Chapter 22

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Translator: Wjin

Chapter: 22

Chapter Title: Delivering into the Dungeon

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"Uh... How did you come up with such an astonishing idea?"

Moon Chae-ryeon had frozen like a stone Buddha, but she finally mustered the courage to ask Delicious Waitress Mimi the reason. Mimi pulled a displeased face.

"Ugh... It seems that customer has fallen for our innocent customer..."

"Right, Senior Mimi? How dare an S-Rank Hunter—only an S-Rank Hunter—try to eye our precious master?"

"Exactly! Hey, you're on the same wavelength as me. That's what I thought too."

Whisper whisper. Murmur murmur.

Chae-ryeon didn't like how the summoned creatures were chatting in voices only they could understand. She grumbled in a small, sulky tone.

"What? Are you two excluding your owner right now?"

"Not at all!"

"No way!"

Delicious Waitress Mimi and Manager Sol-chan jumped in fright and denied it desperately. Chae-ryeon puffed out her cheeks and asked,

"Then why? What were you thinking when you saw that customer?"

"Well... Never mind. We figured we'd run into him again, so we vowed to prepare an extra-generous service next time!"

Sol-chan awkwardly added his excuse, and Mimi chimed in.

"Y-Yes, exactly! But also... We're upset that the bento you poured your heart into only fetched 85 gold."

Mimi's white, fluffy ears drooped sadly.

'Ah, that.'

The menu prices had been blanket-set at 45 gold each due to wrestling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with the system quests.

It had happened just as there was no time to tweak them, with Shin Ha-rang placing his order out of the blue...

'It was pretty fun, though.'

She'd hustled through the time attack, snagged a bunch of useful new skills, and scored the high-protein sandworm meat that nailed both taste and nutrition. Chae-ryeon was pleased.

"It's fine. That customer saved me, too. If anything, I should've discounted it more as thanks for that."

"But you saved him first, Master."

"Nah. I was just doing my job."

'A hunter who suddenly shows up for a delivery order? He'd have no reason to believe it. Yet he didn't pry into my identity or lock me up—he just let me go. Seems like a decent guy.'

To Chae-ryeon, Shin Ha-rang remained in her memory as someone trustworthy.

"Keep that contact info from the review. Might come in handy later."

"...If that's what you want, Master!"

Mimi hopped into Chae-ryeon's arms.

"M-Me too! Hug me, please!"

Sol-chan scampered over and clung to Chae-ryeon as well. The summoned pair adored her affection.

'They're so cute.'

"Alright, alright. Come here. I'll give you a big hug."

"Hehehehe."

"Senior Mimi, your laugh sounds weird."

"Hmph. Your tail's standing straight up from excitement!"

"Th-This is...!"

"It's okay to react honestly. I love seeing you two being adorable."

Chae-ryeon let out a clear laugh, and Mimi and Sol-chan burst into giggles.

"Okay, enough rest. We've got work left to do."

"What is it?"

"We got meat from a 'delicious' monster, so obviously, we have to sell it!"

'Hehe. All that hard work collecting pricey monster meat!'

How could she pass up the chance to fetch at least 2,000 gold per one?

Mimi and Sol-chan chuckled dryly at Chae-ryeon grinning with capitalist glee.

"You're a fine little capitalist, Master."

"But we think that side of you is cool, too."

"You don't have to force the compliments, guys..."

A few days passed like that.

With her body fully recovered, Chae-ryeon logged into Hunter Net, followed the info she'd gotten, and headed to the Hunter Market.

The Hunter Market was a market exclusively for hunters, held regularly on fields—artificial dungeons created by alchemists. It was always bustling with people.

'Whoa, so many people.'

Chae-ryeon tucked Mimi and Sol-chan into her bag and walked cautiously, savoring the Hunter Market's atmosphere.

'Sell the sandworm meat from last time here.'

The Hunter Market dealt in all sorts of goods.

Cheap or expensive, weapons, sundries—no discrimination. Hunters swarmed the place hawking dungeon loot or handmade items.

Twenty years ago, right after the dungeon breaks erupted and the world plunged into chaos, the Hunter Market had barely managed barter trades...

But as hunters stepped up to slay monsters and conquer dungeons, the chaos waned. Governments gained some control.

One result: Hunter Market entry permits.

Now commonplace—you could request one from Awakener Management Bureau staff at any district community center.

'Good thing I registered as a hunter a few days ago.'

Chae-ryeon had gone to the community center, filed for awakener registration, and undergone all the tests.

'Hmm... B-Rank.'

Curiously, her rank came out B, not S.

Maybe her stats didn't register properly when she wasn't cooking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a delivery order. Or it wasn't precise.

'Works for me.'

Chae-ryeon hummed happily as she accepted the test results gratefully. She got her B-Rank hunter ID.

And now, she was at the Hunter Market to sell her hunted monster meat.

"Cheap, cheap! A-Rank Wanderer's Robe for just 1,000 gold!"

'Eek! Expensive! Where's the cheap?!'

Chae-ryeon clicked her tongue inwardly and kept walking.

She was heading to her assigned sales booth after getting her Hunter Market pass.

"...Here?"

She arrived at the B-Rank hunter booths and found her sales spot.

As a newbie, it was in the dingiest corner, barely any sunlight.

Mimi and Sol-chan poked just their heads out of the bag and complained.

"What is this? They're insulting you, Master!"

"S-Rank... Our master is high-rank, this is upsetting."

Chae-ryeon soothed the grumbling duo.

"It's fine. As long as I sell, who cares."

Unyielding, she set her stuff at the booth, then pulled out a heap of sandworm meat from her inventory.

"Access inventory."

"Pull out 100 Sandworm Hatchling Meats."

Rumble rumble rumble.

The small display stand overflowed in an instant with plump, glossy sandworm hatchling meat.

'Perfect. Time to sell!'

Chae-ryeon priced each at 2,000 gold for sale and shouted energetically.

"Come one, come all! Buy this rare sandworm meat—great taste and good for you! Don't believe me? I can cook it up fresh for a taste test!"

'Can't skip the cooking here either!'

Chae-ryeon boldly started her business at the Hunter Market.

But contrary to her ambitions of striking it rich, selling monster meat was no easy feat.

As Chae-ryeon shouted about her sandworm meat, passersby murmured.

"What? Selling monster meat?"

"Some naive girl who doesn't know the world? Every hunter knows how nasty dungeon monster meat tastes."

"Ugh. Who'd eat that?"

"Scammer?"

"Hey, even scammers have standards. Who'd try peddling that trash?"

The booth's remote location didn't help—people wrinkled their noses and grumbled as they passed. Monster meat had a terrible rep.

Many laughed at Chae-ryeon's eager hawking.

"Whoa, jackpot. Someone actually selling monster meat you'd refuse even if paid."

"Post it on SNS."

Rude hunters snapped pics of her booth with smartphone cameras—muted shutter apps—and uploaded without permission.

Chae-ryeon, oblivious as the app silenced the shutter, was in a bind.

She only noticed later when she saw the post by some hunter on SNS. Her face darkened.

"Oh no..."

With no clue who posted it, confronting them in this crowd was impossible.

Mimi spotted her master's sour mood and fumed.

"Portrait rights! Invasion of portrait rights! Rude jerks! Taking photos without permission! I oughta bite their fingers off!"

Sol-chan placed a hand on Mimi's shoulder as she snorted in rage.