Chapter 38 – The Snail’s Suggestion

“Is a mana stone needed to restore the power?”

As she was laughing hollowly, Hee-won asked perceptively. Hee-na replied with a sigh.

“Yeah. But they say the power can only be restored temporarily with a mana stone. Apparently, we need a Piece of Space like the one we used before to fix it completely.”

“That’s a dungeon byproduct. Neither of us is in the combat class, so how do we obtain that?”

“Exactly!”

While they were having a heated discussion about what to do in the future, Osaek-i wiggled and crawled in between the siblings.

[Lack of capability. Regrets.]

With its antennas drooping, it looked a bit dejected.

“You did your best, it just didn’t work out. Originally, if you can’t fix it at home, you have to call a private company. But the problem is that the company does business like total highway robbers.”

Hee-na glared into the air. The system was completely unpredictable.

“We can’t keep living in a dark house like this. Should we abandon this house and leave?”

Hee-won looked around the pitch-black house.

Although it was hidden in the darkness and not clearly visible, it was in a clean and comfortable state, transformed by Hee-na’s devoted touch.

‘I’ve grown attached to it in my own way…’

As expected, the one who felt the most regret was Hee-na.

Starting from a dirty single room to a decent two-room apartment, it was a house built on Hee-na’s hard work. The events of the past flashed before her eyes like a kaleidoscope.

[♨♤♠Attention! Attention!♧♣♨]

Meanwhile, Osaek-i’s noisy special characters woke Hee-na from her reminiscence.

“What is it, Osaek-i?”

Hee-na shone her cell phone flashlight on the snail.

Osaek-i was wiggling its body with both antennas held straight up.

[Solution found.]

“Really?”

The siblings bent down flat to look at Osaek-i. Pride overflowed from its stiff antennas.

“What? What do we need to do? Is there another way?”

[Homeowner’s lunch box.]

“What about the lunch box?”

[There is supply and demand.]

This snail knew all sorts of things. After confirming that two pairs of eyes were fixed on him, Osaek-i continued the string of characters.

[

Lunch Box

Mana Stone

Homeowner

Can supply

Has demand

Kang Jin-hyun

Has demand

Can supply

]

Hee-na let out an “Eh?” at the table that suddenly floated in the air. Then, she carefully analyzed the table.

“I can supply the lunch box and need a mana stone, while Kang Jin-hyun needs the lunch box and can supply the mana stone?”

Osaek-i clapped its two antennas together as if applauding.

[Yeah. Meal cost ↔ Mana stone. Barter trade possible.]

[A mutually satisfactory transaction expected.]

Hee-won brightened at Osaek-i’s logical explanation.

“Oh. That’s a good method? Kang Jin-hyun said he could give up to ten million won for a single lunch box. For now, we can just ask for a mana stone instead of money!”

“Instead of doing that, wouldn’t it be better to save that money to get a new house?”

Hee-na made a good point. Then, Osaek-i, who had been wiggling excitedly, protested.

[Osaek-i, heavily shocked by the homeowner’s coldheartedness!]

[Will our relationship end like this?]

Hee-na shook her head violently.

“Of course you’re coming with us, Osaek-i. How could I leave you here alone?”

Though it had only been a few months, she had grown very attached to Osaek-i through their constant bickering. She couldn’t leave him behind.

However, Osaek-i’s opinion was a bit different.

[This snail = Property Manager. Will not leave the property of its own accord.]

It claimed that since it was the Property Manager of ‘Home Sweet Home’, it could absolutely never leave.

Hee-na tried to persuade Osaek-i for a long time. However, the results were not very good.

[Strongly rejects the homeowner’s proposal!]

Since Osaek-i was something like a house-elf for this house, it might have been natural that it didn’t want to leave.

‘Sigh. What should I do? I won’t feel at peace leaving Osaek-i behind like this.’

Hee-na clutched her head and agonized. Hee-won quietly watched her and advised.

“If you’re not sure, let’s just go for it.”

“What?”

“I mean, let’s solve the electricity issue with a mana stone first, and then think about the rest. You said your Luck stat is 45? A way will turn up somehow.”

It would be nice if they could buy a house outside the dungeon, but if she didn’t want to leave Osaek-i behind, they could keep living here for a while and decide whether to persuade or kidnap Osaek-i later.

“It will cost some mana stones, but… we can’t live in pitch darkness right now. What do you think, Hee-na?”

Unlike his sister, whose courage was the size of a millet seed, Hee-won occasionally showed this reckless side. Perhaps that was why he was able to work as a hunter despite being a D-class farmer.

“Sh-should we?”

Hee-na hesitated, but eventually decided to follow her brother’s lead. In any case, she couldn’t leave Osaek-i behind right away.

Because Osaek-i was Hee-na’s family.

Hee-na did not abandon her family.

* * *

After work, Hee-na stood in front of Kang Jin-hyun’s private office and let out a sigh.

‘Sigh. How do I bring this up?’

Her heart pounded at the thought of negotiating with Kang Jin-hyun.

No matter how much money Kang Jin-hyun had previously offered for Hee-na’s lunch boxes, she felt embarrassed to be the first to bring it up.

This was because the situation of exchanging an ordinary homemade lunch box for mana stones worth millions or tens of millions of won felt quite shameless.

‘Even if it’s embarrassing, let’s think of Osaek-i!’

Hee-na clenched her fists as she thought of her rabbit-like brother and fox-like snail waiting for her at home.

Last night’s blackout had been temporarily resolved using Hee-na’s mana stone. However, this was only a temporary fix. A fingernail-sized mana stone could only last for three days.

In order for Hee-na’s ‘Home Sweet Home’ to run normally, new mana stones were constantly required.

‘…Or obtaining a Piece of Space again by chance.’

While she was simulating in her head for a long time how to bring it up, the office door suddenly swung open.

“What a surprise!”

Hee-na jumped in place.

“Ms. Hee-na.”

Now accustomed to Hee-na being startled every time he appeared, Kang Jin-hyun was not flustered. Instead, he gestured to Hee-na.

“Since you were standing in front of the door for a while without coming in.”

“H-how did you know?”

“I can feel your presence.”

“Ah.”

Hee-na sat across from Kang Jin-hyun in a daze.

“For what reason did you come to see me?”

Hearing Kang Jin-hyun’s calm voice, she finally snapped out of it. Hee-na mumbled her lips for a moment before disclosing her business.

“Well, about that lunch box proposal you mentioned.”

“I remember. I proposed it yesterday at lunchtime. Have you made a decision?”

Hee-na nodded. Kang Jin-hyun’s eyes flashed like a beast that had spotted prey.

“Your answer?”

“I’ll do it.”

At Hee-na’s answer, Kang Jin-hyun’s firm mouth curved into a gentle arc. The atmosphere, which had been as tense as a tightly drawn rope, softened in an instant.

At that sight, Hee-na thought for a moment, ‘Is it normal for a person to change this much over a single meal?’

“You made a good choice.”

Hee-na gulped and brought up the main topic.

“Then, I’d like to talk about the price of the lunch box now…”

“I can give you as much as you want. Ten million? Twenty million? Just say the word.”

Just as her brother said, to an S-class hunter, tens of millions of won might not feel like money. Kang Jin-hyun spoke of ten million or twenty million won as easily as if it were one thousand or two thousand won.

He was a person living in a completely different world from Hee-na, who meticulously compared prices down to the single won per gram when buying things.

“Well, I’d like to receive the price of the lunch box in goods rather than money.”

“What is it? I can obtain and give you any item within the range of what I can get.”

“A mana stone.”

As soon as she said it, a fist-sized mana stone appeared with a flash on top of Kang Jin-hyun’s hand. It seemed he had pulled it out of his inventory.

“Will this be enough for a single meal?”

A fist-sized mana stone varied in price from tens of millions to billions of won depending on its purity. And the mana stone Kang Jin-hyun pulled out had an extremely transparent color.

It meant it was a high-grade mana stone with high purity. Such mana stones could only be obtained by defeating at least an A-class monster.

Hee-na broke out in a cold sweat.

“It doesn’t need to be that large. Even a fingernail-sized piece would be…”

Facing an item of immense value right in front of her, she didn’t even feel greedy. It was just burdensome.

“It is not particularly large. Or shall I show you a larger mana stone? Then you will change your mind.”

At Kang Jin-hyun’s immense threat, Hee-na shook her head vigorously.

“Then I’ll take that one!”

“Good.”

Kang Jin-hyun handed the mana stone to Hee-na with a satisfied smile.

For a split second, thousands of things she could do by selling this mana stone flashed through her mind, but Hee-na dismissed the stray thoughts as she thought of Osaek-i’s round head.

‘Family comes before money.’

Instead, as soon as she received the mana stone, she checked the amount of electricity she could use through the system window first.

‘Gasp.’

The number of days was massive. Unlike the fingernail-sized mana stone that barely lasted three days, this could supply electricity to the house for eight months.

This meant that they could look for more methods for at least the next eight months.

The Homemaker of the Dungeon