Black hair, a white scarf. The only mask you couldn't fail to recognize.

Isn't this copyright infringement?

This was clearly a likeness of Hunter J. Should I call it likeness copyright infringement or mask copyright infringement? Weren't they using a dead man's name too freely?

In fact, it wasn't the only place where J appeared. I didn't know if everyone thought it was okay to use J because he was dead, or if it was just a good way to explain the post-Rift era, but J was a character who appeared in all kinds of media after Jungbin.

I didn't think much of it when it came out in places like broadcast, but I was strangely excited to see it in print. As a memento of my S-class awakening and as a royalty, the foundation should have made me one of their own. Disturbed, I cleared my throat and motioned for Haeun to go to the cash register.

"Thirty thousand won."

That's the price for two bowls of Haejang-guk.

After clumsily pulling the money out of my wallet and paying, I walked out of the bookstore with a book in one hand and Haeun's hand in the other.

Since the day of the rupture, prices had skyrocketed. The haejang-guk sold at the grandmother's shop used to cost 7,000 won, but the price rose to 15,000 won due to the increase in the cost of raw materials, which was also very cheap compared to nearby prices. ....People with a lot of money.

"Uncle."

"Yes?"

The call interrupted my thoughts. Haeun pointed to my other hand.

"I'll hold the book."

The book was too small for a child to hold, but I obediently held it out. Haeun let go of my hand and clutched the book with both arms. She was overjoyed to have gotten what she wanted.

"Where do we go now?" she asked.

"We're not going anywhere," I answered immediately. "Uncle will take you home and then we'll go to the store to buy dinner."

"Huh. That's not fun." Haeun pursed her lips. She looked like she wanted to go to the store with me, but I shrugged as if I had no choice.

"I can't, I have a lot to prepare for dinner. I'll buy you some ice cream and you can eat it with your grandma."

"Ugh."

I patted the back of her head, which nodded reluctantly, and walked beside her. I couldn't help but notice how cute Haeun was walking beside me, so I put a hand on her small shoulder.

Cha Ui-jae, a part-time worker at Haejang-guk House, not Hunter J, had to make a bowl of Haejang-guk for the hunters again today. A typical day at Haejang-guk House goes like this:

At 6 a.m., the shop opens, and hunters who have been out all night on their fifth round of drinks come in for their sixth round, or hunters who are hungover and disheveled from their night shift cling to the door like koalas and then trickle in to take their seats. Most of the customers at this hour are literally zombies. The order:

"Friend."

"Yes. Two haejang-guk."

That's how I used to do it... I'm even thinking about starting a third career as a zombie interpreter.

After the zombies have finished eating and are staggering around, the normal customers come in. Most of them come for breakfast before work, and even though they're tired, they're still polite.

Then there's lunch, from 11:30 to 2:00. This is the best time for sales. The customers who come at this time are obviously hunters, so they come and go like the ebb and flow of the tide.

At this time, some hunters would rush out of the restaurant to eat their haejang-guk when an emergency call came in. Whenever this happened, the hunters around them would look at the back of their heads in unison. The unfortunate hunter who had to leave the rabbit-like seafood soup behind could be himself tomorrow...

At the end of the stormy lunch break, I would hang a sign on the door saying it was time to prepare the ingredients. The break was a must for trading with the ravenous hunters. This was the time to pick up Haeun from school, wash the overdue dishes, and prepare the ingredients for the evening.

Finally, it's dinner time, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Lunchtime is also busy, but Haejang-guk House is much busier in the evening. Other than that, it's not much different from the previous hours, but it's usually not a hassle to deal with the hunters trying to sell you just one more bottle of soju.

I sighed as I watched them hide their empty bottles so they could have one more. The repertoire was all the same, and the only trick was to get it into your inventory. What's the psychology of ordering soju when you can't even get drunk since you're Awakeners anyway?

"Whoo...."

And now, 22:20. After chasing away the last customer who refused to leave with a stainless steel ladle, the restaurant returned to its usual bustle. After clearing the tables, I stretched my back and let out a long sigh. You worked hard today...

After wiping the table, sweeping the floor, and washing the dishes, I grabbed the basket of whole garlic from the corner of the kitchen and sat down at the table next to the counter. Having spent most of my time in a single room attached to Haejang-guk House that doubled as a storeroom, the preparations for closing and opening had become second nature to me.

Rustle, rustle. As I skillfully peeled the garlic, I suddenly thought:

This life isn't so bad.

A life where you don't have to run around answering the bureau's calls, where you don't have to wrestle monsters, where you can just sit still and chop garlic. I didn't have that luxury back then. Maybe this was the life I always wanted....

In the midst of this relatively peaceful life, I had recently become concerned about the health of Grandma's legs. Her mobility had been deteriorating for the past month, and she had been doing most of the work in the shop. She should go to the hospital and have it checked out, but what if she needed surgery?

I breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't easy to take a day off when the business was so busy, and it was even harder to raise the money for the surgery. J. lived a good life without worrying about money, but not me. After I decided to live a quiet life, I donated all my money to the West Sea Rift Foundation. Even with the monthly donations, it wasn't enough to pay for the surgery.

I frowned and peeled a clove of garlic, thinking, "If all else fails, I could sneak around the dungeon... and sell something.

Most by-products from the dungeons fetched a decent price, so it might help pay for the operation. While I was thinking about where and how to drill, the phone on the counter rang at this hour for some reason. I held the receiver to my ear and continued chopping garlic.

"Yes, this is Haejang-guk House."

We often got calls asking if we could deliver to the restaurant, so as usual, I was about to reply that we were closed and didn't usually deliver and hang up. But the unexpected voice that followed stopped me.

-What should we do, Ui-jae?

"Grandma?"

It was Grandmother. The slight tremble at the end of her voice was unsettling. I held my breath, waiting for the next words. After a while, Grandma's voice came from the other side of the receiver.

-Haeun is gone.

"What? Haeun is gone?"

I panicked and quickly put down the receiver. The old woman had a hard time calming down.

-Haeun is nowhere to be found, what should we do? I don't know when she left without mice or birds knowing. The world is so scary these days, and she went out alone. ....

I looked at my watch. 10:20 p.m. It was too late for a child in the lower grades of elementary school to be out alone. Bad thoughts popped into my head, but I pushed them away.

"I'll call the police first, and I'll go out and look for her, but for now, just rest. I'm sure everything will be fine."

I put down the knife and the garlic and spoke deliberately brightly. Grandma asked worriedly,

-Aigo, Yaya.... Is it really okay?

"It's fine, don't worry too much."

-Carefully. Haeun couldn't have gone that far, could she? You shouldn't have come so late either, okay?

"Okay. I'll call you later."

After I hung up, I remembered Haeun's happy face when she bought the book. Unlike my voice earlier, I was stiff as I prepared to leave. I had said that everything would be fine, but I was also reassuring myself.

Wearing a mask, I walked out of the store. Then I locked the door and hung a red closing sign. The night air was quite chilly.