Hunters Keep Coming To My House - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

After a slightly more cheerful breakfast compared to eating alone, Kang Yoon-soo volunteered to do the dishes, saying he wanted to repay the favor.

‘It was a bit strange to see Kang Yoon-soo taking Jung Tae-il with him to do the dishes side by side.’

Who would believe that the top-ranked Jung Tae-il was doing the dishes at my house? I wanted to record this scene, but I endured it, fearing that problems would inevitably arise later.

And when all the housework was done, I gathered everyone in the living room and spoke up.

“Well, now everyone has to leave.”

Now the door connects to reality. I looked at them with a bright smile, like office workers leaving work.

Now there’s a ‘door leading to reality.’ Finally, it was time for them to leave my house.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the three people, excluding Jung Tae-il, became vaguely rigid. The one who looked the most stiff was Han Seung-hoo, who had been with me the longest.

“Sis, do I have to go?”

“Well, you have to. You can leave now.”

Han Seung-hoo looked like a rejected puppy, lowering his head a bit. If the intruder had only been Han Seung-hoo, I might have let him stay for another day. But now, I couldn’t allow that.

With the sudden change in expressions, allowing one person would surely mean that several others would also settle in my house.

‘The merit of having a house within the gate is tremendous.’ 

It has considerable research value, and if you can come and go during gate conquests, you can have a comfortable time for reorganization.

To protect my safe life, I had to cut ties decisively now, despite the numerous advantages.

In my attempt to speak, Han Seung-hoo spoke up first.

“…If we leave now, we won’t be able to come back, right?”

“Well, probably not?”

Unless another coincidence happens, it would be difficult for them to come back to my house. Such events wouldn’t occur every day like Kang Yoon-soo coming to my house.

So, except for me, my house had become an inaccessible fortress for anyone else. And I was no longer in the mood to welcome surprise guests.

Seeing no sign of me coming over, Han Seung-hoo bit his lip and, with a resigned tone, asked.

“So… I won’t see you anymore?”

“If fate allows, we’ll meet again. You’re all famous people, right? Well, Mr. Cha Jae-joon might be, but even if I say I don’t want to know, I often hear more than I need to.”

“But I don’t know anything about you, sis.”

Suddenly, if I didn’t throw some kind of bait to Han Seung-hoo, this conversation seemed like it would go on endlessly, and I envisioned an ominous future where I would lose.

Right now, it was easy to deal with just Han Seung-hoo talking. If Kang Yoon-soo joined in, I felt like I would easily be defeated. Honestly, 2 against 1 was too much.

For that reason, I quickly brainstormed. Some bait that would satisfy them and make them leave my house. At that moment, I thought of something and urgently spoke up.

“Instead, I’ll give you my phone number.”

It was my contact number. The phone that had become useless when entering the gate now had some utility since it could go outside. 

Why was it useless? 

‘Inside the gate, only items made from the by-products of the gate can be used.’

In other words, a phone not made from the by-products of the gate would become useless inside the gate.

Some might say why can’t just get the parts and make one? The reason people couldn’t do that was that there were good reasons for it. 

There were very few individuals worldwide with the ability to process and reassemble by-products from the gate. Currently, people with production special abilities are extremely rare, if not nonexistent. Potentially, there were a few potion makers, but there hadn’t been anyone who could process by-products.

It had become a rare occurrence to the point where there were almost no individuals worldwide who could handle the gate’s by-products. The world was experiencing a shortage of dungeon items. With limited weapons and materials coming out of the gate, it became incredibly difficult for hunters to possess even a single decent weapon. And for high-level hunters, finding a suitable weapon was like trying to grab a star from the sky.

It was that moment. Something fleeting passed through my mind.

‘…Did I not reinforce my phone?’ 

Since I had reinforced all the items in my room, my phone must have been included among them. If that was the case… 

‘Can I use my phone in the dungeon like the 3X water…?’ 

Can I make calls, send texts, and take pictures inside the gate? Really? If that were possible, it would be revolutionary, and I could even start a business. No, if I utilized it well, I could become rich. 

If I bought ordinary water, reinforced it, and then resold it, wouldn’t I make an enormous profit? Of course, there shouldn’t be any legal issues. There’s a risk of being accused of fraud or being misunderstood as a cult if things go wrong. But… 

‘Still, this is incredible.’ 

Right in front of me were outstanding hunters in South Korea. What if I offered the reinforced 3X water to their guilds? 

‘I could earn an astronomical amount…’ 

I needed to look into it more, but anyway. I looked at Han Seung-hoo, Jung Tae-il, and Kang Yoon-soo with sparkling eyes. Whether they sensed a change in my gaze or not, they all looked at me with questioning eyes.

“I’ll contact you even outside the gate, everyone.”

“Really, sis?”

“Well then, Seung-hoo.”

“Can I send you a text every day?”

“It would be disappointing if you didn’t.”

My bank account…

With a capitalist smile, I wrote my number on a piece of paper on the living room table. Then, I handed the note to them and also gave my number to Cha Jae-joon, thanking him for his kindness so far.

Come to think of it…

‘Oh, I could meet Cha Jae-joon again.’

He knew how to come to my house. Currently, he was on another quest to find another Ego Sword, and Arvani was mentioned as a clue, so he would likely continue visiting.

Since he knew how quests came to my house, it would be a good idea to quickly resolve it. Also, Cha Jae-joon’s quest seemed to require my presence, so it seemed like a good idea to handle it quickly.

After organizing my thoughts, I remembered that I hadn’t paid much attention to Cha Jae-joon, and I quickly looked at him. He didn’t seem to be showing any particular expression.

“Um, Mr. Cha Jae-joon, I’ll contact you when I find a clue. And if you’re too tired inside the gate, you can come back to my house once.”

“Wow, really? I’d love that, Ms. Yeon-oh!”

“I’ll go explore with Arvani.”

“Then, Ms. Yeon-oh, please take this.”

Cha Jae-joon handed me a small mana stone. When I received it, my eyes widened.

It was a communication stone.

There was only one way to communicate inside the gate, and that was through this communication stone. It was composed in pairs, and its collection rate was very low, so few people used it. When I received such a communication stone, it felt quite special.

Since the ability to use a phone was just speculation, this was a genuinely useful gift.

“I mainly stay inside the gate, so I don’t need a phone number. So, I’m giving this to you for communication purposes.”

“I’ve never seen a communication stone. I’ll contact you with this, Mr. Cha Jae-joon.”

“Alright. Just call me whenever you want.”

Cha Jae-joon playfully smiled and moved towards the entrance. At that moment, Kang Yoon-soo and Han Seung-hoo looked at me with regretful eyes.

“If fate allows, we’ll meet again. So don’t be too disappointed.”

“That’s right, Ms. Yeon-oh. I think our paths will cross again soon.”

“Soon?”

“Don’t you want to see me again soon?”

“Well, it’s not that…”

Mr. Kang Yoon-soo, weren’t you a busy person? You’re not someone I can meet just because I want to. While I was internally perplexed, Han Seung-hoo gently took my hand.

“Sis, make sure to contact me when we come out of the gate.”

“I’ll contact you right away. Do you think I wouldn’t, Seung-hoo? Do you doubt me?”

“No, I don’t doubt you, sis.”

While looking at Han Seung-hoo with skeptical eyes, I turned my gaze to Jung Tae-il.

“Take care, Mr. Jung Tae-il.”

“You too, take care.”

Maybe there wouldn’t be any more interactions with Jung Tae-il. While I had a feeling I might coincidentally meet the others again, it seemed like there wouldn’t be any further connection with Jung Tae-il.

So, his indifferent reaction made me slightly disappointed. Anyway, what could I do? The course of human relationships doesn’t always go the way we desire.

Besides, it’s not like I wanted to get involved with the number one-ranked Jung Tae-il. It would be even more problematic if that happened.

“Well then, take care, everyone. If you think about where you want to go, you should be able to arrive there.”

I explained how to use the gate, and they once again shook hands with me or nodded, exchanging final greetings. And then…

Thunk.

With a bright light, the four men disappeared. Now, I was the only one left in my house. 

Despite the various events and the presence of several people on the first day of living alone… finally, I was alone!