Different (3)
Tick, tick-tick.
Du-ho organized the transaction history on his smart watch.
The sight of that total made a grin spread across his face before he could stop it.
Whoo, yeah.
“I only sold half of it, and it’s already fifty million coins.”
Maybe because he’d built up experience, maybe because people remembered his face now, but dealing with the shops went much more smoothly than before.
Of course, there was still the trouble of selling everything in pieces.
Isto’s voice came through.
“I wandered around and it was buzzing with talk about the Ghost. Everyone seemed to be looking for Du-ho nim.”
“The Ghost is you, not me.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Who was the one hunting the monsters?”
“Me.”
“Then the Ghost is you.”
“Huh?”
The truth was, Du-ho thought, I’m not stepping out there either, not with those two roaming around — one obsessed with world conquest, the other with robot liberation.
He walked the streets looking for a place that would buy leather.
While he was at it, he took a look around the commercial district too.
And before he knew it, he had wandered all the way to the edge of Yeouido Sector 3.
I’ve gone too far. I should head ba—
An old iron sign caught his eye.
Moru Workshop.
There was something strangely magnetic about it.
Seeing the words “Please come in” posted on the workshop’s iron door, it looked like it was open to customers.
“…Maybe I’ll just look around.”
The moment he reached for the door, click-clack, click-clack.
Someone brushed past him.
Instinctively, he turned his head.
A man came running by, blood streaming from his neck.
Right after that…
“Where did you hide, where did you hide~? Should I hide here, or should I hide there~?”
A woman’s humming drifted into Du-ho’s ear.
She was a silver-haired woman with a balanced, well-proportioned figure, wearing a long black coat.
Without so much as glancing his way, she passed right by him.
A foreigner…
And she’s singing hide-and-seek in Korean?
Was she a broadcaster?
No — almost certainly a hunter.
After all, this was Yeouido, the city of hunters.
So.
Let’s not get involved and get inside fast.
“Excuse me…”
Once he stepped into the workshop, there was a middle door inside.
Why’d they build it like this?
He opened the middle door and immediately understood why.
The smell of iron and a burst of heat washed over his face.
Clang—! Clang—!
Before the furnace, a white-haired old man was silently hammering away at a sword laid across the anvil.
His sweat-soaked hair clung to his forehead, and countless burn scars covered his forearms.
It was a powerful sight, one Du-ho had never seen before.
He watched, spellbound, as the sword took shape.
How long had passed?
Bang—!
The old man finished his hammering and turned his head.
“A customer?”
He set the hammer down and looked Du-ho over closely.
Du-ho spotted a yellowed piece of paper on the wall.
Leather Purchased
“I came to sell leather.”
“Let me take a look.”
The old man came out, wiping sweat from his face with a towel.
Du-ho took one cobalt scale and one piece of drake runner leather from his inventory and set them on the table.
Since hunters with subspaces existed, the old man didn’t react much to that.
The problem was this.
“Sorry, but we don’t take single pieces.”
“Pardon?”
The old man pointed at the wall with a thick forefinger.
Only then did Du-ho notice the faint writing beneath the faded paper.
Bulk purchases only.
Hmm.
Well, that suited me fine, he was about to say, when the old man spoke first.
“You know, the first floor of the Abyss vanished not long ago. These leathers will dry up before long.”
“I see.”
“Soon enough, these two will probably be imported from overseas.”
Other countries had more of it than they knew what to do with on their second floors.
So once imports started, the market price was bound to fall.
In other words, this is the right time to sell.
Du-ho looked at the old man.
He appreciated the honest warning, and after seeing him working just a moment ago, there was something about him that inspired trust.
Though they worked in different fields, the common ground of handling iron felt oddly reassuring too.
The old man ran his hand over the leather.
“The cut edge is smooth. No fiber damage either… You did this yourself?”
“No. A friend did it for me.”
“Then your friend is a professional.”
“Ahem~ Thank you, hamda!”
Isto’s triumphant voice rang out.
Of course, only Du-ho could hear it.
The old man said, “If you go to Sector 2, drake leather should fetch around eighty thousand, cobalt about one hundred and twenty thousand. They prefer single pieces there.”
Then he handed the leather back to Du-ho.
His eyes seemed to say, Don’t take a loss here when you can get more over there.
Oh! Oh!
“You should go right away, Du-ho nim.”
At Isto’s urging, Du-ho shook his head.
“How much can you offer, sir?”
“I can’t pay top price. Most of our customers are light on cash.”
In other words, he ran the workshop with poor hunters in mind.
And somehow, that suited Du-ho too.
Well…
If Sector 2 prefers individual pieces, I’d have to run around every time. Then I’d never build a regular customer base.
So.
He opened his inventory.
And boldly pressed the slot containing the leather.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
Drake runner and cobalt scale leather piled up high.
The old man’s sharp eyes went wide.
“T-this is… all stuff you hunted yourself?”
“How much can you give me?”
The old man looked from Du-ho to the leather and back again.
To bring this much from the first floor…?
My God.
Could this young man be the Ghost…?
Swallowing hard, the old man said, “I’ll take the cobalt at one hundred thousand each, and the drake at seventy thousand coins. If that doesn’t suit you….”
“That works.”
“Du-ho nim?! That won’t do!”
Isto. I think it’s better to hand this over to him.
“Why, hamda?”
Because building a trade partner matters.
Thinking of all the times Isto had gone on monster hunts so far, events like this would probably keep happening in the future.
A little later, 79 million coins were deposited into Du-ho’s account.
He learned the old man’s name was Jang Mun-seo from the account transfer.
More than that…
I didn’t think he could move this much volume.
With this, today’s earnings alone came to 130 million coins.
“You sold it all at once! So this is why having a trade partner was important!”
Not bad, right?
“It’s good! Heehee.”
Jang Mun-seo returned after stepping away for a moment.
For some reason, the expression on his face as he looked at Du-ho seemed different now.
“I don’t have much I can do for you. If you ever need to sell leather in bulk again, come here.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
After answering, Du-ho tilted his head.
He says he doesn’t have much he can do for me?
Maybe he felt bad for buying it so cheaply.
Hmm…
I really did meet a good person.
Du-ho stared at the heap of leather.
Then suddenly he said, “Boss, I’m actually making a support device.”
“A support device?”
“A device that helps reduce the strain on the waist and legs.”
“Why bother? There are implants for that. And you probably don’t really need one anyway.”
“...I’m making it for my father.”
Oh dear.
“A filial son, then. …So?”
Du-ho raised a hologram on his smart watch.
The support device spun in 3D.
Jang Mun-seo studied it carefully.
Oh?
“It’s pretty well made. But this section here… I’m worried it’ll rub the skin raw if worn for long.”
He found the problem immediately.
As expected, he was no ordinary man.
“Boss. What I mean is, if we line this with leather, I think the fit would be much better. What do you think?”
“Just as you said, drake runner leather is perfect here. It’s tough, but flexible.”
“Then could you maybe teach me how to work it…?”
“I’ll teach you.”
Jang Mun-seo agreed readily.
“But you’ll have to learn it properly. Monster leather isn’t something you master by looking at it once or twice.”
“I think I can only come after evening. Would weekends be all right too?”
“Doesn’t matter. I work late into the night anyway.”
Du-ho hurried to thank him.
I do waste a lot of time wandering around, but still, where else would I ever stumble onto luck like this?
That thought had barely crossed his mind when—
I can handle that problem, Mechromancer-nim, I, Hoguai, can take care of it.
Du-ho quickly asked for permission.
“Um… may I use the restroom for a moment?”
“Go on back there.”
Du-ho headed toward the inner workshop.
As soon as he stepped into the Garage, Hoguai said at once,
Using my ability, Save Point, will solve it.
“Save Point?”
“I can store coordinates at a scouted location and move there instantly, without physical travel.”
“What?!”
Hoguai snatched the laptop Isto had been using and explained while showing a map on the screen.
“Set a Save Point near the workshop and another at the Management Bureau. Your Mechromancer-nim’s base camp, your residence, is also possible, of course.”
Du-ho’s eyes widened.
“That’s a crazy ability.”
“For now, it’s limited to three points.”
Which meant it might expand later.
Du-ho organized his thoughts.
“Can you also clear a location?”
“Of course. Once you leave the workshop, let’s set a Save Point around here.”
“Okay.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In an alley between buildings.
Tap, tap, wheeze, wheeze!
Footsteps echoed along with ragged breathing.
Fear was carved into the drug dealer’s eyes.
Looking back, he saw silver-haired Susan in her black long coat following after him.
“How do you keep finding me!”
No matter how he ran, she kept appearing out of nowhere, driving him nearly insane.
He darted into the basement of an old building.
Susan hummed at the basement stairs.
“Hide and seek, hide and seek, where have you gone~?”
Swish.
After cutting off the song, she walked down the stairs.
Creak—.
Soon she opened the basement door and stepped inside.
“Huff, huff, wheeze…!”
The drug dealer was trying to catch his breath.
Behind him stood awakeners and cyborgs.
When he shifted his gaze, he saw an illegal drug-manufacturing setup running in one corner.
This wasn’t just a simple drug factory.
It was a criminal organization that even most hunter guilds wouldn’t dare touch.
The drug dealer wiped the blood from his neck and put on an arrogant sneer.
Hey.
“You crazy bitch came here to die on your own, huh?”
Susan smiled and said to the criminals, “Everyone~ I’ll just kill him and be on my way.”
The whole room exploded into laughter.
“…Is she completely nuts?”
Buzzz—!
A cyborg rotated the hydraulic clamp arm attached to its body.
Clank…
Meanwhile, someone locked the basement iron door.
Instead of unsettling her, their reaction only twisted Susan’s lips higher.
Mm-hmm~.
“This is even better.”
Whirl, whirl.
The fork in her hand spun with dazzling speed.
“Looks like I don’t have to choose who to kill?”
You crazy bitch!
Bang—!
The cyborg with the hydraulic clamp smashed the floor and charged at Susan.
Dust and debris burst up like a storm.
But where she had stood, only Susan’s afterimage remained.
Her target was one thing only.
The bundle of power cables between the neck and shoulder, where the thick armor plates failed to cover fully.
Whoosh—!
Her slender arm bent like a whip.
The tip of the fork, still spinning wildly, plunged straight into the cables.
Crackle!
Blue sparks exploded like a fountain.
Pshh, pshhh.
Hydraulic fluid sprayed out.
The cyborg pitched forward, reduced to a lump of scrap metal.
Susan vanished again.
Terrified awakeners and cyborgs scanned the room in all directions.
Thwip, thwip! Thwip-thwip!
Somewhere amid the chaos, a burst of sound accompanied the fork stabbing into another cyborg’s knee and elbow joints.
The steel giant, its main drive shaft ruined, rolled over with a shriek of metal.
And as the rest were caught in the fallout, they collapsed in a chain reaction.
Every time her figure disappeared—
Thud! Crash! Boom!
—booming impacts kept detonating through the underground space.
And then…
Only the drug dealer who had lured her there remained.
Eeek!
“D-don’t come any closer!”
Pale as a corpse, the drug dealer ran for the iron door.
Clatter, clatter!
He shook the handle like a man possessed.
Susan stood right behind him.
Click—.
She reached out and opened the lock for him.
“…?!”
The drug dealer made a face of complete incomprehension.
She tipped her chin toward the door and gave him a crescent-eyed smile.
“Hide and seek, hide and seek, where’ve you gone, little head of hair might show~.”
The drug dealer burst out crying and fled.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A connection with the owner of a workshop who actually knew his craft.
Just as valuable as the weight in his pocket was the comfort in his chest.
And on top of that, he’d even be able to learn the technique himself.
It was the perfect day!
Hmm…
All I need to do is set a Save Point.
So while he circled the area, he found a narrow alley that wasn’t very crowded.
“Ho… Guai. How about over there?”
“Please feel free to call me casually.”
“R-really?”
“I’ll make absolutely sure to raise Mechromancer-nim to S-rank!!!”
It sounded like he was gritting his teeth as he spoke.
“I’m asking if it’ll work, though.”
“A secluded place is good for startling humans.”
Sure enough…
This one’s not normal either.
He let out a sigh and walked into the alley.
When he stopped around the middle of it, someone dashed in from the entrance.
At a glance, the man was covered head to toe in blood and grease.
And yet, he looked familiar.
The man who was bleeding from his neck?
“M-move—!”
The man shoved past Du-ho just as—
Shreeeeek—!
Something flew in from the alley Du-ho had come through.
“Du-ho nim!”
Du-ho seized the man by the collar and hurled him backward while directing his nanobots to swat the incoming object away.
Clang—!
With a metallic sound, it tumbled to the ground.
Du-ho looked down quickly.
“A… a fork?”
As he muttered in disbelief, his gaze locked onto the mouth of the alley.