ICTU 07

Chapter 07

I Got 30,000 Coins Through Secondhand Trading 

Chapter 3. Real Estate Ghost Story (2)

When they finished the contract and came outside, the sun was already leaning toward the west.

But there was no sign of tiredness in Choi Hyeok’s steps.

“Hyung.”

“Hmm?”

“You said there are more properties worth looking at nearby. How about we look at all of them today?”

Choi Yeon-uk gave a small laugh.

“You should think about how exhausting this is for a person. I’m not that young anymore.”

“You’re not old enough to complain about your age.”

“Hey, wait until you’re over thirty. Once you get past your mid-thirties, your stamina changes completely.”

Although he complained with his mouth, Choi Yeon-uk had already taken out his phone and was checking the next appointment.

“There happens to be one more nearby. The commercial area is a little questionable, but the land is large. They put it up for sale because they said it would be good to remodel and use the building.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go.”

The second place they visited was a five-story commercial building in a location that was a little difficult to call a station-area property.

It was close to the station exit in a straight line, but there was a hill and some stairs in between, so accessibility was poor.

“The building is clean.”

Choi Hyeok nodded. The exterior looked like it had been painted recently, and the cafe on the first floor did not have a bad atmosphere either.

But he did not stay for long.

“Hyung, let’s pass on this one.”

“Why? It looks pretty good. The vacancy rate is low, and they said the tenants have been renewing their contracts for a long time, so there shouldn’t be any problem with the next renewal either.”

“That’s the problem.”

“Huh? Why?”

Choi Hyeok lightly rubbed his chin.

“The first-floor cafe and the second-floor Pilates center both have their rent set at the lowest level, right? Having long-term tenants looks good, but it also means they haven’t raised the rent much.”

Then naturally, the rate of return would also be low.

Choi Yeon-uk gave his own opinion.

“Well, we can negotiate with the owners and raise it—”

“Looking at how questionable the location is, they’ll probably leave as soon as you raise it even a little. If the tenant changes, there won’t be any income while the place is vacant. That’s probably why the current owner is just putting up with it and keeping the rent low.”

Choi Yeon-uk quietly looked around at the nearby stores.

After walking around just one block, he immediately understood.

If they went down a little, the station-area alley began.

The center of the commercial district was completely concentrated over there.

“That’s a shame. This building had a good first impression, didn’t it?”

“That’s why you have to be more careful. Properties like this are usually easy to fall into traps with.”

Choi Yeon-uk once again admired his younger brother’s sharp eye.

But it was still too early for him to be surprised.

The next building they looked at was a small building.

From the outside, it was just an ordinary neighborhood commercial building, but there was one unusual thing about it.

“There is another redevelopment area nearby. They think there’s a high chance that this line will also be included in the redevelopment zone. So it doesn’t look bad as a property for long-term ownership.”

“Hmm…”

Choi Hyeok walked all the way around from the entrance of the alley to the back of the building.

He carefully looked at every little thing, including the location of streetlights, the width of the road, and even the height of the buildings across the street.

Then he calmly said,

“Hyung, I think this one is worth buying. But not right now.”

“Why? Shouldn’t we buy it before someone else takes it?”

“The expectation of redevelopment has already been reflected in the sale price. The current price is too inflated. After the district office makes an official announcement and before the actual construction schedule is set, there will be another price adjustment. Let’s watch for one chance when the bubble falls, and then we’ll enter.”

Choi Yeon-uk was genuinely impressed by his younger brother’s unusual insight into real estate.

“…Hey, were you always like this?”

“What kind of person was I?”

“A person born with a talent for making money. Come to think of it, you did have a little bit of that tendency even when you were young.”

Choi Hyeok shrugged.

“I just developed the ability because I had to make a living. Anyway, let’s stop here for today. Good work, Hyung.”

“Don’t just say good work. Buy me dinner at least. I’m starving.”

“Okay. Let’s have beef today.”

Just a moment ago, Choi Yeon-uk had looked completely exhausted, but the moment he heard “beef,” his expression instantly brightened.

Choi Hyeok began to think that perhaps the huge opportunity that had come to him through the coins was not simply a coincidence.

A few days later.

“Well, Representative. Now there is really only one thing left to do—celebrate.”

Daeseung Tax Accounting Firm’s conference room.

Accountant Kim Se-hoon handed over a thick file.

[Corporation Established: CH Investment]

[Representative: Choi Hyeok]

The moment Choi Hyeok saw his own name next to the word “Representative,” he took a short breath.

“I never thought I’d become a representative of a company in my life.”

Tax accountant Lee Ji-eun smiled beside him.

“We registered it as an asset management corporation, and as we discussed, the business purposes include real estate rental, financial investment, and equity investment. So you’ll be able to expand in whatever direction you want in the future.”

“Thank you for your hard work. It was completed quickly thanks to you.”

“We should do our best for you, Representative. Now, are you going straight to the office?”

Choi Hyeok nodded shortly.

“Yes. I’m supposed to meet my brother in front of the office by two. If I need anything else later, I’ll contact you.”

“Yes. Then, Representative, please get home safely!”

Tax accountant Lee Ji-eun deliberately emphasized the word “Representative.”

Right now, the title felt unfamiliar, as if it were clothes that did not belong to him yet.

‘I’ll probably get used to this someday.’

Choi Hyeok did not know when that day would come.

He drove toward the building where his office was located.

The owner of this building was also Choi Hyeok himself.

He had opened his own office in his own building, and he took the elevator to the top floor.

The moment the elevator doors opened—

“What is this?”

Along one side of the hallway, flower wreaths were lined up one after another.

[Congratulations on the establishment of CH Investment.]

[May you always be happy. We will support you!]

[We wish CH Investment endless growth and success.]

There was even a wreath from Choi Yeon-uk’s Rich & Happy, along with one from Daeseung Accounting Firm, which Choi Hyeok had visited earlier.

Among them, one wreath stood out the most.

[Studio Labellet]

[CEO Choi Yul]

“That guy Yul. When I asked him to send even one wreath because his older brother started a company, he kept making excuses, saying he was busy. Still, he did send one.”

Of course, when you thought about it, a flower wreath itself might not have an extremely deep meaning.

But from the receiver’s point of view, it was bound to feel important.

When he entered the office, flower pots, orchids, and small congratulatory gifts were piled up on the desks.

Choi Yeon-uk, who had arrived earlier, welcomed him.

“Our Representative Choi Hyeok, congratulations!”

The two newly hired employees stood up and greeted him.

“Congratulations, Representative!”

“Congratulations, senior! No, wait, you’re the Representative now.”

One of them was Na Jeong-bin, who had been officially hired as an experienced office administrator.

The other was Hwang Se-yong, a junior Choi Hyeok had known when he was attending university.

Before Choi Hyeok returned to the office, the two had been organizing everything, such as moving desks, installing computers, and arranging the orchids they had received as gifts.

Choi Yeon-uk asked Choi Hyeok,

“How does it feel to be the representative?”

“It feels strange.”

“Really? Your face looks extremely calm for someone saying that.”

“Maybe because I already heard ‘Representative’ so many times at Daeseung.”

Choi Yeon-uk chuckled.

“Now that you’ve become the company representative, how about we all have a company dinner today to celebrate?”

“I’m all for it!”

“Me too!”

All the employees agreed.

But the actual representative, Choi Hyeok, shook his head.

“Let’s do it tomorrow, not today.”

“Why? Do you have plans?”

“When I was looking around at buildings with you last time, there was one property that bothered me. I’m going to take another look at it today.”

Choi Yeon-uk put down the coffee he had been drinking and let out a small sigh.

“Our representative here is too fond of working. That’s a problem.”

Was he saying that because of the two newly hired employees?

They could only give awkward laughs.

Choi Hyeok looked over the building information he had received from the real estate agency he had newly decided to work with.

[Corner Commercial Building in D-dong, C-gu, Seoul]

[Stable Rental Income]

[Excellent Nearby Infrastructure, Very High Future Development Potential]

Judging only from the documents, it looked like a perfect hidden gem.

And yet—

‘Something is strange.’

Until recently, there had been very few inquiries from buyers, and the building had almost gone to auction before barely receiving a postponement.

“Looking at the conditions, people should have rushed to buy this.”

Choi Hyeok tilted his head as he looked over the documents inside the car.

“Why hasn’t anyone bought it?”

Jeong Dae-su, the manager of Haneul Garden Real Estate Agency, the company they had newly decided to work with, shook his head with an awkward expression.

“We find that strange too. The property itself is really good. The income is stable, and the location is good. That’s why we confidently recommended it to you, Representative…”

“You said it almost went to auction?”

“Yes. But at the last moment, the seller suddenly said they wanted to put it back on the regular market, so the auction was postponed. We thought it was strange too, so we looked into it ourselves…”

Manager Jeong Tae-su let out a sigh.

“We don’t know the reason. There aren’t any particular problems in the documents either. The registration, taxes, and rental agreements are all clean. So we don’t think the problem is with the property itself.”

When they arrived in front of the building, the first impression was definitely good.

It was located on a corner connected to a main road, so there seemed to be quite a lot of foot traffic.

There was a franchise bakery on the first floor, an academy on the second floor, a dermatology clinic on the third floor, and an office on the fourth floor.

Judging only from the signs, it was a completely ordinary urban commercial building.

Choi Yeon-uk, who had come along again today, also looked confused.

“Why isn’t this popular?”

Choi Hyeok pointed toward a nearby real estate office.

“Should we go over there and ask?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

They visited a place called ‘Haengun Real Estate Agency.’

As they entered, a middle-aged real estate agent wearing glasses stopped flipping through his newspaper and looked up.

“Welcome.”

“Hello, sir! You know that corner commercial building in C-dong?”

“Oh, that one?”

The agent’s expression changed very slightly.

His eyebrows rose a little, and the corners of his mouth stiffened awkwardly.

“…Why? Are you interested in that building?”

“The conditions are good, but strangely, there haven’t been any transactions. When we checked the documents on our side, there didn’t seem to be any special problems. Since you’ve been in this neighborhood for a long time, we thought you might know something.”

The agent hesitated for a moment.

Then he glanced once at the cup of water sitting inside the office and spoke in a quiet voice.

“No, well… Things like that don’t show up in the documents.”

“Is there some kind of reason?”

The air inside the office suddenly became strangely heavy.

The agent looked around once and then carefully leaned forward, as if he were afraid someone might hear him.

“There have been rumors for quite a while that a ghost appears there. That’s why no one wants to buy it.”

A reason that Choi Hyeok had never expected came out of nowhere.