After the news that a part-time worker had awakened in a Haejang-guk house spread quickly through the regular network of the Haejang-guk house, J's story was heard among the regulars. J's story fell into place among the regulars. They had long forgotten that EZ, the mana stone seller, was supposedly a resident of the neighborhood.

All their attention is on 'Congratulations on your awakening, part-timer. Is the Haejang-guk house closed?

The unknowingly awakened hunter has to join a good guild, get four major insurance guarantees, and work on his salary. Even if the rating was low, getting a job as an office worker in a guild was better than getting a job in a general company.

That's the general perception, and most of the regulars belong to the guild, so that perception was stronger. In addition, the honest part-timers at Haejang-guk House are talented people who will succeed in whatever they do, so any guild will want to hire them.

But if he joins the guild... Who will run Haejang-guk House?

Grandma has a bad leg, and she can't handle the demands of the fast-eating hunters by herself. Besides, even if she found a new part-time job, it was unclear whether she would be able to work as well as Cha Ui-jae, the current part-timer. After all, his haejang-guk tastes like he's been making it for 30 years!

Fortunately for Cha Ui-jae, who wanted to live quietly, he was an irreplaceable man in the world of the Haejang-guk house. As a result, the regulars, all of whom held high positions in the Korean hunting community, miraculously came to a consensus among themselves.

It was called the Haejang-guk house secret meeting.

Bae Won-woo, who managed to sit on a plastic box in front of the unburned garbage, popped a stick of protein powder into his mouth.

"Well, talent development is good. Scouting is also good. It's all good, but let's stretch our legs and keep commercial manners, team leader Han. He said he doesn't want to join the guild. Huh? Do you think we can change his mind? It's his decision. That's all that matters. We still have a long way to go to protect Haejang-guk House, don't we?"

Team leader Han, standing in front of the burning garbage, also raised his glasses with his middle finger.

"I don't think it's right to hear from the Pado Guild, which sweeps away all kinds of talents even though it's called a minority elite, but... As you wish, Vice Guild Leader Bae Won-woo. Come in and have a bowl of Haejang-guk."

"Hey, I like this guy for the first time. Let's go! Let's order two bottles of soju as well."

"Okay."

Bae Won-woo, deputy guild leader of the Pado Guild, and Team Leader Han, head of the HR team of the HB Guild, shook hands after some sort of deal at a separate meeting place near Haejang-guk's house. Later, the hunter who encouraged Cha Ui-jae to join the guild disappeared. This was a good thing for Ui-jae.

Instead, the flood of secret gifts increased.

I held up the gift, neatly wrapped in rubber gloves, for everyone to see.

Special offer! Enclosed water lily DIY kit.'

"For the person who dropped this in the kitchen."

"......"

"Whoever is about to enter the Closed Water Lily, turn yourself in."

Silence. The hunters slowly looked away. I let out a long sigh. This isn't a martial arts school, this is a graduation ceremony. Besides, this DIY shit was just as bad now as it was before Rift Day. I gave them an ultimatum.

"If you don't come out in five minutes, I'll just throw it away."

A hunter suddenly raised his head and yelled.

"No! It's a limited edition that I barely managed to get through the formwork!"

"Are you practicing prohibition?"

I pointed to the new A4 paper hidden next to the limited sale of two bottles of soju.

!!!Haejang-guk house will not be closed!!!
No wreaths, gifts and banners
No asking part-timers for their rank
No recruiting part-timers to join guilds
No headhunting
If you break any of the above rules, you will be banned from Haejang-guk House.

You will be banned from Haejang-guk House. The hunter let out a loud gurgling sound, clutching the soju bottle in agony and squeezing out his voice as if he were making a last will and testament before dying.

"I'm going...!"

"You, you bastard..."

"How strong will you be?"

"You'll only be S-class if you live this hard!"

The hunters sitting at the same table shouted as they grabbed the hunter who had been banned from Haejang-guk House because of the gift. I calmly returned the tool kit and went back to the kitchen.

This happened many times every day. In that brief moment when I was washing dishes, boiling hangover soup, and chopping ingredients, the hunters threw gifts in various ways as if to develop my wits, agility, and reasoning skills.

Most of the time I found the owners and returned them, but sometimes I was stumped when I saw a Hunter's Market gift certificate in the money jar on the counter. I wondered how the hell they'd gotten it in there.

With each passing day, there was less and less room for gifts. The inventory, which contained empty potion bottles and basilisk fangs, was filled with new potions that had been given away, and the small room where I kept my supplies was becoming overrun with knickknacks. There was also a lot of garbage, thanks to the over-packaging of the gifts.

After I closed the store today, I organized the wrapping paper and boxes. At that time I felt a small presence outside the store.

It wasn't just a passerby, but a person who had been standing in front of the store from the moment I started washing the dishes until I finished and took out the garbage.

Who is it?

The only hunter who doesn't hide his presence, and he's been around for quite some time for an ordinary person. At this point, it was time for the formula to be established that there was no human who came to the Haejang-guk house at the time of preparing and closing the ingredients.

If you have something to say, say it.

I courageously stepped out of the door with the garbage. And,

"Oh, I'm really going in? I'm really going in? I'm really going in? I'm really going in..."

I was met by a student who was biting her nails and mumbling.

She's not at all what I expected. I was expecting a TV writer, a reporter who had come to shoot hunters, or a hunter trying to sneak in a gift, but it would be embarrassing to see a student who looked like a bug walking around the store in a thick, long padded jacket and a heavy backpack.

"What the hell?

"What?" Look at the back? Oh, really, don't make a fuss. I don't like things like that..."

"......"

"H, hmph!"

The student who looked back shrieked and sank down. Of course, I tried to reach out and pick her up, but stopped. I realized that I was holding garbage with rubber gloves in both hands. I stood still for a while, looked up briefly, and opened my mouth.

"Um, student?"

"Yes, yes?"

"What's a student doing in Haejang-guk House at this hour..."

A cold winter breeze blew between them. The student shrank unconsciously. I looked at the student's red nose and cheeks and pointed my head inside the shop.

"I'm going to take out the garbage, so why don't you go inside the shop first?"

"C, can I do that?"

"Yes, that's fine."

"Thank you."

I hurriedly threw out the trash and returned to the shop. The student was sitting on a table in a corner, pressing hard on the green hot pack. I took out the stove, left it near the student, and went to the kitchen. It was too late for coffee.

I hurriedly put a Yulmucha tea bag in boiling water and handed it to the student, who grabbed the cup with both hands and bowed his head. Thank you," the student said, blowing his nose in the cold.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry for barging in unannounced."

"No, it's okay."

The student bowed his head, and I nodded. He was dressed in a bun, a long padded jacket, gym pants, sleep socks, and sneakers with some dirt on them. It was a common image of a high school student.

She looked around the store with curious eyes. The way she looked, the way she acted, the way she carried herself. She really looked like a normal high school girl, which calmed my nerves a bit. I sat down across from her.

"What is a student doing in Haejang-guk House? Isn't it time to stay home..."

What could a high school student have to come to Haejang-guk House at this time of night, I thought.

She must have seen that no one was home, so maybe she was being chased by something and came to ask for help. However, the student in front of me didn't seem to be afraid. She might have come to see the face of a hunter because he is a fan of hunters, a single target here.

As I counted off the different cases, the student spoke up.

"This is..."

The student pursed her lips, then sat back. She closed her eyes and said,

"I know that Cha Uijae-ssi is J."

My hand stopped for a moment. But my face showed a look of bewilderment at the absurdity of the statement, and I laughed awkwardly.

"J? I don't know what you're saying all of a sudden..."

"No, you don't have to hide it from me."
 

She slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes. Beyond the round eye, the eyes shone with a golden glow. An intense look that seemed to pierce me.

"Help me, J."

The facial muscles I'd worked so hard to pull up slowly relaxed, and my eyebrows and the corners of my mouth fell back into place.

A moment later, a perfect expression settled on my face.