Chapter 352. This Year's Winter Draws Near (2)
1:00 PM. A street where a cluster of startup companies was located.
"Aunt."
Why do people have to work to live?
"Aunt! We're short on dishes here. Stop prepping for a bit and do the dishes first."
This was inside a restaurant bustling with a line of office workers. A middle-aged woman standing on one side of the kitchen had a fleeting thought. It was Lee Hwayoung's grumble.
"The big bowls! Wash and bring the big bowls first!"
"How long do I have to keep working while being treated like this..."
She had barely managed to escape the flood of collection calls that had been tornting her, thanks to a newly established governnt loan for low-inco support. But once the fire on her feet was put out, Lee Hwayoung's next worry was simply what she'd eat tomorrow. People were fickle like that.
When her back was in bad shape and she was resting, she had desperately prayed to the heavens just to be employed again. But now that she was working herself to the bone, her social status hadn't changed a bit, and that made every thing feel off. On top of that, even if ti kept passing like this, there was no real hope that things would get any better.
"At this point, I just wish I'd win the lottery."
A daydream about getting rich quickly flashed through her mind for a mont. But as the saying goes, ti is a great healer. She got so caught up in the difficult work in front of her that before she knew it, half of today's tasks were already done.
"The custors are gone, so let's all grab a bite to eat and then get ready for the dinner rush!"
Just a little longer and the workday would be over. At least during alti, she could escape from work for a bit. Returning to a more positive mindset, Lee Hwayoung sat down at a table. But just when she was supposed to enjoy the happiest mont of her day, soone suddenly intruded and poured cold water on it.
"Sister!"
It was a fellow worker's attempt at conversation.
"Today was even more hectic than usual, wasn't it? Goodness, I'm exhausted. Was it on social dia? Anyway, it looks like this place got popular again as a must-visit restaurant."
It's only natural for work that doesn't suit you to feel exhausting and frustrating. But still, the way the other person kept going on about it—as if it were sothing unusual—was just irritating.
"So loud..."
Lee Hwayoung raised her spoon with a sour expression. The truth was, she had always found that restaurant coworker uncomfortable.
"If you retire and just do nothing, there's the fun in that—? People my age get sick if we just stay ho all the ti. Sick."
She was confident she could laze around every day without ever getting bored. But that person kept going on about how people need work to feel alive, spouting nonsense like that...
Now that the kids are all grown up, it's lonely being by myself. So I started working here just to keep myself busy. Oh, right. Speaking of which, how old are your kids again? Do you have a daughter? A son?
The other person was also a chatterbox who rambled on with small talk she didn't even want to hear.
"I'm already so tired I could die."
Why did they have to ask such pointless personal questions, anyway? The chatty coworker next to her was already annoying enough. But if she were being honest, it might not be the nonstop chatter that bothered her the most—what truly grated on her nerves was sothing else entirely.
"...And just the other day, my daughter ca up to visit for the first ti in a while. I told her not to bother, but she kept insisting—said it was my birthday and showed up with a bunch of gifts anyway-"
"Really?"
"This is a pure gold ring, brand new. I an, honestly, what's the point of dressing up with sothing like this at my age? I'm just going to set it aside and save it for when my kid has sothing important coming up."
The other woman often bragged about her children. In contrast, whenever the topic turned to family matters, Lee Hwayoung had to be—her saying her husband died young and that she had no children. Conversations like that were always uncomfortable for her.
"That's great."
So she muttered a vague, empty response and pretended to focus on her al. That woman would have to shut up eventually to eat anyway. As expected, silence soon followed.
Slurp.
Quiet.
But just as she took another spoonful of the bean sprout soup, a news report from the restaurant's TV caught her attention—
[...While our nation's dungeon safety managent has once again achieved record-breaking standards, concerns continue to rise among citizens due to the increasing ergence of large-scale gates.]
Footage of the monsters fills the screen.
Back in the early days of the Dungeon Shock, watching footage like that didn't even feel real. Now, for a completely different reason, it's hard to focus on the news. Humans, after all, were creatures of adaptation—far beyond what anyone imagined.
"Ugh, there goes my appetite. Why do they have to air those disgusting things in broad daylight?"
Lee Hwayoung turned her eyes away, feeling a wave of discomfort at the sight of the writhing monster on screen.
But just a few seconds later, the voice from the news announced the ergence of sothing even more disturbing.
[[Street Interview]
1. What do you think about Korean hunters?
A: In Japan, it's quite common for ordinary people to follow famous psychics and even run fan clubs for them. These days, interest in Korean hunters is rising—kind of like when the K-POP boom first hit.]
An ordinary person on TV made this comnt.
[A: The Korean Wave started with Jung Haseong, and these days, it's the sa with Mr. Kim Giryeo and Miss Esther as well...]
Following that, an edited compilation video began to play. A man in a suit flashed across the screen for a mont—a man whose face was ordinary enough to be seen on any street, yet one whose distinctive appearance would be instantly recognizable to any Korean.
Upon seeing that footage, Lee Hwayoung imdiately grabbed the remote control.
"If I have to watch sothing, I'd rather watch the monsters than that guy."
She changed the channel.
"Oh! Sister, stop right here. What a coincidence, they're re-airing 'World's Best Trot'."
She tried her best to ignore it and swallow her discomfort. But seriously—was there ever a day that hunter wasn't all over the news?
"Ha."
At that mont, a long-forgotten conversation resurfaced in Lee Hwayoung's mind.
Judging by the state you're in, I get the feeling your son probably never had much sense to begin with...
It was a line from a hunter nad Kang Changho.
'Unbelievable! If that brat's temper was bad, obviously he got it from his father's side of the family, not mine.'
Lee Hwayoung felt a surge of anger. Despite mustering the courage to seek him out, a certain mixed-blood hunter had broken his promise to her. And despite all her efforts, she hadn't been able to publish any follow-up articles.
'If he was just going to ignore like trash, then why the hell did he call in the first place?'
But getting angry alone would only hurt her health. She couldn't even muster the courage to speak to Kang Changho directly anyway. So really, what could possibly change now?
It was the season when she was threatened by her family and deceived by Kang Changho's lies. By now, Lee Hwayoung had all but given up on trying to make easy money through dishonest ans. Perhaps that's why this fall has been even more depressing than last year.
"Let's all work hard until we get off work tonight!"
However, perhaps life's trajectory couldn't always go downhill forever... It was the mont she had just finished work and pulled off her rubber gloves. That then chatty coworker at the restaurant suddenly brought up sothing intriguing.
"What did you say? Unnie, is that really true?"
"Yeah!—so the whole family went into an uproar. When the aunt was struggling to raise the kid, everyone pretended not to know. But after the funeral and everything was over, the baby's dad suddenly showed up with a lawyer. Saying he wanted to give an inheritance. And not just a little—billions of won—"
"Can that really happen legally?"
"They say it still can, for now."
A legitimate portion return claim lawsuit... really? And just like that, a new piece of legal knowledge took root in the brain of a laborer who'd only ever been too busy trying to make ends et.
She had vaguely heard about it before, sure. But she had thought that rule only applied when inheritance was passed directly to the children.
'If the child dies, the biological mother and father automatically beco the heirs? Even if they're divorced, that doesn't really change anything?'
The sa rule applies even when the older generation is involved. If Kim Giryeo were to die without getting married, his biological mother—herself—would automatically beco a top-priority heir. What's more, even if a father can't just give away their money before they die, you can still secure a huge portion of their assets just by filing a lawsuit.
At this point, what also ca to mind was the high mortality rate among hunters. After all, being a hunter had always been a dangerous profession, regardless of ti or place.
"Sis. It's getting late, so get ho safe, okay-"
"Yes, yes."
At tis like this, it felt like it was better not to be greedy and just live quietly. After finishing up everything and heading ho from work, Lee Hwayoung mulled over what she'd heard in the taxi. She did occasionally feel a pang of affection for her son... But the world wasn't a place where one could survive on soft feelings alone.
At the sa ti, she also found herself thinking this.
'After everything I went through to give birth to him, all the suffering I endured.'
Still, she had done things for him in the past. It's not like she was only praying for her child to die. She just thought—if things happened to turn out that way by chance, was it really so wrong to want the money?
This week, she couldn't afford to buy a lottery ticket because she had to pay off so debt. And yet, Lee Hwayoung felt like—for the first ti in a long while—she had sothing to look forward to next week.
Money. Money. She is honestly so sick and tired of money. If only she had been born rich, she would never have had to think like this.
Lee Hwayoung climbed the stairs, justifying herself in every possible way.
Beep, beep, beep.
By the ti she arrived, the worn-out door lock greeted her at ho. This was her new place—a ho with a low deposit but high monthly rent.
Beep, beep.
But then, up to this point, it had definitely been an ordinary day...
Clang.Click.
It was just as she had taken off her shoes at the entrance and heard the sound of the door lock clicking shut behind her.
"Uhm?"
Thankfully, her cardiovascular health had always been good—otherwise, at this very mont, she might've suffered a heart attack.
?!
Because there was the silhouette of a man standing in the living room of her ho. Lee Hwayoung was startled to see soone in the dark room. But as they say, when the shock is too great, even a scream won't co out. It seed the saying was true. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, but the only reaction her body could muster was trembling uncontrollably.
"What? Who is it!"
That was when it happened. As her eyes adjusted sowhat to the darkness, and as just she sensed the presence in the room whose face was ordinary enough to be seen on any street, yet one whose distinctive appearance would be instantly recognizable to any face of the intruder standing before her.
He wasn't so naless burglar. He was just a man with thick eyelids and pupils as black as a crane's neck. And the mont Lee Hwayoung recognized who he was, she found herself even more unable to speak.
Tik.
It was around the mont the hallway light flickered back on in response to his approaching footsteps. Standing under the now-bright entrance, he was the first to speak.
"Mom."
Anyone looking in might've thought he was a good son, dutifully waiting late into the night for his parent to co ho.
"You're ho?"
But as you know, they weren't exactly on good terms.
***
This outco was only natural, given the circumstances.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Truly the worst ho visit of her life.
"Ouch! My arm."
The middle-aged woman lowered her gaze to check her condition. She was currently tied securely to one of the dining chairs in the studio apartnt. All she had done was blink once after that "welco ho" greeting—just closed her eyes for a mont. But in that brief mont, she had actually lost consciousness. And only now was she finally coming to her senses.
Cable ties. Originally ant for organizing wires, those tools were now restraining her hands and feet. Despite being made of thin plastic, they didn't snap no matter how much strength she used. They were deceptively strong.
"Ah. The thing is, I actually have quite a bit of experience with kidnapping..."
But in this terrifying situation, what on earth was that trespasser talking about?
"More precisely, I've been kidnapped a lot myself. But since I've always tried to live life with a learning mindset, a day finally ca when this knowledge beca useful. Mom."
The figure, dressed entirely in black—black eyes, black clothes, and even black gloves—continued speaking. Only their cheap dyed hair shimred faintly, the sole thing reflecting any light.
Now that she looked closer, Kim Giryeo was sitting in the exact sa wooden chair as she was. But despite the abundance of dining chairs in the room, there were no housemates around to rescue her. Those chairs were rely giveaways she had picked up for free from a local café.
"Lord..."
If that was the case, then she was in serious trouble with no way out. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the tenant felt silent under the weight of growing despair.
But at that mont, the esper sitting across from her was also silent, as if choosing his words. This gave her a chance to study his face more closely. And during that observation, Lee Hwayoung realized sothing once again.
'Marriage really is madness.'
More precisely, her own marriage had truly been a decision made when she was out of her mind.
The mystery of genetics. The man in front of her had a face that closely resembled her father-in-law—or, to be more exact, her late mother-in-law, to put it bluntly, he was no different from a thug—and his father, the one who left behind a legacy of lung cancer, was no better.
To begin with, thoughts like these were aningless at this point anyway.
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