Got Allowance Money From a Hottie

Having made my escape in one piece, I woke up in a Jjimjilbang.

For someone with no home, no family connections, and no place to go, the Jjimjilbang was the best possible choice.

Stretching out my arms, I looked back on yesterday.

"That guy got out without any problems too."

I did feel a little belated guilt for putting him through something traumatizing.

But still.

"He didn't die."

So no harm, no foul.

The real problem was something else entirely.

That group in hazmat suits.

The moment they laid eyes on me, they called me an Anomalous Entity and pointed their guns first.

"What the hell were those guys, anyway?"

I had a feeling they were some kind of organization that managed creepypastas and urban legends.

"To them, someone like me — with an escape room — must look like just another monster."

It was a truth I couldn't deny, no matter how much I wanted to.

Little by little, I was coming to understand something.

The escape room wasn't just some simple ability.

And energy was the very root of it all.

I had a bad feeling that if it ever ran dry, something terrible would happen.

"Which means I need to drag people in before my energy runs out. Haaah..."

A sigh escaped my conflicted heart.

To gain energy, I needed captives — and I needed their emotions running hot.

If they wanted to survive, the escape method had to be simple enough.

Because the moment they escaped, I'd have to spend energy on their reward.

"Balancing all that is a real pain."

Still, I didn't want anyone to die.

"Any good ideas out there?"

I decided to borrow the wisdom of others.

I pulled out my smartphone, connected to the Jjimjilbang's free Wi-Fi, and hopped onto the internet.

Then, naturally enough, I drifted into the community.

The familiar gallery.

The familiar tone.

The familiar caliber of absolute idiot posts.

Maybe internet ghouls were the same breed of morons no matter which world you were in.

And there, I found an interesting post.

Hazmat suits and guns?

I saw the real thing myself.

Wait a second — isn't this about ME?

Blessed with a healthy dose of attention-seeking instinct, I couldn't let this golden opportunity slip by.

I snickered at their reactions.

I wanted to write out the whole story in detail, but something told me I'd get scooped up by those government people if I did, so I restrained myself.

After digging around for other information, I closed the browser.

"That's enough for today."

I got up from my spot.

Most importantly, my pockets were empty.

At this rate, forget the Jjimjilbang — I'd be sleeping on spread-out newspaper in a park.

"Maybe I should look into day labor."

I headed out to scrape together some money first.

For eating well and living well, money was the most important thing of all.

By evening.

I'd looked for work, but nobody wanted to hire me.

ID, résumé — part-time jobs demanded way too much.

Isn't my face enough?

Looked like tomorrow I'd have to hit up a staffing agency first thing in the morning.

At least they wouldn't ask for paperwork like that.

*Grrrowl.*

"I can survive skipping a meal."

I was walking along, rubbing my growling stomach, when a woman stole my gaze.

A sleek modern business suit.

Long hair swaying with every step.

A beauty so stunning that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even her cold expression turned radiant.

She stood out even in the thick of the crowd, and passing men couldn't help but stop and stare.

I watched her for a moment myself, then turned away.

For a petty commoner like me, that was the appropriate amount of looking.

Someone from a different star system like her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠held no connection to my life.

Or so I believed.

"Excuse me."

At first I thought she was calling someone else, but her eyes kept tracking me, relentless.

She pointed a finger at my face and asked.

"Me...?"

"Yes."

I frowned at her behavior.

A woman has to be moderately pretty to earn your trust, but too beautiful, and it stops feeling like a scam and starts feeling like organ-harvesting levels of danger.

Wary, I took a step back.

"...What do you want?"

"It's hard to talk here. How about we continue over there?"

She gestured toward a dark, shadowed alley.

Normally this is the kind of thing a man does to a woman to knock her over, isn't it?

Don't tell me... reverse hunting?!

Is this for real?

Am I allowed to get my hopes up?

Even knowing better, my heart pounded — the instinct of every red-blooded male.

When she led the way into the alley, this pitiful specimen of a man followed right along.

"Wh-what is this about?"

I asked cautiously.

"You... you're the Alpha, aren't you?"

Alpha?

The moment I heard that word, it clicked.

The name those two hazmat-suited men had called me.

This woman — she's one of THEM!

I raised my fingers.

And swiftly set the rules in place. The space warped, and just as she was about to be drawn in—

"Wait!"

The woman threw both hands up.

"I have no intention of being hostile."

At her reaction, I narrowed my eyes and lowered my fingers.

"And how am I supposed to believe that?"

"Don't. I simply wanted to talk with you."

"..."

The woman answered with unflinching confidence.

"I saw you earlier. You seemed to be having money trouble."

She pulled an envelope out of her wallet.

"What's this?"

"You haven't watched any dramas? It's a cash envelope."

I stared at her like she'd lost her mind.

Honestly speaking, I was broke.

They say food is life, and surely there's nothing more pitiful than a man who can't afford a single triangle kimbap.

I gingerly opened the envelope.

Two 50,000-won bills inside.

A pathetic amount for someone impersonating a chaebol heiress.

Not quite enough.

Patting my flattened belly, I said:

"Cover a meal and a coffee, and I'll be very cooperative."

"Ha, honestly..."

The woman never gave her name.

She only told me to call her Assistant Manager Kim.

She seemed to be hiding information, but I didn't bother prying either.

She merely said she did work similar to those hazmat-suited people.

"So you're on their side, then?"

"Something like that."

"Do you know why they're chasing me?"

"To some extent."

"Why?"

Assistant Manager Kim didn't answer.

"That's something you should be telling me first, shouldn't you?"

"..."

I'd like to know that too.

I let out a sigh.

But it was no atmosphere for a fight.

Above all, she'd given me money.

As a modern man with a deeply-ingrained understanding of capitalism, whoever pays is the boss.

"Are you a human being?"

"What else would I be?"

"Where did you originally live?"

"An ordinary place."

It wasn't a hard question.

I answered her honestly.

"And your family?"

"I... don't have any right now."

Back in that other world, my family was probably living comfortably off my life insurance payout.

Hearing the word "family" made me curious about Assistant Manager Kim's situation.

I popped some food into my mouth and asked.

"What about you, Manager? Do you have a family?"

"..."

Her smile vanished, if only for an instant.

"I do."

"Do you get along?"

"...Yes. Very much."

Even as she answered, she looked utterly pained.

Family seemed to be a sore spot for her.

Whoops — I just stepped on a landmine.

Talking with women really was exhausting.

I studied her face as I ate with my nose practically buried in my plate.

She took a moment to steady her breath, then smiled again.

Her eyes weren't smiling, and beneath all that beauty lurked an eeriness no gorgeous face could hide.

After parting ways with the Alpha.

Assistant Manager Kim walked down the alley alone.

Her expression was one of grim resolve.

She took out her smartphone and called her senior.

"I've made contact with the Alpha."

"And the information?"

Kim didn't answer her senior's question.

Instead, she pictured the man she'd met today.

He ate with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a healthy appetite, and possessed not one shred ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of situational awareness.

Careless, laid-back, casually admitting he had no money.

He was impossible to see as a monster.

But she couldn't dismiss him as an ordinary human, either.

"Not yet. I'll keep making contact until I'm certain."

"Understood."

"And about the suppressants. Can I receive my supply for this month as well?"

"Deliver results, and you can have everything you want. The suppressants, a full cure for your family — it all comes down to results, Assistant Manager Kim. I'll be expecting great things from you."

Her senior cut the call with icy indifference.

A newly catalogued entity — the finder receives the reward.

A golden opportunity to prove herself.

"This time, for sure..."

Assistant Manager Kim tucked her smartphone into her bag and set off toward the office.

Still buzzing with excitement, I dove back into the community.

My post from earlier had collected a mountain of comments.

And I, of course, fanned the flames.

I smirked at the commenters trembling with jealousy.

Then a new comment appeared.

"...Huh, good point?"

I mulled it over for a while, then muttered.

"Don't tell me... she fell for me? Heh heh."

Do I have the kind of face that works on people from other worlds?

I laughed as I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

A beauty who strikes up conversation AND hands over money.

"At last, the flowers are blooming in my life."

My nose rose high with pride at my first-ever experience of being hunted.

I am now a man who has BEEN hunted. Hear that?

If I didn't spread this heroic tale far and wide, I'd be no true man at all.

Once wasn't enough, though.

I opened the community and started writing a new post.