Episode 8 — This House Is Mine Now (1)
[After deducting a 7% fee, your sales proceeds have been paid.]
[Sale amount: 50 Gold 787 Silver.]
“What the…?”
The amount was far larger than expected — about 507,870 won in cash terms.
For a single chair, that was several times a day’s wage.
‘If the fee’s 7%… that means the original value was even higher.’
He was dazed — and a quiet thrill began to rise in his chest.
‘Is this… a message?’
He vaguely remembered Min-soo mentioning that players could leave notes through the auction system.
Apparently, this was it.
“Let’s see…”
He opened the message box.
[Hello, I’m Elena, Vice-Master of the Blackout Guild. About the furniture you made…]
[We’re the Harvest Guild, a production guild. We’d like to establish a relationship with you…]
[Your craftsmanship is impressive…]
[May I ask your class…?]
Recruitment offers were flooding in.
‘People actually want my chair?’
At his old company, all he did was walk on eggshells.
Manager Lee’s nagging was always the same.
But this — this was different.
Someone wanted what he made.
That one fact was everything.
‘This is fun.’
For the first time, the smile on Aren’s face was genuine.
‘Is this how Dad used to feel?’
Back in the real world, all he could do was bow his head and endure.
Whenever Manager Lee found fault, Aren had no choice but to nod and stay silent.
Day after day of helpless monotony.
But now — things had changed.
Someone acknowledged his work.
Someone wanted what he created.
The realization sent a shiver of pure exhilaration through him.
‘It’s fun! This is really fun!’
It was thrilling.
So much better than filling out pointless reports behind a desk.
‘Still, they don’t seem to know who I am… probably because my ID’s private?’
In the auction system, seller IDs were hidden by default.
Buyers couldn’t see who made the item.
‘Then I’ll keep it that way for now.’
There was no reason to reveal himself yet.
If needed, he could always disclose it later.
For now, anonymity worked fine.
‘50 Gold 787 Silver.’
That was his current worth — the value the world had placed on his work.
Not too much, not too little.
But Aren had no intention of stopping there.
‘Let’s start by fixing that house.’
He turned back toward the decrepit building.
‘I might need to rebuild the pillars… and redo the flooring…’
There was so much to fix.
Now he understood why so many players had abandoned this quest.
The cost and time didn’t seem worth the reward.
But Aren wasn’t like them.
He’d been a carpenter — and for him, quitting wasn’t an option.
His hands itched to work.
He could already feel the weight of a hammer in his grip.
“Guess there’s no other way.”
He made up his mind.
“Let’s tear it all down first.”
* * *
“Wait, you’re going to… tear down the whole thing?”
“Yes.”
Aren had returned to the Carpenter’s Guild.
He needed new materials before starting reconstruction.
“It’s worse than I thought,” he explained.
“The floor’s rotted through, the walls creak when you touch them, and the draft’s unbearable. Honestly…”
“It’s a ruin.”
Yuel’s eyes widened slightly.
“It’s beyond repair,” Aren continued.
“Even if we reinforce it, the frame’s already decayed. It might hold for a while, sure. But what about in five years? Or even one? You can’t just look at the present — you have to think about the future. People are supposed to live there.”
Yuel fell silent, eyes round with realization.
She had only thought of it as another simple repair job.
‘But he’s right.’
It wasn’t just a structure.
It was someone’s home.
Someone had probably spent their savings to have it built — proud to finally have a place of their own.
And if that house collapsed a year later?
The thought chilled her.
“You’re right… That makes perfect sense.”
[Yuel’s Favorability has increased.]
[Through you, Yuel has come to understand the pain of those deceived by shoddy builders.]
[For this transaction, material prices are reduced by 10%.]
“But… can you really do it?” Yuel asked hesitantly.
“Building a house isn’t easy. Don’t you need special abilities and a higher level for that?”
In this world, what players called skills, NPCs referred to as abilities.
Constructing a house required far more expertise than making a chair.
Normally, one would need specific crafting skills and a certain level before the system allowed it.
‘Skills are basically licenses. Even if you want to build, the system won’t let you without the proper one.’
“It’s fine,” Aren said.
“Huh?”
“Having an ability would make things easier, sure.”
Skills simplified the process — with enough proficiency, players could instantly erect structures using the right materials.
Naturally, most relied on that convenience.
‘It’s the built-in system, after all. Only a fool wouldn’t use it.’
But that didn’t mean it was impossible without it.
‘I made a chair without any skill. A house isn’t that different. It’s just bigger.’
It would take more effort, but Aren didn’t care.
‘That’s what makes it fun.’
