Jeong-min walked to Jo-won's office.
'Ah... is that face really younger than mine? What is going on... I was going to call him "mister."'
Jeong-min shuddered once and entered the office with the sign "Human Resources Department."
The previously empty office now had several employees back at their desks.
Jeong-min went to the small office inside and opened the door.
"You've arrived."
Jo-won, who was sitting at a small desk, stood up expressionlessly to greet Jeong-min.
"Yes, is everything ready?"
At Jeong-min's question, Jo-won nodded and said,
"Yes. I've piled it up on one side, so you can take it."
Jeong-min looked at the supplies piled up on one side of the office.
'It doesn't look like much when I see it like this... Well, I can just take more as I need it.'
As Jeong-min opened his inventory and began to move the supplies, Jo-won, who was watching, said,
"I've already told the cafeteria about the food you mentioned, so you can pick it up when you leave. I decided it would be better to take cooked food than raw ingredients, so I had them prepare cooked meals. It won't spoil if it's in your inventory anyway. Is that alright?" Jeong-min stared at Jo-won.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Oh, nothing... I was just thinking you've become quite docile. I was wondering where the fierce HR Manager went."
"Who are you calling docile—"
Jo-won, who frowned and flared up at Jeong-min's words, soon clutched his forehead, sat down, and took a deep breath.
After regaining his composure for a moment, Jo-won sighed deeply and said to Jeong-min,
"You wouldn't know this pain... because you haven't experienced it. It's a pain that truly drives people crazy. A pain so bad that I never want to experience it again... It's a pain that makes me think it would be easier to just accept being your slave and live with it. Do you understand?"
"Well, why did you do that? Honestly, I thought putting the Slave Seal on you was a bit much, but you crossed the line when you brought up my friend and his family. Don't you think? In fact, if you hadn't mentioned Jun-ki and his family, I probably wouldn't have put the Slave Seal on you. Maybe...?"
"......"
Jo-won closed his mouth tightly, as if he had nothing to say.
"Well, now that it's come to this, let's get along. At least my existence will benefit this shelter, and it will never be harmful. Even if I need something, I'll buy it at the right price, so don't worry. Isn't it even better for the shelter? How else could you get such items without going through me? If you just serve me diligently as my slave, this shelter's future will be smooth sailing." Jo-won listened silently to Jeong-min's words, then sighed deeply and said, "Just tell me one thing. Where do those items really come from? Is there perhaps a shelter or organization that's already far ahead...?"
"There's nothing like that. Don't worry. But if you trade with me consistently, Daesung Shelter might become that advanced shelter. So don't get any funny ideas and just keep working hard as you have been."
"....."
Jo-won thought for a moment and then said to Jeong-min,
"Alright. Since I'm your slave anyway, I'll have to do as you say. But as you said, this is where your friend and his family belong, so I hope you'll take care of them as much as possible."
"I'll take care of that, so don't worry. Oh, and do you have any spare rooms? Even a small room is fine."
"...I'll have to check. But there should be some. Why do you need a room..."
"Just prepare a small room for me to use next time I come. I'm not going to live there... I just need it for something."
"..Alright."
After hearing Jo-won's words, Jeong-min left the office.
Jeong-min walked to the cafeteria and received the food that Jo-won had prepared.
Various side dishes were neatly stacked in special containers.
'I can just take them out little by little when I eat. Leia will like it too. Gwak Jo-won's work is quite good. He's rude, but he's definitely good at his job.'
Jeong-min put the food in his inventory and walked through the hallway to go outside.
Through the windows of the hallway, he could see the Awakened combat unit training hard in the training grounds.
'With that much power, the D-rank gate subjugation tomorrow should be no problem. But I should still come to see it, just in case. It's supposed to start after lunch, right...?'
Jeong-min walked slowly towards the main gate of Daesung Shelter.
Perhaps there were instructions given, because the gate opened without any restrictions as Jeong-min approached.
Jeong-min left Daesung Shelter and entered the alley where he had previously set up.
He opened and closed his inventory once to designate the exit point, then opened the gate for the base and entered the inventory.
"Haa... it's even more of a mess now."
The inside of the inventory was filled with the supplies he had received from Daesung Shelter, leaving no room to step.
"First... the lighting..."
Jeong-min found the lantern he had received from the shelter and turned it on.
As the inside of the inventory brightened, the messily piled-up items came into stark view.
"I'll clean up... later. Until then, let's just secure a space."
Jeong-min roughly made a space in the middle and laid out the thick mattress he had received from the shelter.
"Finally, freedom from the hard floor. I needed this so much..."
After roughly making a place to sleep, Jeong-min began to pack his things to go to Leia.
He packed cola and various snacks from the shelter, and even a few bottles of alcohol from another dimension's inventory, and then moved to Leia's inventory.
"Hmm...? The gate isn't open yet... Did I come too early?"
Leia always had the inventory gate open around sunset and waited for Jeongmin, but today the inventory gate was not yet open.
Jeong-min sat on the floor and waited for the gate to open.
"...It feels like quite a bit of time has passed... Why isn't it opening? Is something wrong?"
After waiting for a long time, with no sign of Leia's inventory gate opening, Jeong-min began to worry.
"Well... when we first made the appointment, we said that if she was in battle or something, she might not be able to open it, so we'd just take the day off... So is she in battle right now? I hope she's okay..."
Jeong-min was worried, but he shook his head and muttered to himself.
"Who am I worrying about? It's Leia, not just anyone... Hmm... So I can't go today? Should I go back?"
It was already quite late, and outside it would probably be quite late at night.
Jeong-min got up from the floor to return to his inventory.
At that moment,
The inventory gate opened silently.
"It opened...?!"
Beyond the inventory gate, Leia, her face covered in dirt, was looking anxiously at the gate.
Jeong-min immediately used Spatial Movement to appear next to Leia.
Now that Jeong-min hardly felt the aftereffects of dimensional travel, he was able to stand naturally next to Leia.
"Jeong-min!"
Leia shouted happily as she looked at Jeong-min.
"I opened it just in case... I was waiting! I thought you would have gone back because it was so late!"
"I was about to go back because I thought you were taking the day off. Fortunately, the gate opened before I left."
Jeong-min also greeted Leia happily.
"But what happened? You're covered in dirt..."
Hearing Jeong-min's words, Leia dusted herself off and said,
"There was a battle just now. I was going to open the gate right after the battle, but I was worried that Jeong-min might be in danger... so I just ran all the way here and opened the gate."
"Ah... so you were in battle. You've been through a lot. You should wash up
first..."
"Ah, yes, I should? I'll go wash up for a bit."
"Then I'll prepare dinner in the meantime. I came back from a trade today, so I have a lot of things to eat."
Leia's eyes sparkled at Jeong-min's words.
"I'll be right back after I wash up!"
As Leia ran to the shower booth, Jeong-min smiled and started preparing dinner.
Jeong-min set out the various side dishes and rice he had received from the shelter and waited for Leia to come out.
Soon Leia came out and seemed very happy to see the food that had been prepared.
Jeong-min first handed Leia a can of cola.
"Drink this first. You must be thirsty?"
Leia took the cola from Jeong-min, used her skill to cool it down, opened the lid, and began to drink it down in gulps.
After drinking for a while, Leia frowned and hunched her shoulders.
"Kyah... this tingling sensation and coolness... it's addictive! It's been so long since I've had cola..."
"Ah... was it that long...? It doesn't seem like it's been that many days..."
"That's how happy I am to have it!"
Leia retorted slightly to Jeong-min and then drank the rest of the cola.
Then she sat down to eat.
"There are a lot of foods I've never seen before. I'm so excited."
"I hope you like it. I got it from the shelter's cafeteria. Try it."
The two began to have dinner.
Leia ate the food that Jeong-min had received from the shelter and exclaimed in admiration.
"Really... I've never tasted anything like this before... It's so delicious, Jeongmin!"
"Ah... I'm glad you like it. It's just ordinary side dishes..."
"It may be ordinary to Jeong-min, but it's not to me. They're all foods I've never seen before."
"I'm glad you're enjoying it."
The two chatted and finished their meal.
After roughly cleaning up, Jeong-min said to Leia,
"It's... getting late."
"It is. I think it's best to skip training today. I'm a little tired after fighting a big battle for the first time in a while."
"What kind of battle did you fight?"
"Well... the monster attacks have been infrequent lately, so I've been exploring the surrounding area myself. But today I was attacked during my exploration. The monsters were on a different level from the monsters that have been attacking me so far. Thanks to that, it took quite a bit of time and I got covered in dirt."
Jeong-min recalled the monsters that had attacked before.
'Monsters on a different level from those monsters...? Then how terrifying are they...'
Leia continued to speak.
"If the monsters that came out before were just recycled versions of the monsters that came out of the gates so far... the monster I met today was one I've never seen before. I guess you could say they were real S-grade monsters that only come out of S-rank gates? They were powerful. So it took quite a while to catch them all."
'...Just by investing a little more time, she can catch such amazing monsters...'
Jeong-min stared blankly at Leia and asked,
"Real S-grade monsters... How are they different from the previous monsters?"
"Hmm... If I were to look at their characteristics... I think they might be dragonkin."
"Dragonkin...?"
Leia nodded and said,
"Yes, dragonkin. Their characteristics match the dragonkin monsters that my master told me about before. Seeing that, I think the gatekeeper of the S-rank gate is probably... a dragon."
"A... a dragon...?"
"Yes, a dragon. Do you know about them?"
"Ah... I don't know if the dragon I know and the dragon Leia is talking about are the same, but... they're the same in that they're powerful. A dragon... will it be okay?"
Leia tilted her head at Jeong-min's question.
"What?"
"Ah, it's nothing."
Leia looked at Jeong-min and said,
"I don't know what you're asking if it will be okay, but... I want to meet the dragon soon. If I catch the dragon, this long [Trial of God] will be over, right? I hope I get to meet the dragon soon."
"...."
Jeong-min looked at Leia with pity.
'It must be tiring... The Trial of God she's been going through for nine years...' Leia stretched greatly and said to Jeong-min,
"It's too late today... I'm tired too... Can we skip training today?"
Jeong-min nodded and said,
"Ah, of course. I was waiting in Leia's inventory to go back, so I was thinking that we were taking the day off today. Then... shall we have a drink? There are a lot of snacks too..."
"A drink? Today? That sounds good! Ah, it's been so long since I've had a drink..."
Leia's eyes sparkled.
Jeong-min smiled at Leia and took out a bottle of alcohol from his bag.
It was an alcohol called 'White Flower Liquor' that he had brought from another dimension's inventory before.
"Hmm... I don't have anything to use as a glass..."
Jeong-min, who had not brought any glasses, looked around.Then, Leia opened her inventory and took out two small wooden cups, handing them to Jeong-min.
"Oh, these are nice. They're the perfect size for a drinking cup."
"These are the cups I used to use when I drank with my colleagues and my master. It's been a while since I've used them again."
"Ah... I see."
Jeong-min poured alcohol into Leia's cup.
Leia, watching the clear liquor slosh in her cup, said in a wistful voice.
"I didn't really enjoy it, but my master and colleagues really loved to drink.
They loved it so much that they wouldn't let me drink more than three cups with this cup. They didn't say anything the first day we drank together, even if I drank as much as I wanted..."
Jeong-min, having filled his own cup, asked Leia.
"They only let you... drink three cups? Why?"
"Why else? Because it would reduce the amount of alcohol they could drink, of course. Anyway, those drunks... Well, shall we have a drink?"
"Ah... yes..."
With a slightly uneasy feeling, Jeong-min clinked his cup against Leia's and tossed it back.
Leia looked at her empty cup and said.
"Wow... this alcohol really has a nice aroma. And the taste too... Ah, a message popped up saying my stamina has increased. Did you get one too, Jeong-min?"
"Yes, since it's alcohol that gives a buff... it's really good. But it feels a little strong..."
"Really? It doesn't seem that different from the alcohol I've had before... Anyway, it's good. Shall we have another?"
The two began to drink in earnest, and Jeong-min could understand why Leia's colleagues and master didn't let her drink too much.