Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Jeonghyeon’s hands were trembling.
The reason was, of course, the E-rank trait that appeared in the refreshed shop window.
Although he had hoped for a B-rank trait with an impossible probability, he had actually been contemplating what trait would fill the remaining spot among the F-ranks, so the current situation was beyond expectations.
“Moreover……”
『「Minor Physical Enhancement」(E, Lv.1), 2C』
Luckily, it was a strength-related trait that Jeonghyeon had thought he needed while fighting the skeletons.
He had already secured enough agility with the F-rank trait, so if his strength was backed up, there would be no shortage in hunting low-level monsters.
‘It would have been nice if I got something like 「Minor Strength Enhancement」, though.’
If it was a miss, it was that it didn’t completely increase only strength, but wouldn’t that be greedy?
『「Minor Physical Enhancement」(E, Lv.1) has been purchased.』
“First, let’s buy it right away.”
Jeonghyeon bought 「Minor Physical Enhancement」 without much hesitation.
And before equipping it, he gulps down his saliva.
It was because he recalled the adaptation pain that swept through his body every time he equipped a trait.
‘There’s a rumor that it hurts more if the rank is higher……’
Even when he obtained an F-rank trait, it was that much, so he couldn’t even imagine how painful an E-rank would be.
But worries only delay growth.
Jeonghyeon filled the last of the three available equipment slots.
This time, the synergy window didn’t appear, and without time to feel regret about it,
“Kuuuuh!”
Pain that made him unable to even scream properly came.
It’s something that inevitably accompanies the creation of a body to support the tremendous enhancement of physical abilities after obtaining a trait, so it can’t be avoided.
Crack━
Jeonghyeon twisted his body and grabbed the blanket he was lying on.
At the same time, he gritted his teeth so hard that he could hear a grinding sound.
It was because he couldn’t bear it otherwise.
‘Dentist…… I need to make a dentist appointment!’
Even in a life-or-death situation, Jeonghyeon was determined to bite down on a gag next time.
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“Hmm…… Huh?”
Jeonghyeon, who fell asleep as if he fainted after the indescribable adaptation pain, woke up only the next morning.
As the fatigue and pain accumulated from hunting in the Gate overlapped, he fell asleep without even realizing it.
If that was the case, he should have been able to sleep soundly until his fatigue was relieved, but the reason Jeonghyeon woke up was more surprise and displeasure than refreshment.
Tweet tweet tweet!
Honk honk!
Ordinary noises like birdsong and car horns were so loud and vivid that he wondered if he was sleeping on the main street.
Jeonghyeon, who jumped up, was still on the bed in his small studio apartment, but what he heard, saw, and felt was clearly different from before.
“What is this?”
Jeonghyeon looked down at his right hand.
Every fingerprint, every line of his palm came into clear view.
If he could only observe one part of his body before by concentrating, now he could see clearly even when focusing far away.
He could even feel the weight of a single speck of dust falling on his finger.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t felt this kind of sensation before.
Didn’t he experience a dramatic increase in his senses when he equipped two F-rank traits recently?
If that was a change from an ordinary person to a barely Hunter level, this time it was on a different dimension.
“Is this…… E-rank?”
These words naturally came out of Jeonghyeon’s mouth.
An overwhelming sense that made him ashamed of feeling complacent after obtaining the agility trait and synergy.
And the first thing Jeonghyeon realized with that sense was.
“The house is a real mess.”
It was the sight of the studio apartment that had become a chaotic mess while enduring the adaptation pain yesterday.
Cotton was popping out of the pillow, the blanket was in tatters, and even springs were popping out of the mattress.
As it was, the bed, which occupied half of the already cramped studio apartment, was in that state, so even things that he thought were okay usually looked unbearably messy now.
Jeonghyeon, who felt a sense of despair at what to do with this mess, soon changed his mind.
It was after he saw the bags piled up with Sunhyeong’s party’s belongings after yesterday’s hunt.
“Whatever, I can just buy everything new.”
It was something Jeonghyeon, who was struggling under a mountain of debt, could not have imagined.
But Jeonghyeon could now afford such spending.
He got up from his seat, packed his bags, and left the room.
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The familiar scenery and familiar stench of the workplace.
‘Ugh, this is what’s bad about having better senses.’
However, Jeonghyeon’s enhanced senses could no longer accept the familiar stench as familiar.
Fortunately, his sense of smell quickly dulled, otherwise there would have been a lot of Hunters who quit because of the smell.
As usual, Jeonghyeon greeted cheerfully as he opened the door.
This time, it was filled with sincerity.
“Hello!”
Why did it feel like he was visiting after a long time, even though he hadn’t come for just one day yesterday?
The foreman, who was drinking paper cup coffee with a worker near the entrance, was delighted to see Jeonghyeon.
“Oh, Jeonghyeon, welcome. Why didn’t you come yesterday? Were you feeling unwell?”
“Ah, Foreman-nim.”
Jeonghyeon was also very happy to see the foreman.
He wanted to explain in detail yesterday and register or hunt if he could.
However, he thought it would be disrespectful to explain such a big event like awakening over the phone, so he said he had urgent business and planned to meet and explain it in person today.
It was even more so because the foreman had been taking care of him in one way or another after learning about Jeonghyeon’s situation.
Jeonghyeon looked around and spoke to the foreman in a low voice.
“I, I have something I want to tell you for a moment.”
“Oh, sure, sure. Excuse me for a moment.”
The foreman’s face became a little serious.
Perhaps it was because Jeonghyeon had rarely asked to talk separately.
When the worker who was originally chatting with the foreman left, Jeonghyeon spoke with a slightly flushed face.
“Foreman-nim, I awakened.”
He never intended to keep it a secret from the beginning.
Not only was he grateful for the foreman’s kindness, but there would also be a commotion at the workplace.
“What? You, Jeonghyeon?”
Only the whites of the foreman’s tanned face widened like saucers, making them stand out even more.
Jeonghyeon hurriedly grabbed his arm and added.
“Yes, yes, but keep this quiet━”
“Everyone! Gather around, gather around! Han Jeonghyeon has awakened!”
Jeonghyeon didn’t want to make a fuss right now because everyone would find out in a day or two anyway, but the foreman had no such thing in his dictionary.
He gathered people with a bright smile without even seeing Jeonghyeon’s pleading eyes.
The workers in the workplace also tilted their heads for a moment and then gathered noisily.
“Jeonghyeon awakened?”
“Oh, that’s great. Congratulations!”
Workers patted Jeonghyeon on the shoulder or asked for a handshake, all smiling as if it was their own business.
Since he couldn’t ignore them, Jeonghyeon awkwardly smiled and accepted their greetings.
Was this the atmosphere when a civil service exam passer appeared in the neighborhood in the past?
People were about to catch a pig and have a feast.
Since it was a monster slaughterhouse, it seemed like they could actually do that.
When the atmosphere calmed down a bit, the foreman asked Jeonghyeon with a bright smile.
“So, what did you want to say?”
It’s not something he needs to gather people for.
Jeonghyeon scratched his reddened neck and said.
“Well…… I brought the monster byproducts I caught. I want to sell them.”
And the foreman didn’t miss those words either.
“Everyone! Jeonghyeon wants to sell the monster byproducts he personally caught here!”
“Ah, no, you don’t have to do that?”
“Waaaaah!”
People shouted at the top of their lungs, shaking the workplace.
Jeonghyeon, who wondered if this was the public execution he had only heard of, lowered his head even though he had done nothing wrong.
“It seems Jeonghyeon really did awaken.”
“It’s good, it’s good. We should sell them for him a hundred, a thousand times.”
People nodded and murmured as if they would have been offended if he hadn’t come here.
Did the foreman think he had teased Jeonghyeon enough? He patted Jeonghyeon on the shoulder and led him to the office.
“Of course we should do it if Jeonghyeon wants to sell them. Let’s go inside for now.”
The workplace office that Jeonghyeon only entered occasionally when he had meals.
The foreman, who seated him, even made him coffee himself.
Although his title was foreman, he was practically the person who handled the fieldwork right under the president, so the transaction could be done through him.
“So, are you going to sell everything in the bags?”
“Ah, yes. It’s nothing special. Zombies and skeletons.”
“Still, it’s quite a lot, isn’t it?”
Jeonghyeon started to open the bags one by one and take out the contents.
It was a total of 40 zombies and 20 skeletons.
Of course, the actual amount was smaller because there were missing parts depending on the condition of the bodies, but even this much would take an average worker half a day to process at the workplace.
The foreman, who had a satisfied look on his face the whole time, also seriously examined the items when the talk turned to business.
“Oh, the condition is quite good, probably because it’s fresh from the source.”
It usually takes about a week for the bodies of monsters to reach the workplace.
It was the time it took for the association to collect the bodies collected from each Gate and send them back to each workplace.
As a result, they were usually not in very good condition.
What does freshness matter to already rotten zombies or skeleton bones, but it looks different to the expert’s eye, doesn’t it?
The foreman, who was carefully examining things like zombie hearts and skeleton finger bones, soon brought a calculator.
“Ah, but this isn’t all mine, it includes my party members’ share.”
And Jeonghyeon explained the contract details with Sunhyeong’s party.
Although he had to take an unavoidable margin in the distribution process, he intended to keep his promise without any tricks.
The amount that came out that way was about 5 million won for Jeonghyeon’s share alone.
He had earned the equivalent of his one-month salary in just one day of hunting.
“Since this is your first time, I’ll make it so there’s no commission deducted by the workplace. Will you accept it from next time?”
Of course, the result included the foreman’s favor.
In addition, the amount deposited into Jeonghyeon’s account was 5.5 million won, with 500,000 won added.
“Huh? Foreman-nim, I think there’s been a mistake with the deposit?”
When Jeonghyeon asked with a puzzled look because the amount wasn’t originally exact, the foreman grinned and replied.
“Think of that as pocket money from your uncle to celebrate you becoming a Hunter.”
And then he left the office.
The foreman was expressing his love with money as well.
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Jeonghyeon, who had made an unexpected large profit, returned home and immediately began to take care of the remaining tasks.
The first was to quickly transfer Sunhyeong’s party’s share and send them the statement of accounts, and then, of course,
『Shop List(Refresh Cost: 2 Coins)
「Paltry Healing」(F, Lv.1), 1C
「Fairly Decent Durability」(F, Lv.1), 1C
「Passable Archery」(F, Lv.1), 1C
━
「Weak Battle Sense」(F, Lv.1), 1C
Current Coins: 1』
It was to deal with the 1 coin left after buying the E-rank trait.
‘Actually, it doesn’t matter if I just leave it.’
It was something he felt while starting to use the shop in earnest.
1 coin is very precious.
Wouldn’t it be heartbreaking if he couldn’t buy a great trait that luckily appeared later because he was short of 1 coin?
Still, Jeonghyeon eventually decided to spend the coin on purchasing 「Weak Battle Sense」, which was the same as his current trait.
It was because there was a fraudulent condition that if he collected three of the same trait, it would be upgraded to the next rank.
Anyway, the currently usable slots were full.
It would have been good to buy healing, but if he was caught using it, he wouldn’t be able to make excuses about being an agility type.
He had no choice but to rely on the healer in the party as much as possible.
And Jeonghyeon turned on the internet, bought things like a bed and bedding, and then accessed the Hunter Wiki.
“Let’s see, F-rank……”
In order to make the most of the trait shop, Jeonghyeon himself had to become an expert on various traits.
He had to find combinations that could predict synergy in advance, and he couldn’t search every time an unknown trait appeared.
Of course, he wouldn’t give up his current agility synergy in most cases.
However, Jeonghyeon, who was looking at the table where the F-rank traits were recorded, soon turned his attention to the real-time edited document next to it.
“Newbie Hunter?”
Rumors about Newbie Hunters were spread among Hunters, half like urban legends and half like serious warnings.
The rumor that they forge low-rank Hunter IDs, join newbie parties, and then kill the party members by disguising it as an accident.
However, all Newbie Hunters whose intentions were recognized have been arrested so far, and the remaining cases have been classified as simple accidents because they occurred in so many different areas.
Obvious countermeasures such as not joining parties on sites other than Hunternet to prepare for possible accidents and thoroughly verifying the identity of Hunter IDs were also added.
“Oh dear, the world is so dangerous. We’re busy fighting monsters.”
Jeonghyeon clicked his tongue and went back to the document dealing with F-rank traits.