Chapter 2 – A Cozy Bed

‘…What? What is this?’

Hee-na forgot the life-or-death situation and opened her mouth wide in shock at the awakener class she had never heard of in her life.

Even her rank was D-rank, following after her D-rank brother, and the class description was incredibly half-hearted.

Besides, her stats were extremely poor.

Even for an F-rank, it was said to be customary for the sum of the Stamina, Strength, and Agility stats to exceed 30.

However, Hee-na’s status window was utterly disastrous.

‘What’s the difference between me and an ordinary person if this is what it’s like even after awakening?’

The fact that the individual points of her Persistence and Luck stats were higher than the total of her Stamina, Strength, and Agility was also absurd.

‘My brother said the Luck stat is not a visible ability, so it’s completely useless!’

Hee-na hid under a large tree, biting her nails, and tried to improve the situation somehow.

However, the facts that her class was very strange and that she was born with ruined stats did not change.

[Kyaoooo!]

To make matters worse, as if it smelled Hee-na, even the cry of a monster drew closer. At this rate, she was bound to be torn to shreds by the monster’s claws.

‘Run!’

To live, she had to run away. Hee-na utilized her Agility stat of 6 to the maximum limit and ran through the thick grass.

[Kueeeeek!]

However, it was clear that the monster’s Agility stat was higher than hers. She could feel the hot breath of the snorting monster right behind her neck.

Her hair stood on end.

“Oh, no!”

Hee-na exercised her Persistence stat of 20 and did not give up on her life until the very end.

Instead, she chose to throw herself into a swamp where dark green algae floated.

Splash!

With a loud sound, she fell into the muddy swamp. Water with a strange taste entered her mouth, and she spat it out.

While she was just moving forward, floundering around, her back went cold. Her instinct warned her that a dangerous entity was nearby.

When she looked back, an alligator-shaped monster as large as a small car was opening its mouth wide.

“Hieeeek!”

Just as she was about to scream breathlessly at that enormous sight, something blocked Hee-na’s path.

[Kueeeeek!]

It was the dinosaur-shaped monster that had been chasing Hee-na. As if it had not noticed the alligator, the monster splashed through the swamp and rushed toward Hee-na.

[Guooooo!]

Perhaps the alligator thought it was an attack directed at itself, as it swung its snout, flashing its rugged, sharp teeth.

[Kiyeek! Kyat!]

The dinosaur-like monster was struck by the alligator’s snout and tumbled through the air.

There was a thudding sound of something bursting, but the dinosaur paid no attention, got up, and roared.

[Kiyii, kueeeeek!]

[Goooooo, oooo!]

The two monsters shouted at each other like two reckless drivers involved in a collision. Soon, they tangled together and began to fight.

Hee-na, covered in green algae, was left all alone.

‘T-t-t-thank goodness.’

Hee-na thanked her heaven-sent luck, or perhaps her Luck stat of 45.

Then she crawled out of the swamp on all fours. Extremely carefully, so that the two monsters would not notice.

‘Where should I go now?’

Hee-na looked around her, where everything was green. She had to shut herself in somewhere slightly safer than here and wait for rescue.

‘Is there any ability that might be helpful?’

Huddled up, as Hee-na quickly scanned her status window, one skill caught her desperate gaze.

In a way, it was nothing more and nothing less than a skill to tidy up a bed.

However, what caught Hee-na’s eye was a single word written in the skill description.

‘Safely!’

Now that she had been sucked into the dungeon gate alone, Hee-na had to clutch at straws.

Even if it was just a lousy D-rank bed-tidying skill!

When she activated the skill, a system guide window immediately appeared before her eyes.

“Do I have to do this myself too?”

Hee-na made a tearful face. However, she looked around step by step as the system window instructed.

Then, things that were not visible until just now began to appear one by one. For example, there was a glittering status message.

It was even before she could think of it as a skill with a strange name. Countless words popped up in front of Hee-na’s eyes.

And so on…

Against the backdrop of the lush green jungle, information about edible and inedible grasses was packed tight.

‘Th-this is a good thing, right? Since I have to lie down anyway, it would be much better to lie down in safe, edible grass.’

Hee-na was no longer flustered. Instead, she plucked edible, safe, or delicious grasses at random.

Every time a notification window appeared, Hee-na’s hand movements became swift and precise. Drenched in dirty water, she looked like a madwoman frantically picking herbs.

“This should be enough, right?”

Hee-na panted and looked down at the pile of grass accumulated behind her back. It looked like enough for one person to lie down and hide.

Hee-na grunted as she carried the grasses and found a reasonably secluded spot.

“Cozy Bed!”

When she cast the skill, her hands began to move on their own. It came clearly to her mind what she should do and how to do it. Hee-na just had to follow along.

“……It’s done!”

Was it because the materials were simple? It did not take long to complete the bed made of grass.

Hee-na stared at the result she had created with her own hands. Then, an explanation window popped up with a flash.

And below that, numbers were written.

It was also indicated that the remaining skill duration was information only the caster could check. The description was subtly kind in some ways.

“I think I made it pretty well for a first time.”

Hee-na praised herself.

Although it looked a bit clumsy, from a primitive man’s perspective, it was a fairly well-made sleeping place. It was the very definition of science as advertised on TV.

[Sshhhhhhh—]

Right on cue, the sound of something approaching close was heard. The fine hairs all over her body stood on end.

Hee-na entered the grass sleeping place, half-doubting if this would really be effective.

Although it was cozy, fear came first. If the ‘Cozy Bed’ skill did not work properly, her life would truly be cut short.

[Chwik, sshhhhh!]

Hee-na held her breath, hiding inside the well-made D-rank ‘Cozy Bed Made of Edible Grasses.’

Before long, a monster appeared. It was a giant snake of a size that looked capable of swallowing a human in one bite.

By this point, leaving aside how disgusting it was, it even looked like computer graphics.

[Chiii, chiiiik!]

The giant snake flicked its long tongue and slowly turned its head. It was a scanning gaze, looking to see if there was anything to eat around.

‘Please save me!’

Hee-na prayed desperately with her hands tightly clasped.

[Chwiii.]

Did Hee-na’s wish reach the heavens?

Even with Hee-na right under its nose, the snake failed to discover her and turned away.

Hee-na barely stabilized her chattering jaw.

‘The s-skill seems to have worked.’

As the saying goes, even dog dung can be used as medicine; she had thought it was a useless class and skill, but it was surprisingly helpful. If she held out like this, she might survive until the rescue team arrived.

‘I’m glad I awakened as a Homemaker or whatever. Otherwise, I might have died long ago.’

If she had awakened as an ambiguous D-rank hunter like her brother, she would have surely gone to the underworld while trying to catch monsters.

“……Ah, I’m sleepy.”

Now that safety was secured to some extent, fatigue crept into her startled body.

The bed was comfortable beyond imagination for something made of mere grass. True to its name, it was indeed a ‘Cozy Bed.’

‘No. I shouldn’t fall asleep like this…’

Hee-na curled up among the grass and slowly blinked. It was because drowsiness came over her. Sleep came very easily.

Since the effect increased the recovery speed by 20%, was it forcing her to sleep so she could enter recovery?

“Ahhh…”

A yawn she could not hold back escaped.

In the end, Hee-na nodded her head and fell asleep. It was a deep sleep without even a dream.

No one knew whether that was due to the struggle in the dungeon or the overtime work that had lasted for three days.

* * *

“……Hey, look at this!”

Along with a sharp voice, something poked Hee-na’s body.

It was a ruthless touch, as if checking whether a potato was fully cooked. In other words, it hurt quite a lot.

“Ouch!”

Hee-na forgot the situation and jumped up, screaming loudly.

“It hurts!”

“I thought you were a human-shaped plant-type monster, but you were a real person.”

A woman with fierce eyes was looking down at Hee-na.

She wore light armor and held a long spear in her hand. It was clear that she had been poking Hee-na relentlessly with the tip of that long spear.

However, to Hee-na, who had regained her senses, such minor pain was not important.

“You are a hunter!”

The woman was definitely a hunter who had entered to suppress the dungeon.

The Homemaker of the Dungeon