Read The Housekeeper of the Dungeon :: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“I’m going to have to do something about the floor first.”

Huina took up a broom in one hand and a dustpan in the other.

She was in her apartment with her shoes on. While this was definitely not the norm in Korea, she felt no repulsion in the act, since the floor in this particular home was just as dirty as the ground outside.

“I’ll have to get rid of this grime before I can start mopping it or whatever.”

She tied up her hair and put on a face mask before getting started in earnest.

Without her mask, her lungs would probably fill with all manner of dust particles. There was also the stink of mold in the air, and the bathroom smelled awful to boot.

“Oh.”

She hesitated before she put on her rubber gloves.

<Execute. Execute. Do not delay.>

The snail pressed her, unable to withstand even that slight pause.

Huina waved her hand at it, telling it to wait. “One second. I need to take photos before I get started. I’ll have to leave some pictures of how horrid this place was.”

And if things were this grimy, no amount of cleaning was likely to get everything off.

If she kept a record of its initial state, she could get some satisfaction out of how it had improved in a relative sense.

She walked about the place, snapping photos everywhere. A closer look through the apartment revealed just how horrid a state it was in. She nearly retched when she went into the bathroom.

I can’t believe these are the first photos I’m filling my new phone with…

Huina felt apologetic toward her phone for some reason.

The snail trailed her the entire time, demanding that she get to work.

Huina’s endurance stat was twenty, but it was evident that the snail’s was at least one hundred.

“Oh, all right, all right. I’ll really get started now.”

She bent over, secretly meaning to pet its plump head. It retreated into its shell before she could touch it, however.

Tsk.

It was pretty perceptive.

Nursing her disappointment, Huina produced her rubber gloves and put them on. She was getting ready to clean when the snail waved its antennae alarmingly.

“What? I’m getting to work, like you asked.”

The snail produced a thick, heavy font in front of her. It seemed to be very serious about whatever it was trying to say.

“Equipment?” she asked.

Huina barked an incredulous laugh at the snail’s demand. It was silly she would need all those things just to start cleaning, but she did as it asked. It was the Home Administrator, after all. There was nothing to lose from doing as it said.

“Oh, all right. I get it. I did buy an apron, so I’ll put that on. As for the head towel... Hmm. I think I can use this dishcloth.”

Huina rummaged about, looking for the two items.

She put them on, and the snail finally seemed happy.

She was about to ask, Happy now? when a notification appeared.

<System: You are wearing appropriate equipment. Efficiency of all skills boosted by 50%!>

Her eyes went wide.

“Dressing like this makes me more efficient?”

It was like the System had heard her question.

<System: The higher your rank grows, the more advantages you will gain from your outfit as a Housekeeper.>

“What? I can raise my rank?”

<System: Raising your rank is possible by training your skills.>

This was new information. In other words, it would allow her, a D-rank hunter, to become C-rank, B-rank, and so on if she worked hard enough.

If that were so simple, everyone would be an S-rank hunter.

Huina didn’t believe it. It was like promising that any student had the potential to get the best grades in the country. This was technically not true.

If it had been, her brother would not have stayed D-rank for ten years.

“Now then, why don’t we get started for real?”

Huina clapped her hands to encourage herself. Gripping the broom and dustpan, she assumed battle position, and a System window appeared.

<System: Automatically activating “Shrewd Hands (D).”>

<System: Perfect equipment increases the efficiency of “Shrewd Hands (D)” by 50%.>

What’s Shrewd Hands? she wondered. A window explained it immediately.

As expected, the explanation did not help one bit.

Huina began to wonder if all metahumans had skill status windows like she did.

“Well, fine... Anyhow, let’s see how helpful the skill is.”

She put her thoughts aside and began to clean in earnest.

***

“Oof! This isn’t easy.”

She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. Checking the time revealed that it had already been three hours since she had started.

No wonder she felt stiff and weak. Apparently, her stamina, strength, and dexterity had reached their limits. She was starting to get hungry, too, from all the hard work.

The System window alerted her that her skill proficiency had increased.

<System: The proficiency of “Shrewd Hands (D)” is rising! (Current proficiency: 12/1000)>

Huina pursed her lips.

Should I be happy it rose by twelve already, or complain that I gained only twelve?

That was about one point for every ten minutes of hard cleaning.

In order to reach 1000 proficiency, she would need around ten thousand minutes, which was around 167 hours, or seven days.

She would have to work for an entire week without eating or sleeping to meet the requirement. That sounded very tough at first, but it was surprisingly doable when she gave it some more thought.

“I only need 167 hours to increase the skill’s rank? That’s not bad.”

If she cleaned for more than eight hours a day, she would be able to increase her skill rank in a little over twenty days—less than a month.

Not that it would be possible for anyone with less-than-stellar stamina to clean for so long each day.

…Snipped the snail, having climbed onto her shoulder while she was lost in thought.

She was about to resume, almost mechanically, when she instead let her limbs go slack. She’d been so focused on cleaning, but now she couldn’t seem to inject any strength into them.

This was unsurprising for a rookie like her, with a stamina, strength, and dexterity total of less than thirty.

“Snail, I’m so tired right now. Can’t I take some time off? I’m starving.”

<Snap! Snap!>

“What’s that supposed to mean? Were you emulating the sound of a whip, by any chance?”

<Affirmative.>

“Ha ha...” Huina ignored the incorrigible snail and took off her rubber gloves. Her hunger had become unbearable.

“Look, I’m going to need to eat something. I’m drained.”

She pulled the gimbap she’d bought for dinner out of a plastic bag. She’d bought the basic fare from a franchise, but the rolls were nice and plump.

The smell of the sesame oil on the outside made her mouth water. She’d had lunch earlier, but she felt like she’d been starving for days.

“That is so damn good!”

Huina devoured three rolls on the spot, though she’d bought enough to eat some the next day as well.

One roll was usually enough to satiate her, but she’d just had three. She marveled at this incredible feat. Her belly wasn’t protruding even after all that food, and she hardly felt full.

“Was it all the tough work? Gosh, I ate so much…,” she muttered.

The status window popped up again.

<System: Completely depleted stamina (8) perfectly restored through food consumption!>

Huina finally realized why she’d felt so tired and hungry. By putting so much energy into the cleaning for three hours, she’d apparently used up all her stamina.

I guess I lasted pretty long, considering how little of it I have.

She’d labored at many times the usual intensity, so it wasn’t surprising she’d been tired.

“Still, I guess I can replenish myself by eating.”

It was intriguing that she could recover her stamina with only food and no rest.

The System answered her question again.

Even this was the effect of a skill. Huina laughed, unable to believe it.

“What’s with this skill?”

It was quite useful to her, of course, with her stamina stat being much lower than most other people’s, but it seemed odd that all she needed was food to recover her energy levels.

Even if there is a saying that Koreans get their energy from rice.

Huina snickered to herself as she put the aluminum wrap aside.

…Snipped the snail once more, apparently noticing she’d recovered her energy.

“You’re very serious about home management, aren’t you? All right. I’ve got my energy back, so I’ll get to it.”

Huina was a docile laborer. She shrugged and resumed cleaning. The snail maintained perfect balance on her shoulder despite her movements.

“Home management,” it hummed in a singsong voice, apparently happy to see the apartment slowly getting cleaner.

She thought that was pretty cute.

The flooring had become a little more presentable after the three hours, and she now wiped it with a mop.

“By the way, I have a question,” she began.

“I’m being forced to clean this place whether I like it or not since I have to live here. But what’s so great about leveling up my skills, and consequently my Housekeeper rank as well? Do I just get better at housework? I don’t think that’s all that useful...”