Chapter 3: The Absolute Dweller (3)

Chapter 3: The Absolute Dweller (3)

[Episode 01] The Absolute Dweller (3)

Fortunately, it’s been a week since I successfully hunted the Kellican, leveled up my skills, and gained new skills.

“Purchase Mild Flavor Shin Ramyun.”

[Do you really want to buy it?]

[Yes / No]

“Yes.”

Jiing—

In the spot where the light emanated from the shop window, a bag of Shin Ramyun Mild Flavor, containing five servings, appeared.

I lifted it to check the expiration date.

“The expiration date is three days later than the ramyun bag I bought a few days ago.”

As expected, it was always updated to the expiration date on the day of the transaction.

Among the newly acquired skills, the most useful was undoubtedly the ‘Absolute Dwell Master’s Shop’ skill.

This skill allowed me to freely purchase items by registering them in the shop.

In fact, the reason I didn’t starve to death during this time was mainly because of this skill.

“It’s a bit disappointing that I can only register exactly ten items...”

During this time, I found out a few things while using the shop.

For example, you could only register exactly ten items, and once an item was registered, it couldn’t be deleted.

Also,

“The condition of the first scanned item determines the condition of the items sold in the shop.”

For instance, when I first registered ramyun, it had three months left until its expiration date.

So, every ramyun I bought from the shop had exactly three months left until its expiration date.

In other words, the item sold in the shop matched the exact condition of the item when it was first registered.

“Well, three months is more than enough to eat and still have some left.”

In the current situation where there were no suitable side dishes, and delivery was impossible, ramyun was the best option.

Sizzling water was poured into a pot, placed on the gas stove, and then the flame was ignited.

Ddat-ddat-ddack hwaruruk.

Having confirmed that the fire was lit, I added the chunky soup base and the powder soup, waiting for the water to boil.

Once again, my lunch for today was...

“Is it ramen~ Is it ramen~ Oh~ ramen...”

I was humming a song when I suddenly stopped and fell into a moment of self-reflection.

“...”

In a world that had collapsed, with uncertainty about my parents’ well-being, here I was, singing and humming casually inside the house my parents had provided by investing their entire fortune.

“Sigh...”

Gurururu.

Nevertheless, I had to eat to survive.

As I heard the boiling water, I put the noodles in.

Watching the ramen absentmindedly, I swirled the noodles with chopsticks at the right moment.

Then, at the perfect timing, I cracked an egg into the bowl.

A little later, after transferring it to a bowl, the ramen had the perfect chewiness in its noodles.

I had developed a certain knack for this by repeating the process for quite a few days.

Slurp.

It tasted as expected, but there was a sense that it lacked about 2%.

“Maybe I’m getting tired of ramyun since I eat it all the time.”

It had been over three years since I started living alone, but this was the first time I had continuously eaten noodles like this.

Usually, my mom visited once a week. Even if she told me to relax, she always cleaned the house, made side dishes, or cooked curry for me.

When my mom came and left, the fridge was always full of food, and all I had to do was cook rice.

Since I needed to finish everything before the side dishes went bad, there was almost no need to cook ramen.

“...Mom.”

It had only been a little over a week since I couldn’t eat the side dishes my mom made for me, but why did I suddenly miss the taste so much?

I didn’t miss it this much even during my time in the military.

Thunk.

Unexpectedly, a single tear rolled down.

I absentmindedly wiped my face and thought, “Is my mind deteriorating?”

Just a moment ago, I was singing while cooking ramen; now I was shedding tears with ramen in my mouth.

Even to myself, my mental state didn’t seem great.

“I need to get myself together.”

The ramen was only halfway finished, but I had no appetite.

“I should throw it away.”

Food waste.

Originally, I had to avoid producing it as much as possible, and if it did accumulate, I had to collect it and dispose of it later. However, I now had another option.

“Warehouse open.”

Having opened the warehouse, I looked at the ramen bowl and gave a command.

“Store the contents of the bowl. Noodles, soup, and the chunks, everything.”

[Would you like to store it in the warehouse?]

“Yeah.”

Even if I spent the whole day looking out the window, I could only find one or two groups, and among them, the number of goblins coming within the throwing range to kill with the dumbbell was minimal.

‘At least that one used to be there, so some goblins came.’

The remains of the Kellican that the goblins left behind.

Maybe because of that, goblin groups had come a few times.

But since the distance to where the Kellican’s corpse was left was far, it was impossible to hunt using the method of summoning a dumbbell from the warehouse, and I had to throw it myself.

Naturally, the accuracy was outrageously low.

‘Today, not a single one is visible.’

Moreover, the situation was getting worse.

Whether the rumor had spread among the goblins or not, I couldn’t see goblin groups all day today and yesterday.

‘I need to find some way.’

I needed some groundbreaking method.

‘For example, a Kellican flying and crashing into the window.’

Thinking again, that was really a stroke of luck.

‘If that hadn’t happened, I would have dried up slowly.’

If I didn’t have a large amount of experience points to raise the skill level, I wouldn’t have awakened the shop and dignity maintenance skills, and by now, I would have consumed all the food-like food.

Maybe I was chewing on raw rice.

‘Ah, isn’t a stupid Kellican passing by?’

In such a situation, the sky seen from the high-rise apartment was clear without a single cloud, although the sound might seem calm.

“The weather’s nice.”

That’s when it happened.

“······?”

A black dot appeared in the blue sky on the other side, like a dot, gradually getting bigger until it became the size of a fist.

‘What’s that?’

Only then could I identify what it was.

Because I had seen something identical about a week ago.

‘Kellican!’

It was the giant monster bird, Kellican.

A situation that I had imagined several times in the past week.

The course of action had already been decided.

“Aaah! Here! You monster―!!”

I opened the living room window, vigorously waving my arms to make loud noises so that it could notice me.

The creature jumped around loudly to ensure that it could see me.

‘Please!’

With earnest emotions.

“Here! Over here―! You damn monster!”

I aggroed it.

And it was a success.

‘Got it!’

Our eyes met.

The creature was flying directly towards me.

‘Nice!’

When the excited Kellican slammed its head in my direction, the game would be over.

It would fall to the ground, just like the previous time when it fainted.

Now there were no goblins to finish off the Kellican’s breathing, but there was no problem.

‘Because I can finish it off with the dumbbell myself.’

The Kellican was flying towards me at a terrifying speed.

However, unlike the previous time, there was no sense of fear. My heart was only burning with anticipation.

‘If I can just catch that thing, it’s a guaranteed level up.’

Moreover, that creature was even larger than the one I saw last time.

Naturally, its level would be higher.

In that case, I would get much more experience points, and it would also provide more money.

It was a complete jackpot.

“Come on, you bastard!”

It was at that moment when I was provocatively shouting with all my might.

Flutter!

Just before the creature hit the window, a strong gust of wind blew.

“Ugh!”

Due to the sudden rush of wind, I closed my eyes. When I opened them again,

“······Huh?”

The creature’s figure had disappeared without a trace.

‘What on earth...?’

Where could it have gone?

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.

‘No way?’

I slowly lifted my head, and my eyes met with the Kellican, standing tall on the rooftop of the apartment, staring down at me.