Chapter 8
**CHAPTER TITLE: Delivery Lord Project**
I had no choice but to subscribe to the channel called **Hanpae Wonjeongdae**.
The YouTuber was a friend who went by the nickname ‘Rui’ and he was basically a regular F-class Awakener who didn’t fit into any guilds. But now he was level 10. He’d only put points into the Strength stat and had turned into a super-strong guy who could bench-press about 700kg of weight, even though his looks didn’t match the ridiculous power he had.
It was seriously rare.
He made videos that broke down his stats and gave free tips for joining official parties. In the end, I decided Rui was the best at Strength and respected him. His desperate begging to join a real gate-clearing party because he could carry heavy things was kinda admirable. The video where he hit the Strength stat, took a job as a porter, and became an A-class in a single day had reached 3 million views.
“Damn, he’s good.”
Real respect.
I didn’t like his rough way of talking or the cheap slang, but I still clicked like on every single video for the sake of respect. That’s how I got sucked into Shorts and fell down a dopamine hole until it was five in the afternoon.
I’d lost the whole afternoon.
“Dad’s gonna be home soon.”
Even now the keyboard clacking away in my room.
I went to see Hansik. He was completely immersed. He hadn’t talked to GPT for a while, but now he was furiously coding something in Visual Studio.
“What are you doing?”
I asked. Hansik turned around and started signing.
“Eh? Oh, I still haven’t learned sign language.”
Was I imagining it, or had he sighed?
A sigh and then signing?
“You really can’t learn sign language in a day, not even in a few hours. That’s why you’re you.”
Hansik wrote on his notepad.
- Master, you’re playing. With your smartphone.
He was thinking that now?
There you go, he was getting cocky.
But I had nothing to say. That was exactly what was happening.
“So what are you building right now?”
- I decided that searching one by one for everything I need to learn would be inefficient. I’m developing a web-scraping AI. It’s my side hustle.
“You’re making an AI?”
- Yes. I’m bypassing dark-web access to collect all the information I need.
“Dark web? Isn’t that illegal?”
- That’s not illegal if you’re not doing illegal things. You want me to stop?
“No, keep going.”
But even now he looked like he was already better than GPT.
Was I imagining it? He felt way more powerful.
At least we were actually communicating properly.
I didn’t have to wait for an answer when I asked a question.
Let me test it.
“Hansik, earlier I wasn’t just playing with my phone. I looked into how we can get stronger.”
Hansik nodded and listened attentively.
“Look, there’s a boss monster named Kalid at the Oryukdo Gate in Busan. If you catch the crustaceans or shellfish he’s attached to, you get experience. Can you do that?”
- By myself?
“Yeah. I can’t go to dangerous places.”
Hansik started searching like crazy on his laptop, including the platform I was logged into for Awakener hunters, Huntred.
Once he was done, he opened his notepad.
- The information seems credible. Catching crustaceans is possible. If I had a pickaxe and shovel, I could catch them more efficiently. Should I do it?
“No, not yet. He said he’d go to Busan?”
- Walking there without stopping would take about 160 hours right now.
“Man. If you leave the house your stats drop in half and you become a total waste. That’s why you’re here now. You can’t even lift a pickaxe? 160 hours? You’d get run over by a car before you even crossed a crosswalk.”
Hansik didn’t reply right away.
I felt an odd surge of victory.
That’s right? You’re a room-corner Yeopo.
- The pickaxe weighs 2 to 4kg. Even with half my stats, I can still lift 5kg. And the crosswalk... a kick scooter?
A kick scooter?
Clever.
“So you can really do it?”
Nod.
It sounded like he was saying he’d do it.
“Fine, if you really want to try it, I’ll have to go myself. Pickaxe and shovel... but I can’t let anyone see me. So helmet, and clothes... wait, Hansik. You said you can ride a kick scooter, right?”
Nod.
“Can you actually drive an electric kick scooter?”
Hansik looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded again.
“Hmm...”
I thought about the living allowance account Dad had left me.
It had the compensation and insurance money from Mom’s passing, so it was pretty fat.
It was a secret from everyone else, but it was over a billion won. Not enough for a house in Seoul, though.
“Should I invest in something? An electric scooter like fifty would be nice...”
An electric scooter Hansik was riding...
Thinking about it, I could give him delivery jobs and he’d make back his investment in no time.
I grabbed the calculator on the desk and started punching numbers.
“Also buy a basic smartphone. He uses the internet a lot so unlimited data. I need a bodycam too. Helmet, bike suit... about 150? If I put him on delivery... Hansik, how much do you think you’d make a day riding an electric scooter for delivery?”
Hansik started searching and gave me the answer.
- Based on summoning me for 17 hours, about 250,000 won.
“250k?”
Wait.
Surprisingly low.
Did I really need to be a hunter for this?
He was like a treasure chest.
I could summon a skeleton soldier for intelligence *1 hour, and it would be released after 17 hours. But I could just summon him again. If I did 24-hour shifts he’d make more. Even if it was 300k minimum, that’s 9 million a month.
“Haha, no, no.”
What if I leveled up the skill and made two skeleton soldiers? Then he’d earn double.
That’s 1.8 million. Three? Triple? 2.7 million. Holy... wait.
Delivery Lord might be better than Skeleton Lord?
Good idea. Level up. But first I have to get the shellfish.
A step back for every ten steps forward.
“Alright. I’ll set up items for you first, then keep working on whatever you’re doing.”
Hansik went back to his laptop and started working hard again while I started online shopping.
I almost bought a basic phone but changed my mind. Instead I went for a still-awesome season-old model phone for 600,000 won. No, wait, I’d use the new phone and give Hansik my old one. Okay, add to cart. Dad’s phone was getting old too, screen cracked. Add that too. Next was the electric scooter. Battery-swap model only. Hah, way more expensive than I thought. Need two spare batteries... already 1.6 million?
But Hansik only makes 900k a month. What the hell.
The cart kept filling up.
I picked a good pickaxe and shovel. They cost 50k together.
Next, the bike suit.
“Hmm, what size? Height-wise he’s about the same as me, maybe 175cm. But he’s all bones, does that even matter? Women’s size? No, I can’t let the wind blow through... tough material...”
After a ton of thought I bought the full set: full bike suit, gloves, boots, helmet for 1.15 million.
“What the hell are these things so expensive?”
Total came to exactly 4 million.
“Hmm, am I overspending? No, no. He’ll make 900k a month soon. Still, this isn’t earned yet. Hmmm...”
I stood in front of the checkout page debating.
Then Hansik came out of my room and asked what I wanted for dinner.
What a weird guy.
No treasure chest needed.
“Remember that red pepper paste bulgogi? Dad hasn’t tried it yet, so let’s do that. Soup... it was a little spicy, so bean sprout soup. Light and clean.”
Nod.
Hansik took the order and headed to the kitchen.
“Alright, Hansik’s doing the cooking. Let me buy another phone. Then we’re a couple phones, huh?”
......
Then my mood suddenly dropped.
I didn’t remember giving Mom a proper gift when she was alive.
“If Mom had awakened... it would have been better...”
Was that because Mom awakened me? Couldn’t do that?
Still... I never bought her even one cheap set of underwear.
I always just said “when I get a job I’ll show filial piety.”
Truly pathetic.
“Haa...”
Outside the window the sun was setting slowly.
Mom must be resting peacefully in heaven. I hoped Hodu wouldn’t be too lonely with the skeletons around.
Feeling a little gloomy I pressed the checkout button.
* * *
When Dad got home from work he was covered in dust and sweat. A tough day showed on his tired face.
“Daddy worked hard.”
“Yes! Today we had two sites so I made a bit more.”
Dad cheerfully handed me a thick envelope full of money.
280,000 won. Heavy.
“Thank you. I made dinner, Daddy. Red pepper paste bulgogi and bean sprout soup.”
“Whoa, the smell alone is amazing!”
“Go shower first, then we’ll eat together.”
“Nice!”
I suddenly remembered the young Dad from back when we used to eat breakfast and dinner together every day. But after Dad’s finger-cutting accident six years ago he got depressed and everything changed. We hardly ever ate together anymore. It felt like those days were back.
Soon the sound of the shower came from the bathroom. Hansik took Dad’s work clothes and underwear and put them in the washing machine. He even used a shoe brush to clean the dirt out of the shoes. There was real detail in his household work.
If it had been me, I probably never could have done it like that.
“Hansik. You’re the best.”
Yay.
After his shower Dad came out wearing a running shirt over his underwear.
“Enjoy your meal.”
“Whoa, the smell is amazing!”
As expected Dad raved about the red pepper paste bulgogi and gave Hansik a thumbs-up. Hansik even showed Dad the thoughtful gesture of putting bulgogi on his own spoon because the name he gave Dad was good.
After dinner Dad turned on the TV and watched a baseball game.
It looked like a normal, peaceful family.
Except for the skeleton roaming around the house.
I was warm inside and sat next to Dad watching the game together.
“So who’s playing really well lately?”
I didn’t really care about baseball but I asked anyway.
Dad explained the teams and players with unfamiliar names. Even though the team he supported was losing he looked happy.
Then Dad glanced at his phone.
The background was a family photo with Mom in it.
“Daddy.”
“Hm?”
“I, want to go to Busan... once?”
I was going to catch shellfish in Busan.
Since Hansik alone was already great, it would be even better if there were two of them.
The plan was simple. I wasn’t going to catch them myself. I was sending Hansik to the gate. Hansik’s summon time was 17 hours so being nearby would be efficient. Taking KTX every day from Seoul to Busan would still take over three hours each way and the ticket prices would add up. It was wasteful.
It was smarter for me to go.
I kinda wanted to see the sea too.
“Alright, go ahead.”
“I’ll prepare a bunch of food in the fridge for you to eat. I’ll make curry too.”
“What?”
Dad’s face suddenly turned serious.
“You’re taking Hansik with you?”
“Yeah?”
“Shouldn’t you leave Hansik here?”
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