The Junk Dealer Makes Good Money

Chapter 3

[Episode 3] Awakening of the junk dealer special ability (?)

Nothing changed.

It was just that there was no father and that the CEO was changed.

Of course, the absence of a father was the same as changing the heavens and the earth in Lee Si-woo’s life, but he made an effort to think positively.

After dinner with Shin Woo-cheol, Lee Si-woo returned to the junk shop and sat down in an empty office.

A ledger stained with his father’s hand in front of the computer.

Due to the nature of antiques, there were also many stolen items.

Even if you take it without knowing that it is stolen property, if there is no record to prove it, you could be investigated by the police.

So, my father always transferred money to an account, not cash, and meticulously recorded the license plates and phone numbers of vehicles coming into the junkyard.

Si-woo Lee, who opened the old ledger, checked the things his father had written down.

And the moment I looked at the ledger, my vision suddenly started to blur.

‘Uh, huh? what?’

Lee Si-woo rubbed his eyes at the sudden feeling of a foreign body and looked at the ledger again.

Then his blurred vision returned to clarity.

However, if there was a problem, it was that translucent letters were floating on the ledger.

Even if he turned his gaze to another place, the writing was not erased.

―――――――――――――――

＜Specialized ability of junk dealer＞

[Creating Scrap Iron](lv. 1) ― It can produce 1,000kg (1t) of scrap iron per day.

Upgrade Conditions.

└ lv. promoted to 2.

[Future City](lv. 1) ― You can check the unit price of scrap metal that changes every month.

Upgrade Conditions.

└ (Opens when Scrap Generation lv. 3 is achieved.)

―――――――――――――――

‘What, what is this… am i dreaming? Or if you fell and hurt your eye… … .’

Siwoo Lee, who was quietly looking at the words in front of him, suddenly got struck by lightning and thought that this might have happened.

It was unrealistic that strange words suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, but the fact that I was struck by lightning was also unrealistic.

I’ve heard somewhere that there are people who are struck by lightning and have mysterious abilities, so it felt more credible.

No matter how much I rubbed my eyes and closed my eyes, the words did not disappear.

Siwoo Lee stood up from his seat after staring blankly at the words for a while.

‘If these words are real… … .’

Shi-woo had goosebumps all over his body.

It was because he was able to predict what he could do with this ability.

From then on, Siwoo Lee began to seriously ponder these words.

‘The generation of scrap is… Well… Future Poetry is certainly worthwhile.’

If you could know the unit price of scrap, you could decide when to collect it and when to take it out.

The way the junk dealer can make a lot of money depends on how well he decides the timing.

However, like his father, he piled up scrap metal and suffered a loss as the unit price fell.

‘How to use… I’m not here. Whoops, more than that, the generation of scrap metal… Do you really have the ability to use it?’

The ability to see the future was already a skill often used in movies and novels.

So, I could feel what kind of ability it was, but the production of scrap metal was different.

Unlike Future City, which simply shows the unit price of scrap that will change, it was clear that the generation of scrap was literally the ability to produce scrap.

The ability to create something from nothing.

Si-Woo couldn’t believe it was really possible.

‘Who, calm down, Siwoo. It’s just being struck by lightning and seeing nothing. Let’s not expect too much.’

Once upon a time, there was a saying that you would be betrayed because you had high expectations.

Because these words touched my heart so much, Siwoo shook his head and tried to shake off his thoughts.

But even so, I couldn’t stop my heart from swelling with anticipation.

When Siwoo Lee recalled the creation of scrap metal, a text related to him appeared in front of him.

―――――――――――――――

＜Create Scrap＞(lv. 1)

1,000 kg per day can be produced.

How to use.

└ Hold the scrap metal you want to generate in your hand and shout ‘generate scrap metal’ inside.

Upgrade Conditions.

└ lv. promoted to 2.

―――――――――――――――

The rain had stopped and it was dark all around.

When Siwoo Lee went outside and pressed the button, four lights emitted bright light.

Si-woo Lee ran straight to the scrapyard and grabbed a short piece of rebar in his hand.

‘You may look like a crazy person, but no one else will see you anyway… Let’s pretend we’re cheating and do it just once.’

“Whew… Scrap production.”

Lee Si-woo, embracing his shame, closed his eyes and muttered that it was scrap metal production.

It was written that it was okay to shout in my heart, but I wanted to activate my ability for nothing, so the words came out of my mouth without me knowing.

However.

As if it were natural, he betrayed his expectations, and the surroundings were quiet.

When he opened his eyes with a sigh with the expression ‘Of course’, a new text appeared in Siwoo’s field of vision.

―――――――――――――――

＜Expresses the ability to produce scrap.＞

Scan Type: [Rebar].

Length: 90cm.

Weight: 10 kg.

Time required to scan: 1 minute.

――――――――――――――――

Tick tock.

The ticking of the clock’s second hand echoed through my ears, like an auditory hallucination.

And after a while, no, exactly one minute has passed.

A strange thing happened.

[Scanning is complete. Do you want to produce 1 ton of scrap metal per day?]

“sun! Do it!”

It was something that should have been mumbled inwardly, but Lee Si-woo could not hide his nervousness and said it urgently.

Then, the visible texts were cluttered up again.

[Create reinforcing bars.]

At the same time as the words appeared, a faint light arose from the place where Siwoo Lee was standing.

After a while, the light disappeared, and the real rebars were neatly stacked in front of Si-woo Lee.

‘Gee, really? Is this for real?’

Siwoon couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

He checked the newly made rebar while holding it.

It was the same thickness as the rebar in my hand at first, and even the rusted parts were the same.

“Perfectly the same… … .”

A heavy feeling in the hand.

Siwoo Lee, who was shaking his hand, quickly grabbed the reinforcing bar he was holding.

Then he couldn’t hide the smile on his lips and smiled brightly.

‘If scrap metal is produced based on weight rather than light weight… Got a win. Although rebar is medium B, if you can create H-beam or expensive scrap… It’s only a matter of time before we bring the junkyard back.’

There were also grades for scrap metal.

Lightweight and thin scrap metal is lightweight, and heavy and thick scrap metal is weighted.

And it is divided into A and B according to each criterion in light weight and weight.

The reinforcing bar created now has a weight B.

It was a very high-quality product that could receive a unit price of 320 won if delivered to the steel mill as it is.

‘Now I just need to find a new business partner. Competing with the nearby junk dealers is also a good chance.’

Si-woo Lee, who stood blankly and stared at the pile of rebar, turned and went back into the office.

After tidying up the mess, I turned off the lights on the junkyard and went into a room.

It was a house made of containers.

The office was a place where there was a lot of draft and a lot of insects in winter, but this room was clean and warm.

It was a room my father made by hitting the wall and dividing the space.

Despite the rain of complaints, my father tried to protect this space somehow.

A space created before the concept of illegal building was properly established.

Quite a lot of money was spent to change the use of the site and to formally register it with the city.

Siwoo Lee slowly looked around his father’s room.

Furniture and appliances that have been recently replaced.

I felt like a father.

My father had his own iron rule that the space where people live should be neat.

That’s why I used to change furniture and old appliances once every four years.

No matter how much Lee Si-woo argued that it was a waste of money, his father insisted on his iron rule.

‘I have to burn my father’s clothes and there is a lot to do… I’m tired.’

I was suddenly exhausted.

I had just returned from the funeral, so there were a couple of things I had to do, but now I want to lie down.

dump.

So Siwoo fell asleep as soon as he lay on the bed.

* * *

The next day, 6 am.

Si-woo Lee, who woke up early, got up and headed for the bathroom.

After washing the cat’s face, roughly wiping his face with a towel, he put on his work clothes and safety boots.

Then, as I stood at the scrapyard, I caught my eye on a pile of reinforcing bars that I had made with my scrap metal production ability last night.

“Ha, ha ha!”

Siwoo Lee burst into laughter without realizing it.

Thinking back, it was an incredible ability.

I came out to the yard with an anxious mind, worrying, ‘What if yesterday’s events were all a dream?’

‘Let’s sort it out. With this amount of light and weight, it will easily exceed at least 500 tons in total.’

Rebar was one of the welcomed scraps wherever it went.

Originally, it was something to be bought from the contractor in charge of the construction, other junkyards, or walkers.

If it was 320 won per kg, I bought them for 220 won.

You might be wondering why these prices are coming up.

It could be viewed as a net profit, but it was easy to understand when looking at the form of supply.

‘There is nothing I can do about it because it is the lowest among the junk dealers I enjoy.’

If the unit price supplied to the steel mill was 320 won, the middlemen had to benefit from it.

If you were to make a net profit of 20 won, you had to bring the goods from the junkyard at the bottom after deducting transportation costs, work costs, and other costs.

‘It is inevitable that the unit price will decrease as the number of stages of transportation increases.’

If labor costs and transportation costs are subtracted, the profit taken by the junkyard is between 20 and 30 won.

However, if you could create something from scrap metal, you could save all the money other than shipping costs.

And the money would come to Siwoo Lee as a net profit.

Si-woo Lee looked at the junk shop with a satisfied expression and moved.

It was to start the excavator to move the scrap metal.

The excavator used in the junkyard was very different from others in appearance.

It had six toes, and it was called a grapple.

A tool specialized for picking things up.

This equipment was essential to running the junkyard.

In the case of a small junk yard, most of the work was done by converting a 5 ton vehicle to a vehicle called a forklift.

Following the philosophy of doing things that can be done comfortably, my father bought an excavator with a big heart.

Woo-

The RPM was raised to warm up the excavator, and the rebar was mixed with the existing scrap metal evenly.

Woodang Tang!

The sound of scrap metal collided began to be heard loudly.

But Siwoo Lee hummed as if he was rather excited.

The stillness of the antiques did not match.

‘okay. This is a junk dealer.’

He gently moved the excavator’s bandages, moving the joystick that controls the excavator back and forth.

Si-woo Lee nodded after finishing the work of throwing the rebar into the scrap metal and mixing it.

Although it was an excavator that I had been operating for a long time, it reacted first as if my body remembered it.

When Si-woo Lee came down from the cockpit of the excavator, the door of the junkyard that had been firmly closed opened.

Then a man appeared through the door.

The man saw Lee Si-woo coming down from the excavator and put a deep smile on his lips.

“Siouya!”

Nuri Recycling’s forklift driver.

Someone who worked with my father for quite some time.

At the appearance of Kang Pil-joong, Si-woo Lee put on a surprised expression.

“A knight of the river?”

“The boss’s job is… How did you do it? I went to the funeral, but I was too busy to even say hello.”

“Yeah, everything went well.”

He greeted him brightly, but he could not avoid the somber atmosphere.

Siwoo Lee brought up another topic to change the atmosphere.

“By the way, I heard that you asked to resign. Are you here for severance pay?”

Among the words of Jang Seong-woo, the part where I felt the greatest betrayal.

The request to resign from those who had been with my father for two or three years caught my heart.

“That’s what Director Jang said. After all, do you think the junk dealer without the owner is going to work properly? … .”

“Whoa, I have no intention of disposing of it. I want to keep going.”

Siwoo quietly grinded his teeth.

Jang Seong-woo, who judges the treatment of junk dealers at will, as if he were the boss, caused a fever.

“Is not it? I knew you would make this choice. He’s not a guy who doesn’t know anything about junk dealers, no, he’s rather crispy when it comes to junk. In fact, if you look at it, you probably know more than Director Jang.”

“Thank you for the compliment. Would you like to go into the office first? Let’s have a cup of coffee and talk.”

“Okay, let’s go in.”

For Kang Pil-joong, Lee Si-woo only felt proud.

It’s only been a day since I finished my father’s funeral.

Nevertheless, as he wore work clothes and looked like he was operating an excavator, Kang Pil-jung had a happy smile on his face.

Si-woo Lee, who went into the office with Pil-joong Kang, poured mixed coffee into a paper cup and handed it to him.

The two drank coffee.

In the midst of an awkward silence, Kang Pil-jung said with a bitter expression.

“Sioux, no, no. You are the boss now.”

The issue of changing the CEO has not been resolved yet.

However, unless the junk dealer was transferred to another place, it was natural for Si-woo Lee to become the president of Nuri Recycling.

At the name of Kang Pil-joong, Si-woo Lee put on a gentle smile.

“Please speak.”

“Can you cancel my resignation application? To be honest, I don’t want to leave here.”

“Chief… … .”

“The last thing the boss said to me comes to my heart… I came here because I wanted to listen to your doctor and make a decision.”

Kang Pil-joong, pushed by Jang Seong-woo’s momentum, filled out an application for resignation and submitted it to him.

However, as time passed, I realized that I had made a hasty decision without even listening to Siwoo Lee’s opinion.

Even when looking at Kang Pil-joong’s eyes full of regret, Si-woo Lee was quietly listening to his words.

“The boss once said that if you have an accident, you are the only one who will take over the junk dealer. He also said that it hurts his heart to think of running this junk store by himself.”

“… Are you a father?”

“okay. The boss was very worried about you. So I liked it too. By the way, Shiuya, I don’t know the details of how the junk shop operates, but who am I? Isn’t it Kang Pil-joong, who worked as a clipper for 10 years? Considering that career, can’t you just keep working here?”

“I am grateful. It’s not that hard to find a forklift driver.”

“great. Then I’ll go back to work tomorrow.”

“Can I pay the same salary as before?”

“yes. Let’s do that.”

* Old, non-ferrous types

Lightweight b – thin scrap metal such as panels, drums, etc.

Lightweight a – type of pipe.

Weight b – rebar.

Weight dl – Weight with a size of 5 m or more.

Weight a – round bars or thick scrap metal.

Weight al – large machine scrap.

Weight k – h beam.