Chapter 79: Blood Money and Drizzle

"Good morning, Si-Yeon~ah," Elder Si-Jin greeted, looking up as she entered.

"Grandpa, I need to speak with you in private," Si-Yeon said, her tone grave.

Elder Si-Jin frowned slightly, sensing the unusual weight in her voice. He nodded quickly. "Of course. Come into my study."

Inside the quiet room, Elder Si-Jin sat at the head of the heavy wooden table, resting his hands flat against the surface. He waited patiently as Si-Yeon stood before him, carefully organizing her thoughts.

"I’ve spent the past few days visiting that shop, personally testing its services and menu," Si-Yeon began, her eyes steady. "My conclusion is simple: that place cannot be priced. In fact, there is no existing metric on Blue Star that can accurately measure its true value."

Elder Si-Jin raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. "Oh? That is remarkably high praise for a mere entertainment lounge. Tell me then—is it worth seizing by force? Knowing how stubborn the shopkeeper is, I doubt any amount of money would convince him to sell those VR capsules or the establishment itself."

Si-Yeon remained silent at her grandfather’s casual mention of force. From her time spent at Origins VR Cafe, she knew its rules were absolute.

Donape was entirely immune to financial temptation, threats, or corporate persuasion. Ultimately, anyone seeking control of the shop would be forced into a physical confrontation.

However, after spending time inside the cafe and observing Donape, her original belief had completely shifted.

The shopkeeper, Alexander Donape, grew more enigmatic the more she tried to analyze him.

Spatial dimensions inside the building, erased threats from a distance with invisible force, and served items that altered human biology. Seeing a man related to those literal fictions come to life convinced Si-Yeon of one harsh truth: trying to force a person like that into a corner was nothing short of suicidal.

Of course, that was just her fleeting feeling without anything to back it up other than what she witnessed in those few days.

Si-Yeon took a slow, deliberate breath, meeting her grandfather’s sharp, inquisitive gaze without flinching.

"Grandpa, I think any attempt to take that shop by force will not end in an acquisition," Si-Yeon said, her voice dropping into a solemn, unyielding register. "It will end in failure."

Elder Si-Jin’s eyes narrowed, his fingers tightening slightly against the polished wood of the table.

"Failure? Do you have the data to back up such a bold statement? How did you arrive at such a conclusion? That shop’s lightning? We need insulated suits that can counter it, and that hurdle is solved. Even if that brat is capable of fighting, could he win against thirty or even fifty bodyguards?"

Si-Yeon fell into silence. Deploying fifty trained martial operatives was certainly overprepared for a simple takeover. Yet, she still couldn’t see the plan succeeding.

’To be honest... why do I feel like that guy wouldn’t lose even if he were ganged up on by fifty trained martial artists?’ she thought. But she felt helpless knowing she couldn’t change Elder Si-Jin’s opinion with a mere gut feeling.

"You’ve let that brat and his shop cloud your judgment," Elder Si-Jin scoffed, shaking his head in disappointment. "How audacious. The granddaughter I was always proud of for her courage and boldness is no longer visible today. Tsk! If your judgment isn’t in form, I had better sit you out of this planning entirely."

Elder Si-Jin’s sharp rebuke flared from his frustration over her lack of confidence in their family’s ability to crush an orphan.

Si-Yeon took a step back, lowering her head.

’It seems I need to find that wastrel Ji-Hong and seek the truth.’

Sunday morning arrived with a biting cold drizzle and an overcast sky.

Donape woke up early, still mildly irritated. The fact that the System hadn’t issued a "Quest Complete" notification meant the threat from last night wasn’t fully resolved.

’Yeah, sooner or later, I’ll have to step up to deal with these incidents—especially once people start gaining superhuman powers from VR games and turning to crime. So I guess this is just practice for the future,’ he thought.

Still, spending his precious free time playing neighborhood watch annoyed him to his core. If it weren’t for the System quest penalty, he wouldn’t bother. To him, helping someone who needed a hand right in front of him was fine, but actively seeking out people to rescue felt tedious.

’Well, let’s just treat today as a break. For over a month now, I’ve done nothing but grind for strength and run the shop. I might as well explore the neighborhood, even if the weather’s terrible.’

He got up, washed his face, and brushed his teeth. Shortly after, Ga-Eun arrived at the shop, holding a damp umbrella. Donape couldn’t help but admire her dedication to a simple part-time gig.

"Why am I so diligent? Hmm... maybe because of the perks?" Ga-Eun smiled, putting her umbrella in the stand. "I can do my individual and group assignments here. Isn’t a cafe the perfect place for that? Plus, the food and drinks are amazing and actually healthy, even if you consume them every day."

Donape nodded in agreement. Her logic was sound. He silently wished he could hire her full-time and double her pay, but that would have to wait. Employee wages came out of his own pocket, and even with his revenue dividend recently increasing to 3%, his personal funds were still tight.

"Ah, right. I’m heading out to buy breakfast from the stall near the campus corner," Donape offered, reaching for his umbrella. "Want me to pick something up for you?"

"Um..." Ga-Eun hesitated, torn between having a bowl of Spirit-Infused Noodles or a regular meal from outside. But since Donape offered to treat her, she accepted with a bright smile. "Sure, boss! Thank you!"

Stepping outside, Donape strolled down the wet pavement like a lazy slacker under his umbrella.

"It’s been a while since I walked around the neighborhood casually like this," he murmured.

When he reached the food stall, however, his expression instantly darkened.

The cart was silent.

With a light tap of his foot, he stepped behind the counter and found Old Man Han collapsed on the cold ground, helpless and motionless.

’Did this happen while I was sleeping...?’

Setting his umbrella aside, Donape knelt. Relief washed over him when he checked the old man’s wrist pulse. Channeling a trace of warm Qi into Han’s meridians to stabilize his condition, Donape confirmed there were no visible fractures or external bruises before pulling out his phone.

"Hello? I need an ambulance near the campus alley. There’s a small food stall on the left side of Universitas S. The alley is narrow, but a medical vehicle can fit, so come straight in."

"What is the patient’s condition?" the operator asked quickly.

"An elderly man. He seems to have fainted and fallen about an hour ago."

"Are you a doctor? How did you confirm the time of collapse?"

"I’m not a doctor. I guessed it from his body temperature," Donape replied flatly.

There was a long, stunned silence on the line. "How can you guess something like that without proper tools?! Sir, are you making things up?"

Donape sighed, his voice turning cold. "Why waste time asking unnecessary questions? Wouldn’t it be better to dispatch the medical crew immediately?"

"A-Ah, right. My apologies! The ambulance is on its way."

Ending the call, Donape remained crouched beside Old Man Han, keeping his Qi steadily flowing to warm the old man up. The rainy street remained quiet, leaving him alone in the damp alley, waiting for the siren in the distance.

Suddenly, the rapid splashing of boots breaking through the drizzling puddles echoed down the alley.

"Ha... hah... hah...!" A young man rushed around the corner, his coat soaked from the rain. "W-What happened...?! What happened to my father?!"

It was Han Seo-Jun, Old Man Han’s son, who was about two years older than Donape.

Donape frowned slightly at his panicked entrance, though his tone remained calm. "He’s stable. He just needs a proper check-up at the hospital. I’ve already called an ambulance, so we need to wait a few minutes."

Seo-Jun’s face paled further. "I-If he’s stable, then we don’t need to go to the hospital! We don’t have the money for emergency room bills!"

"Routine examinations and basic triage don’t cost anything," Donape stated firmly, shutting down the worry. "The government healthcare program covers basic emergency scans. There’s no harm in letting the paramedics examine him."

Donape insisted on the hospital visit because of a bad premonition. He felt like Old Man Han’s collapse might have been triggered by a sudden stroke or seizure.

Unfortunately, Donape couldn’t diagnose the exact issue himself. His real-world Qi control was still far too primitive for delicate medical diagnostics.

While his in-game avatar in The Path of the Heavenly Martial Arts had reached the Peak Stage of the Bone Forging Realm, his real-life body on Blue Star was currently only at the Early Stage of the Body Tempering Realm—a full level lower than his game character.

To use Qi for precise internal diagnostics or medical healing, a cultivator needed to reach at least the Golden Core Realm—a staggering five realms above his current real-world cultivation.

Thus, there was nothing he could do at the moment.

While waiting for the siren in the distance, Donape watched with a growing frown as Seo-Jun began frantically ransacking the food stall’s cash drawer, blindly tapping buttons on the register terminal to pop it open.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Donape asked, his voice dropping into a heavy, dangerous register.

"S-Shut up! It’s none of your business!" Seo-Jun snapped, his trembling, rain-soaked hands grabbing every crumpled bill and loose coin inside.

Abruptly, the heavy splashing of boots echoed through the rain.

Out of the misty drizzle, a dozen armed thugs emerged from both ends of the narrow alley, stepping into view with iron pipes and heavy wooden bats resting across their shoulders.

Donape’s brow furrowed as his eyes narrowed into a cold, calculating gaze.