SCREEEEEECH.
The harsh sound of metal scraping rang out from the entrance of the alley.
Cheol-woo stopped walking and stared at the small cargo truck climbing up the hill. An old truck, its paint peeled off in places and its body rusted, was struggling to enter the villa parking lot.
Even after the engine was turned off, it sputtered for a while, exhaling a rough breath.
CREAK, CLUNK.
The stiff driver’s door opened, and a middle-aged man in work clothes got out.
It was his father, Oh Myeong-su. He rubbed the back of his neck, walked toward the cargo bed, and began organizing the remaining empty boxes.
"Father."
When Cheol-woo approached and called out to him, Myeong-su, who had been tying up boxes, jumped in surprise and turned his head.
"Good grief, you startled me. Son, when did you get here?"
"Just now. You must have had a lot of deliveries today. You are late."
"It piled up because the holiday is coming up, that is all. Are you done with work? You are not hurt anywhere, are you?"
Myeong-su looked over Cheol-woo’s appearance first.
Even as he looked at the heavy duffel bag slung over his shoulder, he did not ask what was inside it or how much money he had earned today. He only quickly scanned him with his eyes to see if he was injured anywhere.
"Yes. I finished cleanly and came back."
"Good. As long as you are safe. Let’s go inside. Your mother should have just closed up the side dish shop and come home too."
Myeong-su closed the cargo bed door with a clank and took the lead.
Cheol-woo followed his father up the villa stairs. The chipped cement steps and the green railing with peeled paint in various places caught his eye.
In front of the entrance door, Myeong-su’s old work shoes, their soles completely worn down, sat forlornly.
After pressing the door lock code and stepping inside, the savory smell of stew rushed over him.
"Oh, my back."
His mother, Kim Jung-hee, who had been taking off her apron in the kitchen and hanging it on the wall, turned around.
"Oh my, my son is here? What brings you here without even saying you were coming?"
"I finished early, so I came to have a meal with you. Was work at the shop all right, Mother?"
"It was the same as always. Standing around, seasoning vegetables, packing them up. Nothing different."
Jung-hee came over and patted Cheol-woo on the shoulder.
"Your face has gotten so thin. You did not go into one of those dungeons or whatever and see something rough again, did you? Are you eating on time?"
"I eat well. My bones are strong too."
"You and your excuses. Go wash up and come out. I will set the table for you."
Jung-hee hurried toward the refrigerator.
She, too, did not ask a single word about Cheol-woo’s results or income.
Even when Cheol-woo had been a perpetual E-rank Porter, cleaning up after others and earning small change, his parents had always been the same.
They had never forced him to quit dangerous work, nor had they ever compared him to other people’s children who had entered respectable guilds.
Even if he was only working as a Porter, as long as he returned home unharmed, they were simply relieved and set a warm meal before him.
Cheol-woo washed his hands in the bathroom and came out to the kitchen.
Then he stopped walking as he looked at his mother’s back while she took side dishes out in front of the refrigerator.
"Mother, what is that on the refrigerator door?"
Cheol-woo’s gaze turned toward the yellow rubber band wrapped around the refrigerator handle.
Jung-hee stopped slicing radish and glanced toward the refrigerator.
"Oh, that? The door seal is old, so it keeps opening a little. If I tie the handle with a rubber band, the cold air does not leak out. It works perfectly."
"If it is broken, you should call a technician."
"Do you know how much the call-out fee costs? As for the frost building up inside, I can just scrape it off with a spatula once in a while. It still runs perfectly well."
Jung-hee laughed as if it were nothing and began cutting again.
It was then.
RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A deafening roar burst out from the utility room next to the bathroom, as if the building were about to collapse.
When Cheol-woo turned his head in surprise, the washing machine had entered spin mode and was shaking wildly. It scraped against the floor tiles, looking as if it might leap out at any moment.
"Good grief, that machine is dancing again."
Myeong-su, who had been watching the news in the living room, rose from his seat as if this were familiar.
He walked into the utility room and picked up a flyer rolling around on the floor. After folding it over about four times to make it thick, he slipped it under the front leg of the vibrating washing machine.
Wooooong.
Astonishingly, the roar subsided in an instant.
"See? As long as you balance it properly, it is quiet. It only does this once in a while during the spin cycle, so it is fine if we handle it skillfully."
Myeong-su spoke proudly, dusting off his hands.
Cheol-woo stared at the scene with his mouth slightly open. Beneath the washing machine’s legs, there were already several old scraps of paper that had been wedged there before.
When he shifted his gaze toward the wall, an old boiler came into view.
The surface was plastered with stickers marked with the dates of visits from the repair technician who had come last winter. He remembered how they had suffered every time the hot water cut off whenever the weather grew cold. Each time, his father had endured it by replacing only the cheapest parts instead of replacing the boiler entirely.
Cheol-woo felt something heavy settle in one corner of his chest.
'I was too thoughtless.'
Using the excuse that he was busy taking care of himself, he had treated the discomfort of this house as far too natural.
Whenever his equipment broke while he was working as a Porter or he needed emergency cash because he had run out of Antidotes, his parents had never once frowned.
They had dipped into the money meant for the shop’s Rent and the Living Expenses they had received from delivery payments and sent it to Cheol-woo’s account first. All while they themselves used a refrigerator whose door did not close and a washing machine that danced.
A round dining table was unfolded in the living room.
Jung-hee filled the table with stir-fried shredded squid, seasoned bean sprouts, and steaming soybean paste stew that she had brought from the shop.
Cheol-woo took a large spoonful of rice and pushed it into his mouth.
"Eat slowly. You will get indigestion."
"It is delicious."
"I brought all the leftover side dishes from the shop. I will have to make more tomorrow."
Ordinary conversation passed over the dining table.
Myeong-su, who had been eating the stew, cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
"By the way, when I changed the engine oil in that truck this time, they said another part in the muffler needs to be replaced. The repair costs will be a bit higher than I expected this month."
"Again? Last month, money went into it because the clutch was broken."
When Jung-hee scolded him, Myeong-su smiled awkwardly.
"It is because the machine is old. Still, there is no problem with it running for now. I cannot help it if I have to make deliveries."
Cheol-woo stopped moving his spoon and looked at his father.
He remembered the rough engine sound he had heard in the parking lot and the door that had rattled.
"Father, how old is that truck?"
"Let me see. It has been seven or eight years since I bought it used, so it has been quite a while. Why?"
"No. It just sounds worse than before."
In the past, he would have merely said something worried and sighed inwardly. He had not had the money to help with the repair costs right away.
But now, things were different.
In Cheol-woo’s mind, the Mana Stones and Mana Water piling up every day from the F-rank Goblin’s Abandoned Mine and Sleeping Waterway flashed past. On top of that, he had registered the Misty Medicinal Herb Garden as his third Territory today.
There was no need to tell them the absurd secret that he had become a Dungeon Owner. Just the cash he was receiving through Settlements from the Purchasing Office was more than enough to lighten his parents’ burden.
After finishing the meal, Cheol-woo sat on the floor and took out his phone.
Pretending to open a messenger app, he opened the notepad app instead.
'A large double-door refrigerator. A washing machine with the biggest capacity. The latest model boiler.'
His fingers quickly tapped the screen.
Then he added one more line.
'A one-ton cargo truck. Brand-new.'
In his heart, he wanted to pay for all of it immediately and have everything sent to the house.
But if unfamiliar appliances and a new car suddenly arrived, it was obvious that the two of them would be more shocked and worried.
They might even misunderstand and think he had received the money in exchange for his life after getting caught up in something dangerous.
He planned to visit again tomorrow first and explain, in a suitably packaged way, that he had gotten lucky with Hunter work and gained a steady source of income. It would be better to reassure them and then take them to the stores himself.
"Are you going to leave right after eating?"
Jung-hee asked as she brought over peeled fruit, and Cheol-woo rose from his seat.
"Yes. There is one Raid Settlement document I still have to hand over to the guild. I am just showing my face today."
"You are busy. Still, make sure you sleep well. Do not wear yourself down."
"I will come back around lunchtime tomorrow. Keep your schedules open then. There is somewhere we need to go together."
"Somewhere? Where?"
Myeong-su asked with a puzzled expression, but instead of answering, Cheol-woo simply waved lightly.
"I will tell you tomorrow. I will get going first."
Cheol-woo slung the duffel bag over his shoulder and stepped out through the front door.
As he walked down the darkened alley, he turned his phone screen back on.
[Direct Home Appliance Store]
[Official Boiler Agency]
[Car Dealership]
He searched the destinations in the map app one after another and pinned them.
Before taking his parents there tomorrow, these were the places he would visit in advance in the morning to check payment conditions and whether same-day delivery was possible.
After leaving the villa complex, Cheol-woo stood by the roadside and stretched lightly.
The night air was fairly cold, but it did not feel unpleasant.
Until now, his parents had pushed their own lives to the back while waiting for Cheol-woo to become a respectable Hunter.
Cheol-woo turned off the screen and put his phone into his pocket.
Now it was his turn to properly use the money he had earned for these people. He moved toward the bus stop without hesitation.