ICTU 08

Chapter 08

I Got 30,000 Coins Through Secondhand Trading 

Chapter 3. Real Estate Ghost Story (3)

“Ghost……?”

Choi Yeon-uk asked the neighborhood real estate agent again, just to make sure he had heard correctly.

The agent made a “Shh!” sound and placed his index finger against his lips.

He looked extremely sensitive and cautious, as if he was afraid someone might hear them.

“People around here usually don’t talk much about seeing ghosts in that building.”

“Why?”

Choi Hyuk answered instead.

“They’re worried the property prices around here might fall too. So everyone keeps quiet about it.”

“Ah…… That makes sense.”

If you thought about it for a moment, it was a very simple matter.

The real estate agent nodded and coolly admitted that Choi Hyuk’s answer was correct.

Even so, there was a reason why he was telling Choi Hyuk and the others the truth.

“You’re all young men with plenty of life ahead of you. I don’t want you to buy some strange building and ruin your lives for no reason. That’s why I’m telling you in advance.”

This real estate agent was quite an honest person.

He could have earned a bigger commission if he managed to sell the property somehow.

But since he was telling them everything honestly and as it was, Choi Hyuk was actually grateful to him.

Perhaps because of that.

He became even more interested in the property.

“Could we take a look at the building?”

Choi Yeon-uk and Manager Jeong Dae-su were shocked.

“Look at it?”

“Are you serious, Representative?”

Choi Hyuk nodded again.

“Yes. We came all the way here. It would be a shame to just leave. And…….”

Choi Hyuk looked at the bright sun shining high in the sky and said,

“The ghost probably won’t appear during the day. If they want to come out at night…… they would need to sleep too. I mean, the ghosts would need to sleep too.”

“……”

“……”

Choi Yeon-uk and Manager Jeong Dae-su clearly did not want to go.

But Choi Hyuk was also a VIP customer to them.

Since he wanted to go, they had no choice but to follow him with heavy steps.

As soon as they entered the building, Choi Yeon-uk shivered.

“Wow, damn…… Maybe because they said this is a building where ghosts appear, but it really feels different as soon as you enter.”

“Y-Yeah. I agree. How should I put it…… The atmosphere is gloomy. You know how, in horror movies, there’s that scene where the characters first enter an abandoned house? It feels exactly like that.”

Choi Hyuk looked at the two of them with an absurd expression and asked,

“I already knew my brother was scared easily, so I’ll let that pass. But Manager Jeong Dae-su, are you also scared of this kind of thing?”

“N-No! I’m absolutely not…….”

At that moment.

Something suddenly jumped out from the side.

“AAAHHH-!!!”

The real estate agent, who had been leading the way with a flashlight, laughed heartily.

“It’s a rat. A rat. The building hasn’t been maintained, so sometimes a little mouse suddenly jumps out like that.”

“R-Really? Whew……!”

Although he denied being the type to get scared easily.

Considering how much he panicked after seeing just one little mouse, he seemed to be the same type as Choi Yeon-uk.

Choi Hyuk turned on his smartphone flashlight and looked around at the surroundings buried in darkness.

“But sir. Is there no electricity at all?”

“There is. But the building owner thought it was a waste to keep paying the electricity bill, so he shut off the power completely. He told me to turn it on only when customers came to look at the property. Ah, here it is.”

Click!

The sound of the switch being turned on rang out, and only then did the inside of the building become bright.

As soon as he checked the interior, Choi Hyuk let out an exclamation.

“For a building that hasn’t been maintained for a long time, it’s better than I expected.”

“Right? You can assume there are no problems with the building itself. It’s a very good Triple-A-grade property. The only problem is that nobody wants to buy it because of that rumor about ghosts.”

The first floor seemed to have been vacant for a long time, as it was completely empty without even a single piece of luggage.

The second and third floors were the same.

But the fourth floor was a little different.

“The door here is locked.”

“There was a businessman who ran a business here about one or two years ago. He recently came back once to clear out his things. I guess he locked the door out of habit before leaving.”

When Choi Yeon-uk asked what they should do, the real estate agent said they did not need to worry and took a master key out of his pocket.

Clank.

The heavy metal door opened from both sides.

As soon as he saw the inside, Manager Jeong Dae-su looked slightly pleased and said,

“By ‘ran a business,’ you mean it was a PC café?”

A PC café.

Coincidentally, it was a place that had some connection to Choi Hyuk.

The place where he had bought the hard drive that made him a trillion-won-level asset owner had also been a closed-down PC café.

Was it just a coincidence?

It looks similar to the place I saw back then.

Thinking that there might be something to it, Choi Hyuk asked the real estate agent,

“Sir. About that ghost that people supposedly saw often in this building. It wasn’t a female ghost or something like that, was it?”

When Choi Hyuk began asking specific questions about what the ghost looked like, Choi Yeon-uk and Manager Jeong Dae-su, who had been standing farther away, gradually moved closer to each other and anxiously looked around.

They were worried that perhaps Choi Hyuk had noticed something and was asking these questions because of it.

The real estate agent trailed off with, “Let me see……” and began searching his memory.

“I don’t remember it being a female ghost.”

“Then, perhaps.”

Choi Hyuk asked again, with a feeling that this could not be true.

“Is it a young man in his thirties wearing a hanbok and a traditional gat?”

“Oh, how did you know? Yes! That’s right! You know exactly what he looks like.”

At that moment, Choi Hyuk realized.

This was not some real estate ghost story.

This.

Was a good omen telling him where a gold vein was flowing.

As soon as they returned to the real estate agency, Choi Hyuk said to him,

“Let’s sign the contract, sir. Right now.”

Choi Yeon-uk and Manager Jeong Dae-su were shocked once again.

“Seriously? Y-You’re going to buy that…… that building where ghosts appear? Huh?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to think about this again, Representative Choi? We just saw it. It feels far too ominous.”

Despite their attempts to stop him, Choi Hyuk shook his head and did not change his mind.

“No. I absolutely have to buy it.”

He looked as if he had gained some kind of certainty, but Choi Hyuk never told them why he had made this decision.

The real estate agent was also a little bewildered by Choi Hyuk’s attitude.

But since the customer strongly wanted to buy it, there was no reason for him to refuse now.

He also had to consider the current owner of the building.

If you thought about it, there was nothing bad for the agent.

A property that could not sell and was filled with frightening rumors had finally found someone willing to buy it at a reasonable price.

It was an absolute win for the agent.

“But sir. I have one condition.”

Just before signing the contract, Choi Hyuk made a request to the real estate agent.

“Are there any other properties with rumors about a young male ghost wearing a gat?”

“Come to think of it…… I think there are about two more places. They aren’t buildings I manage myself. But the neighborhood real estate agents have regular drinking gatherings where we meet and talk. I remember hearing about them there.”

“Then show me those buildings too.”

“You’re planning to buy those as well?”

Choi Hyuk smiled and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Well, this is something. You’re quite a bold customer. When rumors like that spread, most people give up on buying the property and run away.”

“You can reach a higher peak when you do things other people don’t see and things other people don’t do.”

Manager Jeong Dae-su quietly whispered to Choi Yeon-uk.

“I guess you need that level of guts to become rich with coins.”

“I suppose so.”

Choi Yeon-uk had known Choi Hyuk since he was young.

But the more he looked at his younger brother, who had returned as a completely different person, the more amazed he became every time.

Less than ten days had passed since Choi Hyuk decided to purchase the building and signed the contract.

He was sitting in his own private office inside the office space prepared for him at CH Investment.

He stretched his arms out.

Although he had started his own company,

“There’s nothing to do.”

Fund management, tax management, investment in real estate properties, and so on were all being handled separately by Rich & Happy, Daeseung Accounting Firm, Haneul Garden Real Estate Corporation, and others.

There was not much for Choi Hyuk to do himself.

All he could really do was check how much the coin price had gone up or down that day.

Just as he was yawning lazily,

Knock, knock.

Along with the sound of knocking, Na Jeong-bin slightly opened the door and reported to him.

“Representative. I got a call from Manager Jeong Dae-su. He said he kept calling your number, but you didn’t answer. He asked if you had left your office.”

“Ah, sorry. I had my phone on silent. I’ll call him, so go take care of your work.”

“Yes, understood.”

It was good timing.

He had been getting bored anyway.

When Choi Hyuk called Manager Jeong Dae-su, the manager spoke in an extremely excited voice and delivered some good news.

—Representative! Don’t be surprised and listen! You know that property we talked about recently, the one where they said a ghost appeared? Apparently, inquiries are flooding in from businesses that want to open stores there! And there’s even some good news that a subway station might be built nearby. This is a complete jackpot!

Choi Hyuk chuckled and said,

“Didn’t I tell you?”

It was not a ghost incident.

It was a good omen that would help Choi Hyuk make even more money.

After ending the short call, Choi Hyuk sank into his chair and smiled.

“Real estate investment is easy.”

Once again today, his assets had increased.