Chapter 3
Three police officers dressed in combat suits and holding anti-monster batons burst into the store.
However, they quickly realized the situation was already resolved and took pictures of the goblin’s corpse sporting a hole in its head.
Then, one of the police officers walked up to Do-Jun.
“Excuse me, did you kill this goblin?” he asked.
Given that the two people standing in front of the goblin’s corpse were a sturdy man in his mid-to-late twenties and a delicate-looking teenage girl, the police officer had approached Do-Jun, assuming he was the one who had killed the monster.
Do-Jun shook his head and then placed his hands on Yoon-Hee’s shoulders, pushing her forward.
“No, it was my daughter,” he said.
The police officer nodded slightly as if it wasn’t anything shocking that a teenage girl had taken down a goblin.
In fact, anyone, regardless of age or gender, could become a Hunter if they Awakened their abilities or enhanced their physical capabilities using mana stones.
“Do you have any identification?” the police officer asked Yoon-Hee, taking out a pen and notebook.
She took out her wallet and showed her middle school student ID since she hadn’t yet entered high school.
“Please provide your phone number, home address, and bank account number so we can send your reward.”
“A reward?” Do-Jun asked, surprised.
The police officer nodded and answered, “The police department issues a reward for protecting our citizens. This is in addition to the value of the goblin’s mana stone and corpse. As you are her parent, you can provide your account number instead.”
But it was Yoon-Hee who had taken down the goblin, and Do-Jun wasn’t even her legal guardian. In fact, he hadn’t even registered her as a house resident.
“Yoon-Hee, give them your account number,” Do-Jun said.
“H-huh? Are you sure?”
“Didn’t you take down that monster?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Yoon-Hee gave her bank details.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” the police officer said with a short salute after jotting down the details Yoon-Hee provided.
***
When they returned home after shopping at the store, Yoon-Hee saw a message indicating that 150,000 won had been deposited in her bank account: 50,000 for the goblin’s mana stone and corpse, and 100,000 as a reward from the police.
Do-Jun quietly approached Yoon-Hee and glanced at the message, commenting, “That’s quite a bit of money.”
Maybe because he had approached without a sound, her cheeks were slightly flushed in embarrassment.
“But if you get this much for catching just one of these things, is there really a need to live with me?” Do-Jun asked.
Even without the reward from the police, fifty thousand won for one goblin meant that hunting ten would earn her five hundred thousand. Considering that Yoon-Hee could take down a goblin in a single blow, it didn’t seem like a difficult task for her.
However, Yoon-Hee shook her head.
“That situation was exceptional. It’s rare for a Fissure to appear in the air, just enough for one monster to come out, and it’s even less likely for all of them to be as easy to take down as the goblin we saw today. Besides, you can only enter a Dungeon if you have a Hunter license or work in a related field. I’m still just a regular citizen, so it’s impossible for me.”
Do-Jun remembered the gun Yoon-Hee had used earlier, which didn’t shoot bullets but condensed her internal energy[1] into it and released it.
He used his senses to gauge the amount of internal energy in her dantian. It was an insignificant amount, but still impressive, nonetheless.
“Do you have any cultivation art you’re learning?” Do-Jun asked.
“Cultivation art? What do you mean?”
“To absorb energy from nature into your dantian… N-no, never mind.”
Now that he thought about it, it did seem strange. Yoon-Hee hadn’t opened her Conception Vessel and Governing Vessel.
No matter how high the level of the cultivation art, or even if she consumed spiritual medicine, she needed an entrance and exit—namely, the meridians known as the Conception and Governing Vessels—to store energy in her dantian.
Yoon-Hee broke the awkward silence. “I’m sorry, that must’ve scared you. I’m going to enter the National Hunter Academy in March. Frankly, I haven’t Awakened yet, but I can handle mana to some extent… and I even have a mana gun license. Though it’s only a temporary license, I can carry a mana gun.”
She smiled bashfully while placing the side dishes on the dining table.
Yoon-Hee thought Do-Jun would be surprised to hear this. While she wasn’t a full-fledged Hunter yet, entering the National Hunter Academy was an outstanding achievement.
Being a student at the National Hunter Academy meant there was a ninety-nine percent chance of becoming a Hunter upon graduation.
Looking at her expectant gaze, Do-Jun replied stiffly, “That's impressive. Not everyone can become a Hunter, right?”
He sounded as if he was reading off a script.
Yoon-Hee puffed out her cheeks and carried the groceries to the kitchen, dissatisfied with Do-Jun’s unexpectedly dry reaction.
She suddenly said, “You should treat me well. I’ll be a veeeery famous person someday.”
Do-Jun just chuckled lightly, finding her reaction a bit adorable.
***
7:00 AM the following day.
Do-Jun woke up lightly without an alarm, as he could wake up at will.
As he got out of bed and went out to the living room, he saw Yoon-Hee busy in the kitchen.
“Ah, you’re up, Father!”
She turned around after hearing the door to Do-Jun’s room opening, but she was startled and quickly turned away when she saw him wearing nothing but his underwear.
“P-please put some clothes on!” she stammered awkwardly.
“Yes, once I wash up,” Do-Jun replied as if he saw nothing wrong with the situation.
“That’s not what I meant… Sigh.”
A short while later, Do-Jun came out of the restroom and saw the carefully prepared food on the dining table: water parsley salad, spinach, braised black beans, cabbage salad… It was vegetables, vegetables, and more vegetables.
On the first day that Yoon-Hee came to Do-Jun’s apartment, she saw the disposable containers of delivered food piled up everywhere and decided that Do-Jun hardly ate any vegetables. So today, she prepared nothing but vegetable side dishes[2].
“I’ll grill some meat for you when you get back from work, so please eat everything, okay?”
Even though Do-Jun had eaten well without complaints the night before, she still felt uneasy serving only vegetable side dishes for breakfast.
“Thanks for the meal.”
Do-Jun sat down and started eating without a word of complaint.
Since he didn’t have to leave for work until 9:00 AM, there was still plenty of time.
Sitting across from Do-Jun, Yoon-Hee watched him eat and then said, “So, Father, what kind of work do you do?”
“I work at Seoul City Hall.”
“Wow. So, you’re a civil servant?”
Do-Jun nodded as he drank his potato soup, and when he put down the bowl, he saw Yoon-Hee’s face full of smiles.
“Why are you smiling like that?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Yoon-Hee said, smiling even more broadly.
She was relieved that Do-Jun wasn’t doing anything dangerous, and to make things even better, Seoul City Hall was a place that was relatively safe from monsters. Even though they weren’t related, and he wasn’t her actual father, she didn’t want to lose another family member.
“Eat up, Dad,” she said happily.
***
Seoul City Hall was a peaceful place at 8:30 in the morning, but some divisions were an exception.
Click, click, tap, tap.
In the Fissure Management Division, located on the seventh floor of Seoul City Hall, most of the staff had already arrived and were working.
Given the nature of the division, where emergencies could arise at any time, it wasn’t uncommon for employees to work overnight.
“Good morning.”
Do-Jun entered the office labeled “Fissure Exploration Unit” with a bow. Seeing him, Cheol-Soo quickly stood up and hurried over to Do-Jun.
“So, are you okay? How are you feeling? Are you sure you can work?”
“Yes, Chief. Thank you for your concern. As you can see, I’m really fine,” Do-Jun assured him.
“Let me know if it gets tough at any time. If anyone gives you trouble, tell me right away. You know I have your back, right?”
“Thank you, Chief.”
He couldn’t understand why Cheol-Soo was overreacting and being overly cautious, as if he were dealing with a child.
But there wasn’t a single person in the Fissure Exploration Unit who dared to object to Cheol-Soo—until a few days ago.
Do-Jun had been an introverted employee who struggled to adapt to work and even spoke with a stutter. Though he had changed overnight, he was still widely considered as someone who should be cared for.
“This is your seat, do you remember?”
Do-Jun chose not to answer because he did not, in fact, remember.
Even after sitting at the desk he had worked at before being transported to Martial World, it felt completely unfamiliar, as if it was his first time seeing it.
“Feel free to ask me anything you don’t know,” said a man sitting next to Do-Jun.
His name was Kwon Hyuk-Soo, and he appeared to be in his thirties. He had been a civil servant for five years and had worked in the Fissure Exploration Unit for the past three.
Due to Do-Jun’s many mistakes and inefficiency, Hyuk-Soo had to handle about 1.5 times the workload, becoming a semi-forced workaholic.
Despite all that, he never complained.
“Thank you,” Do-Jun said sincerely.
He took this as a fresh start and started reviewing the basic work manual on every aspect of his work, from the Seoul Administrative Portal to the Onnara system used by civil servants nationwide [3]. He also learned how to submit basic proposals, manage business trips, and handle overtime tabs.
There was a lot to learn.
At 9:10 AM, Cheol-Soo looked at his wristwatch and muttered, “She should be here by now.”
“She’s a precious Hunter; we should cut her some slack,” Hyuk-Soo said.
“Are we calling F-rankers precious now?” Cheol-Soo said, laughing.
“She’s still a Hunter,” Hyuk-Soo responded with a chuckle.
As if speaking of the devil, a young girl burst through the door, panting heavily as if she had run all the way to Seoul City Hall. She appeared to be in her early twenties.
“S-sorry for being late!” she said, gasping for air.
Cheol-Soo stood up and approached her to shake hands, saying, “Oh, I should have come outside to greet you.”
“N-no, Chief. Again, I’m sorry for being late.”
The employees of the Fissure Exploration Unit stood up from their seats in greeting, but the girl, feeling burdened, waved her hand.
“Please, you don’t have to get up for me…”…
She was well aware that she was a mere F-rank Hunter.
Even though the civil servants treated her well on the surface, they were likely dismissive internally.
“Do-Jun, let me introduce you. This is the new Hunter we’ve contracted. Ah, you might not remember, but our unit's main job is to explore Fissures by teaming up with Hunters. This is Hunter Cha Ye-Ji, and you… were assigned to her before your accident,” Hyuk-Soo explained.
Before Do-Jun’s unfortunate accident and the subsequent transfer to the Central Plains, he and Ye-Ji were supposed to explore the F-rank fissure in Gangdong-gu.
Hyuk-Soo suddenly added, “Since Do-Jun isn’t ready to go out on the field, I’ll be taking over.”
At those words, Do-Jun rubbed his chin thoughtfully and realized that he had been labeled a “troublemaker.”
Having his supervisor do his job for him wasn’t a good start to his plan to live an ordinary life. After all, he had heard that the best thing for a civil servant was to stay out of sight.
“So, you are saying this was originally my job?” Do-Jun asked.
“Yes, but you don’t have to push yourself. No one will say anything.”
“No, that’s alright. I’ll take it from here.”
Do-Jun’s eyes flickered with the determination to blend in as a team member.
1. We are aware we called this mana in the previous chapter. “Internal energy” is a new term that we learn in this chapter, and we will know more about it in later chapters. ☜
2. Side dishes or banchan are an integral part of Korean food and accompany all meals, including breakfast. One of the most popular banchan everyone knows of is kimchi. ☜
3. An online Business Process System that manages all administrative procedures for the government of Korea. ☜
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