A thick bankbook and a bundle of documents fell onto the dining table with a thud.
"What is all this?"
Oh Myeong-su asked, his eyes widening. He had just finished breakfast and was about to drink some water.
Cheol-woo pulled out a chair and sat down, answering lightly.
"They are the Raid Settlement Details I received from the place where I work, and my bankbook."
Kim Jung-hee, who had been washing a dishcloth in the kitchen, hurried over and stole a glance at the documents. Her eyes stopped when she saw the balance printed in the bankbook and the Settlement amount.
"What is all this money? You did not do anything bad, did you? You were not forced into some dangerous place, were you?"
"Mother. You know I am not that kind of person."
Cheol-woo smiled and pushed the documents toward his father.
"Things are different from when I was a perpetual E-rank Porter. I was lucky enough to secure a good position, and the raids went well too. This is not money I earned by taking on debt. It is money that clearly fell to me as my share. It will not end as a one-time thing either. I have built a foundation that will keep bringing in money steadily."
Myeong-su carefully examined the official seals and amounts written on the documents.
They were clearly records that had been properly processed through an official Purchasing Office and business partners. Even so, his father could not easily relax his expression.
"Still, is this not too much money? You need to buy equipment for yourself, and you need to save up for medicine too. If you suddenly get a large sum and spend it recklessly, you will be the one in trouble."
"It is well within the range I can handle even after setting aside my equipment costs and Living Expenses. I am not forcing myself, so please do not worry."
Cheol-woo closed the bankbook and put it into his pocket.
"So please hurry and put on your coats. Let’s go out."
"Where are you trying to drag us off to this early in the morning?"
"I told you yesterday. There is somewhere we need to go together."
He pushed the backs of the two bewildered people and led them out the front door.
The place they arrived at was the largest home appliance store in the neighborhood. As soon as they stepped inside the entrance, the latest refrigerators lined up beneath brilliant lighting caught their eyes.
Jung-hee glanced at the price tags and recoiled in shock.
"Oh my, why did we come all the way here? It is much cheaper if we buy online. And our refrigerator still works perfectly well. As long as I wrap the rubber band around it properly, not a bit of cold air leaks out."
"Mother, how can a refrigerator you use by tying the door shut with a rubber band be working perfectly? Excuse me, could someone come over here?"
When Cheol-woo called out, an employee in a suit approached.
"Is there a model you are looking for?"
"I would like to look at a double-door refrigerator and a large-capacity washing machine. Not the most luxurious models or ones packed with unnecessary features. Please recommend practical models that do not break down often and use less electricity. Something we can use for a long time."
At Cheol-woo’s firm request, the employee immediately guided them to suitable products.
Jung-hee kept pretending not to notice and turning her eyes toward the cheaper models, but Cheol-woo brought out the measurements he had written down at home in advance.
"Mother, this model is exactly the right size to fit through our utility room door. And the washing machine needs to have at least this much capacity so it does not rattle when you wash winter blankets."
"Still, the price is too……."
"I will pay for it. When is the fastest delivery available?"
The employee tapped on a tablet and smiled brightly.
"We can deliver it tomorrow morning. We will also collect the old appliances free of charge."
"Good. Please add a floor-standing air conditioner for the living room under the same conditions. I will pay for everything at once."
When Cheol-woo held out his card without hesitation, Myeong-su and Jung-hee stared at each other with dazed expressions.
After finishing the appliance purchase, Cheol-woo sat down on a rest chair in a corner of the store and took out his phone. It was the Official Boiler Agency he had looked up yesterday.
"Yes, hello. I would like to ask about replacing the boiler unit. Last winter, when the technician came, he said there was also a problem with the aging pipes. If we replace everything this time, what would the schedule look like?"
After confirming the rough estimate and inspection schedule over the phone, Cheol-woo nodded.
"Yes. The cost does not matter, so please use the sturdiest parts so it will not break down. Please schedule it for tomorrow afternoon."
After ending the call, Cheol-woo rose from his seat.
"Now, the household contracts are finished for today. Father, we will talk about your truck again on the day the new appliances arrive."
"Me? I have nothing to replace. It is enough that you replaced the boiler."
"I will bring it up again in a few days."
Myeong-su scratched the back of his head, but Cheol-woo led his parents out of the store.
A few days later.
On one side of the villa living room, a double-door refrigerator with a subtle metallic finish stood proudly in place. In the utility room, a new washing machine with perfect balance was running smoothly without the slightest noise.
"How does the door stick so tightly? Not a bit of cold air is leaking out."
Jung-hee opened and closed the refrigerator door, exclaiming in admiration again and again. She smiled happily as she looked at the quiet washing machine that no longer needed pieces of paper wedged under it.
"See? We should have replaced it earlier. You will not have to look for rubber bands anymore now."
Myeong-su, who was standing in the living room and stroking the air deflector of the new floor-standing air conditioner, chimed in. The boiler had also been replaced with the latest model, and the sound of leaking water from the heating pipes had completely disappeared.
"Father, let’s go now."
"Where are we going now? I told you everything is done."
"We have to go look at trucks."
At Cheol-woo’s words, Myeong-su jumped.
"Hey! The truck is really not necessary. I only load some boxes in the cargo bed and drive around the neighborhood. Why would I need a new car? If I take it to the repair shop one more time, it will be usable."
"Father."
Cheol-woo held out a document he had printed in advance. It was the repair history for his father’s truck.
"Clutch repair last month, muffler replacement scheduled this month. Signs of engine oil leakage. This is the estimate you received from the repair shop, Father."
"It is a machine, so of course it breaks down."
"What will you do if the car stops in the middle of the road while you are making deliveries? If there is even an accident, the hospital bills will cost more than the price of the car. You will lose more than the money you are saving."
Faced with Cheol-woo’s logical barrage of facts, Myeong-su shut his mouth tightly.
"Mother, I will take Father to the car dealership and come back."
"Go ahead. Safety matters most with cars."
Jung-hee waved without being able to take her eyes off the refrigerator.
After arriving at the car dealership, the two of them looked around the showroom where one-ton small cargo trucks were lined up. Myeong-su still pretended to be indifferent, but his gaze wavered every time he saw the gleaming paint finish of a new vehicle.
A salesperson approached and held out a tablet.
"If you will mainly use it for deliveries, this model is the most popular. The cargo bed is spacious, and engine noise has been reduced significantly this time."
"Let us look at a box truck type or a model with a tarp cover. The boxes cannot get wet when it rains. Do you have any inventory vehicles available for immediate release?"
At Cheol-woo’s quick and precise request, the salesperson immediately checked the inventory list.
"As it happens, we have one white vehicle left with excellent basic options. If you sign the contract, we can proceed with the release process, and you should be able to receive it within a few days."
"I will sign the contract for that one. Please handle the scrapping or sale process for the old vehicle here as well."
"Understood! I will prepare the documents immediately."
Myeong-su tugged on Cheol-woo’s sleeve.
"Hey, do you know how much this will cost once you add the acquisition and registration tax and insurance premiums……?"
"I am using the money I earned to buy your safety, Father. Please let me spend at least that much."
At the firm look in Cheol-woo’s eyes, Myeong-su ultimately could not insist any further. His father’s fingertips trembled faintly as he signed the documents.
That evening, after finishing all their errands and returning home.
Cheol-woo sat on the living room sofa and opened the banking app on his phone. After finishing the automatic transfer settings with a few taps, he raised his head.
"Mother, Father. Living Expenses will be transferred from my account on the twenty-fifth of every month."
Jung-hee, who had been peeling fruit, set down the knife with a stern expression.
"Living Expenses? What are you talking about? We are still working, so why would you send us Living Expenses? It must cost a lot for you to buy equipment and work as a Hunter. Do not start pouring money into us already."
"That is right. You do not need to shoulder all of our household burdens. We are still perfectly healthy."
Myeong-su also joined in.
Cheol-woo turned off his phone screen and calmly looked at the two of them.
"I am not telling you to quit working right away. Mother, I know you enjoy running the side dish shop. Father, I also know you like going out to make deliveries a few days a week and getting some fresh air."
"Then why are you sending us Living Expenses?"
"When I was working as a Porter and my equipment broke, or when I did not have enough money to buy Antidotes, what did the two of you do?"
A brief silence flowed through the living room at Cheol-woo’s question.
"You dipped into the money for the shop’s Rent to pay for my medicine, and when delivery payments came in, you sent them straight to my account first. All while the two of you used a refrigerator tied shut with a rubber band and a washing machine propped up with scraps of paper."
Cheol-woo’s voice was calm, but there was weight behind it.
"Now it is my turn to repay you. I am not giving you this money so you will quit working. I am giving it to you so that, at the very least, you do not have to worry about monthly utility bills or repair costs for old machines. I want you to live comfortably and keep working only when you want to, without carrying that burden."
Jung-hee moved her lips, but she could not find any words to refuse him further. Myeong-su also cleared his throat and turned his gaze out the window.
Cheol-woo leaned back comfortably against the sofa.
The automatic Settlements running from the Goblin’s Abandoned Mine, and the resources steadily piling up in the Waterway and the Medicinal Herb Garden. He had been happy when he first obtained a large sum by selling Azure Mana Iron, but that could not compare to the reassurance filling his chest now.
He was satisfied by the fact that his ability did not end merely as numbers in a bank account, but could visibly change his family’s daily lives like this.
"On the day the new car arrives, take a day off from deliveries, Father, and Mother, close the shop a little early too."
"Why on that day?"
"We need to go out to eat together. I earned money, but we have not even had a proper meal out yet."
Cheol-woo rose from his seat and stretched.
"I will come by around lunchtime on the day we receive the car, so please be ready. We are going to eat something expensive."