Chapter 5.1

Chapter 5.1

For a moment, Ara wondered if she had misheard him.

“My wish was… not one billion, but ten billion, though?”

“Yes, I know. I’ll give you ten billion.”

What kind of nonsense was this? He knew her wish was for ten billion, and he was going to give it to her, yet he had transferred one billion?

Ara looked at Seok-kyung with a face that clearly showed her confusion.

Seok-kyung met her eyes directly. Then, he slowly curled his neat lips.

Very slowly, as if savoring some supreme pleasure.

“Who said I’d give it all at once?”

It took less than a second for the angelic smile to turn into a devilish sneer.

“What kind of crap…?”

“Crap?”

“No, what I mean is, naturally, of course, I thought you’d give it all at once! Who receives a wish in installments?”

Ara unknowingly raised her voice.

Such a thing didn’t exist anywhere in the world. In all the fairy tales she had read since childhood, in dramas, movies, and novels, she had never heard of a goblin granting wishes in installments. It was only natural. What kind of petty, miserly goblin would do that?

“Look, Na Ara.”

Seok-kyung called her name as he took a step closer.

“In my four hundred years of life, I’ve realized there are only two kinds of humans in this world.”

At that moment, the moon, which had been half-hidden by clouds, emerged. The almost full moon scattered bright moonlight everywhere as if it had been waiting for this moment.

“Those who can handle my favor,”

Ara squinted at the moonlight that fell over her.

“And those who cannot.”

She blinked once, and in that moment, Seok-kyung had moved to stand within arm’s reach.

“For the latter, my favor becomes not a blessing but a curse. A misfortune that thoroughly ruins their lives.”

The moonlight poured down, crashing against Seok-kyung’s back and shattering.

The backlight was so intense that Ara couldn’t see his face as he spoke those words.

“One of the goblin rules states that <You must not harm a human>.”

Seok-kyung’s low voice continued to echo through the yard. Ara took a slow step back.

“I can’t hurt you without knowing which kind of human you are, can I?”

Another step back.

Only then did Seok-kyung’s face become as clear as before. The moment their eyes met again, Ara unconsciously clenched her empty fists.

Why was that?

Even though his words were clearly mocking and threatening her, his eyes seemed to hold no intention of causing her harm.

“So, what now?”

“Humans need to experience at least one season, don’t they?”

Seok-kyung held up three fingers this time.

“Three months. After observing you for three months, if I’m convinced you can handle my favor, I’ll give you the rest.”

He said he would observe, but it was clear he intended to torment her. He planned to toy with her for three months, dragging out her agony, and only when he was tired of his games would he grant her wish properly.

No matter how she looked at it, it was the height of pettiness. It felt incredibly unfair. She wondered if it was because she had won too much in the card game earlier.

But what could she do? As dirty and unfair as it was, Seok-kyung’s favor was her only lifeline.

There might be no goblin in the world that grants wishes in installments, but there certainly wasn’t anyone else who would hand her a fortune of ten billion won within three months either.

“What about interest?”

If she had to endure this, she might as well extract as much as she could.

Ara made up her mind and steadied herself.

“Mr. Kim Seok-kyung, do you know how scary loan sharks can be? Even if you’re just one day late, the interest piles up like a mountain.”

“But your wish was…”

“I’ll take the rest in three months, but you’ll include three months’ worth of interest.”

Ara cut off Seok-kyung’s protest before he could finish. She didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt. After all, Seok-kyung hadn’t paid any attention to her protests earlier.

“Deal?”

Seok-kyung didn’t answer immediately. He just stared at her with a displeased expression.

“Oh, come on. You said that with your goblin bat, you could whip up even a hundred billion or a trillion in an instant. What’s with the hesitation over such a small amount?”

Ara stomped her feet in frustration. Seok-kyung clicked his tongue as if he were looking at a daughter throwing a tantrum in a toy store.

“Do as you please. What’s a bit of pocket change anyway?”

His bravado to the end.

Ara wrinkled her nose, “Then I’ll be counting on you for the time being.”