< My Person (3) >
After dropping by the hardware store and buying a chain, we went to the Hunter Association to get rid of the contracts. The selling commission fee for the contracts was 30% of the payment, and was transferred to my registered account.
F-Ranks were so-so but I thought C-Ranks and D-Ranks would probably be reasonably profitable.
It was a little uncomfortable to take it, so I should divide it up among the victims.
“Is it really okay to owe you[1]?”
Yoo Myeongwoo asked uneasily, after we arrived at the guild and got out of the car. With his character, it was really a relief that the SS-Rank skill wasn’t combat-related. Or maybe it was because of his character that he had an aptitude for a production skill.
“You heard the phone call just a while ago. It’s okay to let outsiders stay in the dorms.”
Specifically, it was a rule in order to let friends and relatives or lovers, etc. visit. Living in the outsiders’ dorms had a restriction on the number of people and range of actions, and was only allowed one week at most per month. And you had to write a memo that you would take all responsibility if an issue occurred.
“I can just go home…”
“Why would you do something bothersome? Just stay here until the training ends. It’ll only take a few days.”
Of course, even after the training ended, I had to use some excuse to hold onto him. I had to keep him in some place I could see; I felt too uneasy to let him go off on his own. How could I extort a normal employee dorm to put him in?
“Han Yoojin-ssi.”
I was about to leave the parking lot when Kim Sunghan called me from behind. As I turned my head, I saw him with an awkward expression. What was it?
“First, I would like to apologize.”
“Excuse me?”
Suddenly, what apology? Did he do something to be sorry to me about without me knowing? Grabbing the scruff of my neck? Making the announcement from the Lost Child Center? Standing guard in front my room door was on Yoohyun’s orders.
I couldn’t think of something that required properly apologizing, so I was tilting my head when Kim Sunghan continued speaking.
“I have been misunderstanding Han Yoojin-ssi all this time.”
“…Misunderstanding?”
“Yes. To tell you the truth, I thought you were a useless obstacle that hindered Guild Leader’s future path.”
……I mean, he wasn’t wrong. The original me did cause some trouble.
“Please don’t worry about it. Things like that can happen.”
I just used a cheat key like regressing; you do have a good eye for people.
At my words, he smiled a little. Wow, this was the first time I saw that person smiling at me. He had always glared at me as if he would be at my throat at the drop of a hat[2].
“Please take care of me[3] even from now on.”
“Ah, yes. I should be saying that…”
“Even though you’ve said it is alright, a wrongdoing is a wrongdoing, so if there is anything you want, please say so.”
“Then, please buy me a drink.”
At that time should I act drunk and say… um… the keyword? I was thinking about raising magic beasts instead of humans, though. Still, it wouldn’t be bad to drink together and become friendly.
“All right. Please contact me any time.”
Kim Sunghan lightly nodded with an even more refreshed expression. I also bid him goodbye and turned back around.
I felt a little strange. I didn’t know why he was suddenly like that, but it was better than being treated like an eyesore.
“That person really doesn’t seem to have a good eye for people.”
As we left the parking lot, Yoo Myeongwoo said in a dumbfounded tone.
“How could he think you’re a useless obstacle, Yoojin?”
That was because I really was a useless obstacle, haha.
“You know I’m pretty lacking compared to my dongsaeng.”
“That’s because your ranks don’t match up. If you were also an S-Rank, you might be better. No, you’d definitely be a lot more amazing.”
What was this confidence. It felt good for people to believe in me but I’d like to be believed in a bit less than this guy did. An A-Rank wasn’t good enough so now he was comparing me to an S-Rank.
“Please don’t say things like that where others can hear. Especially where it’s full of Yoohyun’s fans. You’ll get stoned at any moment.”
Thanks to that, after I got into serious trouble, I really hated coming here. There were gazes flying from every direction, looking at the trash.
At my words, Yoo Myeongwoo hunched his neck and searched the surroundings.
“S-still, the truth is the truth.”
What do you mean, truth?
“But anyways, you’re not going to take the gloves off? It should be stuffy.”
“It’s okay! I’m going to keep on wearing it until training ends.”
He answered, smiling brightly. …He wouldn’t go around doing everything wearing that, right?
I took Yoo Myeongwo and went towards the security room in the corner of the lobby. Yerim and I directly got the okay to pass through from the guild leader but if regular outsiders were going into the areas besides floors 1-3, they had to go through a security check.
“I’d like to let an outsider visit the high rank Hunter dorms.”
As soon as I opened the security room door and spoke, the female employee at the desk told me to come over.
“After the security check, you can register the visit at the dorm maintenance on the 15th floor. Which person requires the security check?”
“This person. He’s an Awakened Person.”
“Please tell me your name and phone number, and if you are a Hunter, then your license queue number.”
Yoo Myeongwoo told her his name and phone number. Shortly after she tapped on the keyboard, a different employee brought over a bracelet that could be locked by a key.
“This is an inventory sealing bracelet. If you take it off by force, you will be immediately evicted and will have to compensate for the following cost. After your business is concluded, please be sure to return it.”
As the number of Awakened People increased, the most difficult thing was exactly that inventory. It was a space that couldn’t be inspected, that even F-Ranks could get as long as they Awakened.
You couldn’t put in things that didn’t come out of a dungeon so it didn’t influence real life that much, but in places that needed security, to prepare just in case, inventories were sealed. In a few years when the number of Awakened People increased a lot, sealing curses were put on entire buildings.
Thanks to that, there was talk that the best job for an Awakened Person to make a fortune without going into a dungeon was being a curse Hunter. As long as you met the conditions, you could do anything. But meeting those conditions was pretty hard so it wasn’t very applicable for combat.
After finishing up the security check and dropping by maintenance to register the visit, we went back to unit A-15. Was Yerim still in the middle of getting styled[4]?
“This is your dorm room?”
Going inside the house, Yoo Myeongwoo admired with round, wide eyes.
“Your house is really great. Instead of a dorm, it seems like a high-class apartment.”
“The service is also great. Up to a million won per month in daily necessities are provided, and cleaning and laundry are done for me twice a week.”
“Wow, really?”
Yoo Myeongwoo looked at me with an envious gaze. No, don’t look at me, look at the house. Originally, I don’t have the qualification to come here, okay?
“This is why everyone is so focused on rank. You have to be around A-Rank to be ushered into a guild and be given high-class facilities.”
“To be able to come to someplace like this even though you’re not an A-rank – you’re definitely impressive!”
“…No, this was through personal connections.”
I was going crazy. If only someone would take off those beanpods from his eyes[5]. He was acting like a girl in her teens who had met some idol[6].
Since I had left to find Yoo Myeongwoo as soon as I entered, I hadn’t looked around the entire house yet. Looking around and choosing a place to stay[7], I found as much as four rooms. It was really just an apartment. Two of them were bedrooms so there was no need to put a blanket on the sofa.
The kitchen was big and fancy, and was filled with all sorts of kitchen appliances I didn’t know. That was probably an oven, what was this?
“Oh, the fridge is full too.”
Of course, there were foods like vegetables and fruits, and such, but there was also orange juice and beer.
“Do you want to drink something?”
I asked, taking out the bottle of orange juice. Yoo Myeongwoo, who was hanging around the kitchen entrance, shook his head.
“No, I’m fine with just water.”
“It’s free anyways. Drink something. You’re okay with orange juice, right?”
I took out two cups and poured the juice. That’s right, did I have to do the dishes myself? There should be a dishwasher, but I didn’t know what was what.
I gave a cup of juice to Yoo Myeongwoo and went to the living room. As soon as my butt hit the sofa, I was flooded with exhaustion.
I was a bum that didn’t even have a salary and it was the weekend, so why was I so busy? Still, things were more or less arranged, so I should rest and do nothing until Monday.
‘Yerim already contracted and the guild will take care of everything, so after I make that guy get the skill, I would really be done.’
I didn’t need a healer. I won’t do it. I was just going to live easily. I was going to become a full[8] sloth.
Ah, I had to feed Peace. I guess I would have to go up in a bit.
Blankly sipping the juice, I turned on the TV. Yoo Myeongwoo was holding the cup, and was hovering like he didn’t know what to do. You could just sit and drink, did I have to tell you that too?
“Come here and sit down.”
“Uh, okay.”
He hurried over and sat in the remaining seat. At least he listened well.
“If you’re going to stay a couple of days, you probably need to bring over some things; do you happen to have any more strong men who will come knocking or breaking down your door?
“Huh? Oh, no. They said since I Awakened and was even going to get training, I could pay them back by going into dungeons… Apparently they had moved the debt over to those guys back then. Saying that an F-Rank with support skills couldn’t make money……”
So it was like that. I was wondering why Hunters suddenly made an appearance.
“Then, rest today and go bring over things you need tomorrow. If you’re uneasy, wear the gloves when you go.”
It was too annoying for me to go along. At any rate, I was a weakling[9] with no equipment.
I put down the juice I drank about half of, and stood up. I took the chain I bought from the hardware store and a tool I borrowed from maintenance went toward the door connecting to unit A-16 that was on one of the sides of the living room.
Was this it after just putting in a door? If the door suddenly opened while I was watching a horror movie and drinking beer in the middle of the night, I’d get a heart attack. With Yerim’s character, she probably wouldn’t well-manneredly knock.
“Should I help?”
“No, I’m fine.”
I put in a nail with the drill and installed the chain, before returning to and sinking down onto the sofa. I should drink some beer after feeding Peace later. Did this place allow food delivery? It had been a while since I had chicken and beer[10] and I wanted some – I could just go down to receive it, right?
“…After training is over, I probably wouldn’t have any reason to come here, right?
Yoo Myeongwoo said in a regretful voice, playing with the empty cup. Normally, that would be so. Since there was no need for Haeyeon Guild to take in an F-Rank with with one buff skill.
But I had to grab onto him. What excuse should I use?
“There’s always coming over to see a friend. Though it might be a little hard to come here as a Hunter. Even my contract isn’t as a guild Hunter, but as a normal employee.”
“Huh why?”
Yoo Myeongwoo had an expression like he couldn’t understand. What do you mean why, it was because I’m an F-Rank. Of course, Suk Simyeong wanted to bring me in as a guild member, but through normal procedures, I wouldn’t pass because of my rank.
“Haeyeon Guild doesn’t even have many C-Ranks. A-Ranks and B-Ranks are prioritized, obviously. Still, normal employees might get additional points as long as they have Hunter licenses, so you never know. If your training results are good, you might get recommended to join.”
Of course, there wasn’t actually something like that. Really, how could I grab onto Yoo Myeongwoo? …Should I make a deal with Suk Simyeong? 5 hours a week… no, 3 hours…… Shit.
“Are you good with housework?”
“What? Uh, I can boil ramen pretty well.”
I could boil ramen too. Then again, you had to cook to get better at it, and he wouldn’t have been able to buy ingredients so how would he be able to cook well?
“That is, they said I could employ a housekeeper with my own money. Of course, I’m not actually asking you to be my housekeeper; even after finishing training, it would probably take quite a lot of time for an F-Rank to find a place? So I was wondering what you thought of pretending to be my resident housekeeper and staying here for a few months. I have enough rooms anyways, and it’s boring to live alone.”
At my words, Yoo Myeongwoo froze solid as if completely shocked. As expected, asking him to be a housekeeper wasn’t too good. But, I couldn’t think of a good way to put him in the employee dorm…
“Yoojin!”
“Huh? What-.”
“You’re really a kind and great friend!”
That Myeongwoo pulled me over and hugged me again. Damn, why was this bastard’s strength… ah right, I gave him my gloves. Should I just take them back?
“Move away a little! What do you mean, kind? I don’t have money so I can’t even give you pay!”
“Don’t say that. Do you know how much the monthly rent is in this neighborhood! Really… I don’t know what to say.”
…Speaking of, if you considered the large size of the house as well as the location, I should completely let go of the salary. But anyways, let go. Just let go a lit-.
Bam!
“Ahjussi!”
Along with the energetic yell, the nicely installed chain brutally fell and rolled on the floor.
……It’s okay. I expected this. I knew this would happen.
[1] the particular phrase used here is also used when you stay over at someone’s house, which is what YMW is referring to.
[2] lit. ‘grab and eat me’ for the ‘be at my throat’/‘treat me harshly’, and idk how to tl the ‘drop of a hat’ part literally so you’re just gonna have to take my word for it that that’s what it means generally.
[3] y’all kno the drill, standard polite phrase, etc. etc. This is probs the last time I’m footnoting this.
[4] lit. ‘getting/receiving coordi’, see footnote [9] from ch. 20
[5] from the expression ‘be covered by beanpods’ which means ‘blinded by love’
[6] idk if this needs to be explained, but ‘idols’ (eng word transliterated) are a type of people in the entertainment industry, usually singers/dancers in boy/girl groups. They’re micromanaged to appeal to fans so they’re thought of as formulaic and not really ‘real singers’ but, like, opinions vary.
[7] I think in this case he means ‘sleep’ but not sure
[8] ‘full’ as in ‘stomach is full’
[9] lit. ‘water body’. Idk if this is a word the author made up or a real slang word, but from the context and the fact that ‘water’ is used sometimes to describe something weak, I assumed that’s what it meant
[10] chi-mek (slang) from ‘chicken’ (usually fried chicken if the eng word is used) and ‘mekjoo’ (beer)