Troll

⁦⁠♡⁩ TL: Khadija SK

 

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Note: Some parts of this chapter contain strong language which may not be suitable for all audiences.

 

—

 

Son of a b*tch.

 

Jin-ah swallowed down the curses rising to the back of her throat.

 

Merely glaring wasn’t enough evidence of harassment.

 

Besides, there was no way that man would admit to it.

 

What crushed Jin-ah’s spirit the most were the flashy car with a Ferrari emblem and the man’s attire.

 

The car, the clothes, the watch.

 

Even without the airs of arrogance, it was evident he came from a wealthy background.

 

When she used to work catering in the upscale neighborhood, she encountered such people frequently.

 

Thanks to that, she had gained experience.

 

Reporting them would be futile; it wouldn’t even be an inconvenience for them.

 

Instead, it would only make things harder for her.

 

As Jin-ah stood still with a contorted expression, the stumbling man gestured to Ian as if to say, “Please back down,” then approached her.

 

“Hello, are you Jean-Antoine Troll?”

 

“I’m Jin-ah.”

 

“What? Oh, Jina…”

 

“Jin-ah.”

 

At Jin-ah’s brief response, Colin faltered, not knowing what to do.

 

His reaction suddenly irritated her.

 

She was angry at the guy who mocked her, yet she felt pathetic for venting her frustration on his companion.

 

“Just call me whatever. My name doesn’t matter. And don’t contact me again after this conversation.”

 

Since she was the one who initiated this confrontation, she thought they should end it quickly and adjusted her bag; ready to leave as soon as the conversation was over.

 

Apparently, Colin sensed that if he kept nitpicking, Jin-ah might actually leave in a huff.

 

He composed himself as much as possible and spoke calmly.

 

“As I mentioned in the email, I am the operator of the Ruins Exploration Channel. Our team has been filming across the UK for two years, as well as France, Germany, and other countries. And Ian here is a sponsor of our channel.”

 

Colin came closer and whispered as if to explain himself.

 

“As you know, business requires initial funding, so I had no choice but to collaborate with people like him. I hope you understand.”

 

Seeing Colin groveling to his sponsor, Jin-ah lowered her guard a bit.

 

“Alright. That’s fine. But as I said in the email, unauthorized entry is not permitted.”

 

“If it’s a risk issue, it’s okay. I’ll write an agreement stating that I won’t demand any compensation.”

 

“Um… honestly, I don’t care if you get hurt or not. I don’t have money to compensate you even if you do.”

 

“Then why…”

 

“It was my grandmother’s will. She forbade anyone from entering the mansion. If anyone else enters the mansion, the trust company will immediately stop the money I receive monthly.”

 

Colin fell silent for a moment.

 

The look in his eyes as he examined Jin-ah showed suspicion rather than casual lying.

 

He thought for a moment and then spoke again.

 

“Do you know the reason for the will?”

 

“No. I didn’t even know my grandmother was alive before inheriting. So, I have no idea.”

 

“Is there something precious inside the mansion that your grandmother wanted to keep hidden from people…?”

 

Jin-ah burst into laughter at Colin’s subsequent words.

 

She thought to herself, this guy really latches onto anything that could make a story.

 

“If there was something like that, the trust company would have convinced my grandmother before me. So, just look elsewhere.”

 

As Jin-ah tried to turn away, Colin grabbed her backpack.

 

Startled, she turned back, and he quickly let go, looking genuinely apologetic.

 

Grabbing someone like this would leave the police with no grounds to intervene immediately.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… But still, isn’t there any way? The trust company hasn’t installed CCTV there to monitor every day, right? We’ll just go in and out for a day. We’ll make sure not to be a nuisance.”

 

At the mention of being a nuisance, Jin-ah flinched for a moment, which Colin didn’t miss.

 

“Looking at Ian, you can tell, he’s dripping with money. You’ve heard of the Isford Group, right? He’s the heir.”

 

“The Isford Group?”

 

Jin-ah’s eyes widened in astonishment.

 

Isford.

 

If you lived in London, or indeed anywhere in the UK, you couldn’t possibly be unaware of that name.

 

Not only in the UK but throughout Europe, many knew the name.

 

The Isford Group was a big name in the UK retail business.

 

Even just looking at this street corner, there was a supermarket with the Isford name.

 

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there was an Isford subsidiary in almost every alley.

 

It wasn’t just a simple retail company.

 

Isford’s market share in the British food sector was overwhelming.

 

Some said that if Isford withdrew from the food business, the entire UK would starve from that day onwards.

 

Jin-ah’s eyes turned to Ian.

 

He was talking to someone on the phone but glanced at Jin-ah briefly.

 

As Jin-ah said ‘Isford,’ she saw a smirk on his face.

 

It was an attitude as if to say, ‘Now you know who I am.’

 

“So, if you grant us permission to film, we’ll make sure the compensation is more than satisfactory.”

 

Colin looked at Jin-ah with a face that said he had explained enough.

 

But Jin-ah replied firmly.

 

“No, I refuse.”

 

The initial £400,000 she received might have gone, but the £2,000 she received monthly was still being paid to her regularly.

 

No matter how generous the compensation was, compared to the £2,000 that would be paid to her for the rest of her life, it wouldn’t be satisfying.

 

“Just look elsewhere. I don’t understand why you’re so fixated on that house. Oh, and there’s…”

 

Jin-ah shuddered for a moment.

 

She remembered what was inside the mansion.

 

“My grandmother’s body is still there. She wanted to be left in the mansion without any funeral after her death.”

 

The lawyer handling the inheritance had said so.

 

According to her grandmother’s wishes, the body remained in the mansion without any funeral proceedings.

 

In the central room on the second floor, where she had placed the flag during her lifetime.

 

Jin-ah shivered at the thought.

 

Whether one was religious or not, it was customary to have a funeral.

 

Even if her grandmother had been immersed in some local superstition, there should have been some funeral proceedings.

 

But to leave her dead body there…

 

It would have been more understandable if she had asked to be buried in a field.

 

However, the lawyer, with an unaffected expression, had simply said it was her long-standing wish.

 

Even if Jin-ah had subtly asked if it would be better to hold a funeral, he had cut her off, saying, ‘We follow the deceased’s wishes.’

 

She thought revealing that there was a body inside the house might make him hesitate, but it seemed to have only piqued Colin’s curiosity even more.

 

“Is that true?”

 

The moment Colin’s eyes lit up, Jin-ah realized she had made a big mistake.

 

To someone like him, the fact that there was a corpse inside would only arouse more curiosity.

 

Now, Jin-ah felt it would be pointless to continue the conversation.

 

“Anyway, it’s not happening. If you breach it and upload any videos, I’ll sue immediately. And not just take down the videos, but I’ll report the entire channel.”

 

Somewhere she had read that channel operators were very sensitive to such reports.

 

Colin’s expression really crumpled.

 

Meanwhile, as Jin-ah mentioned the name of the trust company, Ian’s face hardened even more.

 

At that moment, Ian finished his call, then bent down inside the car for a moment before he approached both of them and got closer.

 

It felt like he was getting unnecessarily close.

 

At that moment, Jin-ah felt something pushing against her chest.

 

“….!”

 

Surprised, she looked down to see a thick wad of cash.

 

Was there anyone carrying cash around like this these days?

 

No, more importantly, did this guy just stab her with this?

 

Ian looked at Jin-ah as if to say, ‘I know you recognize it’, and jiggled the wad of cash in his hand.

 

It was a gesture that anyone would understand as meaning he wanted something other than money.

 

“I found out you have quite a bit of debt. If you just give us permission, things will improve for you.”

 

Rustle.

 

The bundle of cash in Ian’s hand made a crisp sound.

 

Colin, standing beside him, looked between the bundle of cash, Ian, and Jin-ah, alternately.

 

Ian shook the bundle of money he had been holding over Jin-ah’s chest before tucking it into her jacket pocket.

 

“If you grant permission, I’ll give you a few more of these. If you come out with me tonight, I’ll give you one bundle for every time we buy a round.”

 

At his words, Jin-ah reached for the bundle in her pocket.

 

Then, without hesitation, she threw it straight at Ian’s face with all her force.

 

Crash!

 

Due to the torn paper strap, the £50 notes scattered across the alley.

 

“You as*h*le, f*ck you.”

 

Jin-ah raised her middle finger to Ian, who was clutching his nose that had been hit by his money, then turned away.

 

She thought, since she had spoken in Korean, those bastards wouldn’t even know what it meant, and they wouldn’t be able to report her.

 

Feeling like a complete idiot for being insulted and still considering being reported.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks had passed since then.

 

There had been no more contact from Colin.

 

Well, seeing that scene and still contacting her again would be remarkable in itself.

 

In the meantime, Jin-ah had been looking for a new job.

 

It was mid-November now, and the country was already filled with red decorations, waiting eagerly for Christmas.

 

With Christmas approaching, there was a shortage of manpower everywhere.

 

Among them, the food industry was one of the loudest in screaming for help.

 

‘I have to find a good place.’

 

Yesterday, Jin-ah had seen tomatoes and other vegetables at a high-end market.

 

Even in this situation, she still couldn’t stomach cheap processed foods.

 

The best way to cut down on food expenses in such a situation is to work in a place that handles good ingredients.

 

She was scrolling through job sites on her phone when suddenly,

 

Ring!

 

A strong vibration accompanied an unfamiliar number.

 

‘Could it be the bank again?’ She thought.

 

But the number started with 131, which was a local area code.

 

‘Who could it be?’

 

Thinking it might be a spam call, she hesitated for a moment, and the call disconnected.

 

But soon after, the phone rang again.

 

Although she didn’t know who the caller was, it seemed urgent.

 

Eventually, Jin-ah answered the call.

 

–Is this Jean-Antoine Troll?

 

The caller spoke before Jin-ah could say anything and immediately stated the reason for the call.

 

–Someone has died at your mansion. You need to come here.

 

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T.N: The ML is trash~ I hope  he’s the one who died (^⁠‿⁠^⁠)