Chapter 034
[Chapter 034]
< Hasuo's Wish >
A white body.
Appearance with a few green leaves poking out on the head.
Byok, byok.
Hasuo carefully took its short root legs like a baby who just took its first steps.
Every time it stepped on the soil, it made a cute sound like pulling a wet carrot.
As a normal childhood stage child would, Hasuo’s world revolved entirely around the Master.
It started its daily routine by quietly observing the Master's day every morning.
The Master woke up early in the morning and ran through the back mountain.
Returning, he watered the garden and cared for the crops with sincerity.
At lunch, he made food that smelled delicious and shared it with Muryong, the Gorani, and itself.
Bbo-deuk, bbo-deuk.
It ran through the field with its short roots with all its might.
Tok, tok.
It put the stream water in which Hasuo had bathed into its small leaves and sprinkled it on other crops.
Then one night.
Hasuo saw the Master sitting on the veranda.
The Master was wiping a small picture frame very preciously with a soft cloth.
Inside the frame was a small girl whose smiling appearance looked exactly like the Master.
“?”
Watching that, Hasuo could instinctively feel that around the Master, which was normally not felt.
A sorrowful yet warm energy rising like a haze.
Late at night, it secretly entered the Master's room.
There, the very frame it saw during the day was placed.
Hasuo approached the frame.
‘....’
And it came to know.
That the source of every emotion flowing from the Master's heart was this existence in the frame.
That existence was exactly this.
How can I be helpful to the Master?
Hasuo began to contemplate for the first time.
Even while pulling up the energy of the earth on its own and embracing the moonlight, it did not stop contemplating.
To the Master, and to that small existence the Master cherishes.
The earnest heart wanting to be helpful as soon as possible.
Bbo-deu-deuk!
As if responding to that earnestness, on Hasuo’s head.
Between the poking green leaves, one more very small and tender new leaf sprouted.
Rather than just waiting for the fate to be eaten.
With its own will, it was moving toward fate step by step.
* * *
“Do you think this makes sense!”
Old Man No’s shouting echoed through the equipment management team office.
Before Old Man No stood Manager I, an old colleague who had shared joys and sorrows in the Bureau for over 15 years, with a distraught expression.
“....”
“No, say something! What did you do wrong! Why is it your responsibility that the equipment exploded in the field! The one who signed the inspection form was that Park Jin-soo!”
Manager I.
His talent as a hunter was nothing much, but he was one of the few veterans who survived since the early days of the Tower along with Old Man No.
A while ago, an accident occurred where a communication device exploded at a C-Rank Rift site.
Fortunately there were no human casualties, but someone had to take responsibility.
“Team Leader Park Jin-soo... said if a person responsible for this accident isn't determined, the whole team gets a pay cut, so he asked me to be the fall guy. Thinking of my wife and kids... I had no choice.”
He knew Manager I’s situation clearly.
Weren't his three children still at the age where money goes into them?
‘To think he’d shift responsibility to such a person!’
It was obvious.
Since he used a massive budget to recruit A-Rank Kim Tae-seong, he must have had to cut costs somewhere somehow.
He made a man in a technical position a scapegoat and shifted the accident processing cost and responsibility.
Old Man No headed straight to Park Jin-soo’s team leader office.
“Team Leader Park!”
“Oh dear, Old Man No. What brings you all the way here?”
Park Jin-soo replied nonchalantly without even taking his eyes off the documents.
“Withdraw Manager I’s case immediately.”
“What are you talking about? I processed it according to regulation.”
“I have the inspection form you signed. I know clearly it's your responsibility, where are you making excuses!”
At Old Man No’s exclamation, Park Jin-soo was momentarily flustered but soon snorted.
“So? What are you going to do. Are you going to snitch to the Division Chief or something? Do you really not know who is the more necessary talent in the Bureau right now?”
Park Jin-soo’s face was full of the arrogance of one who believes in the protection of the higher-ups.
And, he knew.
That Old Man No was a person who could absolutely not leave the Bureau on his own feet.
So he didn't even think of hiding the leisure of being okay even if he defied like this.
Old Man No judged that there was no value in talking with him further.
“Good. Then let's say I take responsibility for Manager I’s problem. Won't the higher-ups be convinced then too?”
“Pardon? What does that....”
“Because I will quit as of today.”
Then he walked out of the office he had belonged to for 20 years without looking back.
“Wa-wait! Old Man No! Then what about the joint A-Rank equipment inspection scheduled for next week!”
Park Jin-soo’s flustered cry was heard behind his back, but he didn't stop.
Old Man No left the office leaving behind Park Jin-soo whose complexion turned pale white.
There was no longer any lingering attachment to this rotten place.
* * *
A few days later.
A quiet detached house on the outskirts of Seoul, 40 minutes by car from Seoul.
Old Man No was sitting in the house garden, basking in the warm sun for the first time in a long while.
“I slept long.”
A place he could only drop by once or twice a week because he lived in the company lodging.
It was a house containing memories where he promised with his wife to spend old age while cultivating a garden when she was alive.
“....”
Since his wife left, he always felt guilty about resting comfortably here alone.
But now, he decided to think a bit differently.
Although he hadn't clearly decided how he would live in the future, at least he decided not to sacrifice his current life while being bound by the past anymore.
He decided to change his attitude toward life like that little by little.
Ding!
A text from Kang-hyun arrived on the terminal.
[Old Man No, I thought you wouldn't be able to properly take care of your meals if you're alone, so I’ll send some things from the garden. Don't be surprised even if it arrives in a bit of a unique way.]
“Haha.”
A smile naturally formed from the thankful heart.
Perhaps, changing the attitude toward life was also thanks to Kang-hyun.
He knows that the Bureau was a significant meaning to Kang-hyun too.
Because the two of them lived while struggling so much like that.
But when the Bureau threw away Kang-hyun, he didn't live while being discouraged.
Rather, he became more solid and relaxed.
Watching that young friend, he 어렴풋이 (faintly) realized that he can keep himself even without a job or a workplace.
Rustle.
He stared down at his severance pay settlement details placed on the table.
[Total Severance Pay: 1,940,550,470 won]
The only reward for 20 years of devotion.
And the medical certificate next to it.
[Diagnosis Result: Chronic mana pollution nerve damage symptoms, complete recovery verdict.]
The 지긋지긋한 (dreadful) chronic disease that tormented him for 20 years.
That disease, for which maintaining the current state was the best, vanished without a trace with just a glass of Hasuo-boiled water Kang-hyun gave.
Wasn't it a kind of grace that couldn't be repaid with money.
[Balance: 100,000,000 won]
The money Kang-hyun handed over to him a while ago asking him to hold it, which he put in a separate account.
He planned to gift the best car by adding his own severance pay to the 100 million Kang-hyun left.
But at the same time, worry came ahead.
‘What if he thinks it's a too worldly repayment.’
Kang-hyun was not such a person.
He knew better than anyone that he wasn't a friend who obsessed over money or material things.
‘Won't he just find such an expensive gift burdensome and dislike it?’
But this was the only best repayment he could think of currently.
For a long time, he was lost in thought while flipping through the car catalog.
Hoping his sincerity would be fully transmitted to that young friend.
* * *
MK Sphere Tower, S-Rank Hunter Yu Jin-hyuk’s personal hospital room.
“...Please, Executive.”
The Heart of Steel Yu Jin-hyuk, who is said to be the strongest among current S-Ranks in terms of tanking.
He spoke with difficulty.
The curse of the Demon Dragon that had been tormenting him for 3 years.
His face had turned gaunt from the terrible pain, losing its previous majesty.
His gaze was fixed on the Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market) post floating on the terminal screen.
[Buyer: IAmAHealer]
[Item Purchased: Cucumber of the Glacier]
[Review: I had a burn from fighting a monster, and when I ground this and applied it, it vanished without a scar the next day. Better than an average ointment?]
[Buyer: IWillBecomeARanker]
[Item Purchased: Clairvoyance Onion]
[Review: I ate this and entered the 15th floor, and trap locations were visible much better than usual. Thanks to this I survived. ㅠㅠ]
“Could you somehow get me the crops of that person named Gorani Man 12?”
“Pardon?”
A desperation to grab even a straw was tinged in Yu Jin-hyuk’s voice.
“If so many people saw that much effect... if it's me, maybe, if it's me, I might be able to escape this curse even just a little.”
“....”
Watching Yu Jin-hyuk’s earnest gaze, Shin Seung-ah inwardly clicked her tongue.
Lately, she had been thinking of the Gorani Man 12 phenomenon as just noise marketing or a placebo effect maximized incident.
‘Just a single tomato has a better effect than a C-Rank potion?’
It was a nonsensical story.
Of course, the review board was plastered with praise for Gorani Man 12.
Fatigue was relieved, vision improved, even hair growth effect was witnessed.
‘Isn't this a manipulated viral review?’
Shin Seung-ah didn't believe it.
This was surely a giant fraud committed by someone with a genius talent for marketing.
‘He’ll only be disappointed after I get it for him.’
But, even so, she couldn't coldly break the S-Rank Hunter's last hope.
“Understood. I will try getting them by any means.”
As she stood up, other thoughts filled Shin Seung-ah’s head.
‘By the way, I’m a bit curious.’
Just what kind of person is it that they can create such a giant fandom with mere vegetables.
The timing of cunningly impersonating the Gorani Man, which is currently the hottest keyword.
To the sales strategy of maximizing scarcity to make buyers anxious.
‘Is a scion of some conglomerate family running a business for fun?’
Shin Seung-ah began to feel a tiny bit of interest in the mysterious person named Gorani Man 12.
But she soon corrected her thought.
‘No. It's not at the level of a conglomerate scion.’
Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market) was a market of thorough meritocracy and credit.
Even if you sell equipment used by an S-Rank Hunter, you get ignored if the review is bad.
To build recognition, a new seller had to build credit by steadily selling good items at a low price for at least a few months.
But what about Gorani Man 12.
Only 2 weeks since starting activity. Simply with a non-mainstream of non-mainstream item in the hunter market, vegetables, he occupied the 1st place in ‘Seller Ranking of the Month’ at once.
In the moment Gorani Man 12’s items were posted, it had now become a routine that thousands of buyers flocked and it was sold out in 0.1 seconds.
‘The more surprising thing is this.’
It was trade satisfaction and repurchase hope rate.
Both items 100%.
Not a single dissatisfied review, not a single trade cancellation.
It's a statistically impossible figure.
A result that can never come out unless the quality of the item far surpasses the buyer's expectation.
‘It means it's real skill.’
This was a rare and scary talent.
‘Anyway, I should contact him quickly.’
Shin Seung-ah didn't know even in her dreams until this time.
That getting that one crop is much more difficult than taking a legendary item from a Tower 50th floor boss.
* * *
Slurp, munch.
I was sitting on the veranda, eating green onion kimchi freshly picked from the garden on top of boiled ramen.
[Item: Green Onion Embodying Fairy Honey]
[Description: Grown in the Absolute's Herb Garden while eating honey dew that fairies secretly sprayed. The faint sweet taste that deepens with chewing and the refreshing scent that cleanses the mouth are exquisite.]
Crunch!
The refreshing yet pleasantly pungent green onion scent bursting in the mouth.
And following that, a elegant sweet taste that spreads faintly as if it were a well-ripened fruit.
While not harming the oily ramen soup taste, it was a fantastic harmony that perfectly caught the aftertaste.
“I ate well.”
After the meal, I picked only the highest-grade looking ones among the crops harvested this morning and put them in a small basket.
Then I tied that basket firmly to the back of the Gorani, who was sleeping leisurely in the yard.
“Now, Gorani. First delivery.”
“Kkiyot!”
“Don't get caught by people's eyes, can you do well?”
The Gorani responded by turning its large ears 파다다닥 (pa-da-da-dak) like a helicopter propeller.
It kicked the yard where darkness had fallen and vanished into it in an instant.
< Hasuo's Wish > END