Capitalist Monster Hunter

14. Return (1)

“Damn it. Just stop thinking about it. It’s only giving me a headache.”

Trying to piece together the connection between the sword fragments and the ancient rune sword was making Yuseong’s head throb. In the end, good things were good things. There was no need to rack his brain over their relationship.

He had already put away those damned sword fragments that brought back painful memories of shocking loot box results every time he saw them. On top of that, he’d scored a unique-grade weapon, and Weapon Eater had grown stronger.

“Good job, my little lucky charm.”

Yuseong patted Weapon Eater. Its smooth, glossy surface felt incredibly satisfying to touch. That oddly addictive feeling made him keep stroking Weapon Eater over and over.

“Yuseong, how long are you planning to do that?”

“Huh? Titania? When did you get here?”

“An hour ago. I’ve been watching you play with Weapon Eater this whole time.”

“I’ve been doing this for an hour? Nah, no way I’d mess with Weapon Eater for a whole hour.”

In response, Titania pointed at the clock.

Sure enough, an hour had passed.

“Wow, seriously?”

Weapon Eater, you sneaky little thing.

He stroked it for an entire hour just because it felt nice. It was shocking. Yuseong made a mental note to set a timer whenever he touched Weapon Eater from now on.

“The portal is ready.”

Titania created a circular portal in front of Yuseong.

Finally, he could go home. The moment he had been waiting and waiting for had arrived.

“Let’s go home!”

Without the slightest hesitation, Yuseong stepped into the portal.

Back in his original world, Yuseong immediately grabbed his phone.

Checking the date, he saw it was Sunday. He had spent about a week in the parallel world, but only a day had passed here. However, it was already 4 PM.

“Great. Just great.”

[Is this user Han Yuseong’s original world? The furniture here matches the Old World data in my archives. User Han Yuseong, what year is it here? It seems the Space Age hasn’t begun yet.]

“Sorry, I don’t have time to answer you right now.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to answer Eve. He genuinely didn’t have the time.

“What’s wrong, Yuseong?”

“I have to get to the orphanage, but I’m super late. Gotta buy groceries and gifts first, too. Ugh, looks like I’ll have to take a taxi. So much for saving money.”

Even though it was costly, taking a taxi was the only way to make it there before sundown. Rushing to buy groceries and gifts, Yuseong finally bit the bullet and got into a cab.

By the time he arrived at the orphanage, night had already fallen.

“Oppa, do you even know what time it is? It’s almost 9 PM! Do you have any idea how long the kids have been waiting for you?”

Yuseong had to endure a scolding from Eun Ahri, one of the younger kids at the orphanage.

“I’m sorry, Ahri. I don’t have any excuse.”

“Hyung! I wasn’t waiting that long, so it’s fine.”

“Ha Eunchan! Stay quiet!”

“Yes, sir.”

Another kid, Ha Eunchan, tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but he quickly shut up under Eun Ahri’s sharp glare.

“Nana and I are okay, but the little ones were really looking forward to seeing you. You know how much they care about you, right?”

“Yeah, I know…”

“If you know, why do you keep doing this?”

“I’ll do better next time…”

“Are you apologizing to me? What about them?”

“Kids! I’m—”

“Keep it down; they’re asleep.”

Eun Ahri cracked the door open, revealing the little ones soundly asleep, breathing softly. They must’ve fallen asleep waiting for Yuseong to arrive.

“I’m sorry…”

Yuseong whispered his apology so softly it was barely audible.

“Ahri, go easy on him. Yuseong must’ve had something important going on.”

“Even so, Father, the kids might’ve gotten hurt by this.”

“Wounds can heal with care, can’t they? And I doubt Yuseong did this on purpose. Let’s forgive him, shall we?”

The speaker was Father Johan, the elderly priest of Hyewoom Orphanage. With his snow-white hair and deeply wrinkled face, his kind, blue eyes twinkled as he spoke flawless Korean.

“Long time no see, Father. As always, you’re the only one who takes my side.”

“Eunchan’s on your side too, though he doesn’t stand a chance against Ahri. Haha.”

“Father, why are you like this?”

“The boy’s big and strong, but his spirit’s a bit weak. Eunchan, can you stand up to Ahri?”

“N-no way, sir.”

As Ha Eunchan drooped his shoulders in defeat, Father Johan and Yuseong burst into laughter.

“Ah, it feels good to laugh like this after a while. Anyway, Yuseong, why were you so late today?”

“Something came up.”

“You worked on a weekend?”

“Not exactly… I had a lot of stuff to handle.”

Father Johan silently studied Yuseong’s face as he fumbled for words.

“Well, all right. I’m sure you had your reasons. Don’t you have work early tomorrow? You should head home and rest. I’ll explain everything to the kids tomorrow.”

“I took the day off. I don’t have work tomorrow.”

On the way to the orphanage, Yuseong had texted his boss, asking if he could take the day off. His boss had readily agreed.

“Oh, that’s a relief. In that case, take it easy here tonight.”

“Thank you, Father.”

Father Johan said he was tired and retired upstairs to rest. Once he was gone, Ha Eunchan sidled up to Yuseong.

“Hyung, hyung.”

“What, punk?”

“You’re hiding something, aren’t you? You were stuttering earlier.”

“Kid, your instincts are sharp.”

“What is it? Did you spend all day gaming and lose track of time?”

“Games? Seriously?”

“Then what is it?”

“You idiot, I became a hunter.”

“What? A hunter? Ahri noona! Come here—mmph! Mmph!”

As Eun-chan tried to call out to Ahri, Yoo-sung quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Ugh! Gross! What the heck, Hyung? That’s disgusting!”

“You brainless fool. What do you think Ahri will say if she finds out I became a hunter?”

“Oh… she’d totally flip out and be super against it.”

“Exactly. Use your head for once. She can’t know about this. So keep your mouth shut, or it’ll be the end of you when she finds out.”

“Hyung, you ever heard of ‘No pay, no gain’?”

“You mean ‘No pain, no gain’?”

“No, Hyung. This is different. It means if you don’t pay, you get nothing in return.”

“Look at you, you little extortionist.”

“Sir, I’ll take a Shin Saimdang, please.”

Yoo-sung pulled out his wallet, his hands trembling as he opened it.

Swoop!

“Thanks, Hyung! I’ll use it wisely.”

Eun-chan snatched the bill from Yoo-sung’s hand with a sly grin, looking as annoying as humanly possible.

“Ahri? Did someone call me?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Hyung said he’s cooking something for us.”

When Ahri came over, Eun-chan quickly changed the topic. The guy sure was fast when he needed to be.

“Cooking now? Isn’t it too late for that? Wouldn’t it be better to cook tomorrow?”

“It’s fine. I’m making curry, so it’s better to prep it tonight.”

“Then I’ll help.”

Yoo-sung and Ahri carried the grocery bags to the kitchen.

“Ahri, don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“I’m on break right now.”

“Didn’t you say you were on a break last month, too? How long is this break? They charge a fortune in tuition, but you’re always off.”

“I’ve got a scholarship, so it’s fine.”

“Really? Well, that’s good then. So, how’s college life? You worked your butt off to get into Korea University. Got any friends?”

“College life? Eh, it’s alright. I had some headaches with group projects because of this one slacker, but I just left their name off the submission, so it’s fine now. Other than that, everything’s okay. And yeah, I’ve got friends.”

“What about a boyfriend?”

“Nope. Who’s got time for dating? I’m either in class or working part-time.”

Chop, chop, chop.

Hearing this, Yoo-sung stopped cutting vegetables.

“You’re working? Why? I’ve been sending you money. Is it not enough? You’ll burn out juggling work and school.”

“Hyung, I’m not a kid anymore. And stop sending me money. I can earn my own. You should take better care of yourself for once. You keep wearing the same clothes and eating like garbage, don’t you?”

“That’s not true. I eat really well. Three meals a day, no problem.”

“You live on instant noodles, don’t you?”

“No way. You can’t live on ramen alone. I eat veggies, meat, and rice, too.”

“For breakfast, you grab a triangle kimbap or a roll of kimbap, right? Lunch is fine because your office provides it. And dinner? It’s always ramen. Am I wrong?”

“Uh… no.”

“See? And I bet it’s always the discounted Anseong Tangmyeon.”

“Sometimes I have jjajang ramen or squid jjamppong….”

“Still ramen.”

She wasn’t wrong, so Yoo-sung had no comeback. He decided to change the topic.

“By the way, I heard Dong-chul Ahjussi moved his restaurant to that food alley. You know, the one with all the restaurants.”

“I know. Eun-chan says he’s going to learn cooking from Ahjussi after he graduates. I’m planning to stick with my current part-time job. We’re good, so stop worrying about sending us money.”

There’s no way out of this….

Yoo-sung had tried to steer the conversation, but it backfired completely.

What’s with Eun-chan wanting to learn to cook from Dong-chul Ahjussi, anyway?

For some reason, he found himself annoyed at Eun-chan.

“You still need supplies and stationery for the kids, right?”

“Hyung, elementary schools provide all that stuff now. Thanks to the low birth rate, there’s a surplus budget. Things aren’t the same as when we were in school.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll stop sending money.”

KO.

Defeated, Yoo-sung had no choice but to admit defeat.

“Hyung, the veggies are done.”

“Alright. I’ll take care of the rest. You can rest now.”

Yoo-sung stirred the curry mix into the pot. All that was left was to let it simmer.

“Hey, Ahri, what do you think about hunters?”

He cautiously brought up the topic of hunters.