By Zephyria Abundant assets, especially money, give people leeway and stability.
Even if it’s not immediately within reach, the attitude of someone tightening their belt with barely enough to cover living expenses is different from that of someone with 200,000 in their heart.
“So, about my 200,400 deal?””
“I’ll give it to you in installments, so wait. In the first place, it’s not like you sent that to a pawn shop, it’s more like you intercepted it pretending you lent it to me.”
“An excuse like, ‘Big money moving around is too conspicuous,’ right?”
“Why ask when you already know, you brat? And it’s not 200,400 deal, it’s 200,000 deal. I used 4,000 to shut up the pawn shop.”
Even without a lot of spare money on hand, Jin Mu-hae became someone who didn’t need to work for the time being.
However, even with a generous heart, he didn’t stop what he was doing. It wasn’t out of ambition to scrape together more money to make 400,000 deals, but because he had an image he had built up until now, and he couldn’t just quit all the requests suddenly.
A mercenary crazy for money. A young punk who runs anywhere there’s money to be made.
If Mu-hae disappeared from the field, stories would surely circulate. So he planned to continue with the Company’s requests.
“My shoe band broke.”
“How did you break that, seriously?”
It was a plan that wouldn’t be difficult if he could just solve the Joo-oh problem.
An unstable bomb that might go anywhere if left unsupervised. Should he take him along, or leave him alone for several days?
If it were the original Mu-hae, this kind of problem wouldn’t even be something to worry about.
Is labor a joke? Especially combat, which is a dangerous business that can lead to injury with even a small amount of carelessness.
But strangely, after meeting Joo-oh, he kept getting caught up with him.
Of course, Joo-oh has much greater strength than the average adult male, and although he couldn’t understand it, he made the decision based on the fact that if he stuck with him, the results would turn out well no matter what the process was like…
Still, taking Joo-oh around on requests was nothing more than an irresponsible adventure for Mu-hae.
He felt like an idiot for even trying to do it again.
Beep.
How have you been, MH5591.
The exploration schedule you accepted last month is coming up in two days, so we are sending you guidance and precautions.
xx. xx. xx ~ xx. xx. xx
Blue Crystal Confirmation Exploration
Buckta 3-21 to 7-08
Class 1 Long-Distance Small aircraft / Ground Transportation Carrier
Recently, there have been changes in the amount of Blue Crystal mined in the Buckta area. Check the Crystal Zone at the GPS-indicated location and report any new changes in the area.
Seawater pollution levels are decreasing, but minimize contact as it is harmful to the human body.
Injuries or losses incurred during work will be handled in accordance with the most recently updated contract.
Good luck.
Cheonggang Mining & Energy Service Team
Mu-hae reviewed the message from the Company once more and pondered the equipment to pack.
The standard for these exploration requests was to pack lightly so that he could strike quickly and get out.
However, judging from the fact that the reward was much higher than usual, it seemed that the Company was anticipating combat with a high probability.
The fact that they were providing a carrier instead of a simple mobility for transportation was also significant.
If he had known that 50,000 deals would come in at once for the Thorn wolf, he would have chosen a simpler request. That was a bit of a shame.
Adding some explosives and defensive equipment to the things he always carried in his head, Mu-hae slowly recalled the Buckta area, which he had visited several times before.
‘This place isn’t just one Crystal Zone, it’s a bit dangerous, but the amount of mining is high. If you get a fixed mining spot and just hold out for two years, you’ll have a proper foundation for business.’
‘No, there’s no fighting. Even if it’s a joint mining area, the nearby city takes care of dividing everything up, so the areas are roughly defined.’
A wide area where beaches and forest terrain coexist.
As much as the amount of Crystal Blue mined was exceptional, the remains of the ruined past city had disappeared faster than in other areas.
This place was also famous for grinding up miners to make Blue Energy.
Even if all safety rules were followed, it was particularly dangerous, so they even received support for miners to work on a fixed basis.
However, no one lasted more than three years. They all either filled their target amount and left, or disappeared before that.
Deaths where the bodies were not recovered were all disappearances, so it could be said that they had all died.
‘So, in an emergency, he’ll be good to use as a meat shield.’
Jin Mu-hae glanced at Joo-oh as he put the finished equipment back into his bag.
He didn’t know what kind of gruesome thoughts Mu-hae had and was still sitting on the sofa watching TV.
Until just now, he had been looking around everywhere, but now he was fixated on the screen as if nailed to it.
He didn’t even blink at the commercials that popped up between programs, as if they were interesting.
Pick.
However, when Jin Mu-hae turned off the light in the center of the living room, he was startled and looked back at Jin Mu-hae.
“Jin Mu-hae. Turn on the light.”
“You said you were okay with the dark.”
“That’s right. But… I don’t know. I want to turn it on when I watch TV.”
Somehow, Joo-oh’s tone felt a bit rambling.
His coolly stretched eyebrows drew a strangely uneasy line.
“Then stop watching TV.”
He was already trying to kick Joo-oh out and rest. Joo-oh’s expression turned gloomy at the firm eviction order.
“Can I sit next to Jin Mu-hae for a little bit?”
“I’m going to rest, so don’t bother me.”
Of course, it was a euphemism for telling him to get lost, but somehow he seemed to take it as a conditional acceptance.
Joo-oh nodded his head wildly and approached Mu-hae.
Then he plopped down next to him and held Mu-hae’s arm tightly.
“What are you doing?”
“You said you were resting.”
“Do you think I’m going to sit on this floor and rest with you right now?”
“Then should we go to the bed?”
“Don’t talk nonsense and get out of here.”
“Tch,” Joo-oh made a sulking sound.
Even so, he didn’t let go of the arm he was holding, nor did he get up from his seat.
“I’m turning off the TV.”
“……Okay.”
“Why are you holding someone else’s arm?”
“I don’t know.”
Only after Mu-hae turned off the TV did the hand that had been stuck to him fall away.
In the dimly lit sconce light, half of Joo-oh’s face shone dimly.
He somehow had another blank expression. The shadows of his long eyelashes flickered under his eyes.
His red eyes rolled somewhere, and then he suddenly stretched out his crouched body and stood up.
“I’m leaving now.”
Joo-oh quietly walked into the study as if he hadn’t been acting up until just now.
He didn’t even make a sound. Mu-hae stared intently at the back disappearing into the darkness.
Whoosh-.
The makeshift bus stop in front of Goryeo City, revisited.
Mu-hae put his hands in his pants pockets and checked the time.
Next to him, Joo-oh, who had pulled his hood down low, was constantly moving his mouth.
Womp. Almost half of the piping hot hot dog disappeared into his mouth in one bite. His bulging cheeks shook rhythmically.
“You’re really eating all of that.”
“Mmm, mmm.”
“Throw the trash over there.”
“Mmm, okay.”
Joo-oh devoured the six hot dogs he had bought as if they were going to disappear.
He had bought a paper bag full of them because he had been distracted by the food as soon as they arrived at the bus stop, but it seemed like it hadn’t even been 10 minutes.
Jin Mu-hae threw a wet wipe over his sauce-covered hand and quietly looked towards the city entrance.
Before long, a small vehicle passed through the passage and approached. It was a mobility that would take them to the place where the airfield was located.
“There’s no food from now on.”
“I know.”
“You have to eat only the pills you ate when we went to Iron Horse Valley and endure.”
“I can do it.”
Even with the nail-biting request, there was no wavering in Joo-oh’s answer. He just licked his lips once and nodded his head resolutely.
Compared to before, when he drooled as soon as he saw food, how much more human he had become.
Mu-hae glanced at the backpack Joo-oh was carrying and brought his Link Watch to the door of the vehicle.
With a whirring sound, the tightly closed door slid open. Following Mu-hae’s gesture, Joo-oh entered the interior first.
“Remember everything I told you and move accordingly.”
“Okay.”
“Your boots, are they properly tightened?”
“Yeah.”
As the mobility started, his smooth lower face smiled brightly.
It was strange. Somehow, it seemed like he could see the black hair that would be tousled and pressed down under the hood.
Mu-hae rubbed the back of his neck a few times for no reason, then took out the device from his waist and unfolded the screen.
CME Exploration Request Report
Buckta 3-21 >> 7-08
Blue Crystal Mining Volume Change Case
Crystal Zone Confirmation [0/5]
Combat_
His fingertips stopped abruptly as he was about to enter the possibility of combat with an Aberrant.
Joo-oh, whom he checked out of the corner of his eye, had turned his head towards the window and was sitting blankly.
‘He seems a bit out of it.’
Well, he was always like that, but he looked a bit uneasy now that he was out of his Comfort zone.
Joo-oh had been sitting in front of the TV all day the day before. He watched TV shows as if possessed, laughing, muttering, lounging, and humming, wondering what he was thinking.
In the meantime, he diligently ate five meals. Not only the frozen food that Mu-hae was eating, but also the two boxes of cereal that he had bought for his share became empty in an instant.
‘Okay. If you’ve eaten that much, you can starve for a few days.’
Jin Mu-hae muttered to himself, thinking that Joo-oh would pout his lips if he heard him, and also looked out the window.
The flat and wide helipad was gradually getting closer. In the center was the Small aircraft that had been notified in advance. It was a vehicle that would take them quickly and safely to the dangerous zone.
Suddenly, Mu-hae remembered an afternoon when he first met Joo-oh.
At that time, he had also taken such a Small aircraft to Kan Rano. Throughout the return to Goryeo City, Joo-oh sat on the seat with a blank face.
‘Wow.’
‘Wow.’
He only let out strange exclamations like someone who didn’t know human language.
At that time, he really never thought that he would take him to such a place.