An Advertising Genius Falls into the Joseon Era - Chapter 32

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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 32
“I never thought you’d actually draw first prize…….”
The woman in the goblin mask regarded Song Do-hyeon with eyes of disbelief.
As she’d explained earlier, the number of visitors to the Marketplace had surged dramatically in recent days, forcing the production of Luck Pouches to increase proportionally.
With thousands of papers flowing out daily, no one could say what the exact winning odds truly were.
One fact alone remained certain: no one had ever drawn first prize before.
Because the single first-prize item had remained untouched all this time.
“Ah yes, this isn’t the moment for that.”
The woman, coming to her senses belatedly, rummaged through her bosom.
“I must present you with the grand prize.”
Soon she withdrew an object with care, something small enough to rest in the palm of a hand.
“The first-prize award is…… the Goblin Talisman!”
“A Goblin Talisman?”
Song Do-hyeon regarded it with an expression difficult to read.
A single sheet of paper, no larger than a palm.
Upon it was drawn a goblin that resembled exactly the sculpture standing at the Marketplace’s entrance.
Twisted horns and exaggerated features.
The drawing possessed a strangely vivid quality.
Around it were densely inscribed characters mimicking a talisman’s form, but they were scarcely more than crude scrawl—the shapes convincing enough, the meaning entirely lost.
It was the work of someone with considerable skill at painting but absolutely no talent for characters.
The woman continued.
“Whenever you have need of a goblin’s aid, paste this talisman somewhere clearly visible.”
She gestured dramatically as she explained the talisman’s efficacy.
“Then—poof!—the goblin will appear and come to your aid.”
Having heard the explanation, Song Do-hyeon looked down at the talisman again. His gaze held a cold, sardonic edge.
“……Is this truly the grand prize that fellow devised?”
“Yes. That’s right. It’s hardly impressive, is it?”
Song Do-hyeon offered no reply.
He merely gazed at the talisman with indifferent eyes.
……
A brief silence fell.
Had circumstances been different, he wouldn’t have spared it a glance.
A man who didn’t trust fortune could hardly be expected to believe in such crude superstition.
Yet for reasons he couldn’t fathom, the goblin drawn upon the talisman held his gaze captive.
Slip.
At length, Song Do-hyeon tucked the talisman away in his bosom. Then he pointed forward with an air of indifference.
“Finish the tour you were conducting.”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
Urged onward by Song Do-hyeon, the woman resumed her guidance.
“This section sells roasted chestnut candy, and over there we have items for children. Further inside you’ll find an area with summer goods. And also…….”
As they ventured deeper into the Marketplace, the atmosphere gradually shifted.
The cheerful noise grew steadily distant until only the sound of their footsteps echoed quietly around them.
The lanterns, too, grew noticeably sparse, and soon they were navigating by moonlight alone, feeling their way through the dark.
After walking for some time, charred pillars and collapsed walls appeared here and there—remnants not yet cleared away.
The woman in the goblin mask scratched her head, speaking with an air of embarrassment.
“There’s not much to see from here onward. We haven’t finished refurbishing yet, so there are only abandoned buildings.”
“I see.”
Song Do-hyeon nodded.
Certainly, time would have been insufficient to decorate the inner reaches.
The woman glanced sideways, gauging his reaction.
“Shall we head back?”
“Let’s do that.”
The two of them naturally turned their steps around.
……
With the tour concluded, there seemed little left to say.
An awkward silence settled between them. Yet it was not an uncomfortable silence.
In the dim alley, mere proximity to another presence brought an odd sense of ease.
Then the woman ventured carefully to speak.
“How is the work of Haengsoo? Is it tolerable?”
“I do it for want of better, hardly because there’s anything to recommend it.”
“Is that so?”
The woman paused unexpectedly at his reply, studying Song Do-hyeon’s face.
“That’s surprising. I thought all the managers of Mansan enjoyed this kind of work.”
“I did.”
The woman regarded him with a subtle shift in her gaze at the ambiguous phrasing.
“Until not long ago, anyway.”
Song Do-hyeon continued his quiet confession.
“I gave everything—all my youth—to this place.”
Song Do-hyeon looked up briefly at the night sky.
A hollow emptiness flickered across his eyes.
“I spared myself nothing, not even eating and sleeping. I’d do anything for the merchant house, even work others wouldn’t touch. I truly gave it all.”
A bitter smile crossed Song Do-hyeon’s lips.
“I thought if I worked hard enough, if I showed results, someone would eventually recognize my efforts.”
He continued quietly.
“But they didn’t.”
His mouth twisted slightly.
“Over ten years of effort, and I still can’t match someone who stumbled in yesterday.”
“……!”
At his insinuation, the eyes of the woman wearing the goblin mask flickered for a moment.
But hidden behind the mask, Song Do-hyeon couldn’t read that flicker.
“How cruel it all was.”
Song Do-hyeon’s gaze drifted again into the distance.
“When I was touted as a candidate for the Next Deputy Manager, everyone sang my praises. Now they’re all taking that person’s side. Everyone.”
He let his words fade.
“All my efforts, all my achievements—they’ve come to nothing. Over a decade of my life, reduced to nothing.”
Another long silence fell after he finished speaking.
“…….”
The woman in the goblin mask regarded him with troubled eyes.
Behind the mask, her lips parted slightly as if to speak.
But she said nothing in the end. She didn’t rush to comfort him. It was the best courtesy she could offer him in that moment.
It was the kindest thing she could do.
“Listen to me, spouting all this nonsense.”
Song Do-hyeon gave an awkward cough as the mood turned uncomfortable.
Perhaps because he stood before the goblin mask, words he’d never spoken before came pouring out of their own accord.
The woman seized the opening and pressed on with her question.
“But what kind of person is the Manager Im? I’ve never had a chance to meet him myself.”
“Well.”
Song Do-hyeon hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“That man is a despicable fellow who doesn’t respect others at all.”
“Pardon? Manager Im?”
As if hearing an insult to herself, the woman hastened to object.
“That can’t be right. The Manager Im I know of is always said to be courteous and kind.”
“Kind? That man is deceitful through and through, with two faces.”
“Manager Im is deceitful? Isn’t it the opposite?”
At her rebuttal, Song Do-hyeon let out a derisive laugh.
“Don’t be fooled by that pretty face of his. I’ve been wronged by him more times than I can count.”
Song Do-hyeon’s eyes narrowed as he recalled his bitter history with Im Ha-seong.
“For a junior to be so disrespectful, so lacking in manners… I’ve never once seen him admit defeat, not a single time.”
“Hmm, but isn’t there a reason for that? Perhaps he was provoked first, for instance.”
The woman continued defending Ha Yoon.
“Reason? There’s no reason.”
But Song Do-hyeon didn’t really respond to her words. He simply continued voicing his own thoughts.
“He comes at you all affectionate sometimes, but you can’t tell what he really thinks. That easy smile of his—it’s like he’s trying to bewitch you.”
“Ah, so my smile was that charming, then.”
The woman in the goblin mask mumbled to herself without thinking.
At that, Song Do-hyeon suddenly looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“What did you just say…?”
“Oh! Did I misspeak?”
The woman waved her hands urgently, offering a clumsy excuse.
“No, what I meant was that Manager Im’s smile must be so charming, exactly as you said just now—that he has such a striking appearance.”
“Hmm.”
Fortunately, his excuse seemed to work—Song Do-hyeon set aside his suspicion almost immediately.
“You’re right, that couldn’t be it.”
Their builds were similar, but their voices and temperaments were utterly different.
Above all, the voice coming from behind the mask was that of a woman, clear and refined as a rolling jade bead.
‘That bastard’s voice could never be this lovely.’
Still unaware of Ha Yoon’s true identity, Song Do-hyeon continued the conversation.
“And besides, that one is far too carefree.”
“Carefree?”
The woman tilted her head slightly to one side.
“What do you mean by that? That a person is carefree?”
“Precisely. In temperament and body both, dreadfully carefree.”
A peculiar smile played at the corners of Song Do-hyeon’s mouth.
“Couldn’t hold liquor to save his life—collapse after barely ten cups.”
“…!”
Behind the mask, the woman’s expression went rigid.
“And the drinking temperament is something fierce. Would show up out of nowhere and launch into lectures.”
Song Do-hyeon let out a stifled laugh.
“Arrogant wretch.”
The woman was grateful for the mask.
It kept her expression hidden.
“Ah, I remember now.”
Then, quite suddenly, Song Do-hyeon murmured.
“That one’s single virtue.”
He fell silent for a moment, then slowly lowered his eyes.
“A scent……”
Song Do-hyeon recalled Ha Yoon’s fragrance from that time.
“That one carries a pleasant scent. Like…… a subtle plum blossom fragrance.”
Song Do-hyeon absently touched the back of his neck.
It still seemed to hold that fragrance from that day.
“If there’s any virtue in that one, it’s only that.”
Song Do-hyeon opened his eyes, bringing his recollection to an end.
“Huh?”
And then, in a flash, he turned his head.
He hadn’t noticed it before, but once he became conscious of it, he sensed a familiar scent—faintly, from some moment in the past.
“Now that I think about it, this one too……?”
Song Do-hyeon hurriedly looked toward where the woman in the goblin mask had been.
“Where did she go?”
In her place remained only her fragrance, lingering faintly like a spirit vanished into thin air.

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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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