Payday Between Worlds

Evening was settling over Bresen Pioneer Village.

The red of the sunset had all but drained from the sky, and the open ground in front of the guild was scattered with adventurers just back from the field. Inside, the rustle of ledgers and the clink of coin never quite stopped.

We stepped into the guild without much to say.

After an afternoon spent running the woods, all three of us were worn down. Mari didn't pick a fight the way she usually would, and Kaya stayed quiet. I didn't feel much like opening my mouth first either.

Ah… I'm so damn tired…!

Still, my mood wasn't bad. My pockets were heavy today.

I handed Luce every mana stone we'd taken that afternoon. Dull gray-green goblin stones piled on one side; larger, muddy black-brown Ironfang Boar stones on the other.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Luce said it, then tapped a line on the ledger with her finger.

"This was the mixed-clearance request with patrol of the Bresen outskirts. Base reward is two silver and five copper."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Eighteen common goblin mana stones. Two copper each, for a total of thirty-six copper."

"Oh."

"Five Ironfang Boar mana stones. Five copper each, for a total ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of twenty-five copper."

"Ohh."

I ran the numbers in my head.

Base reward plus the stones came to ninety copper all told. Split three ways, that was thirty copper a person.

In other words, two silver and six copper.

Damn… we made a lot.

Numbers that clean always put me in a weirdly good mood.

Luce closed the ledger and said,

"Combined, that's exactly ninety copper. Split among the three of you, thirty copper each. Converted to silver, that's two silver and six copper. Would you like it mixed—silver and copper together?"

Kaya answered.

"Yeah. Do it that way."

Two silver. Six copper.

My share slid across the counter toward me.

Clink.

The sound of copper and silver knocking together was strangely cheerful.

Guess all that throat-cutting of boars and goblins in the woods was worth it.

"Man…"

I let out an unnecessary little whistle of appreciation, and Mari looked over with a tired face.

"What's with him. First time making money?"

"No, but it feels good, doesn't it?"

"Fair enough. We did go completely insane catching things this afternoon."

"Right? We all worked hard."

"Yeah, yeah."

Even as she said it, Mari scooped up her share at impressive speed. Kaya took her coins quietly. I swept mine into my palm, thought for a second, then set three copper aside and pushed them toward Luce.

"Please put these toward the leather bracer tab."

"Only three copper?"

"Yes."

Mari laughed right away.

"Wow. Even a guy like that can learn."

"I'm a person too. A person!"

"You weren't earlier."

"I'll give you that one."

Luce opened the ledger again and ran a fingertip down a few lines.

"The tab for the leather arm guards is fully paid."

"Yes, ma'am."

I let that sink in, then asked the thing that had just occurred to me.

"By the way… does interest usually get added onto weapon tabs like this?"

Luce lifted her head. She blinked once, as if the question had caught her off guard, then answered calmly.

"There's no separate interest on weapons taken out through the guild."

"Oh?"

"If they charged interest, people wouldn't last long. The guild doesn't go that far."

"So then…"

"All that's left is the iron sword."

"Yes, ma'am."

Leather arm guards: done. No extra interest on the guild weapon tab.

What remained was the iron sword's principal—five silver.

Suddenly I can almost see a future?

A little while ago I'd felt like a debtor. Now it was more like a working young man grinding through his days.

I counted what I had left.

Two silver. Three copper.

Not enough to call rich, and not little enough to call nothing—it was money that was clearly still in my hand.

"What about dinner?"

When I asked, Kaya answered first.

"I'm planning to eat whatever they have at the Healing Sanctuary tonight."

"Then I'll do the same."

"Me too."

Mari kept it short.

Luce looked at me and smiled.

"You worked hard. Rest well tonight. Especially if you're heading out again tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am—thank you! Take care~"

I grinned at Luce once, then shoved the coins deep into my pocket.

Back at the Healing Sanctuary, I washed up simply.

Calling it a proper bath would have been a stretch. More like hauling water into the wash space in the back and scrubbing down just my face, neck, arms, and hands. Even so, rinsing off the day's blood, dirt, and sweat—even roughly—made me feel halfway human again.

The dried blood on the back of my hand disappeared, and once the dust stuck to my cheek washed away, I felt better.

I pushed my hair back with wet hands.

"Mm~ refreshing."

Mari wiped her arms beside me and said,

"If you'd eaten looking like that, I wouldn't have wanted to look at you."

"Sob… do you have to put it like that?"

"Want me to say it pretty?"

"Oh, that was an option?"

"Get over here."

"Hiek!"

Kaya laughed softly beside us.

After washing, we went into the dining room in the back.

Tonight's dinner was nothing more than warm soup and hard grain bread. Nowhere near as plentiful as Sunset Hearth, and nowhere near as flashy. Just enough to take the edge off hunger.

The soup was warm. The bread was tough.

My body loosened a little. That was about it.

Not enough…

On a day like today, this didn't cut it. My body was exhausted, and my stomach was only vaguely filled. Warm, but hollow.

I want something… stimulating.

Kaya looked at my face and asked right away.

"Still hungry?"

"That obvious?"

"Yeah."

"Must be from moving around so much today."

Mari tore off a hard bite of bread and said,

"After running like that earlier, it'd be weirder if this filled you up."

"That's true…"

Kaya looked at me.

"Want more bread and soup?"

"Mm… no. Let's work even harder tomorrow and eat something good for lunch!"

"Alright. Let's do that."

"Yes!"

I looked down at the empty soup bowl.

It was warm. There was heat in it. A proper fantasy-world dinner.

The problem was that what my body wanted wasn't this polite kind of satisfaction.

Spicy, salty, sweet stuff!

Salty, greasy, spicy—terrible for you but a total high. Something like fried chicken.

In the end I lifted my head.

"I'm heading in first."

"Okay. Sleep well."

"Yes—good night, everyone."

"Yeah. You too."

Mari answered shortly.

I turned toward the room at the end of the corridor behind the Healing Sanctuary.

The moment I reached the room and shut the door, I raised the will to return to reality.

A short vertical crack split the air in the middle of the room, and before long a rectangular dimensional gate opened.

Alright—time to go eat for real~

The air flipped in an instant. The smell of dirt and dust fell away, and the familiar air of a studio apartment brushed my nose.

Then a record window rose in front of my eyes.

My frozen reality.

The same desk and computer.

The same bed.

The same world.

In Astrania it was already evening of day three, but here it was still 9:39 at night.

I flopped onto the bed.

"Mm~ damn dual life. This is so fun."

A little while ago I'd been a guy killing goblins and rabid boars in a medieval fantasy world. Now I was sitting on a Seoul studio bed opening a delivery app. The thought made my chest swell with grandeur all over again.

Dimensional Archive is broken OP, huh?

As if answering the thought, the Dimensional Archive quietly rose into view.

"It's already updated a few times."

What did that have to do with me?

I opened the delivery app without hesitation.

Half seasoned, half fried. And spicy fire chicken noodles.

That was tonight's dinner.

While I waited for the delivery, I turned on YouTube.

What to watch? VTubers?

I watched a few three-minute VTuber clips, put on a Minecraft video, clicked a recommended video—and somewhere in there the delivery arrived.

I put water on, boiled the noodles, mixed in the sauce, even gave it a special flame with the burner. The video kept playing while I opened the chicken box.

The moment I spread the chicken and fire noodles across the desk, a laugh slipped out of me on its own.

"Ah!!!!! This is gonna be so damn good!!!!!"

I tore into a piece of fried chicken right away. The crisp batter shattered first, and the salty hot meat followed. Then I went straight to the seasoned. Sweet, salty, spicy. And when I shoved a chopstickful of fire chicken noodles into my mouth on that exact timing, my head went blank.

Heuuung.

This was it. Was there anyone else in the world hopping dimensions and eating whatever they wanted?

This is why modern civilization is the best.

I ate another piece of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chicken and watched the Minecraft video.

Whoa… confusing lava with a gold block? The shaders are trash.

Time ran while I watched.

Only after I'd finished everything did my mind come back a little.

"I'm so happy, for real."

Happiness was short, though, and reality was piled in the sink.

Paper, plastic, the used pot, utensils, cups, food waste—all of it.

I barked a loud "Hap!" and started the dishes right away. Put it off and Future Me would suffer.

I ran the water, scrubbed things one by one, cleaned the desk and the kitchen area, picked up clothes and trash off the floor. Once the trash was out too, it finally looked like a place a person lived.

"Whew~"

I washed my hands once more and checked the time.

2026-03-26 23:47:12

"Over two hours already."

Short if you called it short, long if you called it long.

I opened the Dimensional Archive window again.

There wasn't any big reason for opening it. I just felt like looking once.

Evening of day three in Astrania, and over two hours already gone in reality.

That sensation was still a little strange. Alien, maybe. But I liked it.

I glanced at the Archive's timer one more time for no real reason, then opened the dimensional gate.

Astrania's night air touched my skin at once.

Exactly the same as the moment I'd left.

Hero, enter stage.

I muttered nonsense to myself and headed for the public bathhouse.

I'd rinsed off roughly at the Healing Sanctuary earlier, but that had been exactly that—rough. After eating chicken in reality and coming back, I wanted a real wash even more.

Being night, there weren't many people. Steam rose ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slowly from the hot water. I rinsed off casually, then stepped into the bath, and from my calves up through my waist the fatigue melted away in a long, smooth wave.

"Ah……"

A breath slipped out of me on its own.

The throb in my wrist eased a little, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the tiredness baked into my soles loosened. I didn't stay long. On nights like this, staying too long only made you soft and turned your brain to mush.

I warmed up just enough, got out, dried off, and changed into the clothes the Healing Sanctuary had given me.

I went back to my room.

It was a little different from the first night I'd slept here.

The old bed, the small table, the faint candlelight.

What had changed wasn't the room—it was me.

At first it had only felt foreign. Now it was at least a space where I knew where to sit to be less uncomfortable.

I sat on the edge of the bed and took out the money I'd earned today.

Minus the two copper I'd spent at the public bath, it came to two silver and one copper total.

Clink.

I spread the coins on my palm and looked down at them for a moment.

The iron sword tab was still there. But that was that, and this was my money.

The goal was one thing.

For now, let's try gathering ten silver.

Not debt—money that would stay cleanly in my own hand.

Stack it that far, at least.

Right now I only had two silver and one copper. Not much.

Still, it hadn't been sucked straight into a ledger the way it had this morning. That alone made today big enough.

I carefully put the coins away again. When I leaned back against the bed, the exhaustion hit late and hard.

It had been a chaotic day. Brutal. Still not bad.

Tomorrow would probably look similar.

Spar with Garen, run requests, settle up, count the money again at night.

Keep rolling like that, and I really felt like I could carve out a place here too.

For now, ten silver.

That was enough for the moment.

I closed my eyes slowly.