episode_0080

It’s a refreshing morning.

I left home carrying the backpack I used when I was a wandering merchant.

To take the shuttle bus sent by the association.

I looked out the window of the bus stop, fiddling with my braided hair on one side.

“…”

While I was looking closely at my reflection.

I remember the congressman telling me to come dressed in comfortable clothes.

Following those words, I wore sleeveless clothes inside and a checked shirt outside.

The clothes that Jaei chose for me, especially the checked shirt, are familiar to me because I often wore them when I was a man.

But the shirt that Jaei chose is too big and loose.

One side barely hangs over the shoulder, while the other falls to the elbow.

When I asked him how he could walk around looking so ridiculous, Jaei scolded me, saying that was just how he dressed.

Girls these days…

Luckily, the bottoms were jeans.

I was afraid that she might choose something like a skirt, but luckily she handed me a pair of blue jeans with slightly open knees.

So my outfit was completed like that…

No matter how I look at this, he’s not a civil servant.

Should I change clothes now…?

Anyone who looks at her looks more like a college student working part-time than an employee of the association.

At that moment, I was stamping my feet and thinking about it.

The association bus arrived without warning.

A door that opens automatically.

Inside, there was a bus driver wearing a white shirt.

“Mr. Siho Han?”

“Yes, that’s me!”

◦Please ride %◦.”

I follow his gestures and slowly climb the bus steps.

There were already several civil servants inside.

Am I the last one to be picked up…?

I tried to ignore their burdensome gazes and went in to find an empty seat.

There happens to be one seat that no one is taking.

I carefully sat down on the seat, holding my thick bag.

“—.”

There are two female employees sitting diagonally behind me.

They, dressed in suits, snicker at my very casual appearance.

But the murmur is so loud that it seems as if it is trying to get me to hear it too.

“Is that him?”

“Oh, right.”

“You said you came in by parachute this time?”

“Why are there so many kids like that these days? Sometimes their outfits are a mess.”

“What kind of farming are you going to do? We even have a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry?”

The tiki-taka is amazing.

Are they a soccer club or something?

The passing form between them was crazy.

I tried hard to ignore their voices.

I just turn my head and look at the scenery outside the bus passing by.

I thought I would just wait until I arrived at my new workplace.

however…

“Excuse me.”

Those women earlier stuck their heads out toward me and asked me.

I stared at them blankly, afraid of what kind of humiliation I would suffer next.

“Yes…?”

“Which department were you assigned to?”

“I was just curious.”

The two people take turns asking questions.

Their suit jackets have silver badges like mine.

At least a B-rank hunter.

The two hunters had a playful expression on their lips, as if they were planning to pick me off.

“I… Hunter Research Institute.”

As I spoke softly, the expressions on both their faces became strange.

They all stopped laughing and just rolled their eyes at each other for a while without saying a word.

“By any chance, that research institute managed by that Congressman Park…?”

“Yes.”

Their once awkward expressions become thoughtful.

They whisper again, their mouths covered.

“Isn’t that a parachute?”

“Yeah, he was a poor guy…”

You feel bad?

Is it a pity to go to the lab?

I suddenly feel scared.

I swallowed, placing my hands neatly on my thighs.

“Your first assignment is a research lab?”

“Yes…”

“You must have had a hard time.”

“Cheer up.”

Unlike their rude behavior when we first met, where they talked behind my back, they soon started smiling.

Is lab work so hard that it completely changes your attitude?

Suddenly, a curiosity arises.

I cleared my throat and tried to ask them about the lab.

But at that moment.

“This station is the Hunter Association, Gangseo Branch.”

The two women immediately got up from their seats as soon as they heard the alarm sound.

And then I tried to get off the bus in a hurry.

“Excuse me, wait a minute! What on earth is the lab like?”

I shouted at them as they left.

But the hunters didn’t answer me at all.

Before getting off, he just shakes his head with a serious expression.

But that was enough.

That should explain to me enough how much of a pain the lab is.

The area under my eyes is twitching.

Left alone, I collapsed into the seat, helpless.

Yeah, there’s no way a free job would be comfortable…

I have to handle it…

I bit my lips and lost myself in thought.

The association staff that had filled the bus began to gradually disembark.

No matter how much I emptied it, it never came my turn to get off.

The emptiness made me anxious.

And that anxiety soon gave birth to longing.

I miss you, Jiwook…

Every night, the enemy who came to have a drink… and Anna too…

I closed my eyes for a moment and thought of them.

Until I arrive at a new job that will pay me 12 million won a month.

“Miss!”

“Miss…!”

A sudden voice jolted me back to my senses.

I lifted my neck, which had been bent backwards, and quickly looked around.

“Arrived at the research center.”

The bus driver came right up to me and woke me up.

I got up from my seat, wiping the drool from my mouth.

“n, yes. Thank you.”

I packed my bag tightly.

As I staggered off the bus, fragrant greenery greeted me.

Even the sound of chirping birds and the cool breeze.

Wait a minute… where the hell am I?

Before I could enjoy the fleeting recording, I looked around.

In the very spacious parking lot, there are only five cars visible.

And the forests and mountains surrounding that parking lot.

The only building is a huge resort.

“Sir, is this the research lab?”

“Yes, it is Rep. Park Shin-ae’s private research institute.”

Even after hearing his words, I still couldn’t believe it.

No matter how you look at it, it’s just a luxurious resort…

“Originally, this place wasn’t even an official stop because most of the assigned agents were just working.”

“Really…?”

“Yes, so please stop quickly, Miss. It’s really hard to drive here.”

The knight muttered tiredly.

And then he sits back in the driver’s seat and says:

“The pick-up time is 8pm, so please be here by then.”

“, thank you…”

I bowed my head strongly toward the closing automatic door.

Thanks to this, even the loose checked shirts are now stretched out.

The bus soon departed with a loud noise.

Left alone in the parking lot, I grabbed the bag I was carrying.

And then I look up at the magnificent resort buildings.

“Let’s go in first.”

I opened the huge glass door with all my might.

As I step inside, the sound of my sneakers clicking echoes throughout the lobby.

I approached the central desk.

but…

There is no one.

There is no staff or agent in sight in this spacious hall.

The lights at the desk, in the hall, everywhere were turned off.

It’s like a ghost resort.

“What happened…?”

He put his index finger in his mouth.

And I looked around.

“Is there anyone here?”

Shout it out loud.

But only my echo returns.

“There’s really no one-!?”

I put both hands together like a megaphone and shouted again with all my might.

“…”

I swallowed deeply.

The bus has already left a long time ago.

It’s not possible to just wait here from 9 in the morning to 8 at night.

I walked slowly towards the group of guest sofas.

I’m sure the congressman knows I’m coming, so I’m thinking of waiting nearby for now.

As I was walking to my seat, I suddenly stopped when I heard a soft sound.

“—.”

Game sounds?

As I approached following the sound, I saw someone’s legs sticking out from above the sofa.

In a black mask, and even a black hat.

A boy dressed in suspiciously black clothing is lying on a sheet playing a game on his cell phone.

The corners of my mouth twitch at the sight of Anna from the past.

I approached him naturally because of the familiar friendliness.

As I hesitated next to him, the boy rolled his eyes.

He took out the AirPods he had in his ears and looked up at me.

“What are you.”

Isn’t that a boy…?

It’s confusing because of the neutral voice.

“I’m the person who decided to start working here today…”

The neutral child raised his body.

And then he stretched and muttered something as if he remembered something.

“Ah, is that the bartender that Mother was talking about?”

That was all.

After leaving those words, he went back to focusing on his cell phone.

Because he unplugged his AirPods, the only sound that could be heard throughout the resort was the sound of his game.

Normally, in this case, they would at least give you some guidance…

This kid treats me like I’m invisible.

But he was the only person in the resort.

I had no choice but to plop down next to him.

But he doesn’t care whether I sit or not.

All you do is move your finger over the screen of your phone.

I glance over and catch a glimpse of his game screen.

It is a defense game where you place hunter characters in specific areas to block incoming monsters.

I know that game too.

Back when I was an F-rank hunter, if I had nothing to do, I would just sit around blankly and play games.

As my Hunter Rank gets lower, I have more time to play, so my game rank keeps getting higher day by day.

If that principle applies to others, this child would actually be an S-class ranker.

That’s how miserable his gaming skills were.

I bought a bunch of expensive, hard-to-find hunter characters and placed them in a random order.

If you do that, you won’t be able to stop it!

“Oh my…”

The boy scratched his head as if things weren’t going well.

He tilts his head and twiddles his fingers nervously.

“Over there…”

“What is it?”

When I start to speak, he frowns as if his concentration is broken.

I pointed at the phone carefully with my finger.

“If you put an archer here, it’ll probably break-.”

He smiled at the boy.

Then he licks his lips and looks back and forth between me and my phone.

The boy turned the phone around.

And then he starts rearranging them as he pleases.

Ah… I’m going to die again.

“Failed!”

His hand holding the cell phone is trembling.

I tilted my head while carrying my luggage on my back.

Because we’re so close, my head next to him tickles the boy’s mask.

“Hey, try it over there. Trust me-.”

The boy cleared his throat.

And finally, I quietly changed the placement of the archers along the tip of my chin.

Soon the archers began to fire arrows at the tree monsters.

Stumps, who had turned into hedgehogs, stumbled and fell down helplessly.

“Suppression Success!”

A success mark appears in the center of the screen along with a banging sound.

I put my hands on my waist proudly.

“Did you see? I’m a ranker in this game-.”

The boy’s eyebrows twitch.

He mutters in a small voice.

“Well, it’s not bad…”

“Let’s do the next round right away!”

I was so excited that I urged him on.

Then the boy quietly clicked the next round button.

Following my instructions, the boy played with his fingers diligently.

We ran at breakneck speed, as if the blocked blood had been cleared away.

Then, finally, when my fatigue level reached 100, I was finally able to stop.

“Wow… That was informative.”

I ran my hand through my hair.

The boy seemed satisfied with his performance so far, and he relaxed his arrogant posture and sat up straight.

“Are you doing it?”

“Of course-. In the past, I only ate and did this-, but I cleared it easily because I liked your characters.”

I patted the child on the shoulder and said, “Good job.”

Then he cleared his throat and rubbed the shoulder I had touched.

“You said you were a bartender?”

“Yeah. But there’s no one at the desk, so I can’t go in.”

He stuffed his cell phone into his jacket.

And he shrugged and told me.

“There’s no one here. Follow me.”

The boy said nonchalantly and got up from his seat.

And he leads the way towards the dark stairs.

As you follow him, a damp basement soon comes into view.

There was an emergency elevator there.

T… This is the way to work?

No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with being a bartender…

It feels like going down a mine.

“But for a bartender, your attire is light. I thought you were a high school girl on a retreat.”

“Representative told me to come in comfortable clothes…”

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

Then he immediately claps his hands as if he realized something.

“Ah, is it because of him? Well… with that body and that outfit, even that guy would turn his eyes.”

The boy spoke while scanning my body carefully.

Your eyes are rolling…?

“When you go down to the basement, be careful if there’s a squirrel there. He might squirm at you.”

“There seems to be someone scary… haha.”

“It’s not scary. It’s just a stray bird. Especially if you’re kind and generous, I think you’ll like it, so be careful.”

Soon the elevator stopped at the 10th basement floor.

This is the first time in my life that I have seen the number B10.

The unfamiliarity makes my body tense up involuntarily.

Finally, the elevator slowly opens.

What on earth is down on the 10th basement floor that needs me?

I swallowed deeply and walked slowly.

My bartending tools clank in my bag.