WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Economics of an Alchemist ◈
Chapter 11
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An old container on the outskirts of Gimpo.
A low mechanical hum filled Jaeha’s workshop. The semi-automated production process for the Aegis Case had finally begun.
With his arms folded, Jaeha watched the process proudly.
A jelly case traveled along the conveyor belt and entered a blackout chamber. This was the heart of the operation, where the alchemy black box Jaeha had painstakingly made was concealed.
The thick barrier closed with a Click., completely sealing the interior.
Hiss, flash!
Carbon nano dispersion sprayed from a special nozzle like mist, and an intense light of a specific wavelength burst forth inside the sealed chamber.
Whoosh!
As soon as the process ended, a negative-pressure filter beneath the chamber instantly sucked up the remaining dust.
Before long, the barrier opened, and the case emerged from the chamber looking no different from when it had first gone onto the conveyor belt.
But Jaeha’s All-Seeing Eye could see it. A jelly case that had cost 1,000 won had been reborn as the sturdy shield known as the Aegis Case.
‘Worth every penny.’
The craftsmen at Guro Market whom Jaeha had hired had worn strange expressions when they saw the chamber’s darkroom structure, which prevented even a sliver of light from escaping, along with its power supply and shielding that were far too excessive for a UV curing machine.
But none of them pressed him with questions. Paying in cash had sealed their lips.
‘About one every minute.’
Jaeha stroked his rough stubble and calculated the output.
On a nine-to-six schedule, excluding breaks for meals, bathroom trips, and the like, he could produce around 450 Aegis Cases a day.
With the planned sale price set at 19,900 won, selling out a day’s production would bring in roughly 9 million won in revenue.
It looked like monthly revenue could top 200 million won.
‘Of course, that’s if everything goes well.’
Jaeha stopped the test run and gave a small laugh.
After more than half a year of R&D, he had finally brought the long process to an end and perfectly established a mass-production system.
Business registration, sales channels, product packaging, courier contracts, marketing, and more. There was a mountain of work to do before he could start selling in earnest.
Still, this was a time to celebrate.
‘Maybe I’ll grill some meat for the first time in a while.’
A steady winter rain was falling outside, and he suddenly craved pork belly. Jaeha took out his A-phone and left a message in the family group chat.
-[Kim Jaeha] Pork belly for dinner tonight.
A reply came less than ten seconds later.
-[Kim Jae-seong] Yesss! I’ll get everything set up and wait!
It was the youngest, lounging around at home during vacation.
Seo-yun had not replied by the time Jaeha finished tidying the workshop and grabbed his car keys.
He recalled his younger sister’s face, which had grown noticeably more worn lately. She seemed to be under considerable stress at work. She had barely been getting off on time these days, either.
Just as he started the car, thinking he might have to eat with Jaeseong alone, his phone vibrated.
-[Kim Seo-yun] Wow, pork belly! I don’t think I’ll have to work late today ^^
It was a message from Seo-yun.
Jaeha checked the time. Thinking of his younger sister struggling through the hellish subway commute home, he naturally turned the car toward her office.
* * *
Yeouido.
In front of an office building crowded with people leaving work, Seo-yun stood with an umbrella and an uncomfortable expression.
“Accountant Kim Seo-yun. It’s raining, so I’ll give you a ride close to home.”
“No, thank you. The subway station’s right there.”
“Come on, you’ll get soaked before you even reach the station. You worked hard today, too. How about we grab a beer before you go?”
Manager Kang clung to her persistently.
Seo-yun edged backward. Irritation surged through her, but she could not openly lose her temper at a superior from work.
Then it happened.
“Seo-yun.”
A familiar, low voice.
Seo-yun turned her head and saw an old SUV pulled over with its hazard lights on, and Jaeha standing beside it.
“Huh? Oppa!”
Seo-yun looked as though she had found a savior.
Manager Kang followed her gaze, their brow twitching as they saw the tall man.
Soon, a strange smirk spread across their lips. They had taken in the worn padded jacket, jeans, and junky SUV parked behind them.
“Your boyfriend?”
“No. He’s my actual older brother.”
“You have a good brother. Coming to pick up his little sister just because it’s raining.”
Manager Kang had a talent for making even kind words unpleasant. Their gaze and tone dripped with obvious contempt.
Feeling it, Seo-yun bit down on her lip.
“Then I’ll be going.”
She ran toward Jaeha without looking back.
“Oppa, let’s go.”
“Who’s that?”
“My boss at work.”
Jaeha gave Manager Kang, who was still staring at Seo-yun, a glance before climbing into the driver’s seat.
Vrooom!
The old SUV pulled away with the sound of its aging engine. For a while, only the Squeak, squeak of the wipers clearing rainwater filled the car.
Seo-yun looked out the window, biting her lip. She could not forget the unpleasant way Manager Kang had looked at her brother.
Guilt and shame twisted together inside her.
When the car stopped at a red light, Jaeha broke the heavy silence.
“You’ve looked like death lately. Does that guy have anything to do with it?”
“...Huh? No. It’s almost audit season, that’s all.”
The light turned green. As Jaeha pressed the accelerator, he spoke calmly.
“If someone is causing you stress over interpersonal matters rather than the work itself, you don’t need to suck up to them and bow your head just to keep them happy.”
Seo-yun’s eyes widened at his words.
“I put you and Jaeseong through school so you could live proudly without being looked down on, not so you could do emotional labor under garbage like that.”
“Oppa...”
There was not a trace of inferiority in his firm, dependable comfort. Seo-yun lowered her head, holding back the tears that threatened to spill over.
Her fatigue had been severe lately, and she soon fell asleep.
Naturally, Jaeha’s foot became more careful on the accelerator.
A little later.
“Kim Seo-yun, we’re here.”
“Mmm...”
Seo-yun woke and rubbed her eyes.
Jaeha had apparently gone grocery shopping while she slept. He was carrying meat and bags of ssam vegetables. Seeing the packaged meat, she asked in confusion.
“Weren’t we having pork belly?”
“The beef looked good.”
Jaeha smiled faintly and showed her the lavish marbling of top-grade 1++ Korean beef.
Beep beep beep.
When they opened the front door, newspapers had been spread wide across the floor, and a grill sat atop a portable gas burner.
“Oh! You’re back! Let’s see our dear pork belly’s face... Gasp! It’s beef! Korean beef, too!”
Jaeseong’s jaw dropped as he waited for them.
“Always so dramatic. Go wash the lettuce.”
“Yes, sir! Leave the preparations to me. Both of you, hurry up and wash up and change clothes.”
A little later.
Sizzle!
The red Korean beef on the grill cooked with a pleasant sound. The melt-in-your-mouth meat gradually lifted Seo-yun’s gloomy mood as well.
After they had eaten for a while and were reasonably full, Jaeha took a drink of cola and dropped a bombshell.
“I’m starting a business.”
The piece of meat Jaeseong had been bringing to his mouth fell to the floor with a Plop.
Seo-yun’s eyes also widened as she froze with meat still in her mouth.
“A business? You?”
Jaeha, who had drifted between construction sites and logistics centers, suddenly talking about starting a business was like a bolt from the blue.
“Cough, cough.”
Seo-yun hastily swallowed her meat, and her eyes sharpened like a hawk’s.
“Oppa, tell me more. Is it something like a franchise chicken place? Or don’t tell me someone talked you into investing by saying you’d make a fortune?”
Seo-yun’s voice was full of concern and suspicion. Because of her job, she saw failing companies and fraudulent books almost every day.
She was afraid that her brother, who had spent years moving from one day job to another and might be naive about the world, would waste his hard-earned money.
Jaeha opened his mouth calmly.
“No. It’s smartphone accessory manufacturing. People say the A-phone 4 shatters like sugar if you drop it, right? I’m going to make special coated cases that protect it.”
“Special coated cases? Is there even technology like that? No, even if there is, how can you use it? Oppa, you’ll be in serious trouble if you get caught stealing a patent.”
Faced with Seo-yun’s barrage of questions, he brought out the excuse he had prepared.
“I know that much, too. There’s an elderly professor I became close with after meeting them through a country house construction job. They lost their family in an accident and lived alone. I used to visit them now and then with drinks and snacks. They originally researched advanced materials at a university, and thankfully, they passed on a special nano-coating reinforcement technique they developed after retirement.”
It was a carefully constructed lie rooted in truth. He had explained Edwin’s knowledge by replacing it with the plausible figure of a retired professor.
“You received the technology? A special nano-coating reinforcement technique? Just hearing the name makes it sound like major corporations would be all over it.”
Jaeha nodded at Seo-yun’s sharp observation.
“There’s no way major corporations would have left it alone. Of course they wanted it.”
“Then why?”
“You know how their methods usually are. They tried to hand them a pittance, swallow up the patent, then subcontract everything out however they pleased. They only offended the professor. They must have bruised the pride of an elderly person who had spent a lifetime researching. How could a deal happen after that?”
Seo-yun asked with an expression of disbelief.
“Why would they give something so incredible to you for free? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“...They passed away recently.”
Seo-yun and Jaeseong’s expressions grew solemn at Jaeha’s words. Watching his younger siblings’ faces, Jaeha realized that he had quite a talent for acting.
“They lived alone after losing their family and had no attachment to the world. They knew that if they handed the technology to a major corporation, the company would only line its own pockets and trade patents, so they turned them all away because they could not be bothered.”
Jaeha took a sip of cola and continued his lie.
“I kept them company during the country house construction, and sometimes handled difficult errands for them. I guess they liked that. When I visited them in the hospital later, they gave it to me like a last wish right before they died.”
Seo-yun and Jaeseong listened without replying.
“They knew I was suffering and struggling to take care of you two. They told me to use this to turn my life around. They told me to work hard and live well.”
The living room grew solemn. For a moment, only the sizzling meat could be heard.
The suspicion in his younger siblings’ eyes was replaced by deep sympathy and emotion.
“Really... He sounds like a benefactor straight out of a movie. Maybe you were blessed because you’ve worked so hard and lived kindly all this time.”
“That’s right, Hyung. Tell me where the professor was laid to rest later. I’ll go pay my respects, too.”
Jaeha hesitated for a moment at Jaeseong’s words. Then he gave a slight nod.
“But, Oppa. I understand that you received the technology, but... is it really that special? Isn’t the smartphone case market already saturated? There are tons of cheap Chinese products, too.”
Seo-yun’s question was cautious.
As though he had been waiting for it, Jaeha took an A-phone 4 from the bag he had brought from the workshop. It was fitted with an Aegis Case.
“Ah! An A-phone 4! Hyung, when did you buy that?”
“It’s a dummy phone with a mainboard ruined by water damage.”
After briefly explaining it to the excited Jaeseong, Jaeha went to the living room balcony.
He opened the window with a Scrape. Damp winter air from the steady rain rushed into the living room. He glanced down at the outdoor parking lot.
The three siblings lived on the first floor of the apartment building, but the building stood on slightly elevated ground, so the distance to the asphalt below was roughly two to three meters.
Experimental data flashed through his mind.
Survival rate from a two-meter drop: 98%.
Survival rate from a three-meter drop: 70%.
The chance that the A-phone would endure was overwhelmingly higher than the chance that it would break.
Jaeha lightly pulled his arm back and hurled the phone hard into the rain.
Thud!
“Whoa!”
“Oppa! Why did you throw it outside?”
His two younger siblings were startled.
“Just wait a moment.”
With a calm expression, Jaeha put on slippers and went to retrieve the phone he had thrown.
After confirming that the phone which had slammed into the asphalt was perfectly fine, he returned home with a faint smile and showed it to his siblings.
“Wouldn’t you say that’s special enough?”
Seo-yun and Jaeseong’s eyes widened and their mouths parted slightly as they examined the A-phone 4, which was only a little wet.
A heavy silence fell.
The concern and suspicion the two had carried after Jaeha’s sudden announcement melted away in an instant.
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