18
18 - Dwarf
Both bodies stopped and froze for a moment. The situation was crystal clear. The other party was the same as himself.
Just as Jin-woo had heard about how to deal with Dwarfs from the Management Bureau and put it into practice, the Dwarf had also heard somewhere about how to deal with humans and put it into practice.
The fact that this method of dealing with them involved putting down gold coins and running away was both absurd and understandable. Money is indeed what humans like most.
"No hostility$% it seems&^@$."
The Dwarf muttered something and picked up the gold coin again, putting it in his chest. Jin-woo was quite surprised to hear this.
He understood the words! Not the entire sentence, but he understood a few words.
'That's the Elven language that Shartia taught me, isn't it?'
Why is the Dwarf using Elven? Could it be that they're from the same country and use the same language?
Jin-woo mobilized all the Elven words he knew on the spot. Since the atmosphere wasn't heading toward fighting, he wanted to take this opportunity to have a conversation.
"Hmm... No hostility. Dislike. Fighting."
"Ooh?"
The Dwarf was also surprised to see Jin-woo speak a few words of Elven.
"How&#$^ continental common$%&#?"
He understood only three words. Jin-woo tried to guess what might be said in this context by combining those words.
How do you know the continental common language, something like that perhaps?
'It seems the language Shartia taught me wasn't Elven but the common language used in that world.'
Then it explains why he can communicate with the Dwarf. Feeling the excitement of encountering an unknown civilization, Jin-woo said,
"My name, Jin-woo."
"Jin-woo?"
"Who are you?"
The Dwarf pondered for a moment. Whether to ignore this and leave, or to talk more.
But just as Jin-woo was excited about conversing with a Dwarf he was seeing for the first time, the Dwarf was also interested in a human who spoke the continental language.
He had definitely heard that the humans they meet in the world beyond the Gate all speak incomprehensible words and mercilessly kill Dwarfs when they encounter them, plundering their minerals.
He had been told that rare minerals are very valuable items to them, so be careful.
Most are weak humans, but occasionally there exist humans who are strong beyond common sense.
So when encountering them, he was told to attract their attention with gold coins that humans like and then run away, but the human before his eyes seemed more interested in conversation than gold coins.
"My name is Bulkar."
He too decided to try conversing with this human.
***
Using all the words he knew and gestures, he conversed with Bulkar.
What he learned wasn't that much, but he understood the essential things.
That his name was Bulkar. That he was the third of six brothers, a middle child. That he had entered this Gate to mine various minerals.
"Many minerals here. Don't exist in our world."
It seems there are various minerals inside the Gate that don't exist in their world. Mining and taking those rare minerals was his job and mission.
It was a similar reason to Jin-woo's. Hadn't Jin-woo also entered the Gate to obtain ingredients that had become rare on Earth?
Since entering the dangerous place called a Gate, it was natural to have some definite purpose and need.
"Food... Not interested in gold coins?"
When Bulkar heard that Jin-woo entered Gates to look for ingredients, he asked. There was no way he wouldn't be interested, so Jin-woo immediately shook his head.
As expected, humans like gold coins, Bulkar nodded with that expression.
"Commission, protect me. While mining stones."
A commission? Jin-woo blinked at the sudden proposal.
"Gate, very dangerous. Many monsters. Need escort."
He understood what this meant. It was asking him to protect him while mining since it could be dangerous.
Certainly, mining itself is difficult work, and being alert for monsters that could appear anywhere at any time would be burdensome for one person alone.
'I have to hunt monsters anyway, so it would be good if he gives gold coins too. I brought plenty of food supplies as well.'
However, what was worrying was that he didn't know the way out of the cave. When he asked about this, Bulkar took out a rolled-up piece of paper from his chest and unfolded it before Jin-woo's eyes.
The paper was full of winding drawings, which, if not mistaken, looked like a map of this cave.
After showing the map briefly for about 10 seconds, Bulkar rolled it up again and put it in his chest.
"Did you memorize it?"
"No."
There was no way he could memorize that ant hill-like map in just 10 seconds.
"That was a preview. If you want to see more, paid subscription."
"..."
Indeed, the world people live in is no different anywhere. Jin-woo had no choice but to nod.
Well, since he said he'd give additional gold coins for hunting monsters, there was no reason to refuse.
"Deal established."
Shaking hands with Bulkar, he received one gold coin as a down payment.
It was his first time touching gold. Is this real gold?
Jin-woo, who had seen it somewhere before, bit the gold coin. It was indeed softer than other minerals, leaving clear teeth marks.
'Wow, it seems to be real.'
Finding the first gold he touched fascinating, Jin-woo put it away. He was so fascinated that he didn't even put it in his inventory but kept it in his pants pocket, fiddling with it.
"This way."
Bulkar gestured for him to come this way and guided him somewhere.
Passing through winding passages, he saw a small wooden door that had been temporarily installed. While Bulkar, being short, could just open it and enter, Jin-woo had to bend his waist.
The place he entered was a quite comfortably furnished space. About the size of a two-room apartment, with a fluffy-looking bed on one side and various work tools on the other.
On one wall, there was also a device made by carving out stone like a makeshift furnace.
'Is this place both lodging and workshop?'
There weren't that many items, but the space itself felt lived-in.
While furniture and tools could be brought in a inventory, the furnace carved into the wall was different. It was quite blackened from what seemed like long use.
How long had he been in this Gate?
Bulkar took out a dark bronze-colored pouch from his waist and opened the entrance wide. Then a bed suddenly popped out from inside. It seemed to be a inventory pouch similar to inventory.
This made the space quite cramped, but Bulkar didn't seem to mind. The work space remained the same, so it seemed fine.
"From today, sleep. Here."
Nod nod.
He decided to stay with this Dwarf for the time being and carry out the commission. Seeing how he immediately threw a gold coin as a down payment, he was a client who wouldn't run off with the payment.
***
Bulkar's day was precise as a knife.
Around 5 AM, he would spring up and stretch his body. Getting out of bed and moving his short limbs while stretching, he was surprisingly flexible despite his stocky build.
With the rustling next to him, Jin-woo naturally woke up too and naturally joined in the stretching.
"This. National gymnastics. Our country gymnastics."
While at it, when he showed the national gymnastics, Bulkar clapped his hands in delight. It wasn't mockery, but fascination at seeing foreign, no, extraterrestrial culture.
After a few days, he even picked movements he liked from the national gymnastics and mixed them into his own stretching routine.
After stretching came meals. His meals mainly consisted of bread and milk, and grains soaked in milk, with occasional dried meat.
After eating heartily, he would take his pickaxe and head to the work site. It seemed there was a large mineral vein nearby that he was mining entirely.
"Precious. Very very."
Jin-woo also saw the minerals Bulkar was mining, but with no knowledge, he couldn't tell what they were. He couldn't understand what was special about ordinary-looking stones mixed with blue sand-like particles.
Dwarfs were said to be outstanding craftsmen and scholars when it came to stones and iron, surpassing anyone else. Since such a person was talking with sparkling eyes, it must be quite a precious mineral.
The rest of the schedule was simple.
All day long, mine minerals, sort them, and carry them. When mealtime came, he would briefly eat with sandwiches and such, then return, wash, and sleep.
By the way, for washing, there was a place nearby where groundwater flowed, so they would soak and wash their bodies there.
This routine repeated almost exactly the same way, leaving no room for other schedules.
Jin-woo's role was to protect his routine from being disrupted by external factors. The job of exterminating nearby monsters.
Squeak-!
There were many rat-like monsters in this underground area. The difference from regular rats was that their limbs were longer and had reverse joints.
Looking at just the legs, they were like dogs or cats, but the body was that of a rat. Moreover, at the tip of their tails was something like sharp keratin that they used to stab like an awl.
Stab-
Of course, for Jin-woo, they were monsters that would die with one swing.
They didn't seem like they would be worth much money. He didn't even know if there were companies that would buy the meat or hide of these filthy rats, and their magic stones were also very small and poor quality. They were the lowest grade among all the monsters Jin-woo had hunted so far.
'F-grade monsters.'
Even though no one told him, he knew instinctively. Monsters of this level would definitely belong to F-grade in international classification.
'Still, there are many of them.'
Perhaps because they were rats, there were really many of them. Even though he patrolled around Bulkar's residence and workplace without missing a single day, they endlessly emerged from somewhere.
Thanks to this, even though they were F-grade, quite a few magic stones accumulated. Since there was a pile of magic stones the size of fingernails, it was quite reassuring.
'The flames are... Also just so-so on this side.'
The amount of blue flames absorbed from hunting monsters was also not that much, like the magic stones.
He realized how fortunate it was to have nearly doubled the size by hunting werewolves in the 0th Realm. To increase that much flame by hunting these rats, it would be difficult even if he hunted tens of thousands.
Still, thanks to diligently moving around, there was no hindrance to Bulkar's work.
Perhaps because of this, Bulkar's mood seemed very good after being with Jin-woo. It seemed work was progressing smoothly since he didn't have to deal with the annoying rats.
"You amazing. Diligent and strong."
"Thanks."
After a few days, even communicating bluntly with short words became completely familiar.
The total gold coins received so far were four. Excluding the one received as a down payment on the first day, it was three.
Considering how expensive one gold coin was, it was more than enough payment for a few days of hard work.
Once, when he asked if it was okay to give this much, Bulkar answered,
"Gold coins, little use. Unnecessary."
It seemed that in the Dwarf nation, gold coins weren't that useful.
According to Bulkar, Dwarfs are very sensitive about minerals and consider many factors such as their use, utility, and rarity. But gold fell short in many areas.
While it had some value as jewelry, its value was greatly reduced because it was difficult to make into swords and armor.
'It's not completely worthless currency, but it's not as expensive as on Earth, that kind of feeling.'
If that was the case, he could accept it without guilt. He had been secretly uncomfortable because the payment seemed too high compared to the labor intensity.
"You work well. Find monsters well and hunt well."
What Bulkar particularly praised was Jin-woo's tracking ability.
Anyone could hunt the annoying rats, but Jin-woo would find the hiding rats' nests and exterminate them entirely.
Since they were monsters that dug underground and hid, they were hard to find without considerable tracking ability, but Jin-woo was finding them like a ghost.
So he said it was very satisfying. It felt like old constipation had been completely relieved.
It seemed he had stayed here for quite a while, so how much had he been tormented by the rat swarms during that time?
That day too, Jin-woo sent Bulkar to the work site and spread his ki sense as usual. Whether there were any monsters lurking or approaching nearby.
'Hm?'
Something was strange today.
Usually, he would find one or two and start the day, but today it was clean.
Well, there are days like this too. Thinking so, he expanded his ki sense and wandered around nearby.
'...!'
Strange flames were caught. It was in the direction where Bulkar, who was not with him, was mining the mineral vein.
Those flames were peculiar, different from any flames he had seen so far.
Somehow dirty. Like tangled thorn bushes, or like tangled roots.
Jin-woo ran at full speed to the work site where Bulkar was mining the mineral vein.
"Jin-woo!"
There was Bulkar, bleeding from an arrow wound in his shoulder.
"Human? Here, why?"
"Don't know. Kill first."
An arrow shot straight toward Jin-woo's brow.
The approaching arrowhead seemed close enough to meet his eyes. Jin-woo's eyes widened as his head was about to be pierced.
His sword swung like lightning, deflecting the arrow.
At the same time, he took the next step. With that one move, Jin-woo was able to see the culprit who shot the arrow, a black-skinned Elf, within range. A Dark Elf with skin like burnt ash.
"What...!"
When the creature was surprised by Jin-woo's sudden approach and tried to draw his sword, Jin-woo's sword was already cutting the creature's arm.