A Ho of My Own — Part 1
Thud.
A large box, carried by the movers, bumped lightly against the wall.
Manager Choi, who had been overseeing things from elsewhere, rushed over, shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Hey! Be careful with that! Do you know how much that costs? I said be gentle, gentle!”
“I’m sorry, sir! My apologies!”
The man, who seed to be the team leader, bowed deeply.
“This thing is really heavy… But don’t worry, sir. It’s well-packed, and there shouldn’t be a single scratch.”
“If you’re charging that much for delivery, you’d better do your job properly! This is for our superhuman! It needs to be handled with care!”
“I’m really sorry, sir! My apologies, superhuman!”
The team leader was clearly on edge.
He must’ve been nervous, seeing the black flas swirling around . He bowed even deeper as he apologized.
Despite the occasional bump, everything was going smoothly.
Delivery trucks kept rolling in, even in the narrow alley.
“Isn’t this a bit much? You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
“Oh no, not at all! You saved my life, superhuman! This is the least I could do.”
“A regular magic bath would’ve been fine. You didn’t need to get such a high-end one.”
“There’s no way I could give you sothing subpar, superhuman.”
The item they were moving just now was the magic bath.
It was crafted from a special material that preserved and transmitted mana exceptionally well. Engraved with magic circles in black gold and silver mana circuits, it was enchanted with heat, recovery, purification, and mana concentration spells by a skilled mage.
Price: 990 million won.
When Manager Choi casually ntioned the price, I almost fainted.
Nearly a billion won for a bath?
The words, “Just give
the cash,” were on the tip of my tongue, but I managed to hold them back.
To be fair, I did need a good bath.
“Where should we place this?”
“Superhuman?”
“Put it all in the basent training room.”
“Yes, sir.”
The latest delivery consisted of power drills, shovels, pickaxes, pipes, motors—construction equipnt.
There was a lot of variety, and it was all pretty heavy.
Manager Choi glanced at the items and asked in a passing tone, “Are you planning to expand the training room?”
“That’s right. It’s a bit small for .”
“Well, it does feel more like a workout room than a proper training space. But are you planning to do the work yourself? Just say the word, and I’ll have it expanded however you like.”
“I have a specific plan in mind.”
Manager Choi nodded in understanding.
It seed like he thought I was planning to build a secret room.
He wasn’t far off, though he missed the mark slightly.
My goal wasn’t to build a secret room, but to dig sothing out.
“Phew!”
“All done!”
“Boss, please check!”
The last of the deliveries were complete.
I strolled leisurely around the house.
The place Kim Chulkwon gave
was a 50-pyeong (about 1,650 sq. ft.) detached ho with two stories and a basent.
The first floor had a living room, a kitchen, one bedroom, and a bathroom. The second floor had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two toilets. The basent had a storage room and a small workout area.
This morning, it had been completely empty, but now it was packed with furniture and appliances. They weren’t top-of-the-line, but everything was still of a pretty high quality.
Even though the cost of living in this world was relatively cheap, it must have cost a fortune to furnish the place like this.
After confirming that everything was properly set up in the basent—including the magic bath and construction tools—I shook Manager Choi’s hand.
“Thank you, Manager Choi. The house is filled up nicely thanks to you.”
“Haha, this is nothing compared to what you’ve done for , superhuman. Think of it as a gift from the heart.”
But it wasn’t just furniture and appliances.
He had also given
a safe stuffed with cash, calling it a gift or a paynt for services rendered.
That safe was now tucked away in a secret compartnt in the master bedroom on the second floor.
How much was in there?
I couldn’t say for sure, but it was easily over 2 billion won.
It was clean money, perfectly laundered by Jael Security.
And it included the money I made from selling the two magical daggers I took from the Dagger Gang boss.
Manager Choi had thrown in a little extra of his own.
Part of it was out of goodwill, and part of it was money he still owed .
“Boss, we’ll be heading out now.”
“Yes, thank you all for your hard work. Get ho safely.”
The workers bowed and prepared to leave.
Manager Choi, ever the stingy one, didn’t offer them even a cold drink, despite the sweltering heat.
Instead, he simply watched them go, fiddling with the coat he was wearing—a coat imbued with the Dagger Gang boss’s shadow magic.
“Superhuman, I’ll be heading out too. As you know, I’ve connected the motion sensors to both the police station and my office. If anything suspicious happens, just send a signal right away.”
“Don’t worry. With the police station right next door, what could happen?”
“Well, you never know. Even the most secure places can get hit by thieves. Of course, I doubt anyone would dare try sothing with you here. Anyway, I won’t bother you for a while. Get so rest.”
Manager Choi gave a polite bow and left.
The house fell silent.
The bustling activity from earlier felt like a distant mory.
I climbed up to the roof and stretched out on a wooden bench.
In my hand was a can of coffee.
The quiet and stillness ca rushing in like birdsong, accompanied by the soft rustle of the breeze.
“This is nice…”
The house was nestled on the slopes of Geonwoobong Mountain.
It was now late June.
The sun was scorching, and the air was thick with humidity, but the warm breeze licking my face didn’t bother
at all.
I sipped my sweet canned coffee and closed my eyes, enjoying the early cicada song.
‘It was rough at first.’
What was the hospital bill again?
Around 33 million won, wasn’t it?
I still rember how dumbfounded I felt when I heard the amount.
It had been overwhelming, to the point where I thought I might actually die.
I’d run myself ragged trying to earn money, fighting packs of Roe Deer, getting tortured under the guise of baptism by the Saintess…
A lot had happened.
But in the end, the rewards were sweeter than honey.
At least 2 billion in cash, maybe more.
But most of all, I had this house.
A 50-pyeong detached ho.
I’d never lived in a house this spacious in my entire life.
The largest place I’d ever stayed in was a tiny 15-pyeong (about 500 sq. ft.) studio apartnt I had rented for a year. Even that got repossessed when the landlord ran a scam and the place went up for auction.
From my spot on the rooftop bench, I took a good look at the house.
It wasn’t the kind of place with a garden surrounded by walls, with a little vegetable patch in the corner.
Instead, it had no garden, no walls. Just thick, sturdy outer walls encircling the house, designed purely for security. It looked more like a small fortress than a ho, with an intimidating presence.
In the real world, this house might’ve had an inner courtyard, but here, there was none of that.
It was all about security, security, security.
To get inside, you had to go down an L-shaped entryway, sealed off by three layers of steel doors.
Even the rooftop was fortified.
Not with security bars, but actual security walls. You couldn’t access the rooftop without opening it from the inside first.
‘There are a lot of thieves and even more robbers in this world.’
This house wouldn’t be an easy target.
For a brief mont, I enjoyed the peace.
Lying back on the bench, I pulled out my smartphone.
First, I handled my credit card paynts.
With one click, I paid off all 11 remaining installnts.
“Ah, refreshing.”
I had over 2 billion in cash, but that 3 million won credit card bill was like a stain on my mories.
It reminded
too much of the old days.
So I wiped it clean.
That was one less thing to think about.
“Phew.”
After lounging around for a bit longer, I finally stood up.
This short break was enough.
It was ti to get moving again.
Just because I had so money and a house didn’t an I could afford to relax. The world’s fate, and my unfortunate ties to the Old Father’s Cult, were still hanging over my head like a storm.
Clang, whirrr, thunk!
I locked down the security walls, shut the steel grate, and bolted the doors. I activated the electronic locks for good asure.
Once everything was secure, I headed downstairs to the basent training room.
The main event of the day was still waiting.
‘It was the north wall of the basent, right?’
To be precise, I needed to break through the north wall of the basent, dig about a ter forward, and then tunnel straight down for another ten ters.
“Alright…”
I grabbed the pickaxe and took a deep breath.
[Smash], [Strength], [Vigor]
[Mana Core], [Mana Recovery], [Mana Absorption]
“Hiyah!”
With a shout, I swung the pickaxe down.
Ordinarily, it would take dozens of swings to even start cracking a wall.
But when you’re using a pickaxe imbued with Smash and backed by both strength and mana, the results are very different.
Crack!
The wall split almost imdiately, crumbling down in large chunks.
I swung the pickaxe thodically, clearing out a decent-sized hole in no ti. Then I grabbed the power drill to tidy up the edges.
After that, it was back to swinging the pickaxe.
Apparently, becoming a superhuman really did change things. My pickaxe was more destructive than the power drill.
‘Normally, you’d have to clear the Geonwoobong Restricted Zone to unlock this.’
The Geonwoobong Restricted Zone.
Calling it a restricted zone was an overstatent.
The area wasn’t that distorted, and the spatial anomalies were relatively mild. The only thing unusual about it was that Geonwoobong had grown to about the size of Gwanaksan Mountain.
The terrain was just a plain mountain plateau, and the monsters had all been wiped out. All that remained were a secret drug farm, a human trafficking base, and a body modification workshop run by the Cleaner Association.
In Arcane Seoul, after you clear out that organization, you visit the Geonwoobong Restricted Zone with a mage-type superhuman, triggering a special ssage.
[Wait, what’s this feeling…]
[It’s calling
to the north!]
[Hold on. Isn’t this close to our base?]
Afterward, if you gave that superhuman a day of rest, a special facility would be unlocked.
The Mana Spring.
It’s basically a hot spring infused with mana.
Even if a superhuman was at zero HP and completely unconscious, soaking in this spring for a day would restore them completely.
Any debuffs or aftereffects, except for Divine Fever, would also disappear.
And it even had the bonus effect of granting passive experience.
“Huff… Huff…”
I swung the pickaxe tirelessly.
The difference between reality and the ga was clear.
In the ga, you just needed a single touch and enough ti.
Here, I had to do it all myself.
And I couldn’t hire help, either.
The Mana Spring was far more valuable than this house. It was a treasure beyond asure.
So I kept swinging, over and over again.
Whenever I got tired, I switched to using the power drill.
I was a machine.
By the ti late afternoon rolled around, I had successfully dug down ten ters.
Fwoosh!
Just like a geyser, the mana-rich water of the spring shot up from the hole.
The cold, crystal-clear water drenched , cooling my sweat-soaked body.
The sensation was both refreshing and invigorating.
The Mana Spring was already starting to show its effects.
However, to properly utilize it, I needed the magic bath.
It wouldn’t be as efficient as Seo Woojin’s mana concentration array, but I could still get at least half of that effect.
“Man, I’m starving.”
Should I grab sothing to eat?
No.
I might as well finish up today’s work and then rest.
I tidied up the hole, installed the pump to drain the water, and started mixing rapid-set cent to seal the area.
My experience doing manual labor ca in handy.
Thank goodness for that.
My past knowledge, plus the skills I picked up by watching over the shoulders of other workers, had paid off.
Online videos, similar to YouTube in this world, also helped a ton.
I didn’t know the finer details of construction, but I could look up anything I wasn’t sure about on my smartphone and follow along.
Smartphones are invincible. Video platforms are gods.
One way or another, I managed to complete the pump installation, pipework, and finishing touches.
Once the entire floor was covered, and the magic bath and curtains were in place, I stretched my arms overhead.
“Ugh… I’m beat. That took forever.”
It had taken longer than expected.
Or maybe I should say I was lucky to finish so quickly?
The current ti was 3 a.m.
I’d started at 11 a.m. and worked nonstop, so it took
about 16 hours.
My entire body was sore, but I gained a lot from the effort.
[Crafting], [Modification], and [Repair] traits acquired.
Now, it was ti to test it out.
I grabbed a canned coffee and a sandwich from the fridge.
I attached a tray to the magic bath and settled in for a late-night snack.
The Mana Spring was already filled, and the bath’s magic was warming the water to just the right temperature.
The restorative, purifying, and mana-concentrating spells began to work their magic, relaxing my entire body.
The warmth seeped into my bones and organs, soothing
to my core.
My wild, turbulent mana began to calm.
My mind started to drift.
My body felt like it was lting.
The peacefulness I felt now made my earlier rooftop nap seem trivial.
The residual mana from the Nectar was slowly dissolving away.
It wasn’t as effective as a proper mana cultivation technique, but it was still impressive.
‘This is heaven.’
I felt the Mana Spring working its magic and soon drifted off to sleep.
Unlike the tis I’d passed out from exhaustion or the aftermath of mutations, this sleep was different.
There were no worries.
No stress.
For the first ti since falling into this strange world…
In a place that finally felt like ho—a real ho—I drifted into a deep, restful sleep.
–TL Notes–
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support
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