Translator: Nox
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Looted Supplies
"Those are... our bags."
Kim Tae-hoon spotted the three bags Cheon Do-yoon was carrying. Among them were the ones that had belonged to him and Oh Sung-joo. Just that alone gave him a good idea of what had happened.
"Those bastards must’ve run into Cheon Do-yoon!"
Unaware it was just a coincidence, Kim Tae-hoon felt a rush of satisfaction.
But reality quickly returned. He raised his hand and waved desperately toward Cheon Do-yoon, calling out urgently.
"Mr. Cheon! Over here! I think we need to return right away... please, could you sell us just one return stone?"
Those bags may have once been theirs, but not anymore.
In the demon realm, laws don’t apply. Once something is taken, it's no longer yours. That was the unspoken rule that had spread among Hunters over the past 90 years. Now, they had no choice but to rely on Cheon Do-yoon’s generosity.
"Just one return stone, please... we’ll pay you in cash!"
Normally, no one brought money to the demon realm. But D-Class Hunters were different. They always carried "life money" for situations like this.
Kim Tae-hoon pulled off his wrist guard. Inside was a stiff check. Oh Sung-joo also retrieved a check from his own wrist guard.
Two checks, each for ten million won. It was the amount they carried to buy their lives in case of emergencies.
"Please. Is this enough?"
Kim Tae-hoon held out the checks with a desperate expression. Cheon Do-yoon looked at them with mild interest.
"You're offering me money out of nowhere..."
He had just been heading home, and suddenly 20 million won was handed to him. Not a bad turn of events.
Money may be worthless in the demon realm, but it would come in handy if he ever needed to return to the human world.
Accepting the checks, Cheon Do-yoon pulled out a return stone. He snapped it in half, and the coordinates embedded inside activated, creating a glowing blue Gate.
"Go on."
"Th-thank you so much!"
The two cried out, nearly in tears. In the demon realm, return stones were lifelines. Even those with spares rarely sold them.
More often than not, people would rob and kill for them. For the two of them, this had been their last resort.
"He handed it over without hesitation..."
Was this the composure of someone truly powerful? They looked at Cheon Do-yoon with a mix of gratitude and awe.
"We’ll definitely repay this debt someday!"
"You don’t need to. I got paid, didn’t I?"
Cheon Do-yoon replied with a casual smile as he turned away. As he was heading down the mountain, he glanced at the checks again and walked back over to Oh Sung-joo.
"I overcharged, so here’s your change."
"...Huh?"
Cheon Do-yoon grabbed his arm and infused him with mana. Oh Sung-joo’s eyes widened as a torrent of energy surged through him.
His empty mana hall quickly filled and began spinning, purging the demonic energy that had polluted his body.
Cheon Do-yoon was cleansing Oh Sung-joo’s system directly.
"Is that even possible?"
Kim Tae-hoon watched, jaw dropped. Even A-Class Hunters avoided sharing mana with others.
If the mana conflicted, both users could die from the mana hall collapsing.
But no such thing happened.
The difference in power was simply too overwhelming. With such a massive gap, conflict was impossible.
"That should do it."
When Cheon Do-yoon pulled his hand away, Oh Sung-joo’s pale face had regained its color.
A body that should’ve needed over ten days of rest had recovered in seconds.
"You should go now. The Gate’s closing soon."
With light steps, Cheon Do-yoon headed down the mountain. Oh Sung-joo, staring blankly after him, suddenly bowed deeply.
"Th-thank you!"
Though he bowed low, Cheon Do-yoon had already disappeared from view. Still watching that fading figure, Oh Sung-joo muttered,
"I’ve made my decision."
"What?"
"I’m retiring when I get back. With a kid on the way, I can’t keep doing this."
Had he not met Cheon Do-yoon today, he would’ve died. After brushing death, his entire outlook had shifted.
"So what will you do?"
"Not sure. Maybe apply for a desk job at the Hunter Association. They give preference to those with field experience."
Oh Sung-joo smiled as if a weight had lifted.
"Oh, right. He’s a Hunter too, so if I work there, maybe we’ll run into each other again someday. I hope I can repay him then."
"Yeah. If fate allows, we’ll meet again. Let’s go."
With silent thanks in their hearts, they stepped into the Gate.
* * *
Back home, Cheon Do-yoon looked at the checks in his hand.
Two checks, each for ten million won.
He had plenty of return stones, so selling one wasn’t a big deal. Still, it felt like he’d gotten away with highway robbery.
"So this is what it feels like to be a crooked merchant?"
The memories he clearly retained only extended to his mid-twenties.
After that, everything was hazy. But he still recalled some general knowledge.
"Return stones used to cost, what, maybe 500,000 won at most?"
He’d never bought one himself, but had heard other Hunters talk about it during missions.
Thanks to the unique situation of the demon realm, he’d sold something worth half a million for twenty million.
From Cheon Do-yoon’s perspective, it was free money. From theirs, it was the cost of survival.
Both seller and buyer walked away satisfied.
"I’ll save these for later."
He folded the checks and tucked them between the logs in the wall. Then, he opened the bags and began taking out the contents.
"Sleeping bags, blankets, gas burner... Oh, ramen! I haven’t had this since the orphanage."
The bags had clearly belonged to people planning a long stay. Each had spare clothes, but none were wearable.
"Covered in pollen. Must’ve wandered into a man-eating plant’s territory."
The sealed clothes were stiff with yellow dust.
Still, he didn’t throw them away — this pollen was valuable potion material.
"Pollen, huh... that takes me back."
Cheon Do-yoon recalled a memory from childhood.
At age 13, he had undergone another monster cell transplant. To test it, they dragged him to the firing range.
The newly assigned instructor scowled at the sniffling boy.
"Hey, brat. How long are you gonna keep crying? If you’ve got time to whine, pick up the damn gun. Score above target, and I’ll send you back to your room."
Instead of answering, Cheon Do-yoon looked up at him.
"I’m not crying."
Despite his words, tears streamed down his face. Along with a sniffle.
The instructor’s eyebrow twitched.
"I told you to cut it out. You think I’m joking?"
As he reached for his baton, a researcher ran over in a panic.
"Whoa, Instructor! Leave him alone!"
"What do you mean leave him alone? You’re the ones who told me to beat the whining out of them!"
"Yeah, well... Number 17’s different. That’s not crying — it’s allergies. He always gets like this when spring comes."
The instructor made a sour face.
"Allergies, my ass. That’s just an excuse. A few broken bones should clear that right up—"
He raised his baton, but the researcher quickly blocked him again.
"I said don’t! That kid’s seriously nuts—I mean, uh, listen. Remember the last instructor who lost his eye?"
The instructor nodded. He was filling that guy’s spot, after all.
"They said one of the test subjects gouged it out while he was sleeping. It’s a chimera lab, stuff happens..."
He trailed off, eyeing Cheon Do-yoon warily.
"Wait... it was him?"
Nod.
The researcher sighed and leaned in.
"There’s no proof. But every instructor who’s laid hands on him ends up... well, having accidents. You get it now, right?"
The instructor nodded again, beads of sweat forming.
The training manual had warned them clearly: **Do not touch Subject 17.**
He hadn’t bothered to memorize the face — a fatal mistake.
They were all criminals working for an illegal lab. Ex-Hunters of D-Class or lower who’d been cast out for their crimes.
If that kid attacked while they were sleeping, there’d be no escape.
Especially since he wasn’t just a kid — he was a chimera with monster cells.
"Anyway, just ignore him. Total psycho."
The researcher gave a serious nod, and the instructor matched it.
Cheon Do-yoon, overhearing them, looked confused.
"Gouged out someone’s eye? Why’d that rumor start?"
He’d never done that. He only scooped it out with a spoon.
And for good reason.
That instructor had shot him in the leg for giving him a weird look. Cheon Do-yoon simply returned the favor with a spoon.
That was all.
Snapping back to the present, he looked at the pollen-covered clothes.
"Guess the allergies went away when my body got modified... Still, pollen brings nothing but bad memories."
It might sell for a high price, but he didn’t need it now. If he ever did, it would be easy enough to get more.
"I’ll wash these later at the waterfall. As for the rest..."
He sorted the items: cookware, food, gear. While organizing, he found a deep cooking pot.
He assessed its size and began scooping in dirt. After picking out the sticks and rocks, he kept only the soft soil.
"This should do."
He placed the mandrakes he’d tied to his belt into the pot.
"Alright. You’ll live in here for now."
The mandrakes rolled around the pot, then drooped. Their little leaves sagged limply.
Clearly disappointed. They didn’t like their new home.
- Fwooooh...
The smallest root rolled across the pot in protest.
Like a chain reaction, all three mandrakes began throwing a fit, rolling around inside the pot.
- Fwooooh!
- Fwoo, fwoo!
That distinctive mandrake noise.
They had no vocal cords, so they pushed air through hollow cavities in their roots — but when combined with their tantrums, it sounded oddly like crying.
"This isn’t permanent. Just for now. I haven’t tilled the garden yet."
He looked out at the open patch in front of the house.
He had cleared the trees and grass, but the roots underground remained.
He’d meant to till the soil before harvesting mandrakes, but he’d gotten ahead of himself.
"I’ll transplant you once the garden’s ready. Just hang in there a bit longer."
- Fwooooh...
The mandrakes slowly burrowed into the dirt, until only their pale green leaves stuck out.
"The leaves are drooping..."
Mandrakes were native to high-altitude zones saturated in demonic energy. Maybe a dose of mana would cheer them up.
He channeled mana into the soil.
- Fwoohoo?!
- Fwooooh!
The soil quivered. The wilted leaves immediately grew glossy and vibrant.
He placed the pot in a sunny spot.
The little leaves swayed gently in the breeze.
"This should keep them happy for now."
With a satisfied smile, Cheon Do-yoon looked around.
"Now, let’s see... till the field, do laundry, and I’ll need a cabinet to store things."
So much to do. But that’s what made it fun.
He’d never had a room of his own. Now, he was building his own territory with his own hands — and he loved it.
"Let’s start with laundry."
If the pollen sat too long, it might rot. So laundry came first.
As he packed the sealed clothes into a bag, he froze.
He felt eyes on him. Footsteps.
Then those footsteps shifted — from human to four-legged.
"A shapeshifter...? Ah, must be that mechanical lifeform the Hunters mentioned."
A chimera capable of changing form freely.
The snowy mountain where the creature had been sighted wasn’t far from his home. It had likely wandered over and found the house.
"Well, I guess it would be curious. It’s not every day you see a house in the middle of the demon realm."
He looked past the bushes. About 300 meters away.
Yet it was staring straight at him.
Hidden behind a tree, the mechanical creature nervously peeked at Cheon Do-yoon.
