007 - New York's Druid

It was far more than he had expected.
The official had said it would easily be over 100 million, but he never imagined it would reach 300 million.
There was a reason he had received a higher-than-average price. First, the condition of the carcasses was exceptionally clean.
He received a bonus for every piece of game the Elf had felled with a single arrow, and that amount was quite substantial.
Even so, that alone wouldn't have pushed the total into the hundreds of millions.
The figure had jumped so high because of the black bear's carcass.
'So it was true that monster carcasses are worth much more.'
He had heard that monster carcasses were more expensive than those of ordinary animals.
The meat and hides of normal animals were used for everyday life, but the meat, blood, hides, and claws of monsters were used to create consumables and equipment for Hunters.
These materials, saturated and stained with Magi, were said to have all sorts of applications.
The black bear's meat and blood were useless and disposed of.
What was priced were the hide, claws, teeth, and so on, and those were eye-wateringly expensive.
According to the employee, materials from a boss-level monster that dominated an entire area were materials that workshop mages and artisans would go crazy for.
The Cheonok Group also made a point of acquiring such materials at any cost, without sparing any expense.
These acquired materials were used for research, processed into equipment and distributed to Cheonok's affiliated guilds, or sold at international auctions, among other various uses.
'The capital of a large corporation is really something.'
He liked that they didn't pinch pennies, but spent generously when it mattered.
Having a large sum of money appear overnight felt both good and bewildering.
What should he do with this money?
There were many things he could do, but Jinwoo had already decided on his immediate course of action.
"Should I go to the supermarket? Or would the department store food court be better?"
He was going to buy food.

There was a site called Hunter Net Blind.
It was an anonymous site that only verified Hunters could join, mainly a place for Hunters to share information about Gates or exchange information about guilds and jobs.
A certain post there was generating a bit of a buzz.

Title: Looks like they got that crazy bear from the primeval forest? [Cheonok Trading · j]*
Body: The sales department said they got some good materials in, so I went to look and it was that bear's carcass. It was cleanly cut in half.**

ㄴReally? I was going crazy not being able to go there every time a portal opened nearby. Good riddance, you bastard.
ㄴWhich guild took it down? I haven't heard anything.
ㄴIf it were a well-known guild, news would have spread from the moment they started preparing. The fact that it's quiet must mean it was some small team.
ㄴOP: Not sure if it was a team, but it was one person who caught it. Said it was cut in half with a single slice.

It wasn't something that caused a huge stir in society.
It was just one post that had drawn a moderate amount of attention.
Even the Hunters who read the post didn't see it as a major issue.

ㄴLooks like a passing A-class Hunter took a swing and left.
ㄴWho did it? If they sold it to Cheonok, it must be a Seoul Hunter.
ㄴA Seoul-based, A-class or higher Hunter who mains a sword...
ㄴNot necessarily a sword. Could have been cut by magic.

The primeval forest was vast, with many sectors and several boss-level monsters.
Among them, the black bear was a tricky boss that claimed an entire mountain range as its territory.
It was too much to face head-on, and clumsy traps were useless against it, so no one went near it.
Experienced Hunters who had been active in the primeval forest for a long time avoided the black bear's territory altogether.
There was more to lose than gain by going there.
Who was the Hunter that took down that troublesome beast?
Those with time on their hands tried to search, focusing on Seoul's A-class Hunters, but they couldn't find out who did it at all.
It simply remained a small mystery.

Finally, it was dinnertime.
He had been at Cheonok for quite a while, and grocery shopping took time, so it was a bit later than usual, but it wasn't yet 10 p.m.
Having thoroughly prepared for a barbecue, Jinwoo set up in his front yard.
He set down the grill he'd bought at the department store and laid out charcoal. Then he lit it with a torch.
Fwoooosh—
Jinwoo watched with a pounding heart as the charcoal gradually turned red.
Just then.
KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-BOOM—!
A heavy sound echoed from outside the barrier.
It sounded a bit like an earthquake, but was slightly different.
'Noisy again.'
It wasn't a rare occurrence. The area outside the barrier was a monster-infested zone, so all sorts of sounds could be heard.

Seeing that the barrier was fine, Jinwoo soon lost interest and focused on the charcoal.
Before long, the fire was roaring.
"Here we go, here we go."
Jinwoo rubbed his palms together and placed the meat on the grill.
Tssssssss—
A blissful sound filled the air as the charcoal and meat met. Dripping fat hit the coals, causing the flames to flare up intensely.
He covered the grill with meat and placed a few sausages on one side.
He also added edible mushrooms, tomatoes, and corn he'd bought at the supermarket.
When the fire seemed to weaken slightly, he reignited the charcoal with the torch.
His heart was pounding with such anticipation that it almost drowned out the sound of the grilling meat.
'I couldn't even eat a proper meal in the Gate.'
If he'd had a bit more leeway, he might have grilled some fish or rabbit.
But he simply hadn't had the time.
Inside the Gate, Jinwoo had survived every meal with Blocks and fruit while on the move.
After enduring and enduring, this moment had finally arrived.
'It's cooked!'
He saw the beautifully browned meat. He cut the thick pieces with scissors into bite-sized chunks and, for the first one, dipped it lightly in salt before putting it in his mouth.

For a moment, he lost his senses.
It wasn't his first time eating grilled meat. Every year for his birthday, he would buy substitute meat from the supermarket and grill it.
But real meat was different.
The aroma was different, the texture he felt while chewing was different. The very concentration of the juices that filled his mouth was on another level.
'This too? And this?'
The grill was loaded with various cuts of meat.
He picked out the fastest-cooking pieces one by one and stuffed them into his mouth without stopping.
He had bought plenty of things to dip it in, so he had salt, ssamjang, a sweet soy-and-onion sauce, and shredded scallions mixed with gochujang, among others.
He tried every cut with every sauce, comparing which pairing was best.
He couldn't reach a conclusion. They were all just delicious.
In between, he washed it all down with draft beer he'd bought from the supermarket.
He had put it in his inventory right after paying, so it was as cold as when he had first picked it up.
He ate and ate and ate, washing down the grease with the low-alcohol but highly refreshing beer. He ate sausages, mushrooms, and grilled tomatoes. It was already nearing midnight, but his solo barbecue showed no signs of ending.
'It was worth risking my life for this.'
He felt more intensely alive in this moment than when he’d seen the 300 million won figure in his bank account.
Compared to this joy, the dangers in the Gate were nothing.
Well, honestly, they weren't nothing, but he felt they were worth enduring.
If a devil were to ask him whether he would enter a Gate or live his life eating only Block food, he would choose the former without hesitation.
After gorging himself to his heart's content, Jinwoo finally fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.
Waking up late around noon the next day, Jinwoo decided to try his hand at spicy fish stew. He had wanted to eat it ever since he was catching fish in the Gate, and now the opportunity had come.
He searched for a recipe on his smartphone and brought it to a rolling, red boil.
He had been worried that his fish-cleaning skills would be clumsy, but.
'How is it cutting so easily? Does my ability apply to kitchen knives too?'
When he held the kitchen knife, the fish flesh sliced apart as if cut by a razor blade.
A kitchen knife was still a knife, he supposed.
Because it cut so easily, the flesh wasn't mashed by a dull blade, and he didn't have to tear off the skin when it wouldn't come off cleanly.
He chopped green onions into large pieces and let it simmer for a long time.
While he was at it, he had a lot of leftover meat from yesterday, so he added that in as well.
He figured that adding something delicious to something else delicious would make it exponentially more delicious.
The result was...
'Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have added the meat.'
It wasn't that it tasted bad, but the balance felt subtly off.
Perhaps it was because he had forced meat into a recipe meant only for fish.
The cuts of meat he'd used weren't typically used for stews, which might have been another factor.
Still, he ate it deliciously. The spicy and refreshing broth washed away the fatigue from the previous day.
After having eaten only bland soup made with Block food, eating a spicy stew filled with ingredients felt like a royal feast.
He finished by adding ramen noodles to the pot and slurping them down, finally concluding his brunch.
Two hours later.
Sitting on a wooden chair in his front yard that was so old it was rotting, Jinwoo opened a book.
All sorts of books he had borrowed from the Bureau.
There was a guide for identifying edible mushrooms and a book on trap-making techniques.
There was knowledge on how to erase one's tracks, and conversely, how to identify remaining tracks to assess an enemy's condition.
He had borrowed every book he thought might be even slightly helpful.

He read them, devouring every single letter, absorbing all the knowledge.
'Should I look for some online courses or an academy?'
He had heard that retired Hunters often gave lectures.
They were quite expensive, but being able to hear about the experiences of those who had been active was said to be much better than studying alone.
He'd also heard there were academies, so looking into that might not be a bad idea.
Now, he no longer had to go to the labor office and exhaust his body at a construction site all day.
Going to the Gate provided more than enough income.
What he needed now was not to run around for a day's wage, but the knowledge and skills to survive in a Gate.
'I can't forget the sword, either.'
Among the necessary skills was swordsmanship.
Jinwoo took two swords from his inventory.
One was the standard-issue iron sword, with poor material and rough finishing.
The other was the sword with the white gem, left behind by the Elf.
'Why did she leave this... No, let's not think about her. I won't figure it out anyway.'
Setting the question aside, Jinwoo examined the sword in detail.
It was the size of a typical one-handed sword, and its patterns and decorations were not flashy.
The only decorative part was the white gem embedded in the pommel, but its size and color were not excessive, giving it a natural look.
However, a closer look at the blade revealed something different.
Holding it up to the sunlight and squinting, he could see the steel of the blade reflecting the light in a brilliant, five-colored iridescence.
The light was so faint that one might not notice it without looking closely, but that very subtlety made it seem all the more mystical.
Who made this sword, and with what?
Since it was the Elf's sword, an Elven craftsman must have made it.
He had heard that Dwarves were the best at handling iron; how would this compare to a Dwarven-made sword?
Though he had never seen another sword, Jinwoo didn't think this one would be greatly inferior.
That was how striking an impression the white-gem sword made on him.
He stood in the front yard and took a stance.
Among the books he'd borrowed from the Bureau was one on the basics of swordsmanship, so he tried to assume a proper stance while looking at it.
"? Hmm???"
But no matter what stance he tried, it felt awkward.
Whether he tried the most standard middle guard or a high guard for a powerful attack, everything felt wrong. It was like wearing clothes that didn't fit.
Was it awkward because it was his first time with formalized swordsmanship, or were these stances truly not suited for him?
Normally, one would think it was the former, but.
'Let's just drop this.'
Jinwoo believed it was the latter. He had no other basis for it; his intuition just told him so.
He tossed aside the stances depicted in the book and stood naturally.
Just standing, just holding the sword.
That alone felt complete. There was no flaw preventing the sword from striking out in any direction at any time.
No matter how he swung the sword, it cut through the air perfectly, as if that was its natural state from the very beginning.
He swung the sword a few more times.
As his body moved, as his heart willed.
The blade that cut through the empty air was as sharp as ever, not the least bit weaker than when he had cut down the wolf or sliced through the black bear.
Was it thanks to his ability?
It didn't feel like a big deal.
He didn't know difficult sword theories, had no philosophy about the sword, and didn't understand its principles.
All he had was a keen killing intent.
'In the end.'
A sword is fine as long as it cuts well.
Jinwoo's sword dance continued without stopping until the sun passed its zenith and began to set.
The grand conference room of Seoul City Hall.
In the enormous meeting room, only two people sat facing each other, deep in conversation.
All other people had been dismissed, and a mana barrier that prevented sound from leaking out was in place.
The identities of those engaged in this secret conversation were, on one side, the Mayor of Seoul, Ma Doo-sik.
The owner of a massive frame that seemed 1.5 times the size of other men, he was a man who had been active as an S-class Hunter in his youth and had risen to the position of Director of the Hunter Management Bureau.
After serving a long tenure as the Bureau's Director, he entered politics upon retirement and successfully won the mayoral election in his mature middle age.
Though he had retired from the Director's position, his status as an S-class Hunter remained, making him one of only three S-class Hunters in Seoul.
"On behalf of the city, I thank you, Chartia. It has only been a few days since you looked after them, and the growth rate of the farms has already risen noticeably."
"I'm glad I could be of help."
Fluent Korean.
The woman, called Chartia, answered as she tucked her light blonde hair behind her ear.
With impressive, calm amber eyes, she was the only Hunter in the world who had awakened an ability related to plant growth.

Here is the translation of the provided text.

Translator's Notes:

• The text uses 제 0 계 (Je Yeong Gye), which literally translates to "The 0th Realm" or "The 0th World." To keep it concise and punchy like a game system, I will translate it as the "0th Floor."
• The online comments (L and ㄴ) are a common format in Korean web novels to represent forum posts. I will format them as indented quotes.
• The system messages will be bracketed and italicized for clarity.