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Chapter 5
In the end, I decided to take Ror to the market after covering his horns with a hat and wrapping his wings tightly in a baby carrier.
And so, carrying Ror in my arms, I arrived at the town market.
“Wow…”
“…Pyaah!”
About twenty minutes from my house by vehicle was Dancheong Market.
As it turned out, today was market day.
Whew. Good thing I came on a scooter instead of driving.
No wonder there had been so many people around. Even the entrance to the parking lot was completely jammed.
If I had brought my car, I probably would have spent ages just looking for a parking space.
“Alright. Let’s have a look around.”
I parked the scooter in a corner of the lot and started exploring.
Along the roadside sat elderly women selling vegetables and medicinal herbs in large red basins.
The unusual thing was that there were also many stalls selling gate mana stones, monster byproducts, and low-grade potions.
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t the kind of place hunters normally visited.
“Hm…?”
As I turned my head, a large sign reading Dancheong Market caught my eye.
Below it was a smaller sign:
“With Dancheong County Gate Market.”
“Ahh…”
Only then did I understand the strange lineup of vendors.
The wording might sound odd, but…
At one point, Korea—and really, the entire world—had experienced a massive Gate boom.
How efficiently a country dealt with Gates was directly tied to public safety, so naturally, Gates and the hunters who fought them became the center of public attention.
And wherever attention gathered, money followed.
A trend began where people attached the word Gate to anything and everything to attract interest.
Gate Safety Charms.
Gate Multivitamins.
Gate K-Pop Cultural Festivals.
Makgeolli Festivals with Hunters (participation was mandatory).
And countless others.
Everyone wanted a slice of the Gate Management Administration’s budget, so they slapped the words Gate and Hunter onto whatever they could.
This market was apparently one of the remnants of that era.
Ugh…
I remembered the days when I was dragged into all kinds of ridiculous events simply because I belonged to a government-affiliated guild.
Surely hunters didn’t still come here because of that, right?
That would be awkward.
What if I ran into someone I knew?
A former hunter suddenly moving to the countryside after quitting? The reason would be obvious enough.
Come on. No way.
Hunters weren’t exactly common.
There wasn’t even a proper hunter guild around here.
There was no chance I’d run into someone I knew.
“…Pyaah?”
Ahem.
Anyway.
Today’s shopping list consisted of ingredients, seeds, and seedlings for the vegetable patch.
After asking around, I learned that the seed shop was located inside the market building on the opposite side of the parking lot.
I could buy ingredients along the way.
Since I was already here, I might as well pick up some fresh vegetables and wild greens.
“Glutinous rice donuts! Three for two thousand won!”
Glutinous rice donuts?
My feet stopped before I even realized it.
But I couldn’t give in to temptation.
I steeled my resolve and continued toward my destination.
Then—
“Pyaah!”
Ror, who had been quietly sitting inside the carrier until now, suddenly sniffed the air.
The man selling donuts noticed him immediately.
“Oh my, what a cute kid you’ve got there.”
“Haha, thank you.”
“Hey there, little one. How old are you?”
“Pyaah…? I, the great one, spent an immeasurable amount of time sleeping within an egg—”
“Yes! Four years old! He’s four!”
Whew. That was close.
Thankfully, the man seemed to interpret Ror’s words as some unusual baby babbling.
“My goodness, only four and already talking so well. Here, kid. Try this. Just a little taste.”
The man cut off a piece of donut with scissors and held it out.
Before I could decline, Ror opened his mouth and gobbled it up.
“Oho! Sweet and chewy! What is this?”
“It’s called a glutinous rice donut.”
“Glutinous rice donut! I want more. Buy this!”
But I firmly shook my head.
“No.”
“Pyaaaah…”
Ror’s head drooped in disappointment.
No meant no.
We hadn’t bought a single thing on our shopping list yet, and we certainly hadn’t come here for snacks.
“Here, sir. You should try one too. Freshly fried.”
This time, the vendor offered a piece to me.
Without thinking, I accepted and took a bite.
Hm. This is good.
The freshly fried donut was wonderfully chewy and warm.
Most importantly, the generous coating of sugar made it irresistibly sweet.
It was the kind of snack that instantly made you want another bite.
…Ror wants some too.
Maybe buying a little wouldn’t hurt.
I hadn’t started shopping yet, but one bag of donuts should be fine.
They were delicious, after all.
“Then I’ll take ten thousand won worth.”
“Haha! Thank you very much!”
“Waaah!”
The vendor even threw in a generous extra serving.
After buying the donuts, we continued on our way.
“Corn rice wine bread! Five thousand won each!”
“Ohooo, that smells delicious! Guardian, I want to try that!”
“No. We already ate.”
“Meals and snacks are separate things!”
“…”
“Sweet rice punch! Homemade pumpkin sweet rice punch!”
“That too! That too!”
“Oh my, what a cute child. Here, have a steamed bun.”
“This is quite delicious as well!”
…
By the time we finally reached the seed shop, my hands were overflowing with snacks.
“Pyaat…”
Only Ror looked satisfied, his lips shining from all the free samples he’d enjoyed.
Was market shopping always this exhausting?
Thanks to our unplanned snack spree, we arrived at the seed shop much later than expected.
The bell above the entrance rang.
An elderly owner with a full head of white hair leisurely walked out from inside.
“Welcome. What can I get for you?”
Hmm.
Since I was completely new to farming, it would probably be best to explain my situation and ask for advice.
“Hello. I’d like to buy some seeds for my vegetable garden.”
“A garden, eh? What was planted there before?”
“I moved in recently, so… I’m planning to start from scratch.”
“Hm. I see. What would you like?”
“In that case, Shine Muscat grapes and blueberries—”
The moment I answered, the old man’s expression turned strange.
Not only that, but he let out a long, sigh-filled sound.
“Hoo… Hmmm…”
That complicated expression felt oddly familiar.
If I had to compare it…
Newly awakened hunters were often overly confident.
People around them treated them like heroes, and their bodies became stronger than ordinary people’s.
It was understandable they’d get excited.
But imagine a rookie hunter who overestimated their abilities and tried to enter a high-level Gate without proper preparation.
The expression I would wear watching that situation would probably look exactly like this.
In other words, he was looking at me like a clueless beginner.
Was my plan really that hopeless…?
That was shocking.
“Actually… never mind. I’ll just take lettuce.”
I hurriedly changed my answer.
Only then did the old man smile warmly.
“Hoho. Good choice.”
As expected, lettuce was the classic starting point for a vegetable garden.
Every healing-life novel seemed to begin with someone growing lettuce.
Even in “The Farmer in the Countryside Is Actually a Hidden Overpowered Hunter?!”, the protagonist’s first crop was lettuce.
“Chicory would be good too. And these wrap vegetables are fine to plant this season.”
“Then I’ll take those as well.”
Since I only planned to farm as a hobby and for a bit of self-sufficiency, I didn’t buy much.
Instead, I purchased small amounts of several kinds of wrap vegetable seeds, along with some spinach, perilla leaves, and green onions.
I figured vegetables grown in my own garden would be perfect for wraps or bibimbap.
Alright.
This should be enough.
I approached the counter to pay.
At that moment, Ror—who had shown no interest in anything except snacks—suddenly poked his head out of the carrier.
After looking around curiously, he pointed at a small bag of seeds sitting in a corner.
“Guardian, aren’t you buying that?”
“Hm? That?”
The item Ror pointed to was a small cloth pouch filled with seeds.
I examined it closely, but there was no label anywhere.
Unlike the other seeds packaged in plastic bags with names, pictures of crops, and manufacturer information, this pouch had nothing written on it.
What is that?
To be continued…
