Upon returning to the manor, I realized that it was quite late, for all the lights were out and someone's snoring was quietly spreading through the interior.
Not wanting to make a commotion, I went straight to my room, stripped off my disheveled clothes, and changed into something comfortable.
And when I recalled the 'human' I had absorbed earlier, I worried over it a great deal, but the conclusion was that I had done well.
It was a situation where I had to grow stronger anyway. And with the certainty that this wouldn't happen just once or twice, I hypnotized myself into thinking I had no choice—that if I were weak, I'd be caught and devoured.
After preparing for bed and lying down, sleep wouldn't come.
My mind was restless, to say the least. To put it bluntly, I realized there hadn't been a single comfortable day since coming to this world. I had wanted this kind of life, but I hadn't wanted it to be this complicated.
Recalling that this was an era where one had to be strong to maintain power, I thought about what lay ahead.
I took out my phone and spent a long time checking the situation in various other countries and pondering how to proceed. I must have been so focused that I lost track of time entirely.
When I saw the dawn breaking through the window, I got up.
I hadn't slept, but neither did I intend to lie around tossing and turning like a layabout. Since things had turned out this way, I figured that if I wasn't tired, I ought to get moving, so I opened my wardrobe and put on some clothes for going out.
"Ha, it's been a while since I pulled an all-nighter."
Thanks to my nighttime visitor, I had stayed up through the night, but this was no time for complaints. Just as I finished getting ready and opened the door—
Bak Manuk, who had prepared for the morning even earlier than me, looked at me with a surprised expression and asked,
"Where are you off to so early in the morning?"
"Ah, I have some business in town. Was everything quiet last night?"
"How could anything have happened? Well, it was a bit noisy."
"Noisy?"
I tensed at Bak Manuk's words, but he merely smiled and pointed to one side.
"Minseo's father was snoring up a storm. At his age, how can one snore like that..."
Perhaps because it wasn't the answer I'd expected, I burst out laughing. Right, the snoring that had filled the manor—no wonder he had thought it noisy.
"Tell him to get it checked out."
"He was snoring loudly enough that he ought to see a physician. I'll take care of it."
"Yes, and please contact me right away if anything happens."
I raised my phone and shook it, and Bak Manuk nodded, saying he understood. I had bought a separate phone for each of the household members.
Honestly, in this world, home appliances—luxuries, so to speak—were traded at such exorbitant prices that ordinary people couldn't easily afford them.
So if you walked around the city, those who ran a business fully equipped with appliances or carried phones around were mostly those connected to Awakened.
Ordinary citizens were in a world with such a chaotic wealth gap that they were considered little better than commoners who had barely escaped becoming state slaves and bondsmen.
So it was not uncommon here for an ordinary person to become a slave simply by falling slightly into debt—a bizarre phenomenon.
"Life is harsh."
Bak Manuk responded with a "Yes?" to my muttering, but I told him it was nothing and left the manor. Then, just in case, I looked around, half-expecting someone connected to those who had attacked me yesterday to appear, but unlike in movies or dramas, no one made a grand, dramatic entrance.
After coming down to the city, I headed straight for the Gate Plaza—not because I intended to enter a Gate.
Because there had been an ambush, I couldn't be confident that even the Gate Plaza was safe.
"What brings you here today?"
It was a staff member with a slightly disgruntled tone—one I'd crossed paths with several times at the Gate Plaza. Since my visits usually weren't for pleasant reasons, he seemed to hold a grudge against me.
"I'd like to hire a Gater."
"A Gater? Most of them are resting right now."
"Isn't there a Gater available who can open a high-rank Gate?"
"A high-rank... please wait a moment."
The staff member began searching diligently, then frowned slightly and recommended someone.
"There is one. But if she doesn't take a liking to the client, she won't take the job at all... She's a bit difficult. Shall I introduce you?"
"Difficult? Is it a matter of payment?"
"Not at all. Literally, if she decides she doesn't like you, she'll turn you away. That's just the kind of person she is..."
So there are eccentric people too, I thought. Still, figuring I had nothing to lose by trying, I told him to introduce me, and he handed me a small business card.
Written on it was the name: 'I Hanna, the Most Beautiful Gater in the Korean Empire.'
"It's a woman?"
"Yes... There's a rumor that she's a former gisaeng."
He glanced at the card as if he'd seen something unsightly and said,
"Anyway, she's an odd Gater, so don't be swayed. If it doesn't feel right, just refuse whatever she demands."
"Demands?"
"You'll understand when you meet her."
Essentially dismissed, I had to leave the Gate Plaza. I hadn't come for the plaza itself, so it didn't bother me much, but I was curious what kind of woman this Gater I was about to meet would be.
With directions from passersby, I managed to reach my destination. The problem was the Gater there.
Despite the early hour, she was drinking heavily as if she'd fallen into a vat of liquor. When she spotted me, she asked,
"You there. If you've got business, come in and sit."
Watching her gulp down alcohol alone gave me a somewhat unfamiliar feeling, but since I definitely had business here, I sat down at the table and looked at the woman pouring herself a drink.
"Never seen a woman drinking alone before?"
"That's not it, but why are you drinking alone?"
With her appearance completely disheveled, she glanced at me and smirked.
"Because I'm lonely."
I had no idea what to say. So I just sat there awkwardly staring, when she suddenly set a glass down in front of me with a clack and poured liquor into it.
"An Awakened?"
"Yes, I am indeed a strong Awakened."
"A request?"
"That too."
"Get lost."
Wasn't that too blunt? Watching I Hanna snatch up the glass she'd set before me and down it in one go, I laughed.
"Why the hell are you laughing?"
It was scathing profanity. I hadn't heard such curses since coming here. It was partly because everyone here put on airs and refrained from swearing, but also because I'd never done anything to deserve such curses.
That was still the case now.
"Does cursing at a stranger make you feel good?"
"You didn't know? It feels fucking amazing."
"Is your personality always like this? Or is it because you're drunk?"
"None of your damn business!"
Just then, I Hanna staggered. I reached out, caught her wrist as she was about to fall backward, and said,
"Even an Awakened can crack their skull."
"...What the hell? Let go."
At her words, I carefully pulled her forward so she could lean against the table, then let go and said,
"If someone desperately needed your ability, what do you think?"
"They should need *me*!! Not my ability!"
So she was lonely, but also quite peculiar. I'd met many people since coming to the Korean Empire, but this was the first woman who felt this uninhibited.
That's because, even drunk, this wasn't the kind of country or background where one could easily say such things.
Come to think of Miss Jea as well, despite our frequent meetings, hadn't there never been a single instance of light physical contact? Compared to that, I supposed her courtship had been rather proactive, all things considered.
"We don't even know each other yet. Can't we talk after you've sobered up?"
"No. Whether I drink myself unconscious or fall over in my own house, it's none of your damn business."
I Hanna certainly spoke without restraint. I wondered how she'd ended up with such a personality. Had some ordeal in life shaped her this way? I could pry endlessly, but I decided to do what I could for now.
After all, a Gater's physical abilities were only slightly better than an ordinary person's.
I stood up and approached her. I tried to support I Hanna as she looked up at me with a strange gaze.
My first thought was to get her inside the house.
But as if reacting to my intent, she resisted violently and pushed me away.
"Get lost! There's still liquor left! Do you want me? Do you want to ravish my body?!"
Thinking about how drunks say all sorts of things, I said,
"If that were my intention, I'd have done it quietly. Let's go inside and sober up first, shall we?"
"Let go! I'm telling you to let go!! Let me gooooo... Waaaaah..."
I Hanna suddenly burst into tears. But I noticed gazes slowly shifting toward us due to the commotion, so I quickly picked her up. She looked at me with a startled expression.
"It'll be troublesome if we cause a scene, so let's go inside first. And I hope you don't misunderstand—I am not some degenerate scumbag who treats any woman like that."
Without waiting for a response, I carried her inside to avoid the stares. The problem was the interior: it had clearly been neglected for a long time and was a complete mess. I realized something must have happened to this woman.
Was she ashamed of me seeing it? I Hanna reddened and kept trying to push me away.
But there was no way she could break free of my brute strength. I set her down in what I assumed was her bedroom and spoke to I Hanna, who looked up at me nervously.
"I'll be in the living room. Take as long as you need—just make sure you sober up completely before coming out."
"...What are you?"
"What do you mean? A decent guest."
"Some cripple who can't even take what's offered?"
"I'm a normal person who simply refuses what's offered. Satisfied?"
At my answer, I Hanna went from crying to laughing. And the moment I stepped out of the room, she slammed the door shut with a bang.
I didn't know how long it would take for her to emerge, but I had nothing else to do, so I decided to clean up. I started picking up the trash scattered around the living room one by one.
And so, cleaning someone else's house, I had to wait endlessly for her to come out.
* * *
"Whew, cleaned up nice and tidy?"
Her appearance even more disheveled than before, those were the first words I Hanna said upon emerging from her room after several hours.
Her hair was completely flattened, suggesting she'd slept as if she'd passed out. She grabbed a bowl, filled it with cold water from the purifier at once, and gulped it down.
She seemed like a rough-and-tumble sort, so I watched her carefully. Just then, having finished the water, I Hanna set the bowl down on the dining table with a clack and said,
"So why the hell do you need me?"
"Because of danger."
"Danger?"
"Yes. There are many people targeting me."
"What does that have to do with needing me?"
"When I enter a Gate, it would be a problem if someone closed it on me, so I'm trying to secure a separate space. But among the Gaters who can open high-rank Gates, you were the only one who wasn't busy, Miss I Hanna."
"Why do you think I'm not busy? As you can see... I'm busy."
She didn't look busy at all, but her shamelessness was truly extraordinary.
"Aren't you ashamed?"
She turned her head away at my words. But since she didn't admit to being ashamed, I made her an offer.
"I'll give you twenty percent of the profits from the Gate. How about it?"
"Since you mentioned a high-rank Gate, you must have some skill. Is there a way to verify it?"
"If verification is truly necessary, there are plenty of ways."
Saying so, I looked around. Then I picked up a solid-looking steel ball and asked,
"Is this expensive?"
"Not really. But what are you going to do with that?"
At that, I briefly wondered if it would work, then grabbed the steel ball with both hands and began twisting it like an apple stem.
At first, there was no visible change, but it began to twist and tear bit by bit.
Feeling I Hanna's stunned gaze upon me, unable to utter a word, I twisted it once more and ripped it fully apart before speaking.
"I didn't think it would work, but it did."