By Zephyria ‘Why do my ears itch so much?’
Standing in front of the gas stove, Eui-jae, who was boiling Hangover Soup, scratched his ears with a strange feeling.
For some reason, Bae Won-woo and Lee Sa-young, along with the Wave Guild members, didn’t come for lunch today, so the Hanover Soup Restaurant was as crowded as before. Bright smiles returned to the faces of the Hunters for the first time in a while. Eui-jae, too, had forgotten the painful failure of the Tomato Market and was having a relatively peaceful day. However…
“Did you see the post on Hunter Net yesterday?”
Starting with a young Hunter whispering quietly, the inside of the store buzzed.
“Yeah, there was a crazy brat who put an A+ Mana Stone up for sale at eight thousand on the Tomato Market? The Guild went crazy.”
The word “crazy brat” hit Eui-jae’s ears hard.
‘Crazy brat, huh.’
Eui-jae made an uncomfortable expression, but another Hunter, who had no way of knowing that, skillfully separated the meat from the bones and replied.
“Isn’t it a fake post? They might have just uploaded a picture they found on the internet.”
“Hey, Hong Ye-seong is offering to make a weapon for free for anyone who finds that Mana Stone.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Look at Hong Ye-seong’s Inheart.”
“Oh my god, seriously. Hey, find it no matter what.”
The hand holding the tongs to slightly move the earthenware pot stopped. Even he, who had been living without paying attention to the Hunter world recently, had heard the name Hong Ye-seong and the fact that he was an S-class The Artisan. Most of the Hunters who came to the Hanover Soup Restaurant wanted to buy Hong Ye-seong’s equipment.
But Hong Ye-seong offered a reward? …Why?
Before Eui-jae could sort out his confused thoughts, the Hunters’ conversation continued.
“Aish, I should have bought it. Just buying it for eight thousand and reselling it would have been billions of won in profit, what?”
“I installed the Tomato Market as soon as I saw that post.”
“Me too.”
“I wish EZ would post just one more.”
“But it seems like that person deleted the post and left.”
“Are you kidding me? Giving it and then taking it away. Tell them to sign up again right away.”
“I’m going to go to the Noryangjin Fish Market today and ask Mackerel to find it.”
“Can Mackerel find it?”
“If he can’t, he’ll have to give up his position as the best information broker in Korea, what.”
[Trait Poker Face (B) is activated.]
Now, instead of his overloaded brain, the trait was activated on its own. Eui-jae calmly sprinkled a handful of green onions into the boiling earthenware pot. But his head was still dizzy. That Mana Stone… is worth billions?
‘I used to play Gonggi with Mana Stones, they were useless!’
Of course, that was something only J could do, but Cha Eui-jae didn’t care.
“But who is the person who posted that?”
“Looking at the price they posted, aren’t they just a regular person who picked up a Mana Stone on the street?”
“If I could pick up an A+ Mana Stone on the street, I’d quit being a Hunter and walk 100,000 steps a day.”
“Agreed.”
My Mana Stone… was higher grade than I thought? Eui-jae, who was eavesdropping on the Hunters’ conversation, realized one thing he had overlooked.
J’s possessions are precious things that ordinary Hunters have never even seen.
8 years. In that time, just 2 years short of a complete change in the landscape, the world changed drastically, different from the Day of the Rift. One of the biggest changes was the value of Mana Stones, which was like turning trash into gold. Back then, the use of Mana Stones could be summarized in two ways.
First, collectors’ items for the rich.
Second, spoils of war for Hunters.
In the past, Mana Stones were really only bought by people who bought them, but now good Mana Stones were worth whatever you asked for.
Unlike existing energy sources such as coal and oil, the biggest reason was the research results that Mana Stones could efficiently extract energy without destroying the environment. An F-grade Mana Stone, which would have been thrown away inside the Gate in the past, now costs at least 100,000 won per piece.
In fact, Eui-jae had never directly traded Dungeon by-products even when he was active as J. Since he was hiding his identity, his aunt took care of all the transactions of items from the Dungeon, and it was rare to buy equipment with money because there was no Hunter Market or The Artisan at the time.
With this story, there was no way he would know the Mana Stone price properly.
The government paid Hunters financial compensation every time they entered a Rift or Dungeon, but J didn’t make any special transactions with the money he received. He occasionally bought Elixir, but it was not for his own use, but to use it for survivors who needed first aid inside the Rift.
And today, his traces were becoming a huge snowball and rushing towards Eui-jae.
‘Did the rumor spread this much just because I posted one item wrong?’
Eui-jae was genuinely dumbfounded. He wanted everyone to stop for his quiet life, but the Hunter community was more tight-knit than he thought, the news was very fast, and it moved very organically. And the Hanover Soup Restaurant was also a great Shield for collecting and spreading information.
“Tomato Market….”
“How much….”
“Mana Stone….”
“Hangover Soup is delicious….”
“Around here….”
“What a crazy brat….”
“Hidden Strength Hunter….”
“Turn the Hanover Soup Restaurant into a Michelin….”
The rumor about the unidentified Mana Stone was still ongoing. Although there were some things mixed in that weren’t true.
“Uncle, your face looks weird.”
“My face? Why?”
“A little… like this.”
Ha-eun pushed her chin up with both hands. Does that mean my chin has gotten sharper? Eui-jae rubbed his jawbone for no reason and laughed.
“I haven’t been able to sleep well lately. It’s okay.”
“Uncle never sleeps.”
“So you’re saying it’s the same as usual. I’m just a little tired. What do you need to prepare for tomorrow, Ha-eun?”
“Tomorrow’s supplies… cardboard and clay.”
“Looks like you have an art class.”
“Yeah, I’m going to make pottery with clay too. Like Hong Ye-seong.”
Damn it. Eui-jae almost bit his tongue at the sudden mention of the name.
After hearing that Hong Ye-seong had offered a reward for the Mana Stone, Eui-jae installed Inheartgram for the first time and followed Hong Ye-seong’s account. He had to know what this crazy brat—another crazy brat different from Lee Sa-young—was doing to be able to deal with it.
Hong Ye-seong didn’t usually post often, but since the Mana Stone incident, he had been posting one every day. And today, he posted a picture of an egg placed alone in a nesting in a chicken coop with the following text.
xxYeahsungH
Golden round Mana Stone…… #Daily #Communication #Egg #Mana Stone #I miss you #I miss you #I’m waiting
Likes 532k
Honeybeezx
Shouldn’t we send this crazy brat for counseling? It seems like he’s been hit by a mental skill like mental pollution
@jungVin80 @SEOWON_GUILD
Eui-jae strongly agreed with Honeybee’s opinion. In his eyes, Hong Ye-seong seemed like a crazy brat. He couldn’t figure out how the brains of Hunters these days were structured.
Eui-jae placed an apple carved into the shape of a rabbit in front of Ha-eun, then took two bundles of green onions and a cutting board and sat down at the next table. Eui-jae was worried that he hadn’t been able to see his Grandmother recently because he was busy with work, so he asked Ha-eun casually.
“How’s Grandmother’s leg?”
“Um, hobbling.”
“I see…. I should take her to the hospital.”
“Does Grandmother need surgery?”
“You’ll have to see a doctor to know.”
“…I hope she doesn’t need surgery.”
Ha-eun rested her chin on her hand and groaned. Eui-jae wanted to make such a sound, but he did so by cutting green onions instead.
Even after the Tomato Mana Stone incident was somewhat resolved, the Hanover Soup Restaurant was noisy with Mana Stone talk for a while. Just when it seemed like it would calm down, Hong Ye-seong put firewood in Inheart, put it in, and put it in again.
The influence of the only S-class The Artisan was very strong. If Lee Sa-young had caused a typhoon at the Hanover Soup Restaurant, Hong Ye-seong was causing an earthquake from Jirisan far away to this place. And the aftermath of the earthquake spread far…
It brought another S-class to the Hanover Soup Restaurant.
“It’s a nice atmosphere.”
A familiar voice. The tone I heard in the public service advertisement that came out after this morning’s drama ended.
Eui-jae deliberately turned his head more slowly than usual. It was close to an instinctive escape from reality. However, escaping from reality only sent Eui-jae’s mind to another place for about 3 seconds and then returned it, but it didn’t completely eliminate the neat man standing at the door.
Tall height, wheat-colored hair, slightly drooping eyes, a neat suit and a civil servant ID card around his neck. The man who always had a soft smile on his face was indeed ‘that’ Jung-bin, who had dominated Korean public service advertisements.
Why are you… coming out of here?
For a moment, Eui-jae even suspected himself of reporting Lee Sa-young to the Awakened Management Bureau. Jung-bin bowed politely when he met Eui-jae’s eyes.
“Hello.”
“…Welcome. Are you alone?”
It’s okay. Jung-bin doesn’t know Cha Eui-jae. He only knows J, who wears a mask. Eui-jae patted himself and got up from his seat.
[Trait Poker Face (B) is activated.]
“Yes, I’m alone.”
“Sit here. You can look at the menu on the wall and order.”
Jung-bin obediently sat down in the seat Eui-jae had assigned him and looked at the menu on the wall. Only then did the Hunters sitting around him begin to whisper.
“Crazy….”
“That’s, Jung-bin.”
“Who did something to get caught? Who is it? Confess quickly.”
“Ah, I’m not here to perform official duties today. I came to eat dinner. I came on a business trip nearby.”
Jung-bin waved his hand with a gentle smile. However, the Hunters who were sitting near him were already burying their heads in the earthenware pot and drinking Hangover Soup like water.
Somehow, they were familiar actions. I could feel the signs of people peeking inside the store from outside the sliding door. At this point, Eui-jae could clearly see the future. Soon, there will be a Jung-bin ZONE following the Lee Sa-young ZONE here.
In other words, today’s business is over.
Not only Guild Hunters, but now a civil servant Hunter is interfering with business, who should I report this to? Eui-jae wanted to grab someone and complain, saying he didn’t know why such trials kept coming to the peaceful Hanover Soup Restaurant.
“…….”
But before he had time to feel wronged, the second uninvited guest was rushing into the store one after another.
Footsteps so quiet that you could barely hear them if you listened carefully. The presence was suppressed, but Eui-jae felt a flame-like energy. A black figure approaching the store.
All the circumstances pointed to only one person.