Absolute Dweller

[Episode 01] The Absolute Dweller (3)

Fortunately, it’s been a week since I successfully hunted the Kellican, leveled up my skills, and gained new skills.

“Purchase Mild Flavor Shin Ramyun.”

[Do you really want to buy it?]

[Yes / No]

“Yes.”

Jiing—

In the spot where the light emanated from the shop window, a bag of Shin Ramyun Mild Flavor, containing five servings, appeared.

I lifted it to check the expiration date.

“The expiration date is three days later than the ramyun bag I bought a few days ago.”

As expected, it was always updated to the expiration date on the day of the transaction.

Among the newly acquired skills, the most useful was undoubtedly the ‘Absolute Dwell Master’s Shop’ skill.

This skill allowed me to freely purchase items by registering them in the shop.

In fact, the reason I didn’t starve to death during this time was mainly because of this skill.

“It’s a bit disappointing that I can only register exactly ten items…”

During this time, I found out a few things while using the shop.

For example, you could only register exactly ten items, and once an item was registered, it couldn’t be deleted.

Also,

“The condition of the first scanned item determines the condition of the items sold in the shop.”

For instance, when I first registered ramyun, it had three months left until its expiration date.

So, every ramyun I bought from the shop had exactly three months left until its expiration date.

In other words, the item sold in the shop matched the exact condition of the item when it was first registered.

“Well, three months is more than enough to eat and still have some left.”

In the current situation where there were no suitable side dishes, and delivery was impossible, ramyun was the best option.

Sizzling water was poured into a pot, placed on the gas stove, and then the flame was ignited.

Ddat-ddat-ddack hwaruruk.

Having confirmed that the fire was lit, I added the chunky soup base and the powder soup, waiting for the water to boil.

Once again, my lunch for today was…

“Is it ramen~ Is it ramen~ Oh~ ramen…”

I was humming a song when I suddenly stopped and fell into a moment of self-reflection.

“…”

In a world that had collapsed, with uncertainty about my parents’ well-being, here I was, singing and humming casually inside the house my parents had provided by investing their entire fortune.

“Sigh…”

Gurururu.

Nevertheless, I had to eat to survive.

As I heard the boiling water, I put the noodles in.

Watching the ramen absentmindedly, I swirled the noodles with chopsticks at the right moment.

Then, at the perfect timing, I cracked an egg into the bowl.

A little later, after transferring it to a bowl, the ramen had the perfect chewiness in its noodles.

I had developed a certain knack for this by repeating the process for quite a few days.

Slurp.

It tasted as expected, but there was a sense that it lacked about 2%.

“Maybe I’m getting tired of ramyun since I eat it all the time.”

It had been over three years since I started living alone, but this was the first time I had continuously eaten noodles like this.

Usually, my mom visited once a week. Even if she told me to relax, she always cleaned the house, made side dishes, or cooked curry for me.

When my mom came and left, the fridge was always full of food, and all I had to do was cook rice.

Since I needed to finish everything before the side dishes went bad, there was almost no need to cook ramen.

“…Mom.”

It had only been a little over a week since I couldn’t eat the side dishes my mom made for me, but why did I suddenly miss the taste so much?

I didn’t miss it this much even during my time in the military.

Thunk.

Unexpectedly, a single tear rolled down.

I absentmindedly wiped my face and thought, “Is my mind deteriorating?”

Just a moment ago, I was singing while cooking ramen; now I was shedding tears with ramen in my mouth.

Even to myself, my mental state didn’t seem great.

“I need to get myself together.”

The ramen was only halfway finished, but I had no appetite.

“I should throw it away.”

Food waste.

Originally, I had to avoid producing it as much as possible, and if it did accumulate, I had to collect it and dispose of it later. However, I now had another option.

“Warehouse open.”

Having opened the warehouse, I looked at the ramen bowl and gave a command.

“Store the contents of the bowl. Noodles, soup, and the chunks, everything.”

[Would you like to store it in the warehouse?]

“Yeah.”

The light from the warehouse illuminated the ramen bowl, and the inside of the bowl was emptied as if it had been washed like dishes.

This way, I could store the remaining food.

Through various experiments, I had discovered that food did not mix or decay inside the warehouse.

“It’s quite useful. I might be able to eat it if I run out of food.”

After finishing the meal, I roughly rinsed the bowl and piled it up in the sink.

“Son! You should do the dishes right away!”

Seeing the piled-up dishes as if they were a mountain of chores, my mom’s voice, which used to nag me every time, came to mind again, and I felt down once more.

“Hoo. Shop open.”

【The Absolute Dweller’s Shop】

Classic Non-Slip Dumbbell 3kg (₩16,990)

Jin Ramyun Mild Flavor (₩3,100)

Jeju Samdasoo, 2L, 12 packs (₩12,400)

GomGom Our Rice 5kg (₩14,890)

GomGom Special Eggs, 10 count (₩3,950)

Easily Digestible Milk, 930ml, 2 packs (₩6,220)

Yangban Olive Kim 24 packs (₩9,800)

Canola Oil, 900ml, 2 packs (₩12,330)

Half-empty Ottogi Tomato Ketchup, 500g (₩3,350)

Orange Peel (₩300)

ᚠAvailable Balance: ₩1,893,340

▶Register Item

Currently, there are a total of 10 items registered in the shop. Starting with the dumbbell registered to catch goblins, items include ramen, water, rice, eggs, milk, seaweed, cooking oil, and other essential daily necessities.

The evidence of my first mistake was the ‘half-empty ketchup’.

“I thought it would just become a new product when registered in the shop.”

But no, it ended up labeled as ‘half-empty.’

It was a stroke of luck that the ketchup I bought as an experiment was indeed in the same condition as when I registered it in the shop, having never been opened before.

And the very last item in the shop.

Orange Peel (₩300)

Just looking at that makes my blood pressure rise.

Confirming that ketchup could be registered in an incomplete state, my unnecessary experimental spirit kicked in, and I decided to register orange peels.

“I wonder if even this garbage can be registered?” It was a pure curiosity that led me to commit this folly.

“You moron.”

The price of curiosity was substantial.

Right after trying to register shampoo, I had to face the notification [You can no longer register items in the shop].

“I should have been more careful.”

I hated my past self for acting without thinking, but what’s done is done.

“It’s okay. Seeing that the shop skill has levels, there must be a way to level up. Then the number of items that can be registered should increase.”

It was absurd for the shop named ‘Homebound Master’ to be limited to only 10 items. Items registered ranged from a dumbbell for goblin hunting to ramen, water, rice, eggs, milk, seaweed, cooking oil, and other essential daily necessities.

Discovering that you can only level up before opening new products was important. This way, you could get completely new items when registering them in the shop.

Looking at the shop window and contemplating various thoughts, at that moment,

“Huh?”

ᚠAvailable Balance: ₩1,893,339

Even though I hadn’t done anything, my available balance decreased by 1 won.

“What is this?”

Pondering deeply, I could only come to one conclusion.

“It seems the Dignity Maintenance skill also costs money.”

To maintain electricity, gas, and water, it seemed I had to spend money.

Even though I wasn’t doing anything, money was being spent because the refrigerator was running.

“This is a big problem.”

There were many expenses, but there was no way to earn money right now. The only way to make money was hunting goblins, but now that was impossible.

“Damn goblin bastards.”

Goblins were too quick and had already moved their residence. After the day I hunted a few using the dumbbell, they cursed me for a moment and then ran away.

Thanks to them, the number of goblins I hunted over the past week was only 13. Most of them were from the first day.

Since the goblins moved away, I could barely catch two after the first day.

“It’s so inefficient.”

The first day was quite profitable. Buying a dumbbell set for ₩16,990 and killing two goblins would return about ₩5,000.

It was possible to hunt goblins efficiently because they were gathered under the living room window.

Thanks to it, I could hit it no matter how I threw it.

‘But now, throwing ten of them to catch one goblin?’

It means spending a whopping 170,000 won to catch one goblin.

At this rate, even the 2 million won I earned by luckily hunting the Kellican would quickly be used up.

‘If that happens, it’s over.’

Once I spend all that money, not only the food but also the dignity maintenance skill of the absolute dweller will be cut off.

‘Damn it. Isn’t there any worthy prey?’

In the past, when I looked down on the apartment walking path, I could always see goblins walking in groups, but now the frequency was too low.

Even if I spent the whole day looking out the window, I could only find one or two groups, and among them, the number of goblins coming within the throwing range to kill with the dumbbell was minimal.

‘At least that one used to be there, so some goblins came.’

The remains of the Kellican that the goblins left behind.

Maybe because of that, goblin groups had come a few times.

But since the distance to where the Kellican’s corpse was left was far, it was impossible to hunt using the method of summoning a dumbbell from the warehouse, and I had to throw it myself.

Naturally, the accuracy was outrageously low.

‘Today, not a single one is visible.’

Moreover, the situation was getting worse.

Whether the rumor had spread among the goblins or not, I couldn’t see goblin groups all day today and yesterday.

‘I need to find some way.’

I needed some groundbreaking method.

‘For example, a Kellican flying and crashing into the window.’

Thinking again, that was really a stroke of luck.

‘If that hadn’t happened, I would have dried up slowly.’

If I didn’t have a large amount of experience points to raise the skill level, I wouldn’t have awakened the shop and dignity maintenance skills, and by now, I would have consumed all the food-like food.

Maybe I was chewing on raw rice.

‘Ah, isn’t a stupid Kellican passing by?’

In such a situation, the sky seen from the high-rise apartment was clear without a single cloud, although the sound might seem calm.

“The weather’s nice.”

That’s when it happened.

“······?”

A black dot appeared in the blue sky on the other side, like a dot, gradually getting bigger until it became the size of a fist.

‘What’s that?’

Only then could I identify what it was.

Because I had seen something identical about a week ago.

‘Kellican!’

It was the giant monster bird, Kellican.

A situation that I had imagined several times in the past week.

The course of action had already been decided.

“Aaah! Here! You monster―!!”

I opened the living room window, vigorously waving my arms to make loud noises so that it could notice me.

The creature jumped around loudly to ensure that it could see me.

‘Please!’

With earnest emotions.

“Here! Over here―! You damn monster!”

I aggroed it.

And it was a success.

‘Got it!’

Our eyes met.

The creature was flying directly towards me.

‘Nice!’

When the excited Kellican slammed its head in my direction, the game would be over.

It would fall to the ground, just like the previous time when it fainted.

Now there were no goblins to finish off the Kellican’s breathing, but there was no problem.

‘Because I can finish it off with the dumbbell myself.’

The Kellican was flying towards me at a terrifying speed.

However, unlike the previous time, there was no sense of fear. My heart was only burning with anticipation.

‘If I can just catch that thing, it’s a guaranteed level up.’

Moreover, that creature was even larger than the one I saw last time.

Naturally, its level would be higher.

In that case, I would get much more experience points, and it would also provide more money.

It was a complete jackpot.

“Come on, you bastard!”

It was at that moment when I was provocatively shouting with all my might.

Flutter!

Just before the creature hit the window, a strong gust of wind blew.

“Ugh!”

Due to the sudden rush of wind, I closed my eyes. When I opened them again,

“······Huh?”

The creature’s figure had disappeared without a trace.

‘What on earth…?’

Where could it have gone?

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.

‘No way?’

I slowly lifted my head, and my eyes met with the Kellican, standing tall on the rooftop of the apartment, staring down at me.