Chapter 19

▶ Chapter 19. Money and a House (2)

“Ah.”

“Right. Big Bro, who would do that to NotAHunter? Stop nagging and think about how much we should pay.”

Han Dongju said this while still holding up his left wrist with the bracelet on it.

He looked a little stupid like that.

Han Yonghwan's expression became even more serious than before.

“Hmm… About three years ago, I saw a healer's ring with a similar effect at a high-grade item auction. Since only S-rank or higher Hunters could equip it, there wasn't much competition for it.”

This was the first time I'd heard about it, but that made sense.

High-grade item auctions were often held in secret because of the risk of theft.

“Did you win the bid?”

“No. I couldn't even participate in the auction.”

“Did something happen?”

“The seller, a French Hunter named Acerio, suddenly added a condition saying he'd only sell it to a white person.”

“……You let him get away with that?”

“Of course not.”

Han Yonghwan smiled coldly as he said it.

Whatever he'd done was probably justified, but…

It was still a little chilling.

“Oh, wait a second.”

Han Dongju, who had been lost in thought for a moment, suddenly raised his left hand even higher.

“Back then, because Big Bro dropped out of the auction, the final bid ended up lower than it should've been. So I don't think we should use that amount as the standard.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I'll tell you based on what I know. An item with an effect like this would probably be worth around five billion won.”

“Five billion?!”

“And that's per item.”

“Per item?”

“Yes.”

“Then all three together are worth fifteen billion?!”

I seriously felt like I was going to faint.

The only reason I didn't was because Han Dongju immediately followed up with something that brought me back to reality.

“NotAHunter, even if you take that in cash, you won't be able to use it. The National Tax Service will track it.”

“Ah.”

“So instead of cash, why don't you take something ridiculously expensive that the National Tax Service can't track? For example…”

Han Dongju pulled a small, old-fashioned key out of his inventory.

It was a beautiful, luxurious shade of green and looked anything but ordinary.

“Something like this.”

Both Han Yonghwan and Han Junggeun looked surprised.

They thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. That would be better.”

“NotAHunter, please take that. It cost us around thirteen billion won to make two years ago. At today's prices, it would probably be worth fifteen billion.”

After Han Junggeun spoke, Han Yonghwan added that.

I thought my eyes were going to pop out.

“A key is worth fifteen billion won…?”

“Because it's the key to a Safe Room. NotAHunter, your identity won't leak there. No one except the owner can enter. You'll be able to protect your personal information properly.”

After the Gate Era began, something had become popular among powerful people in politics and business.

A space designed to protect them from monsters and villains.

A Safe Room.

Even wealthy, powerful Hunters considered them essential.

Mostly for the sake of their ordinary family members.

“It's about a hundred pyeong, with four bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and dining area, two bathrooms, a veranda, and a large storage room. It comes with all the basic furniture and appliances too, so at first glance, it looks like an ordinary home. But every appliance runs on mana stones, so you can use them whether there's electricity or not. The storage room also contains five years' worth of food, medicine, and mana stones for four adults.”

Han Dongju rattled off the explanation.

Even for a Safe Room, mana stones were extremely expensive, so it was rare to stockpile enough for five whole years.

Wow. So that's why it's so expensive.

Now I understood.

But enough for four adults?

I wondered why they'd chosen that number.

Then—

…Ah. I see.

It included the youngest sibling they were still searching for.

“It's underground, but thanks to a special item I installed, the windows are connected to the outside. There are also air-purification and illusion devices inside, so it won't feel stuffy. We've installed multiple disruption devices, so no one except the three of us knows there's a Safe Room there. You'll be able to live comfortably. Though you won't be able to bring anyone else inside.”

“That place… was made as a Safe Room for your family, right?”

“Yes.”

The facilities sounded incredible, and I definitely wanted it, but…

“I'm not sure I should be the one to take that…”

It was a place prepared for the youngest sibling they were desperately searching for.

It didn't feel right for me to simply move in.

“You don't need to feel burdened.”

Han Junggeun was the one who said that.

He continued.

“We don't only have one Safe Room. I recommend that you take this one.”

Han Junggeun didn't speak much, so whenever he did say something, his words somehow carried more weight.

I almost nodded without thinking.

But then—

“…I want to see it before I decide.”

“Yes. That's better than deciding immediately.”

Han Yonghwan praised me in that same nagging tone from earlier, then pulled a red key from his inventory.

It was identical in shape to Han Dongju's.

Han Junggeun did the same, except his key was blue.

Han Dongju hesitated for just a moment before pulling out a yellow key and handing it to me.

[Notification: You have obtained the fourth key to the Four Siblings' Safe Room No. 1.

As long as you possess this key, you may enter Safe Room No. 1 from now on.

The key's function will remain active even while stored inside your inventory.]

As soon as the key touched my hand, the system window gave me a simple explanation.

“Where is it?”

“It's one block from here. Let's go now. Ah, I'll go change first.”

Han Dongju hurriedly disappeared.

Han Yonghwan and Han Junggeun began dividing the items obtained from the box-opening ritual between their inventories.

“I'm back! Let's go!”

Han Dongju took the lead.

Using Stealth, I quietly followed Han Yonghwan and Han Junggeun.

We moved without drawing anyone's attention.

Five minutes later, we arrived on the rooftop of a three-story building on the next block.

The building only contained ordinary offices and stores.

It looked old and worn-down.

At the edge of the rooftop, Han Dongju stuck out only his head and one hand, pointing toward a facility attached near the entrance on the first floor.

“That's a storage locker for food deliveries. You can have your delivery food sent there. The red one belongs to the Safe Room.”

Han Dongju then told me the password.

I memorized it immediately.

It was important information!

“That building across the street has unmanned parcel lockers. You can receive packages there.”

“Okay.”

“I'll show you the entrance. See this gray rectangular mark here?”

It was cleverly hidden beneath the rooftop structure.

Unless someone deliberately searched for it, I didn't think they'd notice it at all.

“If you own a key, stepping on that spot will take you down to the shoe cabinet of the Safe Room on basement level two. I'll go first!”

Han Dongju disappeared first.

Then Han Junggeun.

Thump. Thump.

Maybe it was because I was about to enter a place that couldn't even be compared to my tiny studio apartment, but I could feel my heart beating nervously.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

I stepped directly onto the mark.

I felt myself shoot downward like I was sliding down a slide.

Honestly, it was fun.

I almost felt disappointed when I arrived at the shoe cabinet right away.

“Welcome!”

Han Dongju was already standing inside the living room, waving his left hand high in the air.

Like a proper Korean, I carefully took off my shoes before entering.

It was possible even with my hidden-overpowered item.

The living room was bigger and cleaner than my entire studio apartment.

Even the television was unbelievably huge, like the Pacific Ocean.

Just as I'd been told, there were four bedrooms.

Each one already had a bed, bedding, and a wardrobe.

“These are men's things we left here in case we ever had to stay here, but it doesn't look like you'll need them, so we'll take them back.”

Han Dongju quickly swept the items from three bedrooms into his inventory.

“You can turn the empty bedrooms into a study, dressing room, workshop, or something like that.”

“Okay.”

“Should we leave the bedding in this room as it is?”

It was the biggest and nicest bedroom.

They seemed to have tried their best to decorate it luxuriously, but…

What is this… Dizuni Princess…?

That was exactly how the room had been decorated.

“…No. Take it.”

“This bedding is actually very high quality. If you're refusing because it was prepared for our youngest sibling—”

“That's not why. This is a child's taste.”

“……”

“How old is your youngest sibling?”

“Twenty-two.”

The same age as me.

“Everyone has different tastes, but I don't think someone that age would like this kind of Dizuni Princess theme. This looks like something girls under ten would like.”

Han Yonghwan asked with a serious expression.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Are all the other Safe Rooms decorated like this too?”

“Yes.”

“……They might like it, so don't change anything yet. Once you find your youngest sibling, show it to them first and ask what they want to do.”

“Okay…”

“……I told you we should've done something different.”

Han Junggeun muttered through clenched teeth.

Han Dongju's shoulders drooped slightly.

So the third brother was the culprit.

I opened the wardrobe.

There were no clothes inside.

It seemed they had intended to fill it after finding their youngest sibling.

That's a relief.

Because I had a feeling Han Dongju would've bought a bunch of Dizuni Princess dresses too!

“Can you show me the rest of the place?”