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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: A Well-Deserved Nap
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The next morning, as soon as the sun rose, Kang-jun called his sister into his room.
“Noona, use this.”
He was handing her the money he had earned working as a porter the day before.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“It’s not much.”
“Is this… money?”
Lee Su-bin immediately checked the bundle of cash inside the envelope she’d been given…
“Kang-jun. H-how much is all this?”
“Five million won.”
“Where did you suddenly get so much money….”
“It’s just….”
After a moment’s thought, Kang-jun lied nonchalantly.
“I checked my bank account just in case, and it was there.”
“Your bank account…?”
“Yeah. It must be money I saved up little by little before I disappeared.”
What if he told her the truth—that he’d earned it working as a porter at a Gate?
She would undoubtedly freak out, which was why he had no choice but to concoct a lie on the spot.
“Kang-jun….”
Lee Su-bin murmured softly, her gaze fixed on her younger brother’s face with an expression of pure affection.
Five million won.
While it might not be a huge sum to some, for Su-bin, it was more than enough to solve all the problems she was currently facing.
‘With this much, I can pay off all the overdue utility bills and rent, and still have some left over….’
Clutching the envelope tightly, Lee Su-bin began to speak in a quiet voice.
“To be honest, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything because I didn’t want you to worry, but I’ve been struggling with money lately. Things like utility bills, rent, daily necessities….”
“Really? I didn’t know.”
“Yeah. But now, thanks to you, I can finally breathe a little. I’ll make something delicious for dinner tonight. Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Anything is fine.”
“Honestly, you’re so blunt,” Su-bin muttered, then nodded a few times before asking again in a cheerful tone.
“Alright, I’ll whip something up, so look forward to it. Hey, how about we all go to the supermarket later?”
“The supermarket?”
“We could all go grocery shopping together at the nearby market, eat out while we’re at it, and on the way back, we could take Seol-i to a kids’ cafe or a playground….”
Kang-jun cleared his throat a few times before replying.
“Noona, I’m really sorry, but can we put that off for another time?”
“Huh?”
“I was actually hoping to just rest at home today.”
Then, glancing at his sister’s face, he casually added.
“Um, personally, I think it wouldn’t be so bad if you went to the supermarket with Sir Crabslie….”
“The Elder?” Su-bin repeated, then nodded a few times in agreement.
“Should I go with the Elder, then?”
Lee Su-bin grasped both of Kang-jun’s hands and added.
“Anyway, Kang-jun, thank you so much.”
“It’s nothing.”
“I’ll work even harder.”
“Yeah, me too.”
After their short conversation, Lee Su-bin left the room, calling out, “Elder! Elder!”
Staring at her retreating back, Kang-jun suddenly broke into a grin and muttered.
“Perfect….”
It seemed his plan was finally complete. Once his family left for the large supermarket nearby to go shopping…
‘The comic book cafe.’
Kang-jun planned to head to the comic book cafe he had spotted by chance while passing through the bustling area near Sillim Sageori Station in a taxi.
“A whole three hundred years have passed, so even 「Hunt X Hunt」, with its terrible release schedule, must have a new issue out by now….”
A shonen manga officially published in Japan that had gained immense popularity, 「Hunt X Hunt」 was the series Kang-jun had been most passionate about back when he lived a normal life on Earth.
The problem was that the author of said manga was infamous for an abysmal and inconsistent release schedule.
“The day has finally come.”
His heart fluttered with anticipation at the thought of binge-reading the new volumes he had waited three hundred long years for.
“Sir, the new issue of 「Hunt X Hunt」 isn’t out yet.”
“Wh-what? Th-that’s completely absurd….”
“You know how that series’ release schedule is, don’t you?”
Tragic news awaited Kang-jun, who had arrived at the comic book cafe with a spring in his step.
The part-timer at the cafe lamented as he organized the messy piles of comics and novels.
“I enlisted three years ago, and I thought for sure a new issue would be out by the time I was discharged, you know? I kept waiting, thinking it’ll be out soon, it’ll be out soon, but I never imagined there’d still be no sign of a new volume….”
At those words, Kang-jun flared up and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Just three years? I’ve waited three hundred years—!”
Of course, the flow of time between Earth and the Anux Continent was different, so only three years had passed here…
But regardless, the time Kang-jun had subjectively felt himself waiting was precisely over three hundred years, so he couldn’t help but feel wronged.
“Excuse me…?” the part-timer asked, staring at Kang-jun with a rather skeptical look for a moment.
“Sir, would you mind if I recommended one of the most popular novels these days instead?”
He then picked up a novel from the counter and handed it to Kang-jun.
「The World’s Weakest Became an SSS-Rank Hunter?」
Kang-jun, with a dubious look, began flipping through the pages. “Swoosh, swoosh—.”
“It’s been such a hot topic lately that I gave it a read myself, and it turned out to be pretty fun.”
Kang-jun found a seat and began to slowly read the novel the part-timer had recommended.
‘Oh, this is totally Bong-gu’s story, isn’t it?’
The story followed a protagonist who was initially just an ‘F-rank Hunter,’ struggling to treat his terminally ill mother and take care of his young sister.
While living this difficult life, the protagonist gained a fortuitous opportunity and gradually became the strongest in the world—a somewhat typical and cliché plot…
‘It’s actually pretty good.’
Perhaps because the author’s writing was decent, the story flowed smoothly without any major roadblocks.
He continued to flip through the pages, “Swish, swish,” until he had finally reached the grand finale, the last volume.
How much time had passed?
Kang-jun furrowed his brow and began to mutter to himself in a low voice.
“What is this?”
It was because of the scene where the now-powerful protagonist easily defeated the final boss of the work, a ‘9-circle Necromancer.’
“A 9-circle Necromancer gets defeated this pathetically?”
Shouldn’t an author who makes a living by writing put in at least a minimum amount of effort to maintain authenticity, or do some research?
For a weakling protagonist, no different from Bong-gu, to so easily subdue a 9-circle Necromancer, no matter how strong he had become…
From the perspective of Kang-jun, who was an actual ‘9-circle Necromancer,’ it just looked like a nonsensical novel with terrible fact-checking.
“I just wasted my time reading this trashy mix of letters. If I’d known, I would have just gone to the supermarket….”
Kang-jun made a vow to himself to ‘never read this author’s work again’ and clearly checked the author’s name printed on the cover one more time.
“Jey?”
Muttering, “Tsk, this guy has no future as a writer,” Kang-jun immediately leaned back and settled his body comfortably against the plush sofa.
‘Man, I’m drowsy.’
Come to think of it, when was the last time he had slept?
He hadn't kept proper track, so he couldn't say for sure, but…
‘It must have been at least a few years.’
A long time ago, Kang-jun had been afflicted by a curse that made him suffer from ‘terrible nightmares’ every time he slept.
At one point, he had tried everything to break the curse.
From renowned sorcerers of various dimensions to clerics of holy orders who wielded divine power, and even cultists who dealt with mysterious forces…
But.
None of them could figure out a way to lift the curse. In the end, the solution Kang-jun devised was to reduce his sleep as much as possible.
Once every few years.
Even then, he would only allow himself to sleep when a high-ranking incubus, who could manipulate the content of his dreams, was by his side.
But…
The noticeably increasing frequency of his drowsiness suggested that his body was finally reaching its limit.
In his current state, it wouldn’t be strange at all if he conked out anywhere, anytime, like a narcoleptic.
Considering he had to head back to a Gate in the near future, it seemed like a good idea to take a day off to get some sleep beforehand.
‘A pity.’
If only he had the help of the Succubus Queen ‘Iriel,’ one of the five Great Ministers of the Empire and a loyal subordinate bound to him by a familiar contract, he would have been able to lessen the intensity of the nightmares.
A question suddenly occurred to him.
If he raised the ‘Level’ he saw on his status window, would he one day be able to bring his retainers to Earth?
‘I wonder if they’re all doing well….’
Sinking into a moment of nostalgia, Kang-jun slowly closed his eyes.
‘Time to sleep.’
It was his first time sleeping in a decade.
“Your Highness Subin, I have discovered another free food item—!”
Crabslie’s shout from in front of a tasting booth far away echoed thunderously throughout the supermarket.
Lee Su-bin, who had been slowly pushing a shopping cart with Seol-i seated inside, felt her face turn red.
“E-Elder, please….”
First, he had embarrassed her on the escalator by trying to ‘go the wrong way,’ something even young children rarely did.
He had rambled on about how the magi-tech engineers of the Anux Continent would be appalled to see it, and how it would be a perfect torture device if its speed were increased…
After chattering excitedly for a while, he entered the food court section of the supermarket and began to clean out all the ‘free samples,’ embarrassing her once again.
“A place where one can enjoy infinite delicacies without payment! This ‘sample corner’ seems no different from heaven.”
Then, he started to loudly hum a bizarre song, a parody of a famous restaurant chain’s jingle.
“Enjoy it infinitely, the market sample corner….”
With that, he popped a sample dumpling into his mouth…
“The whole family together, at the market sample corner….”
Another one.
“For free gourmet pleasure, the market sample corner….”
And another one.
Thanks to Crabslie, Su-bin’s face gradually turned as red as an autumn persimmon.
“Haaa….”
Finally, with her head hung low, she spoke to the clerk who had been shooting her sharp glares.
“Ma’am, could I get a bag of fried dumplings, please?”
Just as the shopping cart began to fill up with frozen foods she had no intention of buying, it happened.
WEEEEEEE-!
WEEEEEEE-!
Suddenly, a piercing siren began to blare throughout the spacious supermarket.
[ Attention, shoppers. A large Gate has just appeared in the vicinity of Sillim Sageori Station. ]
[ We ask all shoppers to evacuate promptly to the shelter located in the supermarket’s basement…. ]
[ We repeat. A large Gate has just appeared in the vicinity of Sillim Sageori Station. All shoppers currently in the supermarket are asked to…. ]
The successive ‘emergency disaster alerts’ instantly threw the supermarket into chaos.
The supermarket was only a few kilometers away from the Gate’s location at Sillim Sageori Station.
Terrified, everyone had no choice but to rush toward the underground shelter.
“E-Elder! We should evacuate too, quickly!”
Finishing her sentence, Lee Su-bin immediately lifted Seol-i from the cart, held her tight, and began to hurry toward the escalator.
“Wh-what do I do….”
“Pardon?”
“K-Kang-jun….”
Her face turned deathly pale as she thought of her younger brother, who was supposed to be home alone.
Crabslie shook his head once and reassured her in a calm, quiet tone.
“Your Highness Subin, begging your pardon, but you need not worry. The Lord will be fine.”
“Are you sure he’ll be okay…?” Su-bin muttered, her voice trembling with anxiety as she began to nervously bite her lower lip.
Crabslie glanced left and right, as if worried someone might overhear, then leaned in and continued in an even lower, whispering voice.
“Your Highness Subin, in truth, the Lord has long since reached a state akin to ‘immortality.’ Not only can no weapon leave so much as a scratch on his body….”
“Elder, really—!”
“Yes, it is so. It is a truly astonishing matter. The most brilliant scholars of the Empire spent a hundred years researching a way for the Lord to enter eternal rest, yet they failed time and time again….”
Crabslie trailed off, recalling the past.
From this day forth, you scholars shall research a way for me to find eternal rest.
His Lord had been utterly weary of his long life.
He was suffering from homesickness, tormented by the endless repetition of days no different from the last…
Upon receiving the Lord’s command, the chief liches of the Imperial Palace dedicated themselves to researching a way for him to find eternal rest.
‘I believe it started with a plunge, did it not?’
He had thrown himself from the top of the World Tree, a place often called ‘the end of the world,’ but it was useless.
He had also spent a full month in the hellfire known to incinerate all things, yet his skin didn't even burn. He didn't so much as blink, eventually emerging out of sheer boredom…
Even after consuming large quantities of a potent poison daily—a single drop of which was said to be fatal even to a giant—it had no effect whatsoever.
“The most erudite minds of a dimension gathered to find a way, yet they could not. Is that not true immortality?”
Finishing his explanation, Crabslie let out a hearty laugh, “Khahaha—!” Su-bin sighed deeply and, trying to remain calm, continued.
“Right, nothing will happen, right? There’s a good distance between the Gate and our house….”
“Yes, he will surely be safe.”
“That’s right. As long as Kang-jun didn’t go out by himself, nothing will happen….”
At her words, Crabslie flinched and muttered, “G-go out….”
‘I’m gonna sneak out to a place called a comic book cafe later.’
What had he said after that?
‘If my sister asks, tell her I’m at home.’
And after that?
‘You’d better act natural so she doesn’t notice. If she finds out because of you….’
And then?
‘You’re dead.’
Crabslie quickly wiped away the beads of cold sweat that had begun to form on his forehead with the back of his hand and replied in a barely audible voice.
“Yes, Your Highness. The L-Lord is surely safe at home….”
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
“Shit, what the hell?”
Kang-jun, who had just woken up, cursed and groggily looked around.
He had fallen soundly asleep on the incredibly comfortable sofa of the comic book cafe, but now…
“Where the hell am I?”
Somehow, he had woken up in the middle of a vast, snowy plain where a blizzard was raging.
The fierce snowfall made it impossible to see even a few feet ahead, and the dense trees and the ground were covered in a thick blanket of snow.
After staring blankly for a moment.
Kang-jun’s gaze fell upon the ‘status window’ that had appeared in the air right before his eyes.
[ You have entered the Dimensional Gate ‘Sanctuary of the Jötunn’. ]
