Hunters Keep Coming To My House - Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Sometimes on TV programs, they introduce people who extract gold. They dig up gold mines and sift through sand to find gold. 

Among them were people who extracted gold from riverbanks… They spend all day separating sand and gold to obtain a very small amount of gold.

Moreover, you could also enjoy this as an experiential learning activity by buying a kit these days…

‘…I never thought I’d experience that myself.’

What in the world is this?

I frowned as I looked at what was in front of me. Jung Tae-il seemed to be in the same state.

After cutting the roof, what was inside wasn’t just small pieces of gold-colored beads.

They were tiny, like mouse droppings, but they sparkled brilliantly. Anyone looking at them would think they were gold.

If this was gold, it would be lucky, but unfortunately, it was on my roof.

Gold couldn’t exist here. Furthermore, if it wasn’t gold, I should be able to sense mana, but I felt nothing.

“…What does this look like to you, Mr. Tae-il? I don’t feel Allen’s mana.”

“…Gold.”

“You think so too? But I didn’t hear about gold coming from Gates. Maybe it’s a gold mana stone, who knows.”

“Gold is less common in Gates than diamonds or iron.”

“Iron is common?”

“Want it?”

Jung Tae-il stared at me with his usual indifferent expression and raised his hand into the air. It seemed like he was going to open his inventory to take out some iron.

The value of iron was beyond imagination. Even though there weren’t any craftsmen who could refine it, just having it was valuable.

Rumors said that if you tied iron around your waist and trained with it, your stats would increase. In some ways, iron was even rarer than dragons, given that I had only encountered six dragons so far.

I hurriedly grabbed Jung Tae-il’s wrist.

“This person is going to get into big trouble.”

“…Why?”

“Why are you insisting on giving that to me?”

“…Because it’s you.”

“What?”

“…If you don’t want it, just say so.”

He turned his head to the side and lowered his hand. I awkwardly let go of his wrist and blinked.

‘Why has he been acting like this since earlier?’

Oh, my heart raced for a moment.

I placed my hand on my chest and took a deep breath. Then, I looked back at the small golden bead that had come out of the roof.

The bead shimmered as if tempting me. It felt like it was whispering for me to touch it quickly. As if enchanted, I lightly tapped it with my finger.

Terrifyingly, I strongly felt Allen’s mana from the bead.

“…This is a mana stone.”

It was even the thing we had been searching for desperately.

I chuckled hollowly as I gazed at the bead. The piece that had emitted mana so strongly now no longer had its golden shine.

The intention was clear.

‘…He used mana to hide it so that no one would find it.’

Due to the nature of mana stones, it’s understandable that there would be some residual mana emanating from them. But calculating to seal the mana in anticipation of someone finding it later… that was meticulous planning.

…Allen.

I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. After a moment of silence, I completely lost my focus, tightly gripping the small transparent fragment that had lost its mana, and looked at Jung Tae-il.

“Mr. Tae-il, do you have time?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, could you help me with treasure hunting?”

“Are we looking for the same thing?”

“Yes. I think it would be difficult to find it without you. I’ll help as well, but… it’s made to deceive my senses.”

That damn swindler.

I muttered Allen’s old nickname after a long time, feeling distant.

Then, ding! A familiar window appeared before me.

[Title: ‘Taking a Quick Step Towards Becoming a Seasoned Homeowner!’

Quest content has been updated!

For rapid growth, the system will provide quick assistance.

Please find all of Allen’s mana stones hidden in Seo Yeon-oh’s house.

There are a total of 10 hidden. (1/10)

Current dominance of Seo Yeon-oh: 70%

Your senses will become slightly more sensitive as your dominance increases.]

“…Why is this so friendly?”

It wasn’t like this before… It tells me how many I need to find, and it even marks the ones I’ve already found…

The rebooted system was strange in many ways. It wasn’t the guy who would just give me everything I wanted.

‘…Isn’t the system administrator supposed to manage this?’

So why does it feel different from before?

I narrowed my eyes, trying to focus them into one. I might regret it when I see my face later, but I had no intention of relaxing my brow.

I sighed deeply, and Jung Tae-il pressed his forehead with his head.

“Why do you think so much with this head?”

“Just like that, I want to live without thinking.”

“Then just live like that.”

“Is it as easy as you say?”

“Just focus on what you need to do right now. What’s so difficult about it?”

I couldn’t tell if he was comforting me, worrying about me, or simply didn’t understand, but I laughed as I looked at Jung Tae-il.

“Well, it’s not a difficult task.”

“Then let’s go downstairs.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Jung Tae-il extended his hand to me as he did when we came up. This time, I took his hand.

He glanced at our clasped hands for a moment, then smiled faintly and lowered his gaze. Then, just like when he came up, he carried me down to the yard.

With a light landing, Jung Tae-il and I looked at each other, nodding subtly.

From now on, let’s find the hidden mana stones of Allen scattered around the house.

After exchanging a brief conversation with our eyes, we split in opposite directions. Moving swiftly, we began searching every nook and cranny of our designated areas.

After a while.

“Is this the last one?”

“No, there’s still one more.”

Jung Tae-il’s face darkened. After all, we had been meticulously checking items for a whopping four hours, almost as if we were moving houses one by one.

Why… did it come to this?

There must have been a reason. 

The first one found on the roof might have been pure luck, but no matter how much we searched, the others didn’t show up. Even Jung Tae-il, who had turned the yard upside down, shook his head.

Not coming out of the house meant… it was inside the house.

This inevitably raised questions.

…When did Allen hide the mana stones?

To do this secretly, it had to be done when the landlord was absent. Then, a conversation suddenly came to mind.

“Since the house is empty, if you want, you can move your stuff in advance. It’s not usually allowed, but we’ll make an exception for Seo Yeon-oh.”

Haha, so this guy had that thought from the beginning.

But… what real estate agency asks you to move your stuff into a house you haven’t even stamped yet?

At that time, I was just grateful that Allen was providing special service because I was excited about having my own house.

Feeling sorry for my foolish past self, I dragged Jung Tae-il into the house. And from that moment, the hellish search for items began.

“Do we have to check all this?”

At a point of frustration, Allen’s mana stone appeared, astounding both Jung Tae-il and me.

Who would think to open a dehumidifier in the closet? Who would… put a mana stone inside that dehumidifier?

And it even came out of a can of peaches that I bought, thinking I’d eat it someday.

The feeling of going crazy with each discovery was overwhelming.

After scouring bizarre places, we found a total of 8 mana stones. All in four hours.

Yet, Jung Tae-il’s senses significantly shortened the time. We proceeded by him going to where he felt mana and searching through the items there.

Well, honestly, I wasn’t that surprised when he said he could feel mana in the water closet.

As I reminisced about the dizzying past, I looked at Jung Tae-il.

“Are you not feeling anything else?”

“Not at all.”

“Still, let’s focus. There must be one left.”

“……”

He firmly shook his head. Now that I looked at him, Jung Tae-il’s eyes seemed a bit tired.

“…Are you tired?”

“Not at all.”

“Then, hang in there a bit longer. We’ll take a break after this. Oh, how about we eat something before finding the last one? There should be some fruit left in the fridge.”

Was it apples or pears? Eating something fresh and sweet would surely boost our energy.

I got up and headed for the chaotic house, then to the fridge. I opened it and took out an apple and a pear, rinsing them under running water.

And in that moment, I was captivated by a strange feeling.