Lee Hanna sat facing me, her expression tinged with curiosity. She asked,
“Just what are you?”
“What else would I be? A new Awakened.”
“I thought I knew every Awakened capable of going to most of this country’s upper-grade Gates. But someone like you isn’t in my memory.”
“It’s not as if you know every Awakened in all eight provinces, is it?”
“That’s true. I don’t know everyone. But I did think I knew everyone strong enough to use that level of power earlier.”
Lee Hanna began staring at me in a burdensome way, and I couldn’t get a handle on what to do with this unpredictable woman.
When she was drunk, she had tried every means to push me away, but now that she had sobered up, she was burning with zeal to conduct a background check. At this point, she was definitely a woman who seemed to have something wrong with her.
But with no real information to go on, it was hard to respond, and so we simply sat facing each other, repeating questions back and forth.
“But twenty percent must be a huge amount of money, no?”
“I don’t move with a team. Even if I give you twenty percent, it’s not as though I have people around me I need to take care of to the point where it would become a burden.”
“…Interesting.”
I couldn’t tell which part she found interesting. But taking her curiosity as a positive sign, I made my offer.
“At the very least, you’ll have to open an ‘Eul’ stage Gate for me. That should be possible, right?”
“So you were an absurdly powerful Awakened.”
“Is it possible?”
When I cut off Lee Hanna’s attempt to change the subject and asked again, she put on a prim expression and said,
“Opening a Gate itself isn’t really a problem. But you said you have a lot of enemies, didn’t you? How do you plan to handle that?”
“A security team won’t do?”
“Don’t state the obvious. You think those guys don’t have connections somewhere?”
My head grew complicated. So I began thinking through the options available to me, and one place came to mind. I had simply planned to dig out the basement of the manor and have someone else guard it there, but after thinking it through, I realized there would be a lot of things I’d have to pay attention to if I did that.
And Lee Hanna, reading something from my expression, said,
“Looks like you know an interesting place.”
“Ah, I do. One place.”
It wasn’t something I could tell her right away. The red Gate inside my Collection—whether I should let others know of its existence was something I pondered only briefly, before thinking that if I went inside and retrieved the Gate, no one would be able to get out anyway.
And among that “no one” would be Lee Hanna right in front of me.
If I properly prepared food and other supplies, and also brought in people to attend to her so she could live comfortably inside, I judged that she probably wouldn’t have much to complain about.
In any case, even here she didn’t seem to leave her house much beyond her home, so after a brief hesitation, I asked casually,
“It’s not a place I can tell you about right away. But if we work together, we can go there in a few days.”
“…Hmmm. You do have a talent for making people hesitate.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah. Your looks aren’t bad, your personality isn’t prickly, and you’re an idiot who can’t eat even when fed, but sure. Let’s work together.”
The last remark irritated me immensely, and my face twisted, but Lee Hanna seemed amused by my reaction and burst into peals of laughter.
Thinking that among the connections I’d made since coming here, she was certainly an unusual one, I left Lee Hanna’s house after telling her I’d see her in a few days.
And I was able to understand why the Gate Yard employee had called her an odd person and warned me not to associate with her.
Still, she didn’t seem like a bad person, and she wasn’t terribly burdensome either, so I decided to think positively of it.
After that, I began wandering around the city to procure supplies.
I started preparing preserved foods enough for ten people to eat and drink for about fifteen days, as well as luxuries like alcohol and various side dishes.
Then, after ordering things like a portable generator and arranging for delivery, I was wondering what else I needed to prepare when I saw people approaching from the front, waving their hands.
It was Ms. Jea and her team members. It seemed they had crossed a Gate today.
I also walked toward them, waving back at their cheerful greeting.
“Are you on your way back from an expedition?”
“Yes, we just came back from a ‘Mu’-grade Gate.”
Perhaps because they had stepped into the upper ranks, Ms. Jea’s team seemed especially fired up about expeditions lately. Looking at Kim Jaeseok and the other team members’ expressions, it seemed they had made quite a profit today, so I asked casually,
“What did you hunt?”
At my question, Park Aram, who looked rather excited, answered at once.
“A jeogwi nest! There was sooo much treasure!”
By jeogwi, she clearly meant “orcs.” Thanks to their habit of piling spoils in one place, they were one of the few Gates popular among rankers and known as a so-called “bonanza” Gate. So I could understand why they were this excited.
“I think the share per person came out to about four hundred thousand won.”
Kim Jaeseok also opened his mouth, clearly wanting to brag a little. It was certainly not a small amount of money. And it was also enough to make them excited. In any case, I said to them, who had finally established themselves among the upper ranks,
“Congratulations. I’m jealous.”
At my words, everyone wore triumphant expressions, while only Ms. Jea looked at me with a slightly worried gaze and asked,
“Has no one else approached you?”
“Ah, well, for now, I guess not? It’s been quiet.”
Ms. Jea slowly nodded at my words, and her team members also seemed to have heard the circumstances, as each of them added a word.
Most of it was along the lines of telling me to be careful, but Jeon Eunseok said something a little different.
“I think it wouldn’t be a bad case for you to place yourself under His Highness the Prince instead.”
“I don’t really want to belong to anyone. That’s the problem.”
The atmosphere turned awkward, but only for a moment. Everyone had places to hurry off to. And so, after saying goodbye to Ms. Jea with something like “see you next time,” I left her team behind and headed to my next destination.
Ms. Jea watched me with a regretful look, but right now, I couldn’t afford to waste time on minor matters.
Afterward, I bulk-purchased this and that, all the things I thought I would need—clothing, daily necessities, and the like—then returned to the manor. Park Manuk, who was already at a loss as he looked at the piles of goods stacked in the yard, hurried over when he saw me and asked,
“What do you intend to do with all of this?”
“There’s more coming.”
“Pardon…?”
“I bought it because of certain circumstances. It’s all going to be used up, so you don’t need to worry.”
“If that is the case… But when you are young, you must save your money.”
It was a sudden scolding, the kind that made me let out a small laugh.
“I earn a lot. Enough that all of this feels trivial. And when you see the first salary I’ll be giving you, Manuk, you’ll probably faint.”
“…Sa-salary? I told you I don’t need such a thing.”
“Opposed to free volunteer labor! Opposed to a family-like atmosphere!”
“As for the latter…”
“I already think of us as family here. That’s why I have no intention of treating you carelessly. I’d be very grateful if you just accepted what I give you.”
Park Manuk scratched his head awkwardly. And the same went for Minseo’s family. From the moment I had brought them into the manor to live together, I had no longer thought of them as strangers.
In any case, I needed somewhere to grow attached to. After wrapping up the situation like that, it wasn’t long before I was able to confirm that the rest of the purchased goods had all arrived.
When many people had come and gone from the manor, unloading the goods before leaving, I felt somewhat stifled as I looked at the things piled up all over the manor.
“Phew, moving all this is going to be a real pain.”
At my mutter, Park Manuk rolled up his sleeves, and Minseo’s family, watching this, also looked ready to step forward in a hurry. I said to them,
“Why don’t all of you go out and have a meal?”
They looked at me in puzzlement, so I explained the circumstances. What I was about to do would not be good for them to see, and I would prefer they did not know.
Park Manuk and Minseo’s family spoke as if they felt a little hurt by my words, but when I answered, “It could be dangerous,” their expressions stiffened, and they left the manor, saying they would be back.
To put it bluntly, they had only just found peace in their lives. I didn’t want there to be any danger for them. After watching the manor family head far down toward the city, I used Collection and pulled up the display case.
A display case filled with all sorts of items.
Among them, the human-shaped figures on the lower shelf stood out plainly to my eyes, but I ignored them and picked up the red Gate-shaped figure on the upper shelf.
Then, after pulling it out, I approached the storage building and placed the Gate in a suitable spot. The ability I would use this time was my final ability, Materialization.
Materialization — Materializes or gives physical form to a collected target, making physical contact or its original function possible.
“Materialization.”
The red Gate slowly began to grow. The manor had been designed so that, from the outside, one could not tell what was inside the storage building, making it the perfect situation to hide this and avoid being discovered. I moved my feet beyond the fully formed red Gate.
First, I had moved to check whether it was functioning, and after confirming that my body transferred without any resistance, I looked around.
The gold, silver, and treasures smeared in Tyrone dung still formed mountains.
“If I brought ordinary people in here, they’d awaken to greed.”
I wondered what Lee Hanna would do. Then I let out a small laugh and began carrying the goods in the manor yard inside to take care of what needed doing. Time was money, and there were many items.
Afterward, I was able to move almost everything before the manor family returned. I finished by taking the remaining items, such as clothing, and evenly placing them in Park Manuk’s room and Minseo’s family’s room, then collected the red Gate again by returning it to Collection form.
It was both somewhat inconvenient and seemingly convenient. I intended to make good use of it and grow stronger inside the red Gate.
Because in my opinion, this place, the Korean Empire, was not in a normal state.
* * *
The next day, I went to find Lee Hanna early in the morning.
Lee Hanna greeted my visit with a look of surprise, but the problem was that she was once again soaked in liquor.
“At this point, aren’t you an alcoholic?”
“None of your business.”
A deep sigh escaped me. Thinking that perhaps she simply became a bit rough when she drank, I once again took a seat in front of her. As before, she set a glass down in front of me with a sharp clack and poured alcohol into it.
“Are you going to take this drink away and drink it again this time?”
“That depends on you. Are the preparations done?”
“I’ve made a reasonable amount of preparations, but looking at your habits, they’re starting to feel insufficient.”
I could picture Lee Hanna beyond the red Gate, steeped in alcohol and buried in gold, silver, and treasure. But that was something I would find out once we went, so as I waited for her answer, this time she did not snatch the glass away and instead said to me,
“Try it. It’s good liquor.”
At those words, I had no choice but to pick up the glass and toss the liquor into my mouth. A clear fragrance and rich flavor spread throughout my mouth.
“It’s called Seolmaehwaju. When the world is covered in snow, plum blossoms are picked and brewed in that very moment. It’s a fairly high-class liquor. There isn’t much of it, so it’s very expensive.”
I definitely agreed that it was high-class liquor. But on the other hand, I wondered if she was wasting all the wealth she earned as a Gater on this expensive alcohol.
But who was I to say anything about what someone bought with their own money?
“If we go now, can you work?”
“Work? Why wouldn’t I be able to?”
Then Lee Hanna rose unsteadily from her seat. Looking at the liquor bottles piled on the table, I could tell she had drunk quite a lot since early morning.
It seemed she had drunk three jars, not bottles, and thinking that it was no wonder she was staggering, I went to her side, supported her, and said,
“Let’s rest a little before we set off.”
“I’m fine, though? See? My tongue isn’t even twisted, and I’m perfectly normal.”
Frankly, even if she drank more, I didn’t think her tongue would twist. The problem was that her body was twisting. What a strange woman. Most people’s tongues twisted first… In any case, thinking that moving now wouldn’t be of much help, I supported her and led her into the house.
It was someone else’s house, and a woman’s house at that, and this was already my second visit. Unlike before, however, it was neat this time, so I thought it carried that distinct scent of a woman as I led her to the bedroom.