BRH 8
by Emerlyn“Anyway… I’m off? I’ll be back soon, so don’t cause any trouble.”
“Heeing…. I want to go with you, Darling.”
“Ah, next time. Today, I won’t take your tablet, so please let me use it.”
“Really? Then, Darling~ can I even leave comments?”
Still, he must have had a conscience, as he had only been lurking since stealing the tablet. Ha Do-heon looked at the empty air once, then scratched the back of his head. Well… I guess it’ll be fine?
“Comments, well… leave them, leave them. You can even write posts.”
Unaware of how terrible a disaster this would turn into in the future, Ha Do-heon nodded, looking at Ren with the fond gaze of a doting grandfather.
Ren, who was holding the tablet like a cherished doll, smiled brightly. The child’s cheeks flushed red as he floated into the air.
Ha Do-heon didn’t delay any longer and left the ‘Gate’ to head to the auction house.
No matter how much gold and silver treasure there was in the Boss Castle, it was only treasure when it could be sold. From Ha Do-heon’s perspective, gold and silver treasures that couldn’t be sold were no different from a white elephant.
Besides, Ha Do-heon, who had a strong sense of law-abidingness, felt guilty about using treasures of unknown origin.
He had seen mountains of incredibly expensive weapons and artifacts. However, the moment he put items up for auction, the government would be on high alert, trying to find the seller.
If that happened, Ha Do-heon would be caught!
‘I must be crazy to do that.’
Therefore, the only way for Ha Do-heon, who had no academic, regional, or familial ties, to survive was to earn money honestly.
Of course, in order to blend in with humans and secure food, clothing, and shelter, he had to ‘work,’ and to feed Ren and Mut, who targeted the refrigerator every morning, he had to hop from one temporary job to another like a mayfly.
Anyway, he also had to make a survival report full of alibis, saying, “A B-rank Hunter is living well here.”
From now on, Ha Do-heon had to live his real life.
***
“Can I get a discount on this?”
“No.”
“Come on… give me a little break. 250,000 won for 10 D-rank magic stones, deal?”
Sucking the marrow out of a flea. Ha Do-heon looked at the other person with a dumbfounded expression, and the other person, who had been shamelessly trying to lower the price, scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. Still, hoping for the best, the other person smiled again and asked.
“240,000 won… deal?”
Why is this bastard lowering the price even more? Ha Do-heon silently picked up the fly swatter next to him, and the Hunter was so startled that he turned tail and ran away. It was the third time already. These Hunters earned good money, yet they twisted themselves to try and get the magic stone prices down. And they looked perfectly normal.
Was there a place that sold magic stones cheaper than Ha Do-heon? He wondered, and he came out of the stall and craned his neck to look around.
The Hoehyeon-dong auction street resembled a marketplace. Anyone could rent a stall in the area where makeshift stalls were lined up, just by paying the rental fee. Hunters often used the Hoehyeon-dong auction street to sell fresh ingredients or magic stones they had obtained that day.
Online auctions were also active, but more people preferred offline auctions where they could directly appraise and bargain on the spot.
And Ha Do-heon occasionally made a living by finding and selling magic stones whenever he had free time.
When he looked at his bank account and thought a zero was about to disappear, or when he opened the refrigerator and found it empty, Ha Do-heon would put on a mesh bag and raid a nearby Dungeon, pick up a few magic stones, and sell them at the auction.
Of course, only enough to make a small amount of pocket money.
Ha Do-heon only dealt with D-rank magic stones, and since the value of one D-rank magic stone was close to 40,000 won, it was common for the price to be around 350,000 to 380,000 won even after discounts when selling 10 of them.
“Where… is a place selling D-rank magic stones.”
While scanning the stalls, Ha Do-heon saw the Hunter who had been chased away by his fly swatter loitering in front of another stall. The merchant was a young man wearing a hat. Judging by his appearance, he seemed like a fresh graduate, and the sight of him haggling with the young man was… quite a sight. Had the Hunters’ consciences gone to another galaxy these days? Were they short on money? But the artifact bracelet that guy was wearing was worth 100 million won on the market?
“Ah, give me a discount! 200,000 won for 10!”
Damn it, he lowered the price even more.
“That bastard is causing trouble over there too.”
I’m going to get that son of a bitch.
Ha Do-heon rolled up his sleeves, grabbed the fly swatter, and strode towards the man. He was just about to grab the fly swatter with both hands and swing it with all his might.
“I’ll do that if you buy all the bundles of magic stones here.”
“Okay, then I’ll raise it to 210,000… huh?”
“I’ll give you 10 for 200,000 won, but only on the condition that you buy all the magic stones here.”
“I, I’m happy, but… huh? Really?”
Ha Do-heon stopped, his body twisted like a baseball batter. It was none other than that. His eyes fluttered slowly. Normally, he would have shouted that this was a rip-off, but he couldn’t do that now.
Because.
“…”
The young man’s voice resembled someone he knew.
“Oh, great. I’ll buy them all. So, that’s 5 bundles… so 900,000 won in total, deal?”
Belatedly, Ha Do-heon regained his senses. This bastard…? 5 bundles should be a million won, why 900,000 won?
“Yes, I’ll give it to you at that discounted price.”
“Yeah! As expected, the CEO knows what he’s doing! I’ll transfer the money to your account right away.”
Excited, the man opened his banking app, entered the amount, and after sending the money, he smiled, showing the gold tooth embedded in his molar, and asked the young man to confirm the transfer. The young man, who confirmed the transfer via text message, nodded, and the Hunter carried the magic stones away, whistling leisurely.
Ha Do-heon, who was still frozen in the posture of swinging the fly swatter, belatedly lowered the fly swatter.
‘Where have I heard that before….’
Low and husky, intelligent and clear. He had definitely heard that voice before. His head throbbed as if old memories were screaming.
The young man quickly started to clean up his area after selling all the magic stones. He emptied the stall, packed his things, and hurriedly left the auction street. Do-heon, who was staring at his back, wondered how he should resolve this suspicious feeling.
There was something. Something Ha Do-heon didn’t know, or had forgotten.
The ache that swept through his chest as soon as he heard the young man’s voice. The sensations swirling through the headache. The faint panting spreading in his ears.
‘…Well, what can I do? I guess I have to go.’
Having neatly wrapped up the situation, Ha Do-heon picked up the fly swatter and leisurely followed the man. The magic stones in the stall were locked, so he couldn’t steal them anyway, so he could just come back and clean up later.
As soon as he left the auction, the young man stopped and was on the phone. Do-heon, squinting, strained his ears.
“Yes, Team Leader. No, I’m done now, so I can go soon. Please save a spot for me.”
[Oh yeah, can you come? Hey, don’t overdo it too much, okay?]
“It’s okay. You know I have good stamina.”
[I know. Oh yeah, I understand. Come quickly. I’ll save your spot.]
“Yes, I’ll see you there.”
The side profile of the man on the phone somehow looked familiar. Because he was wearing a hat, all that could be seen was the smoothly sloping nose and lower face. His eyes and pupils couldn’t be seen.
The man hung up the phone and hurriedly started moving. Ha Do-heon also stood near the stall and belatedly chased after him.
The place they arrived at was in front of a Rank 2 Dungeon in Namyangju.
Counting the number of people gathered in front of it, there were quite a few. 12 Hunters equipped with weapons and armor for the raid. 5 Hunters who appeared to be miners. Most of them were D-rank Hunters. Were there about 3 B-ranks?
However, they soon started arguing. Two men who appeared to be the leaders came out and huffed and puffed, reaching out as if to grab each other by the collar. People on both sides tried to pull the two red-faced men apart.
Ha Do-heon stuck to the wall like an octopus and eavesdropped skillfully.
Listening carefully.
“It doesn’t make sense that there’s no one to protect the miners! They’re all D-rank and E-rank Hunters, so are we supposed to die? What kind of outrageous people are these!”
“Ah, then what can we do? The escort Hunter suddenly got injured and can’t come! Are we supposed to take the raid Hunters to that side? Huh?! If the formation is disrupted and the damage gets worse, will you take responsibility for it!”
Ha Do-heon’s gaze, which had been watching the bickering people, cut through the crowd and turned to the young man wearing a hat. Judging by the way he was clenching his fists with his mouth tightly shut, he seemed anxious that the raid would fall apart.
Escort Hunter.
In fact, the solution was simple. Ha Do-heon was curious about that young man in the hat, and the raid team currently had one spot open. It was almost like fate. Ha Do-heon was B-rank, and a B-rank Hunter was more than qualified to be an escort Hunter for the miners.
Okay, let’s do it.
Do-heon walked out of the corner where he had been hiding with a triumphant air and arrived in front of the group that was divided into two factions and fighting. And he confidently raised his arm in front of the people.
“Can I be that escort Hunter? I’m a B-rank Hunter.”
In the end, Ha Do-heon ended up doing something crazy that he hadn’t planned on.
***
And currently.
Ha Do-heon was among the miners who were smashing the walls with pickaxes, diligently digging out ore. The mission of the escort Hunter was to protect the miners so that they could carry out their work without any problems, but a Rank 2 Dungeon was not really that threatening.
In other words, Ha Do-heon, who had nothing to do, had been put into the mining team.
Of course, no one forced Ha Do-heon, who was a B-rank Hunter, to mine… Do-heon, who was just curious about the young man in the hat, had simply volunteered to help.
“Have you been doing this for a long time, Hunter?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, that’s why you looked familiar. I go to Dungeons a lot too, so we must have seen each other a few times.”
“Come out.”
“Yes?”
The young man in the hat stopped hitting the wall and called Ha Do-heon. The young man, who nodded his head, pointed behind him with his sharply exposed jaw.