aside from that, they weren’t so bad.
“Oh right — by the way, if you’re not in a guild yet, how about joining ours?”
“Guild?”
“Yeah. The one I’m in isn’t bad. I can talk to the guild master for you.”
“Which guild?”
“Black Rose. It’s still new, but growing fast.”
Black Rose — one of the up-and-coming guilds rising in popularity.
“So, what do you say? Want to join?”
Aren thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“Nah. I’m not joining any guild.”
“Fair enough. I won’t push it.”
“…”
“But hey, when are you gonna quit your company job? The way your village’s doing, you could probably live off it now, right?”
After the restaurant and clothing shop, now even the general store had people lined up, eager to buy.
If he imposed even a 5% tax there, the revenue would be enormous.
Aren (Juhyeon) was already thinking along those lines.
“I’m still considering it.”
He couldn’t make a rash decision.
With debts and loans still to pay, and fixed expenses coming out regularly, it wasn’t something to decide lightly.Reckless knew Aren’s situation well enough not to press him.
“Well, I know you’ll figure it out. Still…”
He couldn’t help but worry about his friend.
Aren was a competent employee.
The only problem was that he’d met the wrong boss —
a boss who sucked up every bit of Aren’s hard-earned results for himself.It was infuriating.
If not for that parasite, Juhyeon could’ve climbed way higher by now.
“The quicker you make your decision, the better.”
Aren just nodded silently.
* * *
The next day.
After work, Aren logged into the game — and was greeted by a flashing message window.
[You can now collect house rent and taxes.]
[Would you like to collect them?]Aren nodded.
[Confirmed.]
[Rent collected: 600 gold.]
[Taxes collected: 1,865 gold 785 silver.]
[Maintenance costs: 962 gold spent.]He blinked at the numbers.
After deducting expenses, he still had 1,503 gold and 785 silver left.
Considering that 1 gold = 10,000 won, that meant—
“1,500… thousand won? That’s 1.5 million won?”
Roughly 15 million won in total.
Even after accounting for exchange fees, that was no small amount.
Aren muttered under his breath, almost in disbelief.
“Crazy.”
His income had skyrocketed.
It was several times higher than when he’d first started collecting rent and taxes.
Was it because of the bags?
That was the most likely reason.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
The general store was currently ranked B-tier, meaning it could sell up to 3,000 items per batch.
Even if he wanted to sell more, there was a system cap.
Aren’s eyes gleamed.
“Alfredo.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Can I build more than one general store?”If he could build multiple, he could sell more bags.
Alfredo shook his head.
“Impossible. With the current size of the village, only one general store can exist.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But if you expand the village later, you may build duplicates.”So the system had that loophole plugged.
A bit disappointing — but not hopeless.Still, it wasn’t a bad situation.
After all, the only place selling inventory-expanding bags was his village.
And Illusion was a game played by hundreds of millions worldwide.Which meant—
“There’s still an ocean of potential customers out there.”
Bag sales weren’t going to slow down anytime soon.
He mentally crunched the numbers.
When he finished calculating, a confident glint appeared in his eyes.
“At this rate… I can do it.”
It was time to move from planning to action.
* * *
The next morning, 9 a.m.
Not even a sip of coffee yet, and Manager Lee stormed in.
“Hey! Where’s that client revision I told you to do yesterday? Still not done? Hah… what have you been doing all day, huh?”
Juhyeon looked up.
Normally, he would’ve swallowed his frustration and stayed silent —
but today was different.It was payout day for the game’s earnings.
His balance was full.
His patience, empty.“Manager Lee, that revision? I finished it yesterday morning and sent it to you. You didn’t read your mail and forwarded it to someone else.”
Manager Lee’s face twitched.
“What? Are you blaming me now?”
“No, just stating the facts.”“Hah… you’ve gotten bold, huh? Talking back to your boss now? You want your job to get harder, is that it?”
He tried to intimidate him with rank — something he’d always done.
Usually, that was enough to make Juhyeon apologize and back off.
But not today.
“Not today.”
He didn’t need to anymore.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m quitting today anyway.”
“…What?”
“Resigning. Today’s my last day.”The office fell silent.
The designer beside him froze mid-click.
The intern gulped audibly.“Resignation isn’t a joke, kid! And you still need to hand over your work!”
“Already did. Everything I worked on went out under your name anyway.”
“…”
“So now, you’ll have to handle it yourself.”Manager Lee’s mouth clamped shut.
Seizing the moment, Juhyeon opened his drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper.
Half an A4 page. Cleanly printed.
“Here. My resignation letter. HR already has a copy. Please process my severance pay according to the law.”
“You little—”
“Oh, and since I’m not your subordinate anymore, stop talking down to me. And keep your finger pointing to yourself.”Juhyeon smiled faintly.
He wanted to say more — to throw every insult back at him — but he held it in.
He didn’t want to make a scene for the others.When he began packing his things, Manager Lee panicked.
“W-wait! You can’t just quit like this! You know this industry’s small, right? What do you think will happen if word gets around?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not coming back to this industry.”“I might’ve taken a few of your results, okay? But that’s just how corporate life works! You have to endure and learn!”
His shameless tone made Juhyeon smirk.
“I used to believe that. But not anymore. And even if that were true… you’re the last person I’d want to learn from.”
A brief silence followed.
Then Juhyeon placed his employee ID on the desk.
“I want to learn more. Earn more. Live more. From now on, I’m investing in my own time and my own skill.”
With that, he stood up.
All eyes followed him.
Some looked envious.
Some looked shocked.
Kim Min-soo clapped and gave a thumbs-up.Manager Lee couldn’t say a word.
Juhyeon wanted to say something more — a proper goodbye — but decided against it.
He was done with this place.“Time to go.”
He walked out.
At the elevator, he took out his phone.
A notification popped up.[Currency Exchange – Gold Sale Complete. Settlement Processed.]
He checked his account balance — and chuckled.
“Feels good.”
And that day, for the first time—
While everyone else was heading to work, Juhyeon smiled and walked out.
It was the start of his real life.
