← # I Was Summoned to Another World, But My Job Is Merchant
I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.
The white ceiling was made of stone, not the plaster I was used to. The musty smell of dampness filled my nostrils, and the sound of distant footsteps echoed through what seemed to be a corridor.
'Where am I?'
I tried to sit up, but my body felt heavy. It was as if I had just woken from a long sleep. I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked around.
The room was simple—just a stone bed, a wooden table, and a single window with iron bars. It looked like a prison cell, but the bars were on the outside of the window, not blocking the view entirely.
"You're awake."
A voice came from the doorway. I turned to see a woman in ornate robes standing there, her expression unreadable.
"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"You are in the Kingdom of Aethermoor," the woman replied. "I am Priestess Elara. You have been summoned here by the royal court."
Summoned? The word didn't make sense. The last thing I remembered was going to bed in my apartment in Seoul.
"Summoned? What do you mean?" I asked, sitting up fully now.
"The kingdom is in danger," Elara explained. "We performed a summoning ritual to bring a hero from another world to help us. That hero is you."
I stared at her in disbelief. This had to be a dream. Any moment now, I would wake up in my bed.
"I understand this is confusing," Elara continued. "But I assure you, this is real. You have been chosen by fate itself."
"Chosen for what?" I asked. "I'm just an ordinary person. I work in sales."
Elara's expression softened slightly. "The ritual will reveal your true purpose. Come, the king is waiting to meet you."
She turned and walked out of the room, clearly expecting me to follow. I had no choice but to comply.
As I stood up, I noticed a translucent window appearing in my vision. It looked like a game interface—something I had only seen in the web novels I read in my spare time.
[Welcome, Summoned One]
[Your Job: Merchant]
[Your Level: 1]
[Your Skills: Appraisal, Haggling, Item Storage]
I blinked several times, but the window remained. This was real. Or at least, it felt real.
'A merchant?' I thought. 'Out of all the jobs in the world, I get merchant?'
I had been summoned to another world, expecting to become a great warrior or a powerful mage. Instead, I was a merchant—someone who bought and sold goods for profit.
It was almost laughable.
But as I followed Elara down the stone corridor, I couldn't shake the feeling that this job might be more useful than I initially thought. After all, in a world filled with danger and adventure, someone had to supply the heroes with equipment and provisions.
And if there was one thing I knew how to do, it was make a profit.# The Summoned One
The process of regaining consciousness felt like surfacing from underwater.
First came sound. Or rather, vibration. A low-pitched humming resonated through Kim Jun-ho's entire body. Then came smell. The sharp, pungent aroma of incense and dried grass, mixed with something burning. Finally, his eyes opened.
Darkness first. Then firelight.
Kim Jun-ho stared at flickering candlelight. Dozens—no, hundreds of candles hung from the ceiling. Arranged in geometric patterns. Like that circular diagram in the library.
'Ah, I'm awake.'
His throat was parched. His tongue felt stiff as a fish cake. He thought he should sit up, but his body wouldn't move. Or rather, couldn't move. His body was cold and heavy.
Then he heard voices.
"He's awake!"
"Hero! Finally!"
"Thank the gods. At last..."
Multiple voices overlapped. Voices of both men and women. Kim Jun-ho moved only his eyes to survey his surroundings.
Figures in black robes stood in a circle around him. Their faces were hidden in shadow, but their eyes reflected the candlelight, gleaming. Eyes filled with reverence.
'What... what is this?'
Kim Jun-ho swallowed. It was a minute movement, but someone noticed even that.
"He's moving! Your body is still adapting to Myros mana. Just a moment."
The nearest figure stepped forward. The voice was female. Low and calm, but with unwavering resolve. She raised her hand.
Her fingers moved through the air. Not a gesture, but a motion like drawing. Warmth flowed into Kim Jun-ho's limbs. His muscles relaxed. Blood began circulating again.
"Good. Rise slowly."
Kim Jun-ho pushed himself up on his elbows. His movements felt awkward. Like borrowing someone else's body. But he adapted gradually.
As he rose, he realized where he was.
A massive circular hall. The ceiling was high, the walls built of black stone. Torches burned along the walls, with geometric patterns carved between them. As if pages from a book were projected onto the stone.
At the center of the circle was a marble diagram. More precisely, several concentric circles were drawn, filled densely with symbols. The same pattern as the one his fingers had touched.
"Greetings, Hero."
Kim Jun-ho's eyes found the source of that voice.
A face emerged from within the robe. Gray eyes. Sharp cheekbones. A faint smile at the corners of her mouth. Her age was indeterminate. She could have been in her thirties or fifties. But her gaze was unmistakable.
This woman was the leader of this place.
"I am Lucia. The Grand Mage of this kingdom."
Lucia walked slowly along the circular diagram. Her footsteps made no sound. As if she were gliding across the floor.
"You are the one we have long awaited. Hero. You have been summoned from another world through our sacred summoning ritual."
'A summoning ritual?'
Kim Jun-ho's mind raced. The library. Books. The circular diagram. And...
"Where are you from?"
Lucia stopped. Her eyes fixed on Kim Jun-ho. They held curiosity mixed with suspicion.
"I'm from... Seoul..."
Kim Jun-ho closed his mouth. Seoul? A library? A business management final project?
Would that even be an explanation?
"Seoul from another dimension, I see. I understand."
Lucia raised her hand. At her signal, the other mages knelt. Simultaneously. In the same motion.
"Now we must confirm your identity, Hero."
"My identity?"
"Indeed. According to the records of the summoning ritual, you are one who may possess multiple professions. You could be a swordsman, an archer, a mage. You could even be a merchant."
Lucia walked forward again. The other mages rose and followed her, retreating outside the circular diagram. Like stage actors.
"This is your first trial."
Lucia opened her palm. Three objects floated above it.
The first was a sword. A small sword, but its luster was genuine.
The second was a book. A thick book. It looked like a grimoire.
The third was a coin. What appeared to be five gold coins.
"What will you choose? The sword is the path of the warrior, the book is the path of the mage, and the gold is the path of the merchant."
Kim Jun-ho looked at Lucia's hand. At the floating objects.
And he laughed.
He recalled that massive lens he'd seen in the library. Numbers made of zeros and ones. And the text written on the pages of the book.
—Stage 1: Confirm your identity.
'Ah.'
Kim Jun-ho understood. This was a game too. Just one with different rules.
He slowly rose. His body's sensations were now clear. He looked directly into Lucia's eyes.
"Do I have to choose just one?"
Lucia's gaze changed. Surprise and suspicion crossed her features.
"That is what I said..."
"Then can I take all of them?"
Silence fell. In the circular hall, only the candles crackled.
A smile formed at the corners of Lucia's mouth.
"Interesting, Hero."
She moved her hand. The three objects fell before Kim Jun-ho. He caught them reflexively. The sword, the book, and the coins.
"You seem to be neither a simple warrior, nor a mage, nor a merchant."
Lucia walked away. The other mages followed her.
"Then... what are you?"
Kim Jun-ho didn't answer that voice calling from behind.
Instead, he opened the book in his hand.
On the first page, something was written in characters that weren't Korean, but when he tried to read it in his mind, it automatically translated.
—This is your Skill Book.
—Current Skills: None.
—Your game continues.
Kim Jun-ho suppressed a laugh.
The mages of this kingdom didn't know what he was. They called him a hero, but the voice in the book had already declared it.
You have awakened.
Now your game begins.
"Your identity..."
Lucia turned around. Her gaze wavered. As if she had missed something important.
"I'll find out later."
Kim Jun-ho spoke. There was something different in his voice now. The confidence of one who understood part of the game's rules.
The circular diagram glowed again. Very faintly.
But Lucia didn't miss it.
It was late into the night when he was moved to a room surrounded by mirror-like walls.
"I will learn basic swordsmanship first."
Lucia spoke. Her voice remained polite, but her eyes looked different. There was a sharp, probing quality mixed into her gaze. Ever since that moment in the circular hall, she seemed to have begun seeing Kim Jun-ho differently.
Three mages without their black robes stood at the edge of the training ground. They were observers.
A sword with a black handle was thrown to Kim Jun-ho. A light but solid weight transferred to his palm. It felt realistic. So realistic that for a moment, his chest sank at the thought that this was really happening.
"Start with the basic stance."
Lucia picked up her sword. Her movements were elegant. It might have seemed odd for a mage to wield a blade, but her body didn't lie. It was a body that perfectly understood the weight of the sword.
Kim Jun-ho mimicked the stance.
The first attack came at a deliberately slow speed, like a warning.
He instinctively raised his sword. Metal rang out. The impact transmitted through his arm was greater than he expected. Even though the force coming from Lucia's wrist didn't seem that strong, his arm trembled.
'I'm weak.'
The thought flashed through his mind. Simultaneously, a sense of rejection arose from deep within his chest.
"Again."
Lucia withdrew her sword. A very brief rest. Then again.
This time it was slightly faster.
Kim Jun-ho's reaction was too slow. The sword struck his side. It actually struck him. Because he was wearing a robe, it didn't touch his skin, but the impact was clear. His body was pushed back a step.
"Concentrate."
For the first time, an edge entered Lucia's voice.
He was hit ten more times. Shoulder, arm, leg, back. Lucia avoided the vital areas, but she made it clear that she could kill him whenever she wished. That was the message conveyed under the guise of basic sword training.
Kim Jun-ho was on his knees on the ground.
His breath came in gasps. His chest heaved. His hands trembled.
'What... what is this?'
When he heard the word "game," there had been a thrilling sensation. When the book called him a "player," something like superiority had bloomed. But in this moment, he realized.
The game was not enjoyable.
The game was a system, the system was rules, and the rules were absolute.
And he was weak.
"Get up."
Lucia did not offer her hand. She merely commanded.
Kim Jun-ho pushed himself up from the ground with his hands. His legs were unsteady.
"A hero..."
Lucia stood a few steps away, her sword pointing downward.
"Cannot be weak."
Her eyes fixed precisely on him. There was something different in that gaze. If not suspicion, then what? Wariness? Or—
"You appear weak right now."
Lucia stepped closer.
"Heroes are born strong from the beginning. Beings from other dimensions have that as their baseline. They remain strong even when they come to this world. That is the characteristic of the chosen ones."
She raised her sword.
"You appear different."
'She's talking nonsense.'
Kim Jun-ho bit his lip. The rational and emotional parts of him collided. His reason was analyzing the situation. Lucia suspected that he was not a hero. So how should he answer? Should he layer on more lies, or—
"Weakness is also part of the game."
When those words came out of his mouth, Kim Jun-ho himself was surprised.
Lucia's movements stopped.
"The game does not choose the strong from the beginning. The game starts with the weak. That is the way of the game."
He looked directly at Lucia.
"Whether I'm a hero or whatever, in this moment, I am weak. But that is the rule of the game. And I am one who understands that rule."
It was not a lie. It was precise truth.
Lucia lowered her sword.
"Interesting."
A very faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"A real hero would not have made such rationalizations. They would simply have been strong. You... are accepting your weakness."
She took a step back.
"One who accepts weakness can become strong. But in exchange, you may lose something else."
Her eyes turned toward Won-jin once more. Won-jin reflected in the mirror on the wall. There was still a faint light remaining there.
"Continue with your game, hero. Or... whoever you are."
She turned around.
"We will meet again tomorrow night. Until then, think about what you are."
The mages followed her out. At the last moment, Lucia stopped at the doorway and looked back.
"And Kim Jun-ho. That confidence when you used the word 'game'... it was good."
She said.
"But those who belong to a game do not try to win the game. They try to change the rules of the game. If you are truly such a person... this kingdom might become a bit complicated."
The door closed.
Kim Jun-ho was left alone before the mirror-like walls. His reflection repeated infinitely. A weak-looking reflection. One with trembling hands.
But that gaze—
That gaze alone shone differently.
The feel of the skill book still remained at his fingertips. If someone had made him a player of the game, it meant the game had already begun.
And in a game, there was always a way.
You just had to find the rules.
Won-jin shone once more. Very faintly. As if someone was acknowledging his choice.