’Is it far deeper than I thought?’ Ray thought after hearing the woman.
He had his doubts when he spoke with the landlord a few days ago, but he didn’t think that this whole area was being evacuated so they could build a supermarket.
’From her words, one thing is confirmed: people were forced to leave their houses and businesses instead of doing so by their own choice.’
Her husband and son, who was a few years younger than Ray, came back after loading the truck. "Oh, you haven’t left, big brother."
The boy said upon seeing Ray talking with his mother.
"Well, in a few days," Ray answered as he patted his head. "What about you? Finally moving out of this place?"
He teased, knowing the boy once asked his parents to leave the apartment and move to another place.
"I was just a kid at that time," the boy answered in embarrassment.
His father pulled his ears. "And you are still a kid. Now say goodbye to Ray. It’s time to leave."
The family said their goodbyes and left. Ray looked back at the family leaving, then back at the locality, which was now serene with the majority of families already having left the area.
His plan to visit Pemma’s kitchen was ruined by the news.
So he decided to call a taxi and leave for the main street where other restaurants and even the property dealers’ offices were.
During his time in the taxi, he looked at all the information regarding the properties which were bought by Dunken Constructions.
Ray thought how a single construction company can control the whole market, and from the words of the woman earlier, there are powerful backers behind Dunken Constructions.
He arrived at the main street and made his first stop at a bustling restaurant.
Ray ordered kimchi and chicken nuggets, and began eating. He ate one dish after another until he realized his entire table was full of empty plates.
This confused him; he wondered how he could eat so much and where all the food was going.
The restaurant staff also looked surprised. Wondering what a peculiar customer he is.
Then, a service girl approached him. She asked Ray if he wanted more, mentioning they had to prepare it beforehand.
Ray pondered for a moment, still feeling like he could eat a little more, so he nodded. The woman then asked, "You’ve eaten $600 worth of food. Are you sure you want more?"
Ray looked at her, surprised by the number, not because it was $600, but because it was the first time he had spent so much on a single meal.
The service girl, misinterpreting his surprise, thought Ray didn’t have enough money and was about to call her manager when Ray spoke, "One more bowl of kimchi and two full chicken nuggets."
The service girl was surprised but quickly went to fulfill the order.
As Ray waited for his food, he overheard people at another table talking about the game Apex Survival and the mysterious car dealer.
"Do you think it’s possible to buy those modified cars for common players?" one person asked.
"I guess so. I was there when the masked car dealer said there would be more cars in the market. Maybe with that, we can also buy those cars." Says the one beside him.
"Hope this happens soon, I can’t wait, man."
Ray smiled, thinking he had really stirred things up in the game as the mysterious car dealer.
The food soon arrived, and he finished it. After paying, he left for the property dealing offices.
There were three or four offices that dealt in property. Ray stopped at the municipal building, which also housed many other businesses related to the municipal office.
This was his first time visiting the municipal building, so he looked around until his eyes landed on a particular office with a large number of people inside compared to the other property dealing offices.
Then he read the name: "Dunken Properties!" From the name, Ray could understand why there was such a rush.
As he looked around, a man called him from another office, having noticed Ray’s wandering eyes.
"Hello sir! Are you here for looking properties?" he asked, though he had already noticed Ray’s earlier curious gaze at Dunken Properties.
However, as an expert property dealer, he had to try his best to attract customers, even if it was Ray, who looked young and was wearing very simple clothes.
Ray decided to visit the office as he read its name, "Sunny Real Estate."
"Welcome, welcome sir! I’m Morgan." the man invited Ray inside.
Two other workers were already there, laughing at Morgan, the property dealer who had invited Ray in.
"He thinks they’ll actually take interest in our properties when the Dunkens’ are the hot topic of the market," one of them remarked.
He was clearly mocking Morgan, and from his words, it was clear that Morgan had tried this before but failed to sell anything.
Then the other one spoke, choosing Ray as his target, "And look at that young fellow, you think such a poor guy can buy something? Let’s forget the properties."
He added, "He must be here to look at the crowd. Poor Morgan caught another dead fish." He chuckled.
Ray heard this, and a smile curled on his lips.
Like Morgan, he chose to ignore them and asked bluntly, "Show me the best you have. I’m not here to rent; I want to buy personal property, so only show the best."
This surprised Morgan and the other two dealers.
Morgan had his doubts. It happened often in their business that customers would look at properties only to reject them with excuses.
Though Morgan wanted to make a sale, he also wanted to avoid embarrassment. So he asked, "Sir, I’ll show you the dummies and pictures of the properties first, and if you like any of them, then I’ll personally take you to look at the properties."
"Pffffhh.... even our Morgan has realized that he again was scammed by those fake customers," one of the other dealers scoffed.
Ray still had a smile on his face. "That’s a good idea; this will surely save our time."
For a moment, one of them suddenly regretted not attending to Ray, but then another one mocked, "He’s trying to show off. I’m guaranteeing you that he’ll look and then say, ’Oh! Not my type.’"