READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 287. Homeless (2)
If it’s a house belonging to a high-income earner like a hunter, it must be quite expensive.
There’s even a bathtub you can sink into.
If this is a building where a national hero resides, it must be a fortress in terms of security.
In this era of Dungeon Shock, the suggestion made by the number one in the rankings was indeed a windfall.
So, Gi-ryeo ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation and ended up following the Earthling.
“If I ride like this, the backseat will get wet. Should I crawl into the trunk instead?”
“Haha.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Weren’t you joking?”
By the time the two of them arrived at the parked car, a minor communication error happened.
But anyway, the friction was brief.
*
Ding-ling!
Somewhere, a clear voice reminiscent of a percussion instrument echoed.
– First floor.
‘Ooh.’
This is a high-rise apartment in southeastern Seoul.
I was currently heading to the Earthling’s home after receiving an invitation from him, and it seemed the term ‘wonderland’ was intended for places like this.
Right from the entrance, there were state-of-the-art machines I had never seen before.
‘Foot-activated elevator buttons, huh.’
Well, humans have four limbs, so it’s natural that technology should evolve to make use of them all.
Ha-seong tapped a sensor at the lower end of the corridor with his shoe and stood straight, waiting for something.
As a result, the apartment elevator soon arrived in front of me, and it too had plenty that impressed.
‘Ahn Yoon-seung’s home was on a lower floor, so I just took the stairs, but now that I see this, it clearly shows it’s a premium building!’
Originally, elevators are supposed to have a broken close button that never responds, and big ads should be plastered all over the walls while a cheap air freshener scent wafts in from a corner.
“Hmm.”
But Ha-seong’s place was nothing like that.
The interior of the lavishly decorated elevator was perfectly maintained with neat classical music playing.
Ha-seong pressed a button right in front of him.
The luxurious warm light soon hovered over the button for a specific floor.
‘23rd floor.’
So he doesn’t live on the top floor.
I felt the elevator start moving and casually turned my head to the side.
“Jeong Ha-seong.”
At the same time, I asked the fellow passenger.
“By the way, you lived in a place like this too.”
“Yes?”
“You mentioned you settled in a building with lots of people. I thought you’d be living in a single house.”
“Well… an apartment is convenient, after all. What made you think I’d be in a single house?”
The ensuing conversation was brief until the elevator reached the intended floor.
“When an S-Class hunter lives in the same building, residents come knocking on your door for help right away, you know? In that studio, someone knocked on my door just because an E-Class monster popped up near that intersection mart below.”
“Ah~”
Jeong Ha-seong replied as if he understood.
“I think I’ve experienced something like that back in my old place.”
“Right?”
“But since moving here, that hasn’t really happened…”
Oh ho. There’s no persistent neighbor bothering him.
Even when I entered the apartment earlier, a young awakened security guard greeted me politely near the entrance. If the security system is well established, maybe residents don’t get overly bothered by casual monsters.
I nodded with such pointless thoughts in mind.
However, the reality that followed was completely different from my logical assumption.
“Because after I bought this apartment, I was hardly home.”
“….”
“Right after I moved in, I was often out doing dungeons at 3 a.m. or on business trips to other regions. My family said someone came by for a bit but then ended up leaving on their own.”
Yeah, if the landlord is frequently absent, they’d have no choice but to give up.
I momentarily lost my words.
“By the way, it must be tough for you, Mr. Kim Hunter. Having neighbors knocking on your door just because an E-Class monster was around.”
As I awkwardly took a breath, Jeong Ha-seong smiled and continued.
“But you must’ve firmly rejected such unreasonable requests, given your personality. An S-Class responding to an E-Class issue would create even bigger problems, after all.”
But I still remained silent.
While it was true I had turned down requests from neighbors as the national hero said, my fundamental reasons were entirely different.
‘When I smashed that unavoidable malice, I had neither the [Hydra] nor the [Divine Tree Sapling] and could’ve easily been taken down by an E-Class if things went wrong…’
With vacant eyes, I turned my head.
Jeong Ha-seong seemed to empathize, thinking, “As expected of an S-Class Hunter; they too have their own hardships.”
“It’s sometimes refreshing to realize that I share commonalities with someone as capable as Mr. Kim Hunter.”
And then, at that moment.
Ding.
Finally, the elevator arrived at our destination.
[23rd floor.]
The door opened.
As I caught sight of the hallway adorned with a splendid carpet in the residential space, I felt my expectations rise once more.
‘A house belonging to an awakened person who casually spends billions on tutoring…’
It seemed that the factor of an alien sorcerer mixed in briefly had been the issue. Generally, professions that make money like an S-Class hunter live in flashy residences, don’t they?
‘The floor must be marble too. The cold temperature isn’t too bad for a Deep Sea Person.’
Click.
Jeong Ha-seong had the fingerprint recognition for the door lock.
“Come in, make yourself comfortable.”
For reference, I had already wiped off the water I got on my body with a towel that my colleague had packed in the trunk.
So, without worrying about it, I stepped inside through the open door.
“I did well to set up the guest room on my mom’s advice. In the past, I never invited friends over, so I wondered why I even needed to buy furniture…”
Finally arriving inside the house.
I stopped at the corner upon seeing the living room scenery.
“Why are you standing there?”
At first glance, the basic structure wasn’t bad.
The natural marble floor here was incomparable to the lower quality room that had accumulated dust in the gaps.
Most importantly, Jeong Ha-seong’s house was as spacious as I imagined.
But the issue was.
“Mr. Kim Hunter?”
The place was a bit messy…
Could it be that this money-making kid truly couldn’t afford a trash can? There was a garbage bag wide open right at the entrance of the living room.
Moreover, clothes were scattered all over the sofa as if someone had hastily thrown them there.
He hadn’t organized things like towels or simple t-shirts into the drawers, but had left them in the living room to grab whenever.
Furthermore.
As I swept my hand over the air purifier beside me, unexpected winter frost gathered on my mammal-like peach-colored fingertips.
To put it simply, it meant it was covered in dust.
“…….”
“…….”
I stared blankly at the other person without moving an inch.
Of course, the other person didn’t show much of a change in expression either, but after noticing my reaction, he finally seemed to start sweating nervously.
Surprise, surprise.
Even after coming back from mental therapy, I still tried to appear as tidy as possible in formal settings.
Just like how he stood perfectly straight while waiting for the elevator earlier, this so-called model child Hunter clearly had his house in disarray contrary to his appearance.
“Don’t everyone live like this?”
Thus began the surprising truth about the hunters’ housekeeping.
*
Day 1 of being a parasite.
“No, Mr. Hunter!”
Today the weather is nice.
I admired the dazzling summer sun shining through the south-facing window.
“Take a good rest, will you? Did you clean up while you were at it?”
Zero rent.
Zero management fee.
Plus, the landlord is a rich guy, so maybe that’s why there’s a bunch of high-end appliances worth hundreds of thousands in each unit.
I even got the chance to experience the essence of Mammal Technology machines freely, is there such a paradise anywhere else?
“Well, I used to hire a cleaning service, but I’ve been busy with work recently, so I let it slide for a bit.”
“There are cleaning machines at home, yet you still called someone?”
“I’m sorry. From now on, I’ll handle it right away.”
Since the Earthlings had a keen eye, this person couldn’t engage in any odd activities or research either for a while.
But still, this was enough to keep me satisfied.
Ignoring the landlord’s shocked language while looking at the now clean kitchen table, I began organizing my schedule.
‘Let’s see.’
Kang Chang-ho texted me late.
He said dealing with the collapsed studio should be handled under a false name so compensation would be delayed.
‘Just turned into a dapper gentleman in an instant.’
Ah, I shouldn’t be flaunting ‘clean’ in front of the uncivilized mammals…
So, I decided to go out to buy a new suit.
More precisely, just as Ha-seong advised, I’d go to the residents’ center to get my lost ID replaced. Then, with that temporary ID, I’d go to the bank to reissue a debit card and then head to the phone store…
What the hell, why is there so much to do?
‘Damn it.’
But, well, it can’t be helped.
After all, from now on, I wouldn’t be tangled up with that contractor anymore. I left the apartment, grateful for my little victory.
.
.
.
And a whopping 8 hours later.
Just as I returned to that luxurious apartment.
“Mr. Kim Hunter…”
Jeong Ha-seong seems to have finished work early today.
The kind alien turned to the blond family member who walked into the house and uttered a worried sentence, to which I had no words to respond.
“Did you perhaps stop by a Dungeon Break on the way? Otherwise, why are you so late?”
What kind of reaction would I get if I explained that as an alien, I sometimes show weakness in terrestrial financial transactions?
‘I had to read through all those little contracts handed by the bank and phone salesmen, that took some time…’
Seriously, I had no idea how those customers beside me signed those lengthy documents so carelessly.
Even if I memorized the layouts commonly used in contracts, if the seller cleverly rephrased things, I could have been in big trouble.
“Sigh.”
Holding onto the aluminum phone I finally managed to get, I stepped into the guest room.
It was regrettable to lose a trace of the house’s owner again.
However, the newly obtained electronic device had enough performance to wipe away any petty regrets. Most importantly, the internet was extremely fast.
‘Earthlings might be divine…?’
At that moment, just as I started to revere mammal technology again.
“Hmm.”
The landlord wouldn’t care if I stayed here indefinitely. He said I could take my time deciding on a new house.
However, for the sake of seamless research, I inevitably had to move out eventually, so I needed to look into housing regulations right away.
Therefore, I turned on the internet for some searching.
【Today’s Economic Headlines】
[Global Artifact Expo Held in Tokyo, Japan]
But, just like many mammals, as soon as I accessed the portal site, my focus wandered to a topic other than my goal.
‘Artifact Expo?’
On the second day of the event, an auction for epic high-tier items…?
I skimmed through the articles written by the reporter, and during that time, one particular photo in the middle of the article caught my eye.
“Oh.”
It was a digital photo, so I couldn’t confirm the texture, but could that possibly be ‘that’ item?
“Hmm.”
But no matter how much I coveted it from this corner, I wouldn’t be able to grab one of the artifacts exhibited at that expo.
‘I’m a far cry from a proper S-Class Hunter, and recently I had to buy a core for that Kang Chang-ho fellow.’
Of course, I had enough money in my account that would make an ordinary person envious, but the price for a genuine epic item would be in the hundreds of billions.
‘It’s no use trying to acquire new equipment.’
Nothing would change even if someone looked in.
I thought I might check my account balance, so I decided to redownload the banking app that I had skipped earlier.
Setting up the security code and linking my main bank’s deposit and withdrawal account to my phone, the numbers displayed on the screen were…
[Savings Deposit: 103,228,709,652 won]
[July 18th, 17:00]
[Deposit 100,000,000,000 won – IMABARI Corporation]
“?”
Oh. What’s this?