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Chapter 19
Ever since Suho left, Morae had to endure Song-yi’s relentless interrogation.
“Explain exactly what happened, from beginning to end, broken down by the minute.”
Even after hearing the whole story, Song-yi couldn’t calm down for a while.
“Does Gyeon Suho just not look good on camera or something?”
At that serious question, Morae couldn’t help but laugh.
“Song-yi, aren’t you acting way too different now? Before, you were cursing him out saying Hunter Gyeon Suho had a terrible personality.”
“Gyeon Suho’s personality is still awful for absolutely no reason. It’s like one of those messy makjang dramas with no logic. It’s stimulating, but also makes you wonder why he’s like that. But when I saw him in person, the logic just wrote itself.”
“That’s true.”
Even though she had watched Gyeon Suho’s face endlessly through videos, when she actually faced him in person, Morae had also been shocked.
Above all, his personality wasn’t as rough as people said.
Even after finding out she was his fan, he didn’t show any disgust. He even went so far as to safely bring the fainted Morae home.
Wouldn’t that count as pretty caring?
‘He even stayed by my side all night when I told him not to leave…’
She suddenly remembered Gyeon Suho’s dazzling chest. Pink flushed across Morae’s cheeks.
“Morae, why is your face red?”
“N-no, it’s just… Anyway, Song-yi, do you want to take this chance to join Beautiful, Gyeon too?”
“No way.”
At the merciless rejection, Morae pouted.
She had asked many times because she thought doing fan-cafe activities together would be a huge help, but Song-yi never gave in.
Suddenly, Morae clapped her hands.
“Oh, right! Song-yi, I have something to show you.”
“What is it?”
“Wait just a sec.”
Morae hurried into her room and came back out holding something. Song-yi peered closely at the content inside a zip-bag.
“What is this? Bellflower root?”
“You’ve never seen it before either, right?”
“Yeah, I don’t know what it is, but it looks really unlucky.”
“This is mandrake.”
Even if mandrakes were rare, no awakened person would have never heard of them. Song-yi’s eyes widened.
“Mandrake? The ingredient they say goes into elixirs?”
“Yeah.”
“And this is that S-rank item they say fewer than ten people have ever found?”
“I found it in the dungeon yesterday.”
“How does something like this show up in a C-rank dungeon? And you said it was your 7th gathering run?”
“I looked it up. Mandrakes spawn randomly. The last time one appeared, it was in a D-rank dungeon.”
“…Did we just win the lottery?”
Morae could only nod with an overwhelmed expression. Even she had to admit this was pure luck.
Staring at the mandrake without blinking, Song-yi suddenly grabbed Morae’s shoulders.
“Morae, let’s move houses.”
“That’s probably not possible. Its market price is around 20 to 30 million won. We could probably upgrade to a semi-lease though.”
“Then let’s sell it for the highest price possible. Selling to an item shop would be insane with their fees, so dealing with an alchemist is best, but they’re so hard to meet…”
There were as few alchemists as there were tamers.
On top of that, you had to be at least A-rank to handle mandrake, and there were only a handful of alchemists like that in the country.
After thinking deeply, Song-yi clicked her tongue.
“Give me some time. Even if it takes a while, I’ll definitely find one.”
“No, you don’t have to.”
“Why?”
“Hunter Gyeon Suho said he’d introduce one to me.”
“Why would Gyeon Suho do that? He’s not trying to scam you, is he?”
“No, come on, Song-yi. With how much Hunter Gyeon Suho earns, why would he scam me?”
“…Well, that’s true.”
Since childhood, Gyeon Suho’s earnings as an awakened hunter rivaled that of major corporations. Morae squeezed Song-yi’s hand.
“Song-yi, I realized a lot from this whole thing.”
“I don’t think any of those realizations are good… but fine, let’s hear it.”
“People really misunderstand Hunter Gyeon Suho a lot.”
“Misunderstand?”
“Look, even now. Why would he go out of his way to introduce an alchemist to me?”
“Who knows what’s inside that shady heart of his.”
“His real personality is actually really kind. Even after finding out I was his fan, he didn’t show any dislike at all.”
Song-yi looked at her with pity.
“Isn’t it normal to not be rude to your own fan?”
“Think about what Hunter Gyeon Suho went through.”
“……”
Even Song-yi couldn’t deny that. The incidents caused by his obsessive fans were so infamous that everyone in the country knew about them.
“So what are you going to do?”
Morae’s gentle eyes drooped gloomily. She owed Gyeon Suho so much already, and there was no way she could repay him.
“I’m just going to love Hunter Gyeon Suho even more than now.”
“More? Is that even possible?”
Song-yi asked in disbelief.
But to Morae, who had twice escaped life-threatening danger thanks to Gyeon Suho, nothing else mattered anymore.
“I’ve been too complacent until now. I’m going to watch more videos and be really active on the fan-cafe. So anyway, Song-yi, how about you join Beautiful, Gyeon too—”
“No thanks.”
Morae’s cheeks puffed up in protest. Like a squirrel with its cheeks stuffed full of food, her round face stuck out, and Song-yi poked it.
“Enough recruiting. Let’s go get lunch. To celebrate our Morae soon escaping monthly rent, big sis is buying.”
“But I haven’t escaped yet.”
“Then think of it as the pre-celebration. How about pasta?”
“Hmm… I don’t really want to eat string-shaped food for a while.”
“Let’s just go out and decide. We can stop by the car dealership too.”
“You’re finally signing the contract?”
“Yeah. The X-tsu.”
“Isn’t that a really expensive car?”
“It’s the cheapest one out of the brochures Gosan gave me.”
So she had finally decided after worrying over which car to buy from the pamphlets Gosan handed her.
“Okay, I’ll just wash my hair and come out.”
“Take your time.”
While Morae was quickly washing and changing clothes, Song-yi, who was lounging around on the floor, suddenly stuck her phone through the window.
“Morae, you’ve got a call.”
“Is it spam? Just hang up.”
“I don’t think it is.”
“Really?”
Morae swiped to answer the unfamiliar number on the screen.
“Hello?”
— It’s me.
At the familiar voice, her breath stopped for a moment. Only after a long pause did Morae manage to open her mouth.
“…Hunter Gyeon Suho?”
Song-yi, eavesdropping outside the window, almost had her eyes pop out.
Morae cleared her throat to stop it from trembling.
“A-ahem… what… what is it?”
— I told you I’d introduce you to an alchemist.
“Already?”
— Why? Did you change your mind?
“No! The sooner the better!”
— We arranged to meet. How’s 2 p.m. tomorrow?
“That works. Where should I go?”
— Stay home. I’ll come pick you up.
“Sorry? You’re coming too?”
— How could I be absent when I’m introducing someone I know?
He could just give his acquaintance her number though?
Maybe it was a sense of responsibility? After all, this was a mandrake transaction. Morae couldn’t help smiling in admiration.
“I wish tomorrow would come faster.”
— You wanted to sell the mandrake that badly?
“No, I get to see you again. That’s what makes me happy.”
— ……
Suddenly, there was no sound. Did the call cut off? No, the line was still connected.
“Hunter Gyeon Suho? Can you hear me?”
— …Yeah.
“If you’re driving, the alley’s narrow so it’ll be hard to get in. I’ll wait at the café on the main road.”
— Alright.
“Then, please take care of me tomorrow. Thank you!”
Morae bowed politely into empty air and carefully ended the call.
Gyeon Suho’s last words lingered in her ears. That languid, low voice.
Still lost in the lingering feeling of the call, she was shaken back to reality by Song-yi.
“Stop swooning and snap out of it. What did he say? He’s introducing you to an alchemist?”
“Yeah, we’re meeting at 2 tomorrow. And Hunter Gyeon Suho is coming to pick me up.”
“So basically, in just one day we’ll be getting a huge pile of money, right?”
“We don’t know yet. If the alchemist decides not to buy it, I can’t sell it.”
“If they were that kind of person, Gyeon Suho wouldn’t have introduced them!”
“…You think so?”
“The fact that he contacted you so fast means he desperately wants the mandrake. That means he’s ready to spend big. Ugh, I’m worried. Our Morae’s like a squirrel, she’s terrible at bargaining.”
“Oh, stop…”
“Just don’t even think about lowering the price. How many times have I told you? Everyone is rich except you.”
Morae let out a helpless laugh. She was already paying 750,000 won a month in rent with only a 5-million-won deposit. She was in no position to be generous.
“I know. Don’t worry.”
