chapter_0633

633 – Speaker

633 – Speaker

Starting with Gaeul’s bargaining, we each took turns negotiating.

Levinas and Haneul tied with Gaeul at two hundred won.

Saebyeok and Bom each bargained for three hundred won.

Of course, the value of the items we purchased was different, but that didn’t matter to us.

“Everyone bought their items cheaply…!”

“Yeah! Levinas saved two hundred won!”

Even though they only saved a few hundred won, the kids were as happy as if they had cleared a difficult dungeon.

I was glad to give the kids a new experience.

“Next is Gyeoul’s turn!”

“Wait! It’s Wang’s turn!”

“Me, me…?”

I couldn’t help but feel flustered by the kids’ encouragement.

While I was giving the kids the experience of bargaining, I had never actually bargained for anything myself.

Thinking about bargaining made me a bit scared…

‘It wouldn’t be right for me to be the only one not participating…’

Well, buying something cheaply isn’t that hard.

With newfound confidence, I moved towards a nearby seafood shop.

The shop was selling delicious mackerel for ten thousand won each.

“Um, excuse me…”

“Huh?”

When I made eye contact with the shop owner, I instinctively took a step back.

I realized too late that bargaining was harder than I thought.

Why was I trembling over something like this?

My heart pounding, I approached the shop lady again.

“Could I have two mackerels, please?”

“Oh, two mackerels. You’re so cute, I’ll give you the plump ones specially.”

“Thank you… but, um…”

“Huh?”

“Oh, never mind. Thank you for the delicious mackerel…”

As I nodded my head, my tail drooped in disappointment.

The kids had done it easily, so why was it so hard for me?

I felt embarrassed for not being able to show a good side to the kids.

“………”

I could feel the kids’ gazes on me from behind.

I knew they wouldn’t be disappointed over something like this, but I couldn’t even turn around out of embarrassment.

I thought I had become much braver lately.

But maybe I still wasn’t ready for this.

As I let out a long sigh inwardly, Sophia slowly approached me, leaning on her cane.

“Shopkeeper, could you give us a thousand won off for two mackerels?”

“Sure, sure.”

The shop lady waved her hand, indicating she understood.

I guess selling it for a thousand won less is still a profitable deal.

No, more than that, it’s impressive that our Sophia managed to get a thousand won off.

Just then, I looked at Sophia in surprise.

“Wow! Wang got a thousand won off!”

“That’s amazing…!”

The kids clapped for me.

Gaeul seemed proud of me, puffing out her chest with a cough.

“Guys, this is…”

I was about to say that it wasn’t my doing.

But Sophia gently pressed her hand over my mouth as if to gesture for me to be quiet.

“You’re right, Gyeoul.”

“My words?”

“Yeah, didn’t you say that if two people ask, the chance of getting a better deal is higher?”

I had never said such a thing.

But I knew very well why Sophia was going this far for me.

Was she trying to take care of me?

As expected, our Sophia is the best.

I smiled and wagged my tail.

The market outing with everyone was truly the best.

**

After finishing our market outing, we returned home.

While pondering what to do next, we decided to play games at Kwon Arin’s house.

Knock, knock, knock—

I knocked on Kwon Arin’s door, but there was no response from inside.

She had said she wouldn’t go to the dungeon today, so maybe she had gone out for some personal errand.

Just as I was about to leave in disappointment,

Ding—

The elevator doors opened, and Kwon Arin appeared.

She was holding a large box in her hands.

“Huh? What are you doing in front of my house?”

“We want to play games. But what’s that?”

I approached Kwon Arin with the kids.

Levinas, sniffing around the box, raised his hand excitedly.

“Correct! It’s the box for the King of Darkness!”

“Wrong.”

“What?! Then what is it?!”

“This is a speaker.”

“A speaker?!”

If it’s a speaker worth bragging about, it must be really good.

Does that mean it will make the game feel more realistic?

As someone with good hearing, I was genuinely excited.

“Is it an amazing speaker?”

“Yeah. It just came out, and it’s super expensive. When you play a war game, it’ll sound just like a real war!”

“Wow.”

I couldn’t wait to get home and experience the sound of the high-end speaker.

I found myself tapping my feet unconsciously.

Now I understood why the kids sometimes bounced around.

“Shall we go in?”

“Yes!”

We stepped through the door that Kwon Arin opened.

Just seeing the huge speaker being set up made me feel excited.

“Okay, the game is…”

Kwon Arin, having set up the speaker, started the game.

It was a simple rhythm game to check the sound quality.

Thump-thump—

The cheerful music typical of rhythm games flowed through the air.

As I swayed my shoulders to the music, I couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

‘What is this?’

It didn’t seem much different from the speaker I used before.

No, I should say it was exactly the same?

I was sure of it since I focused on the sound, even channeling my Mana into my ears.

“How’s the sound? Good, right?”

“Uh… um…”

How should I respond to this?

Flustered, I looked back at the kids.

I noticed that all the kids except Saebyeok were looking confused.

Gaeul even tilted her head in confusion.

‘Did the kids not notice much difference either?’

Noticing our strange behavior, Kwon Arin began to look flustered.

It was understandable that everyone acting this way would be odd.

“What’s wrong? Is the sound not good?”

“No, it’s not that it’s bad, but it’s almost the same as the one we used before.”

“Same?”

“Yeah. I don’t know much about speakers, but I guess there are slight changes based on the shape, but the basic sound is the same…”

“Really? What? This one’s supposed to be more expensive…”

Kwon Arin pressed her ear against the speaker.

She seemed to be checking the sound quality, alternating between the two speakers.

“Um… I feel like they’re about the same…”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. But if it weren’t for Gyeoul, I would have thought it was just my ears. Actually, this speaker was bought because your ears are good.”

“Oh…”

“But I can hear small sounds well too, but I can’t distinguish the sound quality.”

“I guess the two have different capabilities.”

We talked about the speakers in various ways.

We even discussed the possibility that one might be defective.

“I’ll take care of this, so shall we just enjoy the game for now?”

“Yes, sounds good!”

**

After a fun gaming session, Kwon Arin walked the kids home.

Since we just had to take the elevator, it didn’t take long.

“Ha.”

Once home, Kwon Arin sighed as she looked at the now troublesome speaker.

She had paid a lot for it, but it turned out to be almost the same as the previous one.

Of course, the previous speaker was expensive too, but still, the price difference was significant…

Kwon Arin didn’t want to believe it, but she had no choice but to accept it.

After all, it was said by Gyeoul, who had the best hearing in the world, or perhaps in the history of the Earth.

Feeling sulky, Kwon Arin left a post on her broadcasting community.

[XL-20 Speaker Review]

[Totally sucks. I feel like I got scammed.]

A short internet post filled with complaints.

As Kwon Arin was a famous broadcaster, comments started pouring in quickly.

[Isn’t the XL-20 a speaker worth ten million won?]

[└That’s right]

[If a ten million won speaker is bad, how bad are Kwon Arin’s ears?]

[└But she’s still a decent adventurer, right?]

[This is about Arin… um…]

[Lol, but usually, the sound quality of speakers has very subtle differences.]

Most of the comments were criticizing Kwon Arin’s hearing.

Is this how it goes?

Kwon Arin added a detail she hadn’t planned to include in her post.

[Gyeoul said there’s a slight change based on the shape of the speaker, but the fundamental sound is exactly the same as the previous one.]

It was common knowledge among those who knew that Gyeoul’s hearing was beyond exceptional, bordering on supernatural.

Especially for those who watched Kwon Arin’s broadcasts, it was impossible not to know.

[Did Gyeoul really say that?]

[If Gyeoul said it, then it must be true.]

[How can it be the same when the price difference is tenfold?]

As soon as Gyeoul’s name was mentioned, people began to believe Kwon Arin’s words.

The claim that a ten million won speaker was no different from a one million won speaker was quite striking, and it sparked controversy that spread to other communities.

One of those communities dealt with audio equipment.

[Actually, I felt there wasn’t much difference either.]

[└If you can’t feel the difference, your ears are at a level of being non-existent.]

[I also tried listening in the store, but I couldn’t tell the difference.]

[Isn’t that friend Gyeoul’s hearing not that good? I felt a difference.]

[└Are your ears that good? The sound was really good, though?]

[I couldn’t feel much difference like Kwon Arin.]

[└Me neither…]

The controversy divided people into two factions.

Those who claimed the sound was good and those who said there was no difference argued with each other, and a brave person appeared in the community.

Someone who had disassembled the ten million won speaker showed up.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today!

Thanks for the comment recommendations too! They always motivate me!

I feel like I only notice the reverse experience with earphones or headsets…!

When I switch, I don’t realize it, but when I go for something cheaper, I end up going “Eek…!”

───

Thank you for the 10 coin support, AABABBA!