Housekeeper in the dungeon

Episode 9

With the bowls of meat piled high in the sky, Hee-Na and Woo-Min-ah began to talk belatedly.

They say that eating something together creates a trusting relationship called “lapo,” and in that sense, the two of them had built a tremendous amount of trust as they picked, chewed, and tasted the meat together.

This allowed Hee-Na to be honest in front of Woo-Min-Ah.

“How much would it cost to do all this? It’s expensive, right?”

At Hee-na’s worried expression, Woo-min-ah slammed her chin on the table.

“What, you’re going to buy it?”

“Yes, because you rescued me, and I wanted to treat you to a meal as a thank you.”

“Forget it. I didn’t bring you out here to get screwed over, and besides, I had no idea you were such a good griller……. Honestly, shouldn’t I be paying you more?”

Woo Min Ah praised Hee Na’s grilling skills.

“If you weren’t grilling it in front of me, I would have thought you had put medicine on it, it was that good.”

Hee-Na awkwardly scratched her cheeks at the comment. It wasn’t a drug, but it was something.

“Excuse me, Mr. Hunter.”

Woo Min-ah waved a furry hand.

“I’m twenty-seven, but you’re younger than me, right? You look younger than me. Call me big sister, big sister.”

“That’s right, Min-ah.”

“Come on, tell me.”

Woo Min-ah leaned back like a languid lioness and watched Hee-na’s lips. She was ready to listen to whatever she had to say.

Hee-Na opened her mouth cautiously.

“……In fact, this is also my skill.”

“What? I thought you only had the skill of picking herbs, but you also had the skill of grilling meat. That’s amazing.”

Wu Min’s eyes sparkled like when she saw something interesting. She lowered her voice and asked.

“Since you’re a ‘housekeeper,’ do you have all the skills for housekeeping?”

Hee-na thought about her skills and nodded.

She had all sorts of weird abilities. From the ability to grill meat better, to the ability to increase your stats every time you clean, to the ability to give you a house…….

“There’s more I don’t know yet, but these are all life skills.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever go and look at my skills, but I coveted the meat grilling skill just now…….”

Wu Min’er suggested, tasting the meat again to see if she remembered the flavor.

“Would you like two more shells for the price of one meat? This time, let’s eat slowly and talk while we eat, and while we’re at it, shall we have some drinks?”

“If you can eat more, I don’t mind if you order more, it’s not like grilling meat is hard work, and the alcohol is……. Mmm. I’ll have some too.”

After eating so much fatty food, she was reminded of the clear dew.

Wu Min’a ordered a seventh.

And with the sizzling meat and skin on the grill, the two of them got down to business.

“First round, cold!”

Woo Min-ah cheerfully downed the first cup in one gulp.

Hee-na gulped down her first cup as well, as her throat was burning. The bitter-sweet aroma wafted up her throat. It felt like a cool antiseptic on her greasy stomach.

“Delicious.”

Hee-na salivated and refilled her and Woo-min-ah’s glasses, her smile deepening as the clear liquor sloshed down.

“You want a drink?”

Hee-na was a better drinker than most men. Some people called her a horsewoman, which was an unwelcome label for someone who didn’t enjoy drinking much.

Besides, she knew how annoying and harmful the image of being a good drinker could be in social circles, so she didn’t bother.

“Not really, just as much as everyone else. It’s not like I’m a total drunk…….”

“Really? I don’t see that wrist flick snap as normal…….”

For a high-ranking hunter, Woo Min-ah had a good eye.

Once the ritualized drinking talk passed, her heavy mouth felt like it opened up a bit. Hee-Na asked the question she’d been wondering all along.

“By the way, Min-ah, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…… is the original system description kind of boring?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, all of my skill descriptions are vague enough to be hard to understand. For example, the skill I just used to grill meat is called ‘This flavor is the taste of hands’, but the description window says: ‘It makes you taste the best MSG. It’s the flavor. Active skill.” That’s it.”

Hee-Na recited the description from the system window verbatim.

Just then, Woo Min-ah, who was emptying her second glass, made a “poof” sound and spewed her drink.

Hee-Na rushed over and gave her a tissue.

Woo Min-ah coughed and spat out a cough and replied.

“……The system description is vague, so the scope of the skill is completely different depending on how much you take in and understand the description.”

“Yeah, but I’m like, ‘It makes you taste the best MSG. It’s the flavor. Active skill.’ I don’t know how to show understanding beyond the text.”

“Yeah. That’s unusual. What else?”

Woo Min-Ah’s question made Hee-Na think back to the dungeon.

She remembered how she had made a bed out of leaves when she saw the word “safe,” and it had worked as a hiding place.

When I told her the story, she nodded.

“That’s great,” Wu Min’er nodded and said, “I’m afraid I can’t help you with that because it’s not an offensive skill, but that’s how you can improve your understanding of the skill.”

We chatted back and forth, and before I knew it, the bottle was empty.

“Hey, I want another bottle of this!”

Hee-na asked for another bottle of dew.

The shopkeeper was thrilled with the sales the two women had made. He added a bottle of cider to the dew and called it service.

Service or not, Woo Min-ah stared at her jaw in disbelief, then turned to Hee-na.

“So what are you going to do with this ‘housekeeper’ awakening power? Do you have anything in mind?”

“What?”

It was an unexpected question. She was speechless.

Wu Min’er chewed on the roasted pork skin as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“You mean to tell me that you haven’t thought about the fact that there are a lot of people who are going to enter the dungeon right now, even if they’re only awakened as F-class Hunters, and they’re going to drop everything they’re doing to make a fortune?”

“Uh…….”

I stuttered, and Wu Min’er asked again.

“No, there’s an Awakening Academy that promises to turn ordinary people into Awakened, but haven’t you thought about what you’ll do if you awaken? It’s your future.”

Hearing Wu Min’er’s serious question, Hee-na fiddled with her small cup without saying a word.

Suddenly, I had a lot of thoughts.

I had awakened, but I had unexpectedly lost my job and home at the same time, so I was distracted. It was a good excuse.

But Hee-Na knew. She’d been deliberately avoiding thinking about how to use her powers specifically.

“……, even when I wake up, I don’t want to be a hunter or anything like that.”

Hee-Na confessed honestly.

Thanks to her brother’s awakening as a Class D, Hee-Na knew how dangerous and demanding the Hunter job was.

He had lost his parents in the chaos and was the only blood relation he had left, and the thought of him disappearing for weeks or months at a time to make money made her stomach turn.

“……I have a brother, and he’s a D-class hunter.”

Hee-na poured herself a drink and opened her mouth.

“My parents died ten years ago, so we’re the only two people in the world who have each other to lean on, and even if we didn’t, my brother’s job as a hunter puts him in a lot of dangerous situations, and I don’t want to do anything dangerous myself. Part of me wants to tell him to quit his job, but realistically, that’s impossible……. Instead, I want to be the family that waits for him, so he can come back to us whenever he wants.”

Hee-na, who lost her parents at a young age and grew up with all kinds of humiliation, had only one wish.

To live a normal life with her brother, just like everyone else. Without worrying that one day they might get hurt or die and disappear.

Hee-na sipped her drink and ate a piece of grilled meat. The meat was still firm and tender under her touch, even though it had cooled a bit.

“I want a long, regular job with a decent salary at a stable company, and the adventurous work of an Awakener or Hunter is not for me.”

Woo Min-Ah grunted and groaned at my sincere answer.

“It sounds like you’ve gone into some deep shit that I’m not sure I should hear.”

“No, it’s nothing to talk about.”

Hee-na shrugged it off.

Everywhere you turned, some people had lost family or friends to monsters because of the events of a decade ago. She wasn’t the only one who had suffered.

Everyone in this era was hard and sad.

“Still, your abilities are too wasteful.”

Woo Min-ah couldn’t let go of her regret and clung to Hee-na’s ability. Hee-Na held out her hand toward her.

“You have to work as a hunter to make money, so what are you going to do with your ability to grill meat? You might as well get a job at a butcher shop……. Hmph, do you want to get a job at that butcher shop and grill meat? No. That’s a tough job to do for a long time, so I don’t think so.”

Hee-na came to her conclusions and decided that being an ordinary office worker was the perfect fit for her.

Woo Min-ah narrowed her eyes at Hee-na’s behavior.

“Hee-na, don’t you think you’re narrowing the scope of the Awakened too much? Hunter is just one of the jobs that Awakened can choose, and you think that because most people are hunters, Awakened are hunters.”

Her words puzzled hee-na, and she asked.

“Then what do they do?”

Woo Min-Ah slammed her fist on the table.

“First, let’s talk about your skills. It’s not polite to pry into other people’s skills, but you don’t seem to have any intention of using them properly.”