By Zephyria A few days after that commotion.
As usual, Jung-bin was serving Hangover Soup to the zombies who came as soon as he opened the Hanover Soup Restaurant, when he spotted a strange man lingering in front of the door. He was wearing a cap pulled low and a thick jacket that said “Delivery.”
‘What’s this?’
Ha-eun, Grandmother, and Jung-bin mostly bought what they needed directly from the mart. They didn’t sell Hangover Soup for delivery, so there was no reason for a delivery person like that to visit the Hanover Soup Restaurant. Jung-bin put his hand in his apron pocket and slid the door open. The delivery man, who had been hesitating in front of the door, noticed Jung-bin and made a sound, “Ah.”
“Are you by any chance Cha Eui-jae, who works at this Hanover Soup Restaurant?”
Jung-bin’s eyes narrowed at the sound of his name coming from a stranger’s mouth out of the blue.
“…What business do you have?”
The delivery man smiled brightly and pointed to a truck covered with a black tarp.
“I have a wreath delivery for Cha Eui-jae.”
“Excuse me?”
Jung-bin’s eyes widened at the unexpected nonsense. The delivery man took a large wreath out of the truck and placed it heavily in front of the Hanover Soup Restaurant. The long pink cloth had the following written on it in a formal script: ‘The door of the family-like HB Guild is always wide open ―HB Guild Personnel Team Leader Han Min-jun’
Team Leader Han. The person who occasionally came to the Hanover Soup Restaurant and repeatedly offered Jung-bin a job. A member of his Guild had even told him that he was targeting Jung-bin. Of course, he had refused every time, using the excuse that he wasn’t an Awakened, but Team Leader Han had persistently asked if he would consider joining through general recruitment. Jung-bin frowned.
‘Is he trying to promote the Guild at the Hanover Soup Restaurant? …Trying to get something for nothing?’
Before his displeasure could fully surface, the delivery man took out a second wreath from the truck. How many wreaths are coming? Jung-bin looked inside the truck with a bewildered expression. Fortunately, this seemed to be the last one.
The wreath he took out this time was the same size as the previous one, but it had fewer flowers. Jung-bin was about to think that it looked relatively tame when the delivery man stacked three bags of rice at the bottom. This wreath read: ‘Congratulations on the Awakening of my fan♡ Part-timer ―Korea’s Rank 6, HB Guild Honeybee’
Jung-bin’s eyes shook violently at the unexpected congratulatory message for his Awakening. He cautiously pointed to the bags of rice.
“What… is all this?”
“Ah, this is a rice wreath. HB Guild sent it.”
The delivery man’s voice seemed to be filled with pride for some reason. Ah, this is a rice wreath. …Like hell it is? Jung-bin was speechless and stared blankly at the two wreaths that were prominently occupying the customers’ waiting area.
‘…What is this? A new type of business obstruction?’
Should he take a picture and report it this time? He had already met Jung-bin as much as he could, his autograph was posted inside the store, and Jung-bin even knew Eui-jae’s name. Now, he had nothing to lose by reporting him to the Awakened Management Bureau for Hunter’s abuse of power without hesitation.
As he was spacing out in the face of the wreath attack, a piece of paper and a pen were thrust at him. The delivery man kindly clicked the pen and said, “We’re getting the recipient’s signature for confirmation. Please sign here.”
Several Hunters who had escaped from being zombies after consuming Hangover Soup sensed the commotion and craned their necks out the door. And whether they confirmed the message written on the wreath with their good eyesight, one Hunter with a bushy beard shouted gruffly.
“Part-timer! You Awakened?”
Crap, I’m screwed. Jung-bin gritted his teeth.
The Hanover Soup Restaurant, which had been momentarily silent, quickly became noisy again. The zombies rushed to the door and began to chatter.
“The part-timer Awakened?”
“Why didn’t you tell us!”
“Wow, is that wreath Honeybee sent?”
“Team Leader Han must have been planning this all along, sending a wreath right away. His determination is crazy.”
“I guess you’ve registered too!”
“Wow, congratulations! What grade did you get?”
“Our part-timer was amazing even before Awakening. He must have gotten at least a B-grade.”
The Hunters, who had been congratulating him, soon changed the topic to the most important issue.
“…Wait a minute. If the part-timer joins the Guild, who will run the Hanover Soup Restaurant?”
“Wouldn’t Grandmother do it?”
“Grandmother’s legs hurt, so the part-timer has been working alone for quite a while.”
“Don’t tell me the Hanover Soup Restaurant is closing?”
“Won’t they hire a new part-timer?”
Bang! The sound of something being slammed down suddenly silenced the surroundings.
“Hey, don’t make so much noise in front of an Awakened who just Awakened! Don’t you know the Hunter world’s rules!”
“That’s right. Didn’t you see the news the other day? They said one guy who just Awakened destroyed a building. Let’s be careful because too much noise makes new Awakeners anxious.”
He was being treated like a complete bomb. The voices that had been chattering loudly dropped, but Jung-bin could hear them very clearly. Among the hushed atmosphere, one proud voice was clearly heard.
“…Is the part-timer a stranger? We have to help him adapt. That’s the role of a senior.”
Hunter J, who was once everyone’s idol, Jung-bin had to endure being treated like a fledgling by his far younger juniors. He quickly scribbled a line on the receipt to send away the delivery man, who was the cause of all this commotion. Hoping that this would solve all the problems.
But Cha Eui-jae’s trials and tribulations did not end so easily, and crazy situations began to occur one after another as if waiting for the day after the wreath arrived.
First. When Jung-bin opened the door wide to cheer himself up during the material preparation time after finishing the hectic lunch rush, there was something terrible hanging in front of his eyes.
Congratulation on the Awakening of the proud part-timer of the Hanover Soup Restaurant ―All the regulars of the Hanover Soup Restaurant―
He stared blankly at the colorful banner hanging between the utility pole and the tree in front of the Hanover Soup Restaurant. He wanted to check the names and faces of the guys who hung this up, but they were hiding behind the anonymity of “All the regulars of the Hanover Soup Restaurant.” Cowardly…. Jung-bin called Nexby after a long time.
“Hi Nexby, search if I can remove the banner.”
―Searching for whether you can remove the banner.
―Even if the banner is illegal, an ordinary person can be punished for property damage under the criminal law if they arbitrarily remove it.
Why am I being punished when that’s illegal! Jung-bin grabbed his head.
Second. A day passed since the banner incident, and it was time to prepare the ingredients again.
‘…Why did it turn out like this?’
At 2:10 PM, it would normally be time to hang the ‘Get out if you came before 5 PM’ sign―not that it actually said that―and prepare for the evening rush. But Jung-bin couldn’t even prepare for business, let alone hang the sign, and had to sit quietly at the counter. Because, “Okay, Hunters! Line up! Show the new Hunter that you are senior Hunters and maintain order!”
[Trait Poker Face (B) is activated.]
A very long line was stretched out in front of him. A new Hunter from the Rift Management Bureau was shaking a safety bar and organizing the line. A very distant memory was slowly resurfacing. Before the Day of the Rift, a video of a fan signing event of a popular Idol that he had seen by chance on UTube looked something like this.
‘I’d rather catch a hundred Monsters.’
Jung-bin had to suffer from the illusion that he had become an Idol. His stiff corners of his mouth twitched.
“I heard you Awakened, Part-timer. This is an Awakening gift.”
A giant Hunter like a Russian Bear shyly held out a small pink box. Behind him, several Hunters with their heads sticking out like Enoki mushrooms were visible. Each of them had an excited face as if expecting a reaction. Jung-bin accepted the box with a soulless smile. The wrapping paper had the following phrase written on it in a sentimental font.
‘Gift box for new Awakeners♥’
Was this the number one product in the Hunter category of the messenger gift menu that he had looked at when he was bored? It just seemed like a marketing ploy. Jung-bin calmly untied the ribbon and opened the lid. A card with a bouquet of flowers drawn on it was placed neatly in the center.
For your precious self… Congratulations on your Awakening ‘The congratulations… are a bit late.’
It was the Awakening congratulations he had received in 11 years. Under the message card was a neatly arranged Basic Elixir Kit. Jung-bin took out a finger-sized red potion and checked the information.
[Basic Health Recovery Elixir (C)
Recovers 10% of health upon use.]
Well, the more recovery potions, the better. If he had only had potions at the Rift the other day, he could have fought like he used to, throwing his body into the fray. Jung-bin put the potion in his Inventory and bowed his head.
“Thank you for the congratulations and the gift.”
“Ah, no! Please continue to make delicious Hangover Soup.”
The Russian Bear scratched his head and slowly backed away. The Enoki mushroom Hunters patted his back and cheered. Jung-bin placed the box on a table that someone had brought next to him. Before he knew it, the pile of gifts had piled up like a small hill. The next person was Honeybee, who appeared with her sparkling blonde hair fluttering.
“Did you get the wreath? Well, it was placed well in front. Our HB Guild sent it first, right?”
She, wearing a studded leather jacket and sunglasses, placed a gift wrapped in gold wrapping paper on the counter with a thud. Next to her was a neat-looking man in a suit and glasses. Team Leader Han. Team Leader Han bowed his head, and Honeybee smiled brightly.
“Congratulations on your Awakening. This is a gift. We’re colleagues now.”
“A wreath is enough, but you’re giving me a gift too. It’s okay.”
Jung-bin gave a textbook answer as if reading from a textbook. Honestly, it was burdensome. But Honeybee waved her hand with a proud face as if telling him to open it quickly.
“Ah, it’s not expensive, so open it first.”
He carefully tore the sparkling gold wrapping paper. What was inside the wrapping paper was…
‘Change Your Color! Kraken Ink Color’
‘Change Your Color!
Volcanic Zone Magma Color’
‘Change Your Color!
Queen Bee Royal Jelly Color’
It was a Hunter-only hair dye that Honeybee advertised. A high-end hair dye made from Dungeon by-products for Hunters with even strong hair. Especially the black color, which contained 0.0001% Kraken ink and cost one million won per bottle!
It was something that Jung-bin’s wallet couldn’t afford for the rest of his life, but to put something like this out so casually, the advertising model was amazing.
“Well, even part-timers might want to change their image. If you try it and it’s good, contact me. I can give you more as much as you want. If you don’t think you’ll use it, sell it at Tomato Market.”
With this, there was no need to use three bottles of regular squid ink dye to dye his hair anymore! It seemed like a halo was shining behind Honeybee’s sparkling blonde hair.