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Chapter 3
Instead of answering, the wolf swished its tail once more.
“……Wow.”
Se-hee looked back and forth between the tent and the wolf.
One of the forest’s top predators was sitting right in front of her.
There was no way other monsters would dare come near.
“At least I’ll have reliable security.”
She smiled as she looked between the wolf and the chopsticks still in her hand.
The wolf slowly raised its head and looked up at Se-hee.
“What?”
Se-hee spoke to the wolf.
“Is there something else?”
The wolf paced around in front of the tent for a while before slowly turning around.
It seemed to disappear into the forest after taking a few steps.
“Hey, wait.”
Before she could call it back, it disappeared into the forest.
Then, a short while later, it returned.
This time, it was carrying something in its mouth.
“Huh?”
The wolf came all the way up to Se-hee and lowered its head.
With a dull thud, something shiny rolled onto the ground.
A gemstone about the size of a fingernail.
It looked as if it had been dug out of the dirt, but its distinctive shine was clearly visible even in the darkness of the forest.
“What is this?”
Se-hee carefully crouched down and picked one up, but the wolf did not back away.
Instead, it sat obediently with its front paws together, watching only her hand.
“Don’t tell me this is payment for the ramen?”
The moment she muttered it jokingly,
[Exchange Notification – Automatic Summary]
• Detected Item: Gemstone Fragment
• Valuation/Refinement Complete
• Final Amount Obtained: 150P
Se-hee’s gaze stopped in midair.
The number was changing.
The points that had definitely been 0 just moments ago……
“Ah.”
The words slipped out on their own.
“Wait, what are you doing? I didn’t even get to find out what kind of gemstone it was, and it disappeared just like that?”
The moment she received it, the system had already processed the payment.
The gemstone itself was gone, while the points remained.
But from Se-hee’s perspective, it felt like someone had given her something only to take it away again.
“First of all…… thank you for the gemstone. Well, I don’t know if you can understand me.”
As if it understood her, the wolf flicked its tail once and looked away.
Only then did Se-hee laugh.
“I just……”
Se-hee looked down at the wolf.
“Made my first sale to a wolf?”
She had not escaped from the wolf or received help from it.
She had simply sold something and received payment in return.
If something like this happened once, it was a coincidence.
If it happened twice, it was business.
“Well, when I think about it, it’s not really that different from my company.”
Except that her workplace was a forest and her customer was a wolf.
Se-hee checked the number of points floating in front of her again.
At that moment, she realized something.
Maybe this was not a place where she simply had to survive.
Maybe this was a place where she could actually make a living.
She still did not know what the conditions for returning home were, but one thing was certain.
The more points she accumulated, the more possibilities she would have.
“But what am I supposed to buy with these?”
The moment she finished speaking, a window appeared in front of her, almost as if telling her to check it now.
[System Shop]
Location: Monster Forest Branch (Neighborhood Supermarket)
“No credit! No points, no soup!”
[Items for Sale]
• [Mansung Tangmyeon (5-pack)] … 500P [Purchase]
• [Maximum Gold (10)] … 120P [Purchase]
• [Shupam Can (200g)] … 600P [Purchase]
.
.
.
- Near-expiry products are yours to take. No returns.
“Isn’t this a little too much?”
She let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
Se-hee closed the screen and looked at the tent.
“By the way, I’m supposed to live here from now on, right?”
Se-hee looked inside the tent.
Suddenly, she thought of her bed.
A soft mattress and a warm blanket.
Her phone plugged into the charger every night, and the TV she used to turn on without even thinking.
“……Ha.”
She was now in the middle of a forest with no convenience-store late-night snacks and no delivery food.
They were things she would never see again.
The wolf was still sitting there, its ears perked up as it listened toward the forest.
Se-hee looked at it once before carefully entering the tent.
The inside of the tent was narrower than she expected.
The floor was thin, and she could feel moisture rising beneath her feet.
“Ha, this is worse than a tiny boarding room.”
Outside, she could hear the wind scraping against the branches.
“If it rains, I’m done for.”
There did not seem to be any water or fire either.
And when Se-hee pulled at the tent fabric with her hand, it shook much more easily than she expected.
“This is basically just plastic.”
The moment she came to that conclusion,
the inside of the tent suddenly brightened, and a small metal device popped out from the top.
“Huh?”
With a whirring sound, a faint light came on.
[Utility Supply Activated]
A Galactic Standard Reception Antenna will be installed on top of the tent.
- Monthly Usage Fee: 500P (Automatically deducted)
- Automatic inspection and repair of damaged equipment
Then, a faucet appeared beside the tent, and water began dripping from it.
The water was surprisingly clean.
Se-hee glared at the air and asked,
“What happens if I don’t pay the monthly fee?”
[Service will be immediately disconnected in the event of nonpayment.]
“I knew it.”
Her life had certainly become more comfortable, but strangely, she did not feel at ease.
It was because even this comfort came with a price tag.
“Phew…….”
Se-hee sighed and poked her head outside.
The wolf was still sitting in front of the tent, guarding the place.
The traces of ramen broth around its mouth were still there.
“Are you seriously planning to settle down here?”
Instead of answering, the wolf perked up its ears.
It was not that she disliked having it around, but it would be a problem if customers saw a wolf and ran away.
“Woof!”
Perhaps sensing what Se-hee was thinking, the wolf tilted its head and barked once.
It was unexpectedly cute, and Se-hee found herself thinking that maybe she could just leave it there.
“Should I at least give you a name?”
The moment she finished speaking, her stomach growled.
Grrrrr―
Se-hee paused for a moment before casually placing a hand on her stomach as if nothing had happened.
“Maybe because I haven’t eaten anything since I got here and I’m finally relaxing.”
After boiling one pack of ramen for each of the wolves earlier, she had nothing left.
“Maybe there’s something inside.”
Se-hee glanced around the tent and opened her inventory.
The only things that could even remotely be considered food were two or three chocolate bars.
But they looked nowhere near enough to fill her stomach.
“I should’ve saved one.”
Se-hee slowly looked around the area surrounding the tent.
Branches, rocks, grass.
There was nothing that looked edible.
The forest seemed abundant, yet it painfully reminded her that none of it belonged to her.
“They brought me here to run a business, but I don’t even have anything to eat myself……?”
At that moment, she heard the sound of something stepping on the dirt behind her.
It was the wolf suddenly getting to its feet and heading toward the forest.
A short while later, it returned, dragging something along the ground in its mouth.
“Huh?”
What fell to the ground was a fairly large piece of meat.
The blood had not even dried yet. It looked like it had been freshly hunted.
“Ah.”
Se-hee stopped for a moment when she saw the meat.
“Meat? Did you hunt this yourself?”
The wolf looked strangely proud.
It sat beside the meat and glanced toward the forest.
It perked up its ears as if checking the surroundings, then looked back at Se-hee.
It had the expression of someone giving her a gift in return for the ramen.
“Yeah. I appreciate it, but……”
Se-hee picked up the meat.
The feeling of fresh blood sticking to her hand was vivid.
“This needs to be grilled.”
She gathered a few branches in front of the tent and started making a fire, but suddenly stopped.
A thought had crossed her mind.
Hand of Destruction.
Cooking Skill F-.
The ramen had been an exception, but this meat was neither an item from her inventory nor something purchased from the shop.
That made her nervous.
All she had to do was grill it.
She tried to convince herself that something that simple could not possibly count as cooking.
“Come on. Surely it won’t stop me from doing this. Grilling should be fine.”
She muttered to herself and unnecessarily checked the meat one more time.
It only had to be placed over the fire, yet her fingertips were trembling slightly.
Just as she was about to put the meat over the flames—
[Warning]
This ingredient may cause a toxic reaction that is fatal to the human body.
“Wait a second.”
Se-hee looked back and forth between the meat and the window.
“What? Toxic? Even grilling it makes it poisonous?”
She suddenly remembered when she had cooked the ramen.
“Wait, you didn’t say anything back then.”
Seeing the system now strongly discouraging her from cooking, Se-hee was speechless.
[Warning]
If you wish to survive, cooking is not recommended.
“Then what am I supposed to eat? I’ve never seen a store where the owner is the first one who needs to be given food.”
There was no way the system would answer.
Se-hee looked down at the meat and muttered,
“Ha……. Did you just bring me here to run a business without thinking about food or anything else?”
In the end, Se-hee had no choice but to put the meat down.
Seeing this, the wolf tilted its head as if asking why she was not eating it.
“Sorry. It says I can’t eat this.”
Se-hee sighed and checked her points.
150P.
“Then, is there at least something edible in the shop?”
She casually looked through the corner of her vision.
Ramen, instant rice, canned food.
Then her eyes stopped at one item.
• [Frozen Pork Belly, 1 Serving] … 1,200P
“……”
Se-hee looked at the number again.
Then she looked at it one more time.
“Frozen pork belly…….”
[System Shop]
Purchase unavailable. (Insufficient points)
“Ha. I know. I’m short on points.”
Se-hee scanned the list from top to bottom.
Ramen was 500.
Coffee was 120.
And below that, the things she could actually afford.
• [Bottled Water (2L)] … 30P
• [Parkgas] … 50P
“……There’s nothing else.”
After thinking for a moment, Se-hee pressed the purchase button on both items.
That left her with only 70 points.
Then it happened.
Rustle―
A very faint sound came from the bushes.
A nearly inaudible sound, like someone swallowing nervously.
“……Urgh.”
