Surviving Among the Anomalies - Chapter 13

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈

Chapter 13: Golden Omnipotence Corporation

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“Just kidding. Hahaha! I’m sorry, but since the Bloody Friday Incident, Golden Omnipotence Corporation has not conducted direct transactions involving Anomalies.”

“I see.”

I had expected it, but hearing it directly still left me disappointed.

“Still, what I said earlier was true. If we were still trading them, we would need that much gold for the transaction to go through.”

“Then is it also impossible to trade for information about Anomalies?”

“Ah! Information can be traded!”

I took the remaining gold bars from my bag.

“Oh! Wow! Oh! Wow! Ask me anything! I promise to carry out a fair transaction matching its value!”

“How much gold would I need to learn about the Bloody Friday Incident?”

“That is an exception as well. Company policy prohibits the disclosure of internal company affairs.”

There was no time to dwell on my disappointment, so I moved on to the next question.

“How much would it cost for information on banishing or destroying Symbiosis Grade, Danger Grade, or Destruction Grade Anomalies from this world?”

“It starts at 166,342,000,000,008,561 tons of gold, with each Anomaly requiring anywhere from one to ninety-seven times that amount.”

“Can I only use the gold I have with me right now? Or can I use gold that belongs to me elsewhere?”

“Golden Omnipotence Corporation can only trade with gold currently brought here by its owner.”

“Can I make a trade to summon gold that belongs to me from another location?”

“Yes, you can. The cost to summon one kilogram of gold is one kilogram of gold.”

I currently had four gold bars, sixty kilograms in total. If I used them all, today’s transactions would be over.

“Questions are free. Information exchange is essential for a transaction, after all.”

“Let me ask again. Can you tell me the location of a specific Anomaly?”

“Of course. I should warn you in advance that the amount of gold required differs for each Anomaly. Tell me which Anomaly you wish to find, and I will tell you the price.”

Lucky. I asked about several Anomalies I had wanted to find for a long time.

“The One Remaining Monkey’s Paw.”

“That will require thirteen tons of gold.”

“Entrance to the World Where No One Exists.”

“That will require 167 tons of gold.”

“Forgotten Alchemist’s Potion Belt.”

“That will require 16,780 tons of gold.”

I asked about the locations of many other Anomalies as well, but all of them required anywhere from dozens to tens of thousands of tons of gold.

“Mysterious Merchant.”

“That will require thirty kilograms of gold.”

“That’s cheap.”

“Mysterious Merchant always sends invitations to people likely to become valued customers. From what I can see, you’ll receive an invitation before long. That’s why the price is so low.”

That wasn’t part of the game or the wiki. Like the Anomalies I had seen so far, perhaps Mysterious Merchant had developed details I didn’t know about after becoming real.

“I’ll make the trade.”

Or perhaps it was simply one aspect of an Anomaly that the game and wiki could never fully capture.

“Thank you!”

Two gold bars vanished in the blink of an eye. At the same time, information about Mysterious Merchant’s location was imprinted in my mind.

‘It feels just like Notebook in My Head.’

The Suit moaned while clutching the gold bar from our first transaction and the two bars they had just taken, tucked under both arms and against their crotch.

“Oh, yeah! Oh! Wow! Woooow!”

“Sorry to interrupt your enjoyment, but how much is information about Dial TV for You?”

“That will also be thirty kilograms of gold. It would normally cost more, but this is a service for customers who make consecutive transactions.”

“Then I’ll make the trade.”

“Yes!”

The location of Dial TV for You was engraved into my mind.

“Oh, oh!”

The remaining two gold bars vanished into the Suit’s embrace as well. The gold bars pressed against their body melted like slime and soon formed a thick puddle on the floor.

“Gold! Wow! Golden sex!”

The Suit rolling around in it looked like a pig wallowing in a mud pit on a hot summer day.

“That was a good transaction.”

“I found it very satisfying as well.”

“Then I’ll be going.”

“Yes, I sincerely apologize that I cannot see you out. Another employee will guide you once you leave.”

I finished the transaction and stepped outside. Moans continued from behind me as I left.

“Oh! Wow! Golden shot! Golden multishot! Golden multiorgasm!”

The gains were substantial. It had been a very satisfying transaction.

‘I can trade here in the future.’

I had secured a place where I could legally become rich while trading for information about Anomalies.

‘Most Anomalies require far too much gold to trade for, but if I keep looking, there should be others I can afford.’

I should ask every time I came here.

“Customer, you have earned high marks for successfully completing your first transaction with Golden Omnipotence Corporation and for bringing gold of the finest quality. Please accept this business card.”

“Thank you.”

An employee handed me a business card on the way out. She was a woman, but like the Suit, her face was so ordinary that I would forget it the moment I left this place.

‘Her name is Suit too.’

The card contained only the spell needed to enter this place and the name Suit.

“There’s no location on it?”

“An annoying opponent has been repeatedly attacking our company recently, so we relocate regularly. Several security policies apply to all customers, so we ask for your understanding.”

According to the writing on the back of the business card, Golden Omnipotence Corporation could only be used once a month. Its location changed every time, and the new location would appear on the card.

“Please visit us again.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Once outside, I found myself on an ordinary street in Jongno 3-ga.

‘Let’s head back.’

I had things to do. As I drove down the road, I reviewed my plans.

“Hey! Are you driving with your eyes closed?!”

Should I retrieve Dial TV for You first? Or should I meet Mysterious Merchant first?

“What kind of lunatic are you?! Hey! You don’t have a license, do you?!”

No, it would be better to meet Mysterious Merchant after obtaining Safety Grade Anomalies or something unusual. Or maybe, as the Suit said, I should wait until an invitation arrived.

“You crazy psycho bastard! Don’t drive! Hey! Move your car! Stop!”

I should retrieve Dial TV for You first.

“The white sedan ahead, pull over to the side of the road. Pull over.”

Once I finished thinking, a police car called out to me. As expected, I pulled over and followed their instructions.

“First, we’ll do a breathalyzer test. Here, blow hard.”

I took the test, but naturally, the reading did not rise.

“...You weren’t driving drunk?”

“Sir, how did you get your license?”

“I passed the written test on my first try. I passed the driving test on my twelfth.”

“Where was that? We’ll need to investigate.”

That was how I ended up being taken to the police station.

“Twenty-seven instances of crossing the center line, eleven instances of driving on a highway shoulder or violating bus-only and high-occupancy vehicle lane rules, fifty speeding violations, thirty-seven violations of the no-passing rule, forty lane-use violations, 112 failures to maintain a safe distance, failure to drive safely...”

The officer investigating me and the officers beside them were left speechless.

“...All of this happened in a single day?”

“Sir.”

I had only bought the car recently.

“With a total of 1,860 penalty points, your license is revoked for three years.”

＊＊＊

I became someone who could not drive for three years.

“Payment received.”

Fines totaling several million won were an added bonus.

“Back to being a pedestrian.”

I returned home by public transportation and went down to the basement. I had agreed to trade with Shingu Hoerang on the first day of every month, so I checked the gold bars, went back upstairs, and got some proper rest to recover from the exhaustion of a hard day.

[The next stop is Suwon, Suwon Station.]

The next day, I immediately took the subway to Suwon.

“Where to?”

“Can you take me to Suggok-ri, Hwasong, Gyeonggi Province?”

“We can just put it into the GPS.”

After a few dozen minutes in a taxi, I arrived in an area that was faster to reach from Suwon than from Hwasong.

“We’re here.”

“Thank you.”

I had arrived in the countryside of Hwasong, Gyeonggi Province. It was my first time here, but as though a navigation system had been installed in my head, I instinctively knew where the item I was looking for was.

‘Here.’

It was an old-fashioned country house with its gate open, an unknown-breed dog tied up in the yard and wagging its tail, and an interior clearly visible through the raised wooden porch.

“Is anyone home?”

“Yes, I’m coming.”

When I knocked on the gate, an elderly woman who seemed to be the homeowner came outside.

“Hello. This is what I do.”

I handed her the fake business card I had prepared beforehand.

[Antique Collector Lee Seung-hoon]

“Ma’am, I passed by near this house a long time ago and saw that you had an old television.”

“Huh? When did you see it?”

“Well, it was so long ago that I don’t remember.”

“It’s been a long time since I replaced the TV.”

“Anyway, I’ve been collecting antique televisions lately, so I came because I wanted to buy that model.”

“Oh, perfect! It’s been taking up space in the storage room! Come on in!”

The transaction was easy. It was not quick, though.

“Young man, stay for a meal!”

“Haha, thank you. I’ll eat well.”

There were many stories online about hostility toward newcomers in rural towns and people there having awful personalities, but it all depended on the person. This grandmother was a good person.

“How is it? They’re meat patties I made last Chuseok and had left over. Do they suit your taste?”

“They’re delicious.”

“Oh my, it makes me so happy to see you eat so well. There are ribs and spicy beef soup too, so eat plenty.”

“By the way, why did you keep such an old television instead of throwing it away?”

I pointed to the old television she had given me beside the dining table. It was a very old antique set, the kind with round dials that controlled the channel and volume, which had become difficult to find these days.

“That? My late husband told me not to throw it away, so I put it in the storage room.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. My husband had a gift for spiritual matters when he was alive. He was so good at predicting bad things and good things that everyone said he was remarkable and should become a shaman, but he didn’t want to, so he never did.”

This grandmother’s cooking was incredible. I was already on my second bowl of rice, yet I still couldn’t get enough.

“That’s why I kept it, because it was something he said. What did he say again? He had dementia near the end, so he couldn’t speak properly. He just told me to keep it, so I did. But nothing came on even when I turned it on, and it was useless, so I put it in storage. I guess it broke.”

“That’s how antiques are.”

After finishing my meal, I gave the grandmother a thick stack of ten-thousand-won bills.

“Oh my! You’re giving me this much?”

“It’s a hard-to-find television.”

“Maybe what my husband said was right. He said it was something good.”

“Then I’ll get going.”

I took the television home. As soon as I returned, I placed it on the table and pressed the power button.

“It doesn’t turn on.”

I stared quietly at the dark television and recalled what I knew about it.

‘Dial TV for You.’

Its grade was Safety.

Its ability was to occasionally turn on when watched quietly and report good or bad events happening around its owner in the form of news.