“Ugh…”
Jiyu woke up from her sleep. She had no idea when she had dozed off. She vaguely remembered feeling drowsy after listening to Hana’s song… Looking around, everyone was slumped over their desks, fast asleep. Jiyu stared at the surreal scene.
Luckily, she spotted Hana standing. Jiyu got up from her seat, feeling unusually refreshed. She always felt tired after waking up, but it had been a while since she had such a deep sleep.
“Hana, what happened?”
“Well…”
Hana scratched her head and explained. Apparently, listening to her singing could make people fall asleep. If everyone sang along, it was fine, but if Hana sang solo, everyone would doze off. Jiyu couldn’t help but be amazed by Hana’s ability.
Of course, there were hunters around, people who could summon fire or water out of thin air, so such abilities weren’t exactly unfamiliar. But a power that made people fall asleep just by singing? That was a first.
As they chatted, everyone started waking up. Thankfully, it seemed like they had only slept for a short while. If they had slept as deeply as they did at home, today’s classes would have been over.
The kids woke up first, and finally, even the teacher stirred. And just like that, the adorable incident of Hana’s lullaby came to an end. From now on, they vowed not to let Hana sing solo again.
—
“Hana, let’s go eat malatang!”
“Huh?”
Because of the nap during music class, they hadn’t eaten lunch. Jiyu had been left awkwardly guarding the classroom alone. So, by the time school was almost over, her stomach felt like it was sticking to her back. Jiyu and Yumi seemed to feel the same, clutching their stomachs in hunger.
“Yeah, let’s eat what we want!”
Come to think of it, Jiyu had no idea what malatang even tasted like. She wasn’t big on sweet and spicy foods like tteokbokki or malatang that girls seemed to love. Back when she was a guy, she mostly ate stir-fried pork or pork cutlets. She hadn’t tried malatang or cheesy tteokbokki much. She’d had tteokbokki at school or once in a while, but malatang was a first.
Curious about why everyone loved it so much, she decided to give it a try.
“Hana, have you ever had malatang before?”
Jiyu linked arms with her and asked. They were walking to the store after class. Jiyu answered honestly.
“No, I’ve never had it before!”
“Really? Well, this is a good chance to try it then!”
Yumi nodded in agreement beside her.
“Jiyu and Yumi, you’ve had it a lot, huh?”
Jiyu and Yumi acted like seasoned malatang eaters. They answered confidently.
“There’s no girl in our class who doesn’t like malatang, right?”
“Exactly! No girl hates tteokbokki or malatang!”
They spoke so firmly that Jiyu didn’t dare to argue. Seeing how passionate they were, malatang must be delicious.
But the weather was so hot that something cool sounded more appealing. In this heat, a bowl of shaved ice would probably make her feel like she was flying…
But judging by Jiyu and Yumi’s determination, malatang was clearly the plan. Jiyu followed them like a prisoner being dragged to jail. Well, since they were already going, trying malatang didn’t seem like a bad experience. Plus, the malatang place would probably have air conditioning, so it’d be cool inside.
It was hot outside, but the store would be air-conditioned. As they walked behind Jiyu and Yumi, they soon arrived at the malatang place. It didn’t look particularly famous. These days, new stores were popping up everywhere, so it was hard to find a place that had been around for a long time.
Whether it was due to high rent or poor sales, it was rare to see a store that had stayed in the same spot for years. Only franchise stores seemed to survive, while others closed down within three years.
And so, holding Jiyu and Yumi’s hands, Jiyu stepped inside the malatang store.
—
“Finally, I get to try it.”
The day before, the line had been too long, so she couldn’t buy it. But today, after taking half a day off and waiting in line for nearly an hour, she finally got her hands on it. If she hadn’t taken the time off, she wouldn’t have been able to get it today. She never imagined there would be so many bald men on Wall Street buying this. Everyone pretended not to, but they were all wearing wigs while secretly…
It seemed like they had been hiding the fact that they were bald. Otherwise, there’s no way so many bald men would have suddenly appeared.
“The packaging is quite something, huh?”
“It’s plastic, not glass, so you don’t have to worry about it breaking if you drop it.”
“By the way, this tiny bottle costs $300… For a month’s supply of hair loss treatment, that’s a fair price, right?”
Unlike Korea, in the U.S., ingredients and groceries are cheap, but services like dining out or anything requiring labor are expensive. It’s about double what you’d pay in Korea. For them, $300 was a price they were willing to pay if it meant curing their baldness.
“Let’s rest well over the weekend and meet again with full heads of hair.”
“Yeah, a 50% chance is a pretty sweet deal.”
“I just hope my hair grows back.”
The three Wall Street managers parted ways with smiles on their faces. They were grateful for even a small glimmer of hope. Normally, they would have had to accept their baldness, but now a big hope was waiting for them.
After a whirlwind weekend, the three managers met again, and they all showed up with full heads of hair.
“This is insane!”
“Did Walmart really make a deal with the devil?”
“I never imagined I’d be washing my hair with shampoo again in my lifetime! I thought I’d never use shampoo until the day I died!”
They decided to hold onto their Walmart stocks for life. For bald men, Walmart was like a divine messenger. A god that gave them new hair.
—
With the introduction of Tangle, daily sales figures were released. It seemed like every bald person in the country had gathered, and sales were skyrocketing endlessly.
“$10 million in daily sales? From 300 Walmart stores?”
“Wait, so that’s $300 million in monthly sales? That’s insane!”
“Are there really this many bald people in America?”
The sales from 300 stores left many stock investors speechless. It was unbelievable. And this was before the product had even been introduced to all stores. In terms of single-item sales, it was probably outperforming even the most popular fruits in the U.S.
Of course, it was only the first day. Tangle was a product that, once purchased, could last for about a month. As evidence, sales dropped by half the next day. But even then, the sales volume was still massive. If it were rolled out nationwide, sales could easily double or triple.
“My hair didn’t grow…”
“That’s because you haven’t been living a virtuous life.”
There were people whose hair didn’t grow even after taking Tangle. It was a 50% chance, after all. So, some were flooding the reviews with angry comments.
But the positive reviews from those whose hair did grow outnumbered the negative ones, making it hard to find the bad reviews. At least for those whose baldness improved, Walmart was a godlike company.
Even the following week, people were still eager to buy Tangle. Some were even driving from remote areas without Walmart to big cities just to get it. After all, one purchase could last a month.
After a week, the frenzy of hoarding finally calmed down. If all bald people had been cured, there might have been a shortage, but since only half were “saved,” there was no issue with stock running out.
“We need to buy stocks!”
“This is definitely going to rise!”
Those who experienced the miracle started buying Walmart stocks like crazy. Walmart’s stock price soared endlessly, with no sign of stopping.
Amazon, which had been closely chasing Walmart, could only watch in frustration as Walmart’s rapid growth continued. Tangle was exclusively supplied by Walmart, after all.
