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nJoonbum smiled as he drove towards Jinchul’s store as he remembered his conversation with Jinchul regarding the request.

n“You’re here.”

n“Hello!”

nJinchul was waiting with a cigarette in his mouth.

n“What’s with all the hurry?”

nJoonbum saw Jinchul’s frown and bowed.

n“Sorry about that.”

n“It’s in the corner. Don’t expect too much though. It was kept in storage and the stuff wasn’t taken care of due to slow business.”

n“Oh.”

nJoonbum gasped a little.

n“Bastards, canceling orders left and right. Not helpful to a business. I heard it was good for a while, but it’s hard to even keep it up nowadays. There are those weapons from Japanese anime stuff too. I heard there’s a set of full body armor from that one anime.”

n“Wow!”

nJoonbum closed in on a pile of weapons and armor as Jinchul explained things to him. Most were in bad condition – they were rusty and caked with dust.

n“Whoa!”

nJoonbum was amazed at the sight. Jinchul shook his head, not understanding the excitement Joonbum was showing. He did not mind it being in such bad shape.

n“You like that? It’s all junk. But it did cost me junk also.”

n“Junk? Did you buy these that cheap?”

nJinchul frowned at his question.

n“You think I’d pay more for these? Scrap metals are like garbage these days. Papers would cost more. These are easy to make nowadays. With just some lasers and grinders on hardened steel, you have a sword. Look at this. It will cost more money to make it shine again than to make a new one.”

nJinchul tapped on a rusty sword he picked up from a pile. Joonbum’s eye shined in response to such a sight.

n“Wow! That! Wow!”

n“Oh, you recognize this? This is that famous lich king’s sword from the game. I heard this was the most popular thing back in the day, so they brought in more. Of course, it didn’t last long enough, so too many were left. Most of these are like that.”

nIt was a sword from a once-popular computer game. There were times when gun shops or blade stores carried these animation-based replicas to keep up with the trends. But the trend faded away as the economy took a hit, forcing the stores to get rid of their old merchandise.

n“Green Dragon Crescent Blade… General Lee’s Sword… It’s full of rust but it still looks cool.”

n“Yeah, it kind of does. You know, a natural beauty perhaps? I think General Lee’s Sword is all about the writings on the blade. Look around and take what you-”

n“I’ll take all of it.”

n“What?”

n“I’m taking all of it.”

nJoonbum nodded, and Jinchul frowned once again.

n“All these? Some are too rusty. It’s better to throw it away.”

n“I have nothing better to do. It can give me some video time to work on it.”

nJinchul put a hand to his head as he realized the grinning Joonbum’s intentions.

n“Oh well, you seem to be shooting all day these days. Take it then.”

n“How much is it?”

n“Hmm. Five hundred thousand won should do.”

nIt was expensive considering that it was junk, but it was way cheaper than what Joonbum originally expected it to be. Joonbum was startled at the price and stared at Jinchul.

n“Only? Is that enough?”

n“Sure. It’s not worth crap. I don’t think it will get me more than maybe ten or twenty thousand at most. But I couldn’t pay that much when I bought it, you know. I knew the guy and I couldn’t just ignore his struggles. The price mostly includes my labor and shipping fee. I had to bring it up from Busan. It’s a hard world. Economy’s been so bad nowadays.”

nJinchul seemed to have mixed feelings. It was a proof that he wasn’t doing that well either. Joonbum thought his wrinkles had gotten deeper as he watched Jinchul light up a cigarette and take a long draw.

n“Hah, nevermind. Take this too.”

nHe pointed at a small wooden box.

n“What is it?”

n“It’s for maintenance. I heard you just need to slab it on to avoid rusting. Although you need to take the rust off first.”

n“Thank you.”

n“Let’s load it up then.”

n“Sure.”

nJoonbum could feel his hospitality.

nChapter 9.

nAhh, this guy is unleashing his anger on the environment!

nHe seemed shocked. But still, this is too much.

n-I think this is necessary. You need a clear view.

nA big tree was sawed off. Destroyer of the environment.

nHow much more is he going to cut off?

nHe’ll be maxed out on his lumberjack skill soon. A true lumberjack!

nCan you please do something else? For pig’s sake!

nHe’s cutting trees again?

nHey, there are some good views now. It was suffocating to see all the trees before.

nThat’s about 150 feet wide.

nHe’s good at pulling out tree trunks with the tractor now. Not like the amateur he was before.

nIs this pig building a village? Is that it?

nWHAT! Maybe he is. He must be building a village!

nA city simulation game now?

nWhat a wicked plan… scary…

nSuccess! You just created a frontier village!

nLet’s go! Build a town!

nJoonbum scrolled through all responses. After some scrolling, the more recent responses captured his attention.

nHey! Is that what I think it is? Is that the lich king sword?

nIs that the armor from that anime?

nThat’s from another anime…

nWhat’s up with all that medieval armor! Why the old stuff now after you took all the modern stuff?

nWhere’s the rifle? A vest? A construction worker helmet? Why armor?

nHe started building a village and now a weapon…

nIt’s as if he’s planning an invasion.

nHe’s cleaning those things.

nYeah, finally something fitting for the other world.

nMedieval stuff for a fantasy in the other world? Isn’t that a bit cliché?

nIt does fit though. But not a lich king’s sword! Too much frill.

nHEY! Don’t you dare touch General Lee’s Sword with your pig hands.

nGeneral Lee, please forgive him.

nBuilding Pig Kingdom now?

nThat’s cool! Make sure you leave some rust. It’ll look fake if it’s too shiny.

nYeah, make it show some age.

nThis is boring. I’m out.

nI’m out too. Boring as hell. Cutting trees, cleaning a sword…

nUse a grinder to make it more genuine and rough.

nGo out and conquer the world! Do something!

nNo! You’re dead if you go out. Just keep on digging.

nIs lettuce all grown yet? Let’s do an eating broadcast again.

nJoonbum wiped the sweat on his forehead and closed his laptop. Most of it was expected. There were some who claimed to have stopped watching the videos, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.

n“Time flies.”

nJoonbum took out a beer from the refrigerator. The icy cold beer flowed through his mouth.

n“Hah, it’s nice.”

nJoonbum took a break before he stood up and walked toward his working table to start cleaning the equipment he brought.

nThere were multiple types of items in Jinchul’s pile. Today’s pick was the chain mail.

nJoonbum used an iron claw to bring out the mail that was dipped in rust removal liquid, which dripped with red rusty water. It showed a bit of its original silver color as some of the dust and rust fell off.

n‘I should give it a rub first.’

nHe spread it out on the table and started scrubbing it with an iron brush. All the rust started to come off as he continued scrubbing. He dipped the armor again after the initial scrubbing and gave it another scrub. It was quickly going back to its original glory.

nJoonbum returned to his original self as he concentrated on working on it, just like when he first arrived in this world.

n“This should be enough.”

nJoonbum washed it off with clear water, which also dripped with rust, but it soon turned clear. He sprayed it for a while and placed it on a stake to dry it off. Then he picked up another one to work on.

nHe was soon loaded with cool-looking swords and armor ready to use.

nThe sound of Joonbum scrubbing, digging up rust, and using the grinder motor spread throughout otherwise quiet forest.

n“Finished! Aww, my back hurts.”

nJoonbum spoke as he put down the helmet, the last of the pile he brought here. He stood up while massaging his shoulder and waist.

n“It’s already past lunchtime! Time flies by too quickly here.”

nThe day went by so quickly. It was easy to miss a meal when he was concentrated.

n“I hope she’s doing well.”

nJoonbum turned to the place where Galfus used to sit, then shook his head as he moved away, chuckling. He picked up a basket on the work table.

n“It’s growing well.”

nThe lettuce he planted a month ago had fully grown to the final stage.

n‘I was told that it grows on its own, but it really does. I don’t think it’s because of the air. It’s probably always like this.’

nJoonbum took a fully-grown lettuce as he was thinking.

n‘The red pepper looks good too.’

nThe red pepper was still not ready for harvesting, but it was also growing well.

nJoonbum gathered some lettuce, washed it with water, and brought it to the gazebo where he started preparing lunch. He took out kimchi, anchovies, beans, and pollack roe from the fridge. He then opened an electric rice cooker, scooping fully cooked, hot steamed rice into a big pot. He brought it over and started eating. A spoonful of rice gave him the satisfaction he needed in his mouth, and then he added the green pepper dipped in bean paste.

n“Delicious.”

nHe wrapped the lettuce with bean paste and chewed on it, tasting its saltiness in full.

n“Ahh, nobody will know how good this is!”

nThe pollack roe was delicious also. It mixed with the white rice especially well. The anchovies gave him a great mixture of sweetness and saltiness that gave him a different taste too.

nThe pot was empty in no time.

n‘They will say that I eat like a slave.’

nHe grinned as he thought about the old Korean slaves who were known to eat enormous amounts of rice.

n‘Whatever. Is it because I worked hard?’

nThe food was just too delicious. It wasn’t anything special, but it was still best he ever had every time. He realized he was eating much more than before. He never ate this much even when he was nicknamed pig. There was only one reason.

n‘I did work hard.’

nHe worked night and day. There was a comment from one of his viewers that he had started building a village after the wolf left. The viewer was right. He concentrated on his work so he could forget about the emptiness that filled him after Galfus left.

n‘Not bad,’ he thought. His base camp was much safer as a result.

nJoonbum chewed on a green pepper with a spoon of white rice, then put a lettuce wrap not long after. He definitely was eating and working in enormous amounts.

n“Other world slave eating realized!”

nHe let out a loud burp after finishing the last spoon and started gulping down cold water.

n“But I’m losing weight.”

nHe looked at his belly. It wasn’t full of pig-like fat anymore.

n‘I lost a lot of weight.’

nJust when Joonbum was feeling his belly with his hand thinking about how much weight he had lost, something grabbed his attention.

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