Evening was settling over Bresen Pioneer Village.
The red glow of sunset had already nearly faded, and the open ground in front of the guild was dotted with adventurers who had just returned. From inside came the constant sounds of ledgers being turned and coins clinking together.
Without saying much, we went into the guild.
Maybe because we’d been running around the forest all afternoon, all three of us were pretty worn out. Mari didn’t pick a fight first like she usually did, and Kaya was quiet too. I didn’t particularly feel like opening my mouth first either.
‘Ah... I’m fucking exhausted...!’
Still, I wasn’t in a bad mood. My pockets were heavy today, after all.
I handed Luce all the magic stones we’d caught that afternoon. The murky gray-green goblin magic stones were set to one side, while the larger, dull black-brown iron-tusk magic stones were placed separately on the other.
“Good work.”
After saying that, Luce pointed a finger at the ledger.
“It was a mixed subjugation request combined with patrol duty on the outskirts of Bresen Pioneer Village. The base reward is 2 silver coins and 5 copper coins.”
“Yes.”
“Eighteen ordinary goblin magic stones. Two copper coins each, for a total of 36 copper coins.”
“Oh.”
“Five iron-tusk boar magic stones. Five copper coins each, for a total of 25 copper coins.”
“Ooh.”
I ran the numbers in my head.
Including the base reward and the magic stone payment, it came to 90 copper coins. Split three ways, that was 30 copper coins per person.
In other words, 2 silver coins and 6 copper coins.
‘Damn... we made a lot.’
For some reason, clean numbers like this put me in a good mood.
Luce closed the ledger and said,
“All together, it’s exactly 90 copper coins, and if the three of you split it, that’s 30 copper coins per person. Converted into silver, that’s 2 silver coins and 6 copper coins. Would you like it in both silver and copper?”
Kaya said,
“Yeah. Do that.”
Two silver coins. Six copper coins.
My share was pushed in front of me.
Clink.
For some reason, the sound of copper and silver coins hitting each other was strangely cheerful.
‘Worth it, slitting boar throats and goblin necks in the forest.’
“Wow...”
When I let out an unnecessary sound of admiration, Mari looked at me with a tired face.
“What’s with him? Is this your first time earning money?”
“No, but it feels good, doesn’t it?”
“I guess it would. We really did hunt like mad this afternoon.”
“Right? I told you we all worked hard.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Even as she said that, Mari very quickly pocketed her share. Kaya also quietly accepted her coins. I swept my share into my hand too, then after thinking for a moment, separated out only 3 copper coins and held them out toward Luce.
“Please put this toward the leather guard tab.”
“Only three coins?”
“Yes.”
Mari immediately laughed.
“Wow, even a guy like that can learn.”
“I’m human too. Human!”
“You weren’t at noon.”
“I admit that.”
Luce opened the ledger again and skimmed a few lines with her fingertips.
“The tab for the leather armguards has been fully paid off.”
“Yes.”
While listening to that, something suddenly occurred to me, so I asked right away.
“But... don’t tabs for weapons like this usually have interest or something?”
Luce raised her head. Then she blinked for a moment as if surprised, and calmly answered.
“There’s no separate interest on weapons taken from the guild.”
“Oh?”
“If we added interest in the first place, people wouldn’t last long. The guild doesn’t go that far.”
“Then...”
“All that remains is the price of the iron sword.”
“Yes.”
The leather armguards were done. There was no separate interest on the guild weapon tab either.
All that remained was the principal for the iron sword: 5 silver coins.
‘Suddenly, I can see a future?’
Just a little while ago I’d been a debtor, but now I felt more like a working young man.
I counted my remaining money again.
Two silver coins. Three copper coins.
It wasn’t enough to call a lot, but it was definitely money left in my hand.
“What should we do about dinner?”
When I asked, Kaya answered first.
“I’m thinking of eating what they have at the Healing Sanctuary today.”
“Then I’ll do that too.”
“Me too.”
Mari answered briefly as well.
Luce smiled at me and said,
“You worked hard. Get plenty of rest today. If you’re going out again tomorrow, that is.”
“Yes, thank you! Take care~”
I smiled once at Luce, then pushed the coins deep into my pocket.
✧ ✧ ✧
After returning to the Healing Sanctuary, I washed up briefly.
It was hard to call it a proper bath. More like drawing water from the washing area inside and wiping only my face, neck, arms, and hands. Still, after roughly washing off the blood, dirt, and sweat that had clung to me all day, I felt alive again.
The dried bloodstains on the backs of my hands disappeared, and once the dust stuck to my cheeks washed away, I felt a bit better.
I swept my wet hand through my hair.
“Mmm~ refreshing.”
Beside me, Mari wiped her arms and said,
“If you’d eaten looking like that, it would’ve been disgusting.”
“Sniff... did you really have to say it like that?”
“Want me to say it prettily, then?”
“Oh, that was possible?”
“Come here for a second.”
“Hiek!”
Kaya laughed softly beside us.
After washing, we entered the dining room inside.
Tonight’s dinner was only warm soup and hard grain bread. It wasn’t as much as the Sunset Hearth, nor was it fancy. It was just enough to very slightly soothe the stomach.
The soup was warm, and the bread was tough.
My body relaxed a bit. But that was all.
‘Not enough...’
On a day like today, this wasn’t quite enough. My body was exhausted, and my stomach was only vaguely filled. It was warm, but it felt empty.
‘I’m craving something... intense.’
Kaya looked at my face and immediately asked,
“You’re not full?”
“Does it show?”
“Yeah.”
“I guess it’s because I moved around a lot today.”
Mari took a forceful bite of bread and said,
“If you got full on this after running around like that earlier, that’d be stranger.”
“That’s true...”
Kaya looked at me and said,
“Do you want more bread and soup?”
“Hmm... no. Let’s work harder tomorrow and eat something tasty for lunch!”
“Sure. Let’s do that.”
“Yes!”
I looked down at the emptied soup bowl.
It was warm. It had heat. It was a fantasy-world kind of dinner.
But the problem was, what my body wanted wasn’t this kind of gentle satisfaction.
‘Spicy, salty, and sweet!’
Something salty, greasy, spicy, fucking terrible for the body, but amazing for the mood. Something like fried chicken.
In the end, I raised my head.
“I’ll head in first.”
“Yeah, sleep well.”
“Yes, everyone sleep well.”
“Sure. You too.”
Mari answered briefly.
I turned toward the room at the end of the corridor behind the Healing Sanctuary.
As soon as I reached the room and closed the door, I stirred up my will to return to reality.
A short vertical crack appeared in the middle of the room, and before long, a rectangular dimensional gate opened.
‘All right, let’s go back in to eat~’
The air changed in an instant. The smell of dust and earth vanished, and the familiar air of my studio apartment brushed the tip of my nose.
Just then, the record window appeared before my eyes.
[Record Updated]
Real-world time: 2026-03-26 21:39:36
Return to Reality
Earth-0300
Coordinates: Fixed to Previous Departure Point
My reality, frozen in place.
The same desk and computer.
The same bed.
The same world.
In Astrania, it was already the evening of the third day, but here, it was still only 9:39 p.m.
I flopped onto the bed.
“Mmm~ this crazy double life. So damn fun.”
The fact that the guy who’d been killing goblins and insane boars in a medieval fantasy world just moments ago was now sitting on a bed in a Seoul studio apartment opening a delivery app made my heart swell all over again.
‘The Dimension Archive is fucking broken, isn’t it?’
At that moment, as if responding to my thoughts, the Dimension Archive quietly appeared.
────────────────
Dimension Archive
User: Baek Siyun
Reality: Earth-0300
Time Until Next Update: 15:55:17
[Dimension] [Abilities] [Records] [Settings]
────────────────
“It’s already updated a few times too, huh.”
What did that have to do with me?
Without hesitation, I opened the delivery app.
Half seasoned, half fried. And Buldak-bokkeum-myeon.
This was tonight’s dinner.
While waiting for the delivery, I turned on YouTube.
‘What should I watch? Virtual?’
After watching a few three-minute virtual videos, I played a Minecraft video, and as I clicked another recommended video, the delivery arrived.
I boiled water, cooked the noodles, mixed in the sauce, and even gave it a smoky flame-seared flavor with a burner as a special touch. The video kept playing even while I opened the chicken box.
The moment I spread out the chicken and Buldak on the desk, I laughed without realizing it.
“Ah!!!!! This looks fucking delicious!!!!!”
I immediately tore into a piece of fried chicken. The crispy batter shattered first, followed by the hot, salty chicken meat. Then I moved straight on to the seasoned chicken. Sweet, salty, and spicy. And when I shoved a mouthful of Buldak-bokkeum-myeon into my mouth at that exact moment, my head rang.
‘Heueung.’
This was it. Was there anyone in the world besides me who could go back and forth between worlds and eat whatever he wanted?
‘This is why modern civilization is the best.’
I ate another piece of chicken while watching the Minecraft video.
‘Wow... you confused lava with gold blocks? The shader’s at fault.’
As I watched the video for a while, time flew by.
Only after I finished eating did I come back to my senses a little.
“I’m so happi, seriously.”
However, happiness was short-lived, and reality was piled up in the sink.
Paper, plastic, the used pot, chopsticks, cup, even food waste.
I let out a loud “Hap!” and immediately started washing the dishes. If I put it off, future me would suffer.
I turned on the water, scrubbed things one by one with the sponge, cleaned up the desk and the area around the kitchen, and picked up the clothes and trash scattered on the floor too. Only after taking care of all the trash did the place finally look like a space where a human lived.
“Phew~”
I washed my hands one more time and checked the time.
2026-03-26 23:47:12
“More than two hours passed.”
It was a short time if you called it short, and a long time if you called it long.
I opened the Dimension Archive window again.
────────────────
Dimension Archive
User: Baek Siyun
Reality: Earth-0300
Time Until Next Update: 13:47:41
[Dimension] [Abilities] [Records] [Settings]
────────────────
There was no special reason I opened the Dimension Archive. I just kind of wanted to see it once.
In Astrania, it was the evening of the third day, and in reality, more than two hours had already passed.
This sensation was still a little strange. Alien, I guess. But I liked it.
For no reason, I looked at the Archive’s time once more, then opened the dimensional gate.
[Record Updated]
Real-world time: 2026-03-26 23:47:12
Dimensional Re-entry
Astrania-1337
Coordinates: Fixed to Previous Departure Point
Immediately, Astrania’s night air touched my skin.
It was exactly the same as before I left.
‘The hero has arrived.’
Spouting nonsense in my head, I headed toward the public bathhouse.
I had roughly washed up at the Healing Sanctuary earlier, but that had been literally just a rough wash. After eating chicken in reality and coming back, I actually wanted to wash even more.
Maybe because it was night, there weren’t many people. Steam slowly rose from the hot water. After rinsing off roughly and entering the bath, I felt the fatigue loosening from my calves up to my waist.
“Ah......”
A breath naturally escaped me.
The throbbing in my wrist eased a little too, and the fatigue soaked into the soles of my feet began to melt away. I didn’t stay in the bath for long. At times like this, if I stayed too long, I’d relax too much and lose my mind.
After warming myself just enough, I got out, wiped off the water, and changed into the clothes given by the Healing Sanctuary.
✧ ✧ ✧
I returned to the room again.
It was a little different from the first day I slept here.
An old bed, a small table, a dim candle.
What had changed wasn’t the room, but me.
At first, it had only felt unfamiliar, but now it had become a space where I at least knew where to sit to feel less uncomfortable.
I sat on the edge of the bed and took out the money I earned today.
Excluding the 2 copper coins I spent at the public bathhouse earlier, it was a total of 2 silver coins and 1 copper coin.
Clink.
I spread the coins out on my palm and looked down at them for a moment.
The tab for the iron sword was still there. But that was that, and this was my money.
I had one goal.
‘Should I try saving up 10 silver coins first?’
Not debt, but money completely left in my hands.
For now, I’d try saving up to that much.
Right now, I only had 2 silver coins and 1 copper coin in my hand. It wasn’t much.
Even so, it hadn’t been sucked straight into the ledger like in the morning. That alone made today big enough.
I carefully put the coins away again. As I leaned back against the bed, the fatigue belatedly rushed over me all at once.
It had been a hectic day. Fucking brutal. Still, it hadn’t been bad.
Tomorrow would probably be similar.
I’d face Garen, run requests, settle accounts, and count my money again at night.
If I kept rolling like that, I felt like I could really settle down here too.
For now, 10 silver coins.
For now, that was enough.
I slowly closed my eyes.