TRPM 418

chapter 418

After leaving school, I headed not to my home but to Shinsegyo.

I wanted to see how Shinsegyo was doing lately, especially with the Shinse Herb logo displayed prominently. I hadn’t visited in a while, so I thought I’d drop by on a whim.

“Whoa…?”

Taking the bus, I arrived near Shinsegyo and saw unfamiliar buildings. Several structures had been added since my last visit, and there were quite a few still under construction.

‘Because of the herb cultivation facility, people came here to work. With people came convenience facilities, and with convenience facilities, even more people came… and now buildings are going up.’

The fact that a low-frequency generator to prevent dungeon creation had already been installed in Shinsegyo probably helped too. While such devices are affordable for apartment residents pooling some money, many places without a large population didn’t have one.

‘And even if there’s no subway, the buses run, so transportation isn’t that inconvenient.’

It was natural for people to gather here.

‘Of course, it’s still far compared to the city.’

With that in mind, I looked at the herb cultivation facility across from Shinsegyo. The building walls displayed the Shinse Herb logo I had seen earlier. I had expected as much.

By the way…

“…There are a lot of trucks.”

The parking lot in front of Shinse Herb was packed with trucks, likely from various companies. I hadn’t noticed before, but it seemed the facility was already well-known in the industry.

‘And this one cultivation facility is supplying enough to fill all those trucks.’

This cultivation facility used technology from an organization based on Mars. I knew the technology made it efficient, but I hadn’t realized it would be this impressive.

‘If business is going this well, Shinsegyo’s finances shouldn’t be a worry.’

I thought this as I turned my attention away. I had come to visit Shinsegyo, not check on the cultivation facility.

“Shinsegyo has changed a lot too.”

I hadn’t gone inside yet, but it was clear that the building had been fully remodeled. The exterior was drastically different from before. Previously, it felt like a renovated school or hospital. Now, it looked more like a modern office building—perhaps some companies had even moved in.

‘No, maybe companies really have moved in…’

Shinsegyo had always had many unused rooms. With that thought, I entered the building.

“…They’ve completely changed the interior too.”

I had expected it from the outside, but inside was entirely different as well. The lobby, which had once had a normal first-floor ceiling, now stretched up to the fifth floor, creating a sense of openness.

I wondered how much money Shinse Herb had made in such a short time to allow such a remodel.

“Ah, it’s you, Geonwoo. Shall I call your mother?”

As I observed the interior, an employee who recognized me spotted me in the lobby and spoke. I looked at him in response.

“…The atmosphere has changed a lot, hasn’t it?”
“Hmm? Oh, is it because of my clothes?”

This employee used to care for the children at Shinsegyo—basically like a daycare teacher. But now…

“How do I look? Like a businessman at a successful company?”
“Well, if you hadn’t said that, I might have thought so.”

I asked him:

“You changed jobs? That doesn’t seem like suitable attire for childcare.”
“I didn’t change jobs, but my work has changed.”

He was now the manager of Shinse Herb.

“…Did you graduate in a related field?”
“No, I studied Early Childhood Education.”

…So, nothing to do with herbs.

“Then how did you become a manager?”
“Connections. I’ve worked at Shinsegyo for nearly ten years.”

So my mother had just placed him there.

“Haha. My mother thought about hiring an expert at first, but this job values trust over expertise, so she put me in. Honestly, you just have to follow the manual.”
“Hmm… I see.”

Given the cultivation facility’s structure, the types and quantities of herbs were predetermined. Changing them could ruin the entire system. It was safer to have someone who didn’t interfere with the manual than an expert trying to optimize efficiency.

“Is that a compliment or an insult?”
“Um…”

Reliable, yes, but not exactly flattering.

“Anyway, I’ll call your mother.”
“No, that’s fine. She’s probably busy.”

I declined his offer, which made his expression curious.

“Hmm… she’s not busy, really.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your mother doesn’t have much work, actually. Being the head of Shinsegyo doesn’t mean she’s idle, but she can finish quickly and spend time with friends.”

I knew my mother was incredible from running Shinsegyo, but this much?

“…In that case, please call my mother.”
“Sure, one moment.”

He took out his phone and called my mother.

“…Hello. Are you busy? Your son is at Shinsegyo… Oh, I see. Understood.”

He seemed slightly flustered after ending the call. I asked:

“Busy?”
“No, not exactly…”

He apologized with a sheepish expression:

“It seems she didn’t come in at all today. She’s at the ski resort with friends.”
“…Ah, I see.”

“So instead, she asked me to show you around the remodeled Shinsegyo.”
“Is that okay? Isn’t work keeping you busy?”

Wasn’t he here for Shinse Herb?

“Not too busy. Honestly, I got bored staying in my room, so I came dressed up.”
“…Shinsegyo… is this how it should be run?”

“Hi, hyung!”
“Hey, oppa!”

Following the employee’s guidance, I first went to the space where Shinsegyo’s children used to live and learn. Naturally, the children who had seen me before recognized me.

“Who…?”
“Mr. Hwiwoong, are you a guest?”

The employees who didn’t recognize me asked that. By the way, Hwiwoong is the employee who guided me.

“Oh, he’s the son of Headmaster Han Jaehee.”
“Headmaster…?”
“Ah, the famous one…”

I couldn’t let that slide.

“…My mother is the headmaster?”
“Yes. She initially refused, but being related to the previous headmaster and handling all the responsibilities, she eventually became headmaster.”
“…She must have hated it.”
“Haha. As her son, you’d know.”

Hwiwoong’s comment made the other employees laugh. They had apparently seen my mother resist becoming headmaster.

“Anyway…”

I looked at the children around me. Many faces were familiar, but there were also many unfamiliar ones.

“There are more children now.”

…The children at Shinsegyo are orphans, meaning their parents are deceased. A sudden increase in children could mean either they were brought from another orphanage or their parents recently died.

“…It’s the latter.”

The new children looked generally somber. Long-time residents of Shinsegyo had some comfort from staff and volunteers, but these children had recently lost their parents and hadn’t yet coped.

“Thanks to the low-frequency generators, dungeons rarely appear in populated areas. But the total number of dungeons has increased. Monsters appear in dungeons not conquered by awakened individuals, and sometimes monsters come from undiscovered dungeons that the association hasn’t found.”

…A story about hidden dungeons. No clear solution exists yet. Arthur in England is collecting data, but the sample size is too small.

‘At least until Arthur completes the data, the association’s awakened ones have to search dungeons themselves.’

Even then, monsters crossing over from gates will continue to appear, harming many people.

‘Tch. The mood is completely down.’

I probably shouldn’t have asked about the children. Trying to lift the mood, I clapped to get everyone’s attention.

“Alright, kids entering elementary school next year, come forward.”

The children were puzzled but those entering elementary school stepped forward.

“Wait. Why are you here?”
“I’m entering middle school, hyung.”
“Only elementary school kids. I’ll take care of middle schoolers separately.”

I handed out character-themed school supplies to the elementary school children. I had stopped by a stationery store nearby and bought a lot of the popular items for kids.

The children were delighted, though there were minor issues.

“I want the red one too…”
“Hmm… the red ones are all gone.”
“Waaah…”

Apparently, the red character was the most popular, and kids ignored all others.

“Not all red ones are the same! This one’s a kid, this one’s mature, this one…”
“…Right… I’m sorry.”

To me, they all looked the same, but different characters existed even within the same color.

In the end, I had to order a large batch of the most popular character school supplies to satisfy the children.