Ari's Housework Fiasco and the Miyeongnet Goldmine

Ari, who nearly suffocated to death, started doing housework. …What kind of awkward sentence is that?

"Dinner's ready."

Surprisingly, Ari had made dinner. The menu? A charred black fried egg and some ham. Eugh…

"…You'll need more practice with cooking."

"Yeah…"

Ari seemed to know she sucked at it. Though cooking wasn't the only thing she was bad at…

"Soapy water… hate it…"

Maybe because she was born a fly, Ari hated soapy water with a passion. Apparently, flies die on contact with it. So she was terrified not just of dishwashing, but even running the washing machine. At least she'd gotten the hang of vacuuming…

But then I went and bought a robot vacuum, stealing even that job from her. And she had zero talent for folding clothes either.

"I wanna learn to drive."

And so Ari dropped her bombshell declaration.

"…You don't have to push yourself, Ari."

That's what I told her. She seemed to feel some weird guilt over failing to protect me from Kunekune. Was she trying to atone? Or did she think her current state wasn't cutting it? Maybe she felt useless after the One Person Factory Manager and Kunekune incidents. Either way, she probably figured she had to do something.

So now she wanted to learn to drive.

…But I'm too scared to let her behind the wheel.

Ari behind the wheel terrified me more than any monster… Ari was still just a baby.

…And what parent in the world hands the keys to a baby?

So I told her to stick to housework for now. I'd said it a bunch of times already, but sooner or later I'd have to leave for my original world. It was good for her to learn independence early. She lacked finesse, sure, but she'd get better with practice. Nobody starts out perfect~.

"Wanna try driving."

"Let me drive."

"Teach me to drive."

…Three days of resolve. Ari gave up on housework. Constant failure just kills the fun. You need successes to get hooked on cooking.

…In that sense, Ari could never get into housework.

Which left her with one thought: 'Housework's a bust, so driving's my only shot.'

That's when it hit me. At first, Ari had just wanted to help out somehow. But now… that original feeling was gone, not a speck left in her heart.

Why did I wanna drive again? Doesn't matter. I wanna drive!

I realized that's how she felt now. What a beastly girl, Poari. So straightforward, Ari…

"…You sure you can survive without me?"

"Probably not."

Don't say it so proudly. I let out a sigh.

I waved the white flag.

"…Fine. Once we make some money and buy a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠car, you can learn then."

"Okay."

Even I thought I was going too soft on Ari… Why? Was it because I'd become a cute girl? Did that awaken some maternal instinct…?

She was already the universe's top cutie—adding motherhood made her overpowered.

…But keeping Ari and Lisa as illegal aliens forever isn't great either.

They were my office staff alongside Tae-man, after all. Thinking ahead, proper IDs for Ari and Lisa made sense. And if Ari wanted to drive, she'd need legit papers first…

'But legal routes won't work, right?'

No birth records for them… Worst case, deportation from Korea. Best case, refugee status with endless reviews.

So, illegal methods it was. Not that I'd call shady brokers.

"…Anyway, we need money."

Nothing's free in this world. Roaming the country meant a car would be handy even without Ari driving. And our current place was cramped for three…

Buy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a house? But I'd leave this world eventually—did I even need one? Put it in Ari's name? That way she could be independent after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I left.

…Car, house, IDs. We'd need a ton of cash, and the measly 100 million in my account wouldn't cut it.

Time to make bank.

I logged into Miyeongnet.

Miyeongnet. Among the four factions—Foundation, Special Task Force, Church, Deep Web—this was the Deep Web's site.

Using the invite code from Geom-ma last time, I'd joined smoothly. I browsed Miyeongnet casually.

[Announcements] [Tip Board] [Free Board] [Miyeong Records Board]

Just those four boards. Announcements were for admins only. Miyeong Records was for compiling monster info, so regular users could only really touch Tip Board and Free Board.

I clicked the Tip Board.

"Gotta tip something here."

I hit the new post button. Miyeongkun risked their lives scouting anomalies, but with my game knowledge, I could tip risk-free. Pure no-risk high-reward!

'But dumping all my knowledge? Nah.'

I wanted fame as a solver, not a tipster. Plus, monsters like Work Negligence Prohibition—I wanted those for myself. Better to handle some personally.

On the flip side, ones too tough for me now but risky if ignored? Or ones fine in other factions' hands? Those I could tip.

To spread the office name, I wrote up a post.

Miyeongkun. Chasing the faint light—that's where the name comes from.

The Foundation seeks to explain all monsters in this world.

The Special Task Force aims to exterminate them all.

The Church wants to become monsters themselves.

Their ways of saving the world—and surviving—are all different.

In that sense, Miyeongkun have the least interest in survival. If they uncover every monster, the rest is up to Foundation, Task Force, or Church.

Finding all monsters leads to humanity's survival.

But Miyeongkun, facing them first, die first.

Only those who don't mind dying can be Miyeongkun.

Only thrill-seeking explorers become Miyeongkun.

Thus, the Miyeongkun using the handle "Geom-ma" on Miyeongnet set out again today.

"…Unbelievable."

She muttered that as she walked.

Geom-ma pulled out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her phone like always. Checked the Tip Board.

"…Clickbait city."

She'd said she wanted to promote the office, but this? I hadn't expected that.

…This must be noise marketing.

Geom-ma sighed.

…Shouldn't have given her that invite code.

Some things, once known, can't be unknown. Monsters are like that. Once you know Muksi Saengmyeongche exist, no going back to normal life.

High school friend died to one—common story. Right now, some acquaintance of Geom-ma's might be monster chow somewhere.

Most get "memory wipe" and it's like it never happened.

As an insider, she dodged wipes. But remembering alone what others forgot? Not exactly happy.

Knowing solo breeds responsibility. Remembering solo chains you down.

Sometimes, knowing you alone must fix it suffocates.

In that sense, she was grateful to Mayuri for handling Kunekune. Felt lighter.

But.

"…I'm her referrer—what a mess."

If Mayuri got blacklisted, referrer Geom-ma would suffer too.

So Geom-ma had to move. Verify Mayuri's tips.

Right now, just a fun troll user. But wrong info? Malicious baiter.

"14F room 4, 4th window… right."

Geom-ma followed the post. Jumped—and the surroundings warped.

"…Tip was legit?"

Geom-ma looked around. Inside a warehouse. Cardboard boxes stacked everywhere, people moving them over there.

…Logistics company vibe.

She approached slowly. Yep, missing persons.

"L-let me work…! Please!"

A grubby missing person begged.

A kiosk-like machine replied.

"Even 500k worth… just let me work for 500k… Please…"

"…?"

What kinda ghost story is this…?