Chapter 291 – Part 2 – Let’s Go, Mother

Swoosh-

Inside a luxurious mansion, a masked man revealed himself.

It was Song Chi-hyeon, one of the 8 Heroes.

‘To think I’d have to do this job again that I did 10 years ago.’

Song Chi-hyeon carelessly threw off his mask and placed his belongings on the table, then stared at a business card.

The business card read “Investigator Lee Jun-hyeop.”

‘If people knew that I, one of the 8 Heroes, was going around doing mere investigations, what would their reaction be?’

Wouldn’t they mock him freely behind his back, even if they didn’t show it outwardly?

‘Damn it. Why do I alone have to suffer like this…’

While other heroes enjoyed all kinds of luxuries, he was doing work that even low-ranking officials would do.

‘I shouldn’t have revealed my trait to the other bastards.’

No, even if he hadn’t told them himself, that bastard would have known anyway.

‘Woo Seong-jae. That human would know and then some…’

Song Chi-hyeon thought that his current predicament was all because of his cursed trait.

‘If I had an ordinary trait like others, I wouldn’t have to go around investigating like this.’

Due to the special nature of reading thoughts, Song Chi-hyeon had to take on various tasks.

Rooting out traitors, determining whether suspects were real culprits or not, etc.

Whenever his ability was needed, he had to rush anywhere, which is why he was always busy.

‘Just when I thought things would get easier after the dungeons closed and work decreased…’

The dungeons reopening meant he would have to be active like before again.

‘While dungeon reopening making things busy is certainly unwelcome…’

It was also an opportunity.

A chance to escape from A-rank where he had been stuck for 10 years.

‘If I also become S-rank like those bastards, they won’t be able to treat me carelessly.’

Song Chi-hyeon’s current combat power was roughly 600,000.

If he gathered runes and became stronger, exceeding 1 million, he could become S-rank like the other heroes.

Ring ring- Ring ring-

When his phone suddenly rang, Song Chi-hyeon checked the caller.

‘Ah, it’s Kwak Min-cheol.’

Kwak Min-cheol was a fellow 8 Hero and the actual ruler of Eastland.

‘He’s obviously calling about the report.’

He didn’t want to answer but had to.

‘Otherwise, this psycho bastard might throw some kind of fit.’

Sure enough.

As soon as he answered the phone, shouting could be heard.

-Song Chi-hyeon, you son of a bitch. What are you doing? Why didn’t you answer the phone quickly?

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was busy with other work and didn’t see it.”

-What other work do you have? Besides wandering around wearing a mask?

“…”

He wanted to retort, but Song Chi-hyeon had to endure it.

Whatever he said to a psycho who cursed even fellow heroes would only sound like rebellion.

-Are you annoyed? Why no answer?

“No, I’m not.”

-What’s not?

“I was wrong.”

-What did you do wrong?

‘Ha, this crazy psycho bastard.’

Kwak Min-cheol was someone who made even the calm Song Chi-hyeon want to curse.

“I’m sorry for answering the phone late.”

-Whatever, just give me the report on what you investigated this time.

Song Chi-hyeon, suppressing his anger, reported the results of the case.

“I investigated the death of D-rank supervisor Norikane Jigoro by directly meeting the two surviving hunters, but no particular anomalies were found.”

-So it wasn’t murder?

“Yes. One of them was actually blaming himself, saying the supervisor died because he led the boss there.”

-So it really was an accident caused by the boss?

“It seems so.”

-Don’t answer vaguely saying ‘it seems so,’ answer definitively. Don’t you know that now, when dungeons just reopened, is the best time to establish discipline?

“I understand.”

-If you understand, you should answer definitively, you bastard!

“…It’s definitely an accidental death.”

-Right, you should have said that from the start. Tsk. Keep investigating whenever suspicious cases arise in the future. Got it?

“Yes…”

-And damn it, contact me immediately when investigations are finished. Don’t make me call you.

“Ah, understood.”

With that, the call ended and Song Chi-hyeon irritably threw his phone.

“Ha, this damn bastard! I really want to kill him.”

Though he said he wanted to kill him, Song Chi-hyeon knew it was impossible.

Kwak Min-cheol had combat power three times higher than his own.

‘I need to grow quickly. Only then can I escape this dog-like treatment.’

But going around investigating like this meant lacking time for growth.

‘I should create my own forces as insurance.’

Song Chi-hyeon thought.

That it would be good to have simple, loyal subordinates.

‘Like that guy I saw today.’

A man named Choi Seong-min briefly came to mind in Song Chi-hyeon’s head before disappearing.

* * *

“I’m sorry, senior. Thinking about it, there’s something at home. It’s also too late today, so I’ll head back now. Please invite me another time.”

“Oh, okay.”

Choi Seong-min no longer had any reason to stay with Do Eun-jeong.

He had achieved his purpose of catching Song Chi-hyeon’s attention.

So he made up an excuse and returned home.

Postponing the meal invitation to next time.

“Oppa, you’re back?”

When he entered the house, his sister greeted him with a brighter face than usual.

“Like oppa said, when I told the factory, they’re giving me 4 times the hourly wage starting today. They also moved me to an easier department.”

“Really? That’s great. But where’s mother?”

“I actually contacted her, but she said she’s busy and has to work overtime, so we should eat dinner together.”

“Overtime?”

When she was a commoner, there were often times she came home late due to overtime work.

It was hard to refuse after all.

‘But now that her status has risen, there’s no need to work overtime…’

Worried about her working late, Choi Seong-min grabbed his coat.

“Oppa, where are you going?”

“I’ll go see mother. She might not have mentioned the status change.”

“Ah, with mom’s personality, she could definitely do that.”

“You stay home. I’ll go alone and come back.”

Before going out, Choi Seong-min stopped by the bathroom.

To get the emergency money hidden in the ceiling.

Click-

‘She might be tied down because she borrowed money from the restaurant owner.’

After taking out his backpack and confirming that the 390 million won was still there, he left the house.

And following the original owner’s memories, he headed to the restaurant where his mother worked.

* * *

The owner of the 24-hour soup restaurant thought about why he had been in a bad mood all day.

And soon figured out the reason.

‘I wondered why I’ve been in a low mood since morning, but it was because of that woman?’

The owner’s gaze fixed on the woman washing dishes.

It was Ms. Jeong Hee-seon, who had risen in status from commoner to merchant this morning.

‘When she said this morning that her status had risen to merchant, I wondered what nonsense she was talking about…’

Apparently, if there’s an E-rank hunter in the family, family members can also escape commoner status.

In short, she was a woman who escaped commoner status thanks to having a good son.

‘The problem is that when you become a merchant, you have to immediately pay the proper hourly wage…’

From the owner’s perspective, this couldn’t be welcome.

‘What kind of damn system is this? If this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have hired that woman!’

He had hired employees precisely because they were commoners.

They were perfect to exploit cheaply.

But suddenly one of them rose in status.

And then asked for 4 times the hourly wage.

‘4 times? Absolutely not.’

But firing her immediately would leave him short-handed.

So the owner came up with a desperate plan.

“Hey! Hee-seon!”

To find fault and not raise her wage.

“This was washed by you, Hee-seon, right? There’s still some washing left undone here!”

“Uh… I did wash that one.”

When the commoner woman next to her apologized and bowed her head, the owner glared.

“…Do it properly!”

The slightly flustered owner inevitably picked up the soup bowl with his dirty hands that he had prepared in advance.

“Did you wash this, Hee-seon?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure you washed it properly? What’s this dirty mark here?”

Showing the mark he had made himself as evidence, Jeong Hee-seon bowed her head.

“I’m sorry. I must have missed it.”

“Are you going to work like this? Is this why you asked for 4 times the wage this morning?”

“But the law says when status rises, wages also…”

“Law aside, you don’t have the basics down! How can you say such things with a clear conscience when it’s such a mess?”

“…”

“Anyway, that’s enough for today. Go home.”

“Then about the wage…”

“I’ll raise your wage to 4 times starting next month, so know that.”

“What? Not starting today?”

The owner’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Would you want to raise it if you were the owner when work is done like this?”

“But the law…”

“Law aside, think humanely. Wouldn’t it be difficult for me as the owner if wages suddenly go up like that?”

“But boss, I also need to earn money…”

“Am I the only one who needs money? I also have debts everywhere. Places to spend money are endless.”

“…”

“And originally, salary is a kind of promise given monthly, right? Since we promised 2,000 won per hour, you should receive that until this month, shouldn’t you?”

“Boss…”

“So stop complaining and do it that way this month. I’ll definitely give you 4 times starting next month.”

“Says who?”

At the sudden third party’s voice, the owner’s head turned.

Some young man had entered the kitchen without permission.

“Who are you? Get out…”

“Seong-min! Why did you come here?”

It seemed he knew the woman in front of him.

“Who is he? Someone you know, Hee-seon?”

“He’s my son.”

At the word son, the owner tensed up slightly.

‘If it’s her son, then he’s the one who became an E-rank hunter…’

Hunters who transcended humanity were symbols of fear to ordinary people.

Even the owner, who had no interest in hunters, had heard that messing with hunters meant you couldn’t even find your bones.

Perhaps because of this, the owner’s eyes became much softer.

“Ah, so this is the son who became a hunter? Nice to meet…”

“Are you the owner?”

At the sudden informal speech, the owner could no longer manage his expression.

“A young punk with no manners, what…”

“I don’t think I need to show courtesy to you.”

“What?”

“I heard earlier that you’re not giving 4 times the wage.”

“Who said I’m not giving it? I said I’d give it starting next month!”

“While planning to fire her as soon as next month comes, what giving.”

Momentarily flustered and speechless, the owner instead raised his voice.

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, get out!”

“I was going to leave anyway. Mother, you haven’t borrowed money from this person or anything, have you?”

“Huh? No, I haven’t.”

“Then you don’t need to come to work at this kind of restaurant that doesn’t treat you well.”

“Wh-who says you can just not come to work? If you don’t come to work, there’s no salary!”

Choi Seong-min turned his head and glanced at him.

With a gaze so cold it made him shudder.

“Do whatever you want. I’ll report to the Association anyway to shut down your business and get 2, 3 times the compensation.”

“What? Re-report? What did I do wrong…”

“Not treating someone of the same status properly and exploiting them with commoner wages is strictly illegal. And those who break the law are challenging the Association, and they wouldn’t let such people operate restaurants.”

The owner, who knew nothing about the law, opened his eyes wide.

“Is, is that really true? You’re lying, right?”

“Whether it’s true or not, you’ll find out for yourself when the summons arrives in a few days. We’re busy, so we’ll be going.”

“Wa-wait! Wait a moment, Hunter!”

The owner desperately blocked Choi Seong-min’s path and smiled while rubbing his hands.

“I, I was wrong. I’ll immediately give 4 times the wage, so please don’t report…”

“It’s already too late. And who apologizes while smiling?”

“Ah, sorry…”

“Let’s go, mother.”

Choi Seong-min, who didn’t want to stay there even a moment longer, left the restaurant with his mother.