Chapter 20: It’s a ‘Rift’?

Clink.

Yellow liquid rippled inside a white cup.

After the meal, the sweet scent of coffee filled the kitchen.

The taste of coffee enjoyed leisurely in the morning was...

Until just last month, it was something he couldn't even imagine.

'The food has gotten much better too.'

Without exaggeration, he was tasting heaven every single day.

Even though he was eating a lot—a very large amount—Go Nam-tae's belly fat was becoming firm.

It was a bit disappointing that there wasn't much variety yet, but that was also being resolved.

Just the variations of tofu dishes were enough to satisfy his palate.

Golden-brown pan-fried tofu, braised tofu, piping hot freshly made tofu...

Was it just the food?

There was no boss to nag him.

Additionally, the endless pile of work that felt unrewarding no matter how much he did had vanished.

This was truly paradise on earth.

Clink.

The cup was empty.

It was at that moment.

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce!

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!

'What are we doing today?'

'What are we doing?'

...If nothing else, it seemed he hadn't quite escaped the influx of work yet.

There were workaholics in this paradise.

Go Nam-tae recited today's to-do list.

"Today we’ll pick peppers, make more chili powder, rebuild the rice paddies..."

'Again, again, again...?'

Ignore it, ignore it...

However, Go Nam-tae only realized that eyes could be louder than words.

Go Nam-tae, having declared his surrender, spat out an answer.

"Once we finish the rice paddies, let's go back to the beach."

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce!

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!

The little ones were excited to finally hear the answer they wanted.

Among them, the Vermilion Bird stuck tightly to his shoulder and declared:

'I'm the Boss's helper today!'

The Black Tortoise was nodding heavily beside it.

Judging by the atmosphere, that order seemed to be something they absolutely could not compromise on.

"I need to send the goods to Mister first."

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce!

"Right, thanks for the permission."

The creatures tilted their heads and looked at him.

In fact, his retainers also enjoyed watching what was beyond the rift.

What was there to see in moving goods back and forth?

They seemed to enjoy people-watching the humans beyond the rift.

Though the only people they could see were Kim Gu-bok and his wife.

Go Nam-tae packed the tofu he had freshly made that morning.

The containers he ordered yesterday hadn't arrived yet, but he found an old kimchi container.

Everyone knows the state of an old kimchi container.

The smell lingers, it's stained...

However, this was something that had stayed 'long' in Go Nam-tae's house.

[Boss's Storage Container - Maintains freshness and taste 3 times longer when storing food]

[Weight decreased by 7%]

[Durability Enhancement - Defends against magic attacks up to Level 5]

[Absolute Airtightness]

"How much is Level 5 magic attack defense?"

[It can block the attacks of a C-rank Rift beast more than ten times.]

[You can think of it as the level of blocking 500 machine gun rounds.]

"..."

If Kim Gu-bok and his wife found out about this, they would never accept it.

But who would bother appraising a kimchi container?

Especially one that wasn't even new.

The thrifty Go Mi-young would surely put it to good use.

Anyway, the corn became known faster than expected.

And the person connected through it was South Korea's number one ranked hunter, Park Ki-beom.

...It was a good sign.

Kim Gu-bok was worried about Go Nam-tae's contact with a big shot, but it was purely an unnecessary concern.

Who would come to the 100th floor?

The person to worry about was his representative, Kim Gu-bok.

Filled with concern, Go Nam-tae carefully wrote a reply.

-Mister, you can give a positive signal to Hunter Park Ki-beom for now. However, tell him that transactions are only done through you. If any documents related to contract adjustments come, please send them to me.

This would increase the role of the representative.

As Kim Gu-bok's importance grew, his treatment would also change.

"Should I try adjusting the commission rate by adding this?"

[It would be best to do that after the contract is finalized.]

Toto gave a sharp answer.

At the very least, it didn't object to raising Kim Gu-bok's commission rate.

Go Nam-tae opened the mirror and looked for familiar faces.

But Kim Gu-bok and his wife were nowhere to be seen, and the conveyor belt was filled with items.

It seemed the couple had left the shop empty.

"Ah...!"

Only then did Go Nam-tae realize his mistake.

He had never made a time appointment with them.

It wouldn't be right to let Kim Gu-bok and his wife constantly watch and wait for him to open the door.

Thinking about it, the time was a bit more delayed than yesterday because he was slicing pumpkins.

Even now, he was technically late.

"Toto, can you set an alarm to match the Earth's time?"

[Yes, it is possible.]

[For your information, it became possible starting yesterday.]

It meant it became possible from the moment the phone was connected.

Go Nam-tae poured out the baskets first, then sent the container of tofu with a new note attached.

-It's tofu I made myself. Please eat it while it's warm.

It was long after the mirror closed that Go Nam-tae remembered the 'side effect' of the tofu.

It was when he had finished picking all the peppers and had started spreading them out in the sun to dry.

"Oh! Caution: Tears... was there a phrase like that?"

Actually, Go Nam-tae had also teared up a little when he ate the first piece of tofu.

He had just rubbed his eyes while pretending not to, but Kim Gu-bok and his wife were just ordinary people.

"Toto, shouldn't I withdraw the magic even now?"

To his worried self, Toto replied.

[Tofu is the Boss's magic buff food.]

[It is not harmful to humans.]

[Tears may fall due to intense emotional fluctuations, but tears also play a role in stress relief.]

[You do not need to worry.]

"Oh, well that's a relief then."

Go Nam-tae set aside his worries and was able to return to work.

However, in reality, perhaps the trap was that this concern also came too late.

***

The previous day, Kim Seong-hye and Kim Jae-won had almost fled back to the guild to report.

"What? That's your parents' shop?"

"...Yes, that is correct."

The manager who had secretly sent the two to the shop was horrified and immediately reported to the Vice Guild Leader.

Then, Vice Guild Leader Jeong Sang-myeong personally called the siblings for an interview.

"Welcome! It's a shame the Guild Leader has entered a labyrinth, so you won't be able to meet him. If it weren't for today's entry plan, you would have spoken with the Guild Leader directly."

"Eek!"

"D-Directly with the Guild Leader?"

This was the equivalent of a regular employee being told to meet the chairman of a conglomerate directly.

No, it was more than that.

In a Hunter world where strength spoke, an encounter with South Korea's number one ranker accompanied immense pressure.

At any rate, it meant this was a matter that such a great person would speak about directly.

The siblings couldn't help but worry for their parents.

"Since your parents are selling it, you must have tried the corn?"

"Pardon...?"

At the siblings' bewildered reaction, Jeong Sang-myeong's expression turned peculiar.

In the end, Jeong Sang-myeong, who had extracted the siblings' circumstances, decided to make good use of this situation.

"Do you two know that a post was uploaded by a hunter who saw the effects of this corn?"

"Yes?"

"Look here."

It was a post uploaded by Park Yu-seok.

A post saying that a hunter who had been D-rank for ages succeeded in promoting to C-rank after eating the corn.

"While everyone is still half-doubting and doesn't believe it, it will soon be revealed that this is the truth."

"Pardon?"

The siblings were pale and didn't even realize they were repeating the same question.

It was because they had sensed the meaning behind what Jeong Sang-myeong was trying to say.

Many people covet precious items.

It meant the possibility of the connection channel being ruined before a proper transaction could even take place was increasing.

In other words, harm could come to their parents.

Thanks to the siblings' quick understanding, Jeong Sang-myeong could assign them a new mission without a long explanation.

"From now on, the guild will protect your parents. However, don't misunderstand—we aren't trying to force a transaction. I just hope we can negotiate for some priority on a certain quantity."

"...!"

"Of course, the supply quantity will be whatever they want, so don't worry about that either. So, as part of their protection, I plan to have you stay by your parents' side. What do you think?"

"..."

And so, the siblings returned to their parents' shop.

However, there was no time to explain this and that.

As soon as Kim Gu-bok and Go Mi-young saw their returning son and daughter, they immediately pushed them into the small back room of the shop where they stayed.

"Eat first, then talk."

At their mother's strict command, the siblings had to sit quietly at the dining table.

Thud, thud-thud!

It was just as they were about to start eating when they heard the sound of something falling from inside the shop.

Surprised, the siblings ran out and saw the sight of a rift closing.

"A R-Rift! Mom, Dad, get away!"

"We’ll stop it, so you two go out and report it quickly—"

As they shouted urgently and pulled out their weapons, the couple stopped them in horror.

"No! It’s not a rift! Put those hideous things away quickly!"

"Oh no, Nam-tae would have been so surprised if he saw that."

"Aigoo, we missed it, we missed it."

"Sigh, at least one of us should have been watching. Nam-tae must have been so disappointed because we weren't here."

The siblings were stunned by their parents' reaction.

Not only were they not surprised to see a rift, but they were welcoming it with such familiarity!

But what poured out of the rift was... corn?

"Find the note first. What does he need this time?"

The siblings were horrified once again at the sight of their parents rummaging through the mountain of corn to find a small note.

When the parents found the note, their faces lit up.

"Oh my, our nephew Nam-tae sent tofu? My goodness, he said he made this himself!"

"What? Nam-tae made tofu?"

"Yes! How did he make something that requires so much work?"

At the name 'Nam-tae', Kim Seong-hye and Kim Jae-won were startled.

Go Nam-tae was a name that gave the siblings a certain kind of inferiority complex.

One could say it was because of a subtle sense of self-consciousness.

Unlike them, who only caused trouble and left their parents with debt, Go Nam-tae was the greatest filial son in the world.

Whether it was the warm affection he showed their father during his life or how he ground down his youth to nurse his sick father, that was Go Nam-tae.

They couldn't help but compare themselves to him.

So, he was someone who made them feel even more guilty and intimidated.

And yet... they were saying he was the owner of that 'Rift'.

'It’s a ‘Rift’, that thing!'

Even though they were still novice hunters, there was no way they wouldn't know a rift.

"Mom, Dad..."

Kim Gu-bok covered Kim Seong-hye's mouth as she was about to shout.

"Shh. They say that's Nam-tae's ability. He sends things through that door."

Go Mi-young added her voice too.

"You must never tell anyone else. Otherwise, our nephew Nam-tae will be in trouble."

'...Do they really not know, or do they just not want to believe it?'

The siblings' eyes widened.

'That's a rift!'

However, that cry did not come out of their mouths.

Kim Gu-bok and Go Mi-young were already beaming, cradling the gifted tofu dearly.

It didn't seem like their parents would listen, but for some reason, the siblings also didn't feel any danger coming from that rift.

"Oh, kids. Since he told us to eat this while it's warm, let's eat quickly."

"Nam-tae has such good sense, sending it just in time."

In the midst of all this, one might wonder what they were doing having breakfast, but the rice they had only caught the scent of was flickering before their eyes.

The amount of saliva they had drooled until the moment they picked up their spoons was already a bucketful.

The siblings followed their parents like ducklings following a mother duck.

Kim Gu-bok set down the container he had been cradling so dearly.

Click, the lid opened...