Chapter 8

Huina clapped and cheered.

“It’s finally done—sort of!”

Poly also slapped its cute stalks together, mimicking her movement.

“I can’t believe I really did it. If this isn’t a real triumph, I don’t know what is,” she crowed, congratulating herself and gulping down the mineral water in her hand like it was beer.

It had already been three days since she’d begun cleaning this place. On the first day, she’d passed out on the floor after wiping it. On the second day, she spent the entire day cleaning out the bathroom.

The filth in there was no joke, the space between the tiles packed with mold. Huina had placed tissues dampened with detergent on the mold and wiped down the sink and toilet with a cleaning brush in the meantime.

It was very difficult doing it alone, and on the second day she ended up consuming twelve rolls of gimbap all by herself.

Thankfully, her skill Shrewd Hands really shone. The tiles grew shinier the more she focused on the cleaning. The grime and mold, which seemed inseparable from the tiles, were defeated by Shrewd Hands—though it took an entire twenty-four hours before it happened.

On the third day, she cleaned the kitchen sink that came with the studio apartment. Thankfully, this task was nothing compared to the floor or the bathroom.

The level of the “Old, Basic Single-Room Studio Apartment” had gone up to five in the meantime.

She gained two levels after finishing the bathroom, and another when she cleaned the sink.

She also received rewards for each new level.

It had been something of a shock to receive the E-rank mattress the first time around, but it had been followed by a “Constipation Cure Bidet (A),” “Useful Refrigerator That Doesn’t Produce Ice (C),” and “Mold Remover (A).”

The results weren’t half bad, considering the odds of the random draw.

Poly also grew a little more appealing. Examining the subtle glow of its shell, which resembled mother-of-pearl, she felt a belated regret that she hadn’t named it “Pearly.”

It would probably start shining like a real pearl after a few more level-ups.

With that thought, Huina lay starfished on the floor, her limbs splayed out.

“Phew. I guess that about does it. I’ll handle the mold on the wallpaper later—I’m too tired.”

“Take it easy,” the snail hummed.

It seemed to have an uncanny knowledge about various things, and surprisingly, it was in agreement with her this time.

Perhaps it was mollified by the fact that the apartment had gotten so clean in such a short time—or due to its shell, which had grown increasingly beautiful at the same pace.

“Time to see if any of my job applications stuck,” Huina said with a heavy heart as she turned on her phone.

Her brother still hadn’t responded, and neither had the many companies with which she’d lodged her job applications. This was a tacit refusal.

“How can they do this to me?”

She tore at her hair at her sad reality. People were always talking about how the economy was suffering, but she hadn’t known the going would get this rough.

Huina did not give up easily, however. Annoyed, she sent application after application to more companies. It hadn’t even been a week since she’d been rendered jobless, but she wasn’t the sort of person who could be happy while doing nothing.

In clearer terms, she couldn’t stand to be going in the hole rather than making money.

“At least one of them is bound to send me a reply. Don’t you think so, Poly?”

“That is impossible to know,” the small snail said unhelpfully, but Huina wisely dealt with it by pretending she hadn’t heard.

She then produced a business card from the front pocket of her apron. It was already wrinkled. It was the one Mina Woo had given her, asking her to be in touch.

“She didn’t seem to be saying it just to be nice...”

Huina stared down at it carefully. It featured the image of a blue dragon, as well as neat Chinese characters that read, “Blue Dragon.” She knew what they meant.

“The Blue Dragon Guild.”

The Blue Dragon Guild was one of the top five guilds in the country, well known for having the S-rank hunter Jinhyeon Kang as a member.

Is that why she seemed so comfortable around him?

Huina nodded to herself, recalling how casual Mina Woo had sounded when speaking to him.

Even if they share the same workplace, Jinhyeon is such an intimidating person... Mina must be someone amazing, herself.

She looked up “Mina Woo” on a search engine while she was at it. She got innumerable results.

[Mina Woo (26): Ranked #23 in Korea]

The first thing she noticed was Mina’s ranking. Her eyes widened.

She’s ranked twenty-third in Korea? That’s incredible.

She wasn’t within the top ten, and it seemed people didn’t recognize her when they saw her on the street, but her ranking alone showed how powerful she must have been.

“Mina must be so rich, too. I wanted to buy her a meal to thank her...”

Huina sighed, thinking about her own account balance.

“Still, I should thank her somehow.”

She was not rich by any means, but she had enough money to treat someone to a very nice meal, and Huina never forgot to thank those who helped her. This was because she’d been orphaned at a young age and experienced in person just how merciless the world could be.

“I’ll send her a text first.”

She gripped her phone and deliberately typed out a message.

She introduced herself as Huina Lee, the person Mina had rescued from an E-rank jungle dungeon recently. It was pretty strange as self-introductions went, but it was the best she could do.

A few minutes after she sent it, she got a call from Mina. She quickly swiped up to accept it.

“Hello?”

“So you finally got in touch! How have you been?”

“I’m doing great. I had a lot going on, so I couldn’t text you right away.”

Mina laughed loudly.

“Ha ha ha! You’re just as soft-spoken as ever! Are you free today? Today is my off day. Maybe we can grab some food together?”

“Oh, yes. I’m... I’m also free today.”

Huina found herself agreeing before she knew it. Such was Mina’s energy.

Mina instantly arranged for a time and a place, then hung up.

“That was fast...”

Huina had a feeling she’d completely lost control of the conversation just now. But she’d been intending to buy a meal anyway, so she told herself this was a good thing.

* * *

“This is the place she mentioned...”

Huina paced uncertainly at the entrance of a barbeque restaurant. Mina had asked to meet at three-thirty, and there were almost no customers.

There was a tall person inside, however, who was eating some meat. She had a strange feeling she had seen that person before.

Don’t tell me that’s Mina?

The person turned around, as if sensing her gaze. It was Mina Woo.

“You’re here! Hurry up. Here, sit. I eat a lot, you see. I started eating to get a head start.”

Mina waved welcomingly. Huina bowed politely and sat down in front of her.

“Hello. How are you?”

“Great, of course. You seem to have lost some weight, though. Been under some stress, I presume?”

It had been physical stress, rather than mental, to be exact.

She’d apparently burned some fat after several days of heavy-duty cleaning. Sadly, the dozens of rolls of gimbap she’d devoured had left hardly any trace on her body.

Mina looked at her pityingly, then ordered some more meat.

“You’re going to have to eat up. Hello! I’d like three more servings of pork belly, please!”

The meat was served quickly, since Huina and Mina were the only people in the restaurant.

“Oh! I’ll cook the meat,” Huina said, stopping Mina from picking up the tongs.

It would be rude to force her savior to grill the meat for her.

What was more, Huina believed that she had a knack for grilling meat in just the right way. Even at work, she’d always been the one to hold the tongs, regardless of whom she ate with.

There was a satisfying sizzle as the pork belly came into contact with a moderately heated grill.

That looks delicious.

She’d been subsisting mostly on convenience store food for the past few days, and she felt her mouth water.

I’m going to make sure it tastes wonderful.

The moment she had that thought, a System window popped up, informing her that she’d activated a skill.

<System: Activating the active skill “The Master Chef’s Touch (D).”>

Huina was taken aback by the sudden notification, but pretended to have seen nothing. She could not be distracted with meat on the fire.

“Whoa! You’re good at this, aren’t you! The meat looks different!” Mina marveled as Huina deftly flipped the pork belly and cut it.

“I always grilled the meat even at my workplace,” Huina explained, placing the cooked bits along the edge of the round grill.

These could be eaten.

“Go on, have some. These look especially tasty,” she said, putting a piece on Mina’s plate.

She put a piece in her mouth as well.

“That is so good!” Mina exclaimed.

Huina agreed with her.

The juices burst out of the meat as soon as she bit down.

It’s like a meat fairy is ballet dancing on my palate!

It was perfect in every way.

Then they made eye contact, both wanting the same thing. Mina raised her hand in the air and shouted, “Excuse me! We’d like three more—no, four more helpings!”

Huina and Mina ordered meat over and over again, as if eager to eat up all the meat in the restaurant. They didn’t say a word as they grilled, ate, grilled, and ate again.

After an interminable length of time flew past, Huina was the first to wake from the food frenzy. Her stomach felt ready to burst.

“I-I feel so full…,” she groaned, gasping for breath and putting her hands on her bulging belly.

Mina also jerked to attention, like she’d awakened from some dream.

“Oof! We didn’t even talk, did we?” she said.

“You’re right. The food was just too good,” Huina answered dreamily.

Mina grabbed her hand.

“Huina, how’d you like to be sisters? I’ve never met anyone who’s so talented at grilling meat. That just now was the best-tasting barbeque I’ve had in my life!”

Huina had won over the nation’s 23rd-ranked hunter with her barbeque skills.

<The Master Chef’s Touch (D): The finest ingredient is the touch of a master chef. An active skill.>