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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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The next day, when Gang-so woke up, it was still dark, as the sun had not yet risen.
‘It must be around Insi (寅時).’
Insi was between 3 AM and 5 AM, which meant it was early morning.
Gang-so had slept in the living room of Yoo Soon-tae’s house on the second floor of Yang Chun Gak last night.
They had agreed that he would stay in a small room on the first floor as soon as it was repaired.
He sat up in his bed and began to circulate his energy.
A clear energy entered Gang-so’s body, and he felt refreshed.
‘Come to think of it, the place where I opened my eyes was full of demonic energy, but this place is full of pure energy.’
Gang-so could draw on any kind of energy, whether it was demonic or pure.
That was the power that made him known as the Martial God.
After he finished circulating his energy, Gang-so got up and opened the refrigerator door.
He wanted to drink some water.
Yesterday, Lim So-young had told him that there was a water bottle in the refrigerator, and he could pour water from the bottle into a cup to drink.
He felt a chill as he opened the refrigerator door.
Gang-so found this thing called a refrigerator, which every house had, to be quite amazing.
‘This is truly a mystical place. To think that every house has such a precious icehouse.’
Where he came from, getting ice in the middle of summer was a dream for ordinary people.
Families who could afford to use ice for funerals or ancestral rites were called ‘ice-harvesting families (伐氷之家),’ indicating their high status.
In truth, Gang-so knew of a few treasures that emitted cold air, but they were useless to him.
If he wanted, he could instantly emit cold air with his internal energy and make ice.
Gang-so poured himself a glass of cold water and drank it.
‘But did I wake up too early?’
Creak.
Just then, the door opened, and Yoo Soon-tae came out, startled to see Gang-so in the kitchen.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“I didn’t expect you to be awake.”
“Want some water?”
“If you’re offering, thanks.”
Gang-so took out another cup, poured water, and handed it to Yoo Soon-tae, who gulped it down.
“Ah! Now I feel a bit more awake.”
“Do you usually wake up at this time?”
Yoo Soon-tae turned to look at the clock. It was 4:50 AM.
“I have to start preparing now to open the restaurant. There’s a lot to prepare, more than you’d think.”
Yoo Soon-tae continued.
“Is this when you usually wake up?”
“I woke up a bit earlier.”
“…Huh? Then what were you doing?”
“Just sitting there.”
“Spacing out, huh? Aren’t you tired?”
Gang-so answered his question.
“I usually wake up around this time.”
“That’s good then…”
Yoo Soon-tae hesitated for a moment, looking at the water cup in his hand.
He wanted to ask for help, but he felt bad about making him do work outside of his delivery duties.
“Um…”
“Well, your wife has to take care of the child, so you must be busy. That’s why you wake up so early…”
“Huh? Oh… that’s right.”
“Then I’ll help you with the work.”
“Help me? But you’re supposed to be the deliveryman. I can’t make you do other work…”
“It’s fine. You’re letting me eat and sleep here, and you’re even going to be my guarantor. I can’t just do delivery work; my conscience won’t allow it. So just tell me what to do. I’ll help you with anything.”
At those words, Yoo Soon-tae grabbed Gang-so’s hand and said,
“Thank you! You’re really a good guy!”
Gang-so chuckled and muttered inwardly.
‘I should be saying that.’
They went down to the restaurant.
Yoo Soon-tae started preparing the ingredients, and Gang-so took on the task of cleaning the restaurant inside and out.
Whoosh-!
Listening to the sound of water as Yoo Soon-tae washed the ingredients, Gang-so surveyed the restaurant.
Since the restaurant was diligently swept and cleaned regularly, there didn’t seem to be much for him to do.
But Gang-so was a perfectionist.
“First, I’ll get rid of the dust.”
He glanced at the broom next to him. But he didn’t need a broom.
Whoosh-!
He drew on his internal energy and sent it to the floor and ceiling.
He could feel every speck of dust with his senses.
‘I won’t miss a single speck of dust.’
Gang-so wiggled his fingers, and at the same time, all the dust from every corner of the restaurant gathered in front of him, swirling like a whirlwind.
There was quite a lot of it.
‘Go into the trash can!’
At Gang-so’s gesture, the gathered dust slid into the trash can.
Now that the sweeping was done, it was time to wipe.
He didn’t use the rag that Yoo Soon-tae had given him.
He took the water from the bucket used for rinsing rags, placed it on the floor, and slightly raised his hand.
Pop!
At the same time, the water in the bucket floated up.
Gang-so wiggled his fingers again, and steam began to rise from the water.
He needed hot water to remove the grease stains from the ceiling, so he heated the water using his internal energy.
He moved the ball of hot water to clean the ceiling, then put the water back into the bucket.
The water was black.
‘Hmm… It’s hard for ordinary people to clean the ceiling.’
Gang-so discarded the water, brought back clean water, and repeated the process of wiping the ceiling.
“Gasp! What are you doing?”
Just then, Yoo Soon-tae came out of the kitchen and shouted in surprise.
“I’m cleaning. Why are you surprised? Did I do something I shouldn’t have?”
“N-No, it’s not that…”
Yoo Soon-tae’s eyes were on the black water in the bucket.
The rag was dry.
“A-Are you not using a rag?”
“A rag? Why bother with a rag when it’s a hassle to wash? I can just use my internal energy.”
“I-Internal energy…? Are you talking about superpowers?”
“I guess so?”
“You were an awakened one?”
Gang-so tilted his head at that question.
“Awakened one? What’s that?”
“You don’t know what an awakened one is…?”
“I don’t.”
At Gang-so’s firm answer, Yoo Soon-tae sighed and explained to him about the awakened ones.
About the gates and monsters that appeared all over the world 25 years ago, and about the awakened ones.
After hearing the explanation, Gang-so nodded.
“I see. Then I guess I would also fall under the category of an awakened one.”
Yoo Soon-tae sighed.
“I was wrong. I can’t hire you.”
Gang-so was surprised by those words.
“W-What do you mean? You can’t hire me?”
“I used to be a porter for awakened ones, so I know. No awakened one can control their powers as well as you do. You must be at least A-rank.”
He continued.
“What kind of crazy Chinese restaurant owner would hire an A-rank awakened one as a deliveryman?”
Gang-so had a somber expression at Yoo Soon-tae’s words.
“…Is it really not possible?”
“Think about it. An A-rank awakened one earns over a billion won a month. How could I, in good conscience, hire such a capable person for a measly 1.8 million won? Underpaying a billion won salary by 1.8 million won! I have no intention of becoming such a மோசமான boss.”
“Is that the only reason you can’t hire me?”
Yoo Soon-tae nodded.
“What other reason is there?”
“What about being afraid of me, or worrying that I might cause trouble, or feeling burdened?”
“I said I wouldn’t hire you, I didn’t say I’d stop being your friend. And who’s afraid of their friends?”
“There are some people who are…”
“That’s not being a friend, that’s using the name of friendship.”
At those words, Gang-so felt a lump in his throat. He was truly lucky when it came to people.
“Then you don’t have to worry.”
Yoo Soon-tae tilted his head at Gang-so’s words.
“What… do you mean?”
“I have no intention of working as an awakened one.”
“You’re saying that because you don’t know! There’s a saying that there’s no one above or below another person, but the awakened ones have shattered that saying! These days, awakened ones are like the new aristocracy!”
As Yoo Soon-tae said, the awakened ones were the new aristocracy, and among them, hunters could be considered the true aristocracy.
It was only natural.
Only the awakened ones could hunt the monsters that threatened humanity.
“And 1 billion won is over 200,000 bowls of the jajangmyeon you ate yesterday! That’s how much money it is!”
Yoo Soon-tae’s eyes were filled with concern and worry for Gang-so.
‘You really are a good guy.’
That’s why Gang-so decided to tell him the truth.
He had to lay the groundwork to explain why he didn’t want to work as an awakened one.
And it was painful to deceive such a good person as Yoo Soon-tae.
“Soon-tae, the truth is, I’m not an isolated person.”
“…What?”
“I used to live in a different world from this one. But when I opened my eyes, the world I lived in was gone, and I was standing in a strange cave.”
“I remember you saying that yesterday. You said you came out of a cave and were wandering around. So you’re not an isolated person… but you came from another world?”
“That’s right. And after wandering around aimlessly, I saved your daughter from being hit by a carriage.”
“…I see.”
“I’m sorry for deceiving you.”
“…”
Yoo Soon-tae stared at him without saying a word. Gang-so lowered his head at that gaze.
‘He must be disappointed in me. He trusted me and even offered to be my guarantor… But I didn’t want to deceive such a good guy.’
Sniffle.
‘Huh?’
Gang-so raised his head at the strange sound and was momentarily taken aback.
“H-Hey, are you… crying?”
Yoo Soon-tae was sniffling with reddened eyes.
“Poor guy! You must have been so scared! Falling into a completely unfamiliar world all alone…”
“Huh…?”
Gang-so blinked in confusion.
“You didn’t deceive me! You just told me the truth, and I jumped to the conclusion that you were an isolated person.”
“No, I did deceive you. I didn’t deny it when you assumed I was an isolated person.”
Gang-so was puzzled that he couldn’t sense any distrust in Yoo Soon-tae’s eyes.
“But… do you believe that I came from another world?”
“Why wouldn’t I believe it? In a world with gates and monsters, something like dimensional travel is possible.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
As Gang-so had sensed, Yoo Soon-tae was sure that he was telling the truth now.
Gang-so’s face was filled with remorse.
And Gang-so really didn’t know anything about the current world.
‘If he had approached me with malicious intent, I would be dead already. He’s an A-rank awakened one, after all.’
But Gang-so hadn’t done that.
Crucially, what he felt from Gang-so’s face as he talked about himself was longing.
“But if you say you’ve traveled to another dimension, other people will think it’s strange, so just say you’re an isolated person. It’s more convincing.”
“I think so too.”
Lim So-young appeared with those words.
Gang-so had actually known that Lim So-young was listening to their conversation from the stairs.
He didn’t want to deceive Lim So-young either, who had offered him a meal and persuaded Yoo Soon-tae to become his guarantor.
That’s why he had told his story even though he knew she was listening.
“H-Honey…!”
Yoo Soon-tae called out to her in surprise, and Lim So-young smiled.
“It’s okay. Whether he’s an isolated person or from another world, the fact that Mr. Gang-so saved my daughter’s life remains the same. But there’s something I don’t understand. You came from another world, but you’re an awakened one?”
Yoo Soon-tae explained this part.
“He said he manipulates the energy in his body like awakened ones, so that’s why I said that. But we won’t know for sure unless he gets tested by the Awakened Association. But since he doesn’t want to, there’s no way to confirm it.”
Yoo Soon-tae suddenly flinched.
“Come to think of it, you said ‘internal energy,’ right? Could it be that you came from a world where people use sword energy and shoot palm strikes?”
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