novelraw Chapter 44 : Chapter 44
Chapter 44 : Chapter 44
Chapter 44. New House
After leaving the hotel, I headed straight to a real estate agency.
It was to find a house.
Not a temporary accommodation like a hotel, but a real ‘house’ where long-term residence was possible.
Actually, immediately after falling into this world, I didn't have much thought of finding a house.
Because I thought just hopping from hotel to hotel was enough.
And above all, houses were expensive.
To buy one was naturally expensive, and even to rent monthly, a lump sum called a deposit was needed.
So I hadn't thought about buying a house.
However, after being ambushed by the Ork Corporation guys, my thoughts changed.
The sniping that flew in while I was sound asleep.
To put it bluntly, I had survived by luck at that time.
If I had noticed the signs even a little later, I would have had a hole in my head while sleeping.
It was from then on.
That I began to think seriously about finding a house.
Plus, I just happened to get a lump sum of money.
Of course, I shouldn't just get any house.
If I just got an ordinary house, the same thing would repeat itself.
‘I need to find a house where ambushes can be prevented in advance.’
In other words, I had to find a house equipped with at least enough defenses to block incoming attacks from the outside.
But does such a house exist?
Naturally, it exists.
“Welcome.”
The real estate agent welcomed me.
I said.
“I am looking for an apartment that has a security contract with Silderrek Company.”
“Ah, there happens to be one decent listing. Please, sit down first.”
Silderrek Company.
It was a corporation that provided security and guard services.
From individual protection to building security.
The range of response was from civilians to mana users, and even Demonic Beasts.
It was a company providing quite a wide and powerful security service.
The house I was looking for was exactly an apartment contracted with this Silderrek Company.
Apartments contracted with Silderrek Company have Silderrek's security forces stationed at all times.
On top of that, densely placed CCTVs, motion sensors, biometric recognition devices, and even various alarm systems.
At this level, it was practically a fortress without walls.
For anyone attacking, it would be quite a headache-inducing place.
Of course, I wasn't a target of any organization or enterprise right now.
But I had to prepare.
Because I couldn't know when, where, or how I would get filthily entangled.
Just like the Ork's night raid, which was completely unexpected.
Of course, if an organization like Ork decided to invade, it would be breached.
But the important thing is that they would have to bear some loss to attack such a place.
Plus, thanks to the dense alarm system, I would be able to notice immediately if a surprise attack came.
This level was safe enough in this city.
“It is this way.”
I followed the agent to check the house.
The area was about 10 pyeong(unit), and it was a studio type.
The condition was quite neat, and the water pressure and lighting were fine.
Plus, windows at angles where sniping could come in were treated with bulletproof plates.
I decided on this place.
“By the way, what did you say the name of this apartment was?”
“It is Master Centro Fore Imperious Prestige Summit 3rd Palace.”
“…….”
“Since the apartment name has an influence on housing prices, inevitably… Haha.”
This crazy naming sense seemed to remain the same even after over 200 years.
Anyway, the contract proceeded swiftly.
The contract type was monthly rent.
The deposit was 500 million Credits.
For a mere studio, it was truly filthily expensive.
But I could understand.
In this hell-like city, safety was bound to be expensive.
When all contracts and moving in were finished, it was 4 PM.
Since there was no luggage to move, there was no need to hire movers.
I lay down sprawled in the middle of the new house.
And Saya also sprawled next to me.
I said.
“But there really is nothing in the room.”
It was truly a perfectly empty house without a single option.
No bed, no table, no refrigerator, no washing machine, no microwave; there was really nothing.
Things that were basically equipped in hotel rooms.
But since I came to live in a house, I had to buy everything.
“Since I have to sleep for now, shall we go buy a duvet at least.”
“Sahyaak!”
I went shopping with Saya wrapped around my body.
With the long guy's body wrapped around my upper body, it felt like wearing a crossbody bag.
Anyway, Saya and I stopped by a bedding store first.
Since I couldn't buy a bed right away, I bought a duvet and a mat first.
While at it, I bought some clothes at the store next door as well.
Plus, since the mart was just across the street, I started shopping for daily necessities too.
Things like food ingredients or toiletries.
But then……
“Hiss-.”
“Hm? Why?”
Saya started pulling me somewhere.
I went to where Saya was pulling.
It was the liquor corner.
“…This alcoholic rascal.”
“Sihyaaa!”
“Alright, you punk.”
I purchased a random bottle of the most expensive liquor.
Strong liquor with over 50% alcohol content.
When we came out after paying, Saya was hugging the liquor bottle tightly with his short forelegs.
“Do you like it that much?”
“Shaha!”
“Goodness.”
Just as we were about to go back home.
Saya suddenly brought the liquor bottle to his mouth.
I was dumbfounded and said.
“Hey, eat it at home, at home.”
However.
Gulp.
Saya swallowed the liquor bottle.
He had swallowed the liquor bottle whole without even opening the cap.
Seeing that, I was appalled and said.
“Hey, hey! What do you do if you eat it like that?!”
For a moment, a scene I watched in a documentary in the past came to mind.
The scene where a large snake swallowed an ostrich egg whole.
Snakes have a habit of swallowing prey whole without chewing with teeth and digesting it inside the body.
Of course, Saya wasn't a snake but a dragon, but I thought he might share such habits……
“…Yeah right.”
Swallowing whole is okay only when it is food.
What Saya swallowed was a glass bottle.
And glass had never been treated as a food ingredient in the history of mankind.
So I touched Saya's belly, wondering if his stomach would be damaged.
But……
“…Huh?”
The glass bottle was not felt anywhere on Saya's body.
It was a quite large liquor bottle, so it definitely should be felt.
“What the, where did the liquor bottle go?”
“……?”
Then Saya opened his mouth again.
Then he vomited out the liquor bottle he had swallowed earlier intact.
“Uh……?”
I took the liquor bottle Saya vomited out and checked the condition.
The liquor bottle was fine.
“You, surely… Can you swallow and store things?”
Saya tilted his head as if he didn't understand.
I took out a canned food from the shopping basket and held it out.
“This too, like the liquor just now, hm?”
When I made a gesture of swallowing something, Saya understood immediately.
Gulp.
As Saya swallowed the canned food, I asked.
“Can you spit that canned food out again too?”
Blech.
As soon as I made a vomiting gesture, Saya spat the canned food back out.
“Wait, surely…….”
I quietly opened the shopping basket in front of Saya's eyes.
Saya, realizing my intention, went into the shopping basket.
And swallowed everything inside the shopping basket.
Except for things like the duvet that didn't fit in his mouth.
After swallowing all the things bought today, Saya wrapped his body around mine again and went limp.
Amazingly, there was absolutely no change in Saya's weight.
Even though it should have increased at least as much as what he swallowed.
Plus, even though he swallowed a quite large amount of goods, there was not a bit of change in his body shape.
Only then did I realize another ability Saya possessed.
“…It’s an Inventory?”
The ability to store objects inside the body regardless of size or mass as long as they can be put in the mouth.
Saya effectively had a subspace pocket inside his body.
‘If it’s this… I can carry around equipment or weapons without being constrained by volume or weight?! I can also carry around all the items acquired during combat?’
Suddenly, the incident in the Spider Den came to mind.
The situation where I had to just explode the high-quality Magic Stones even with them right in front of my eyes because there was no space in the bag.
If the current Saya had been there together, I would have been able to bring out several times more Magic Stones.
Of course, it was an impossible assumption.
For reference, I also learned for the first time that a dragon had this kind of ability.
In the game, since an inventory is given as a basic feature, even if I knew, there would have been no occasion to use it.
Anyway, I could return home lightly with both hands even after buying a lot of things.
Clatter-
Upon returning home, Saya vomited out the things he had swallowed.
The things were all fine.
While I arranged the things I bought, Saya opened the liquor bought today and started sipping.
“Ahhhh-.”
“Geez.”
From the baby dragon's mouth, the vibe of a man in his 50s who had a shot of soju emanated.
I showed the canned food and asked.
“You don't need snacks?”
Saya looked at the canned food for a moment, turned his head away sharply, and drank the liquor again.
From the appearance of drinking only liquor straight without snacks, a certain kind of experience was even felt.
“…Well, if it’s a dragon, the experience is tremendous indeed.”
Considering the characteristic of being reborn even if they die, the dragon's experience had already far exceeded that of a human.
Thud.
I sat next to Saya and opened the canned food.
Hot pepper tuna can.
I ate the canned food for dinner and thought about the things I had to do in the future.
‘First, let’s dispose of the Magic Stones.’
The Magic Stones still inside the bag.
Since there was no use for the Magic Stones themselves, it was best to sell them and turn them into money for now.
‘Disposing of Magic Stones can be left to Bart. And my broken left arm is almost fully healed too.’
My residence was confirmed, and my body was treated.
It was time to return to active duty.
‘The total number of escaped convicts in Korea is 12. And I killed 4 of them.’
Then 8 escaped convicts remained.
Among those 8, there were currently no personnel caught or killed.
Effectively, a situation where I am the only Headhunter catching the escaped convicts in Korea currently.
‘Well, good for me.’
Because the more I caught, the faster I approached freedom.
‘Then let’s see…….’
I took out the location tracking tablet and identified the locations of the escaped convicts.
To be exact, it was tracking the location of the motorcycle they stole from the Noksan Junkyard.
Still, there was no method as good as this to identify their approximate location.
Who shall I catch this time.
Normally, I would have worried about this while looking at the screen.
But now such worry was unnecessary.
Because the guy to catch was already decided.
The producer of Red Chips.
This time the target was that guy.
“Hey, Saya.”
“Shaha?”
“Want to go drink good liquor to your heart's content?”
“Shahaa!!”
“Gee, he understands these words amazingly well.”
Like that, my next target was decided.
* * *
Here, going back in time for a moment.
The day after the Great Breakout happened in Mugan, somewhere in Gyeonggi-do.
There was an old distillery there.
The name of the place is Doban Brewery.
Opened in 2160, a quite old liquor company turning 40 this year.
It was a company that mainly produced Korean traditional liquors, and showed strength in the distilled liquor line among them.
It was famous for craftsmanship that did not tolerate compromise in quality, and its quality was acknowledged in the market as well.
Therefore, despite the company scale being small and production volume not being large, it
came to possess not bad profitability and appropriate fame.
The technology transfer from the current president to his son had also been done well.
Like that, the operation of Doban Brewery seemed like it would flow smoothly.
Until the president's first son escaped from Mugan.
“Father.”
At the sound calling him, the president dropped the box he was carrying.
Grain samples contained in the box rolled over on the floor.
“You… You……!”
“Oh my, why are you so surprised.”
“How…….”
“Surely you didn't think you wouldn't see me for your whole life? If that was true, I’m a bit sad.”
The name of this man who called the president father was Ha Do-yeol.
A man characterized by a skinny frame, dark circles, and unfocused eyes.
Current age 35.
And an escaped convict of Mugan.
Ha Do-yeol said.
“Are you flustered? Because the son you personally imprisoned came to find you?”
“…With what face did you come here?”
“Does a son need a reason to return to his original home, well.”
“Go.”
“I don't want to.”
Ha Do-yeol thrust his face close to his father and said.
“Because I definitely have work to do here, Father.”