Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next day.

As soon as Haejin woke up, he returned to the pension.

But unlike before, he wasn’t empty-handed.

“Heave-ho!”

The owner of the pension had fled in a hurry when monsters began appearing.

Thanks to that, all sorts of abandoned materials and items were lying around, and Haejin managed to salvage several useful things.

One of them was the barbecue grill sitting in front of him now.

‘This is still a pretty large one. Buying something like this would easily cost over 100,000 won. Money saved. Nice!’

He dumped in a heap of charcoal and lit it up without hesitation.

Whoosh- Red flames roared fiercely upward.

Once the grill had heated up enough, he dumped the chunks of meat he had brought onto it and began grilling them thoroughly.

A solo barbecue party at a peaceful pension, with warm sunshine and even the chirping of mountain birds... was obviously not what this was.

For starters, the meat itself was scraps that weren’t exactly suitable for people to eat.

He had gone to a butcher shop that morning and bought the leftover chunks from trimming meat for cheap.

They were full of fat, dripping blood, and gave off an awful gamey stench.

It was hardly what anyone would call a barbecue party.

Even so, Haejin kept grilling the meat as best he could despite grimacing at the smell.

‘That easy-mode hunting method I discovered last time... There’s no reason not to exploit such a ridiculously broken skill, right?’

Exactly.

This wasn’t for Haejin to eat, but to lure monsters.

To humans, it was just the fishy reek of raw meat and blood, but to monsters, wouldn’t it smell absolutely delicious?

‘The moment I step outside my property, the invincibility wears off. If I want to stay completely safe, luring them here from inside is best. Damn, what a brilliant idea. Good job, Lee Haejin. You’re a genius.’

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the plan to work.

The peaceful chirping of birds suddenly went quiet, and the bushes began to rustle.

When he perked up his ears, he heard a low growl.

Garbage Dogs.

The same monsters that had nearly killed him before.

And not just one—two of those premium monsters worth 500,000 won each had appeared.

“They’re here!”

Haejin’s eyes widened after waiting so eagerly for them.

He immediately picked up a well-grilled chunk of meat and tossed it right in front of the pension entrance.

“How about it? You want it, don’t you? Your mouths are watering like crazy, huh?”

“Bark bark! Grrrr--!!”

“But you can’t eat it, can you? You can’t even come inside, can you? So what exactly can you do? What can you do besides bark your lungs out?!”

“Bark bark bark!!!”

Even animals could tell when someone was deliberately taunting them.

The Garbage Dogs were no exception.

Watching Haejin wave the meat around right at the entrance they couldn’t cross because of his skill, their eyes went wild with hunger and rage.

The Garbage Dogs began slamming themselves against the pension entrance they couldn’t pass through, barking like mad.

Haejin watched them with satisfaction before picking up the long spear he had prepared in advance.

‘This is my first time using a proper weapon since becoming a Hunter.’

A weapon for Hunters that he had bought in the Hunting City.

It was a long spear measuring a full 1.2 meters. Befitting a Hunter weapon, it had cost a fair bit, but its blade was honed frighteningly sharp.

Haejin was an extreme safety-first kind of person.

So even though he knew his skill made him invincible, he had chosen a long spear to stay as safe as possible.

If a Garbage Dog somehow dragged him outside, it would be a disaster.

Of course, the weapon was definitely worth the money.

-Yelp!!

He thrust hard at its head, and the Garbage Dog quickly suffered a fatal wound and collapsed.

The feel was completely different from the rusty iron pipe he had used before.

“This is good?!”

He especially liked that it was made of lightweight material and required less strength than expected.

Thrust, thrust-!

Without stopping, he repeatedly raised the spear and stabbed.

In no time at all, both Garbage Dogs were dead.

Other Hunters would have risked their lives fighting such monsters, but all Haejin had to do was stand in front of the pension and stab a few times.

“Kyaa... Two already. That’s one million won banked!”

But he wasn’t done yet.

Now that he had tasted money, such a small haul could no longer satisfy him.

He started to drag the dead Garbage Dogs into the pension, then decided to leave them right outside instead.

The smell of their blood and flesh could lure in even more monsters.

He started grilling meat again, and before long, more Garbage Dogs drawn by the scent began appearing one after another.

Thrust- Thrust-!

[You have defeated a Garbage Dog!]

[Level Up!]

Perhaps because they were mutated dogs to begin with.

As the corpses piled up, the smell grew stronger, causing Garbage Dogs to keep coming without pause.

If anything, it seemed like their numbers were only increasing.

“This is insane... This is basically perpetual motion.”

The effect was far better than he had expected.

Haejin even threw off his jacket and stabbed away like a madman, sweat pouring from his body.

Since he had no special attack skills, all he could do was burn through his stamina.

But as he kept at it, he got the hang of things, and soon he could kill a Garbage Dog with only three or four thrusts.

[You have defeated a Garbage Dog!]

[You have defeated a Garbage Dog!]

[You have defeated a Garbage Dog!]

[Level Up!]

“Huff, huff... Haah, I really can’t anymore. Ugh, I’m dying.”

Who knew how much time had passed.

After becoming so absorbed that he no longer even noticed the kill-confirmation windows constantly appearing, Haejin finally ran completely out of stamina and collapsed onto the grass.

The fire in the grill was nearly out as well.

Deciding to stop for the day, Haejin began moving the pile of Garbage Dog corpses.

Grabbing them by the legs, he dragged them into the pension yard one by one.

When he slowly counted them, his jaw dropped at how many there were.

“Ten, eleven, twelve... Holy shit. Twelve? That’s six million won?!”

Garbage Dogs weren’t weak low-level monsters like Slimes.

Although they lacked stamina, their razor-sharp teeth and extreme speed made them mid-tier monsters usually hunted by experienced Hunters.

That was why they sold for so much, and more importantly, they also gave a lot of experience.

Thanks to that, Haejin was now Level 4.

He had gone up two entire levels in a single day.

‘Wait, doesn’t leveling up improve your physical abilities too? Why do I still feel like I’m dying at Level 4... I really was badly out of shape.’

By the time he had roughly finished sorting the corpses.

Sweat was pouring off his entire body like rain, and his shoulders trembled and screamed in protest.

Apparently an average Level 4 Hunter usually had baseline stamina comparable to an elite ordinary person.

He was now seriously wondering whether he should finally get a gym membership.

Well, thinking about it, he had spent every day lounging around at home. Maybe this was only natural.

‘I really should exercise. Leveling makes you stronger, but they say the stronger your original stamina and muscles are, the greater the boost.’

He had lived his entire life far removed from exercise, but now he could no longer put it off.

And so, Haejin began desperately rationalizing it to himself.

If he exercised, his stamina would improve. Then he could kill more Garbage Dogs. And then...

“I can make more money. Okay, let’s exercise.”

In the end, it was all about money.

Was there any better motivation in the world for getting someone moving?

As he stuffed the Garbage Dog corpses into suitcases, Haejin imagined a rosy future.

‘Yeah, this is already amazing. First I’ll make money fast and get myself a proper place instead of that tiny studio. Right, maybe rent a house with a yard. Then I can decorate it luxuriously too? Hehehe!’

If he had a large country house, he could move several monsters at once and do far more than he could now.

Just imagining that happy future filled Haejin with energy.

As expected of money-crazed Lee Haejin, money truly was the best thing in the world.

* * *

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, Haejin hunted Garbage Dogs every single day.

He lured them with the smell of meat, safely stabbed them to death with his spear, collected the corpses, then sold them at the Hunting City exchange.

Since he earned at least five million won every day, his wallet fattened up at an incredible rate.

As a result, Haejin’s routine changed a little.

“Marinate it with salt and pepper, then once the juices start rising to the surface... now!”

Sitting on the grill where he had once cooked inedible meat was a massive piece of Korean beef tenderloin.

And not just any tenderloin, but Chateaubriand—the most expensive and delicious cut!

After using the grill so often, Haejin had become quite skilled with it and cooked up the steak in no time.

After letting it rest for a moment, he cut it in half.

“Kraaaaaah! This is it!!”

Perfect medium rare.

The sight of the beautifully cooked tenderloin steak made him grin automatically.

-Bark bark!

-Bark bark bark! Grrrrr!!

“You guys want some too? Too bad there’s only one piece, huh? Oh dear, what a shame. Wahahaha!”

He had reached the point where the barking of Garbage Dogs sounded like classical music in a restaurant.

After leisurely finishing his steak, he was comfortably hunting the Garbage Dogs that had gathered around when.

Ding!

[You have defeated a Garbage Dog!]

[Level Up!]

[You have reached Level 5.]

[The user’s rank has risen.]

[You may acquire one new Trait and one new Skill.]

“Ooh, finally!”

The moment he reached Level 5, a different status window from before appeared in front of him.

This was the famous Trait system.

Hunters were said to gain random Traits and Skills whenever their level reached a multiple of five.

Of course, they couldn’t choose them directly. They were assigned at random.

But no matter what he got, gaining new abilities was an enormous benefit in itself.

‘Please give me something good, please! God, please! Let me coast through life even more!!’

Haejin’s heart pounded with anticipation.

He was so excited he was practically trembling.

Pure white cards flashed before his eyes, and soon two were automatically selected.

The new Trait and Skill were revealed.

-Ding!

-You have acquired the new Trait, ‘My Comfortable Home’!

-You have acquired the new Skill, ‘The Weight of a Landlord’!

“What in the world...?!”

As Haejin realized what they were, his mouth slowly fell open without him even noticing.