Chapter 36
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Delivering into the Dungeon
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"I'll handle my own business. Why don't you finally step out from under your parents' shadow? You're suffering as a mercenary hunter because you can't stand listening to your folks in their high-up spots at the government-backed association. If I hadn't picked you up and patched you up this time, those beggar scum who betrayed you might've killed you."
"……."
Han Joo-wo wasn't weak by any means. The fact that he relied mainly on a shield skill that was practically pure defense, yet still ended up poisoned by acute dungeon toxin—a ridiculous diagnosis—was all because of his parents.
The excuse was to get their son to quit wandering as a freelance mercenary hunter and come back home. All for that one reason.
Unable to convince him with words, they'd cornered him to break his spirit, under the mistaken belief that he'd crawl back. It was a tragedy born of that delusion.
Like a mud-covered dog blaming one with chaff on its fur. That was exactly how Lee Seo-ro looked at Han Joo-wo.
"You should watch your own behavior. Consider the life debt paid in full here. I'd prefer we never cross paths again."
"How do you always manage to dig right into people's wounds with your words?"
Even as Han Joo-wo bristled, his reverse scale touched, Lee Seo-ro just smirked.
"Get out of my workshop. Before my patience runs out."
"Hey, wait a—!"
"Pongpong, get rid of him."
[Meeeng…….]
No sooner had Lee Seo-ro given the order than Pongpong absurdly ballooned in size, shoving the approaching Han Joo-wo back with its bulk.
Han Joo-wo was swept away like a tsunami victim, flung out of the building in an instant. As if the structure had spat him out with a pthoo.
Crash, clatter, bang.
"……Ah, fuck."
Han Joo-wo sprawled pitifully on the cold asphalt, then just flopped flat on his back. The gurgle from his stomach was the cherry on top of this maddening situation.
"……That person's food was amazing, even if the ingredients were surprising. It was seriously delicious."
Where can I find it again?
He'd awkwardly used the excuse of a "friend," but she'd seen through the lie with her ghost-like intuition. Thanks to his creepy parents' stalking and his experience as a freelance hunter, Han Joo-wo was a pro at reading faces.
'That artifact probably belongs to her.'
No hunter would hand over a precious spatial expansion artifact to just anyone—not even to a close friend.
"……Why hide her identity, though?"
Did she have some exhausting circumstances?
The rich broth of the complete pork soup had been exquisite, and the hunter reborn monster meat into ingredients fit for a first-time taste. The cooking was top-notch, but more than that, Han Joo-wo desperately wanted to meet her again.
Was it that he'd craved human warmth?
'Maybe I'm not so different from Lee Seo-ro after all.'
With a bitter smile, Han Joo-wo stood up. Lingering would just get his location sniffed out by his parents again.
As Han Joo-wo vanished into the darkness, Lee Seo-ro's lavish workshop glowed brilliantly with lights behind him.
"Haaah."
Moon Chae-ryeon, eager to quickly scoop up the first spoonful of the main scenario's Chapter 1, slammed on the brakes.
A gift has arrived for user Moon Chae-ryeon!
[Confirm] / [Ignore]
'I should've never hit confirm when that alert popped up back then.'
The sender of the gift was none other than Lee Seo-ro.
'The Immovable Alchemist,' Lee Seo-ro, has sent 5,000,000 gold to Moon Chae-ryeon.
"Wh…… What's this? F-Five million gold?"
Lee Seo-ro had sent the massive sum as payment for treating Han Joo-wo.
She never imagined hunters could chat like in a game—and even send gifts. Having been a regular person for so long, Chae-ryeon hadn't even dreamed of it.
'How many zeros are after that gold…….'
Five million gold. Way too much for an ordinary citizen like Chae-ryeon to handle.
Even selling all those pricey sandworm meat packs wouldn't match what Lee Seo-ro had sent.
A message has been enclosed.
[Lee Seo-ro: Please accept it without burden, Miss Moon Chae-ryeon. It's also an apology for my rudeness the other day that left you flustered. It's not a huge sum for me, so just take it.]
Not a huge sum.
Did that mean this was pocket change for Lee Seo-ro?
'Even if alchemists make bank, this is ridiculous.'
Shocked as Chae-ryeon was, her summons peeking over her shoulder were equally stunned.
"The world of hunters is even more capitalistic than I imagined, milady…… How much must we work to serve our master as splendidly as the Moon Jar Palace……?"
"D-Displaying such wealth like this. It's a conspiracy. He must have impure motives to crush our newly awakened master with money."
Mimi and Manager Sol-chan just punched at their calculators helplessly, faces crumpling. Their exploits in the last dungeon couldn't even match one transfer from Lee Seo-ro. Their pride was wounded.
"Hey, kids. It's fine. We're just getting started, right? We'll hustle on the next delivery orders."
'I have to return this money no matter what!'
Swallowing this cash felt like it'd give her a brutal stomachache. The moment Chae-ryeon confirmed the terrifying gold amount, she tried firing it right back via the transfer function…… but failed.
Transfer of 5,000,000G to 'The Immovable Alchemist' Lee Seo-ro failed.
The user has temporarily blocked you.
Transfers are impossible until the block is lifted.
The system administrator saw this and lost it.
[(╬ಠ益ಠ)]
Think money fixes everything?!
That guy's intentions are definitely impure. Out, out, Lee Seo-ro out.
"……."
This guy had totally blocked her knowing she'd feel burdened, right? A hundred percent.
The suspicion was ironclad, but no hard proof. Only invitees could enter Lee Seo-ro's workshop, so Chae-ryeon couldn't just drop by to return the gold.
The suddenly plump money pouch in her inventory made Chae-ryeon uneasy. She'd seen HunterNet posts about psycho hunters who farmed gold by hunting other hunters.
Even as the world got used to dungeons and hunters, private squabbles between them were hard to mediate.
Officially just a B-rank hunter, Chae-ryeon was weak for an S-rank outside delivery jobs. She could easily become a target.
It might be overthinking, but with news of missing hunters popping up now and then, how could she not be scared?
"……Best to rest a bit longer, milady."
With their master showing fear, her summons naturally felt it too.
After holing up in her studio apartment for three days with the downcast Mimi and Manager Sol-chan, Chae-ryeon made up her mind.
'I can't just stay cooped up in here forever.'
Wasting time like this wasn't her style. She'd taken a leave without telling her family—time slipping through her fingers was too precious.
'Then I'll use this damn burdensome gold in a way that's useful to me and pay Lee Seo-ro back someday for sure.'
With that resolve, the vague fear evaporated.
It helped that she thought an S-rank was still beginner level—she needed to get stronger.
Shaking off her seat, Chae-ryeon woke Mimi and Sol-chan.
"Rise and shine, kids!"
"……Hm? What is it, milady?"
"Why wake us in the dead of night instead of sleeping more……."
"Why? Let's go shopping!"
The two summons' eyes snapped wide at Chae-ryeon's bright shout.
"Y-You mean to the market, milady?"
"Yeah. While I was holed up…… some of the ingredients stocked in the fridge went bad. Can't serve that to customers."
Manager Sol-chan burst into tears at her pro-level words.
"You've decided to get back to deliveries……!"
"Of course. This is my job. You're my family, assisting me. I awakened into a job where I can do what I love freely—letting it rot would be insane!"
"G-Great! I'll grab the portable market basket for the mart right—"
Chae-ryeon caught Sol-chan as he nearly tripped in his haste.
"No. Today, we're hitting somewhere else first before the mart."
"Where to, milady……?"
"Hunter Market."
"P-Pardon? Why there……."
"To blow through the money from Lee Seo-ro. Remember how pricey the gear was last time? Five million gold? A little shopping there and it'll vanish."
Bonus: snag some nice cooking gear artifacts if available. She wanted to repay that not-debt debt to Lee Seo-ro ASAP.
Unlike the confident Chae-ryeon, her two summons hemmed and hawed, glancing at her face.
"But lately, that place is……."
"I know. It's chaos, like you flipped it with kindling."
'Because of me.'
Even if some anonymous had wiped her traces from SNS, rumors of 'tasty, effect-packed monster meat' had spread underground afterward.