The Landlord
Near the large theater in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
Kang Juhyuk stood in front of a gleaming white six-story villa and broke into a broad smile.
“This is our building.”
Kang Juhyuk, building owner.
The first floor housed a daycare center.
The second and third floors were offices.
The fourth and fifth floors contained residential studio apartments.
And finally, the sixth floor was a newly built villa that the owner had renovated into a spacious home.
Lee Minho, standing beside him, gaped before he even realized it.
“This is insane. This is really our building?”
“The paperwork’s all in already. They said they’d handle the taxes on their end too.”
“They move ridiculously fast.”
“I guess that’s what happens when the Far East is a conglomerate. That guy, some section chief or whatever, said it’d be ready to use in a week.”
“A week?! Then it’ll be ready before our moving date.”
“Yeah, so I’m planning to tell the landlord we can move out early.”
“Is that okay when the lease still has time left?”
Kang Juhyuk gave him a thumbs-up.
“Of course. That old man’s been dying to kick us out. If we tell him we’re leaving on our own, he’ll welcome us with both arms open.”
“I guess so.”
“Yesterday? Or the day before? He even showed up in my dream and said if we didn’t get out soon, he’d pour pesticide into the water tank. Real nasty old bastard.”
Uncle, get a grip.
Even if you hate the landlord, that’s not real life.
Honestly.
The landlord had asked every single day when they were planning to leave anyway, so it probably didn’t matter.
Even after seeing it with his own eyes, Minho still looked as if he couldn’t believe it. He kept snapping photos of the building from every angle on his phone.
“Lee Minho.”
“Yeah?”
“How about a trip to celebrate the move?”
“A trip?”
“Yeah. I was thinking we could go fishing for a few days along the East Sea for a change. Let’s spend a couple of days in Gangneung.”
Nice.
From elementary school through high school, the only trips he’d ever taken were the school field trips everyone had to go on.
He’d never dreamed there’d be a day when he’d get to go somewhere with his uncle like this.
Minho’s eyes grew moist.
“Uncle.”
“Yeah.”
“Could you give me some pocket money? I want to buy some gear before we go to Gangneung.”
“Gear?”
“Yeah. I’m entering the academy soon, after all.”
“Oh, right! You said you got into Hunter Academy.”
Lee Minho had been accepted into Seoul Hunter Academy.
An unexpected open recruitment round.
A special track. A chance for early admission.
He had only applied because of Juhyuk’s suggestion a short while ago.
And I actually got in?
Minho had checked the acceptance notice that arrived by email more than once.
Seoul Hunter Academy, supposedly harder to get into than the Korean Military Academy. And there was Lee Minho, a resident of Yangjae 2-dong, accepted first in history!
He’d been confident about the written exam.
But he’d thought his practical score still fell short.
I really got in this easily?
And through open recruitment, too, without even needing to take the regular entrance exam.
It was nothing short of inexplicable.
It almost felt as if some invisible hand had reached into Minho’s admissions process.
“Yeah, the acceptance letter said I should bring a weapon that fits my hand best. The beginner set I got from the Association is kind of crappy.”
Well, it was Seoul Hunter Academy in name and in fact.
They couldn’t send a kid off to an elite school looking shabby.
Juhyuk gripped Minho’s shoulder for no reason at all.
Thump.
“Good. Since I’m in a good mood, I’ll pick out something badass for you.”
Juhyuk thought of the years when money had been tight.
He remembered Minho’s first day of elementary school, when he hadn’t had enough money for a new backpack and had instead given him a torn one he’d picked up from the apartment complex near their home, with a red car printed on it.
He remembered Minho entering middle school, when he hadn’t had enough money to buy a uniform and had to make do with an XXL top and S-sized bottoms handed down from the school.
Because of that absurdly oversized jacket and the skin-tight pants, Minho’s nickname had become Yangjae-dong Doflamingo.
Thinking about that makes me feel a little bad, I guess.
Of course, I was laughing behind his back too, so I don’t exactly have room to talk.
The neighborhood kids had grabbed the loose threads sticking out of the torn uniform jacket, calling them “string fruit,” and stretched them out for fun.
“I was too busy listening to everyone’s bullshit to remember, but let’s set aside today and cut a cake too.”
“Really? Thanks, Uncle!”
“Don’t mention it. It’s what a guardian’s supposed to do.”
Juhyuk lightly patted Minho’s head.
He’d always felt bad that he, a poor uncle, hadn’t been able to support sharp, diligent Minho the way he deserved. Being able to help him shine now, even belatedly, made Juhyuk feel as if he’d set down a heavy burden.
“But Uncle, do you actually have the money? Weren’t you broke after buying game items yesterday?”
“What are you talking about? I still have plenty left from selling the mana stones.”
“Ah!”
“Don’t worry about money. I’ll handle it. Just focus on your studies.”
“Okay.”
As they talked, Juhyuk started thinking about what kind of gear Minho should use.
If you started with equipment that was too good, you developed bad habits. That wasn’t just true in the world they lived in now; it had been true in the other world Juhyuk had traveled through as well.
If you rely on equipment, you end up neglecting body training.
He’d seen that happen too many times.
After thinking it through, Juhyuk said, almost as if tossing the words away, “Don’t worry about the price tag. Go pick anything you want. Just nothing too expensive—middle to low range.”
* * *
Near Nakwon Arcade in Chungmuro.
A hunter-only shop run by the Association.
As soon as Kang Juhyuk and Lee Minho arrived, they started shopping.
“Uncle, wouldn’t an axe be too heavy?”
Minho grinned and pointed at a huge two-handed axe hanging on the wall.
“You can’t use that. It’s too heavy.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah, and the bow next to it would take a while to learn too.”
“Then a spear?”
“How are you supposed to carry around something that long?”
“Is that so?”
“You’re still a beginner, so look at short bludgeons or daggers. You’ve been living as an ordinary student until now, so you need to build your foundation first.”
It was an accurate assessment.
In truth, the weapon best suited to a hunter hopeful like Lee Minho was something light, like a blunt weapon or a dagger.
Or, more traditionally, a gas pistol upgraded to something with better performance.
But that has no style.
And Minho actually had a bias against weapons.
It came from a character in an anime he’d watched as a child, who always said, “Daggers are for cowards!”
Of course, real hunters use daggers a lot.
Still, because of that memory, he had no desire to use one. Maybe it was nostalgia warping his sense of things, but dagger users all looked like cowards to him.
And besides.
If he was going to buy expensive gear anyway, he wanted something eye-catching enough that his academy classmates wouldn’t look down on him.
“Then let’s go with bludgeons.”
“Not bad. If you buy something short and light, like a hammer, you won’t need much strength or technique.”
“Right?”
Minho looked at a hammer hanging on the shop wall.
It was a weapon made for the orc warrior, a monster that appeared in B-class dungeons.
Wildness Hammer.
The sign said it was one of only three bludgeons in all of South Korea.
And the price tag alone was a staggering 50 million won.
Too expensive for an ordinary person to use.
“Uncle, how about this one?”
Juhyuk replied with a dumbfounded expression.
“You see the price tag? Did they forget a zero?”
“Why? You told me to pick middle to low range.”
“Middle to low range means somewhere between middle and cheap. Not something absurdly overpriced like this.”
“You said your game sword cost over 200 million won.”
“Hey... that’s different. That thing matters a lot in life, okay?”
Uncle, which matters more, real life or cyberspace?
As Minho tilted his head, the bearded owner with the shaggy face jerked his chin toward them.
“That’s a special sale item for today. If you want it, you can take it cheap.”
“Cheap?”
“Yes, customer.”
Kang Juhyuk snorted at the owner.
Wasn’t it basic modern commerce to mark something up and then call it a sale?
Obviously, that hammer had been priced above its actual selling value.
“How much are you selling it for?”
“Do you have a price in mind?”
“Come on, the guy selling it should know better than the guy buying it.”
“Aigoo, just say what’s comfortable for you. I’ll match it as much as I can.”
“Make an offer.”
“An offer?”
“If you don’t like that, ten thousand won.”
The owner’s face stiffened.
Is this guy crazy?
That was an impossible price.
Of course, Juhyuk wasn’t actually saying he’d buy it for that amount—he just wanted to hear the owner’s real price.
The bearded man twisted his face without realizing it, then quickly smoothed it out and answered, “Ten thousand. Yes, sir, let’s do that.”
But what was this?
A 50-million-won item, for ten thousand won.
“Don’t bullshit me.”
“I’m not bullshitting you.”
“Don’t joke around.”
“...Sir, I’m sorry, but I’m not joking.”
“And you’re saying you’ll sell it for ten thousand?”
“Yes.”
The bearded owner looked at Juhyuk through narrowed eyes.
“Um, is that a fact?”
“Give me a second to think.”
Juhyuk couldn’t believe the situation.
The price was just too absurd.
How the hell could equipment prices drop by a factor of five thousand?
And in a shop directly operated by the government, no less.
“I’m not buying it.”
“What?!”
“Mister, you’re lying, aren’t you? There’s no way a 50-million-won piece of equipment is being sold for ten thousand. I can see it now—you’re trying to scam us by dumping junk on us.”
Even in the other world, there were people like this.
Scammers who wrapped up trash and sold it as if it were precious.
“It’s not a scam!”
“If you keep messing with me, I’m really going to get mad. We came all the way from far away.”
“I’m not messing with you, I’m serious! Recently, the Association told us to offer weapons at affordable prices for hunters in difficult circumstances.”
“Even so, this discount makes no sense.”
The owner tore off the price tag under the hammer and said, “This price was put on by the vendor, so don’t worry about it.”
“So you’re saying that hammer really is ten thousand won?”
“Yes.”
“No way. Bullshit.”
This crazy bastard is serious, isn’t he.
“If you think I’m lying, then go ahead and make the payment.”
“No, I’m saying the item looks fake, not the price.”
“Haa... how could that be? This is an official shop run by the government. Why would we sell fake goods?”
“Still, I can’t believe it.”
Has this bastard lived his whole life getting tricked?
The bearded man clenched his fist, trembling, and Juhyuk pulled out his card.
“Fine, it’s ten thousand either way, so I’ll buy it first. But if it’s a scam, I’m coming back for a refund.”
The bearded man forced a smile and took the card.
“Of course, of course. I’ll process the ten-thousand-won payment.”
“Installments are possible, right?”
“For ten thousand won?”
“I’m kidding. Just kidding. Hah.”
Beep.
“...Ten-thousand-won payment completed.”
* * *
An hour before Kang Juhyuk and Lee Minho arrived at the Chungmuro Hunter Equipment Shop.
One of the National Intelligence Service employees, Kim Dojun, a man with a bowl cut and glasses, had visited first.
Clatter.
Before the conversation even began, he handed the bearded owner a blank check.
“Soon, a hunter named Kang Juhyuk will be coming here. Make sure you provide him with whatever he’s looking for at the price he wants.”
Orders had come down from above.
Any equipment Juhyuk needed was to be issued by the National Intelligence Service. The point was to make it easier for him to settle into full-scale hunter activity.
“Is there no cap?”
“No. But you must make sure no one realizes we had a hand in it.”
“Haha! Of course. It’s not my first time handling something like this. I won’t make a mistake. I’ll sell it naturally.”
“Also, he’s a VVIP customer. Whatever he wants, you’re to meet every request.”
“Don’t worry about it. By the way, if he seems undecided, may I recommend some items?”
The bearded owner gestured at the equipment hanging on the wall.
“We brought in some pretty good gear from the Azure Dragon side this time. There are items here that are hard to get overseas too.”
Dojun shrugged.
“If he wants it, sure. We still don’t know what Juhyuk will want, so please handle it well yourself, sir.”
“Understood.”
That was the end of the discussion.
Dojun hid behind the shop, and the owner moved to the counter.
Then time passed, and Juhyuk and Minho arrived at the shop.
After browsing weapons for a while, the two were talking in the blunt weapon section, so he went over—and heard this.
He wants a 50-million-won item for 10,000 won?
What the hell kind of lunatics are these?
He’d expected them to haggle the price down by maybe half at most.
These bastards are completely beyond common sense.
He was smiling on the outside, but inside he was cursing nonstop.
In more than fifty years of running this place, he’d never met customers this ridiculous.
Haa!
Still, since he’d already received the blank check in advance for VVIP service, he couldn’t refuse Juhyuk’s offer.
“Ten thousand. Yes, sir, let’s do that.”
He accepted the offer, pretending to think it over.
And so the item eventually changed hands.
After buying the equipment, Juhyuk and Minho fled the shop as if running for their lives.
“Crazy bastards....”