November 20th, 2023
After the news that a part-timer at a haejang-guk house awakened quickly spread through the regular network of haejang-guk house, J’s story among regulars was heard. J’s story fell into place among the regulars. It had long since been forgotten that EZ, the mana stone seller, was supposedly a resident of the neighborhood.
All their attention is ‘Congratulations on your awakening, part-timer. Is the haejang-guk house closed?’
Unknowingly awakened, hunter has to join a good guild, get four major insurance guarantees, and work on his salary. Even if the rating was low, getting a job as an office worker at a guild was better than getting a job at a general company.
That’s the general perception, and most of the regulars belong to the guild, so that perception was stronger. In addition, sincere part-timers at haejang-guk house are talented people who will succeed no matter what they do, so every guild will want to hire him.
But when he joins the guild… Who will manage the haejang-guk house?
The grandmother has a bad leg and can’t handle the demands of fast-eating hunters alone. In addition, even if they found a new part-time job, it was unclear whether they would be able to work as well as Cha Ui-jae, the current part-timer. After all, his haejang-guk tastes like he’s been making it for 30 years!
Fortunately for Cha Ui-jae, who wanted to live quietly, he was an irreplaceable man in the world of haejang-guk house. As a result, regulars, all of whom held high positions in the Korean hunter community, miraculously came to a consensus among themselves.
It was called the Haejang-guk house secret meeting.
Bae Won-woo, who managed to sit on a plastic box in front of the unburnt garbage, popped a stick of protein powder into his mouth.
“Well, talent development is good. Scouting is good too. It’s all good, but let’s stretch our legs while keeping commercial manners, team leader Han. He said he doesn’t want to join the guild. Huh? You think we’re gonna change his mind? It’s his decision. That’s all that matters. We’ve got a long way to go to protect haejang-guk house, don’t we?”
Team leader Han, who stood in front of burning garbage, also pushed up his glasses with his middle finger.
“I don’t think it’s right to hear from the Pado Guild, which sweeps away all kinds of talents even though it’s called a minority elite, but… As you wish, Vice Guild Leader Bae Won-woo. Come in and have a bowl of haejang-guk.”
“Hey, I like this guy for the first time. Let’s go! Let’s order two bottles of soju, too.”
“Okay.”
Bae Won-woo, the vice-guild leader of Pado Guild, and Team Leader Han, head of the HR team at HB Guild, shook hands after some kind of deal at a separate collection center near the haejang-guk house. Later, hunter, who encouraged Cha Ui-jae to join the guild, disappeared. It was a good thing for Ui-jae.
Instead, the barrage of secret gifts has increased.
I raised the gift, neatly wrapped in rubber gloves, so that everyone could see it.
‘Special offer! Closed water lily DIY kit.’
“To the person who dropped this in the kitchen.”
“……”
“Whoever’s about to enter the closing water lily, turn themselves in.”
Silence. The hunters slowly averted their eyes. I let out a long sigh. This isn’t a martial arts school, this is a closing ceremony. Besides, this DIY shit was just as bad now as it was before Rift Day. I issued an ultimatum.
“If you don’t come out in five minutes, I’ll just throw it away.”
A hunter suddenly raised his head and shouted.
“No! It’s a limited edition that I barely managed to get through the formwork!”
“Are you practicing banning.”
I pointed to the new A4 paper tucked away next to the limited sale of two bottles of soju.
!!!Haejang-guk house will not closed!!!
No wreaths, presents and banners
No asking part-timers for their rank
No soliciting part-timers to join guilds
No headhunting
If you break any of the above rules, you will be banned from haejang-guk house.
You will be banned from the haejang-guk house. The hunter let out a loud gurgling sound, clutching the soju bottle in agony, and squeezed his voice out like he was making a last will and testament before dying.
“…I’m going…!”
“You, you punk…”
“How strong are you going to be?”
“You’ll only be an S-rank if you live this hard!”
The hunters sitting at the same table cried out as they grabbed hold of the hunter who had been ban to haejang-guk house due to the gift. I calmly returned the DIY kit and returned to the kitchen.
This happened a lot every day. In that brief moment when I washed dishes, boiled hangover soup, and trimmed ingredients, the hunters threw presents in various ways as if to develop my wits, agility, and reasoning skills.
Most of the time I found the owners and returned them, but sometimes I was stumped when I saw a Hunter’s Market gift certificate in the money jar on the counter. I wondered how the hell they’d gotten it in there.
With each passing day, there was less and less room for gifts. The inventory, which contained empty potion bottles and the fangs of basilisk, was filled with new potions that were gifted, and the small room where I kept my supplies was increasingly overrun with knickknacks. In addition, a lot of garbage came out thanks to the over-packaging gifts.
After closing the store today, I was organizing gift wrapping paper and boxes. At that time, I felt a small presence outside the store.
It wasn’t just a passerby, but a person who had been standing in front of the store from the moment I started washing the dishes to the moment I finished and went to take out the trash.
‘Who is it.’
The only hunter who doesn’t hide his presence and for quite a long time he’s been around for a regular person. At this point, it was about time that the formula would be established that there was no human being who came to the haejang-guk house at the time of preparation and closing of the ingredients.
‘If you have something to say, then say it.’
I bravely stepped out of the door with the garbage. And,
“Oh, I’m really going in? I’m really going in? I’m really going in? I’m really envade….”
I was met by a female student biting her nails and muttering.
She’s not at all what I expected. I was expecting a TV show writer a reporter who came to shoot hunters, or a hunter trying to sneak in a gift, but it would be embarrassing to see a student who looked like a bug walking around the store with a thick long padded jacket and a heavy backpack.
‘What the hell?’
“What?” Look at the back? Oh, really, don’t make a fuss. I don’t like things like that…”
“……”
“H, hmph!”
The student, who glanced back, screeched and sank into place. Naturally, I tried to reach out and get her up, but stopped. This is because I realized that I was holding trash with rubber gloves in both hands. I stand in a quiet position for a while, briefly looked into the air and opened my mouth.
“Um, student?”
“Yes, yes?”
“What’s a student doing at haejang-guk house at this hour….”
Whiting, a cold winter breeze whizzed between them. The student shrank unconsciously. I looked at the student’s red nose and cheeks and pointed to the inside of the shop with my head.
“I’m going to take the rubbish out, so why don’t you go inside the shop for now?”
“C, can I do that?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“Thank you.”
I rushed to throw away the garbage and returned to the store. The student was sitting on a table in a corner and pressing hard on the green hot pack. I took out the stove, left it near the student, and headed to the kitchen. It was too late to make coffee.
Hurriedly, I floated a Yulmucha tea bag in boiling water and handed it to the student, who grabbed the cup with both hands and bowed his head. ‘Thank you’, the student said, blowing his nose in the cold.
“Thank you, and I’m sorry for barging in unannounced.”
“No, it’s okay.”
The student bowed his head, and I nodded. With a bun rolled up into one, a long-padded jacket, gym pants, sleep socks, and sneakers with some soil. It was a common image of a high school student.
She was looking around the store with curious eyes. The way she looked, the way she acted, the way she carried herself. She really looked like a normal high school girl, which relaxed my nerves a bit. I sat down across from her.
“What’s a student doing at haejang-guk house? Isn’t it time to stay home….”
What could a high school student possibly have to come to haejang-guk house at this time of night, I thought.
She must have seen that no one was home, so maybe she was chased by something and came to ask for help. However, the student in front of me didn’t seem to be frightened. She may have come to see a hunter’s face because he is a fan of hunter, a single goal here.
As I was counting off the different cases, the student spoke up.
“That’s…”
The student pursed her lips, then leaned back. She squeezed her eyes shut and said,
“I know that Cha Uijae-ssi is J.”
For a moment, my hand stopped. But my face showed a look of bewilderment at the absurdity of the statement, and I laughed awkwardly.
“J? I don’t know what you’re saying all of a sudden…”
“No, you don’t have to hide it from me.”
She slowly raised her head and opened her eyes. Beyond the round eye, the eyes shone brilliantly with gold. An intense stare that seemed to pierce through me.
“Help me, J.”
The facial muscles in my face that I’d worked so hard to pull up slowly slackened, and my eyebrows and the corners of my mouth fell back into place.
A moment later, a perfect expression settled on my face.
November 20th, 2023
After the news that a part-timer at a haejang-guk house awakened quickly spread through the regular network of haejang-guk house, J’s story among regulars was heard. J’s story fell into place among the regulars. It had long since been forgotten that EZ, the mana stone seller, was supposedly a resident of the neighborhood.
All their attention is ‘Congratulations on your awakening, part-timer. Is the haejang-guk house closed?’
Unknowingly awakened, hunter has to join a good guild, get four major insurance guarantees, and work on his salary. Even if the rating was low, getting a job as an office worker at a guild was better than getting a job at a general company.
That’s the general perception, and most of the regulars belong to the guild, so that perception was stronger. In addition, sincere part-timers at haejang-guk house are talented people who will succeed no matter what they do, so every guild will want to hire him.
But when he joins the guild… Who will manage the haejang-guk house?
The grandmother has a bad leg and can’t handle the demands of fast-eating hunters alone. In addition, even if they found a new part-time job, it was unclear whether they would be able to work as well as Cha Ui-jae, the current part-timer. After all, his haejang-guk tastes like he’s been making it for 30 years!
Fortunately for Cha Ui-jae, who wanted to live quietly, he was an irreplaceable man in the world of haejang-guk house. As a result, regulars, all of whom held high positions in the Korean hunter community, miraculously came to a consensus among themselves.
It was called the Haejang-guk house secret meeting.
Bae Won-woo, who managed to sit on a plastic box in front of the unburnt garbage, popped a stick of protein powder into his mouth.
“Well, talent development is good. Scouting is good too. It’s all good, but let’s stretch our legs while keeping commercial manners, team leader Han. He said he doesn’t want to join the guild. Huh? You think we’re gonna change his mind? It’s his decision. That’s all that matters. We’ve got a long way to go to protect haejang-guk house, don’t we?”
Team leader Han, who stood in front of burning garbage, also pushed up his glasses with his middle finger.
“I don’t think it’s right to hear from the Pado Guild, which sweeps away all kinds of talents even though it’s called a minority elite, but… As you wish, Vice Guild Leader Bae Won-woo. Come in and have a bowl of haejang-guk.”
“Hey, I like this guy for the first time. Let’s go! Let’s order two bottles of soju, too.”
“Okay.”
Bae Won-woo, the vice-guild leader of Pado Guild, and Team Leader Han, head of the HR team at HB Guild, shook hands after some kind of deal at a separate collection center near the haejang-guk house. Later, hunter, who encouraged Cha Ui-jae to join the guild, disappeared. It was a good thing for Ui-jae.
Instead, the barrage of secret gifts has increased.
I raised the gift, neatly wrapped in rubber gloves, so that everyone could see it.
‘Special offer! Closed water lily DIY kit.’
“To the person who dropped this in the kitchen.”
“……”
“Whoever’s about to enter the closing water lily, turn themselves in.”
Silence. The hunters slowly averted their eyes. I let out a long sigh. This isn’t a martial arts school, this is a closing ceremony. Besides, this DIY shit was just as bad now as it was before Rift Day. I issued an ultimatum.
“If you don’t come out in five minutes, I’ll just throw it away.”
A hunter suddenly raised his head and shouted.
“No! It’s a limited edition that I barely managed to get through the formwork!”
“Are you practicing banning.”
I pointed to the new A4 paper tucked away next to the limited sale of two bottles of soju.
!!!Haejang-guk house will not closed!!!
No wreaths, presents and banners
No asking part-timers for their rank
No soliciting part-timers to join guilds
No headhunting
If you break any of the above rules, you will be banned from haejang-guk house.
You will be banned from the haejang-guk house. The hunter let out a loud gurgling sound, clutching the soju bottle in agony, and squeezed his voice out like he was making a last will and testament before dying.
“…I’m going…!”
“You, you punk…”
“How strong are you going to be?”
“You’ll only be an S-rank if you live this hard!”
The hunters sitting at the same table cried out as they grabbed hold of the hunter who had been ban to haejang-guk house due to the gift. I calmly returned the DIY kit and returned to the kitchen.
This happened a lot every day. In that brief moment when I washed dishes, boiled hangover soup, and trimmed ingredients, the hunters threw presents in various ways as if to develop my wits, agility, and reasoning skills.
Most of the time I found the owners and returned them, but sometimes I was stumped when I saw a Hunter’s Market gift certificate in the money jar on the counter. I wondered how the hell they’d gotten it in there.
With each passing day, there was less and less room for gifts. The inventory, which contained empty potion bottles and the fangs of basilisk, was filled with new potions that were gifted, and the small room where I kept my supplies was increasingly overrun with knickknacks. In addition, a lot of garbage came out thanks to the over-packaging gifts.
After closing the store today, I was organizing gift wrapping paper and boxes. At that time, I felt a small presence outside the store.
It wasn’t just a passerby, but a person who had been standing in front of the store from the moment I started washing the dishes to the moment I finished and went to take out the trash.
‘Who is it.’
The only hunter who doesn’t hide his presence and for quite a long time he’s been around for a regular person. At this point, it was about time that the formula would be established that there was no human being who came to the haejang-guk house at the time of preparation and closing of the ingredients.
‘If you have something to say, then say it.’
I bravely stepped out of the door with the garbage. And,
“Oh, I’m really going in? I’m really going in? I’m really going in? I’m really envade….”
I was met by a female student biting her nails and muttering.
She’s not at all what I expected. I was expecting a TV show writer a reporter who came to shoot hunters, or a hunter trying to sneak in a gift, but it would be embarrassing to see a student who looked like a bug walking around the store with a thick long padded jacket and a heavy backpack.
‘What the hell?’
“What?” Look at the back? Oh, really, don’t make a fuss. I don’t like things like that…”
“……”
“H, hmph!”
The student, who glanced back, screeched and sank into place. Naturally, I tried to reach out and get her up, but stopped. This is because I realized that I was holding trash with rubber gloves in both hands. I stand in a quiet position for a while, briefly looked into the air and opened my mouth.
“Um, student?”
“Yes, yes?”
“What’s a student doing at haejang-guk house at this hour….”
Whiting, a cold winter breeze whizzed between them. The student shrank unconsciously. I looked at the student’s red nose and cheeks and pointed to the inside of the shop with my head.
“I’m going to take the rubbish out, so why don’t you go inside the shop for now?”
“C, can I do that?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“Thank you.”
I rushed to throw away the garbage and returned to the store. The student was sitting on a table in a corner and pressing hard on the green hot pack. I took out the stove, left it near the student, and headed to the kitchen. It was too late to make coffee.
Hurriedly, I floated a Yulmucha tea bag in boiling water and handed it to the student, who grabbed the cup with both hands and bowed his head. ‘Thank you’, the student said, blowing his nose in the cold.
“Thank you, and I’m sorry for barging in unannounced.”
“No, it’s okay.”
The student bowed his head, and I nodded. With a bun rolled up into one, a long-padded jacket, gym pants, sleep socks, and sneakers with some soil. It was a common image of a high school student.
She was looking around the store with curious eyes. The way she looked, the way she acted, the way she carried herself. She really looked like a normal high school girl, which relaxed my nerves a bit. I sat down across from her.
“What’s a student doing at haejang-guk house? Isn’t it time to stay home….”
What could a high school student possibly have to come to haejang-guk house at this time of night, I thought.
She must have seen that no one was home, so maybe she was chased by something and came to ask for help. However, the student in front of me didn’t seem to be frightened. She may have come to see a hunter’s face because he is a fan of hunter, a single goal here.
As I was counting off the different cases, the student spoke up.
“That’s…”
The student pursed her lips, then leaned back. She squeezed her eyes shut and said,
“I know that Cha Uijae-ssi is J.”
For a moment, my hand stopped. But my face showed a look of bewilderment at the absurdity of the statement, and I laughed awkwardly.
“J? I don’t know what you’re saying all of a sudden…”
“No, you don’t have to hide it from me.”
She slowly raised her head and opened her eyes. Beyond the round eye, the eyes shone brilliantly with gold. An intense stare that seemed to pierce through me.
“Help me, J.”
The facial muscles in my face that I’d worked so hard to pull up slowly slackened, and my eyebrows and the corners of my mouth fell back into place.
A moment later, a perfect expression settled on my face.
