<Episode 106>
“Fifth shipment departing now!”
As soon as the boxes were filled with Gongjindan, the delivery team quickly carried them away.
Then we steadily filled the empty boxes with newly made Gongjindan.
“Phew, this doesn’t seem like much, but it’s surprisingly hard labor.”
“I feel like I’ve completely lost sensation in my palms…”
As the number of completed Gongjindan increased, my shoulders gradually began to ache.
Packaging was no different.
Each one had to be carefully placed into a box.
“Trying not to crush the Gongjindan while handling them isn’t easy.”
“Seriously. Fighting monsters feels easier than this.”
In truth, the mental fatigue from endlessly repeating the same motion was worse than the physical exhaustion.
Just as everyone was gradually wearing down…
“Huh? There are a ton of people gathered in front of the center.”
One of the hunters carrying boxes looked out the window and spoke in confusion.
Were people gathering?
Was there some kind of problem?
As the noise from outside grew louder, we paused our work and approached the windows.
Looking down, we saw that the courtyard in front of the center was packed with people.
“Those people are…?”
The moment I recognized them, my chest swelled with emotion, leaving me speechless for a moment.
They were familiar faces.
The hunters who had been brought in on stretchers the day I handed over the Nutrafil data to the medical staff.
In other words, they were the very patients suffering from Nutrafil addiction who had been groaning in agony on hospital beds.
When we opened the windows and showed our faces, they immediately burst into cheers.
“Thank you! We’re completely cured now!”
“I actually feel lighter than before! Gongjindan is amazing!”
“You’re our saviors! Thank you so much!”
These were the hunters who had received the first shipment and recovered from their addiction symptoms.
Their pale complexions were gone.
Vitality and energy had returned to their faces.
Looking at them, I raised my voice.
“Is everyone feeling alright?”
“Yes! Absolutely! We’re perfectly fine! And we’re all heading out to the gates now!”
That was such a relief.
The Gongjindan we’d made really worked.
A bright smile spread across my face as I nodded.
And there was more good news.
“People came because they wanted to help us?”
“Yes. Many F-Rank Awakeners voluntarily came to the Management Bureau.”
I turned my head.
The entrance of the center was packed with people.
“You hunters are risking your lives closing gates, so we wanted to help somehow.”
“We might not be able to fight monsters as F-Ranks, but we can at least do whatever work needs doing!”
“Now it finally feels real that I’ve awakened. Haha!”
Even though they were technically F-Rank Awakeners, they were essentially ordinary civilians.
And yet they’d come here on their own because they wanted to help.
Looking at them, I smiled.
“Great. Come on in. We have a lot of Gongjindan to make!”
***
Human stamina had limits.
Proper shifts and rest were essential.
Especially for our shop employees.
Even if they were awakened, most weren’t combat-types and were practically ordinary people.
I couldn’t keep overworking them.
I gave Ari a break first.
The dark circles under her eyes had practically reached her chin.
“But there are still more we need to make…”
“Don’t worry about that. Go recharge your energy already. At this rate you’re going to collapse.”
I immediately opened the system window and canceled the Employee Recruitment Ticket applied to Ari.
Thankfully, just as Hanyang had told me, the ticket didn’t disappear and returned intact to my inventory.
Then I applied it to some of the newly arrived volunteers.
“You just need to shape this dough into small balls. If it gets too difficult, let me know anytime.”
“We’ll work hard!”
Fortunately, everyone was highly motivated.
I also sent Gong Juwon, whose face had become alarmingly pale, and Suchan, whose soul looked like it had already left his body, to rest.
“Wait. What about me?”
“You look perfectly fine. I think you can work a little longer.”
“…Hmph. What’s with that?”
As a combat-type hunter, Juhee still looked perfectly healthy.
After grumbling quietly, she returned to her seat without another word.
With recovered hunters returning to the gates one after another, she had probably decided that continuing to make items was more useful.
“If it gets tough, tell me. I’ll have someone relieve you.”
“Y-you don’t need to! I was just asking! It’s not like shaping a little dough is exhausting or anything…”
Sticking out her tongue, Juhee adjusted her headscarf with a proud expression.
It seemed my concern had only hurt her pride.
‘I really was trying to let her rest.’
Well, if she didn’t want to, there was nothing I could do.
Shrugging, I assigned the remaining people to packaging and delivery.
“Everyone, don’t overdo it! Rotate and take breaks!”
“Don’t worry!”
“I’m perfectly fine!”
Now that the item’s effectiveness had been proven and additional manpower had arrived, everyone seemed energized again.
And so the hellish Gongjindan factory resumed operation.
“Alright, another batch of dough is coming out!”
As shift after shift passed, the target quantity gradually came into sight.
“Working in rotations actually isn’t bad. Since we’ve already started, why don’t we make fifty thousand?”
“Sounds good! It’s not like I can sleep anyway. What’s the point of resting?”
Listening to the enthusiastic cheers around me, I glanced at the clock.
It was already past three in the morning.
More than fifteen hours had passed since we started making Gongjindan.
“Hunter Haneul, you should rest now.”
“Seriously. You’ve been working nonstop this whole time! We’ll handle the rest.”
The others noticed me checking the time and started pushing me toward the exit.
I refused several times, but eventually even Kim Chasa joined in, dragging me away.
In the end, I had no choice but to nod.
“Then… sorry, but I’ll rest for a little while and come back.”
Stretching lightly, I stepped out into the main hall.
Ari and Gong Juwon were asleep with their heads resting on tables.
Suchan had even spread his jacket on the floor and was sleeping sprawled out flat.
“I told them they could just go home if they were tired…”
Especially Ari.
I’d repeatedly told her to head home before it got too late.
Yet she stubbornly stayed until the very end to help.
Gong Juwon and Suchan were the same.
Eventually, exhaustion overcame them, and they’d fallen asleep in the hall.
‘I really did hire great employees.’
Feeling both proud and touched, I looked at them.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted. Let’s rest here for a bit too.”
Juhee, who had somehow followed me out, pushed three chairs together and collapsed across them.
“What are you doing? You’re tired too. Lie down already.”
Blinking slowly, I eventually lay down obediently on another empty table.
‘Just one hour. I’ll sleep for one hour and then get back up.’
“Hanyang, come here.”
Hanyang lightly jumped up and burrowed into my arms.
I hugged the warm, soft little creature tightly.
“Ugh, it’s suffocating, meow!”
“Just endure it a little…”
Hanyang struggled briefly in my embrace before eventually falling asleep.
Unable to resist the drowsiness washing over me, I closed my heavy eyelids.
***
“…Mmm?”
Warmth woke me.
When I opened my eyes, the center was already bright.
Apparently, morning had arrived.
As I sat up groggily, the blanket covering me slid down.
“You’re awake?”
“…Mr. Hyunwoo? Huh?! What time is it? We still have to make Gongjindan!”
“Don’t worry. We’ve already finished all the required quantities. Under the Management Bureau’s supervision, the F-Rank Awakeners have safely returned home as well.”
Smiling gently, he brushed my messy hair aside.
Rubbing my eyes, I looked around and saw familiar faces.
“Hahaha! You can’t catch me! You can’t catch me!”
“You’re pretty good, human, meow!”
Kang Min, still in his combat uniform, was skillfully waving a fishing-toy wand around while playing with Hanyang.
Nearby, Suhyeon was chatting happily with Ari.
Thanks to the Gongjindan, a large number of hunters had recovered and returned to duty.
It seemed Team 1’s members, finally freed from their murderous schedules, had come straight here after their shift rotations.
“Unni! You’re awake?”
When Ari waved at me, Ria, who was standing nearby, nodded as well.
Checking the time, I discovered it was already six in the morning.
I’d slept for a full three hours.
“…I only meant to sleep for one hour. I slept way too long.”
“You must have been that tired. You’ve worked nonstop since returning from the gate.”
“What about the other addicted hunters? Have they all recovered?”
The answer came not from Hyunwoo, but from Kang Min.
Grinning broadly, he held out his phone.
“Ta-da! A news article just came out. It says the recovery rate for Nutrafil addicts has already exceeded seventy-one percent.”
What?
That fast?
My eyes widened as I snatched the phone from him.
After carefully reading the article, everything made sense.
Approximately fifty thousand completed Gongjindan had been transported rapidly to major hospitals nationwide via military helicopters.
Furthermore, most addicted hunters had already been gathered in Management Bureau-designated wards, making concentrated treatment much easier.
[…Less than five minutes after medical staff administered the small pills, vitality visibly returned to the patients’ faces.
That was not all.
As soon as recovered hunters were informed of the situation, they boarded helicopters.
Additional personnel were subsequently deployed to gates one after another, and just before the final defensive lines were breached, all fourteen gates that had appeared across the country were successfully suppressed.
It could only be described as something close to a miracle.]
So the gates had been successfully contained too.
Reading the article, I smiled with relief.
Below it were countless comments.
Starting from the most upvoted ones, I slowly read through them.
➝ Damn, I thought South Korea was doomed at this rateㅠㅠ Thank you for saving us.
➝ I saw it from my window. Hunters were rappelling from helicopters and entering gates like in a movie. Seriously awesome! Korean hunters are the best.
➝ I heard an SS-Rank hunter made the cure. That’s incredible.
➝ I’m one of the F-Ranks who worked overnight making items at the center. I’m really proud.
➝ On my way home from the shelter. Thank goodness everyone is safe.
A bright smile spread across my face.
The hunters who had been working themselves to death.
The civilians trembling in fear.
Everyone had gotten their ordinary lives back.
“Still, calling it a miracle seems like a bit much…”
“If this isn’t a miracle, what is, noona? You know being too humble isn’t charming, right?”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
Flustered, I looked around.
The remaining hunters nearby were all gazing at me with warm smiles.
In the end, I simply shrugged.
“…I’m just glad the miracle worked.”
Lightly shoving the grinning Kang Min aside, Hyunwoo placed a hand on my shoulder.
“One more thing. There’s still something important left.”
“Oh, right! Reporters have been desperately waiting for you.”
“For… me?”
Apparently, foreign journalists who had come to cover the Side Effect Treatment Centers being established in Korea had witnessed the hunters suffering from drug addiction.
In the middle of their frantic reporting, they also saw those same hunters take a medicine they’d never seen before and recover as if washed clean of all illness.
“They’re making a huge fuss asking who created this miracle medicine!”
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