Chapter 5
Wh-what is this..?
[Bank balance: 472,958 won]
Yesterday evening... no, as late as just before dawn today, my bank balance, which had been 80,000 won, had suddenly swelled to 472,958 won.
D-ddangdaeng! How did this happen?!
I even bit my tongue from how startled I was. But I was so flustered I could ignore that pain. It wasn't payday yet, and besides, my salary wasn't this low to begin with. Right now, I was even wondering if I'd get paid at all..!
Ddangdaeng flapped its USB tail and brought text up on the screen in response to my question.
[Stocks]
St-stocks..?! You bought stocks..?!
Ddangdaeng had touched stocks with my money! And it had even made money! It had earned several times the principal while I was asleep!
H-how?! I turned 1 million won into 210,000 won..?!
So stocks... weren't just something that made you lose money? It was actually possible to make money from stocks? For real?
A-amazing... Amazing, Ddangdaeng.... You're the best, seriously..!
The mecha Ddangdaeng that ate my phone is gone now. My love, my companion. My pet, Ddangdaeng, was all that remained.
S-sob... you did great..! This isn't some voice phishing scam or fraud, right?!
Ddangdaeng shook its face violently from side to side, as if to say no. Was it really possible to multiply your principal several times over in a single night through stocks?
Then if I'd at least had a pile of starting capital....
Aaaagh! Why am I poor!!
I could have gotten rich overnight, but because I was broke, I couldn't.
Sniffle... still, good job, Ddangdaeng.... Should we eat chicken for dinner tonight..?
In truth, besides chicken, there was a ton of stuff I needed right now. First off, clothes for the girl I'd turned into, underwear, money for the Hunter qualification screening....
Ugh... I'm already on the verge of being broke....
If I waited just one more day, Ddangdaeng might turn tens of thousands into hundreds of thousands again. I figured spending money right now wasn't the move.
Haa... but I still have to eat....
Originally, I should've gone to the convenience store last night, brought back a ton of discarded food, come home at dawn, eat one of the throwaways, sleep, then wake up again in the evening and get more discarded food..
But once I couldn't go to the convenience store, my discard-food routine was cut off. I had nothing left at home....
Uuuh... what do I do....
ㅡBeep!
Huh..? What is it..?
A notification window popped up on Ddangdaeng's face screen.
Ah, a note....
A note from Doshungjwak. A DM on Huntweet. And... rather than calling him Doshungjwak, I guess I should call him Han Dohee now. It sounds weird, that nickname....
I synced the Huntweet account downloaded through Ddangdaeng's USB tail with the computer, and opened my chat window with Han Dohee on the screen.
My phone is pretty up-to-date, but the PC is ancient. Besides, desktops don't even have a mana-detection function, so apparently this was the only way.
And if I had Ddangdaeng send a text and it made a mistake, that'd be awkward. Ddangdaeng's touch input doesn't work very well.
-Han Dohee : Awake?
-Han Dohee : Still asleep?
-Han Dohee : Guess you're a kid, huh, sleeping this long
-Han Dohee : The package should've arrived, go pick it up
A package..?
I didn't know what kind of package he'd suddenly sent, but I did remember Han Dohee saying he'd send me something. Honestly, I kind of wished it were just a Cyburger gift card.
Huntweet is an app exclusive to awakened people across the globe, so it had all sorts of features. There was a feature that let you entrust shipping to a delivery agency without revealing your address to the other party.
In other words, something like a megacorp. It's not cyberpunk, but... there are quite a lot of S-rank Hunters employed by Huntweet.
Ugh... no one's there, right..?
Yesterday when I went out, it was still pitch-black outside. So I just pulled up my hooded zip-up and went out, but now it's broad daylight....
Ddangdaeng... no. It doesn't even have hands.
Wait, if Ddangdaeng can't do it because it has no hands....
Golem, Minyum!
ㅡCreak!
The Soldier No. 1 I named before going to sleep last night. Since it's aluminum, it's Minyum. The sound of it is cute too.
The package is outside... should I open the door..?
ㅡCreeeak....
O-okay. Come with me....
I wrapped myself in the blanket and went out to the front door with Minyum to bring the package in. It was heavier than I expected, and there were even two boxes.
What did he send me like this..?
One came in a very long, thin box. From the outside it looked like an umbrella, but the contents weren't labeled.
And the other one....
Why is this so heavy..!!
It's exactly the size of the box they give you when you first buy a phone, but unless there's a brick inside, there's no reason for it to be this heavy. My body may have gotten weaker, but this is way too heavy....
ㅡThud!
Phew... I used up all my strength. I just woke up, and now I'm sleepy again.
After somehow lifting the heavy box and putting it in the center of the studio apartment, I was feeling excited too.
Let's look at this one first.
The long one catches my attention a little more. Did he really send me a weapon? What kind of weapon does Han Dohee use?
ㅡRiiip
Since I didn't have a proper knife, I struggled to cut the tape with the plastic knife lying around at home. You know, the little serrated one that comes with delivery orders.
Wow..!
But now I had one. A real knife.
Wh-what is this..?
A knife made of incredibly neat, pure-white metal, with a futuristic feel. It was a straight, single-edged blade, and something crystal-like holding blue light was embedded in the center of the blade near the handle.
The mana stone you hear about in stories..!
That's the thing that comes from monsters. The stronger the monster, the better and bigger the mana stone it drops, and weak monsters either don't drop any at all or drop mana stones of that level.
Wow... I'm seeing this in real life....
Actually, I'd had a few chances to see them. Whenever a Gate burst, it would drag out a ton of monster corpses, and you could see mana stones being taken out of them.
But is it okay for Doshung... no, Han Dohee, to just give me something this expensive? Even if he's a B-rank Hunter, a weapon can't be cheap.
-Eve : Holy crap, thank you so much ㅠ Got the knife ㅎ
-Eve : B-but is it okay to just give this to me??
I figured he wouldn't reply right away, so after getting down from the chair I was about to tear open the next box immediately.
ㅡDing!
Oh, was he watching the whole time..?
-Han Dohee : I was wondering why you weren't replying even though you're active
-Han Dohee : Unboxing? The other thing is probably more expensive than the knife
Huh..? Something more expensive than the knife..?
It was definitely Doshungjwak. I thought maybe he'd sent a brick as a prank. Well... it wasn't cash on delivery, so I guess not.
-Eve : Haven't opened that one yet. Gonna open it now
-Han Dohee : Go ahead
A box that looked like it contained something extremely hard and heavy. It was the size of a phone box, but at that weight, I was curious what was inside.
ㅡTududuk....
After peeling off the tightly sealed tape and opening the cardboard box..
Wh-what is this..?
An ingot.
A metal ingot. In other words... a completely solid chunk of bare metal. A heavy metal ingot with a pure-white color.
No wonder it was heavy....
-Eve : What is this?? Some kind of hammer head or something?
-Han Dohee : lol
-Han Dohee : You said you made a golem out of aluminum. Try using that once
-Han Dohee : I swiped it from a forge I know
-Eve : Whoa
Ah!
When I said I made a golem out of an aluminum can, it seems like he gave me another metal. To be honest, aluminum isn't exactly that hard a metal, right? It's used for foil and stuff too.
I don't know exactly what it is, but it'll definitely be better than can material that bends and warps all over the place.
-Eve : Thank you so muchㅠ Seriously, how much is this??
-Han Dohee : If you know, are you gonna pay me back?
-Eve : No, I mean; I might be able to pay you back later if I make moneyㅡㅡ
-Han Dohee : 400 million lol
That's insane.
-Eve : Insane
-Han Dohee : I'm serious
-Eve : G-
Four hundred million. No way.
This thing that's a little bigger than my fist is worth 400 million...? Then if I sold this, I'd be able to eat hundreds of millions of Cyburgers..?
-Han Dohee : Not quite
-Han Dohee : Around 8 million won lol
-Eve : Oh, seriously
-Han Dohee : Even that is expensive
-Han Dohee : Just because you awakened doesn't mean money is water
W-well, I guess....
8 million won really isn't the kind of money someone would casually shell out for someone else. Han Dohee does seem rich, though, from the way he once splurged on 100 Cyburgers at once.
No, he really is rich. When he had his account verified, his monthly income was a nine-digit number.
-Eve : Thank you so much, reallyㅠ..
-Han Dohee : Want me to tell you an easy way to pay me back?
-Eve : What is it.. Not organs though;
-Han Dohee : Do corneas count as organs too?
-Eve : You're not serious, right;?
After that chilling joke, Han Dohee got to the point.
-Han Dohee : Send a photo too
-Eve : Hmng...
-Han Dohee : Or transfer 8 million
-Eve : I'll send you a photo ㅠㅠ
Haa, so that was what he meant.
Besides, I had already received the knife. Honestly, giving more than 10 million won out of nowhere to someone whose face you don't even know is ridiculous. Even if the other person is a Hunter who makes a ton of money, after taking this much, shouldn't I do my part too....
Ddangdaeng, come here for a sec.
ㅡBeep!
When I called Ddangdaeng, Minyum, who had been perched on top of Ddangdaeng's head, came over too.
Take one picture of me.
ㅡBeep?
The one I'm going to send to Han Dohee. Wait a second, okay?
First I went into the bathroom and checked my face. It was still cute, sure, but it didn't really feel like my own face yet. It just felt like I was looking at someone else's.
Hmm. Cute.
I'm starting to feel a little narcissistic. I shouldn't stare in the mirror for too long.
ㅡSwish swish
After roughly fixing my hair, I sat on the floor with the least messy wall in the filthy studio apartment as my background.
The computer desk was too dirty for the chair, and the mattress was a total no-go. After moving things around, I chose the cleanest-looking spot.
How should I pose? Do I need a verification paper..?
After thinking it over, this was the conclusion.
Just in case, I'll cover my face a little.... All right! Take the picture, Ddangdaeng!
ㅡBeep!
With Ddangdaeng's spirited reply, a click sounded and the flash's light spread through the cramped studio apartment.
Let's see it first. How did it come out... what?
ㅡBeep!!
N-no, you already sent it..?! You were supposed to send it after I checked it?!
Ddangdaeng's camera quality is good, but the screen attached to its face has a low resolution, so it's hard to see. Thinking maybe something weird got captured—I ran to the computer.
Hm....
A photo in a somewhat dark room, lit up by the flash. My eyes were properly covered, and there was clearly nothing visible that shouldn't have been.
-Han Dohee : Oh lol
-Han Dohee : Hmm
-Han Dohee : Something tells me this shouldn't be uploaded anywhere else... lol
Haa... I hate this....
A wave of self-loathing began to crash over me.