Chapter 2

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: penny

Chapter: 2

Chapter Title: Desperate for Cash

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Student! Aren't you home right now?"

The voice of the landlady came from outside the door. In that moment, a memory I'd completely forgotten resurfaced.

...Oh, right. I didn't pay last month's rent.

All the money I'd earned from my part-time job had gone into overseas futures trading, and I'd lost every penny. My bank account was bone-dry as a result, which was why I'd been scraping by on instant noodles and bean sprouts for days.

I'd begged for a two-week extension, but even that had stretched into three weeks already. And now, it was time to pay this month's rent.

"Student! Open the door! We need to talk!"

I held my breath, ignoring the landlady's voice.

I absolutely cannot let her know I'm home right now.

Normally, I'd just listen for a bit and promise to pay up in a couple of days when my part-time wages came in. But things were different now.

It'd look like I'd kidnapped an Awakened or some girl and brought her here!

Of course, I wouldn't actually face punishment, but if things got tangled up like that, my existence would spread everywhere, and the situation would get messy.

Hell, I might even end up as a dragon with my scales and tail lopped off and sold.

"Eh... looks like you're out today too."

"Phew..."

Fortunately, the landlady seemed to think I wasn't home and turned away after just a few minutes.

And thanks to what had happened just before, I'd realized one thing.

Me. I have zero money to spend right now?

Getting rich in the future was a sure thing. But that didn't mean I had money now.

I turned on my phone and checked my bank balance.

Not even enough for a single cup of instant noodles. Heading out for a part-time shift was impossible now, and I had no clue how to make money.

They'd still pay me for this month's work even if I skipped shifts, right?

If not, I'm really in deep shit.

I might starve to death before getting scouted somewhere or making something useful.

Even as an SSS-Rank Awakened, life wasn't easy.

"Sigh..."

As I racked my brain for a way ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out, my stomach let out a growl.

Grrroooowl.

Come to think of it, I barely ate anything yesterday before crashing.

I still had no plan for what to do first, but one simple plan formed.

"First things first, food."

I probably had about three days' worth of instant noodles stashed away. That'd tide me over.

I went to grab one from the cupboard...

"Urgh...!"

No matter how much I stretched on tiptoes, arms fully extended, I couldn't reach the shelf.

How short did I even get?

This body was going to be a hassle in all sorts of ways. With no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠choice, I dragged over the chair I used for the computer and climbed on.

"Hup."

I pulled out the last pack of noodles from the high shelf.

This was all because prices had skyrocketed after the Gate incident.

With my spindly little fingers, I tore open the noodle pack.

I filled a pot that felt three times heavier than usual with water, then dragged it over to the gas stove.

Dump in the noodles, powder, and flakes, wait four minutes, and done!

Four minutes that felt like four hours passed, and it was finally time for a satisfying meal to fill my empty gut.

Almost dropped the pot while taking it off the stove—its weight and the height nearly did me in.

I set it on the low table's pot stand, grabbed some chopsticks, and sat down.

"Thanks for the food."

No one to hear it, but habit kicked in with my pre-meal phrase as I took the first bite.

"Fwoo, fwoo..."

I blew on the hot noodles to cool them a bit, then carefully slipped them into my mouth.

"Hah."

And then,

"Gahack?!"

The burning sensation in my mouth made me spit out the entire mouthful.

"Spicy... so spicy...!"

Had I accidentally grabbed the spicy kind? No, it was definitely my usual brand!

The unbearable pain brought tears to my eyes, and my body started twitching on its own.

I jumped up to grab some water, but the moment I stood,

Thwack! Splash!

My wayward tail knocked the pot right off the table.

Gulp, gulp!

"Hweee..."

I chugged cold water to soothe my mouth, but the room was a total disaster.

Drip, drip, drip...

Broth kept spilling from the overturned pot onto the floor, and the noodles were a ruined mess on the table.

...Not that I could've eaten them anyway, since they were too spicy.

This new body of mine apparently couldn't handle spice at all.

"Haa..."

One more problem added, and my food was gone.

I cleaned up the spilled noodles and wiped down the floor and table with a rag using my unfamiliar body.

In the process, my tail and wings flailed around, knocking over a few things.

Grrroooowl...

Naturally, my hunger only got worse during all that.

What do I do now...?

The last pack of noodles—the only food left—went straight to the trash, and I didn't even have a thousand won to my name.

I needed to find a way to get money right now.

That's when an idea hit me.

Right, I can use my skill!

The Hunter Gallery had a marketplace board anyone could use. If I sold items made with "Treasure Crafting," I'd definitely make some cash.

Sure, it was an SSS-Rank skill, but only level 1, so I couldn't make anything amazing yet. Still, they said even F-Rank monsters could be taken down with something sturdy enough.

I'll make a weapon.

I scanned the room for anything that could become a weapon.

A flowerpot... probably not great as weapon material. Any metal around the house?

After rummaging, I gathered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three types of items on my desk.

Kitchen knife, three razors, lighter.

Honestly, what weapon could I even make with this stuff? No idea. But I trusted the power of my SSS-Rank skill.

The skill effect follows the description exactly, at least.

"Treasure Crafting" let me "consume mana and materials to manifest the imagined object." And it didn't specify material types.

So, any material should work to make a weapon... that's what I was banking on.

"Whatever. It'll work out."

This was an SSS-Rank skill—it had to handle this much, right?

Just as I was about to activate it, a thought flashed through my mind.

Hold on. Why use these low-grade materials at all?

If I'm worried about someone selling off my body parts, why not sell them myself?

I glanced at my tail, which was swaying gently on its own.

Rough count, that's gotta be thousands of scales?

They were denser and layered thicker than I'd thought—quite a lot.

"Alright. Let's do it."

I sat down, grabbed my tail, and tugged at a scale with one hand.

"Urgh!"

I pulled as hard as I could, but the scale didn't budge. It just felt like a kid grabbing it—barely any sensation. No way I'd pull it off like this.

...No, there has to be a way.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

In movies or comics, dragons gift their scales sometimes. They couldn't be impossible to remove.

I pondered ways to pluck a scale for a while. Tried pulling with my hands, slamming my tail on the floor, even grabbing with scissors—nothing worked.

"Sigh..."

Just as I was about to give up, I spotted one slightly loose scale at the tip of my tail.

"Huh?"

I pinched it with my fingers and pulled. It popped out like unplugging a loose outlet. The spot filled instantly as the scale below rose up.

A gleaming golden scale rested in my palm. The finger-length scale had this magnetic pull that drew the eye.

"If anyone saw this, I'd be in big trouble..."

They'd do anything to rip the rest off me.

Anyway, I had a scale now. Time to get to work.

"Treasure Crafting."

The skill interface was intuitive. Just imagine what you want and hit the button.

The list of craftables was limited for now, but a sword worked perfectly.

I'd already decided on the weapon type.

Razor-sharp like a blade, kitchen knife shape, spews fire like a lighter, tough as my scale.

*Press.*

The items on the table erupted in bright light the moment I hit the button.

Mana drained from my body, leaving me woozy for a second, but it refilled from my heart.

The light lingered for a few seconds before fading.

"Did it work?"

As the glow died down, a small dagger appeared on the desk.

A straight dagger about the size of both my hands, with a gleaming golden edge honed to perfection and a red-patterned hilt that screamed "item."

Heart pounding, I picked it up, and a window popped up.

"...Jackpot."

A- grade from a razor, kitchen knife, and lighter!

An A- grade weapon was main-equipment level for B-Rank Hunters—no joke.

And those went for about 100 million won each. I'd turned 10,000 won in materials into 100 million won.

"Heh heh heh heh..."

SSS-Rank skill. I'd imagined it, but the performance blew even my expectations away.

I channeled mana into the gripped dagger, and flames bloomed across the blade.

Whoosh!

The more mana I poured in, the fiercer and larger the flames grew. Curious about the limit, but scared I'd burn the house down, I cut the mana.

Now, just sell it, and I was going from -30 million won in assets to +70 million!

Before my hunger worsened, I opened Hunter Gallery, made a new account.

What's the username?

I needed to look like a legit Crafter Awakened. Crafters were usually older, so something mature-sounding.

A few ideas popped up, but I settled on "Golden Hand." It fit a Crafter perfectly—aged, serious, and matched my wings, tail, and horns.

I posted right away on the marketplace board. Needed cash fast, so priced a bit under market. Copied the item description per trading norms.

"B-Bullshit...?"

Now everyone would think my weapon was fake. I fired back immediately.

The Gallery's reaction was ice-cold and cutting. I could hardly believe it myself, but I'd really crafted an A- weapon.

Indignation welled up from deep inside.

But the comment barrage didn't care about my feelings.

"Ugh... it really is real...!"

Tears threatened as the mockery piled on, but there was nothing I could do.

I couldn't reveal my SSS-Rank skill to the world or show it off in person.

All I could do was hug my growling stomach and sniffle until the post got buried and the comments died down.

Ding!

A while later, another notification rang.

I knew it'd be more mockery, but for some reason, I couldn't stop myself from checking my phone.

But this comment was something entirely different.