Chapter 206

Ding.

System Logout completed.

I hadn’t opened my eyes, but I knew.

Everything around me had changed at the same time as the System notification.

Instead of a fur-covered bed and a hard wooden pillow, I felt the soft cushions of a sofa beneath me. Along with the bubbling sound of boiling water, a familiar smell stabbed at my nose.

Th-This is…

The smell of ramen. And not just any ramen—it had been cooked spectacularly well!

The moment I realized what it was, my stomach, which had been craving seasoning after spending more than a month in the Murim, began to churn violently.

“I’m hungry!”

My shout came straight from the soul. I opened my eyes, and a familiar face poked out from the brightly lit kitchen.

Jinho hyung’s sparse beard and greasy hair were just as I remembered them. He rubbed at his glasses, which were completely fogged over with steam, and beamed at me.

“Oh, my beloved little brother Taekyung. Did you sleep well?”

His tone was disgusting in a way it normally wasn’t, but I had already lost my mind at the smell of ramen.

“Ramen!”

“Jesus, what’s gotten into you?”

“Kimchi!”

“You really were sleeping soundly. I tried shaking you awake.”

“Cold rice! At least five bowls!”

“……Uh, got it. I was about to bring it over anyway.”

A little while later, I stared at the pot filled to the brim with broth and noodles and murmured in a blissful voice:

“This is insane…”

“Lift just the top layer of noodles a little. There’s a soft-boiled egg underneath.”

“Gasp.”

Just as he said, a soft-boiled egg appeared beneath the noodles, still holding its perfect shape.

As I swallowed a breath, Jinho hyung handed me two small side dishes.

“Here, kimchi and pickled radish. The rice is plain white rice I took out an hour ago. Once you finish all the noodles and drink a few mouthfuls of broth, drop in the cold rice and…”

“Are you…”

“Hm?”

“Are you God?”

Jinho hyung placed an exam-prep book beneath the pot and answered solemnly:

“Genesis, chapter one, verse one. Thus spoke Seong Jinho: ‘If you do not eat now, the broth shall grow cold, and the noodles shall become hopelessly soggy.’”

“Ah, ah…”

“Little lamb, how can you wag your mouth when ramen is sitting before you? Lick up every last drop of broth.”

I had lived my entire life without religion, but that was no longer the case.

I gazed up at Jinho hyung and picked up my chopsticks.

“Amen.”

“Ramen.”

Today, I wouldn’t have minded dying with my nose buried in ramen broth.

I buried my head over the huge pot and moved my chopsticks without pause. Because the distance between my mouth and the chopsticks was so short, the noodles kept disappearing into me.

Slurp! Slurp! Slurrrrrp!

Springy noodles, spicy broth. When I burst the soft-boiled egg, I couldn’t hold back the bliss and regret, and a single tear rolled down my cheek.

It’s delicious. So delicious.

I love seasoning. It’s the best.

I lost myself in that artificial flavor that could only be enjoyed in the modern world and kept inhaling the food for quite some time.

When I finally came to my senses, only empty pots and bowls remained before me. Even the bowl that had been piled high with cold rice was spotless.

“Buuurp.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Jinho hyung stared at me in horror as I rubbed my stomach after letting out a huge belch.

“You ate seven packets of ramen and five bowls of rice by yourself in ten minutes? Are you even human?”

“Carbonation! Cola!”

“……C-Calm down. I’ll get some.”

It was only after I downed three consecutive 1.5-liter bottles of cola that my senses finally returned to something resembling normal.

“Whew. That was good. I’m full.”

“That’s strange. Why am I hungry?”

“Bear with it. You would’ve done the same if you were me.”

I answered absentmindedly and collapsed back against the sofa behind me.

Hadn’t they said it was made from some kind of monster hide? Maybe that was why it felt so incredible.

“Oh, this is comfortable.”

If this had been a goshiwon studio,¹ there wouldn’t have been enough room to fit a sofa.

Jinho hyung would have had to cook ramen in the communal lounge instead of the kitchen, or bring in a portable burner.

“Moving here really was the right choice.”

“Yeah. It’s a nice place.”

Jinho hyung scraped the bottom of the pot with a spoon as he answered.

“Right? Mom and Hayeon are going to love it when they see… it.”

A flash of realization passed through my mind.

I stared blankly around the room, my mouth hanging open. The space and furniture were far larger and finer than anything in a goshiwon.

And there was one person who fit naturally into this space and situation.

“Should I make some more Jjapagetti? I’m hungry.”

“……”

“This time, I’m not giving you any. If you want some, say so now.”

I barely managed to force out my voice.

“……You.”

“Hm?”

“Why the hell are you here, you bastard!”

My roar erupted in the dark dawn and shook the residential neighborhood of Ilsan.

After hearing the entire story, I could only ask in disbelief:

“You were inside the capsule?”

Jinho hyung knelt politely with both arms raised and answered while avoiding my gaze.

“Yeah. I held my breath and stayed perfectly still.”

No wonder the mover had struggled so much.

Even I hadn’t sensed anything particularly strange. Compared to when I had first found and moved the capsule, my physical strength had increased several times over. And back then, my Qi Sense hadn’t been nearly as sharp as it was now.

There was one more thing, too.

No, for fuck’s sake. Who would’ve imagined that?

No matter how expensive and sophisticated an alarm system was, it couldn’t detect an intruder if the power was off.

I never would have expected someone to be hiding inside the capsule.

“Whew. What happened to that place you said you were going to find? Didn’t you say you’d get a room with your friend and move out?”

“Y-You know Kim Jong-su, right? My college classmate. You had a drink with us once a couple of years ago.”

His face was hazy in my memory, but I definitely remembered that happening.

Hadn’t he been a fairly successful used-car dealer at the time? If he hadn’t bought us beef that day, I probably would have forgotten him entirely.

“Is that the friend you said you were going to live with?”

“Yeah. Though he’s not my friend anymore.”

“Hyung, did he…”

“Five million won for the deposit. That bastard took it and ran.”

Why did bad premonitions always come true?

I rubbed my throbbing forehead.

“How did that happen?”

“Well, I told him I’d be taking the exam soon, so he said he’d handle all the details…”

I raised a hand to stop him before he could continue.

I didn’t need to hear the rest. It was clichéd, but it was one of those methods that always worked.

“You just handed it over to him without looking into it properly?”

“I’d known him for more than ten years. How was I supposed to know he’d do that over a few million won?”

“But those few million won were your entire fortune, weren’t they?”

“……”

If he had gone so far as to sneak into my place inside a capsule, he clearly didn’t even have enough money left for this month’s goshiwon rent.

Was he from Jeju Island or something?

A premium-grade black cow.²

There wasn’t a bigger black cow—a bigger sucker—anywhere.

“I was only planning to impose on you for a couple of months, until I could get some money together.”

“You should’ve just told me.”

“I agonized over it by myself, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. I’m your older hyung. I can’t burden my little brother.”

“……”

What on earth did this man consider a burden?

“I’m sorry. I really am.”

With his mournful voice, Jinho hyung lowered his arms. His eyes had grown moist before I knew it.

“Taekyung…”

“Jinho hyung…”

I continued in a sympathetic voice:

“Who told you to lower your arms?”

“Hm?”

“Put them back up. Before I beat you.”

“……Yes, sir.”

Jinho hyung hurriedly returned his arms to their original position, and I let out a sigh despite myself.

The unexpected situation was absurd, but at the same time, I felt heavyhearted.

You should’ve told me sooner.

Maybe that wouldn’t have been possible in the past, but the current me had more than enough ability to help Jinho hyung. No, even back then, I would have supported him in every way I could.

After all the time we’d spent together.

We weren’t related by blood, but he was as good as my real brother. That was who Jinho hyung was.

I had even considered asking him to live with me for a while, because I felt uneasy about leaving him on his own.

I was planning to tell Mom and Hayeon after the college entrance exam anyway, so I still have some time, but…

I looked around the house with a troubled expression. It wasn’t exactly like the place I remembered from my childhood, but it was still the home my family had finally reclaimed.

The house that still held traces of my father, whose voice had grown blurred in my memory.

At last, I made up my mind and opened my mouth.

“This house won’t work, hyung. I know you’ll be disappointed, but try to understand.”

Jinho hyung forced a bright expression and shook his head.

“What’s there to be disappointed about? It’s all my fault.”

“What about your luggage? Have you unpacked?”

“Not yet. It’s only a few books and some clothes, so it’s light. I’ll just leave with you when you go to work.”

Come to think of it, the sky outside had been bright for a while now. It was already eight o’clock. Considering the traffic and the distance between Ilsan and Bucheon, I was cutting it rather close for work.

“I think we’ll have to go separately. Get everything ready for now.”

“Okay, got it.”

“And clean the whole new place before I get off work.”

“……Huh?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not talking about this place. Just wait a second.”

I pulled out my phone and searched through my messages.

At last, I found the address I was looking for in my chat with Team Leader Choi, saved under the name “Designer-Brand Junkie.”

“Ah, here it is. I sent the address to your number, so find your way there.”

“Wait. What address?”

“An officetel.”

“Huh?”

“There’s a place the Guild said they’d provide for me. I turned it down last time because it felt like too much, but I might as well accept it now.”

A small laugh escaped me when I saw Jinho hyung’s eyes widen.

“Why are you so surprised? I’m doing pretty well these days.”

“……!”

“This house needs to be remodeled anyway, so let’s live there together. It’ll be convenient for me to commute, too.”

“Ta-Taekyung.”

I turned away, pretending not to hear the tremor in Jinho hyung’s voice.

I had no interest in dealing with an embarrassing scene first thing in the morning. And I didn’t particularly want to hear thanks from the person who had comforted me during the hardest period of my life.

It’s fine.

Yes. This was enough.

Mid-September. The heat had finally weakened, but the morning commute remained unchanged.

The taxi driver honked at the occasional inconsiderate driver cutting into traffic on the congested road, then turned up the radio.

An F-rank Gate has appeared in Uldae-ri, Jangheung-myeon, Yangju City, and an immediate evacuation order has been issued. With nearby Hunters and military units cooperating to suppress it quickly, the confirmed number of casualties currently stands at six…

“Goddamn it. As if traffic wasn’t bad enough, now those monster bastards are causing trouble, too.”

After spitting out the colorful curse, he glanced at me in the passenger seat.

“You’re a Hunter too, right?”

“For now.”

At this point, I wasn’t entirely sure whether I was a Hunter or a Murim warrior.

Officially, at least in the modern world, I was a C-rank Hunter belonging to Hope Guild.

The taxi driver grinned at my answer.

“I knew it. You can tell a Hunter at a glance.”

“I suppose you can.”

It was like the difference between a herbivore and a carnivore.

There were exceptions, but everyone gave off a certain impression. Someone my size, carrying a large case, had to be one of two things:

A musician who liked working out, or a Hunter.

You can tell right away.

It wasn’t anything particularly special, especially not to a taxi driver who met countless passengers every day.

But this middle-aged man didn’t know how to stop talking.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“It seems like Gates have been opening more often lately. Can’t anything be done about it?”

“……What?”

“I mean, how are ordinary people like me supposed to live without worrying? A Gate could open in my apartment parking lot the moment I wake up in the morning. What’s the point of working my butt off taking fares when safe-zone land costs a fortune?”

I answered with an incredulous expression:

“That’s true, but why are you asking me?”

“I know you can’t do anything about it. I’m just frustrated, that’s all. Frustrated.”

“……I’m frustrated too.”

I was a Hunter, not a prophet.

How was I supposed to know something even Nostradamus couldn’t predict?

No one could predict when a Gate would form. The only reason they could suppress them quickly was because they had spent astronomical sums installing mana measuring devices all over the place.

Just like the breaking news currently coming through the radio.

Breaking news. The F-rank Gate that appeared earlier in Yangju City has stabilized. Hunters and the military have exterminated a total of fifty-eight goblins and are conducting a search for any remaining monsters…

“Every time you turn around, it’s Gates and monsters. I’m sick to death of it.”

Beep.

The taxi driver turned off the radio with an irritated motion.

An uncomfortable silence filled the car, but I was more than happy to reach my destination in peace.

I wonder what Mom and Hayeon are doing right now.

I was lost in thought as I stared out the window when it happened.

Honk! Hoooonk!

A faint horn drilled into my ears, followed by a jumble of tangled noises. I hurriedly rolled down the window.

What is that? Was there an accident?

The taxi driver looked bewildered by my sudden movement.

“Why are you opening the window when I have the air conditioning on—”

“Wait. Just wait a second.”

The taxi driver fell silent at my serious tone, and I circulated my internal energy.

As my hearing and eyesight, already far beyond the limits of ordinary humans, swept over the congested road—

“Huh?”

Far in the distance, a single black dot shot up into the air.

I watched it fall in an arc and recognized what it was.

“……A car?”

Though it had been crumpled into a ball, I could see it clearly.

The crumpled hood. The twisted scrap metal.

And I could see exactly where it was going to land as it came flying toward us, scattering a shower of glass.

Whoooooosh!

Oh, shit.

Why here of all places?