Chapter 16
At the center of the underground tomb, a massive figure clad in black armor emerged.
The boss of the BX-rank dungeon—
Wraith Knight Arvad.
Its mere presence was enough to crush the atmosphere.
While everyone held their breath, Kang Jaemin suddenly rushed forward.
“I’ll handle it.”
The raid members’ eyes widened.
“Hey! Jaemin! We need to form a proper battle line and attack together!”
“You were barely in your right mind just a moment ago, same as the rest of us!”
But Kang Jaemin had already drawn his sword and confronted Wraith Knight Arvad.
“It’s fine.”
He continued firmly.
“This is also my way of repaying the favor.”
With those words, he pulled out a dagger.
Its detailed stats were around B-rank level, but in the end, it was still only a basic dagger.
There was no way he could defeat the boss of a BX-rank dungeon with such a weak weapon.
Naturally, everyone was confused.
“Was Kang Jaemin poor or something?”
“Why the hell is his weapon so crappy?”
But Kang Jaemin knew something they didn’t.
Victory was something you seized through sheer momentum.
Hong Mangi, who had been watching quietly, thought to himself.
Something about him feels different. His fighting spirit is blazing like some rebellious teenager. Is it because of the Mental First Aid skill?
No sooner had that thought crossed Hong Mangi’s mind than Kang Jaemin charged.
“Arvad. Between you and me, one of us is ending here today, you vicious bastard.”
The sound of blade clashing against blade rang out.
Black mist poured from the wraith.
And through that mist—
a firm will pushed forward.
BOOM—!
With a single burst of determination and fighting spirit,
Kang Jaemin pierced straight through Wraith Knight Arvad’s chest.
“Krrrk—”
BANG—!
Light exploded.
The Wraith Knight’s body split in two.
A deafening roar shook the entire underground stone chamber.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then admiration burst out.
“Wow….”
“He’s insanely strong.”
“Was he always that strong?”
“So that’s why he was so confident.”
Every Hunter’s gaze turned toward Kang Jaemin.
He quietly lowered his sword, let out a light breath, then turned around.
“If it weren’t for Hunter Hong Mangi over there, not only me, but none of us would still be standing here.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted toward Mangi.
An F-rank Hunter.
But today,
he was the man who had saved the lives of the entire raid party.
“The one who pulled me out of the panic that filthy Wraith Knight put me into was that Hunter over there.”
Jaemin bowed deeply on the spot.
“Hong Mangi-nim, I want to follow you.”
“S-Suddenly?”
Mangi gave an awkward smile.
“Following me sounds a little excessive. Aren’t you a B-rank Hunter…?”
“No. Why should that matter? Isn’t a man’s life all about loyalty?”
Kang Jaemin handed Hong Mangi his Mana Stone.
It was the ordinary B-rank Mana Stone dropped by Wraith Knight Arvad.
Hong Mangi shook his head.
“No, no. Strictly speaking, you defeated it and earned this. I can’t take it.”
“Hmm… In that case, I heard you run a street stall as a side business….”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Would you mind if I helped you sell some food?”
Mangi quietly closed his mouth for a moment before answering.
“Well, you’re welcome anytime.”
Jaemin smiled faintly.
“Thank you. Then I’ll come by tomorrow.”
Just like that,
the awkward distance between an F-rank Hunter and a B-rank damage dealer disappeared in an instant.
Late the following evening.
At Hong Mangi’s street stall.
Just as he had promised, Kang Jaemin came to visit Mangi’s stall.
He picked up a piece of grilled hagfish from the table and put it into his mouth.
“This is seriously delicious.”
Kang Jaemin slowly lifted his chopsticks and ate another piece.
The more he chewed the hagfish, the richer and cleaner its taste became.
Then he tried placing it over rice lightly seared with butter soy sauce.
The flavor became even deeper.
It felt far too luxurious for food served at a simple street stall.
“It doesn’t even look that special. Why does it taste this good?”
Mangi smiled quietly.
“Probably because they’re special dishes.”
“Oh, Hunter-nim. You can speak casually to me.”
“Ah! No, it’s fine. I don’t really speak casually to people that easily.”
“Please! You saved my life and gave me a chance to change the way I think. I’d actually feel more comfortable if you spoke casually to me!”
Kang Jaemin practically bowed while asking.
Having no other choice, Hong Mangi nodded.
“Fine. Let’s do that, then.”
“But seriously, how does food from a street stall have this kind of rich texture?”
“Hmm… Maybe it’s because you’re comfortable right now.”
“Comfortable?”
“Yeah. Your state of mind. Right now, you don’t have to hold a sword. You don’t have to fight for your life. People like us, Hunters, don’t get many days when we can completely relax. Especially damage dealers like you who specialize in attacking.”
Jaemin silently took a sip of the broth.
Poming wagged her tail and placed a glass of water beside him.
“Poming is in charge of ice water~!”
Jaemin laughed.
“She’s a summoned beast, right? She’s cute.”
After looking at Poming fondly for a moment, Jaemin downed a shot of soju.
Then, as if something still bothered him, he drank another.
And another.
Eventually, as though something had suddenly come to mind, he quietly sighed without realizing it.
“To be honest with you….”
Mangi didn’t say anything.
Instead, he picked up a piece of hagfish for himself and nodded.
It was as though he were saying he was ready to listen to whatever Jaemin wanted to say.
Jaemin carefully continued.
“I’m actually really good at fighting.”
“I know. I saw you fight.”
“Right? I’m good, aren’t I? I’m still young, and I’ve accomplished a lot. Honestly, nobody in this field looks down on me. If you go on Hunter communities, people talk about me a lot too. They call me Kang Jaemin, the rising star.”
He put down his chopsticks.
“But honestly… I’m exhausted. I have to keep proving myself.”
“Proving yourself?”
“Yeah… Haah….”
Mangi felt the cool night breeze blowing in from outside the street stall.
Jaemin continued.
“People older than me tell me that achieving this much in my early twenties is amazing. But the more I hear that, the more anxious I become.”
“Why?”
“Because I start wondering if everything I’ve accomplished was just luck. I’m scared that one day everyone will realize I’m not actually that impressive.”
He let out a hollow laugh.
“Honestly, every time I achieve something, I wonder whether I’ll be able to do it again next time.”
Mangi didn’t answer for a while.
Poming added another spoonful of sauce to Jaemin’s plate.
“Poming knows that feeling too. When people tell me I’m cute a lot, I feel like I have to act even cuter next time.”
Jaemin snorted in disbelief.
Then he quietly spoke.
“I don’t know whether I’m actually strong… or whether I only became strong because everyone keeps treating me like I am.”
Mangi spoke softly.
“Something just occurred to me.”
“What?”
“Maybe someone who thinks like that is someone who’s genuinely becoming stronger.”
“What?”
Jaemin’s eyes widened.
“People who only pretend to be strong don’t even worry about things like that. They only think about the next achievement, the next paycheck, and the next bit of fame.”
Mangi looked directly at Jaemin.
“If you’re capable of doubting yourself, doesn’t that mean you can become even stronger next time? That’s how I see it.”
Jaemin silently thought over those words.
Being able to doubt yourself also means you can keep trying to improve… He’s right.
For a moment, a quiet night breeze passed through the street stall.
“Maybe that’s why… putting my weapon down and resting like this feels so difficult.”
Jaemin let out a deep sigh.
“I’m scared that if I rest even once, I’ll lose everything. That someone else will fill the gap I leave behind.”
Mangi quietly replied.
“Yeah. These days, even resting takes courage.”
Jaemin fell silent.
Mangi continued.
“But I also think that sometimes, forcing yourself to rest is necessary.”
After saying that, Mangi placed the last remaining piece of hagfish onto Jaemin’s plate.
Then he raised his head and looked around the street stall.
“Talking with you made me realize something. I think I want this place to be somewhere like that.”
Jaemin looked at him.
Mangi continued.
“A place where you can put down your equipment for a little while and just sit down to eat a meal. Like one huge tree standing alone in the middle of a dry grassland. Somewhere you can stop for a moment, rest, look at the scenery, and think about the road you’ve already traveled.”
After finishing his words, Mangi stood up.
He walked over to the rice cooker, filled a small bowl generously with rice, then returned and handed it to Jaemin with a smile.
“I’ll try to keep this place that way. So come here whenever you want and get some rest. Looks like you need something like that.”
Jaemin slowly accepted the bowl.
Then he smiled faintly.
“Thank you. I never thought anyone would actually listen to me talk about things like this.”
Mangi quietly replied,
“Hurry up and eat. It’ll get cold.”
At those words, Jaemin nodded and picked up his chopsticks again.
Hong Mangi’s street stall in the middle of the night.
Inside this small place,
even if only for a moment,
success and failure,
achievements and anxiety—
could all be forgotten.
And Kang Jaemin could return to being nothing more than an ordinary young man in his early twenties.
Around midnight.
It was almost time to close the street stall.
While Mangi was cleaning the kitchen, Kang Jaemin quietly called out to him.
“Um, Hunter-nim.”
Hong Mangi turned around.
“Yeah?”
“Could I help out at this shop?”
Mangi put down the spoon in his hand and looked at Kang Jaemin.
For a moment, he said nothing.
It wasn’t that he was thinking about the offer.
He was simply trying to figure out whether Jaemin was serious.
“You want to help?”
“Yes. It looks like you could use an extra pair of hands… but more than anything, I just like this place.”
Jaemin lowered his head.
“Honestly, my life as a Hunter has always revolved around results. Every moment feels like a war. Especially for a young B-rank damage dealer like me, there are expectations coming from everywhere. It feels like I can only be acknowledged if I keep defeating someone else.”
His eyes had changed before anyone noticed.
“But this place isn’t like that. You don’t have to defeat anyone here. It just needs to be warm.”
Mangi smiled lightly.
“That’s an interesting thing to say when you… sliced that Wraith Knight apart in a single strike. Remember?”
Jaemin burst into laughter.
“That couldn’t be helped. I was only doing what I had to do.”
“I know, I know. I was joking.”
Poming quickly interrupted.
“Then Kang Jaemin-nim, would you like to start with washing dishes? New employees are supposed to start at the bottom with dishwashing and slowly work their way up!”
Jaemin smiled at Poming.
“Dishwashing? Sounds good. You use water, work up a sweat… I actually like that kind of rhythm.”
Mangi crossed his arms and lightly shook his head.
“Hmm… But you’re a B-rank Hunter. Isn’t it kind of a waste for you to work part-time at a street stall?”
“Maybe. But still.”
Jaemin answered seriously.
“I’ll keep exploring dungeons and following my fate as a Hunter. But while I’m here, I want to live like a normal person for a while. I want this to be where I recover.”
Mangi’s gaze stopped on him for a moment.
Then he muttered with something like a sigh.
“Yeah. Living like a normal person… That’s surprisingly difficult.”
Poming threw both hands into the air and shouted cutely.
“Then starting today, Kitchen Assistant Number One~ Kang Jaemin~! You can have cleaning competitions with Poming~ practice cooking~ and sometimes we can go to dungeons together too~!”
“All of us going to a dungeon together?”
“Of course~! Poming can do everything~! And Kang Jaemin-nim is super strong too, so it’ll be really reassuring~!”
Mangi chuckled.
“No, Poming. Think about your attack power. I’m going to strongly oppose you coming into a dungeon with us.”
And so,
that night,
the small street stall gained a new member.
Kang Jaemin.
The young Hunter who had once seemed rude and arrogant
began searching for his place—
not on the battlefield,
but between the bowls and pots of a small restaurant.
And without anyone realizing it,
a small but firm feeling began growing in a corner of his heart.
A desire—
to protect this place.
The next morning.
Beside the back door of the street stall,
a name tag had been attached to a small cardboard box.
It read—
‘Kitchen Assistant Kang Jaemin.’
