Ribs, Rewards, and First Cocktails
With An Jeong-hwa, I ordered cocktails. "Huh?" Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine. The air wasn't particularly cold, so I figured it was just my imagination and kept grilling the ribs.
"Take your time eating."
An Jeong-hwa nodded, her mouth stuffed full of ssam as she chewed vigorously. Right now, the two of us were at a seasoned rib joint. After seeing how pathetically low her stamina was, I'd decided she needed to eat something—anything—first.
Awakened humans had double the basal metabolic rate of regular people, so most of us ate hearty meals. Even accounting for that, though, An Jeong-hwa was devouring the meat I grilled like she was possessed. For every piece I ate, she scarfed down nearly three.
She'd said she'd eaten lunch at her part-time job at 11 a.m., but now at 5 p.m., she was eating like she hadn't had a bite all day. It made me wonder if she was really so broke that she couldn't even afford proper meals, leaving her stamina in the dumps.
I stared, wondering how all that could fit into her skinny frame. Sensing my gaze, she blushed in embarrassment and set down a rib bone stripped completely clean.
"Ah, did I make you uncomfortable? I was just watching because you eat so well—it's nice to see. Go ahead and finish it."
"No, I don't usually eat this much..."
"Come on, everyone knows Awakeners eat a ton. Don't be shy. If I weren't taking it slow, I'd probably eat twice as much as you, Jeong-hwa."
"Anyway..."
I'd meant it as a genuine compliment—she really did eat well, and it was satisfying to watch—but she kept blushing. Frontliners needed to consume massive calories, so it was a good sign.
Once we'd eaten our fill, I remembered we hadn't settled up from yesterday's dungeon.
"Jeong-hwa, take this for now."
"Huh? W-why money...?"
I handed her an envelope stuffed with cash.
"I was too out of it yesterday to settle accounts, so I put 250,000 won in here—your share."
"250,000 won? I didn't do anything but take down the boss, and I even have the mana stone..."
"The goblins from the rooms should net about 500,000 won total. The boss stone is obviously yours, of course. Just hand over the loot from the trash mob room next time we meet."
An Jeong-hwa had pocketed the loot from the trash mobs yesterday, so I hadn't cashed it in at the dungeon management office yet. Still, I roughly remembered what we'd gotten, so I gave her half the estimated total. For now, she needed cash in hand. She looked like she couldn't even afford meals.
I phrased it nicely, but really, it was a bribe. Just a way to show her I was the kind of guy who looked after his team. Besides, 250,000 wasn't a huge sum to me. It was pocket change from a 10th-grade dungeon—and I'd cleared higher ones like 9th, 8th, even 7th-grade. Sure, high earners had high expenses too.
This rib meal alone was probably pushing 100,000 won already. I might think that way, but to a newbie like Jeong-hwa, fresh off her first dungeon half-day run, it must've felt different. Half a day's work for 250,000? That blew her part-time wage out of the water. She was fiddling with the envelope, staring at it like she couldn't believe it.
"Feels like a lot, right? 250,000 won."
"Yeah. Isn't this too much?"
"The 10th-grade boss stone you got yesterday is worth at least 300,000."
"Really?"
"Hunters are one of the highest-paid jobs among Awakeners, you know? Everything from dungeons fetches top dollar."
"They taught us at the training center that a standard 10th-grade run nets about 150,000 per person."
"That's for 4- or 5-man parties. We cleared it as a duo, so your cut's bigger."
"Oh..."
I made sure she clocked that running duo with me meant fatter shares than big parties. Money clearly stressed her out—her eyes were trembling just talking about it. I'd laid the bait; now I'd give her time to stew on it.
Meanwhile, An Jeong-hwa's mind was racing.
Why's he being so nice to me? Does he actually like me or something?
Han Yeoul tossed out flirty lines with a straight face, and she'd already taken a liking to him. He acted a bit weird sometimes, but his goodwill was blatant, leaving her flustered. With zero dating experience, all she could do was blush and stammer. No clue how to respond.
She was a little worried, too. Her parents had taught her the hard way: get tangled with suspiciously nice people, and it never ends well. They'd fallen into a cult preaching that dungeons—not the Tower—would save humanity, blowing their fortune. It started with some overly friendly weirdo.
Growing up under parents who funneled every cult payout straight back in, she'd lived so poor she never got full on meat like this. Just when she'd Awakened to mana and glimpsed a way out, Han Yeoul appeared—with inexplicable kindness.
But he's different somehow.
She couldn't pinpoint it, but he wasn't like those cult creeps.
And his skills are legit.
She'd sensed it yesterday at the dungeon entrance, toting military-grade gear. No way he belonged in a 10th-grade. He'd toyed with those goblins like playthings—probably at least 9th-grade.
What she needed most was money.
Half a day hunting for 250,000. Add the stone, that's 550,000.
Her four-hour sushi joint shifts paid 800,000 a month. This was what, three hours? Massive. Big parties wouldn't pay like that.
She thought of her five-year-old little brother waiting at home. The kid she had to raise in their parents' stead. She wanted him to chase his dreams, at least.
Can I trust this guy?
Han Yeoul might be her big break. A shot at succeeding as a Hunter, earning enough for a happy life with her brother.
But fear gripped her. What if trusting rashly turned her into her parents?
Still, she wanted to believe. Deep down, she already did.
An Jeong-hwa had stuffed herself so full on meat that she wasn't up for drinks yet, so we hit a nearby café to chat while she digested. Nothing major—just dungeon talk. Her first real dive yesterday had left her curious, especially about profits. Like the price gap between half mana stones from regular mobs and whole ones from bosses.
She asked deeper stuff too: party playstyles in dungeons. I answered straight, no holding back. Her seriousness pulled thorough responses from me.
By the time I snapped out of it, we'd blown past our planned 6 p.m. drinks—closing in on 7.
"Time flew. Feeling okay? Ready for that drink?"
"Sure."
We ended up at the cocktail bar where I'd had my first taste of booze. I wasn't big on drinking, so it was one of the few spots I knew—and even those visits were thanks to Jeon So-young dragging me out on leave.
She loved alcohol despite her low tolerance. And she'd always hauled me along instead of drinking solo. She'd get wasted first, whine drunken nonsense, piss me off—but damn, those first cocktails were good.
I knew zilch about them; she ordered everything. So my go-tos were her picks. Shady source, but they tasted great—Jeong-hwa should like them too.
"Two Screwdrivers, please."
I started with the juiciest-tasting one I'd tried. So-young had pushed it on booze newbie me, and it surprised me how good it was. An Jeong-hwa seemed to agree—one sip, and her eyes went wide.
"Whoa, it really tastes like orange juice!"
"Told you it'd be good."
It hit her spot; she downed the glass in seconds. Awakener stamina helped—even first time, she gulped it smoothly. These were pretty strong for normies, but Awakeners needed high-proof stuff to feel it. Cheap soju? Too bland and stinky for our heightened senses—tasted like crap.
Better to go for high-proof cocktails that actually tasted good.