I Make a Contract. I Receive a Gift.

Kang Yul had never had any luck with women in his life.

He wasn't exactly handsome enough to be called good-looking, even as a polite compliment.

He was too busy trying to get by day to day to have the luxury of taking an interest in women.

As such.

Perhaps the blacksmith's offer was a 'chance' to date someone—a chance Kang Yul would never get again in his life…

"I told you I could treat you well, didn't I? I'll trim your nails, brush your hair, even bathe you every day. You just have to come as you are. Well, I'll drain your energy a little faster, but you won't die. Probably?"

…Kang Yul instinctively realized it. This woman was dangerous.

The moment he accepted the blacksmith's offer, he had a strong feeling he'd become a hopeless case.

That's why.

"T-Team Leader Myo!"

Kang Yul turned an imploring gaze toward Team Leader Myo, who'd been watching from beside him.

He'd even forgotten to keep up his act as a 'rude jerk,' and was silently begging her, 'You brought me here, so please do something…!'

A moment later.

"Let me sort this out. First, I'll explain why we've come here."

Had she noticed Kang Yul's desperate plea?

Unable to watch any longer, Team Leader Myo stepped between Kang Yul and the blacksmith and began to take control of the situation.

"We've come to propose a coal deal."

"Coal?"

As the blacksmith listened, the light in her eyes began to turn cold.

Her gaze carried the sentiment, 'Is it really right to drag an outsider in here without the owner's permission just for some coal?'

But that was only for a moment.

"This is coal mined personally by Hunter Kang Yul."

"Coal personally mined by an esteemed person…?"

The blacksmith's eyes were instantly tinged with greed.

Her shady, sinister gaze seemed to say, 'You should've said that sooner, you thieving little stray cat!'

Looking at the blacksmith's gaze, Kang Yul sighed in relief, thinking, 'I'm glad I didn't accept her offer….'

Anyway. Regardless of all that.

"This is the coal. It has an extremely high mana content, so please handle it with care."

Team Leader Myo quietly continued with her task.

She handed the coal Kang Yul had given her to the blacksmith, and made sure to explain its unusual properties.

"What kind of mana content is this…? Esteemed One, which Gate did you mine this from? If it's this rich, the minerals nearby must be incredible too."

"I can't disclose where or how it was mined. Just know that its mana content is extremely high."

"Y-yes, that's right!"

Kang Yul replied from behind Team Leader Myo, who'd spoken crisply.

Seeing this, the blacksmith gave Kang Yul and Team Leader Myo a strange look before shooting a question at Myo.

"Stray Cat. Do you even know what an esteemed person is, to be shielding him like that?"

"I don't. But Hunter Kang Yul is, on paper, a Hunter affiliated with the Nowon-gu Association, and a Hunter assigned directly to me."

"You already marked your territory, so no one else can touch him?"

"I'm merely fulfilling my duty as a superior to look after a Hunter under my jurisdiction."

"Same thing. Honestly, you've got a real talent for making things sound so frustrating."

After that, Team Leader Myo and the blacksmith glared at each other in a silent standoff for quite some time.

Kang Yul took a step back to watch, wondering, 'They're not going to start fighting, are they…?'

"Tsk, what a shame. I wish I'd found him first."

The blacksmith looked away first, ruffling her hair in disappointment, then glanced at Kang Yul and said,

"Well, fine. A Hunter who discovers a supernatural artifact first can claim ownership, so it wouldn't be right for me to try to take the artifact from you. But, Stray Cat, you know there's an exception when an artifact has a will of its own, right?"

"Of course. If Hunter Kang Yul chooses you of his own free will, I have no intention of stopping him."

"You're giving me permission?"

With Team Leader Myo's words of permission(?) bringing their conversation to an end,

the blacksmith began striding toward Kang Yul, who'd been watching from a short distance away.

"!"

At that moment, Kang Yul seriously thought, 'I have to run…!'

He actually started to flee, and before he knew it, he'd reached the threshold, but…

The next moment.

One sentence from the blacksmith, spoken right beside him, stopped Kang Yul in his tracks.

"You said you wanted to sell your coal, right? I'll buy all of it."

He froze—!

"You're going to buy all the coal…?"

"Yes. Let's see… Ah, if you fill up one of the sacks I gave you, I can give you one big bill for each one, right?"

"One big bill would be… ten million won…?"

Kang Yul's mind began racing.

He didn't know what kind of sack the blacksmith meant, but he had more coal than he knew what to do with.

It was coal that was difficult to handle and that he hadn't been able to find a proper place to sell, after all.

So he thought this might be a pretty reasonable offer… but only for a moment.

"Oh, Esteemed One. A big bill is ten million won?"

"…? Then do you mean a million won…?"

"Come now, what do you take me for? Of course I mean a hundred million. Fill one sack, and I'll give you 100 million won for it."

"!"

Kang Yul couldn't believe what he was hearing.

No, he couldn't help doubting it.

How big could a sack be, for someone to do something crazy like pay 100 million won for the coal inside it?

He couldn't help thinking there had to be some other motive behind it.

And in fact, there was.

"Of course, Esteemed One, you know it wouldn't be profitable for me to buy coal alone."

The blacksmith glanced at Kang Yul with a gaze steeped in dark desire.

Then she fixed her eyes on Kang Yul's hand—more precisely, the hand with the gemstone the Worm had given him—and continued,

"So how about we consider the price of this deal to include us forming a 'connection'?"

"Are you… trying to buy me with money…?"

"If you don't like it, you can walk right out. But if you're willing to accept the deal…"

The blacksmith reached out her hand and continued,

"Just come over and shake my hand. Esteemed One."

"…"

…Kang Yul took the blacksmith's hand. He didn't have to think long.

Maybe she was trying to insult him, but a hundred million won was too much to pass up just to scold her for it.

And so, in the end.

"I look forward to working with you, Esteemed One."

"I'll end this contract the moment you try anything."

"Of course. I'll only do what you 'allow,' Esteemed One, so don't worry."

"…"

Kang Yul had gained a buyer for Gate by-products of unknown origin.

Though he couldn't help feeling as if he'd lost a piece of his humanity in exchange.

He decided not to bring that part up.

#####

Although Kang Yul and the blacksmith had shaken hands and formed a 'connection',

a verbal agreement alone had little legal force in the modern twenty-first century,

so the two of them finalized the contract by putting their fingerprints on a contract bearing the Association's certification seal, with Team Leader Myo acting as mediator.

"This officially concludes the contract between Dokkaebi Workshop and Hunter Kang Yul."

"Esteemed One, since we're celebrating, how about a nice, tight hug so I can share some of your energy?"

Of course, the blacksmith was more interested in Kang Yul's body than in finalizing the contract,

so the moment the contract was complete, she brazenly asked to make physical contact with Kang Yul.

As a result.

"Don't come near me with soot all over you."

"Then I'll go wash up, so if you'll wait a moment…"

"Team Leader Myo! Help!"

"Hunter Kang Yul. You're making me uncomfortable, so stop clinging to me."

Kang Yul recoiled and hid behind Team Leader Myo,

while Myo grimaced in disgust at Kang Yul clinging to her,

and the blacksmith chased after him, begging to hug him just once, turning the place into utter chaos.

Then, at last.

"Both of you, that's enough."

Team Leader Myo, her irritation reaching its limit, released mana filled with murderous intent,

and soon the shadows writhed as if they were alive, restraining the two of them and putting an end to the commotion.

"Seeing her bring out her shadows, she must really be angry…"

"Is that Team Leader Myo's skill…?"

"Oh, Esteemed One, didn't you know? Stray Cat's class is Shadow Cat. She mainly uses skills related to cats and shadows…"

"Dokkaebi. Do you really want to die?"

"…Goodness, the cat's angry. I'll tell you about it another time, if I get the chance. For now, shall we go get your sack?"

"…Lead the way."

Kang Yul followed the blacksmith and hurried farther inside the workshop.

Being alone with the blacksmith made him uncomfortable, but he decided it was better than staying beside Team Leader Myo, whose shadows were spilling out around her.

'First things first, I need to survive.'

Following the blacksmith across the courtyard and arriving at the back of the workshop, Kang Yul found a room where the things made there were kept,

and after taking one look around, he couldn't help letting out a sincere gasp of admiration.

Sacks, wooden clubs, swords, guns, hoes, shovels, staffs, books, bells, lanterns, and all sorts of other things he couldn't begin to guess the use of…

There was an incredible variety of items in the room.

"Did you make all of these yourself…?"

"My master made a few of them, but most were made by me. Some I came up with and made myself, and others were commissions."

"That's amazing. I thought blacksmiths usually worked with metal."

"Well, this is Dokkaebi Workshop."

"…"

Kang Yul thought back for a moment to when he'd first arrived here.

When he saw the large signboard above the front gate that read [Dokkaebi Workshop].

Kang Yul had idly wondered if the workshop might be connected to 'dokkaebi'…

'…Team Leader Myo called the blacksmith a dokkaebi earlier.'

He began to think that maybe that really was the case.

That the blacksmith before him might not actually be human, but something supernatural.

Ah, of course.

"Esteemed One. I'll give you the smallest sack for now, so fill it up as best you can."

"Oh, okay. …What? The smallest sack?"

Kang Yul's thoughts didn't last long.

The blacksmith's next shocking remark had revealed yet another truth about the world he wasn't supposed to know.

"This sack can hold a lot more than it looks like. It can easily fit the contents of a small warehouse."

"What? This little sack?"

"I'm a blacksmith at Dokkaebi Workshop. You'd expect me to manage something like that."

"Wait, are you really a dokkaebi…?"

"Huh? Of course I'm human. My master is the dokkaebi. Someone who's blended into human society in human form, just like you, Esteemed One… Ah, no, no, you are human right now, aren't you? I take it back. Forget what I just said!"

"…"

…What did she think she could take back? He'd already heard it all.

As Kang Yul, stricken with the curse of knowledge, stood there with a grim expression, wondering if the world might already be doomed,

the blacksmith looked at him, troubled by her slip of the tongue, and began stamping her feet in a panic, sweating as she muttered, "I messed up…!"

Then she suddenly noticed the wooden club hanging on the wall and said,

"Oh, right! Esteemed One, would you like to take this club?"

"What is it…?"

"It's a dokkaebi club made by my master. It's a supernatural artifact not just anyone can use. It's unfinished, but I'm sure someone as close to the earth as you, Esteemed One, will be able to use it."

"…?"

And so, although he didn't really understand why,

Kang Yul wasn't the type to turn down something being offered to him, so he accepted the club,

"Are you giving it to me for free?"

"Of course! It's a gift, a gift!"

And just like that, Kang Yul obtained a Dokkaebi Club (Unfinished).

Somehow, Kang Yul had obtained a Dokkaebi Club (Unfinished).