Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: A New Home
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“Mom.”
I called out to my mom again, trying to persuade her one more time.
“You’ve been speaking so politely lately—I was wondering why. Turns out you were working up to this.”
Mom spoke with a dark expression.
“Let’s eat first. I’m hungry.”
Mom set the table, and we ate in silence.
Mom’s cooking had always been great, but after so long, it tasted even better. If only I hadn’t been so on edge, I could’ve enjoyed it more.
After the meal, I kept pushing for us to move, but Mom wouldn’t budge.
She was more stubborn than I’d expected—this wasn’t something I could fix in a day. I resolved to persuade her slowly over time, eating the apple she’d peeled for me while looking around. Our home was filled with old appliances and furniture. It felt nostalgic and cozy, but honestly, it was falling apart.
“Mom, at least let’s get a new fridge. That one’s been making noise nonstop.”
I pointed at the 15-year-old fridge whining loudly.
“No need. It’s still running fine. What a waste of money.”
“Come on, just take a look. Think of it as a date with your son.”
I took Mom—who was reluctant—to a nearby electronics store.
“Oh my goodness. This one has so much space inside.”
Mom had said she wasn’t interested, but she was soon engrossed in the new fridge models.
While Mom was distracted, I called over a salesperson and ordered brand-new replacements for all our old appliances: fridge, washer, TV, rice cooker, the works.
“Please deliver as soon as possible. And haul away everything we have at home.”
I paid in full, and the salesperson’s back bent at a perfect ninety degrees.
“Thank you!”
Mom smacked my back, scolding me for buying such things and demanding a refund from the salesperson. I picked her up in my arms and carried her out of the store.
“Oh my, how did you get so strong?”
“Mom, if you don’t take it, I’ll just buy a house in your name next.”
“Oh my goodness. Threatening your own mom.”
Maybe she understood her son’s feelings, because she reluctantly accepted the gift.
We took a stroll around the neighborhood before heading home. While watching TV together, I secretly slipped an envelope of cash into the wardrobe.
No need to rush—I’d win her over bit by bit with regular “bribes” like this. Within a year, I’d get her into a new place.
“Mom, I’m heading out. I’ll come again soon.”
I wanted to stay longer, but I had things to do.
“Already? Come visit often. And no dangerous stuff.”
Leaving Mom—who worried about me to the end—I headed to Hanam City to find a place for myself. Even after getting her a new home, I didn’t plan to live together for a while. I needed to level up my Regeneration Skill at home too, which meant some bizarre behavior. She’d faint if she saw.
I chose Hanam because it was one of the areas that survived a long time in my past life. Plus, it was conveniently located for traveling to Gates nationwide.
I toured remote plots in Hanam with a real estate agent. I wanted something spacious with no neighbors nearby, and we found a spot without much trouble.
No one had lived there in a while, so the house was rundown, but the structure was solid—it was perfect. The lot was huge, great for expansions later.
“This includes all the way back to the mountain. It’s vacant now, so if we sign today, you could move in tomorrow.”
No houses in sight—ideal for training.
“I’ll take it.”
I wanted to pay cash outright, but I didn’t have that much yet, so I paid half upfront and financed the rest with a bank loan using the house as collateral.
After back-and-forth with the realtor and bank, it was getting dark. I hurried to the auto dealership district.
“Welcome… come on in.”
The salesperson greeted me but trailed off when he saw my appearance, his enthusiasm deflating.
Dressed sloppily, I guess this was the treatment I got. I’d have to buy some new clothes when I had time.
“A pickup truck…”
“Yes, take a look.”
He was convinced I wasn’t buying and walked off without really listening.
Hunters who hauled a lot of gear loved pickups, so I’d driven one for a while in my past life. I glanced at the display models, then approached another salesperson.
“I’ll order that one.”
This model and year was reliable and long-lasting—worth a premium over new ones in my past life.
“Huh?”
The young salesperson looked confused for a second. I repeated myself.
“That one. I’ll order it. Same specs as the displayed one.”
“Yes! Please have a seat, sir! I’m salesperson Ha Cheolsun.”
The eager young guy pulled out the paperwork.
“What are you doing?”
A few minutes later, the rude salesperson from earlier approached, tapping Ha Cheolsun’s shoulder as he reviewed my forms.
“Oh, the customer said he’s signing, so…”
Ha Cheolsun glanced up to answer, then went back to the papers.
“What? Really? No, let me help. I was the one who greeted you first.”
The jerk kept tapping, signaling to step aside. Calling that a greeting took some nerve—face like a brick.
“No thanks. I’ll deal with Ha Cheolsun here.”
“No, boss. I was just busy earlier…”
“Whatever. Go do your job. I’m busy buying two cars today.”
At the mention of two, Ha Cheolsun beamed, while the jerk paled and slunk away.
I ordered one pickup and bought a cheap sedan I could drive off immediately.
The truck was for hunting trips, but it was impractical in cramped Korean cities.
Mom lived in an old apartment too—I didn’t want to roll up in a luxury sedan. I’d get her a better place and upgrade the car later.
I drove my shiny new ride back to the boarding house.
I’d pack up and move to the new place tomorrow.
“Jaewon~”
I called out as I opened the door to the boarding house.
“Yeah, you’re back.”
Jaewon was glued to his online game and mumbled without looking.
“Let’s drink. Booze. I got some whiskey.”
“What! Whiskey! Hold on a sec!”
His eyes widened at ‘whiskey,’ but he still didn’t look away from the screen.
While he finished his game, I ordered a ton of food from the Chinese place. When it arrived, his game ended, and we set up the table with whiskey.
“I’m moving out tomorrow.”
I told him over the food.
“Dude, I can’t cover rent…”
Jaewon scratched his head. It was a year lease—I’d prepaid through February. He must’ve been worried about reimbursing me.
“Don’t sweat it. I’ll cover my share for the rest. I’m the one breaking the contract early.”
“Thanks, man.”
“No problem. I got a place in Hanam, so come visit sometime.”
“Sweet. To Lee Jiseok’s glamorous hunter life!”
Jaewon proposed a toast.
“To it!”
I didn’t get drunk, but drinking with a friend was fun.
* * *
I said goodbye to Jaewon and headed to the new house early the next morning.
It hadn’t been touched in a while—lots to fix. Weeds everywhere.
I rolled up my sleeves and started cleaning. Luckily, inside was just dirty, nothing major structurally. Outside, though, was neglected—not a one- or two-day job.
After cleaning, I ordered a bunch of appliances, stocked up on essentials, and filled the place. With my stamina, I moved faster than several unawakened folks combined and didn’t even tire.
I roughly finished inside and stepped into the front yard. The house was surrounded by weeds and brush.
It reminded me of weeding graves with my uncle as a kid. Miss it even once, and it takes over.
I didn’t want to waste time on weeds while living here, so I decided to cover the area around the house with gravel so nothing could grow.
Thinking of it as training, I started barehanded, no tools.
I bent down, chopped the ground with my hand like a blade, stabbing deep. The hard soil gave way like mud—my hand sank in easily. I plowed forward like a farm machine.
Once I’d upturned the soil, I sifted out weeds and brush, leveled it, then headed to the back mountain for rocks.
Plenty of stones there—I grabbed suitable boulders, some hundreds of kilos. My muscles bulged like they’d burst.
[Strength has increased by 1.]
Hauling heavy rocks up and down the mountain trails leveled Strength. Pushing nonstop, my breath grew ragged and sweat poured.
I smashed the rocks with my bare fists, shattering them into finger-sized gravel. To cover the whole yard, I’d need hundreds of trips.
[Strength has increased by 1.]
[Stamina has increased by 1.]
Trudging like a wild boar, smashing rocks—it raised my stats. Combat levels them fastest, but this slow muscle stimulation was effective too. Plus, customizing my own home while training? Perfect.
I gravelled the perimeter and front yard, then sat on the porch with water from the mart.
I chugged it, then pulled out the poison vial I’d taken from Choi Miran and dumped it in.
Watching the water slowly turn green, I stirred and downed it.
It had a sharp, appealing bite. My body numbed—I sat waiting for the poison resistance to kick in.
Poison Resistance rose fastest in combat or mortal danger, but daily exposure worked too, just slower.
No wasting time at home— from now on, I’d blend life and training here to raise stats.
* * *
Clearing Gates counted toward promotion, but just Gates would take forever.
Subjugation missions were key for fast promotions. After the Gate Break 18 years ago, most high-risk monsters were hunted, but some mid- and small-sized ones fled to mountains and bred.
They wrecked ecosystems and threatened humans directly, so the government ran periodic subjugations to cull them.
They involved roaming mountains and paid poorly, so they were unpopular among Awakeners until recently. The Management Bureau added per-monster bounties and promotion perks, drawing some participants.
Checking the Hunter app, I saw a week-long Hellhound subjugation in Gangwon Province next week and signed up immediately.