Have a Meal Before You Go - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Editor: Stomatopoda, Nets,

The treasures he took from the Dragons a long time ago had, unfortunately, not been returned yet . This was largely because the Dragons feared and avoided Cheol-ho .

Many of the treasures were destroyed when fighting the Devil, reduced to unsalvageable scraps of metal . Only a few remained functioning .

For example, this .

Cheol-ho touched the necklace slightly . The necklace was silver . It was called Mana Road, so named for its ability to sense and measure nearby magic density .

When mana was detected,  it gradually changed to a turquoise color, the hue depending on the mana concentration . In short, if you go near a dungeon the turquoise colour would gradually become visible .

“Hmm . ”

The heavy gate in front of him was a dungeon . The mana concentration in the dungeon was also very high . Sure enough, the Awakening Society members had firm control over the area .

Cheol-ho headed towards the dungeon .

Strangely, no one saw Cheol-ho . Perhaps there was no one in the world who could catch Cheol-ho when he didn’t want to be found . One of the six classes that Cheol-ho mastered was stealth . Mastering the stealth class allowed him to move around all but invisibly . Cheol-ho slid between the busy, hurrying workers, and grasped the situation from their chatter .

‘It’s a mine . ’

There were times when a magic stone mine was discovered . Literally, it was just a mine with piles of magic stones and practically no threatening monsters . Finding one was like winning a lottery .

Of course, Cheol-ho was not interested . If the people in this world used this magic stone mine properly, they would be able to make great progress in a short period of time .

However, everything had its risks . First, it was a dungeon .

There were many changing threats in a dungeon .

For example, as what happened with Kim Man-ho, the god of Food, cracks in the dimension could rarely appear . Dangerous hidden bosses may be summoned through them . In addition, under the damage of the crack, the terrain of the dungeon itself would also change .

However, there were quite a few able awakeners in this world .

It shouldn’t be a big problem for them to overcome these issues .

A familiar face was walking along on the other side of the work site .

It was Kim Sang-hu and his other team members .   They were trying to enter the dungeon in search of new equipment .

Machangsa had at least 30 team members with him .

Oh, he could see Kim Man-ho over there too .

They slowly entered the dungeon gate .

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“Hello . ”

“Oh, welcome . ”

The man had been looking for a restaurant for quite some time .

“I’d like a beer please . I don’t need any side dishes . ”

This man only drank beer .

Even though he was skinny, his eyes were fierce . He was quite tall, with a slender figure . He was the first-class awakener with the nickname Gearwalk .

Not long ago .

It was a festival day . After visiting the restaurant with Shadow Cat at the height of the festival, he used to come back every night . Gearwalk was a simple young man .

He couldn’t believe he was a first-degree awakener .

He looked about twenty-two years old, but Cheol-ho didn’t ask his age . He loved to drink, and would down ten beers in a row before returning home .

He didn’t say anything in particular, although he always looked like he was thinking over something while drinking the beer .

“Excuse me, sir . ”

However, that night was different .

“Yes?” Cheol-ho answered .

“What should I do to look good in front of a woman?”

“Oh?” Cheol-ho asked back with a tilt of his head . He soon realized the gist of the question .

“Ah . ”

Huh .

This was a tough job .

Cheol-ho thought about it with his arms crossed . How could he ask him that? Cheol-ho had very rarely been around women in his life . Before being summoned to this world , he had only dated one woman , and he didn’t have much experience . After being summoned to this world?

Damn it . There was no time for love when each day was a battle for survival . As a result , the years went by, a vague fear of women quietly arose, and his interest in them gradually disappeared .

He was already 60 years old . Oh god . Come to think of it, that was seriously it, right? 

Now it was Cheol-ho who was agonizing under the question .

“Hmm…” Cheol-ho muttered in an awkward manner .

Gearwalk shook his head .

“Ah, nothing . One more beer, please . ”

He finished the freshly poured beer in one motion, and spoke .

“You know, I think it’s a secret . ”

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Ironically it was in the newly discovered dungeon that Gearwalk first met her, and became immediately infatuated . It was about two years ago . The dungeon has probably since been taken over . It all happened when Gearwalk found something unexpected in the new dungeon . A group accompanied him for the investigation, during which a hidden dungeon boss appeared .

It was her who stepped forward then .

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“Strong women are my ideal type . Strong women are attractive . I don’t know what more to say . A strong woman is cool and beautiful . Another beer, please . ”

Cheol-ho quietly agreed . He also had a crush on a strong woman . When you think about it, it was sentimental .

She was the softest, most beautiful, and yet strongest woman Cheol-ho had ever seen . Sometimes he still thought of her .

‘…Good-bye, Miro Lycas . ’

Her final words with him still lingered in my ears . Thinking about it somehow broke his heart a little .

“Anyways, I’ve had a crush on her for a long time . I’ve never had an answer . ”

“What do you mean, ‘no answer’?”

“She’s very chic, very cold . But ugh, she’s charming . ”

“…”

This man’s troubles were interesting .

Come to think of it, this was what worried people in their 20s . It was not saving people, or saving the world, but these little things . These things drove young people into a corner .  

Cheol-ho inexplicably liked the man in front of him very much .

“Are you talking about the woman who came with you last time?”

Shadow Cat .

“What? Oh, no . She’s not my cup of tea at all . She’s more like a mother to me than a possible partner . I hate someone acting like my mom . I prefer women who treat me well . ”

He had a peculiar taste .

“Anyway… another beer please . ”

Gearwalk had now drunk sixteen glasses of beer . Was it okay to drink like this?

Bam!~

His head slammed on the table .

“…”

Cheol-ho crossed his arms and looked down at him . Well, the night was long .   He won’t mind if he left him alone for a little bit . While Gearwalk was unconscious,  Cheol-ho selected a bottle of soju from a cabinet .

Listening to his story reminded him of old times . Cheol-ho poured the soju into a glass and sipped it .

It was late .

knock, knock~

There was a knock at the door, and Cheol-ho turned his head toward the entrance . Soon, the door opened carefully .

A woman stepped in .

Was she in her mid-20s? If you looked at her for a while, you would start to see her admirable features clearly . Her eyes were thin and sharp, without double eyelids, and her smoky makeup accented her haughty charm . Her long, smooth hair fell to her waist . Cheol-ho thought her hair was nice .  

“Welcome . ”

“Hello . ”

The woman was wearing high-heeled black shoes, a white sleeveless shirt, and skinny jeans . Their tight fit flattered her body . Her qualities contradicted (Gearwalk) Chae-yeon’s . Chae-yeon has a fresh and young charm, while she exuded what could be called a mature charm .

“Phew, as expected . ”

She shook her head when she found the asleep Gearwalk . Then she bowed her head slightly to Cheol-ho .

“Excuse me . ”

She whacked Gearwalk’s back .

“Ahhh!” 

He woke with a cry . She leaned down over him, and whispered in his ear .

“You’ve been drinking again, you son of a bitch . ”

Swear words seemed to fit her .

“Who, who, who, who is it?”

“It’s me . ”

“Ah!”

Was it an illusion, or did Gearwalk seem to smile a little?

“Lady! What brings you here…? …hic!”

She straightened her back and hauled Gearwalk into a standing position .

“Don’t be a disgrace . Gabi told me you’d be here . ”

“Oh?”

Gearwalk frowned and pulled something out of his pocket . It looked like a simple ring, but he could feel it releasing the energy of a magic stone .

He put the ring on his index finger .

There was a roar of noise, and the tang of alcohol was strong in the air . It seemed to be a device to eject alcohol from his system .

It was certainly an innovative invention . Soon, Gearwalk came back to his senses .

“What’s going on?” he asked .

The woman glanced towards Cheol-ho .

“I’ll be going now,” she muttered .

“Didn’t you come here because you wanted to see him?”

“What do you mean?!” she snapped, addressing Cheol-ho in a blunt tone . She turned her gaze to look at him .

“How much is it?”

“Oh right, $25 . ”

“Is it that cheap? You son of a bitch, I don’t think so . He must have drunk a lot . ”

“Yes, well…”

She paid the money, and bowed her head again

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience . Please excuse me . ”

“Don’t mention it . ”

She turned back to Gearwalk .

“You son of a bitch, do something right for once . Why do you have to bother me when you go out to drink alone at night?”

She stormed out of the door, dragging Gearwalk behind her . The sight of the two of them was quite interesting . Cheol-ho stepped outside after them to better watch them walk away .

Gearwalk lurched and attempted to sling an arm around her waist . Blades shot out from her belt, protruding from all sides . One was a long knife that shook like a cobra about to pounce .

They were all aimed at Gearwalk’s body .

“As expected . ”

He could hear Gearwalk giggling .

Ah .  

She must be the Blade Queen, one of the guardians . Somehow, the level of customers had gone up quite a lot recently . He didn’t really like it . Cheol-ho laughed and went back to the restaurant . He could hear all the sounds people make, including their conversations . It had been a long time since he used that transcendent physical ability, though, and he normally didn’t listen in on others .

But…

This was a conversation that he couldn’t help but listen to .

“What the hell’s wrong with you? Isn’t it unusual to call the Association?”

“…there’s a problem with the dungeon that Sang-hu went into . ”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Sang-hu entered the magic stone mine, but couldn’t come out . Gabi went in and said the entrance was jammed with monsters . I think there’s a rift in the dimension again . It’s an emergency for the Association . ”

“Damn it . What monster is it?”

“The entrance is full of big pigs . ”

Baaaaang!~

A motorcycle rang out loudly and they disappeared into the night .

“…”

Cheol-ho sat in his usual chair and folded his arms .

Big pigs…

The big pigs lived in groups . There were hundreds of them, each led by a head boar . As their name suggested, they had the shape of a pig and were famous for being very fierce .

They also had various forms . They  adapted with their surrounding ecosystem . Thus, scholars in the Esfan continent could even say, ‘We can infer the environment in which the big pigs have evolved to be…’

“Hmm . ”

Best of all–

They were delicious .