<Episode 5>
As she turned to look behind her, following my finger, her expression stiffened in shock.
Everyone was staring at her with murderous eyes… because she was standing there chatting instead of buying anything.
“Why are you wasting time?!”
“If you’re not buying, move aside!”
“I even took half a day off for this!”
See? I told you… I don’t have time for this kind of small talk with you.
Juhee’s face turned as red as a carrot as she bit her lip.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you moving?”
“I-I’ll have one too!”
“…What?”
Juhee slammed the 10,000-won bill she had been holding onto the counter. It was crumpled, like she’d been clutching it for a while.
“Give me one. Ahem. I-I’ve been waiting in line too….”
Ah, so in the end, you wanted to eat bungeoppang too?
She must’ve gotten curious after hearing everyone talk about it, so she lined up… but once she realized the owner was me, she couldn’t help but start picking at me.
“You want to eat bungeoppang made by a mere F-rank?”
“…That’s not what I meant.”
Back in school, she probably expected everyone to cower just because she said something… but this was the real world now.
Why would I be scared of some girl who only had influence among high schoolers?
“Why is this taking so long!?”
“Ugh, this is so frustrating!”
As the complaints rose again from behind, anxiety flickered across Juhee’s face. Even so, she stubbornly stood her ground, insisting on getting her bungeoppang.
With her personality, she would’ve stormed off saying she didn’t want it… But it seemed she really was curious about the taste.
‘Sigh, she must really want to try it.’
She was a bit annoying, sure… but not enough for me to heartlessly chase her away when she clearly wanted some.
I stopped teasing her, took out a freshly made bungeoppang, and placed it into a bag. Her expression instantly brightened.
“Here. Enjoy it. Oh, and we don’t accept cash here.”
“What…?”
“Hunter Pay only. Just remember that for next time.”
If I kept accepting cash from this many hunters, it would become unmanageable. So once the number of customers started increasing, I immediately switched to QR payments–Hunter Pay.
“…Who said I’m coming back next time?!”
Saying that while clutching the bungeoppang so carefully was pretty pointless.
I glanced at Juhee’s retreating figure before taking the next customer. I really couldn’t afford to keep anyone waiting any longer.
Fortunately, even while talking to her, my hands had kept working… so I was able to handle the next orders smoothly.
***
“Ughh, I’m exhausted.”
Only after grilling bungeoppang late into the night did I finally manage to close for the day. My whole body felt like it weighed a ton.
The moment I got home, I collapsed onto the bed.
“If I didn’t have that skill, I’d be dead by now….”
If it weren’t for the skill that doubled my stamina, I might’ve given up long ago.
“That’s why you should exercise regularly, nya!”
“Exercise… yeah, I should.”
Even if my stamina increased by 200%, it wouldn’t matter much if my base stamina was trash.
I looked at the cat nagging beside me. Come to think of it, I still didn’t know its name.
‘I can’t just keep calling it “cat” forever.’
It was an unexpected partnership, but since we were working together, I figured I should at least know its name.
“What’s your original name?”
“My name, nya?”
“Yeah. We’ve been together for a while, and I still don’t know it.”
The cat grinned and confidently hopped up beside me.
“Of course I have a name, nya. A very cool and amazing one!”
After taking a deep breath, the cat shouted:
“My name is (beeeeeep) nya!”
“Ugh! What was that sound!?”
“(Beeeeep)! (Beeeeep)! (Beeeeep)!”
A horrifying screech, like nails scraping on a chalkboard, rang out.
I could tell it was saying something, but all I heard was a high-pitched, unpleasant noise.
After trying several times, the cat eventually gave up, slumping down.
“Sigh. There are too many restrictions in the human world, nya….”
“The human world? Then where did you come from?”
The cat flopped down beside me and said it came from a very distant place, apparently sent on a special mission because it was so capable.
‘Looks more like it messed up and got kicked out.’
That was the vibe I got, but it didn’t seem like it would answer even if I asked.
I poked its belly, which had spread out like a blanket on the bed.
“I don’t know your real name, but since I can’t pronounce it, I’ll just give you a new one.”
“You’ll name me, nya?”
“Yeah. Hmm… since my name is Haneul, how about ‘Hanyang’ to match?”
It was a combination of my name and the cat’s “nya” speech habit. I came up with it on the spot, but it wasn’t bad.
The cat hissed in displeasure, but I ignored it. They say simple names help animals live longer, anyway.
“Nice to meet you, Jung Hanyang!”
“Hiss–!”
I grabbed the cat, which is twice as chubby as a normal one, and rolled around on the bed with it. It felt warm and soft, like a bag full of fish cake soup.
“Gah! I can’t breathe, nya!”
Hanyang struggled dramatically, making choking sounds, so over-the-top.
Then suddenly, I thought about the shop.
“Hanyang, we’ve got a serious problem at the shop.”
“A problem? What is it, nya?”
“The number of customers keeps increasing, but I can only make two at a time, so it’s too slow.”
If I just had more molds, I could cook multiple at once… but right now, it took forever, and the output was minuscule.
That’s why the line kept getting longer.
“Sigh… since it’s an item-making tool, I probably can’t just buy the mold separately, right?”
“Hmm… there is a way, nya.”
“There is!?”
Hanyang nodded, then added casually:
“But it’ll be hard for you to afford it right now, nya.”
“…Is it the Hunter Market?”
The Hunter Market was a well-known item shop for awakened individuals, selling all kinds of gear at wildly varying prices.
I’d been curious about it even before awakening. Was I finally going to see it?
“The Hunter Market? Not that strange place, nya.”
“Then where?”
Hanyang proudly declared:
“It’s the Underworld Dot Com, nya!”
“Underworld Dot Com…?”
What kind of ominous site name was that?
I turned on my laptop with a skeptical expression and searched for it.
“Nothing’s coming up?”
“You won’t find it the normal way, nya.”
Hanyang jumped onto the keyboard and started typing with its stubby paws.
I followed its instructions clicking when told, pressing enter when told, going in and out of strange sites.
Finally, a proper-looking page appeared.
—
[Enter Underworld Dot Com ⇒]
—
As soon as I entered, a list of items appeared. Without hesitation, I clicked on the bungeoppang category (yes, there was actually a dedicated bungeoppang category!).
My eyes widened in shock.
“Wow! This mold can make six at once!”
“A storage box with endless capacity? That’s so useful!”
“What is this?! An all-purpose robot hand?”
The more I read the descriptions, the more every item felt like something I desperately needed.
Ugh, I want to buy them all…
“But what’s this unit? P?”
The mold was 300P. The storage box was 700P. The robot hand was 1300P.
No way it meant 300 won…
“It’s points, nya.”
“Points?”
Apparently, points were the virtual currency used here, and you could exchange money for points if you wanted.
“But don’t expect much. Human currency is practically worthless here, nya.”
Worthless? How bad could it be?
I checked the exchange rate… and froze in shock.
“…Is this real? 1 point for 1,000,000 won?”
Then that mold would be… 300 million won?!
What kind of insane price is that!?
“That’s why I said you can’t afford it right now, nya.”
“At this rate, I’ll never afford it.”
Three hundred million isn’t pocket change. Working my whole life just to buy one mold…?
“Don’t worry. Just get some sleep for now, nya. You’ll get a chance to earn points soon.”
Hanyang said it didn’t know exactly when, but it wouldn’t be long.
And just like that clever cat said, before long, an opportunity to earn points really did arrive.
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