An Advertising Genius Falls into the Joseon Era - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 19
“Depending on your answer, I will hold you accountable for it.”
“……!”
Im Sang-ok’s expression, usually so gentle, froze into something sharp and unyielding.
Only moments before, the gathering had been alive with casual talk and laughter.
Someone had cracked a joke at Ha Yun’s expense, another had boasted about some transaction.
But that was before.
The moment Im Sang-ok let his displeasure show, everyone fell silent, their eyes darting nervously about the room.
Even Ha Yun, who rarely lost her composure in any situation, visibly shrank back.
Though not for long.
“Yun Jeophang. Would you come in, please?”
Ha Yun offered neither excuse nor explanation.
Instead, she quietly produced the card she had prepared.
A moment passed.
“Hnnngh—!”
A loud clattering erupted from the entrance to the main hall.
“Goodness, this is heavy.”
Yun Jeophang groaned as he set something down—a wooden box of Ha Yun’s own making.
“The items you requested have arrived.”
Ha Yun turned to Yun Jeophang and asked him,
“Thank you, Yun Jeophang. But where are the rest of the goods?”
“How could I carry all that by myself? So I borrowed some hands to help.”
“Borrowed hands?”
Yun Jeophang gestured toward the back.
At once, a loud commotion began echoing from the entrance.
“Ten wooden boxes delivered!”
“Ten more here!”
“Another ten wooden boxes incoming!”
Porters streamed in one after another, carefully setting the boxes down on the floor.
The merchants began to murmur among themselves.
“What on earth is all this?”
“Why so many wooden boxes all of a sudden?”
“What could possibly be inside them?”
In what felt like no time at all, nearly a hundred wooden boxes filled the main hall.
Im Sang-ok asked, his eyes narrowed with bewilderment.
“Ha Yun.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What are all those boxes?”
Ha Yun paused for effect.
She cast her gaze across the assembled merchants, then spoke.
“Two hundred bundles of gulbi, prepared for delivery to Min Seung-ji’s residence today.”
“What did you say?”
“Gulbi? Inside those wooden boxes?”
Every eye in the room snapped toward the boxes.
Disbelief was written across their faces.
Yet the boxes bore the unmistakable mark of Manshang stamped into their lids.
“Is that really—? It says Manshang Yeongwang Gulbi right there?”
“Surely… this is a jest?”
“Gulbi packed in those things?”
“You’re selling gulbi for twenty silver per bundle just because it’s in a wooden box?”
“This is absolutely astounding.”
Skepticism still hung thick in the air.
Ha Yun, saying nothing, reached for the topmost box and lifted it. Then she opened it.
Click.
A subtle fragrance of paulownia wood drifted out, and the gulbi inside came into view.
“Ah……!”
“So… refined!”
“Look at that luster—absolutely exquisite!”
“I’ve never laid eyes on anything like it in my life!”
Unable to contain their admiration, the merchants marveled at the presentation Ha Yun had created.
Across the fine straw lay gulbi bound with five-colored silk thread, arranged in perfect rows.
Not a single element of the wooden box’s design lacked refinement.
Everything bore the mark of Ha Yun’s hand—premium craftsmanship throughout.
Such handmade work was rare even in the modern era.
It was a masterpiece born from a modern sensibility refined by the artisans of Joseon.
Then someone in the crowd recognized the silk thread and cried out.
“Wait! Isn’t that silk thread?”
“It is? That’s genuine silk thread, isn’t it?”
“Madness…… tying gulbi with such precious silk?”
“Ha! I confess I can’t make sense of it.”
Ignoring the commotion around her, Ha Yun spoke calmly.
“As you can see, the wooden box is custom-made from paulownia wood, and the gulbi is bound with silk thread. If you account for the box and the silk itself, twenty nyang is hardly an excessive price, is it?”
At Ha Yun’s explanation, the merchants began nodding one by one.
“Just the raw materials alone must cost quite a bit?”
“So you’re not really just selling gulbi anymore?”
“Yes, at that standard, twenty nyang is entirely fair.”
“Selling two items as one…… that’s clever thinking.”
“Mm…….”
Im Sang-ok approached as well, his earlier irritation visibly mellowing, and examined the wooden box.
“The craftsmanship is flawless…….”
Im Sang-ok prided himself on having seen every object in existence throughout Joseon over the past several decades.
Yet this was something he beheld for the first time in his life.
“The gulbi and silk are ours, so they’re surely the finest grade without question.”
The form of the box, its quality, construction, durability—
everything was perfect.
No matter how closely he examined it, it exceeded even his high standards.
“Hmm.”
Im Sang-ok, having inspected the wooden box, offered his honest assessment.
“It’s well made.”
Brief as the words were, they contained unmistakable admiration.
“A splendid object indeed.”
Im Sang-ok regarded Ha Yun again with a warm expression, as though his earlier sternness had never existed.
“It seems quite worthy of twenty nyang.”
“Thank you, sir.”
At Im Sang-ok’s praise, Ha Yun could finally release the tension she’d been holding. Im Sang-ok looked at her and asked.
“This idea came from your mind as well, I take it?”
“Yes, sir. I crafted the entire thing myself. It was quite a challenge—I’ve been occupied with this for the past month without reprieve.”
The merchants, now understanding Ha Yun’s situation, nodded appreciatively.
“So there was such a story behind it!”
“That’s why she vanished entirely!”
“This newcomer has real talent.”
The merchants’ gaze upon Ha Yun had shifted.
From envy and jealousy to respect and admiration.
Such aesthetic sensibility was rare to find anywhere in Joseon.
Yet what truly astonished the merchants lay elsewhere.
It was Ha Yun’s capacity for execution.
Conceiving something in one’s mind and bringing it into reality were entirely different matters.
There were plenty of merchants who could spin plausible tales by word alone.
But Ha Yun was different.
From design to production, from material selection to completion—
she had overseen every step directly.
She had demonstrated not merely the ability to sell goods, but the capacity of a true great merchant to orchestrate her own strategy and shape the current of trade.
To transcend mere peddlery and become a genuine great merchant required precisely this ability to command the whole.
The merchants, recognizing such qualities in Ha Yun, beheld her with eyes full of reverence.
Ha Yun continued her explanation.
“Going forward, I have made an agreement to send one hundred boxes of this to Min Seung-ji’s residence every festival season, year after year.”
The moment those words left her lips, the merchants’ jaws dropped.
“One hundred boxes every year?”
“Wait, if it’s every festival season, that’s two hundred boxes, isn’t it?”
“At…… twenty nyang per box?”
“That comes to four thousand silver taels, all told.”
As someone finished the accounting, gasps of astonishment erupted from every corner of the hall.
“Insane. Absolutely insane…….”
“How did Ha Yun manage to secure a deal like that?”
“Even Song Do-hyeon wouldn’t be in the same league.”
“Right? Who could possibly top that?”
“……Hack!”
Song Do-hyeon’s face, which had held such composure moments before, crumpled like creased paper.
The confident gleam drained from his eyes, and his lips trembled almost imperceptibly.
Even Im Sang-ok, the great merchant whom heaven itself seemed to favor, could not hide the shock flickering across his features.
He turned his gaze toward Ha Yun and asked quietly.
“Is what you’re saying true?”
“Yes. The mistress of Min Seung-ji’s Residence made a formal agreement directly with Choe-ssi.”
“Ah, yes…yes.”
Im Sang-ok released a hollow laugh.
He had known of her exceptional talent, yet he had not anticipated she would display such capability from the very beginning.
‘My eye for people hasn’t dulled after all.’
Im Sang-ok regarded Ha Yun with an expression of genuine amazement.
“I confess—you’ve taken me by surprise.”
“Actually, there is one thing I’d like to ask of you, sir.”
At that moment, Ha Yun spoke carefully, stepping forward.
“And what might that be?”
“I’d like for this wooden box to be offered as tribute goods going forward.”
“Tribute goods? Why?”
Tribute goods were not something one could simply present on a whim.
They had to pass through rigorous procedures and inspections, and the process itself was far from smooth.
Moreover, the costs fell entirely upon the merchant house.
And the merchandise itself had to be surrendered as well.
It amounted to inviting financial loss.
Yet despite this, Ha Yun explained her reasoning.
“Gulbi worth twenty taels isn’t something common folk can easily obtain in the first place.”
“That much is true.”
“Therefore, its value must be elevated—until it graces the royal table itself.”
“Ah-ho.”
Im Sang-ok’s expression grew keenly interested as he studied Ha Yun. Then, driving home her point, she continued.
“The moment this gulbi reaches the royal table, the whole world will know that Manshang Yeongwang Gulbi is the finest in Joseon. How then could anyone dare to quibble over its price?”
“……!”
The moment Ha Yun finished speaking, the noisy hall fell silent as if struck by a spell.
A stillness descended, as though a ghost had passed through their midst.
“……?”
For an instant, Ha Yun glanced back, wondering if she had misspoken somehow.
But the torrent of admiration that followed immediately revealed her concern to be unfounded.
“……Oh, oh!”
“Truly, what a brilliant idea!”
“Wow, we’ve lost. We’ve lost completely. There’s no way to match this!”
“How does one even think of something like that?”
“Sigh…this time we’re defeated utterly. Your victory! Im Sang-ok!”
“Hey, newcomer! From now on, we won’t mock you over that tavern business!”
The harsh criticism directed at Ha Yun transformed into fervent cheers.
This achievement was all the more meaningful because it was won by Ha Yun’s own effort, aided by no one else.
Im Sang-ok observed the scene with evident satisfaction.
“Good. Do as you see fit.”
“Thank you, sir!”
Amid the outpouring of acclaim, Ha Yun swallowed the emotions welling up inside her. Only now did the reality finally strike her—she had truly become one of Manshang’s people.
One month.
Outwardly composed, inwardly she had steeled herself countless times through those endless days.
Eating alone, sleeping alone, speaking to no one—sometimes she’d found herself murmuring to the empty air.
And all of it in this foreign land of Joseon, with nowhere to return to. Those days had tested Ha Yun’s spirit to its very limit.
But Ha Yun had endured them, and by her own hand, she had transformed everything at last.
“Long life to Im Sang-ok! No—long life to Manshang!”
As if rewarding herself for all the hardship endured, cheers erupted for Ha Yun. For a long time, that fervent acclaim showed no sign of abating.
And intoxicated by that very fervor, no one noticed the moment when Song Do-hyeon slipped from sight.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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