142. Vacation (1)
142. Vacation (1)
Summer vacation began at Velvet Hunter Academy.
Ding─♬
【 Sovereign of Mana (宗主), Chairwoman of Velvet Hunter Academy, Magic Emperor (魔帝). ~May the children's laughter forever remain the same~ 】
─ [ Photo ]
─ Go here~ and look,,, for what you desire,,, I have prepared it,,,,, you im,,pu,,dent,,, brat~~!!!
Heh.
I burst out laughing at the message Rina sent.
'With that face, she really sounds so awkward using that tone.... Hmm, is this a map? The location's in Seoul, huh?'
The reason I'd asked Rina to find me a rental wasn't anything else.
I may have my own idea of living on my own, but how should I put it.
This world's a little different from my original one.
This is Korea in the Gate Era—thinking land prices and housing prices would stay the same would be naïve, after all.
Rather than get stuck with a bad contract and struggle in an overpriced, lousy place, I figured it'd be better to go where Rina recommended, live there a few months, and move on.
'And nobody shows you a room if you say you only wanna rent it for three months...... But they can't say no if the Magic Emperor asks.'
Of course, coming from the Magic Emperor, it was bound to be quite pricey.
But the thing is, by now I'd actually got a decent balance in my account.
The location on the map was the heart of Seoul.
Myeong-dong.
'But the map doesn't pin a specific building......'
For now, I took a cab and got off at Myeong-dong Station.
Sure enough, this being central Seoul, people were swarming around like ants.
"Hey, hey, did you see the pictures posted on Jin Yu-ha's fan club yesterday?"
Among them, two girls who looked like they might still be in middle school caught my ear with their chatter.
"Huh? Pictures got posted there? Normally you can't find any photos of him, right? He's not the type who gets photographed out in public, so wasn't that place all about writing fanfic or drawing fan art?"
"Right, it was like that. But last night a ton of pictures got released!!!"
"Wha-what!?"
"That Climbing Yu-ha's Nose Bridge? The one who's supposedly his Number 1 fan posted Midterm Evaluation behind-the-scenes photos. It's seriously insane."
"For real? Let's see."
"Here."
"Aaaah!!! Oh my god!!! What is this, his visuals are insane?!! He's so cute sleeping!!!!"
They held up their phones and slapped each other's shoulders, making a huge fuss.
'Fan club? I have one of those? And what the hell are Midterm Evaluation behind-the-scenes shots......'
Se-hee, Se-hee...... It's you again, isn't it?
My interest in the photo they were looking at lasted only a moment.
I immediately pulled my hat down low and put on a mask.
Because if even a hint of my identity got out here, the whole area would turn into a circus.
I silently thanked Sofia, who'd handed me this face-recognition-disrupting mask precisely for moments like this.
'Guess her experience as a model really shows. She's sharp about this stuff.'
Feeling strangely like some sort of celebrity myself, I moved my feet quickly.
'......Hmm?'
As I turned through one alley after another just as the map indicated,
the presence of people around me gradually began to fade.
'Where exactly am I?'
I kept glancing around until I found the place Rina had told me about.
Hummm—
Then suddenly, the surrounding scenery shimmered and a massive building revealed itself.
A building that flaunted a modern aesthetic, with tall columns and expansive glass windows.
In front of it stood a training ground and rows of various amenities,
and the garden was planted with beautiful flowers and trees I'd never seen before in my life.
Staring at the scenery through the gaps in the front gate's bars, my mouth hung open.
Even a quick glance told me this was no ordinary house.
'There was a place like this... smack in the middle of Myeong-dong......?'
While I stood there baffled by the difference from my original world,
Creeeak─
Out of nowhere, I felt an enormous surge of Mana and the gate swung open.
And there appeared an older woman with graying hair and a stern face.
"Good day."
She looked at me and bowed at a perfect right angle.
"Ah, hello...?"
I returned her greeting awkwardly.
She appeared to be the landlady.
"I have been expecting you. Please, come inside."
"......Uhm, is this the place... that Chairwoman Rina introduced me to......?"
It had to be.
No one but her would pull off magic on this preposterous scale.
But the situation had veered so far from what I'd initially imagined that I couldn't help asking.
"Are you not Cadet Jin Yu-ha?"
The older woman asked in a polite but flat voice.
"......I am."
"Then you have come to the right place. Just follow me."
Click
Click
Her steps were measured and crisp as if drawn with a ruler as she led the way.
Following behind her, I couldn't shake the thought that something about this was off.
This was just a house to stay in for a little over three months during the academy break.
I'd only borrowed the Magic Emperor's name because practically no one accepts a three-month rental......
'......I figured she'd land me a decent two-room place at maybe a million won a month. How the hell could I have imagined a crazy mansion like this!!'
As I followed her inside and took in the surroundings, my expression turned dumbfounded.
'And what's that, a fountain? A valley...? Goodness, is that a virtual training ground?'
From a convenience store to restaurants.
There was literally everything within the estate.
And it all felt unmanned.
Wouldn't the maintenance costs alone run to an astronomical sum?
The sheer absurdity of it all made me shrink back.
"......So, uh, the monthly rent here must be expensive, right?"
It was a question that made me seem pretty cheap, but who cares.
If I zoned out and stayed here, I was about to lose every penny I'd saved.
"Hmm, monthly rent...... I've never calculated it that way so I'm not sure. But it might be about this much."
She answered without looking back. Two fingers extended from her hands clasped behind her back.
'Oh, two million won a month?'
Hearing that the monthly rent was two million won, my face instantly lit up.
'Well, two million won a month. It's quite a bit more than I expected, but... if I can use all these facilities for that price... Hmm, not bad at all. No, it's actually great!'
Mm. Mm.
Really great.
Anyway, I was only staying here for three months.
If it was around two million won a month, that was well within what I could afford with my current funds!
Just as I was nodding in relief,
a thunderbolt of a remark dropped.
"Ah, my apologies. You said monthly rent. Just now, that figure was for one night."
"!? Two million won per night......?"
I asked, my face utterly dumbfounded,
but the shock didn't end there.
"What do you mean?"
"Huh?"
"It's twenty million won per night. That would make the monthly rent roughly six hundred million won."
"......"
Now I was so flabbergasted I couldn't even speak.
Six hundred million won a month?
Just what kind of world did Rina live in?
Had I been underestimating her way too much because of that brat-like face?
'No, it's not like they built the house by stacking gold bricks! What the hell, twenty million a night!!'
After silently venting my resentment toward Rina like that,
I let out a deep sigh.
'Tch, there's no way I can live in a place like this...... I'll have to apologize.'
Right as I was about to call out to the lady of the house,
she suddenly said something baffling.
"Speaking of which, why are you asking about the monthly rent? Ah, when your break ends, are you, the owner, perhaps planning to list this place for lodging?"
"......Huh? The owner?"
"Of course, as you are the owner of this house I know it's not my place, but honestly I would not recommend it."
"......Who? Me?"
"This site is steeped in Rina's magical essence. Among those who visit from outside, there will undoubtedly be some who enter with impure intentions."
Our words were crossing.
I stared at her, completely at a loss.
'No, this lady... She seems seriously mistaken about something here. I'm just here to stay for three months.'
Was she mistaking me for the building's buyer?
"Wait a moment, I, I have no intention of buying this house! I don't, don't have that kind of money, either!"
At that, the older woman turned to look at me, her brow deeply furrowed.
'Looks like she's mad after all. Still, I'm glad I cleared up the misunderstanding now......'
"Ha. So the Magic Emperor didn't even explain that much."
"Pardon? Wh-what do you mean......"
She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head.
Then she uttered the most unreal thing I'd heard all day.
"As of today, this house belongs to you, Jin Yu-ha."
"........................EHHHH!?!?!?!?!?"
* * *
On her way back home for the first time in a long while due to the vacation,
Vrooooom─
Lee Yu-ri, gripping the steering wheel of her truck, felt utterly lighthearted.
Returning home in glory.
A rookie hunter who'd originally only cleared E-rank dungeons had, in just a few months since entering the academy, returned as the Tank of a party that was currently the hottest around.
It was no wonder Lee Yu-ri's shoulders had a little more swagger.
Over that time, the money she earned by clearing a dungeon with the Utopia Party once a week
was on a completely different scale from what she used to scrimp and save to earn.
She'd sent the money she earned at the academy every week back home.
As that accumulated, it had reached 100 million won in just a few months!
By now, their household's strained finances must have improved considerably.
'And Jin Yu-ha even said that amount's only going to get bigger. That it's still early days, so he can't give us much more yet because he has a lot to invest......'
"Hm-hmm~♬ Hm-hm-hmm~♬"
At the thought of that brilliant future, a hum slipped out on its own.
'When I get home this time, I need to buy my siblings all the stuff I couldn't get them before.'
Screech─
Parking her truck in front of her shabby house, Lee Yu-ri got out.
'......But why is it so quiet?'
She'd sent word ahead that she was coming, so she'd expected someone to be out front to greet her.
Her parents would be out at work, so they wouldn't be here, but her siblings should've been at home waiting for her.
"Lee Yu-na!!!"
She called her younger sister's name, but got no answer.
Creak─
Her brow furrowing, Lee Yu-ri opened the door.
The room inside was cold, devoid of any human warmth.
Click─
She turned on the light.
In the next instant, her eyes flew wide open.
"Th-this...... Wh-what......"
The sight that met her eyes.
"What on earth......"
The house was a wreck, as if a thief had ransacked it.
Ripped clothes.
Shattered furniture.
"What the hell happened here!!!!!!!!!!"
Lee Yu-ri screamed, her face murderous.
Ding─♬
【 Sword Demon(劍鬼) 】 ─ ......Hey guys, uh, I have something to discuss for a moment, can you spare a second?
It was a message from Jin Yu-ha.