“No, we already have a Truck, so that’s settled. But I really want an Excavator.”
“An Excavator?”
Sang-woong looked a little surprised at his father’s unexpected wish.
“No, forget it, just pretend you didn’t hear that… Excavators aren’t exactly cheap, you know.”
Park Mancheol had brought it up while drinking, but knowing full well how unrealistic it was, he murmured as if talking to himself, looking regretful.
Even a used Excavator cost over a hundred million won—a luxury far beyond reach, no matter how much you wanted to drive one.
“It’s not the money that surprised me. I just didn’t know you were interested in Excavators, Dad.”
Sang-woong spoke, trying to understand his father’s feelings.
“You need an Excavator to clear forestland. And they’re secretly pretty useful for farming, too.”
“Then let’s get one. We’ll build you a house right away. How big do you want it? Pick the spot you like, and I’ll build it right there.”
Sang-woong readily promised to grant his father’s wish.
“You’re really going to build me a house, too?”
Park Mancheol asked back, disbelief written all over his face.
“Of course. So move to the villa right away. When your new house is ready, you can move into it then.”
With a bright smile, Sang-woong told his father he wanted to gift him a new life.
“Ahh…”
Park Mancheol let out a short sigh, choked with emotion.
His son’s unexpected gift left him speechless.
A complicated mix of joy and emotion was clearly etched across his face.
***
A Truck pulled up at the entrance to the village and stopped in front of Park Mancheol’s house.
Before long, the family’s belongings were being carefully loaded onto the Truck bed, all wrapped up in packing materials.
The one helping at the side was none other than Sang-woong.
“As expected, moving is nothing when you’ve got a Hunter around.”
Park Mancheol commented lightly.
“Hurry and move in, and then have a good meal. I’ve prepared a truly special meat today.”
For his parents, Sang-woong had specially slaughtered a Mud-Pit Pig he’d been raising on land.
Since their numbers were still low, he’d been focused on breeding, but he was happy to offer one for his parents.
“Isn’t it tradition to have black bean noodles on moving day?”
Lee Sunim asked with a laugh.
“No way, that won’t do. Your son runs a restaurant, how could you settle for black bean noodles? Today I’ll make you the best barbecue ever. It’s already grilling nicely, and there’s plenty—invite anyone you want to join you.”
“These days, thanks to my son, I get to enjoy all kinds of good things—even barbecue. I may not have luck with husbands, but I sure have luck with sons.”
Even though Park Mancheol and Lee Sunim were moving under circumstances that almost felt like being forced out, their faces didn’t look dark or anxious at all.
Sang-woong had been worried inside, but seeing his parents cheerful made him feel relieved.
While the Sang-woong family peacefully prepared to move, someone was watching the scene from a distance.
It was the Village Head. A satisfied smile spread across his face.
He looked so triumphant, arms crossed and chin lifted, as if he had achieved a tremendous victory.
“Heh heh, now that’s a load off my chest.”
The Village Head laughed, lifting his head to look at the sky.
Gentle sunlight poured over his face.
He spread his arms wide and took a deep breath.
Even the crisp air felt sweet to him.
Whatever had weighed heavy on his chest for the past few days seemed to lift away, a lazy satisfaction spreading through his whole body.
“How dare they challenge me. Foolish pups, not knowing the bite of a tiger. Now the villagers’ eyes will see me differently.”
He had suffered a few minor setbacks along the way, but all that was swept away by this big win!
And with victory, he eagerly anticipated the spoils of his triumph.
By driving out Park Mancheol’s family, he’d now made it so there was no one left to farm the field.
Park Mancheol had no choice but to sell his field.
If they left the land untended, a steady Penalty would be imposed, so there was no way for them to keep the field any longer.
But no one would want to buy Park Mancheol’s field.
Part of the road leading to the field belonged to the Village Head himself, and after what had just happened, no one in their right mind would try to buy that land.
Which meant, in the end, the only one who could buy it was the Village Head himself.
‘With this, I can recover at least some of the loss from selling the forest land.’
He lost himself in happy thoughts, already imagining how low he could bid for Park Mancheol’s field.
“All loaded?”
Sang-woong had, before he knew it, stacked the last box onto the Truck and climbed into the driver’s seat, starting the engine.
With a puff of smoke, the Truck slowly left the edge of the village.
The Village Head watched them go in silence.
A look of delight and superiority flickered in his eyes.
“Oh my, Village Head. Looks like Mr. Park’s finally moving out, huh?”
The old woman next door approached, striking up conversation.
The Village Head answered with a deliberately worried look.
“I know, right? Living in the countryside, you have to cooperate and contribute, but they didn’t even pay the Development Fund, and all they did was badmouth the other villagers behind their backs. Hmph.”
With careful words, he slandered Park Mancheol’s family.
Now that there was no more reason to see them around the village, he felt even lighter.
“They talked bad about us? I never saw them that way, goodness!”
Fooled by the Village Head’s lies, the old woman nodded, clicking her tongue.
As Sang-woong’s Truck completely disappeared from view, only a cold smile remained on the Village Head’s face.
He stuck both hands in his pockets and slowly walked home.
His steps were light, his shoulders unconsciously squared with pride.
He looked like a man boasting after accomplishing something great.
As the village’s power-holder, he was filled with satisfaction at his now more solidified status.
He believed his dominance in the village would only grow stronger.
But he did not realize that nothing in this world is ever fully predictable.
Unexpected incidents or changes can happen at any time.
“Village Head! We have a problem!”
Late that afternoon, after the thorn in his side, Park Mancheol, had moved away, Do Wonwoo burst into the Village Head’s house, his face pale with shock.
The Village Head, who had been eating, jumped up and ran outside to the yard.
“Wh-what is it?!”
“It’s—it’s a Mutant Water Deer! One’s appeared!”
“What?!”
The Village Head’s eyes went wide and his mouth fell open in shock, freezing in place.
His heart pounded like it was caught in a storm, and his breath quickened.
In a quiet country village, a big problem usually meant someone getting hurt working in the fields, or maybe someone buying a new Tractor.
But a Mutant Water Deer?
Mutants referred to creatures corrupted and transformed by the tainted atmosphere that seeped from the Dungeon.
Among them, the most troublesome was the Mutant Water Deer.
It wasn’t particularly dangerous. In fact, compared to other beasts, boars were extremely safe as long as you didn’t provoke them.
By nature, herbivores almost never attacked humans, which made them even more troublesome.
When a boar attacked a person, the Hunter’s Association would send a subjugation team to take care of it.
However, this subjugation didn’t happen quickly.
Ordinary hunters didn’t like dealing with boars.
Not because they were strong or scary, but because they were hard to find.
You had to chase a single boar all over the mountains, and the effort wasn’t worth the results.
It was far more profitable to hunt monsters in a dungeon during that same time.
Because of that, hunters didn’t respond immediately when the boar in question wasn’t attacking people.
To be honest, you could almost say they never show up.
What that really meant was: the village had to handle it themselves.
But the problem was, if you hired a Hunter privately, the cost was no joke.
So why not just hire a regular hunter?
It was possible.
But those things had such tough hides that even bullets didn’t always work.
And nothing is more dangerous than a wounded animal.
If you shot at one and it went berserk, the hunter could end up in real danger.
So no one was willing to risk their life facing a Mutant just for a bit of money.
But they couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
One of the reasons Mutant Water Deer were considered the worst scourge for farming villages was their enormous appetite.
Wherever one passed, you could say devastation followed.
Now that a Mutant Water Deer had settled in, they had to deal with it before it destroyed all the village’s crops.
“W-what do we do, Village Head?”
Do Wonwoo asked nervously, but the Village Head didn’t have any answers either.
He might be the village’s main power, but that was only within this tiny community.
“What else? We’ll have to hurry and hire a Hunter!”
“But, the money…?”
Money, of course, was the biggest issue.
The Development Fund, saved up for emergencies like this, was almost gone.
This was the result of the Village Head running the Development Fund for his personal use without a care.
If he called a meeting and asked the villagers for more money, they’d definitely bring up the depleted fund.
That would put him in a tough spot.
The Village Head fell silent, deep in thought.
How could he get through this crisis?
Then, one person flashed through his mind: Sang-woong.
‘That’s right, he’s a Grade 6 Hunter, isn’t he?’
A Grade E Hunter could easily take down a Mutant Water Deer.
The problem was, his relationship with Sang-woong was practically one of sworn enemies.
But now wasn’t the time for pride.
They had to deal with the Mutant Water Deer before it devastated the crops.
“Gather the villagers at once! We’re going to the Gentle Breeze Restaurant!”
The Village Head’s plan was to mobilize the villagers.
He figured that if enough elders begged Sang-woong together, it would be hard for him to refuse, no matter how bad things were between them.
At his command, the villagers quickly gathered.
That alone showed how grave the situation was.
They immediately headed for the Gentle Breeze Restaurant.
“What’s going on now?”
In the middle of cooking, Sang-woong looked up in surprise at the crowd flooding in.
It was clear they weren’t there for a meal—there was an odd tension in the air.
Especially since the man leading them was none other than the Village Head, who had been growling at him just days ago.
“Even you, Village Head… What brings so many people here?”
Sang-woong took off his apron and asked coolly.
The Village Head marched into the restaurant with a hardened look.
The villagers streamed in after him, quickly filling the place.
“Sang-woong, we need your help.”
The Village Head spoke with a heavy voice.
It was nothing like his usual overbearing tone.
“My help? For what?” Sang-woong asked, bewildered.
“There’s… a truly troublesome creature in the village.”
The Village Head started to explain.
“A Mutant Water Deer. It’s huge, and it’s making a mess of the fields, smashing everything in its path.”
“A Mutant Water Deer?”
Sang-woong narrowed his eyes.
As a Hunter himself, he certainly knew about Mutant Water Deer.