Trade Secrets and Trash Bags

Minjae sat at his kitchen table, a pile of strange fruits, roots, and polished stones spread out in front of him. His fingers drummed against the wood, thinking. The portal was stable. The villagers—aside from a few suspicious glances—seemed to accept him, if not as one of their own, then as a tolerated weirdo with coin.

Now came the hard part: turning his dungeon-diver loot into cold, hard won.

He pulled out his phone and opened a marketplace app.

"Let's see what's hot right now…" he muttered.

The screen filled with listings for gemstones, organic health supplements, mysterious vintage items, and artisanal ingredients. Minjae grinned. "Perfect."

He picked up a chunk of what looked like glowing blue quartz from the other world. It pulsed faintly, warm to the touch. Over there, they called it "windstone," used in primitive enchantments to keep roofs from blowing off in storms. Here?

He took a picture of it and posted:

> "Rare glowing quartz—natural luminescence. From private collection. 200,000₩ per piece. Limited stock."

Next, the herb-like purple moss he'd found growing on the forest boulders. In the other world, it was boiled into a tea to ease joint pain. He packaged some into small pouches, listed it as "organic forest tea from a rare high-altitude source," and slapped a 50,000₩ price tag on each packet.

For fun, he took a selfie holding a bundle of the moss with a neutral face and uploaded it with the caption:

> "Helping my grandfather clean his storage. Found this. Anyone know what it is?"

The comments exploded within minutes. People guessed ancient medicine, mythical herb, even "dragon beard tea." Minjae didn't respond. Let the internet hype itself.

By midnight, he had already sold 3 windstones and 15 packets of moss tea.

"Not bad for a Tuesday," he muttered, stretching.

---

The Next Day – Fantasy World

Minjae stepped through the portal and found himself once again in the hut just outside the village. It was quiet, except for the birds that chirped in that weird trill specific to this world.

His backpack was lighter now—empty of goods but full of wons in his real world bank account. Now, it was time to refill.

Grabbing his satchel, Minjae headed toward the forest. He didn't need to venture too deep today—just enough to grab more herbs and maybe some odd-shaped stones.

As he bent to pluck another bunch of purple moss, a voice called out.

"Min-jae!"

He turned. It was Rono, the blacksmith's apprentice. The boy was dragging a cart behind him, filled with discarded metal scraps.

"Hey, need help with that?" Minjae offered automatically.

Rono grinned. "I knew you'd be interested. Some of these are from old magic weapons. They're useless now, but they fetch a good coin for melting."

Minjae's eyes sparkled. To Rono, it was just scrap. To a collector back home, this was authentic fantasy blacksmith refuse. With the right lighting and a rustic background, he could sell it as "antique decorative metal" or even "cosplay prop material."

"I'll take it all," Minjae said, clapping his hands together.

"You serious?"

"Dead serious. How much?"

Rono scratched his head. "I mean… you can just help me get it to the smithy. Take whatever you want after that."

Done.

Minjae followed Rono, hauling one end of the cart and mentally calculating how many shipping boxes he'd need.

---

Back Home – Basement

Minjae spent the evening arranging the broken metal shards on a white cloth and photographing them. The jagged edges, faded inscriptions, and rust gave them an almost cinematic look.

> "Fantasy forge relics – authentic and aged. Decorative. 70,000₩ per piece."

He uploaded ten listings, each with a made-up backstory.

> "This was once part of a royal guard's blade, now dulled by time."

> "A shield shard that's seen war—perfect mantle decor."

Comments and likes poured in.

"Bro is selling real-life Skyrim loot."

"I don't know what this is, but I want it."

"I'll take 3."

---

The School Rumors Begin

By Friday, people at Minjae's high school were starting to whisper.

"Did you hear? Minjae's rich now."

"He quit cram school. Said he doesn't need it."

"I saw him carrying a sack of rocks to school one time. Like… legit burlap sack."

"He bought lunch for the whole class yesterday."

The last one was true. He'd done it partly to flex and partly because he was genuinely hungry and didn't want to eat alone.

The teachers had started to notice, too. One of them pulled him aside.

"Minjae, is everything alright at home?"

He smiled. "Perfectly fine."

"Your grades are slipping."

He shrugged. "Still passing."

The teacher frowned but couldn't argue.

He wasn't being rebellious. He just didn't need any of this anymore. His real education was happening between two worlds.

---

Worldbuilding – Other World Politics Begin

That evening, Minjae sat at the fire with Rono and the smith, learning more about the kingdom's politics. A neighboring village had started hoarding iron ore, and merchants were having to take longer routes to trade.

"Sounds like a supply chain issue," Minjae mused.

"What's that?" asked Rono.

"Never mind."

Minjae thought back to a trader who sold rare blue bark from trees deep in the forest. Maybe he could become the middleman. Sell it to the villagers for fair coin, bring it home, and flip it for 10x the value.

But he needed to move carefully. The last thing he wanted was attention from nobles or greedy lords.

So, he played dumb. Just the quiet traveler who helped with odd jobs and sold weird teas.

---

Back in the Real World – A Suspicious Friend

Minjae's childhood friend, Hana, messaged him that night.

> Hana: "Hey. Where are you getting all this stuff from?"

> Minjae: "Online. Just lucky I guess."

> Hana: "Liar. I know you. You hate shopping."

> Minjae: "Let's hang out next week. I'll show you."

He didn't mean he'd show her the portal. Just enough to distract her. Maybe take her to a flea market and pretend he'd been flipping vintage goods.

But he had to be careful.

He couldn't afford anyone suspecting that his closet led to another world.

Not yet.