018 — The Dwarf
Both of them froze for a moment. The situation was perfectly clear. The other was doing the same thing he was.
Just as Jinwoo had heard how to deal with Dwarves from the Management Bureau and put it into practice, the Dwarf had heard how to deal with humans from somewhere and was doing the same.
The fact that its method was to leave a gold coin and run away was both absurd and understandable. Humans really did love money most of all.
“Seems $% no hostility &^@$.”
The Dwarf muttered something and picked the gold coin back up, tucking it away. Hearing this, Jinwoo was quite surprised.
He understood the words! Not the whole sentence, but he had caught a few words.
Isn’t that the Elvish that Chartia taught me?
Why was a Dwarf speaking Elvish? Was it because they were from the same world and spoke the same language?
Jinwoo immediately marshaled every Elvish word he knew. Since the atmosphere didn’t seem to be heading toward a fight, he wanted to take this chance to talk.
“Uhm… No hostility. Dislike. Fighting.”
“Ooh?”
The Dwarf was surprised to see Jinwoo utter a few words of Elvish.
“How &#$^ continental common $%&#?”
He only understood three words. Combining them, Jinwoo tried to guess what the Dwarf was saying in this context.
How do you know the continental common tongue? Something like that, maybe?
So the language Chartia taught me wasn't Elvish, but the common tongue used in her world.
That would explain why he could communicate with the Dwarf. Feeling the thrill of encountering an unknown civilization, Jinwoo spoke.
“My name, Jinwoo.”
“Jinwoo?”
“Who are you?”
The Dwarf hesitated for a moment, debating whether to ignore him and leave or to talk more.
But just as Jinwoo was intrigued by this first conversation with a Dwarf, the Dwarf was also intrigued by a human who spoke the continental tongue.
He had heard that all humans from beyond the Gate spoke an unintelligible language, and that they would mercilessly kill Dwarves on sight to plunder their minerals.
He’d been warned to be careful, as rare minerals were extremely valuable to them.
Most humans were weak, but some were said to be strong beyond all common sense.
That was why he’d been told to attract their attention with gold coins, which humans love, and then run. But the human before him seemed more interested in conversation than in gold.
“My name is Bulkar.”
He decided to try talking with this human.

Using every word he knew, along with hand gestures and body language, he conversed with Bulkar.
He didn't learn a great deal, but he learned the essentials.
His name was Bulkar. He was the third of six brothers, a middle child. He had come to this Gate to mine various minerals.
“Many minerals here. Ones not in our world.”
Apparently, the Gate contained a variety of minerals that didn’t exist in their world. Mining and taking back these rare minerals was his job and his mission.
His reason was similar to Jinwoo’s. Hadn’t Jinwoo also entered Gates to obtain food ingredients that had become rare on Earth?
It was only natural to have a clear purpose and need when entering a dangerous place like a Gate.
“For food… Gold coins, no interest?” Bulkar asked after hearing that Jinwoo entered Gates to find food.
There was no way he wasn’t interested. Jinwoo immediately shook his head.
So humans do like gold coins after all, Bulkar thought, nodding.
“Request. Protect me. While I dig stone.”
A request? Jinwoo blinked at the sudden proposal.
“Gate, very dangerous. Many monsters. Need escort.”
He understood what the Dwarf was saying. He wanted protection while he mined, since it could be dangerous.
Indeed, mining was difficult work on its own. To do it while also staying vigilant for monsters that could appear at any moment would be too much for one person.
Well, I have to hunt monsters anyway, so getting paid in gold coins would be nice. I brought plenty of food, too.
The only concern was that he didn’t know the way out of the cave. When he asked about it, Bulkar pulled a rolled-up piece of paper from his clothes and unfurled it before Jinwoo’s eyes.
The paper was covered in winding lines which, unless he was mistaken, looked like a map of this cave.
After showing him the map for a brief ten seconds, Bulkar rolled it back up and put it away.
“Memorized?”
“No.”
As if he could memorize that ant-farm-like map in just ten seconds.
“That was a sample. Want to see more, pay up.”
“…”
“…”
…It seemed people were the same everywhere. Jinwoo had no choice but to nod.
Besides, the Dwarf said he would give him extra gold for any monsters he killed. There was no reason to refuse.
“Deal.”
They shook hands, and Bulkar gave him a gold coin as a down payment.
It was the first time he had ever touched gold. Was it real?
Remembering something he’d seen somewhere, Jinwoo bit the coin. It was indeed softer than other metals, and his teeth left a clear mark.
Wow, it must be real.
Fascinated by his first piece of gold, Jinwoo put it away. He was so intrigued that instead of placing it in his inventory, he put it in his pants pocket and kept fiddling with it.
“This way.”
Bulkar gestured for him to follow and led him somewhere.
After passing through a winding passage, they came to a small, crudely installed wooden door. The short Bulkar could walk right through, but Jinwoo had to duck his head.
The space they entered was decorated quite cozily. It was about the size of a two-room apartment, with a soft-looking bed on one side and various work tools on the other.
On one wall, a section of stone had been carved out to create a device that looked like a simple furnace.
Is this his living quarters and workshop?
There weren't many items, but the space itself felt lived-in.
The furniture and tools could have been brought in a subspace pouch, but the furnace carved from the wall was different. It was quite blackened with soot, as if it had been used for a long time.
How long had he been in this Gate?
Bulkar took a dark brown pouch from his belt and opened its mouth wide. A bed suddenly popped out from inside. It seemed to be a subspace pouch, similar to an inventory.
The room became quite cramped as a result, but Bulkar didn't seem to mind. His workspace was untouched, so he appeared to be fine with it.
“From today, sleep. Here.”
Nod, nod.
For the time being, he decided to live with the Dwarf and carry out the request. Seeing as the Dwarf had casually tossed him a gold coin as a down payment, he didn’t seem like the type of client who would stiff him on payment.

Bulkar’s daily routine was precise.
Around 5 a.m., he would shoot out of bed and warm up. He would get off the bed and stretch his short limbs, and despite his stout build, he was remarkably flexible.
The rustling next to him naturally woke Jinwoo, who joined in on the stretching.
“This. National calisthenics. My country’s exercise.”
When Jinwoo showed him the national calisthenics routine, Bulkar clapped his hands in delight. He wasn't mocking him; he was just fascinated by a cultural artifact from a foreign—no, an alien—world.
After a few days, he even picked out his favorite moves from the routine and incorporated them into his own stretching regimen.
After stretching came breakfast. His meals consisted mainly of bread, milk, and grain mixed with milk, with the occasional piece of dried meat.
Once he had eaten his fill, he would grab his pickaxe and head to his worksite. It seemed there was a large mineral vein nearby that he was in the process of completely mining out.
“Precious. Very, very.”
Jinwoo had a look at the mineral Bulkar was mining, but with his lack of knowledge, he couldn’t tell what it was. It just looked like an ordinary stone with specks of blue sand mixed in.
It was said that Dwarves were artisans and scholars second to none when it came to stone and iron. For one to speak with such a sparkle in his eye, it must be a truly precious mineral.
The rest of the schedule was simple.
All day long, he would mine, sort, and carry minerals. When it was time to eat, he would have a simple meal like a sandwich, then return, wash up, and sleep.
For washing, there was a spot nearby where groundwater flowed, and they would bathe there.
This routine repeated almost exactly, day in and day out, with no room for anything else.
Jinwoo’s role was to protect this routine from being disrupted by external factors. To exterminate any nearby monsters.
Squeak!
This underground area was filled with rat-like monsters. The difference from normal rats was that their limbs were longer and had reverse joints.
Their legs looked like a dog's or a cat's, but their bodies were those of rats. Even worse, the tip of their tails had a sharp, keratinous blade that they used to stab things like an awl.
Stab.
Of course, to Jinwoo, they were monsters that died with a single swing.
They didn't seem very profitable. He wasn't sure if any company would buy the meat or hide of these filthy rats, and their magic stones were tiny and of poor quality. They were the lowest-grade monsters Jinwoo had ever hunted.
F-class monsters.
No one had to tell him; he knew instinctively. Monsters of this level were definitely classified as F-class internationally.
But there are a lot of them.
Perhaps because they were rats, their numbers were truly immense. Even though he patrolled the area around Bulkar’s lodging and worksite every single day without fail, they just kept popping out from somewhere.
Thanks to that, even though they were F-class, he was accumulating a good number of magic stones. A pile of fingernail-sized magic stones was quite reassuring.
The flame… is just so-so here, too.
The amount of Blue Flame he absorbed from killing the monsters wasn't much, just like their magic stones.
He realized how lucky he had been to nearly double the size of his flame by killing the werewolf on the 0th Floor.
To grow his flame by that much killing these rats, he’d probably have to kill them in the tens of thousands.
Still, thanks to his diligent efforts, Bulkar’s work proceeded without a hitch.
Perhaps for that reason, Bulkar seemed to be in a very good mood ever since Jinwoo joined him. With no need to deal with the pesky rats, his work was progressing smoothly.
“You amazing. Diligent and strong.”
“Thanks.”
After a few days, he had completely gotten used to communicating with just a few blunt words.
He had received a total of four gold coins so far. Three, excluding the down payment from the first day.
Considering how expensive a single gold coin was, it was more than enough compensation for a few days of work.
He once asked if it was okay to receive so much, and Bulkar replied.
“Gold coin, little use. Not needed.”
Apparently, gold coins weren't very useful in the Dwarven nation.
According to Bulkar, Dwarves were very particular about minerals, considering many factors like their utility, application, and rarity. Gold, however, fell short in many areas.
While it had some value as jewelry, its value was greatly diminished by the fact that it was difficult to make into swords and armor.
So it’s not a completely worthless commodity, but it’s not as expensive as it is on Earth.
If that was the case, he could accept it without guilt. He had felt a little uneasy that the pay was too high for the amount of work he was doing.
“You work good. Find monster good, kill good.”
Bulkar especially praised Jinwoo’s tracking ability.
Anyone could kill the annoying rats, but Jinwoo would find the rats' hidden nests and wipe them out completely.
As monsters that burrowed and hid underground, they were hard to find without considerable tracking skills, yet Jinwoo found them as if guided by a ghost.
Bulkar said it was incredibly satisfying. Like passing a long-overdue bowel movement.
He seemed to have been here for quite a while; just how much had he been tormented by the rat swarms?

That day, too, Jinwoo sent Bulkar off to the worksite and spread his senses as usual, checking for any monsters loitering or approaching nearby.
Hm?
Something was strange today.
Usually, he would have found one or two by the start of the day, but today, it was clear.
Well, some days are like this. Thinking that, he expanded his senses and wandered around.
…!
He detected some strange flames. They were in the direction of the mineral vein where Bulkar, not him, had gone to work.
The flames were peculiar, unlike any he had seen before.
They were messy, somehow. Flames that looked like a complex tangle of thorny vines, or perhaps intertwined roots.
Jinwoo sprinted toward the worksite where Bulkar was mining.
“Jinwoo!”
There was Bulkar, bleeding from an arrow in his shoulder.
And…
“A human? Why here?”
“Don’t know. Kill him first.”
There was an arrow, shot in a straight line, aimed right between Jinwoo’s eyes.
The approaching arrowhead grew so close it felt like he could make eye contact with it. Just as Jinwoo’s eyes widened and his head was about to be pierced…
His sword flashed like lightning, deflecting the arrow.
Simultaneously, he took his next step. In that single motion, Jinwoo closed the distance, bringing the archer—a black-skinned Elf—within striking range. A Dark Elf, with skin like leftover ash.
“…!”
As the Elf, surprised by Jinwoo’s sudden approach, tried to draw his sword, Jinwoo’s blade was already severing his arm.