Can't Control Be Bought With Money? 16 - Hyacinth in Bloom

Chapter 16

After a while, Capitalism came running back, made a trade with Girmu, and left coolly.

[General] Capitalism: cool thx

[General] Girmu: Thank you haha

As Capitalism was leaving, he sent a whisper to SaltySalt.

[Whisper/WangBamBbangWangBbang] Capitalism: Actually I was going to report your location and collect the bounty

[Whisper/Capitalism] WangBamBbangWangBbang: Awww ㅠㅠ How could you do that without even giving me a broker’s fee???

[Whisper/WangBamBbangWangBbang] Capitalism: …since you just introduced me to a big spender, I’ll let it slide lol cya

Just how much did this person buy? SaltySalt felt dazed. If Capitalism was calling someone a big spender, they were likely one of the influential rankers on the server, but this newbie already?

[Party] Girmu: SaltySalt

[Party] WangBamBbangWangBbang: Yes??ㅇㅅㅇ

[Party] Girmu: You have to stay and watch me enhance today haha

SaltySalt felt somewhat disgruntled. They’d already finished their tasks, and while watching someone else enhance was supposedly fun, but why?

[Party] Girmu: And do you use voice chat, by any chance?

[Party] WangBamBbangWangBbang: Yes…?

What, was he trying to prove he wasn’t a net-catfish? If that was the case, he could just use a voice modulator program to cover it up, and he surely knew that.

SaltySalt felt both suspicious and uncomfortable but added Girmu as a voice chat friend. And when the call connected…

—Ah, can you hear me?

“Huh?”

—Seems like you can hear me. Hello.

A pure, clean voice that showed not even 1mg of intention to hide his gender hit SaltySalt’s ears.

“Are you… Girmu?”

—Yes. Haha… I do this quite often with Sinu, so I thought it would be fine, but it’s still a bit awkward with someone else.

He even said he’d already done voice chat with Sinu. Whether or not he knew SaltySalt was stunned into speechlessness, Girmu continued in his rather pleasant voice.

—I’m worried I might make mistakes while typing during enhancement. If I don’t respond, it would be boring for you to just watch.

—And I also have something to say about the misunderstanding from earlier. First, don’t you think you have something to say to me?

“M-me?”

Hearing the obvious confusion in their voice, Girmu laughed briefly.

How can a person’s laughter sound so ticklish? SaltySalt became even more flustered. Just as they were thinking it had been a while since they’d been this flustered, Girmu fully utilized his major that surely made him skilled in verbal communication and brought out a verbal whip.

—Yes. You misunderstood on your own and said unpleasant things, didn’t you? Actually, I didn’t think I needed to clear up your misunderstanding… but I don’t want to leave a bad impression on Sinu’s acquaintance.

SaltySalt realized that the situation was going in a completely different direction than they had expected. The one who should have been floundering should have been Girmu, not them…?

He had seemed surprisingly sharp and good at reading weak points since earlier, and now Girmu was actually pressuring them with a soft tone but firm resolve.

—No matter how I think about it, I don’t believe my behavior gave any room for misunderstanding. Still, if there was something in what you said that bothered me, it would be that… I was deliberately acting like a newbie and wandering around to get Sinu’s attention…

Bang! After a cheerful sound effect, Girmu continued.

—I know Sinu helps me a lot and is considerate whenever I struggle, but I feel both grateful and sorry for that kind of help.

As soon as he paused, there was a cracking sound… that seemed to pierce even the listener’s heart, stabbing into SaltySalt’s chest.

However, it seemed only SaltySalt felt the momentary pain of becoming one with the weapon. Bang! Girmu pushed forward with another enhancement attempt, seemingly oblivious to his character floundering in frustration.

—I’m the one who wants my skills to improve as quickly as possible, so it makes me both upset and embarrassed that you saw it that way…

Crack… As Girmu calmly continued speaking, the next enhancement attempt also failed.

—If my skill level caused a misunderstanding, then it’s not a matter of behavior but a matter of hands, isn’t it? Right?

The voice that had seemed gentle until just moments ago now sounded dejected.

Was it because of the continued enhancement failures? Or because his skill level had created an unintended misunderstanding? Either way, SaltySalt somehow felt like they should be the one apologizing for everything.

Just listening to Girmu’s dispirited voice like this kept giving SaltySalt the illusion that they were committing a terrible act.

—Even when I made mistakes, I tried to do better, I never intended to just ride on Sinu’s coattails. I’d really like you to know that.

Girmu, who continued diligently hammering at the anvil even while speaking, somehow looked gloomy. It almost seemed like animal ears or a tail that weren’t even there were drooping… Wait, was this a hallucination?

“I… I think I did misunderstand.”

—Yes, and?

And? While SaltySalt was blankly thinking, Girmu’s weapon was once again engulfed in gray. That weapon never breaks but keeps looking like that. It was definitely a cursed item that just drained money.

The observer was starting to think they should stop this, but Girmu continued pouring gold and enhancement stones without concern. And that wasn’t a good thing for SaltySalt.

Crack!

“You, you failed again…”

This was because Girmu kept enhancing in a way that made everyone watching feel sorry for him, with SaltySalt sitting right there.

—Seems so. But more importantly, about that misunderstanding you mentioned.

Enhancement wasn’t the only thing. He even alternated between a kind voice and harsh content like a carrot and stick. SaltySalt, half in a daze, replied with “yes, yes” to Girmu’s words while their eyes followed the trajectory of his swinging hammer.

“Another, another failure…?”

—It’s not going well. Don’t worry about this.

How on earth am I supposed to not worry about it! SaltySalt deeply regretted every time Girmu became frustrated with an enhancement failure. Why did I agree to stay until the enhancement was finished?

Bang! Crack!

—So is that all you have to say to me from earlier?

“Huh? No, that’s…”

During that brief moment of speechlessness, another failure! SaltySalt was on the verge of becoming disoriented from the visual and auditory shocks. If there was a problem, it might be that his nice voice made it feel like being hit with a carrot.

But an even more serious problem was that the voice was pitiful enough to stab at a human conscience they didn’t even know they had. A guilt they’d never experienced before was gradually weighing down on SaltySalt.

Not knowing that this was Girmu’s chosen method to extract an apology from SaltySalt’s mouth, they finally burst into tears.

[Party] WangBamBbangWangBbang: It’s all my fault waaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[Party] WangBamBbangWangBbang: Throw away that cursed item right nowwwww How long are you going to keep enhancinggggggg

Girmu’s enhancement continued until SaltySalt admitted their own fault, begged while crying, returned to their main character, and wrote a reflection. And when everything was finished, Girmu was finally holding a +15 weapon.

It was brutal. They had never seen such a brutal person in their life. SaltySalt maintained a kneeling motion in front of Girmu, completely dumbfounded.

—Wow, it’s +15.

Both the weapon that didn’t break and just kept going back and forth between +10 and +14 was brutal, and so was its owner. The fact that he could finally grab the weapon by the collar, raise it to +15, and then laugh saying it’s done. Meanwhile, having witnessed the process, SaltySalt felt like they were going insane.

If it had been them, they would have rage-quit long ago, saying they were done with this trash game. SaltySalt now saw Girmu as an alien. They were in awe of his incredible mental strength and wallet.

But then what kind of heinously cruel person had they been to make someone like that dejected! SaltySalt was now choked up for a different reason.

“I’ll just… absolutely obey you, hyung-nim.”

—What? Haha, you don’t have to go that far.

“No. I feel like I should… Just think of me as your lackey and use me.”

SaltySalt threw away even the concept-driven speech pattern they had maintained all this time and admitted it. One shouldn’t even think about winning against someone like this.

Moreover, despite the long enhancement session, Girmu didn’t even seem tired as he disappeared shortly after, saying he urgently needed to practice a dungeon. SaltySalt, who had expended more mental energy than Girmu, wanted to log out right then and there.

## Chapter 6: What’s So Great About Fame

Shin Wooseok, who had hurriedly arrived at the PC bang and logged into <SOG>, was in the middle of hearing about what had happened from Girmu through voice chat.

—SaltySalt seems a bit cute.

“…Them?”

—They were almost crying at the end. They must be quite soft-hearted.

Girmu laughed while saying something ridiculous. There wasn’t a hint of shadow in his voice despite having experienced SaltySalt’s toxic personality. Shin Wooseok couldn’t decide whether he should be relieved or try to change that perception even now.

For now, SaltySalt is definitely not cute, and it’s just that Girmu is generous. And since one can’t blame a generous person, he should blame SaltySalt. As Shin Wooseok continued this line of thought, he soon became angry.

That bastard, what did they do to Girmu?

—And it was my request, but they stayed until the enhancement was finished.

—They could have run away without listening to the end, but they didn’t.

To Shin Wooseok, Girmu’s story sounded a bit different.

So that SaltySalt just watched as Girmu enhanced his weapon all the way to +15?

The list of grievances grew longer. Shin Wooseok opened his friends list and glared at SaltySalt’s nickname, which showed as offline.

There was a guild raid scheduled later, so SaltySalt’s login was inevitable. He would deal with them then.