Chapter 68
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Office Expansion
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After receiving the rewards, we discussed how to handle the Jang Mountain beasts.
The idea of bringing them back to the Fixer Office was obviously out of the question, so I asked if they could be raised on Mujin Mountain instead. They readily agreed.
They were disaster-class anomalies, which could be dangerous, but having already raised their affinity to 50, I didn't think these guys would betray me.
No matter how feral a stray cat is, once it gets a taste of human kindness, it can never go back to the wild.
I'll feed them, pet them, play with them, and even give them treats. There's no need for them to return to the wilderness. Above all, these kids had been craving human touch, so I trusted the shrine maiden and elders would take good care of them.
"The biggest one is Baekun. Then Baeksul. And the smallest is Baekhwa."
"Baekun, Baeksul, Baekhwa. Got it. I'll raise them well."
With the shrine maiden personally taking charge, I felt even more at ease.
The Jang Mountain beasts didn't seem to dislike her either, so they'd get along fine from now on. It would be great if they became Mujin Mountain's new guardian spirits.
From my own experience, anomalies could evolve into spirit-like entities if they accumulated enough good karma.
"I'll come visit when I have time. Listen to the shrine maiden and elders, okay? And no licking just anyone. Humans are weak. Got it?"
-Kkiiik!
I gave the Jang Mountain beasts, who nodded enthusiastically by rubbing their heads against me, a good petting before descending the mountain.
This meant I had truly finished everything I needed to do in Mujin City.
I'd claimed my rewards, entrusted the Jang Mountain beasts to the shrine maiden, and now it was time to head back to the office.
"Then we'll be off."
"Yes. Travel safely. I can't leave Mujin City, so this is as far as I can see you off."
"This is more than enough. Where were you planning to see me off to?"
"Honestly, I'd love to visit your office sometime."
Unfortunately, the shrine maiden had the heavy duty of protecting Mujin Mountain, so she couldn't easily leave the city.
Moreover, there were factions outside who wanted her dead. Inside Mujin City, she was practically a goddess, but she couldn't wield her full powers everywhere.
It was best for her to stay within this fog.
"If you wait patiently, I'll come back again to see you and Biya."
"Good. I'll be waiting with the Baek cats."
Just like when I first arrived in Mujin City, I boarded an unmanned bus without the knight.
Master Moon Seon-woo had his own matters to attend to, so I rode alone.
Through the window, the shrine maiden and elders waved goodbye. Unlike the trip here, I was being seen off by so many people on the way back.
I waved back, and soon the bus started moving.
Leaving the city of fog behind, the bus sped toward Seoul.
It had been about a week since I returned to the office. I wondered if the kids had been waiting well.
Yu-ha probably started going back to school after the Black Claw Society collapsed. As for Ha-yeon, who had been crashing at our office since the academic festival ended, and Ye-rim, what had they been up to?
Come to think of it, before heading to Mujin City, Ye-rim had made a Fixer homepage befitting her Digital Sorcerer class. I wondered how that turned out.
"Kids, I'm back."
I opened the office door and stepped inside. There was Yu-ha, still in her school uniform as if she'd just gotten home, and Ye-rim staring at her laptop.
"Uncle! Long time no see!"
"Uh, welcome back..."
Yu-ha spread her arms wide in joy upon seeing me, while Ye-rim awkwardly bowed her head in greeting.
But where was Ha-yeon?
"Where's Ha-yeon?"
"Ah... well..."
What? Why was Ye-rim avoiding my eyes?
It seemed like she was hiding something.
Had something gone wrong? When I asked, well...
"She went out alone?"
"Yeah... an easy request came in..."
"What? Why would you handle office requests yourselves? It's dangerous."
My head throbbed.
In the week I was away, the kids had handled three requests on their own.
Fine, taking requests was one thing, but completing three already? Weren't they more capable than I thought?
"We picked easy ones from the requests on the Fixer homepage..."
"How would you know which were easy or hard?"
"Well, Uncle..."
Yu-ha had used the Five Flower Bell Spirit's power to roughly gauge difficulties.
Ye-rim, the Digital Sorcerer, found data on requests; then Yu-ha, the oracle, divined the difficulty via her possessing spirit; and Ye-rim organized it for Ha-yeon.
They'd classified anomaly levels themselves and stuck to easy jobs.
Though Ye-rim and Yu-ha had judged difficulties arbitrarily, it was surprisingly accurate.
It was nearly on par with how the Anomaly Management Department graded anomalies.
They'd deemed the easiest D-rank "lesser spirit exorcism request" suitable, and Ha-yeon went to the site herself.
Ha-yeon was a spirit eater who used the peculiar yin-yang art "spirit consumption," so she just devoured the lesser spirit, request complete—no strategy needed.
"Goodness."
Should I praise their boldness or scold their recklessness? They'd broken our agreement, so punishment was in order.
I knew they were far more capable than peers their age, but I hadn't expected them to handle jobs without me.
"So, you set aside the really dangerous ones like this?"
"Yes. While you were gone, Park Jae-hyeon from Central Safety Bureau visited. We handed him the files."
"Ah..."
Agent Park Jae-hyeon had watched over the kids to prevent them from tackling dangers while the master and I were away.
C-rank and above requests were probably handled by the Anomaly Management Department.
He must have come for Black Claw remnants and rewards, found me absent, and talked to the kids.
"If you only took requests he approved, that's a relief."
The Anomaly Management Department knew their capabilities best.
They only challenged foes they could beat. They excelled at grading anomalies above any other group.
So they'd taken the hard, dangerous ones, leaving the kids only the easiest they could handle.
These weren't ordinary minors; they were sorcerers too. Agent Park couldn't just suppress them outright.
"Um... the request fees are here..."
Ye-rim handed over an envelope of collected fees.
"No need."
"But..."
"You earned it. Split it among yourselves. That's fair."
I wasn't desperate enough to take kids' pocket money.
Especially when I'd done nothing to help.
"I'm back. Oh? Fixer, long time no see."
"I heard. You handled requests?"
"Y-yeah... that's right."
"Jae-hyeon helped, right?"
"Yes. He came along for the first one and advised up to the second. Sorry for acting on our own, Fixer."
"Got it. No one got hurt?"
"No. We're all fine. Nothing dangerous."
"Good. That's a relief."
Thankfully, no one was injured or ill.
I'd have to thank Agent Park later.
He always went out of his way for me.
"Alright, everyone's here. Sit down. I have something to tell you."
I sat the kids down and announced the building was now mine.
"What?! You're the landlord now?"
"Yeah. It just happened."
"Wow..."
"To get a building as a request fee... what did you handle at Lunar Blossom Sect, Fixer?"
"Can't tell you everything. But it was pretty tough."
Lunar Blossom Sect events were top secret. No leaks allowed.
"Anyway, since the building's mine now, I'm letting you use the fourth floor freely."
"The fourth floor?"
"Yeah. I'll make the entire third floor the Fixer Office, so use the fourth as your living space."
Keep the first-floor coffee shop running; gut the third for a full office.
Time to expand and specialize the building for Fixer work. Knock down walls, merge empty rooms next door. With two Ghost Kings, we needed space.
The building was empty anyway, except the coffee shop—no one came due to the gloomy vibe.
"Second floor's for something else. You take the fourth. And Yu-ha."
"Yes, Uncle."
"Master said to pack your studio and move here."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Contact him if you don't want to. What do you say?"
"I love it! Closer to school, and I'm here all day after anyway. My own room? Perfect for me."
Yu-ha agreed to move in.
They'd grown super close while I was gone. Nice to see them getting along.
"Oh, right. Eaten yet?"
"Not yet."
"Then we'll talk over food."
Mujin City was great, but the veggie side dishes got old.
Today, I craved spicy jjambbong.
Three days had passed since returning to the office.
I hired an interior firm for renovations; third and fourth floors would take about two weeks starting next week.
I moved the office to the second floor; kids to the fifth temporarily.
Nothing else had changed much...
"Hey, aren't you too close?"
"What? Don't like me next to you?"
"No, that's not it..."
The Charred Ghost King, sulking from Shinbul Mountain to Mujin over my neglect, started harassing me whenever possible.
Like clinging to my face.
"This is way too close...!"
The Charred Ghost King usually took forms like foxes or wolves.
Beast forms were comfier than human, she said. As a fox, she coiled around my neck like a scarf, growling.
Her fur was soft and nice to pet, but summer was approaching. Natural fur muffler? Sweaty and hot.
AC didn't help. True to her name, her body heat was furnace-like—a living warmer.
"I'm not clinging because I like it!"
"Then why, if you hate it?"
"Human body temp's just right. It's cold without you! Can't just set fires everywhere, right?"
So Hong-ran clung to me at every chance lately.
Hae-yul, meanwhile, wouldn't approach.
"Hot..."
Hae-yul shrank to baby harp seal pup and hid in the fridge.
Summer hadn't even started, yet she complained of heat.
Buy her a dedicated freezer? Ghost Kings' ideal temps varied wildly—headache.
Hong-ran demanding AC off for cold; Hae-yul hogging fridge for heat.
Like subway AC complainers.
"Hubby... iced coffee here."
"Thanks, Sowol. You're the only one."
"Hehe... right?"
Sowol treated Ghost Kings not as rivals, but finicky pets.
Disaster-class anomalies bickering over temp, disaster-class anomaly brewing coffee.
'Time to read.'
Lately, I was studying the "Silent Codex" reward.
The reddish organic lump: insert hand in split; it feeds fun knowledge.
World of Doom Gallery said: under 30 mental, 25 intellect? Get one spell but play to ending handicapped.
Trade penalty for efficient spell.
But my 230 mental, 50 intellect: no penalty, full access.
Intellect 50 + "Ancient Text Deciphering" let me access unlike other users.
From penalty spell-imprinter to otherworldly knowledge vending machine.
This must be the path of enlightenment.
'Fun.'
Pure fun.
Linking mind: bizarre knowledge flowed in.
Mostly alien flora from unknown realms—like alien docu.
Above all, refined anomaly classification.
Like distinguishing Earth vs. extraterrestrial origins...
Ding-a-ling.
"Hello, anyone here?"
Mid-deep dive, a client arrived.
Mid-40s woman in drab jumper.
Pallid, unmade-up face avoided my eyes; dark circles deep.
Kept glancing back, like pursued.
She looked rough. Her status window odd too.
'Infected?'
Infected with what?
"I heard you handle ghosts and such here..."
"What's the exact problem?"
"W-well... the elevator..."
Her story was shocking.
"So, after seeing a strange woman in the elevator, you can't sleep?"
"Y-yes. All our residents saw her. Girl with head down... standing in the corner. Not on CCTV. I-it's weird. Must be a ghost!"
Elevator woman?
Elbe-jjang maybe.
Hadn't seen her lately. No show on sixth floor...
Don't jump. Nothing confirmed. "Infected" too suspicious.
Have to check in person.
Cause of insomnia unknown, but something was up at Lee Kyung-hwa's apartment.