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Chapter 8
Se-hee muttered in disbelief.
As if they had been waiting for Cassian to leave, none of them attacked.
“For now, yeah, just stay like that. Everyone stay still. Don’t attack me.”
Se-hee let out a sigh in the strange silence.
She went inside the tent and took out the pork belly she had grilled the day before.
Since it had already gone cold, she put it back over the fire.
“Can you all eat this and then just leave?”
The wolf was the first to turn its head.
It looked up at Se-hee for a moment before slowly shifting its gaze toward the meat.
As if taking that as a signal, the other monsters also took a step forward.
They didn’t push each other or fight over their turn.
‘The monsters here are better at socializing than I am.’
Then, one of the goblins stepped forward.
It was holding something that sparkled in its hand.
It was a roughly cut gemstone.
The moment Se-hee took it, she felt a faint vibration through her fingertips.
For a very brief moment, her vision seemed to overlap slightly, and a blue window appeared in the air.
[Exchange Notification – Fuel Appraisal Result]
• Target: 1 Garnet Fragment
• Purity: 32% (Low Impurities)
• Potential Energy: 380P
• Refining Fee (10%): -38P
• Final Amount Acquired: +342P
“Huh? Wait a second.”
Se-hee’s eyes stopped on the numbers.
‘Wait. What if I need to use actual money later?’
The moment Se-hee thought that, another window appeared in front of her.
[Withdrawal Fee Notice]
• Reverse Exchange Fee: 40%
“……?”
Se-hee’s expression stiffened.
“You take 20% when I earn it, and 40% when I spend it?”
A brief silence followed.
“Are you basically a loan shark?!”
The system window immediately responded in a matter-of-fact tone.
[If you dislike it, you do not have to use it.
However, if you are later imprisoned for consuming goods without paying, the system will not be responsible.]
“……Wow.”
Se-hee let out a hollow laugh.
“You really have no sympathy.”
She muttered without thinking.
After glaring at the system window for a moment, Se-hee eventually let out a deep sigh.
“Ha…… whatever. I don’t need to use it right now anyway.”
As Se-hee tilted her head back slightly, her eyes suddenly narrowed.
“But why is the price different from what the wolf brought me?”
She remembered the gemstone the wolf had carried over in its mouth and dropped onto the ground.
‘I’m sure……’
What had appeared back then wasn’t such a detailed appraisal window, but an automatic summary window.
Se-hee’s brows slowly furrowed.
“But why is it different this time?”
As if answering her question, another blue window appeared.
[Notice]
During the initial adaptation stage, the automatic summary function was applied by default in consideration of the user’s level of information comprehension.
Your comprehension has now reached the required threshold, so detailed information display has been activated.
- Automatic Summary / Detailed Display can be selected.
“No…… Why are you only telling me something this important now?”
Se-hee glared at the blue window.
“Would it have killed you to tell me earlier?”
After taking a brief breath, she continued grumbling.
“If you were going to do this, you should have given me the choice from the beginning.”
The blue window gave no answer.
Se-hee let out a short sigh and unnecessarily took a deep breath of the morning air.
‘Whatever. For now, I should just fill my stomach.’
Cassian’s footsteps were heavy as he descended through the forest.
As the Duke of Valer, he had traveled across countless battlefields, but this was the first time he had ever left behind such a strange and powerful presence.
‘Sei. Could she really be a Saintess?’
Without slowing his pace, Cassian looked back once.
‘There shouldn’t be any reason for a Saintess to be in a place like this.’
The thought refused to leave his mind.
Cassian slowed down for a moment and glanced back at the forest behind him.
Then, just as he was making his way down a narrow, steep slope—
The harsh smell of blood and sweat reached him on the wind, stinging his nose.
Thud, thud.
The sound of footsteps approached, trampling over the silence of the forest.
Cassian instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword and concealed his presence behind a tree.
This forest was under the management of the House of Valer.
There were few people who had any reason—or the nerve—to enter without permission.
His first thought was that it might be a group returning from a hunt.
A moment later, a group of mercenaries emerged through the fog.
Their equipment was mismatched, but their movements were experienced, and the traces of their recent hunt were still visible on their shoulders and weapons.
Cassian immediately recognized that they were people who had already received permission from the House of Valer.
‘The Red Fang Mercenary Group?’
They passed by without noticing Cassian.
“I’m telling you, it’s around here! The place where that incredible smell is coming from!”
“Duke or no duke, once we find that smell, today’s hunt is over!”
Laughing roughly, they began walking straight toward the direction of Se-hee’s tent.
Cassian wanted to draw his sword immediately and stop their disrespectful advance.
But then he remembered Se-hee from the night before, calmly closing the lid of the ssamjang container even while surrounded by countless monsters.
‘Perhaps interfering myself would be disrespectful to her.’
Cassian stood there for a moment, watching them walk away.
The mercenary group continued deeper into the forest.
There was no immediate sign of danger.
Despite what he was thinking, Cassian looked toward Se-hee’s location with a worried expression.
In his mind, a cold conclusion had already been reached:
If they made her uncomfortable, he would erase the entire mercenary group from the map of the Empire.
Meanwhile, Se-hee, who was unknowingly at the center of the storm, was enjoying a peaceful morning.
“Ah, I feel like I can finally breathe.”
She sat in a chair in front of the tent and opened her points window.
Thanks to the money Cassian had left behind, her balance was quite comfortable.
“To upgrade to a convenience store, I’ll need to get a good turnover rate first.”
Se-hee quickly estimated the number of customers and cooking time in her head.
“It would be nice if I could get some practice customers before the knights arrive.”
She naturally opened the system shop.
“The Duke seems to like meat.”
Se-hee tapped her chin with her finger.
“I hope the next customers are a little more…… exciting.”
She let out a small laugh as if imagining it.
“If I get them to order extra after they lose their minds from eating something spicy, my sales would skyrocket.”
A business smile spread across Se-hee’s lips.
From below the forest came rough shouts and the clashing of metal, growing closer.
But to Se-hee, they were not sounds of danger.
They were simply the lively arrival signals of potential customers bringing the sweet smell of money.
Se-hee put a pot of water over the fire.
The fog in the forest began to clear, and large mercenaries were just about to burst into the clearing in front of the tent.
The wolves had taken positions around the edge of the tent, their ears raised as they listened toward the forest.
‘If they were customers, they wouldn’t be making this much noise.’
That thought would ultimately turn out to be her biggest misjudgment.
Se-hee casually dismissed the strange atmosphere.
Too many things had happened within a single day.
She absentmindedly browsed through the system shop list until her finger suddenly stopped.
• [Spicy Chicken Stir-Fried Noodles (5-pack)] …… 500P
“……Spicy Chicken Stir-Fried Noodles?”
The events of last night, along with all the stress that had piled up since she had fallen into this forest, flashed through her mind.
“Ah, I can’t resist this.”
Without hesitation, Se-hee pressed the purchase button.
‘But do the types of ramen change every day? Or do they unlock as I level up?’
Se-hee thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.
There was no guarantee that the system would give her an answer right away anyway.
‘I don’t know when I’ll get to see this again.’
She increased the quantity with her finger.
Considering the possibility of unexpected situations, it would be better to stock up generously.
“Ah, while I’m at it, I should buy some other things I need in advance too.”
Se-hee bought only the things she needed.
[Purchase History]
• Spicy Chicken Stir-Fried Noodles (5-pack) ×3
• Cool Berry (2L)
• Paper Cups (20)
• Chopsticks (100)
.
.
.
Total Cost: 2,210P
Se-hee checked her remaining points once more.
[Current Points: 4,582P]
‘I still have plenty left.’
Se-hee put the pot of water over the fire and lit it with familiar movements.
A short while later, the water began to boil.
She tore open the packets and dropped the noodles into the pot.
Once the noodles softened, she tilted the pot and roughly drained the water.
Then she added an appropriate amount of the red sauce and quickly mixed everything with chopsticks.
As steam began to rise, the spicy aroma slowly spread around the tent.
“Ah, that smells delicious.”
At the same time, the wolf crouching near the edge of the tent raised its head.
Its ears stood straight up, and its tail lowered.
The other wolves also rose one by one and silently spread out around the perimeter.
Grrrrrrrr―
“Huh? Why are you guys doing that?”
The gazes of all the wolves simultaneously fixed on something beyond the fog.
[Emergency Situation!]
Multiple external individuals are approaching the business area.
If the situation is not resolved within 30 minutes,
business may be suspended and an unexpected dispute may occur.
Objective: Resolve the situation peacefully (0/1)
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Success: Disposable Tableware Sets ×3,
Folding Chairs for Temporary Seating ×5
Failure: Business Suspension, Threat to Life
※ External individuals may become customers.
The choice is yours. (Remaining calm is recommended.)
