Only five people had been killed in the eighth wave. There were a reduced number of casualties not only because Seon-Hu had joined the villagers after blocking more than four access roads in advance, but also because people had become more familiar with fighting. A small memorial service was held after they cleaned up the monster corpses and distributed mana stones. Then, stalls were set up on the street.
Stalls not only served commercial purposes, but also served as a window to relieve tension, grief, and stress. Since people had lived in capitalistic societies in the real world, they skillfully utilized the system that Seon-Hu had installed. Even people who sang country songs without any accompaniment could earn mana stones if their singing was decent. Also, they could gain a big profit if they were skilled at card games. In particular, those who quickly read the market value of supplies constantly did the legwork and filled their backpacks with mana stones.
Joo Pan-Seok was one of them. He was also a member of the commission of self-government and had one concern. That worry grew when people became aware that he was the second richest in the village after Odin. In fact, thieves had actually broken into his house last night. Fortunately, he had hired security personnel in advance by paying them mana stones. Without them, his entire house would have been robbed. After thinking through the incident again, Joo Pan-Seok changed his mind on what to do next.
“We should organize the police or hire more people,” Seong-Il commented. The two men were on the boundary of the side where the largest puddle had been found. Pan-Seok had approached Seong-Il while he was waiting for the people he had sent to the puddle.
“If you are about to ask Odin to catch the thief…” Seong-Il began in a cautionary tone.
Pan-Seok shook his head and interrupted, “Do you think I’m that fool?”
Seong-Il asked, “Then what?”
Pan-Seok looked slightly depressed as he explained, “I am saying this because I thought you would understand. Sigh. I cannot trust anyone. Hiring more people will only cause more trouble as the hardest thing in this world is dealing with the whims and selfish desires of people. I will end up spending a lot of money, but I still won’t be able to sleep well.”
Seong-Il shrugged and rolled his eyes. “So, what are you trying to say? Be direct and hurry up!”
Pan-Seok told the other man the truth about what had happened so far. He said that people, especially those who had fought on the frontline, had begun to eye him with knowing looks lately.
In the meantime, Seong-Il quickly looked at Pan-Seok from head to toe, taking note of how armed the other man was. His eight insignias, which were on his chest, were easy to spot, but Pan-Seok wasn’t as armed to the extent that the rumors circulating around had claimed. Seong-Il then glanced at the large backpack that had been on the other man’s back this time. It was likely full of items and mana stones.
“Isn’t that heavy?” he remarked.
Pan-Seok grimaced. “That’s why I came here. Could you keep my money?”
Seong-Il raised an eyebrow. “Why would I do that?”
The other man begged, “I will pay you lots of storage fees. I just want to get some sleep. I’m dying, man.”
Of course, Pan-Seok had actually wanted to entrust his mana stones to Seon-Hu, but since he couldn’t talk to him, he came to see his second best option. Seong-Il was the strongest man in the group after Seon-Hu, and he was staying in the same building as the younger man, which made this the safest place in the world.
Seong-Il snorted. “What if I die in the next wave? Are you going to talk to Odin, then? Leave him alone.”
Pan-Seok shook his head. “No, I’ll have to take that risk.”
Then, the people who Seong-Il had sent to the boundary appeared with packages full of food and water.
He waved a hand at Pan-Seok. “I will talk to you later.”
***
“What was the point of rejecting his offer? He’s not asking you to pay interest.”
Seon-Hu laughed as if it was funny.
“Then, should I keep them?” Seong-Il asked.
Seon-Hu shrugged. “You don’t need to ask me that.”
Seong-Il complained, “But isn’t his thought process obvious? He is just trying to win your favor.”
“Well, he did say, without you forcing him to, that he’d risk leaving his stuff with you.”
The other man frowned. “So?”
Seon-Hu chuckled. “Me leaving you is one of those risks.”
Seong-Il protested, “Stop making me sad.”
Seon-Hu continued, “If you are going to do it, then collaborate with Soo-Ah. The village is small, so the news will circulate quickly. Others will also try to entrust you with their mana stones.”
“…Is that how it will work? But why with that girl?” Seong-Il asked, somewhat confused.
Seon-Hu explained patiently, “Because you will need help. However, if you decide that this case is the one exception, then you don’t need to ask her to help.”
Seong-Il also needed mana stones. A lot of them were rolling around in the warehouse, but they were all Seon-Hu’s. He came to a decision.
Seong-Il found Soo-Ah on the street with the stalls. There was a huge red cross mark on the sign, and it looked like people had either used human or monster blood to draw it as the color had darkened over time.
“Oh, you are back. Did you get hurt?” she greeted him in a friendly manner.
He responded bluntly, “Odin said I should cooperate with you.”
“Odin? About what?” Soo-Ah asked with her eyes shining.
After she met Odin after the fifth wave, she had been waiting for him to get in contact with her. When she heard the older man’s explanation, she once again became certain that Seon-Hu was hoping to stimulate lively economic activity in this small world. He must have foreseen this moment during the time he established mana stones as currency.
Precious metals like gold were the major form of currency in medieval Europe, but people began to entrust their stores to goldsmiths as it was difficult to move around and store. Goldsmiths back then usually had strong safes as well as armed servants with swords. Banks originated from that.
Soo-Ah’s expression started to darken after thinking that far.
When is this going to end? This place is…
Since the current stage was titled Act One, Stage One, they must still be at the very beginning. Furthermore, when she took into account that Seon-Hu, a member of the World Awakened Association, was trying to revive the economy at this stage, that indicated that they would be here for a very long time. Seon-Hu was working on this by taking a long-term perspective.
“Why?” Seong-Il asked.
“Nah, we shouldn’t just do a storage business. Instead, we should make sure that we have the right to manage the mana stones that people deposit in the future[1],” Soo-Ah replied.
“Then, are we any different from a bank? I was talking about the warehouse business.”
She nodded. “That’s right, Mr. Kwon. But don’t you want to make more money? Haven’t you used up all of your insignias?”
Seong-Il grimaced. “Yes, but… Wait. Why are you addressing me in such a formal way? I’m just a few years older than you. Call me oppa[2] from now on, okay?”
She smiled. “Okay. I will prepare the rest, oppa.”
“What about me?” he asked.
Soo-Ah explained, “All you have to do is sign the contract and leave a thumbprint on it. Come to think of it, you have big hands.”
He grinned and remarked cheekily, “Men must have big hands, but don’t forget.”
“…About Cheol-Yeong?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, that Odin has a decent impression of you right now.”
***
“So, it’s a bank?” Pan-Seok asked in admiration. He had originally planned on leaving his mana stones in a safe place and pay the storage fees, but Seong-Il and Soo-Ah had ended up establishing a bank. Paper dollar bills had originated when the certificates of custody that had been given to their customers by the medieval goldsmiths ended up being traded among the people instead of actual gold.
However, Soo-Ah skipped that process entirely. Everyone here understood how banks and the banking system worked. It wasn’t like they had gone back to the beginning of the Middle Ages when people didn’t know anything. Another reason for omitting that middle process was to block any disturbances that would naturally occur. That was why she had prepared a contract that stated that she had the right to manage the mana stones that Pan-Seok had entrusted to them.
Pan-Seok looked at the contract. Back on earth, he had never even glanced through a single sentence in the terms that had been given to him when he had opened regular bank accounts. The document in front of him was only one page long, and it didn’t have many sentences written on it.
Soo-Ah said to Pan-Seok, who was reading the contract, “It seems like we are getting used to the stage, right?”
Pan-Seok nodded.
There was now a market and a bank. When they had at first fallen into this lawless zone, they were at a loss on how to survive. However, they now had things to do no matter how much they feared the next wave.
Pan-Seok suddenly became filled with mixed emotions. It felt like something that he had suppressed had soared from the depths of his heart. When he suddenly sniffed with tears in his eyes, Seong-Il began to sniffle as well.
“Let’s stop letting water drip from our eyes, ok? So, are you going to leave your stones with me?” Seong-Il questioned.
“Will I be able to find mana stones whenever I want?”
“Of course,” Soo-Ah responded this time.
She didn’t feel comfortable intervening in the market economy as she felt constrained by Seon-Hu, but she was constantly watching the changes in the market price of goods. According to her understanding and judgment of the man, Pan-Seok would never withdraw all his mana stones at once. In their previous society, most banks operated by having only enough cash to cover around ten percent of their total deposits[3]. She was planning to go by that same rule of thumb. As long as their bank had more than ten percent of people’s deposits readily available, then there would be no problems.
Meanwhile, Soo-Ah admired Pan-Seok’s ability to earn that many mana stones in a short period of time. Ever since she had opened her stall and had been selling her ability to heal others, she knew how Pan-Seok had been rushing around to collect mana stones. He was the most active trader, and there were no items and insignias that hadn’t gone through his hands.
“I brought it up first, and I have prepared this much. I can’t go back on what I promised. I just need to be able to find my money whenever I want to.”
Pan-Seok made his decision after looking at Seon-Hu’s right-hand man, Seong-Il, and one of the few smart healers, Soo-Ah. At any rate, Seon-Hu was behind the two of them, so that was another form of security.
“Do I sign here?” he asked.
Soo-Ah nodded. “Yes, and imprint your thumbprint here.”
Pan-Seok’s glance shifted to Seong-Il.
“Oh, yeah?” he asked.
“Make sure it doesn’t smudge.”
Soo-Ah added an explanation while Pan-Seok was stamping his thumb, “From now on, the contract will replace your bank account. We will attach the back page whenever it’s needed, and we will use monster leather.”
Pan-Seok raised an eyebrow. “Because paper is precious? By the way, what happens if someone steals it?”
Soo-Ah smiled. “We all know each other, so no one will be able to steal it. But you still have to take good care of it. We know each other now, but if more people come, then we can’t make promises.”
“More people?” Pan-Seok asked, somewhat perplexed.
Soo-Ah grimaced slightly. “It’s only Act One, Stage One now. So… I guess so?”
“We might end up in different places for the next stage since we were randomly placed here. We might get scattered and move to a new stage.” Pan-Seok frowned after saying that because it would be a terrible scenario, even if he was the one who had brought it up. After all, he felt like he had just settled down here.
“No one knows.”
Soo-Ah didn’t tell him that it was unlikely. Her idea that Seon-Hu was doing all of this for the long run was just her own hunch as she hadn’t gotten a direct confirmation from him yet.
Soo-Ah sighed and said, “But what can we do? We have to live in the present. I’ll describe the whole process to you one last time. You can also withdraw your mana stones from our facility by using the statement slips we give you. Like the deposit contract, the statement slips will be issued with your thumbprint. One thing to remember is that if the thumbprint is damaged, we cannot use it to guarantee your stones anymore.”
Pan-Seok nodded. “Sure.”
Soo-Ah continued, “We also don’t have the capability to give you a customized slip or an unlimited number either. Thus, you will need to pick which slips you want according to units that are being issued right now. We currently have fifty and a hundred denominations available.”
“Then I’d like six fifty-stone slips and a single one-hundred-stone slip for now.”
Pan-Seok began to imprint his thumb on the big slip. He did it carefully in order to not smudge the print. Then, he began to sign next to it. After finishing the work, Pan-Seok rubbed his hands on his dirty pants.
“Let’s shake hands since our first deal is done.”
Seong-Il added while shaking hands with Pan-Seok, “Go and make lots of money. By the way, do you have soju?”
“That’s one hundred stones.” Pan-Seok shook the one hundred-mana stone slip.
“Huh?” Seong-Il looked confused.
“It’s stones now, not won. A pack of soju costs one hundred stones. The current going price is not expensive at all because the price will definitely rise after the next wave. What do you think? Do you want a pack?”
1. Modern banks use the money deposited by customers to make their own money, often by lending it out at a higher interest rate than they pay to the customer accounts. Soo-Ah is trying to recreate that. ☜
2. used by females to address an older brother or a close older male friend. ☜
3. Aka fractional reserve banking. It’s a system where only a fraction of the bank’s deposits are backed by actual cash on hand and available for withdrawal. An example would be if a bank had $1 million in total deposited money, the bank only has $100,000 in cash ready for withdrawal in their vault. ☜