Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Moving In
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Ring-a-ding-dong—click.
The door to the private elevator slid open, and the sight that unfolded before me left me frozen in the entryway.
"...This is insane, for real."
Beyond the wide-open panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, the sunset painting the Han River red and the city skyline stretched out in full view.
The floor was polished natural marble so smooth I could see my reflection in it, and smack in the middle of the living room sat an Italian leather sofa big enough for ten adults to sprawl out on.
Just yesterday, I'd been shivering in a moldy rooftop room in Sinlim-dong, debating whether to turn on the boiler or not.
And now, in a single day, my address had changed to "Cheongdam-dong, 100-pyeong penthouse."
"Peep!"
"Woof! Woof!"
A yellow fluffball named Fry burst from my pocket, and the black puppy Pepper who'd been circling my feet both started zipping excitedly across the marble floor.
"Alright, everyone calm down. Let's eat first. It's feast night tonight."
I pulled out the Ghost Gate Special Team 7 corporate card (unlimited limit) that Branch Director Park had handed me before I left his office. Time to hit the peak of capitalism.
I opened the delivery app and dumped every menu I'd only ever drooled over into the cart—no filters.
Gangnam's top hotel sushi omakase set, 1++ top-grade Hanwoo special cuts for grilling, lobster butter-grilled, and even three birds from the classic franchise chicken chain.
An hour later.
The massive marble island kitchen table had transformed into a king's banquet.
"Peep peep peep! (This red meat melts in your mouth the moment you put it in! Humans' cooking skills aren't half bad!)"
Fry was pecking away at the Hanwoo sirloin like a ghost with his tiny beak, letting out nonstop exclamations of delight.
He still couldn't shift back to human form after exhausting himself in Jungnyeong-dong earlier, but that bottomless appetite of his was as strong as ever.
"Woof! Nom nom nom..."
Pepper had grabbed a lobster tail and Hanwoo short rib as big as her face with her front paws and was chomping them bones and all.
I dunked a premium bluefin tuna belly sushi into soy sauce and popped it in my mouth. The rich umami spreading across my tongue drew a helpless chuckle from me.
"Haa... This is life. Han River views forever! Ghost Gate forever!"
.
.
.
After stuffing ourselves silly, we each settled into our own ways of enjoying the penthouse bliss.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!! Tap! Tap!
In front of the top-tier gaming laptop set up in one corner of the living room.
Fry was hopping madly across the mini mechanical keyboard I'd bought him yesterday, spamming skills like a maniac.
On the screen was a familiar game.
[You pathetic mongrel bastards! When I ping, you come in right now! You've got ults—where the hell are you going! Argh, you worthless jungler bug! How are your ancestors doing?]
No speakers or mic, but Fry's rage-filled voice chat(?) boomed crystal clear in my head.
Ever since my spiritual power circuits fully opened after the rebirth, Fry's telepathy came through without a single bit of static.
"Hey, old man. Mind your game manners. That's pad-lip—you'll get banned."
[I'm 5,000 years old, so asking after those punks' ancient ancestors is my right! Tell them to crawl back into their well if they're gonna play like that!]
I shook my head at the 5,000-year-old sun god mouthing off about other people's ancestors like a motor was attached to his beak, then sank deep into the plush central sofa.
Next to me, Pepper sat primly with her front paws together, eyes glued to the 85-inch wall-mounted TV alongside me.
On screen was the K-drama topping the ratings lately, Betrayal's Penthouse.
"How could you do this to me?! I saw you coming out of that woman's place with my own eyes!"
"It's a misunderstanding! She's just a business partner!"
The female lead slapped the guy across the face with kimchi.
Smack-!
I was munching popcorn, fully immersed in that dizzying, spicy kimchi slap drama, when it happened.
[Truly an incomprehensible species.]
A calm, refined woman's voice—not Fry's arrogant metallic tone—echoed in my mind.
It was polite yet coolly precise, like a well-trained knight.
"Huh? Who..."
As I whipped my head around in surprise, Pepper sitting beside the sofa looked up at me with perked ears.
A faint blue glow shimmered over her jet-black fur.
[I've wandered the mortal realm for centuries, observing countless humans, but that behavior strikes me as the pinnacle of inefficiency every time. That male already possesses an excellent female of his own—why covet another female's nest? Maintaining two nests at such risk is biologically idiotic. Even as someone biased toward humans, I can't comprehend it.]
"...Pepper? That you talking?"
[Yes, Master. Thanks to basking in your vast pure yang energy all day, my yokai power has recovered greatly, allowing me to convey clear thoughts now.]
Good lord.
I thought I'd picked up a stray mutt, but she turned out to be a Three-eyed Dog, and now she was fluently chatting via telepathy.
"Congrats on finding your voice... but your voice is so prim and proper, like a good girl. I was expecting a tough guy bark."
At my offhand comment, Pepper's tail wagging stopped dead.
She wrinkled her nose in clear displeasure and glared at me.
[Master. Are you mocking me right now?]
"Huh? No, not mocking..."
[The day you first picked me up from the rooftop room. You flipped me over, peered between my legs, and casually judged my gender without a care. As a proud Three-eyed Dog of the underworld, that day's humiliation and shame are still etched into my bones.]
"Ah......"
Memories of my past crime flashed back, sending cold sweat down my spine.
I mean, you check a stray dog's gender first—that's normal!
But hearing her rationally call me out like that made me feel like some creepy pervert owner.
"Ahem! S-sorry. I didn't know back then you were such a fine spiritual beast. Anyway, back to the drama! That's not hunting—it's called 'cheating.' Super taboo betrayal in human society."
[I know. Human infidelity, right? What baffles me is those males' judgment. Human offspring require decades and vast resources to become independent. Even devoting everything to one female is barely enough—risking the destruction of their existing nest by angering her? Those males deserve to be culled.]
A piercingly biological takedown, right to the bone.
As I crunched popcorn in awe of Pepper's insight,
Fry flew over from the laptop, fuming at the defeat screen.
[Who cares about humans' petty mating games. More importantly, cart boy. That 'striped cat' we saw earlier.]
Fry meant Sa-hyeon, obviously.
[That bastard reeked of beastly bloodlust. In my view, he's a rabid dog off the leash. Once my power recovers, how about I sneak in while he sleeps and burn him to ash?]
Fry clacked his tiny beak menacingly as he laid out the assassination plot.
[I concur, Master.]
Pepper chimed in from the side.
[His aura is that of a predator ready to snap at any moment. If Your Majesty burns him today, I'll shred what's left of his soul.]
Watching the tiny chick and black pup conspire with straight faces to assassinate a teammate was too much.
"Whoa, both of you, stop. No murder plots. Leave him be—he's not coming here tonight. He'll play dead like a rat for a while."
[How can you be so sure?]
"Didn't you see? Fry, you straight-up vaporized a whole city block with solar flames right in front of him. Sa-hyeon's a battle maniac, but he's not dumb enough to mistake shit for bean paste."
I chugged the rest of my beer and smirked.
"He was licking his chops thinking I was prime meat, but peeling back the layers, he realized I'm the one with the massive predator at my side. Bet he's curled up in his den right now, reflecting on life with his tail between his legs. No need to strike first unless he does. He's a great meat shield."
[Hmph. True, no furry beast dares bare claws before the sun. Fine. I'll leave his leash to you.]
"Thanks, old man. Real reassuring."
Yi-i-je-i (using barbarians to control barbarians).
With an arrogant sun god and underworld hound under me, I could wield the mad tiger yokai as a meat shield.
This insane combo could crush any yokai and secure my 10-billion-won salary.
"Alright, time to sleep for tomorrow's commute. That bed's like the Pacific Ocean..."
Ding-dong—!
Right then.
A clear chime rang from the entry intercom, shattering the penthouse quiet.
"...Huh?"
I froze with my beer can in hand.
It was 10 p.m.
This was Cheongdam-dong's top luxury residential complex with ironclad security.
Only a handful of Ghost Gate brass knew I'd moved in, and without a resident card, even the elevator buttons wouldn't work.
Yet Pepper was perking her ears toward the door.
[Master. There's a human outside. A very, very strong one with pure energy.]
"A human? Team Leader Seo Hwa-rin?"
[No. It's a male.]
A male?
If it was a ridiculously strong guy from Ghost Gate, there was only one.
I frowned slightly and stood, cautiously pressing the intercom video button.
Static buzzed, and the screen showed the outside.
"...Holy shit."
A familiar face grinned amiably on screen.
Messy hair, crooked legs.
Lollipop in his mouth as always, dangling convenience store black bags in both hands.
Korea's strongest exorcist and Ghost Gate Team 1 Leader. Do Jae-hyeok.
(Hey, Team 7 newbie. Still up?)
Do Jae-hyeok's sly voice came through the speaker.
"What brings Team 1 Leader here? Wait, how'd you even get past the lobby security gate?"
(Oh~ I live here too.)
"......"
That overly straightforward, deadpan answer left me speechless.
Made perfect sense, though.
Ghost Gate's pillar and Korea's ace—there's no way he wouldn't get the same penthouse perks I did.
"What's the deal showing up at someone else's place this late? Can't we meet at work tomorrow?"
As I asked in bewilderment, Do Jae-hyeok jiggled the bags and chuckled.
(What errand? The super rookie pulling 10 billion showed up—gotta pay housewarming respects as a senior. I sensibly grabbed beer, soju, and plenty of dried squid. You cover chicken.)
No trace of the lethal edge he'd poked Sa-hyeon with in the director's office earlier.
Just pure, sunny "Gotta booze it up and bond with this weirdly strong junior~ " vibes, like a local bum brother.
(Open up, Agent Kang Han-gyeol. Arms hurt. Neighbors sharing a drink!)
Bang bang bang!
The front door thudded dully.
'Wait, that drink invite from earlier was for tonight? I was just polite small talk for office life...!'
My peaceful penthouse life was utterly shattered—just five hours after moving in—by an oblivious senior's "surprise after-party."