Chapter 39 – The Lunch Box Deal

‘Sigh. I’m glad I bought a lot of time.’

Hee-na put the mana stone into her inventory with relief.

“Since I received such a large one, I’ll think of it as receiving about eight months’ worth of advance payment.”

Hee-na resolved to diligently pack lunch boxes for Kang Jin-hyun for the next 237 days.

“Not at all. I have plenty of mana stones, so I can keep giving them to you.”

Kang Jin-hyun acted like a man anxious because he couldn’t give Hee-na more. However, Hee-na, who did not want to carry any more mental burden, flatly refused.

“Absolutely not. If you give me more, I won’t pack any lunch boxes for you.”

The threat worked easily. The S-class hunter Kang Jin-hyun, the best in the world, backed down.

“…I understand.”

But his expression was bright. It was because Hee-na had firmly promised to pack him lunch boxes starting from tomorrow.

“Do you have any allergies or ingredients you dislike?”

Hee-na checked her customer’s preferences in advance. Kang Jin-hyun shook his head with a solemn expression.

“None at all.”

As expected, one had to eat everything well to become an S-class hunter. Hee-na resolved to teach her nephew that way if she ever had one in the future, and asked again.

“Then is there a side dish you like?”

“I’m sure any food you make, Ms. Hee-na, will be delicious.”

Kang Jin-hyun spouted embarrassing words.

“You flatter me.”

“I am serious.”

Even though it was lip service, it didn’t sound bad to hear. After all, praise was always a good thing.

Kang Jin-hyun watched Hee-na smiling brightly in silence for a moment, then bowed his head slightly.

“I look forward to working with you.”

“Ah, you don’t need to do that… I’m the one who should look forward to working with you, despite my lack of skill.”

Hee-na bowed in return. This was because Kang Jin-hyun’s politeness was burdensome.

However, such kindness was nothing to Kang Jin-hyun. To him, Hee-na was like a savior who would help him reclaim the joy he had lost after awakening.

Kang Jin-hyun smiled gently.

“It has been a very long time since I looked forward to tomorrow.”

In his life full of nothing but combat, a trivial daily routine was more precious than anything. So much so that giving hundreds of those mana stones would not be a waste.

Hee-na returned home immediately and offered the expensive mana stone to the system.

“I’ll continue.”

“Here, I brought the mana stone! You highway robber!”

“Proceed with the restoration service.”

Then, the round mana stone on top of Hee-na’s hand began to disappear into the air. The mana stone became sparkling dust and was absorbed into the air.

A few seconds later, a system notification appeared in the air.

Adding the time gained from the previous fingernail-sized mana stone, there were 239 days left.

Hee-na turned back to look at Hee-won and Osaek-i solemnly.

“Now, we either find a way or reach a compromise within 239 days, okay?”

This was time bought by using an expensive mana stone that the siblings might never get to touch in their lifetimes. They had to reach a conclusion within that period.

“It’ll work out somehow. I trust your Luck stat.”

Hee-won shrugged.

He even spouted uncertain talk that since Hee-na had a high proportion of Luck in her total stat ratio, that many lucky events would happen.

“If your Luck stat hadn’t worked hard, how could you have found and saved me? And even dragging in S-class hunter Kang Jin-hyun?”

Hearing it, it seemed plausible.

[Life is about hitting it big once!]

Osaek-i also sang about a jackpot life next to them.

However, Hee-na did not fall for their ‘luck jackpot theory.’ Instead, she laid down a warning.

“Forget it! Life is not about hitting it big once! You achieve it step by step! So everyone, bring some thoughts on what would be best to do! From now on, our house’s time is real gold, gold!”

* * *

While she was carefully flipping a rolled omelet to be used for dinner and as a side dish for the lunch box, a notification window popped up with a series of chimes.

‘Gasp, rank up!’

Hee-na was incredibly surprised by the tremendous news.

However, she had to maintain composure in front of the rolled omelet. To get a beautiful result without any rough edges, she couldn’t afford to let her guard down.

Sizzle—.

Hee-na poured the rest of the egg mixture and rolled the omelet one more turn. She did not forget to press it against the edge of the square omelet pan to shape the corners.

“Done!”

Finally, the plump rolled omelet was placed on the cutting board. The appearance of the rolled omelet was perfection itself. It was bright yellow without a single brown scorched spot.

It was the greatest masterpiece of rolled omelet Hee-na had ever made in her life. She was proud.

Hee-na slapped the springy rolled omelet with a spatula. It was firm.

“Now shall I take a look at the system window?”

While letting the rolled omelet cool down, Hee-na decided to check the rank up message that had popped up earlier.

It seemed that as the rank of the ‘This Taste is Hand-Taste’ skill rose, Hee-na’s own grade had also risen to C.

As soon as she confirmed that fact, Hee-na ran patter-patter and flung the front door open.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Hee-won cultivating the dungeon land. Beads of sweat were dripping from his forehead.

“Uh? What is it? Is dinner already done?”

Hee-won asked, wiping his sweat with a towel hung around his neck. Hee-na smiled broadly and brandished the spatula in her hand.

“Oppa! I ranked up! I’m C-class now! My grade has become higher than yours!”

This was to tease Hee-won, who had been stuck at D-class for ten years.

“I ranked up in less than three months since I awakened! At this rate, do you think I might become an S-class homemaker?”

As she made a fuss, Hee-won narrowed his eyes as if she was an eyesore. But like an older brother, he still congratulated her.

“Yeah. Congrats on becoming C-class. By the way, did your stats increase much? You only had the Luck stat to begin with, Hee-na.”

“Ah. I haven’t checked the increased stats.”

At her brother’s words, Hee-na checked her stat window.

“Aww…”

Hee-na let out a sigh of regret.

“Why? Did they not go up much?”

Seeing his disappointed sister, Hee-won’s eyes sparkled.

“Only my Persistence and Luck went up like crazy. My Luck is 65 now.”

Hee-won marveled at the tremendous Luck value.

“That’s incredibly high? Normally, no matter how high the Luck stat is, it can’t exceed 30. Among the people I’ve seen, not even three of them have it over 20.”

“Really?”

Hee-na replied half-heartedly. Unlike other stats, the Luck stat had no visible growth, so there was an aspect of it being considered trivial.

‘I don’t even know if there’s actually a lucky effect corresponding to this number.’

Meanwhile, Hee-won egged on his sister in excitement.

“Shouldn’t you try buying a lottery ticket?”

“I tried buying one last time like you said, Oppa, but I only ended up empty-handed.”

Hee-na waved her hand, telling him not to waste money. With that, she shrugged her shoulders.

“Still, the sum of my Stamina, Strength, and Agility exceeds 20 now. It’s 30 in total.”

“That’s the stats of an F-class Awakened.”

“Still, isn’t it great that they went up?”

Hee-na decided to think positively.

Originally, the sum of her Stamina, Strength, and Agility was under 20, making her stats at the level of an ordinary person. How fortunate it was that she had risen to the level of an Awakened, even if only F-class.

“Anyway, is the cultivation going well?”

Dropping the subject of the useless Luck stat, Hee-na glanced over the dug-up ground.

Soil was turned over in a four-meter circle centered around the front door. This was all Hee-won’s work.

“Except for strange bones coming out occasionally, it’s going well.”

Hee-won said, gesturing with his chin toward a pile of bones stacked at Hee-na’s feet.

At those words, Hee-na got goosebumps and startled back.

“Ah, gross! You should have told me earlier!”

“You should have given me a moment to talk.”

Hee-na asked in a voice filled with fear.

“These aren’t human bones, right?”

“I don’t know. But looking at the shape, they seemed closer to monster bones.”

Hee-won replied nonchalantly. Hee-na was dumbfounded and spoke up.

“Why are you collecting this? Throw them outside.”

Then, Osaek-i, who had been watching Hee-won shovel, interjected.

[Monster caution required.]

It meant that if things like monster bones were piled up outside, they could attract the monsters’ attention.

Even if this place was a safe zone, seeing monsters flashing past right in front of their eyes wouldn’t be good for their mental health, apparently.

“So I’m planning to gather them in a corner and bury them in the ground.”

Hee-won tapped the pile of bones. Hee-na clicked her tongue and turned around.

“Sure. Well, outside the front door is your domain, Oppa. Do as you wish.”

Because rather than crossing dangerous dungeons without knowing whether he would live or die, overturning the yard of the house and excavating bones was much safer.

‘In any case, I’m glad Oppa found something to absorb himself in.’

Otherwise, he might not have been able to stay still and might have run out of the house saying he would make money again.

“What did you do with that seed of unknown identity you took last time?”

Hee-na belatedly recalled the Seed of Space, that is, the jet-black seed left behind after the Piece of Space vanished.

It was something Hee-won had taken a while ago, saying he would try planting it in the ground.

The Homemaker of the Dungeon