“Has anyone bought the bubble gum from the workshop before this?”
Because he had only been making such experimental items all this time, the workshop’s sales had been 0 won the entire time.
Ah! Of course, the profit wasn’t 0 won. It was about minus 600 million won?
‘What a money-sucking black hole.’
There were many times I secretly glared at Kang Ilyeon.
Because he always insisted on ridiculously expensive materials and endlessly crafted items that I had no idea where to use.
However, since the bubble gum product he made this time felt somewhat useful, I told him to post it on the Smart Market and also stocked a few in the workshop.
Even so, there were very few people who visited this run-down workshop in Seochon—
“Ah, yes. One person. They ordered it through the Smart Market, so I sent it via courier.”
It was just as Kang Ilyeon tilted his head and turned on his laptop.
“……?”
Kang Ilyeon’s brow furrowed.
“Noona. How do you close a Smart Market site down?”
“What……?”
What is he suddenly talking about…
With a puzzled look, I peered at the page he was looking at together with him.
There lay the dismal order history up until the previous date, and—
Month X, Day XX: 0
Month X, Day XX: 0
Month X, Day XX: 0
“….?”
Month X, Day XX: 205
A suddenly surging order volume for today’s date was written there.
For reference, while we were talking—
[Refresh]
Month X, Day XX: 234
…It increased.
* * *
“Wow. Lee Yuji, did you see this video? The workshop that made this looks like the place run by the twins from the case we were in charge of.”
As soon as I arrived at work the next day, Byeon Gudo spoke to me in a voice about two pitches higher than usual.
He was waving a video from that E-rank hunter YouTuber, ‘Review-Love You,’ right in front of my face.
Today, I’ve prepared the bubble gum mask that appeared in that viral video! To get straight to the point, I tried it, and it was really amazing! It’s an item that even F-ranks can use, and above all, the operating method is ingenious! In an era like these days where terrorism is rampant, it can definitely be considered a must-have item. It’s a kind of self-defense item!
“I saw it…”
I replied in a quiet voice.
And for good reason….
‘I felt like I was going to die of exhaustion trying to handle all those orders yesterday.’
I couldn’t help with the production part, but someone had to help with the packaging and courier registration.
Thanks to that, even Kang Wolyeon and Lee Yugyeom were mobilized.
‘Why are you guys here instead of just studying?’
At my question, Lee Yugyeom shrugged.
‘I’ve already finished preparing for this midterm exam, so I have nothing to do.’
What an annoying punk.
‘What about your academy homework?’
‘Done.’
‘What about school… um… don’t you have performance assessments?’
‘All done.’
Argh. Damn it.
While I was making a face like I wanted to smack him, Kang Wolyeon bumped Lee Yugyeom’s shoulder and stepped forward.
‘Would it kill you to just say you came because you wanted to help? You socially stunted prick.’
Oh. He’s saying everything I wanted to say…
No, wait…!
‘Ahem. Wolyeon, you shouldn’t use such mean words…….’
I placed my hands on my hips and was about to nag him, but shut my mouth when I saw Kang Wolyeon’s ‘What?’ expression.
He’s scary.
Like that, the three of us ended up fulfilling all 300 orders that came in yesterday.
And the sales revenue was a whopping…
300 million won.
‘I wonder if this is right, but I guess it must be.’
To make matters worse, a few bizarre items that Kang Ilyeon had secretly uploaded to the Smart Market also contributed to the sales.
Honestly, all those items were so expensive that I thought, ‘Will they even sell?’, but even those were sold.
‘I guess this is why small businesses are so desperate for viral marketing.’
Even excluding Kang Ilyeon’s share from this, I was able to cover a significant amount of the losses I had incurred so far.
‘Uhahaha…’
I’m happy. But I’m not happy.
How do you think it feels to finish a side hustle at 2 AM and go straight to your main job in the morning?!
No matter how much sales increased thanks to the grateful NuTuber, this feeling of going to work twice is awful!
Hearing my low voice, Byeon Gudo’s face stiffened.
He patted my shoulder and spoke quietly.
“Why are you being like this too? Why is the mood so down today?”
Me too?
I looked around at those words.
The first person I saw over the partition, Ma Deokho, was wearing a headset and working hard on something as usual, and Pi Sowon—
‘She’s probably got her legs on the desk and is looking at documents, obviously.’
Is what I thought, but…
She was writing a report with an expressionless face.
“…It’s been three hours. She came to work at 6 AM today.”
Byeon Gudo whispered to me.
Oh.
The thing Pi Sowon hates the most normally is paperwork. That’s why she always tried to pass it off to other team members or suggest making a bet on it, but she’s been working on that report for three hours?
‘It’s definitely not a normal situation.’
I looked at Pi Sowon while thinking that.
It was then.
Pi Sowon suddenly raised her head and looked at me.
“Uh… Uh…”
She’s probably going to give me hell for not working and playing around when I’m the one who caused all the trouble.
“Partner.”
…That’s what I thought, but I was wrong again.
“Ah, y-yes.”
“Didn’t you say you had a filming session at the Hunter Administration Bureau at 3 PM later? Are you going to go looking like that?”
Ah. That’s right. The filming.
Only then did I remember the interview video that Unit Chief Hong Jaegyeol had specially requested.
He said they were shooting it on a large scale for promotional purposes.
I frowned as I looked at my haggard self in the mirror.
“I’ll go wash my face.”
At my words, Pi Sowon nodded and said.
“Go wash your face and let’s go together in my car. I have a uniform in my car. I don’t know if you’ll need it, but I’ll give you a ride to the Hunter Administration Bureau.”
‘She’s not even scolding me…’
She’s even being kind!
It’s too weird.
Does she have no energy, or what?
I thought I understood why Byeon Gudo was trying to lighten the mood in the office.
“Yesss…”
Without realizing it, I replied in a similarly droopy tone.
* * *
A little while later.
Pi Sowon was driving with a stiff expression without saying a word inside the car.
I just read the room with a sullen face alongside her, before opening my mouth to somehow change the atmosphere.
“Ah! Team Leader, did you see that the Melodians released a new song? It’s a song called , and it’s on the Billboard lately…”
“…You can stop walking on eggshells.”
“…Yes.”
I just shut my mouth.
Then, Pi Sowon, who glanced at me, seemed to think about something before letting out a sigh.
And then she spoke heavily.
“They said Unit Chief Cha Jeonhyeok was arrested this morning.”
“Yes. I heard.”
Ah. That’s right. Cha Jeonhyeok.
Come to think of it, Cha Jeonhyeok, Hong Jaegyeol, Pi Sowon… and Pi Sowon’s old partner were all close enough to carry out operations together.
Since such a person was arrested, I guess she couldn’t be bright, as expected.
“When you’re in the HIB, there are times like that.”
Pi Sowon said in an uncharacteristically serious voice.
“Times when you wonder if it’s right to risk your life doing this bullsh*t while getting paid peanuts, not getting treated properly, and getting cursed at from everywhere. Well, you think ‘that’s just how it is for civil servants’… but we’re Hunters. If we quit our jobs and joined a guild, there are so many b*stards who make way more money while having it much easier than this.”
Her following words were, how should I put it… they felt more directed at herself than at me.
“Still.”
“…”
“Still, money isn’t everything.”
Pi Sowon’s eyes lit up with life for the first time since coming to work today.
“Because someone has to catch the bad guys.”
While the car was stopped at a light, she looked toward me.
I finally realized that the reason she had looked different all day wasn’t exactly because she was feeling down, but rather—
“If you do bad things, you get punished, and if you do good things, you get rewarded. Because that kind of world is the right world. No matter how cliché it sounds, shouldn’t someone say what’s right is right?”
…I realized that she had awakened to something.
And maybe this was—
‘Pi Sowon’s original self before ‘that incident’ happened.’
The moment I saw the look in her eyes, I got the feeling that Team 5, led by Pi Sowon, was going to change somehow in the future.
I clenched my fists without realizing it.
As if preparing for a straight punch.
I didn’t know where my punch would be directed, but…
And a little while later.
My punch was…
“Come on, come on, with a slightly more resolute face. Lower your head at a 45-degree angle, and give the feeling that only your eyes are alive! Staff! Please spray some water on her bangs over there. Make it look like she’s sweating. Add more blush, too…!”
It was being used in a bizarre place.
Because I was throwing a straight punch at a camera while wearing a Taekwondo uniform instead of an investigator’s uniform, standing on a blue mat laid out in front of the Hunter Administration Bureau!
And behind my back, Pi Sowon and Hong Jaegyeol, holding a placard that read [Taekwondo Girl Catches Bus Terrorists], were cheering for me with bored expressions.
“Wow! Good job, our youngest! So cool!”
“Wow… So cool…”
What is this…?!
Was this what it meant to change?!
Hi! Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Please continue to support this novel by giving it a good rating on Novel Updates. Thank you! ^^ ❤︎
Comments (0)