<Episode 21>
The surprise birthday party had been, quite literally, a huge success.
The fans read aloud the letters they had written for Kang Min Hunter, cheered him on as he blew out the candles on the cake, and shared cake and desserts.
“This is the most delicious cake I’ve ever eaten in my life. Thank you.”
Saying that, Kang Min Hunter finished his slice of cake without leaving a crumb behind. Even though it was an ordinary cake, not one specially made for awakened people, meaning he probably couldn’t taste anything at all.
He cried once while watching the video, once while the letters were being read aloud, and then again when the fans sang a song for him. Honestly, by the end, he burst into tears no matter what anyone said, to the point that the event could barely continue.
”So our Minie even started a Byulstagram account, you know? You’re listening, right?”
“Of course, of course. I’m listening.”
“He even wrote us a thank-you letter and uploaded it! Ah, I’m seriously so touched… How can someone be this much of an angel?”
Listening to Shinhye’s voice blaring through the receiver, I let out a small laugh.
Kang Min Hunter wasn’t the only one deeply moved by the emotional birthday party.
The organizer of the party, Shinhye, was just as affected. No… in my opinion, even more so.
Every chance she got, Shinhye would call me and ramble endlessly about how wonderful that day had been and how happy Kang Min Hunter looked.
“That’s good. He really did look brighter.”
“If I’d known he’d love it this much, I would’ve done it sooner… I was worried for nothing. Anyway, thank you. This all happened because of you.”
“Come on, it was mostly you who prepared everything.”
Clicking her tongue, she complained about how unfortunate it was that the café had been too small to invite everyone who wanted to come.
I had honestly thought finding his fans would be difficult. The idol industry changed so quickly that the entire landscape could shift multiple times in a single day.
But that had only been my assumption.
Even though many fans had left, there were still people who loved him.
‘Thankfully, Shinhye was the type to actively participate in fandom activities normally.’
The moment Shinhye, who had been a dedicated fan for years, stepped forward enthusiastically, hundreds of scattered fans gathered within minutes. Ever since his departure from the group, fans who feared he might dislike it had been quietly hiding their support all across the country.
When I suggested that it might be nice to create a space where he could meet fans, Shinhye’s drive kicked in, and things moved at terrifying speed.
She cleared out her café for an entire day, and from dawn onward prepared banners, placards, even a custom cake…
Fans who arrived early joined in too, and before long, the vintage-themed café had completely transformed into an idol birthday café.
“I’m the one who should be thankful. You really worked hard preparing everything.”
“Hey! Worked hard? If our Minie’s happy, I could seriously do this a hundred more times!”
Shinhye burst into a devilish laugh, saying that now she could finally fangirl openly instead of hiding it because she worried he might feel uncomfortable.
“Now we can finally run a proper fan club too!”
Looks like she’s in a good mood.
After ending the call with Shinhye, I lightly shrugged my shoulders.
“Things went well, nya?”
“Better than I could’ve hoped.”
As I basked in satisfaction over the successful birthday party, a pop-up window appeared before my eyes.
—
HIDDEN MISSION COMPLETE!
Target satisfaction detected!
‘Burning Flame’ mission complete
Reward: Employee Recruitment Ticket <Claim>
—
“Hidden mission complete? Jackpot!”
Unlike previous missions, which involved combining special effects using materials gathered from gates, the hidden mission had only mentioned needing a “small trigger.”
That was why I had asked Shinhye, the person who knew Kang Min Hunter best, for help.
‘If this hadn’t worked, I would’ve had no idea what else to even try!’
But it had worked perfectly.
Thankfully, all our hard work preparing everything seemed to have satisfied Kang Min Hunter completely.
As a result, I now possessed both 1,000 points and an Employee Recruitment Ticket.
Putting the ticket aside for now, I immediately entered Underworld.com.
‘Time for fun item shopping!’
The menu had expanded to three options now, which meant my workload had tripled.
Since I couldn’t hire an employee immediately, I needed a special item that could lighten my workload. And most special items could be found on Underworld.com.
“Alright! I choose you!”
The item I selected was the automatic packaging item, “Pack-Pack.”
Its description read:
“Automatically places completed products into bags and packages them perfectly.”
Up until now, I’d been frantically busy trying to bake bungeoppang while simultaneously packaging them according to reservation quantities. With this item, it looked like I’d finally be able to focus solely on baking.
“You already decided, nya?”
“Of course. I spotted exactly what I needed!”
The moment I pressed the purchase button, my remaining points dropped sharply.
Shortly afterward, outside the window, a man wearing a large gat silently appeared, tossed a box over expressionlessly, then smoothly vanished again.
“…Their deliveries are still ridiculously cool.”
When I opened the box, inside was an arm that looked as though it had been ripped off a mannequin.
Feeling vaguely creeped out, I cautiously picked it up to inspect it, while Hanyang carried over the instruction manual that had been lying underneath the box.
—
[Pack-Pack User Manual]
: Attach the suction pad to the shelf where the products are placed.
: Once powered on, the item will automatically operate and package completed products into bags.
: Compatible with existing reservation items.
—
The suction pad was attached to the point where the arm ended… in other words, around the shoulder area, and resembled bubble wrap.
I securely fastened the product onto the table and placed a freshly baked bungeoppang on it as a test.
After rattling briefly, the hand-shaped item picked up the bungee ball and swiftly slid it into a bag.
As a finishing touch, the way it folded the bag carefully to keep the contents from falling out was impressively delicate.
“Hm, despite how creepy it looks, the functionality’s pretty good.”
Since customers might find it strange-looking, I planned to put some kind of cute sleeve over the arm later.
As I continued examining the item enthusiastically, I noticed the surroundings had suddenly become strangely quiet.
Turning my head, I saw Hanyang sitting silently by the window, staring down below. The way his tail swished back and forth made it obvious he was watching something interesting.
“Hanyang, what are you doing over there?”
“There’s a human outside, nya.”
I waved casually without much thought.
“What’s so strange about someone being out on the street? Come look at this item too. It’s seriously amazing.”
“Not a passing human, nya. It’s a human, you know, nya.”
“Someone I know?”
The moment I peeked out the window, my jaw dropped open.
“…Hunter Lee Hyunwoo?”
Under the glow of the streetlights stood a man as upright and motionless as a sculpture.
With his arms crossed and standing silently there, he gave off a strange aura that naturally drew one’s focus even from afar.
No, why was that person standing in front of my house?
On a Saturday night, no less?
I hurriedly threw on my coat, opened the door, and ran outside.
The cold winter wind slammed against my face.
When he slowly lifted his head after sensing movement, the chilly expression on his face made it feel as though the very air around us had turned heavy.
“Fortunately, you were home. I was debating whether I should contact you.”
“…Why are you here?”
Instead of answering, he held out a bag.
Without thinking, I accepted it. Inside was a cold, fully cooled bungeoppang.
Why… was he giving this to me?
I stared at the bag before lifting my head to look at him again.
“There’s a new menu item now, correct?”
“Yes. It’s called Spicy-Meco Bungeoppang. It has a stress-relief effect. Is there… some kind of problem?”
“A problem…”
He muttered lowly while slowly fixing his gaze on me.
“There’s a very serious problem.”
His eyes bore down on me as if piercing straight through me.
Without realizing it, I instinctively took half a step backward.
“As far as I know, adding special effects to items requires visiting a gate. Yet this bungeoppang contains an effect I’ve never seen before. Care to explain?”
Ah, damn it. I shouldn’t have told him that before.
I immediately understood why he had come to find me.
He had figured out that I had entered the gate without contacting him.
Biting my lip, I avoided his gaze.
He let out a hollow scoff in disbelief.
“Ha… I had a feeling, and of course I was right.”
His expression hardened completely.
Then, in a frighteningly cold voice, he said,
“Did you forget that your rank is F-class? Are you trying to die in a gate?”
Mixed into the anger on his face as he harshly scolded me was a faint trace of fear.
“Did you forget that I asked you to contact me before entering the gate?”
As I stared into his wavering eyes beneath the streetlight, I bit my lip tightly.
He was clearly shaken.
He was worried I might get hurt inside a gate.
Trying to reassure the man who had come all the way to my house, I spoke carefully.
“I’m sorry. But really, nothing happened. I just collected the materials I needed and came right back out.”
“Did you happen to encounter anyone inside?”
“Not at all. Up until now, you’re the only person I’ve ever met inside a gate.”
At my words ‘the only one’ his expression subtly softened for an instant.
The sharpness around him eased ever so slightly.
In a somewhat calmer voice, he said,
“It makes no sense for an F-class like Ms. Haneul to enter gates alone.”
“You know this already. It’s not like I’m entering because I want to. It’s the system forcing me to. Do you think I’m crazy enough to enter gates by myself otherwise?”
I promised him that next time, I would absolutely contact him before entering the gate.
But despite my pleading, he firmly shook his head.
“I understand that these are unusual circumstances. However…”
“However?”
Swallowing nervously at the strange tension in the air, I looked at him.
Meeting my eyes directly, he spoke.
“I believe this needs to be reported to the Management Bureau.”
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