What Can You Do, I'm Just a Commoner?
What the hell kind of nonsense is this? The old dragon who'd been throwing a fit for chocolate just moments ago was suddenly prophesying the end of my world.
I hurriedly hammered at the keyboard.
— Philosophizing Repairman
What do you mean by that? It's been decades since the gates opened, but our dimension hasn't come close to destruction. If anything, we're mining resources from inside them and living better than ever.
A moment later, Jermad's text popped up.
— Jermad
Decades? Ha, that's a blink of an eye. That's why you primitive humans haven't sensed the crisis yet.
— Jermad
Listen up. Those blue portals tearing through the void aren't natural phenomena. They're like nutrients jammed in one-sidedly by some starving entity from another dimension, hungry to devour your world's life force and resources.
A chill ran down my spine. Nutrients?
— Philosophizing Repairman
N-nutrients?
— Jermad
Yeah. From what I know, our Ereinia continent had those blue portals open en masse eons ago—tens of thousands of years back.
Tens of thousands of years? That was an unimaginable stretch for humans.
— Jermad
At first, just a few beast-like monsters crawled out. But later, they sucked up the continent's mana, growing exponentially in size and number. Countless races went extinct before my great-great-grandfather's generation finally spat blood to seal them shut.
— Philosophizing Repairman
Wait, so your side didn't get destroyed?
— Jermad
Without dragons, extinction. The dragons of that era ripped open dimensional gates to evacuate the survivors. Impressive, right? Got any lifeforms as strong as us?
As if. I had no idea how strong dragons were, but no one on Earth could casually tear open portals to evacuate lifeforms.
— Philosophizing Repairman
Uh, probably not?
— Jermad
Tsk tsk, you're doomed. At least share the chocolate recipe before you go under. Can't find anything like these fruits here no matter how hard I look.
I sat frozen in front of the monitor, holding my breath. Every nation and Hunter Association on Earth taught that gates were infinite resource troves. Sure, they were dangerous, but the mana stones and byproducts pouring out had advanced human tech by centuries.
But if Jermad was right? If those resources were just fattening Earth into a mana-rich buffet?
That meant some colossal entity was simply drilling a hole to swallow the planet whole someday.
— Jermad
Eh, not my problem what happens to your dimension. But it'd suck if the guy delivering tasty desserts croaked pointlessly, so consider this a heads-up. Get stronger, outsider. Before the doors fully open.
— Philosophizing Repairman
Can't you come help us out?
— Jermad
Why would I?
— Philosophizing Repairman
'Cause you can't have chocolate?
— Jermad
Tempting, but even knowing Earth's coordinates, activating a dimensional spell to get there is a whole other beast. No clue how much mana and computation it'd take—could be thousands of years minimum. Besides, it's not doomsday tomorrow. Humans only live about a century anyway—what's there to worry about? It'll probably happen after you're dead.
That was somewhat reassuring. But hearing Earth might actually end? Yeah, it gnawed at me.
— Philosophizing Repairman
Ah... still... we've got way more amazing desserts here besides chocolate.
— Jermad
Oh...?
— Philosophizing Repairman
Yeah, so think it over.
— Jermad
I'll judge based on the dessert quality you send.
With that heavy warning dropped, Jermad vanished offline again.
Wouldn't a dragon showing up make things worse...? Eh, whatever. It'd take thousands of years anyway.
Oh right, the mail. I hit the 'Dimensional Mail' accept button on screen.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
Opening seal on mail from Jermad.
Dragon Words Magic: Cheok (Repel) knowledge imprinted in your mind.
"......Cheok?"
A torrent of info slammed into my brain. I groaned, pinching my brow. Yesterday's Suh pulled and adhered things. This new knowledge was its perfect opposite—a fierce repelling force that blasted targets away.
And the mail included a note from Jermad.
If Suh is attraction, Cheok is repulsion. Deflect incoming enemy spells mid-air, or trigger it underfoot to explosively kick off the void and leap. Master Suh and Cheok together, and most spaces will be your playground.
"Whoa......"
Pull in, push out. The possibilities were endless. Boosting my spear throws was just the start.
"Yeah, Earth's not ending tomorrow. Time to power myself up first."
Even with the chill of planetary doom, imagining the cheat-level synergy from the Dragon Heart mana and Dragon Words had my blood boiling.
Whatever, it'll end after I'm dead. Live it up till then.
Earth's got like 4.5 billion years left anyway, right? Everything's got an expiration date. Total natural endgame. That eased my mind a bit.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next morning, last night's heavy thoughts felt ridiculous under the peaceful sunlight bathing the junkyard. Yawning lazily, I rattled up the rusty slat shutter.
Today, before officially reopening as a proper repair shop, I'd hang a real sign.
Should I re-register the business?
About halfway up, it happened.
Vroooom—!!
A roaring exhaust note—totally out of place in this quiet junkyard alley—shook the air, stirring any guy's heart.
Before I could turn, a pitch-black, tinted Lambo worth hundreds of millions slid smoothly to a stop in my front yard.
"......Holy crap, a Lambo? What the hell's it doing here?"
I'd been dreaming of one myself when the passenger door swung open.
"Boss! Good morning!"
A pretty girl in a chic tweed dress—like straight out of a luxury mag—waved brightly as she hopped out. The same one who'd sobbed snot and tears over her 60-month installment sword last night: Seo Ayoung.
"Huh? Seo Ayoung?"
"Hehe, I told you yesterday—I'd bring a customer and come right back."
I glanced between her flashy outfit and the supercar, clearing my throat inwardly.
What? Ranting about installment life, but she's loaded? Makes sense—her skin and nails didn't scream slum hunter.
But my shock didn't end there. The driver's door opened, and long, slender legs in a black suit stepped out first. Sunglasses on, she matched the car perfectly—but her vibe was worlds apart from Ayoung's, despite the resemblance.
Striking such a pose in front of a junkyard just made my toes curl.
Screw supercars. Better get a sedan—less embarrassing.
Wait... that face looked familiar......
"Huh?"
I sucked in a breath. Any Korean into hunters knew that face. Plastered across the Hunter Association homepage and billboards. Top 50 ranked A-rank hunter, Roijir Guild vice-master: Seo Ara.
Seo Ayoung... Seo Ara. No freaking way—sisters?!
As I reeled internally, Ara clicked over on heels.
Rankers like her usually strutted with noses in the air. But not her. She bowed lightly, voice polite and composed.
"Pleased to meet you, Boss Kwon Daesung. I'm Seo Ara of Roijir Guild."
Damn, manners? I bowed back politely.
"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you."
She smiled. "I heard you perfectly fixed my immature little sister's sword last night. As her big sis, I felt I should come thank you personally—sorry for the early visit."
Unexpected courtesy. I relaxed, calculating.
An A-rank doing this? Obvious. She'd seen through the sword's true value. Not just patching scrap—I'd recreated the mana circuits, restoring 100% durability. Insane repair skill.
"Your sister's was partly my fault too, so it was the least I could do. Didn't expect an A-rank to visit this dump personally, though."
I held my ground; her lips curved in faint interest. She eyed the junkyard, then popped the trunk.
"Straight to the point, Boss Kwon. I came to see your skills with my own eyes."
From the trunk: a long, heavy leather case. She set it on my workbench and opened it, revealing a massive greatsword radiating chill.
But it was wrecked. Half the blade cracked irregularly, luster gone, dull and dead.
"Queen of Frost's Greatsword. My old main weapon. Shattered beyond repair in a boss fight two years ago—no top Korean artisan could fix it."
She removed her sunglasses, staring straight.
"If my sister's wasn't luck, Boss Kwon... can you fix this too?"
I inspected silently instead of answering.
🗡 Queen of Frost's Greatsword 🗡
Grade: A
Status: Chill loss from fire exposure. Elemental power depleted.
Repairable: Yes (No upgrade repair.)
Required Materials: 1 A-rank Chill Elemental Stone (or 10 A-rank Mana Stones), 5 A-rank Mana Stones, 20g High-grade Mana Gold, 100 MP
These materials... insane cost. A-rank mana stones averaged 150 million each. Fifteen of them? Plus 20g high-grade Mana Gold. Base materials alone topped 2 billion.
"Hmm, fixable, but......"
I trailed off positively; her eyes lit up.
"Y-you can fix it!?"
"Yeah, but... well......"
My brain raced as I stalled.
How much to charge? D-rank vs. A-rank? No comparison. D was 6k; A starts at 10 billion min.
I knew that sword—went for 15 billion back then. Perfect.
"7 billion. That's the minimum. Materials alone..."
As I started justifying the price, her eyes widened, grabbing my hand.
"For real!? 7 billion fixes it!?"
I frowned.
"......"
Fuck, should've let her bid first.
What can you do? Lived my whole life as a commoner. Sue me.