Back to the Goblin Den with Mina
Time to head into the gate, yang! That freshly made spaghetti was king god-tier delicious! …But only when it's fresh. Truth be told, even after it cooled, it was still super tasty… It's just that my tiny body now means I can't eat as much in one go anymore.
But spaghetti puffs up if you leave it alone, right? It swells bigger and bigger, so you end up putting less and less in your mouth each time. Then it keeps swelling in the meantime. So you eat even less. Hing. So mean. I tell it not to puff up, but does it think it's actually horns or something? By the end, it was swelling up to the size of the super awesome lamb horns on my head…
…But what can I do? You can't waste food! If it were at home, I could just stick it in the fridge and eat it later. But this is a restaurant—if I leave some, it'll just go straight in the trash! Then…
-Ahh! If I don't eat it, kids in Africa will starve!!
-Sorry, yang! I'll eat it, yang!!
-No! Mijeong! Eat what the farmers worked so hard to make!!
-Got it, yang!! I'll eat it all, yang!!
No way. If I waste food, all the kids the African farmers worked hard to make will starve! …Huh? That got mixed up a bit. Anyway! You have to eat all the food that comes out! That's just common sense.
So… even though it was tough, I was chowing down hard… Zzt!
“Hic!”
Suddenly, the expressionless Yumina unnie glared at me like she was about to kill me. But I really didn't do anything today that deserved a scolding. She hasn't found out about that lie from earlier yet. So why the death stare all of a sudden…?
Then I saw she'd already finished her meal. Thinking about it, aside from eating with my parents when I was little, this is the first time I've ever eaten with someone else, right? Looks like my eating speed is super duper slow.
So I went from my usual nibble-nibble pond pace to ocean level, sighing the whole time to try and speed up, but I got scolded anyway. Guess I haven't evolved to Pacific Ocean yet. But when I actually choked from rushing and went “cough cough,” Yumina unnie freaked out, poured me water, patted my back, and everything!
Turns out it wasn't about me eating slow. So later I asked why, and… she suddenly asked which gate I wanted to go to today? I said obviously a D-rank one, and she let out another huge sigh… What the heck. So mean.
Anyway, after that I hustled with my um-yang-um-yang and finished the spaghetti! It was exhausting, but now my belly's totally full… Since I'm a little lamb, does that mean the only thing that can get all puffed up forever is my tummy? Uwing.
***
I took the bus with Yumina unnie to the E-rank gate in the Hwasung outskirts. The one I always went to for work! Just goblins come out!
Oh, but you can't just jump right into the gate since it's sitting there all lonely. You have to stop by the management office next door and let them know you're going in first.
“Yes. A-rank hunter Yumina and one other, confirmed.”
“Thank you.”
“Thanks, yang!”
Normally you'd have to swing by the Hunter Administration first, say I'm going to that E-rank gate, yang! apply, and get permission. But since Yumina unnie works directly for them, we could come straight here and go in! This is the power of a national-level hunter? …Truth is, if I'd joined any guild, I wouldn't have had to go myself every time, but that's on me for not getting into one.
“Mijeong kid. You have the gear we bought earlier, right?”
“Yup! All in this eco-bag, yang!”
“Good. There's a changing room over there, so go change and come back. I'll wait here.”
“Got it, yang!”
Udada—!!
“No running.”
…Dododo. Uwing.
I got so excited thinking this is my first real combat with this body that I forgot. …But come to think of it, this is my first time using the facilities here. After three years. The management office has not just changing rooms, but rest areas for hunters and medical facilities for emergencies. Oh, and they cash in mana stones right on the spot after you hunt monsters.
This is a nationally managed stabilized gate, so they have all that stuff especially well set up. But I always came in casual clothes with just a robe over, so I'd never used the changing room or anything but the cash-in service.
……
I went into one of the empty spots in the changing room and shwaa! pulled the curtain. Actually, it was totally empty, so it was like my own private changing room. Weekday afternoons are always dead.
I set the eco-bag down and took off my top first. Ziiip— Clunk! Sliip… sliip… Whish!
…Come to think of it, this is the first party play of my life. I wanted to go to a D-rank gate, but to show Yumina unnie my good side, fighting here might be better too. Nobody knows this place like I do.
As I said last time, other people grind goblins a bit, level up quick, and head to D-rank. But not me, so I kept fighting here and now I know the layout with my eyes closed? Even goblin respawn spots. Pretty awesome, right? Click! Ziiip— Swoosh! Flop!
…Just in panties, a bit chilly. Oh, what's respawn? It's when monsters keep popping up anew after time passes…
Eh… Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever explained gates to her. Anyway, nobody knows why gates appear in the first place. That's why PhDs all over the world are researching day and night, though I have no idea why rock doctors are studying it. Mana stones maybe? Rustle rustle.
Hmm, this new hunter gear is like a pink tracksuit set, top and bottom, but the color's kinda meh. I like black, but they didn't have it…
Anyway, what the PhDs figured out from investigating gates nonstop is this:
1. (Almost all) gates have something that maintains the inner space! Called the boss.
2. While the gate's up, the inner space keeps making monsters! That's respawn.
3. If the inner monster count gets too high, they spill out! Called overflow.
4. Kill the boss and the gate shrinks and vanishes. But for awakened, the status window auto-ejects you! There are weird gates where common sense doesn't apply, but the goblin dungeon we're hitting today isn't one, so skipping that!
Flap! Swipe— swipe— Clunk. Ziiiiip—!
“Ueeeng.”
…Metal zipper on bare skin is cold. Huh? If killing the boss closes the gate, why's this weak E-rank still around? That's the key—catching monsters in gates drops mana stones and all sorts of byproducts. But if you don't kill the boss, monsters keep respawning, so it's like infinite Haeundae tsunami-level loot.
So some dungeons deliberately neutralize the boss but keep the gate open. Gates where they successfully neutralize the boss for endless farming are called stabilized gates. Whippy-whip! Swipe— swipe— Streeetch— Snap! Flaaap!! Pants done too!
Anyway, Hwasung's one and only E-rank gate, the Goblin Den, isn't economically valuable, but only goblin warriors respawn inside. No archers. So the country stabilized it on purpose for newbies to gain real combat experience and levels without surprises. But even those goblins drop the lowest-grade mana stones, so hustle hard and you can scrape by! Awakened for life!
……
“So, you haven't visited in nearly a week, then.”
“Yes. That 'te'—er, anyway… this is the first time that person's been gone this long.”
“Yumina unnie! I'm here, yang!!”
I didn't run dododo, just walked a bit fast, and there was Yumina unnie talking with the Gate Manager guy!
“Ah, you're here. Mijeong kid… hm, it fits well.”
“I, I can dress myself good, yang!”
“Good. Shall we head out, then?”
“Yup! Uh… weren't you talking just now, yang?”
“Ah… it's nothing.”
“Uwing?”
Dunno, but probably work stuff! I'm not Hunter Administration, so no need to know. I'm not dumb about stuff like that.
***
Walking hand-in-hand with Yumina unnie to the gate.
“But yang, doesn't Yumina unnie have any armor or weapons?”
“Ah, this suit I'm wearing? That's my armor.”
“Heok! Didn't know, yang! Super cool, yang!”
I really didn't! Yumina unnie's outfit is this total pro black suit—I thought she was just business casual. So I asked, and it's handmade from Black Basilisk leather or something—sounds super strong just from the name! And her weapon's some insane artifact that particleizes, so you can't even see or touch it normally! Awesome. Jealous.
“Someday, Mijeong kid, you can be a hunter wearing cool gear like this too.”
“R-Really, yang?”
“Of course. I acknowledged your skills and passed you, after all.”
“Wow!! Then yang, I'll wear a super awesome dragon coat later, yang!!”
“…But first, we start with goblin hunting in the E-rank gate. Understood? Mijeong kid, every hunter starts at E-rank. Even if you want to begin your hunter life at D-rank—”
…Hing.
After that, Yumina unnie suddenly went machine-gun mode, udadada—!!! lecturing nonstop. She told me not to run earlier, but her words were racing like crazy now. So mean. I'm in year three of hunter life already. I know it all.
But if I tell her my secret, I'll get busted for illegal demon summoning, so I can't say. …That was about me earlier, right?
-So, you haven't visited in nearly a week, then.
-Yes. That 'te'—er, anyway… this is the first time that person's been gone this long.
…The Gate Manager calls me “te”… tomato? Or whatever behind my back. Didn't bother looking it up. Probably not nice. I might suck at lying, but I'm great at playing dumb.
Whatever they say, I couldn't respond anyway. …Why's Yumina unnie looking for my past self? National hunters probably catch illegal demon summoners like me too, right? Does she already know who I am…?
…It's fine. She doesn't know yet. Even if she does… I have no choice anyway. I'll keep hiding it. That's something I'm good at.