CH 12

Ina asked, clutching her throbbing head. 

“Why the hell are you standing here?” 

“I was just passing by.” 

“You do that a lot.” 

Ina threw away the garbage bag rather roughly. After that, she flapped her hands and looked at Si-hyeon. 

“You say my brother yesterday, didn’t you? If he finds out you came to see me again for the same reason, he’ll definitely report you. So please hurry up and go before brother comes.” 

“Then before I go, I’ll ask one question. Where and what did you do after separating from me the day before yesterday?” 

“I stayed home quietly. The aftereffects of the dungeon break are still there, okay?” 

Before Si-hyun could say anything more, Ina hurried into the building. 

Before getting on the elevator, she glanced back and saw Si-hyeon moving away from the building. 

“Whoa…my heart was about to burst.” 

[It sounded like a flying-bird’s chest!] 

“What are you talking about, you new-born spirit?” 

Ina, throwing Rika a look, came back to Lee Han’s house. Then, since Lee Han was gone, she took all the items she had gained out of the inventory. 

“Hm…” 

So far, Ina had attacked a total of 3 dungeons. This way, she’d obtained 6 items altogether. 

The ‘Wand of Fury’ obtained from the F-class dungeon, bear leather and axe obtained from the C-class dungeon, and ‘The core of the Ice Golem’, ‘Ice sword’ and finally, the ‘Cold-air pill.’ from the B-class dungeon. 

All of them were useless to her. 

“What do I do with all this…….” 

Of course, if you put it in the inventory, you won’t be caught and it’s easy to store. However, if you keep targeting dungeons, the items will pile up gradually. 

It was convenient for her to organize in advance. 

[Na, why did you take all of this out?] 

“To take care of it.” 

[How?] 

“I’m thinking about it.” 

She wanted to hand it over to a hunter she knew, but there was no person like that. Even if there was, she was not confident she would be able to answer the question of where it all came from. 

However, she was afraid that ordinary people, unlike hunters, would spend a lot of money and end up causing a tax investigation if she tried to sell them. The items from dungeons are sold at a high price. 

“I’m having a headache.” 

While Ina rubbed the back of her head, Izu, who was touching the item, suddenly said, 

[It would have been nice if all of these were Mana stones!] 

“That’s right. It would be nice if I could change to Mana stones.….” 

Ina, who was talking without much thought, muddled her words. She grinned as she paused. 

“Why didn’t I think of a way to do that?” 

[What’s the method?] 

“I can exchange these items for Mana stones when selling, right?” 

That way, she wouldn’t get caught holding cash, and it was not illegal, so her mind was comfortable. 

Ina hesitated while opening Lee Han’s laptop. 

“……I can’t suspiciously use your laptop all of a sudden.” 

She thought she would be in trouble if Lee Han suddenly back halfway and saw him. 

Ina looked outside after wearing a hat and mask and said to Rika, 

“Rika, go and check if he is nearby.” 

[I got it!] 

Rika went out and came back. 

[He’s gone! He’s not back.] 

“All right.” 

Ina quickly went outside and headed to a nearby PC café. 

She went to the corner and turned on the computer, and entered four letters in the search box. 

Hunter Country. It was an item trading site available to the public as well as Hunters. 

Of course, there were more users that were hunters than ordinary people. The items from the dungeon were not usually available to the general public, and most of all, they were expensive. 

When the general public used Hunter Country, it was usually to purchase items for collection. And those people were usually from rich families who were in businesses 

After completing the simple registration process, Ina started investigating the prices of the items here. Then, after roughly getting an idea of the price the items should be sold, she began to write a sales article. 

First, the most useless axe and cane. 

[Selling strong axes and canes acquired in the grade-C dungeon. On sale for 100,000 won and 50,000 won respectively.] 

Although it was an item obtained from the dungeon, the axe and cane were ordinary. It was just a little stronger than the ones sold in the market. 

So she was just going to receive the payment in cash. 

“The real deal is:” 

Ina quickly moved her hand to type. 

[Ice Attribute items are on sale. Ice Golem’s core, a C-level weapon, an Ice sword. The sword has the ability to inflict additional 5% damage to fire attribute monsters. We will exchange it for ‘Mana stones’ worth 300 million and 700 million, respectively. Chat with us if you’re interested.] 

The bear skin and cold-air pill were not put up. The bear skin’s leather would be made into equipment, and she planned to use the cold-air pill, which lowers the body temperature when eaten, well on a hot summer day. 

Ina grinned as she saw the messages in her chat come one by one. 

“Let’s make some Mana stones.” 

*** 

“You should stay a little longer.” 

“The damaged building has been restored and the blocked road has been released, so I have to go back now. And I’m thinking of going to work from tomorrow.” 

“Already? You only took three days off.” 

“It is enough.” 

Ina was now planning to return to her home and daily life. Lee Han looked at Lee Ina with a regretful face. 

“Do you want some side dishes?” 

“Never mind. I still have the ones you gave me before.” 

“It’s a new side dish.” 

“I’ll come and get it later. Then, I’ll be going now.” 

“Get home safely.” 

Lee Han followed her to the front of the elevator and sent her off. Ina quickly closed the elevator door because she was afraid he would follow her outside. 

“Worrying all the time.” 

[But you still like him!] 

[I like you, too!] 

When she was finally alone, the spirits who could now talk cried out. Unable to deny their words, Ina caught a taxi. 

Upon arriving home, the spirits flew about excitedly in the air. 

[It’s home!] 

[My house!] 

“Oh, it’s so hectic.” 

Leaving the spirits in the living room, Ina changed her clothes in her room. But when she came out again, she was dressed in outdoor clothes. 

Black from head to toe. 

[Na, where are you going?] 

“Dungeon. I’m going to pay back the Mana stones you guys ate.” 

[Dungeon! Going out!] 

Rika flew to Ina, shouting excitedly. But Izu tilted his head and asked a question. 

[But what if the person who came today comes again?] 

“Well.” 

It was an unexpectedly sharp point. 

It was a situation in which Si-hyeon suspected her of being an awakened person. Even if she didn’t get caught today, if she ran into him in front of the gate again, there would be no way to deny it.  

Ina took off her hat and sat on the sofa. 

“That’s true, too. Then let’s rest for a while.” 

[Oh… Are you resting?] 

Rika’s wings drooped. Before she knew it, she seemed to be having fun in the dungeons. 

Ina lightly ignored Rika and turned on the TV. They happened to be doing the news right now. 

[Next news. Recently, unknown forest fires have continued to occur in Sokcho. It’s a little early for this natural phenomenon. According to the official’s testimony, the cause of the forest fire may be related to the dungeon break that occurred in Sokcho recently.] 

“Did a monster escape?” 

Ina murmured as she forgot the snack in the snack basket. 

After a while, the screen changed and a recorded video of the mountain covered with fire was broadcasted. Ina narrowed her brows since it seemed like a pretty serious situation. 

“Izu, Rika, do you think that fire monster made it?” 

[Hmm. I don’t know.] 

[Me, too. I think I need to go there to find out.] 

I can’t believe you’re saying to go there personally. 

Shaking her head slowly, Ina spoke. 

“The association will take care of it.” 

So I’ll just pray it all works out well. 

Ina, who put down the basket of snacks, lay down on the sofa. Soon after, the sound of rythmatic breathing rang throughout the room. 

*** 

“It was like that until the day before yesterday.” 

Ina blinked blankly. 

‘Why am I here?’ 

The place where she was standing was Sokcho, the place she saw on the news the day before yesterday. 

The incident started yesterday when she went to work to her company after a long time. 

“What? What do you mean? The mana stones disappeared?” 

Turning her head to the horrified tone, she found her company representative clutching her head talking to someone on the phone. 

“……I got it for now. We’ll send someone over, so wait a minute.” 

Someone asked the representative who hung up the phone roughly. 

“CEO, is something wrong?” 

“Team Leader Kim, I’m sorry, but I need you to go to Sokcho for a while.” 

“What?” 

“There seems to be a problem with the magic tool sample that was supposed to come from Sokcho. I want team leader Kim to go and check it out.” 

“That’s not hard, but….” 

“And who came up with the idea of this magic tool?” 

“It’s Ms. Lee Ina.” 

“Then you’d better take Ms. Lee Ina with you. Team Leader Kim, you two go together because it’s not good to go alone.” 

That’s how Ina came to Sokcho with her team leader. 

“I’m going crazy.” 

Ina sighed deeply. Then a canned coffee popped out in front of her. 

“I’m sorry to bring you here, Ina.” 

“……. No. It’s all right, team leader.” 

Ina and the team leader smiled awkwardly as they faced each other. Ina drank the canned coffee and observed people who looked somehow busy. 

“Everyone looks busy, it seems. I think we’re the only ones free here.” 

“There seems to be a problem with the factory. I’ll go and check the situation.” 

When the team leader went away for a while, the spirits rushed up. 

[Na, is this the Sokcho on TV?]] 

“That’s right.” 

There was no one watching, so Ina answered without looking at their faces. Then the spirits said excitedly. 

[If you come far from where you live, it’s a trip!] 

[Then, did we come on a trip with Lee Na?] 

“What do you mean travel? I’m here for work, so I’m on a business trip.” 

Ina grumbled. Regardless, the spirits seemed to think it was a trip among themselves. 

“What? They’re all gone?” 

Then, she heard the team leader’s surprised cry from afar.