So a Human Woman... Texted Me?
Friday morning.
I opened the note that had arrived late last night and read it again.
"It's fine if you don't have a weapon," huh. So I really am just baggage.
Still, I didn't show up empty-handed.
I strapped the Iron Sword to my waist — my one and only weapon, its blade mottled with rust stains.
When I gripped the hilt, my palm went inexplicably warm.
* * *
The area in front of the management office was more crowded than I'd expected.
Everyone had their own piece of equipment on them, chatting away with familiar faces.
Everyone but me.
My hand holding the Iron Sword grew clammy.
Real hunters. People with full rank classifications.
"Minjun-nim?"
A big, burly man raised his hand high and came over.
A round face, the kind where his eyes vanished entirely when he smiled.
"I'm Bae Sunho! I sent you the note!"
"Ah, yes. I'm Kim Minjun."
"Great to meet you! You said it was your first time, right? No need to be nervous. We'll handle everything!"
He grabbed my hand and shook it.
His hand was big, calloused, and warm.
Behind him stood two women.
One held a long staff and had meticulously styled hair. The other had a small mace at her hip and wore almost no expression at all.
"This is Min Sena, our mage. And this is Hayul — Kang Hayul. Our healer."
"Hello there~"
The mage called Sena waved. The healer called Hayul gave a slight nod.
As I returned their greetings, my eyes kept drifting elsewhere.
Past their faces, to the things they were carrying.
The sword at Bae Sunho's hip. Usage Count — 21,406.
Min Sena's staff. Usage Count — 312.
Kang Hayul's mace. Usage Count — 3,877.'...That's it?'
I doubted my own eyes.
I blinked once and looked again. 21,406.
The Iron Sword had been at thirteen thousand — and I'd already been stunned by how many hands it had passed through before mine. This was double that.
Just how much had this sword cut down over the years?
Before I knew it, I'd taken a step closer.
Within arm's reach.
If I touched it, the factor list would pop up.
'...No, are you insane?'
It was someone else's sword. A stranger's, at that.
And Sena's staff was practically brand new.
"Minjun-nim?"
"Ah, yes! Sorry."
"You must like swords. You couldn't take your eyes off mine."
Sunho chuckled, and my face went hot for no reason.
I handed my license over at the office counter.
The clerk's eyes paused for a moment on the rank field, glanced once at Sunho's face, then stamped it.
It had been a long time since I'd shown someone a license with a blank rank field.
My ears grew a little warm.
While Sunho went off to finish the paperwork, the women's voices drifted over from behind me.
"...His rank field was empty."
"But they say he paid the bus fee right away. A hundred."
"His clothes are pretty plain, though?"
"Exactly. Something seems off about him..."
When I turned around, they were both looking pointedly elsewhere.
Min Sena came over first, smiling.
Wearing a face that gave no hint she'd just been whispering about me.
"What kind of business are you in, Minjun-ssi?"
"Ah, just... trade."
"Wow, you're a boss? What do you sell?"
"...Equipment."
I deflected vaguely, but Sena's eyes lit up.
And behind her, Kang Hayul silently looked me up and down.
'...Did I do something wrong?'
Being in front of real hunters made me unnecessarily self-conscious.
* * *
The moment I took my first step into the gate,
my palm went cold.
It started in the hand gripping the Iron Sword — like cold water seeping into my skin.
'What is this? Am I nervous?'
No. This wasn't mine.
Then, out of nowhere, a thought surfaced in my head.
— I have to do well. I can't get thrown away again.
"...!"
I flinched and looked down at the Iron Sword.
Nothing.
'Was that... the Iron Sword's will?'
"Minjun-nim, are you okay?"
"Ah, yes. I'm fine."
I didn't tell anyone what had just happened.
Not Sunho. And probably not the Iron Sword, either.
I gripped the Iron Sword a little tighter.
...Because I had no intention of letting go.
* * *
The E-Rank gate was a cave.
Damp walls, moss underfoot. Somewhere ahead in the darkness, something was squeaking.
"Goblins. Five... six of them!"
Sunho raised his shield.
"Sena, get ready to cast! Hayul, stay in the back! Minjun-nim, stay right behind me!"
And then he charged forward.
Before he'd even finished talking.
"Wha— wait, oppa!"
Min Sena fumbled her staff up into position. Her spell came out a beat late.
A small fireball flew off and smacked into the wall. The goblins were fine.
By that point, Sunho was already in the middle of them.
Shoving one back with his shield, cutting another down with his sword.
He shoulder-checked the one charging in from behind.
"Hayul, I got scratched!"
"...Coming."
Kang Hayul ran over and pressed her mace to Sunho's arm.
-Fwoosh.
Light spread, and the wound healed over.
Just then, one goblin broke from the pack and came bounding straight toward me.
'Uh, uh?'
I raised the Iron Sword. My arm froze.
"Minjun-nim, get down!"
Sunho threw himself at it. His shield slammed the goblin all the way back into the wall.
"Are you okay?!"
"...Yes."
In the end, Sunho took down five of the six.
It felt like he was running an entire party by himself.
The last one fell to Min Sena's third fireball — sheer luck.
"Wow, Sena! Nice work!"
Sunho clapped. Sena flipped her hair and smiled.
Kang Hayul was checking Sunho's arm one more time.
"Alright, time to collect the mana stones."
Sunho slit open the chests of the fallen goblins with the tip of his blade.
Stones the size of a fingernail rolled out. A dull, murky green.
"This is money. Not much for E-Rank, but still. Minjun-nim, you can gather them into this pouch for me."
I took the pouch.
And so the bus passenger's job was born.
Sunho carved, I picked up. Sena stood at a distance, watching the stones.
That was how we worked our way deeper into the cave.
Sunho blocking up front, cutting, running. The other two trailing a beat behind.
I walked in the rear, carrying the mana stone pouch.
We took a short break partway through.
When I perched on a rock, Sena sidled up and sat down next to me. She smelled of perfume.
"Minjun-ssi, the hundred for the bus fee isn't a burden, is it?"
"Ah, well... I'm fine."
"Wow, business must be good~ I'm jealous."
Her elbow brushed mine, then pulled away.
"You should stick with me next time~ It's scary being all alone in the back, you know."
My body had stiffened up in front of real hunters, so I scooted my butt slightly to the side.
"Do you make equipment separately? A blacksmith's guild? Something like that?"
Kang Hayul asked from across the way. Her voice carried no warmth.
"Uh... something like that. I got lucky."
"Hayul~ You don't interrogate clients like that."
Sunho cut in with a laugh. Hayul didn't ask anything more. Instead, she didn't take her eyes off me either.
Sunho laid his sword across his knee and honed the edge.
Missing teeth here and there, a hilt whose leather had clearly been rewrapped more than once.
"You've had it a long time, huh?"
"Ah, this? I bought it secondhand when I first started as a hunter. It's been just this one ever since."
Sunho stroked the blade fondly.
"Without her, I couldn't do anything. Haha. My skills are what they are."
Usage count 21,406.
That number, I realized, was the road this man had walked.
The cave opened up at the end into a slightly wider clearing.
And there stood a goblin a full head taller than the rest, club in hand.
"It's the chieftain! Everyone behind me!"
Sunho planted his shield.
The club crashed down on it. Sunho's feet slid back a handspan.
"Sena! Now!"
"Uh, uhh?"
Sena's fireball was late again, grazing the chieftain's shoulder as it passed.
"Hayul, buffs!"
"Already on it."
Block after block, push after push.
Blood seeped from Sunho's arm. Hayul darted over and covered it in light.
Finally, Sunho beat the club aside with his shield and drove his sword through the gap.
The chieftain dropped to its knees.
"Hahh... hahh... We got it!"
"You're the best, oppa!"
Sena clapped from behind. She was the one who'd contributed the least to that fight.
Sunho sat down where he was and laughed, drenched in sweat.
The palm gripping the Iron Sword stayed cold the entire fight, right up until it ended.
Before we left the gate, Sunho emptied the mana stone pouch.
Green stones spilled across the ground. Roughly twenty.
"Alright, we split this three ways—"
Sunho picked one up and placed it in my palm.
"This one's yours, Minjun-nim. A souvenir from your first gate!"
"Oppa, for bus passengers, normally..."
Sena started to say something, then stopped.
Hayul silently counted out her own share.
I looked down at the stone in my palm.
He'd said it wasn't worth much. And yet, somehow, I found myself clutching it tight.
「Gate Cleared」
「Achievement Unlocked — First Party Join, +2 Points」
「Party EXP Distributed — 1,200」
「Level Up! 8 → 9, +1 Point」
「New Feature Unlocked: Repair」
"...Repair?"
Fix what, exactly?
Like Appraisal, I'd figure it out once I used it, presumably.
More importantly — one whole level.
In exchange for a hundred and half a day of tagging along.
A single 2-Star pregnancy was worth 1,900, and that took four days.
This took one day.
'Worth it.'
The investment had paid off.
"So, Minjun-nim, how was it today? It was your first time — everything okay?"
Sunho asked as we stepped out of the gate.
"Yes. It was really... great. Thanks to you, Sunho-ssi."
"Aw, come on, I didn't do anything! If you ever need us again, just give me a shout!"
And he grabbed my hand and shook it again.
This guy really was a good person.
While Sunho went into the office to settle the payment, Sena held out her phone.
"Minjun-ssi, put your number in for me~"
"My number?"
"For the next bus. I figured I'd contact you directly. Notes take forever to get replies, you know."
It sounded plausible enough.
Once I'd typed it in, Sena checked the screen and smiled sweetly.
"Saved. Boss Minjun."
Behind her, Kang Hayul let out a short breath.
I couldn't tell if it was a sigh or something else.
On the way home, I opened my status window.
Points remaining: nine.
Flat-rate capacity, or recovery speed?
This time, flat-rate capacity.
Only by increasing what I could pour out at once could I run the Iron Sword and the Dagger on two parallel lines.
Two lines meant twice the equipment.
So, five into flat-rate capacity.
「Flat-Rate Capacity 10P, 300%」
「Points Remaining: 4」
The lesson of the three-meter length was still fresh in my mind.
This time I crunched the numbers properly before spending.
Then I turned on my phone and found a new post in the gallery.
A post written by Sunho himself.
The corners of my mouth curled up without my permission.
* * *
The moment I got home, I grabbed the Iron Sword.
"I want to eat you."
The Iron Sword was sitting at the foot of the bed.
When I appeared, she said nothing — just scooted over and sat down pressed against me.
Then she clutched the hem of my shirt.
"...What."
"..."
No answer. She just held the hem tight.
I thought back to the voice in the gate.
I have to do well. I can't get thrown away again.
"...Were you okay? In the gate?"
The Iron Sword asked first.
"Yeah. Thanks to you."
I didn't mention hearing what was in her heart.
If she knew I'd caught her, this girl would only try even harder.
Instead, I stroked her hair once, gently.
"I'm taking you with me next time, too."
"...Okay."
The hand clutching my shirt tightened a little more.
That cold feeling from the gate — there was none of it here.
* * *
That night, my phone rang.
It was a message from Min Sena.