Housekeeper in the dungeon

Episode 33

“Do you like what you’re doing?”

Hee-Na rolled her eyes at the casual question. Was this some new kind of love test?

“I love it, everyone’s so nice, the paychecks come in a steady stream, I don’t have to work overtime, I get all my benefits, and the Blue Dragon Guild is a nice place to work, and it’s a full-time job that I can’t get fired from, so that’s my favorite part because I’m an office worker.”

Hee-na praised the Blue Dragon Guild as if she were facing an interviewer, and Kang jin-hyeon’s brow faintly wrinkled.

“This is not good enough?

He was about to continue his tongue-in-cheek criticism of the Blue Dragon Guild.

“If I were to offer you double the wages you’re currently receiving, would you consider leaving the Blue Dragon Guild?”

Hearing that celestial-sounding voice, Yue Na’s jaw dropped.

“Did he know I lost that piece of …… space, so he wants me to take his money and get the hell out?

I even thought to myself.

“What? What do you mean, what do you mean?”

Hee-Na asked with a blank expression on her face, and Kang jin-hyeon calmed her down.

“Ah, you must have gotten flustered because I said this out of the blue. What I meant was that I’ll pay you double the wage you were getting at the Blue Dragon Guild, and you’ll be my chef.”

“Cook?”

A janitor is a janitor, but a cook?

Hee-Na looked dumbfounded at the out-of-the-blue offer. But Kang jin-hyeon was very serious.

“Ever since I awakened as an S-class Hunter, I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve eaten such delicious food. I’d like to hire you as my chef. If there’s anything else you want besides money, you can ask for it.”

It was an incredibly tempting offer. Double the salary, anything I wanted, and all I had to do was cook!

But that’s what made it even better. Hee-Na was the kind of person who would cross a stone bridge only to see someone else cross it.

With such undeserved rewards came some risks.

For example, her brother Hee-won’s job as a hunter. After all, entering the dungeon was a life-or-death proposition, so the price was high.

Hee-Na’s conspiracy theory brain was working overtime.

“There must be some kind of risk in this!

“If you can’t cook all three meals, you can prepare two. Or do you want me to make it a five-day workweek? No…… you can do four days a week if you pack your lunch in advance like this. If you don’t mind money, how about a salary triple what you’re getting now?”

Hee-na’s silence was frustrating, so Kang jin-hyeon continued to make ridiculous demands. Unfortunately, this only deepened Hee-na’s suspicions.

I felt a little bad for labeling an S-class hunter like this, but…… seemed like a pure fraud.

After all, one of the truisms of the world that Hee-Na, who grew up in a poor household without her parents, certainly knew was “No kindness without a price!

Of course, if I enjoyed the food with Hee-Na’s flavor, I thought it was worth it, but…….

“You’re offering me such a great deal for just rice?”

It was an odd question for Hee-na to ask, as she considers home, food, and sleep to be the most important things in the world.

But there was no reason for Kang jin-hyeon, one of the world’s top S-ranked hunters, to stoop so low to Hee-na, a mere D-ranked housekeeper, just for food.

At least, that’s what Hee-na thought.

“It’s not just rice. Don’t speak so lowly of the food Ms. Hee-na cooked!”

Kang jin-hyeon wrapped his arms around Hee-na’s lunchbox. It was clear that no matter how much Hee-na made the food, he would not stand for it if she devalued it.

Hee-na sweatily replied.

“Oh, yes. Rice is important because Koreans live on baptism.”

Indeed, Hee-na had a skill called ‘baptism’.

“That’s right. Rice is really important. My mood for the day is often determined by what I have for lunch, and when I eat good food, I feel like I’ve lived a good life. But I’ve been living for so long that I’ve forgotten that kind of gastronomic pleasure.”

The corners of Kang’s eyes moistened.

“Oh, no.

Hee-na groaned.

She had come here with the gourmet world in mind, and here was a handsome man trying to distract her with a heartbreaking story. I’m not even going to get to the point.

Hee-na shouted urgently.

“Wait a minute!”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

Kang jin-hyeon sat upright and looked into Hee-na’s eyes, his black pupils deep.

“For now, I’ll think about it slowly, so why don’t we talk about something else?”

Hee-na nudged Kang jin-hyeon.

Kang Jinhyun raised his eyebrows. He seemed to be weighing HeeNa’s suggestion.

“…… I’ll do that, but you’ll have to tell me how long you’re going to think about it.”

The man was uncharacteristically stern. His black eyes burned calmly.

“How long will you think about it, Ms. Lee?”

“Ha, a month.”

Hee-na stammered out the words in her excitement. By the way, the number one month was a deadline that popped out without thinking.

“One month……. Okay, I agree with the idea of waiting a month to get to know your opponent. You have to know your enemies and your allies.”

I thought he was a man of few words, but Kang jin-hyeon seemed to speak after eating Hee-na’s lunchbox. He continued to mumble and talk.

It seemed like he was trying to calm himself down rather than talking to Hee-na.

He looked like he was trying to calm himself down rather than talking to Hee-na.

The strange madness he exuded sent chills down Hee-Na’s spine.

The obsessive gaze of the S-class Combat Hunter was enough to intimidate her instincts as a member of the herbivore family.

After a moment, Kang jin-hyeon returned with a calm expression.

“I apologize, I was a little out of control for a moment.”

As he cleared his throat, the heavy atmosphere was instantly lightened.

“Gluttony can make you feel so scary.

Hee-Na swallowed hard.

“Anyway……. If you have something to say, say it, I’m listening.”

Kang jin-hyeon held out his arms as if to encourage her to speak freely.

Hee-na spoke the words she had prepared.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Kang jin-hyeon’s suggestion earlier had calmed her nerves.

“Do you remember that dirty coin-like piece you touched the last time me and Hunter Kang fell into the dungeon?”

“Ah. I remember. It wasn’t clean in my hand, but it was clean in Hee-na’s hand……. I think it was attributed to Hee-Na because of that.”

Since it was a few days ago, I remembered it pretty accurately.

“Well, that’s…… problem.”

“What happened?”

Hee-Na confessed honestly.

“I lost the piece, and I have a snail at home, and while I was watching him squirm on it, it just disappeared.”

I told the story as honestly as I could, even if it was a bit of a stretch and a distortion of the truth.

“So you’re saying Hee-Na had a pet snail, and it ran off with that coin-like piece?”

“……Yes. Something like that.”

It sounded really weird coming from someone else’s mouth.

“That’s a unique story.”

Was it because he had witnessed scenes beyond common sense in various dungeons?

Luckily, Kang jin-hyeon just looked curious and didn’t tackle Hee-na for her excuse.

‘I never thought I’d be so lucky to have a hunter with an unorthodox mind.

Hee-na snapped her fingers.

“But that fragment was found by the dungeon raiding team, and it belongs to the Blue Dragon Guild……. I thought it might be a problem, so I came to tell you in advance. To be honest, the food I brought was a bribe for you to look the other way.”

While Kang Jin Hyun was distracted by the food, Woo Min Ah told him to get on with it.

But an unexpected problem forced them to change their plan. Kang was so intent on eating his lunch that he acted as if he couldn’t hear anything else.

He ate his lunch like he hadn’t eaten in almost a week. Hee-na’s feeble ‘Excuse me……. Would you please listen to me……?” could not be heard.

That’s why she made this awkward confession in front of Kang jin-hyeon.

Hee-na swallowed hard as she waited for Kang’s sentence. Her mouth kept going dry. Hee-na bowed her head deeply.

‘He said he has a clear line of work, so maybe this bribe won’t work. Shouldn’t I have just ignored him until he told me first? Didn’t I just make things worse?

My head was spinning with all these thoughts.

I heard a low chuckle.

At least Hee-na wasn’t laughing, and since they were the only two in the room, there was only one other person to laugh.

I looked up to see Kang jin-hyeon, his mouth curled into a smile.

If Woo Min-ah had been watching, she would have asked, “Why are you splitting up?

But Hee-na wasn’t Woo Min-ah, so she asked politely.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry for laughing so suddenly, Hee-Na. I just thought it was funny that you thought of eating your mistake, and I’m surprised that you fell for it.”

It was a pleasant sound to hear. Hee-Na’s mouth dropped open.

“You mean?”