####
Why are bags necessary?
Especially, why are handbags necessary for women?
I once thought very hard about that question.
After thinking about it on my own, I ended up having an earnest discussion with my friends in a group chat.
“Isn’t it because there’s a lot to carry around?”
That was the conclusion we came to.
When I heard that and thought about it, it certainly did seem like there were a lot of things to carry.
Cosmetics, tissues, sanitary pads, wallets, and so on.
That’s why handbags are essential.
And if you’re going to use one anyway, luxury goods are better, so that must be why people seek out luxury brands.
It would be a problem to obsess over luxury bags when you don’t even have the money, but if that’s not the case, I don’t think it matters much.
‘By the way, does that mean I don’t really need one?’
I don’t really wear makeup, and I still don’t quite understand why I’d need to carry tissues around.
Sanitary pads are… maybe I’ll need them someday.
‘That suddenly feels a little scary.’
A completely unknown territory.
I knew about it in my head, but I’d never experienced it, so I was worried.
They say fear comes from what you don’t know, after all.
“The Ers store is just ahead. Normally, only those with reservations may enter, but VIPs are permitted entry even without a reservation.”
While I was thinking about that for a moment, I Changjin, who had been guiding me beside me, spoke up.
Hearing him, I turned my head and looked at the store.
A place painted in an elegant gold.
It was a bit like the color of a famous chocolate wrapper.
That elegant gold, just like the shell of that really round chocolate with an almond inside.
I barely held myself back because I felt like everyone would look at me strangely if I said that out loud.
“However, products such as the Curly Bag and the Vine Bag cannot be purchased on the same day, so we ask for your understanding on that point.”
Curly Bag? Vine Bag?
It seemed there were quite a lot of types of handbags too.
Listening to I Changjin’s explanation, I carefully entered the Ers store.
‘Wow…….’
It was different.
The atmosphere was clearly different from the two luxury stores I’d stopped by earlier.
How should I put it?
The store where I bought the jacket felt like a luxury clothing shop, and the store where I bought the coat was a luxury store that handled all kinds of things.
‘But this place really feels like a space for VIPs.’
This was a store for conglomerate heirs.
An atmosphere that made it feel only natural for people to look at those entering the store with envy.
To put it simply, it felt like a place you needed qualifications to enter.
Since they’d said people who weren’t VIPs couldn’t enter without a reservation in the first place, I suppose that was only natural.
“Welcome. Is there a product you are looking for?”
It was the most polite and formal greeting I’d received so far.
In truth, maybe it only felt that way because of the atmosphere.
My body stiffened a little because it felt like I wasn’t supposed to be here.
‘No. I came here to buy something.’
Arcana tier.
I came here to reach that, so let’s straighten my shoulders with confidence.
But even though I thought that, my body didn’t follow very well.
“A bag… I came to look at bags.”
“May I ask what kind of bag you are looking for?”
This was hard.
Maybe I should have at least searched it up beforehand.
As I was worrying, my eyes met I Changjin’s.
Seeing me, he smiled kindly and spoke to the employee.
“The customer would like a bag or another product that can be purchased today. Would you be able to guide her?”
‘Nice shot, Changjin.’
Inwardly, I gave him a thumbs-up.
“Of course. The types of bags available for purchase today are the Garden Bag, S Bag, Coco Bag, and Linda Bag. These four types. Is there a type you would prefer?”
I had no idea.
I came to buy a bag, yet I knew absolutely nothing about bags. What an ironic situation.
Though rather than irony, it was probably just my own fault for rushing in without any preparation.
In any case, after hearing the bag names, my mind went blank, so I named the bag whose name I liked best.
“I’ll go with the Linda Bag, please.”
“Understood. I will guide you this way.”
As I followed the employee, I Changjin spoke carefully.
“We will wait here. Please enjoy your time.”
If I could, I wanted to take him with me. I needed a luxury-brand interpreter.
But I couldn’t exactly stop someone who said he would wait and then left the store like that.
With no other choice, I lowered my head slightly in farewell and followed the employee deeper inside.
After walking for a short while, we reached the depths of the store.
Rather than actually being deep, it felt more like the route had been twisted around here and there, making it seem that way.
“The lineup here consists of the Linda Bags available for purchase today. From here, they are size 26, 30, 36, and mini. The mini and 30 are sold out, so you would need to place a reservation order, while the 26 and 36 are available for same-day purchase.”
“Ah… yes.”
The bag called the Linda Bag.
It looked a little different from the Ers bags I knew.
The one I originally knew was a large bag carried in one hand.
In any case, I began looking at them one by one to choose which one was best.
The ones I could buy today were the 26 and 36.
The 36 seemed a little big, so I mainly looked at the 26.
“Mm……”
Since the design was all the same anyway, what mattered in the end was the color.
I had to find a color that suited me, but I didn’t really know what that was, so it was hard to choose one.
On top of that, even when the leather color was the same, the color of the decorations attached to the outside? were all subtly different, which made me hesitate even more.
Gold seemed too flashy, and silver seemed too plain.
After looking hard like that, I narrowed it down to about two candidates.
One was gray leather with gold hardware.
The other was dark brown leather with silver hardware.
As I seriously agonized over which of the two would be better, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘Do I really have to choose just one?’
“Um, excuse me…”
“Yes, please feel free to speak.”
“This one and this one. I’d like to take both. How much are they?”
“……The Etoupe color is 13 million, and the Elephant Gray color is 12 million.”
The moment I heard that, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘What kind of bag costs this much? Just buying bags would get me to Arcana.’
I hesitated a little inside.
Even if I had 500 billion won, wasn’t spending this extravagantly a bit of a problem?
Spending 25 million won not on clothes, but on mere bags.
And bags I might not even carry around.
‘If I spend like this four more times, that’s 100 million. And 500 billion would be another five thousand times…….’
No.
I could just buy them and be fine.
“I’ll buy both. Please wrap them.”
“Yes, confirmed. If you could wait here for a moment, we will prepare them for you.”
The employee then guided me somewhere again.
The place the employee led me to had a fitting room with a wooden door instead of a curtain.
Though it was called a fitting room, it felt more like a small room.
Looking inside, there was a table, a mirror, and all sorts of things.
“If you could wait here for just a moment, we will prepare the products and show them to you.”
After saying that, the employee closed the door and disappeared in an instant.
Sitting alone in a soft chair, I felt strange.
‘…Spending 100 million would be easy.’
A small laugh slipped out.
####
“Platinum……”
The card had evolved again.
If it was going to be like this, couldn’t they just give me the Arcana card right away?
‘Would that be a bit much?’
I put the card into my wallet, along with the business card the Ers employee had given me.
Seller, Choe Jinia.
The name was unusual, so I felt like it would be easy to remember.
She had even said she would contact me right away if I wanted to purchase another bag or if new products came in.
After going through all of this, I really did feel like I had become a chaebol.
Especially when I came out of the store carrying two wrapped bags, everyone nearby had looked at me.
It was still embarrassing.
But it felt good.
Today’s department store experience review.
There is no getting tired of spending money.
‘Now I have about 50 million won left?’
After Platinum came Diamond.
Annual purchases of 70 million won or more.
At the thought that raising my department store tier was much easier than raising a game tier, I almost burst out laughing.
“Where shall I guide you next?”
I Changjin asked for my next destination.
The corners of his mouth were rising more and more, and I was seriously worried that if I reached Arcana, they might reach his ears.
Where should I go?
After thinking for a moment, I took out my phone and checked the time.
It was 4 o’clock now.
It seemed I’d spent more time than expected at the Ers store.
‘Ah, right.’
From now on, let’s not bother taking out my phone to check the time.
“……I’d like to look at wristwatches too.”
“I will guide you there right away.”
####
Assistant Manager I Changjin had an experience unusual enough that he wouldn’t need to order side dishes with his drinks for a while.
A twenty-one-year-old, the youngest Arcana customer.
He had seen many customers who had reached Arcana, and had served many of them as well, but there had never been anyone as unusual as her.
She definitely had a lot of money.
But something about her seemed clumsy.
The way she wanted to go to expensive stores, freely picked out luxury goods, and did not hesitate to make same-day purchases.
It was very different from the purchasing style of chaebols he had seen so far.
‘A lottery winner?’
But could someone really spend money this thoughtlessly just because they had won the lottery?
‘It feels a little much to call it lottery money…….’
He had seen many people who had won the lottery come to the department store and spend money.
Her spending style was similar to those people, but somehow. Somehow, it was a little different.
No matter how eager someone was to spend money lavishly, when they heard an unimaginable price, they were bound to hesitate for a moment.
For instance, trying on a 37-million-won watch once at a store they went to in order to buy a wristwatch, then buying it on the spot, was not something a lottery winner could do.
After that, she had bought all kinds of other things as well.
She had truly reached the Arcana tier in a single day and received the membership card.
If she were a lottery winner, there was no way she would spend in such an absurd manner.
And even if she were nouveau riche, unless she had come into an extraordinary amount of money, she would not act like this.
There were 1,800 Arcana members in the country.
And a twenty-one-year-old woman had taken one of those spots.
‘I just don’t understand.’
After thinking for a moment, I Changjin gave up on thinking any deeper.
He simply thought it best not to get entangled with chaebols or businessmen.
And so, after the youngest Arcana customer told him she would go bring the car to load the luggage, he ended up standing alone at the entrance of the department store.
The sight of three sturdy men standing at the entrance holding an enormous amount of luxury goods was quite impressive.
So much so that every passerby glanced at them.
I Changjin, accustomed to such things, stood there expressionlessly, but the two employees beside him apparently were not.
In particular, one of them seemed unable to keep his mouth shut and finally spoke.
“Assistant Manager, doesn’t something seem strange?”
An employee who enjoyed gossip.
As soon as he opened his mouth, I Changjin told him to be quiet.
“Watch your mouth.”
Of course, he himself had also been thinking it was a little strange.
“Even if she’s a lottery winner, it feels like… her spending was different, should I say.”
“……I’m jealous of the lottery.”
This time, the other employee standing beside the gossiping one murmured as he looked at the luxury goods in his hands.
Looking at the two of them, I Changjin let out a short sigh.
“Both of you, just stay quiet. Don’t say unnecessary things.”
Only then did the two fall silent.
But a moment later, they saw a sight they couldn’t understand and ended up looking at the Arcana customer with odd expressions.
“You waited a long time, right? I’m sorry.”
“Ah… not at all.”
The car she had driven over was a minicar.
And a low-cost domestic model, at that.
It was popular because it had ample storage space, but it was somehow lacking for a car driven by someone who spent 100 million won in a day.
The two employees standing behind I Changjin also tilted their heads as they looked at the VIP.
“Could you help me load the luggage? Ah, except for that coffee bag.”
Since she had asked, they did as they were told and placed the luggage in the trunk.
‘The things in the trunk must be far more expensive than the car….’
Thinking that, Assistant Manager I Changjin loaded all the luggage into the car and carefully closed the trunk.
Then, this time—
“It’s not much, but you went through a lot because of me today, so this is a small gift… for you.”
She handed each of them expensive coffee beans from the coffee bag she had set aside.
“No, you don’t have to give us something like this……”
“Just take it.”
She forced the coffee beans into I Changjin’s resisting hand, quickly climbed into the minicar, and disappeared in an instant.
“What on earth was that……”
And so, I Changjin and the two employees stood there blankly, coffee beans in hand, watching the minicar grow distant.