Chapter 85: New House

"Excuse me?" Kang Oh asked back.

He must've heard wrong, right?

"I don't have any information for you," Jayce said.

"You don't have any? The Loxia family's sword, the Cave Hidden by the Wind, or the hidden oasis; you really don't have any information like that?"

The more expectant one is, the greater the disappointment. Kang Oh asked back with an expression of disappointment.

"I don't have any new information for you right now, and I haven't heard any enticing rumors either," Jayce said.

"Really?"

"Really."

Jayce shook his head.

"Tch, that's disappointing."

"If I get my hands on some good information or I hear something, I'll be sure to tell you first."

"While you're at it, please focus on information that'll make me money."

After all, he's trying to make a living here.

"You got it."

In the end, Kang Oh left the Adventurer Guild empty-handed.

"Hmm. I guess I'll start the manual labor tomorrow."

He'd pick a dungeon he felt had the potential to contain a hidden dungeon and go there and check. Kang Oh would rinse and repeat until he found himself a hidden dungeon.

Indeed, finding a hidden dungeon was the equivalent of manual labor.

"Alright. I'll put Monique's set up for auction and then browse the internet community to gather information on dungeons."

Kang Oh walked towards the nearest auction house.

He sat down on a sofa within the cafe-shaped auction house and opened the auction interface.

Then, he began to browse the items that were being auctioned.

'Hmm. The prices have gone up.'

The market price of items with high level requirements had gone up slightly.

Which meant that the value of gold, Arth's currency, had depreciated.

The reason was obvious: players were beginning to make more and more gold, which made the supply more abundant.

'When Grano gives me my share, I should convert it to cash right away.'

Kang Oh planned on converting as much gold as possible before the value of gold depreciated any further.

"Alright... Now then."

Kang Oh searched for daggers that were similar to Monique's set to ascertain its market price.

'A starting bid of 800 gold sounds about right.'

Using the auction interface, Kang Oh placed Monique's set up for auction.

Set items could be sold together, so he didn't need to sell Monique's Greed and Monique's Thirst separately.

Kang Oh checked if he had anything else in his inventory worth selling.

'Melank's compass probably won't sell. I'll keep the webbed feet for later.'

Kang Oh kept Melank's compass and the S-rank Fishman-only webbed feet in one corner of his inventory.

"Haa, if I hadn't found the treasure, then I would be operating at a loss."

He'd risked a lot to find the hidden oasis, especially time!

Now that his adventure was well and truly done, he realized that his adventure and hunting hadn't been profitable solely based on the items he'd obtained.

However, he had made a ton of gold.

He procured 1,000 gold from the Stone Golem, as well as 3,000 gold from within the hidden oasis.

Not only that, but he'd made some money off the gold bugs, the Celtuses as well.

'I should make some more money after Grano sells the treasure too.'

Overall, each gold treasure was worth more than a gold bar (worth 100 gold coins).

There was also some treasure that stood out from the rest; they were worth more than 500 gold each.

Anyway, there were more than twenty of them, so Kang Oh would definitely get at least 3,000 gold.

"Heh, I made a ton."

He'd swallowed sand and walked with the burning sun overhead, but enduring such hardship was worth it in the end.

Kang Oh closed the auction interface.

"I've done everything I needed to do."

He didn't have anything he needed to do immediately, so he logged out.

* * *

Jae Woo was out looking at houses with his family.

He'd originally planned on doing so earlier, but the Bariton Desert trip took longer than he'd expected, so he had to postpone it until now.

"We're here."

A nice real estate agent guided Kang Oh and his family.

"This is it."

The real estate agent pointed at a three-story villa. Jae Woo and his family followed the real estate agent into the house.

"Number 201. Over here."

The real estate agent opened their smartphone's security key app and brought it to the gate, opening the lock.

Once the gate opened, Jae Woo and his family went inside.

"Please take a look around. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me," the real estate agent smiled politely and said.

"It's big," Mina looked at Yura and said.

It was huge compared to the underground house they lived in now.

"Right?"

Yura nodded her head.

Her and Mina began looking around, while Jae Woo explored the house with his mother.

'There are three rooms and there's one bathroom.'

It looked larger than 20 pyeong.

However, the villa and the entire house looked old and worn down.

"How's public safety in this area?" Jae Woo asked.

He was looking for a house, yes, but as an older brother, he wanted his sisters to live in a safe neighborhood.

"It's like any other place," the real estate agent said.

'Which means it's not great.'

His mother examined every nook and cranny of the house.

She looked over the sink, the bathroom, the boiler, and even if there was any mold or stains anywhere.

"What are the neighbors like?" his mother asked.

The real estate agent perused their tablet in search of said information.

"202 is empty."

"How's the noise between floors?" she asked.

"The building is quite old, so there is some noise between floors," the real estate agent said.

As his mother looked around, she kept asking the real estate agent questions. The real estate agent did their best to answer any questions she may have.

"The view's nothing special," Mina looked outside the window and said.

She could see the building next door through the window, and the road through the window on the other side.

"At least we'll get a lot of sunlight," Yura smiled and said.

"How is it?" Jae Woo asked his mother.

"It's better than where we're living right now," his mother said.

'She doesn't like it very much.'

If she liked the house, then she would've said so.

His sisters looked like they'd lost all the excitement they'd once had as well. Of course, Jae Woo also wasn't content with the house either.

"How much is the lease here?"

"40 million won ($40,000 USD)."

'40 million...'

In the past, real estate prices had continued to rise until the housing bubble, in which housing prices plummeted.

Nowadays, the price of a house, leases, and rent were on the rise once more.

"Please show us a place with a more expensive lease."

"I understand."

Jae Woo and his family rode in the real estate agent's car and began looking at other houses.

Now they were at a 28 pyeong size apartment. Compared to the previous house, this one was both larger and cleaner.

Just like before, his mother examined every square inch of the place and kept asking the real estate agent questions.

On the other hand, his sisters commented how large and clean the place was, and how great the view was.

After they had looked around, his mother and sisters looked quite pleased with the house.

However, they'd only seen two houses thus far. It was too early to make a decision.

"Do you have any other houses left to show us?"

"Of course."

The real estate agent led him and his family to two more houses, both with three rooms each.

"Do you have any houses with four rooms?"

Kang Oh had asked the real estate agent to find him houses with three to four rooms.

However, the real estate agent kept showing them houses with only three rooms.

"We do. The next house has four rooms."

The real estate agent parked their car in a residential area with several detached houses.

They unlocked the gate with their security key app and opened it.

"Is this it? It looks completely new," Jae Woo said in astonishment.

The detached house came with a yard, yet the building itself was completely clean. It was definitely just built.

"Yes. The original owner had it built and had intended to buy it, but circumstances demanded that they go down to the countryside, so they put it up for rent instead," the real estate agent said.

"So no one has lived in it before?"

"Indeed."

"It's a completely new house... Let's go inside and take a look."

Jae Woo looked inside the house in anticipation.

"Wow, it really is a new house."

Yura and Mina were amazed.

It wasn't just clean; it was completely spotless, with no traces of anyone ever having lived in it before.

The house was larger than 30 pyeong, but it didn't reach 50.

There were four rooms and two bathrooms. The living room was huge, and the windows were as well, allowing sunlight to easily penetrate the house.

"The house is nice," Mina said.

"We could raise a dog or a cat in here."

Yura smiled.

His mother wasn't convinced purely because it was a new house.

"There are no concerns of sick building syndrome?"

"The original owner built the house to live in, so it was made out of eco-friendly materials. There should be no cases of sick building syndrome here."

Like always, his mother looked through the house meticulously.

However, she had to accept the facts. This house was the best house they'd come across thus far.

"It's nice."

Ultimately, even his mother had said that 'it's nice'.

"How much is the lease?" Jae Woo asked.

"200 million won ($200,000)."

The lease was high, befitting a newly built house.

'200 million... I can pay the first 100 million. Should I take a loan out for the rest?'

If he accounted for the gold and treasure he'd obtained from the hidden oasis, as well as his TV appearance fee, then he'd be able to pay about 100 million.

"How about the rent?"

"The security deposit is 50 million won ($50,000 USD) and the monthly rent is 2 million won ($2,000 USD)."

"Hmm."

Jae Woo was lost in thought. What would be better, the lease or the rent?

"Big brother, have you decided on this place?" Mina noticed his reaction and asked.

"Why, you don't like it?"

"No," Mina quickly replied.

Yura too was beaming from ear to ear.

"Could you ask the owner if we can pay rent for now and switch to a lease later?" Jae Woo requested.

For the time being, it was too expensive to live here with a lease.

If he took a loan out, then he could cover the cost of the lease, but he didn't want to put his family back into debt after paying it off.

Also, they'd need to buy some furniture and other necessities for the new house as well, so he needed to leave some cash on hand.

Thus, Jae Woo wanted to pay a monthly rent for now and eventually switch over to a lease.

"I understand. Please give me a moment."

The real estate agent called the owner, and relayed Jae Woo's offer.

"Yes, a family that has come to see the house wanted to know if they could pay rent and then switch to a lease when they have the money. Would that be ok? Yes, yes. Then that's what we'll do."

The real estate agent hung up.

"The owner is ok with it. Would you like to sign a contract?"

"Yes. Let's do it. For now, I'll sign a provisional contract with a deposit of 1 million won ($1,000). In two weeks, I'll come by the real estate agency and sign a formal contract," Jae Woo said.

He needed to make the money. Plus, he planned on using that time to learn more about this house just in case.

The real estate agent claimed that the owner had left because they had to go down to the countryside, but who knows?

Perhaps the house was being used as collateral, or it might be some kind of trick.

After all, you need to look before you leap. He was going to invest a ton of money into this, so he shouldn't make the decision in haste.

"I understand."

The real estate agent nodded their head.

Jae Woo signed the provisional contract via recording and he deposited the 1 million won ($1,000 USD) into the real estate agent's bank account with his phone.

"Please call us before you visit us in two weeks. If you do, we'll prepare the contract before you arrive."

"Alright, I understand."

Jae Woo and his family's outing had come to an end.

"Ah, do you know of any good restaurants around here?" he asked the real estate agent.

He'd come out with his family, so he might as well buy them a good meal before they went home.

"There's an amazing steakhouse nearby."

"How does steak sound?" Jae Woo asked his mother.

"It doesn't really matter to me. How about you, Mina, Yura?"

"Meat sounds good!" Yura yelled.

Mina also nodded her head.

"Could you tell us where that steakhouse is?" Jae Woo asked.

But the real estate agent showed outstanding service till the very end.

"Please get in. I'll take you there."

"Wow, thank you."

Kang Oh and his family rode the real estate agent's car and headed to the steakhouse.

"I hope you have a nice time."

"Take care."

"Thank you for helping us today."

The real estate agent dropped them off at the steakhouse and then left.

"Let's go in."

Jae Woo and his family had a great time at the steakhouse.

As he ate, he watched how happy his sisters were, as well as how content his mother looked watching his sisters, and truly felt that it was good to be alive.

'This is what it feels like to make money!'