WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Gate Summoner Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 14: Made a Contract. Received a Gift.
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Kang Yul had never had any luck with women in his life.
It was not as if he was handsome enough for people to call him good-looking, even as empty flattery.
More than that, he had been too busy surviving each day to have the leisure to care about women.
Which meant that perhaps the blacksmith's proposal was a chance to date a woman that would never come again in Kang Yul's life...
“I told you, I'll treat you well. I'll trim your nails, comb your hair, even bathe you every day. You only need to bring yourself. Well, I'll drain a little of your energy, but it probably won't kill you. Probably?”
...Kang Yul instinctively realized it.
This woman was dangerous.
The moment he accepted her proposal, he felt certain he would become a completely hopeless person.
That was why.
“Team Leader Myo!”
Kang Yul sent a desperate look toward Team Leader Myo, who had been watching this from beside him.
He had even forgotten the rude-but-capable underground hunter act he had kept up until now. His eyes plainly said, You brought her here, so please do something...!
A moment later.
“I will sort this out. First, I will explain why we came here.”
Perhaps Team Leader Myo had recognized his desperation.
Unable to watch any longer, she stepped between Kang Yul and the blacksmith and began to settle the situation.
“We came to propose a coal transaction.”
“Coal?”
The blacksmith's gaze turned cold as she listened.
Her eyes clearly asked, You brought an outsider into my workshop without permission just because of coal?
But only for a moment.
“It is coal Hunter Kang Yul mined himself.”
“Coal personally mined by the Esteemed One...?”
The blacksmith's eyes instantly filled with greed.
They seemed to say, You should have said that sooner, you thieving cat!
Watching her greedy, sinister gaze, Kang Yul sighed in relief and thought, I was right not to accept her proposal...
In any case.
“This is the coal. Its mana content is extremely high, so please handle it with care.”
Team Leader Myo silently continued with her job.
She handed the coal Kang Yul had given her to the blacksmith and did not forget to explain what made it unusual.
“What do you mean, its mana content...? Esteemed One, which Gate did you mine this in? If the coal is like this, the nearby minerals must be incredible too.”
“I cannot disclose where or how I mined it. Just know that its mana content is extremely high.”
“R-Right!”
Kang Yul answered firmly from behind Team Leader Myo.
Seeing this, the blacksmith gave Kang Yul and Team Leader Myo an odd look before shooting a question at her.
“Thieving cat. Do you even know what the Esteemed One is, acting so protective of him?”
“I do not. However, Hunter Kang Yul is a hunter assigned to the Nowon District Association on paper, and he has been placed directly under me.”
“So you've already marked him as yours and are telling me not to touch him?”
“I am simply fulfilling my duty as a superior to look after a hunter under my jurisdiction.”
“That's the same thing. You really have a talent for making simple things sound complicated.”
After that, Team Leader Myo and the blacksmith glared at each other in silence for quite some time.
Kang Yul took a step back and watched anxiously, wondering, They aren't going to start throwing punches, are they...?
“Tch. What a shame. I wish I had found him first.”
The blacksmith looked away first, ruffling her hair in regret before glancing at Kang Yul.
“Fine. The first hunter to find a supernatural rarity can claim ownership, so it would be improper for me to try taking him. But, thieving cat, you know there is an exception when the rarity has a will of its own.”
“Of course. If Hunter Kang Yul chooses you of his own accord, I have no intention of stopping him.”
“You said it, then?”
With Team Leader Myo's permission, or something like it, their conversation ended.
The blacksmith then strode toward Kang Yul, who had been watching from a distance.
“!”
Kang Yul seriously thought, I need to run...!
He actually started to flee and had already stepped onto the threshold when the blacksmith's next words stopped him.
“You wanted to sell coal, right? I'll buy all of it.”
Halt!
“You'll buy all the coal...?”
“Yes. As for the price... Ah, if you fill the bundles I give you, one large bill per bundle should do.”
“A large bill... You mean ten million won?”
Kang Yul's mind began racing.
He did not know what kind of bundle the blacksmith meant, but he had coal to spare.
After all, wasn't this coal so difficult to handle that he had nowhere suitable to sell it?
At that price, it seemed like a fairly reasonable offer... but that thought lasted only a moment.
“Oh, Esteemed One. A large bill is not ten million won.”
“...Then, one million won?”
“Come on, what do you take me for? Of course I mean one hundred million. Fill one bundle, and I'll give you one hundred million won.”
“!”
Kang Yul doubted whether what he had just heard was real.
No, he could not help doubting it.
How large could a bundle be for her to do something as insane as buying it full of coal for one hundred million won?
There had to be another motive.
And indeed, there was.
“Of course, even the Esteemed One must know that selling coal alone would not make this deal worth my while.”
The blacksmith looked at Kang Yul with eyes steeped in dark desire.
Then she fixed her gaze on his hand, more precisely, the hand bearing the gem the worm had gifted him, and continued.
“So, how about we consider the price of this transaction to include forming a ‘bond’ between us as well?”
“Are you... trying to buy me with money...?”
“If you dislike it, you may leave just as you are. But if you intend to accept the transaction.”
The blacksmith held out her hand.
“Come to me and shake my hand, Esteemed One.”
“...”
...Kang Yul took the blacksmith's hand.
He did not deliberate for long.
She might have been trying to humiliate him, but one hundred million won was far too much money for him to scold her over it.
And so, in the end.
“I look forward to working with you, Esteemed One.”
“If you try anything strange, I'll cancel the contract.”
“Of course. I will only do what the Esteemed One permits, so don't worry.”
“...”
Kang Yul had acquired a buyer willing to purchase Gate byproducts of unknown origin.
Though in exchange, he felt as if some terrible force was shaving away his humanity.
He decided not to mention that part.
#####
Though Kang Yul and the blacksmith had formed a “bond” with a handshake, a verbal contract alone carried little force in the modern twenty-first century.
So, with Team Leader Myo mediating, the two finalized their agreement by pressing their thumbprints onto a contract stamped with the Association's certification mark.
“With this, the contract between Kkaebi Workshop and Hunter Kang Yul has been formally concluded.”
“Esteemed One, since this is a special occasion, shall we share some energy with a nice, tight hug?”
Of course, the blacksmith was more interested in Kang Yul's body than in finalizing the contract.
The moment it was complete, she openly demanded physical contact with him.
As a result.
“Don't come near me covered in soot.”
“Then I'll wash up, so please wait just a moment...”
“Team Leader Myo! Help!”
“Hunter Kang Yul. This is unpleasant, so don't cling to me.”
Kang Yul recoiled and hid behind Team Leader Myo.
Team Leader Myo frowned in displeasure when he touched her.
And the blacksmith chased after him, asking again and again for just one hug.
A scene of utter chaos unfolded.
Eventually.
“Both of you, enough.”
Team Leader Myo, whose irritation had reached its limit, raised mana filled with killing intent.
Her shadow soon writhed as though alive, restraining them both and bringing the commotion to an end for the moment.
“Seeing her bring out the shadows, she must be really angry...”
“Is that Team Leader Myo's skill...?”
“Ah, the Esteemed One didn't know? That thieving cat's class is Shadow Cat. She mostly uses skills related to cats and shadows, but...”
“Dokkaebi. Do you truly wish to die?”
“...Oh dear, the cat is angry. I'll tell you about that another time if I get the chance, so shall we go get your bundle for now?”
“...Lead the way.”
Kang Yul hurried after the blacksmith deeper into the workshop.
Being alone with her was uncomfortable, but he decided it was better than staying beside Team Leader Myo while shadows poured from her.
I need to survive first.
After crossing the yard and reaching the back of the workshop, Kang Yul found a room used to store items made there.
When he looked around inside, he could not help letting out a sincere gasp of admiration.
Bundles, wooden clubs, swords, guns, hoes, shovels, staffs, books, bells, oil lamps, and even objects whose purpose he could not guess.
The room held an incredible variety of things.
“Did you make all of these yourself...?”
“A few were made by my master, but I made most of them. Some were designs I came up with myself, and some were commissioned pieces.”
“That is amazing. A blacksmith normally works with metal.”
“Well, this is Kkaebi Workshop.”
“...”
Kang Yul recalled when he had first arrived here.
When he had spotted the large sign over the gate that read Kkaebi Workshop.
At the time, he had idly wondered whether this workshop might somehow be connected to dokkaebi...
...Earlier, Team Leader Myo had called the blacksmith a dokkaebi.
Perhaps it was true.
Perhaps the blacksmith before him was not human, but something supernatural.
Of course.
“Esteemed One, I'll give you the smallest bundle first, so please fill it appropriately.”
“Ah, yes. ...What? What do you mean, the smallest bundle?”
Kang Yul's thoughts did not last long.
The blacksmith's shocking next words taught him another truth about the world that he never should have known.
“This bundle can hold far more than it appears to. It can easily fit about as much as a small warehouse.”
“What? This tiny bundle?”
“I have to be capable of at least that much to be the blacksmith of Kkaebi Workshop.”
“Are you really a dokkaebi...?”
“What? Of course I am human. My master is a dokkaebi. Like the Esteemed One, they blended into society while wearing human form... Ah, no, no, the Esteemed One is human right now, correct? Forget it. Forget what I just said!”
“...”
He had already heard it all. What was there to take back?
As Kang Yul stiffened, wondering whether the world might already be doomed after being cursed with this knowledge.
“Ah... What do I do? It seems my last comment has confused your memories...”
The blacksmith broke into a cold sweat and stamped her feet, muttering, “I screwed up...!”
Then she suddenly looked at the wooden club hanging on the wall.
“Ah, right! Esteemed One, would you like this club?”
“What is it...?”
“It is a Dokkaebi Club my master made. It is a supernatural rarity that not just anyone can use. It is unfinished, but since the Esteemed One is close to the earth, you should be able to use it.”
“...?”
Kang Yul did not know why, but he was not the type to refuse something offered to him.
So he accepted the club.
“You are giving this to me for free?”
“Of course it is free! It is a gift, a gift!”
And so, somehow, Kang Yul obtained an Unfinished Dokkaebi Club.
Footnotes:
Dokkaebi are Korean folkloric supernatural beings, distinct from Western goblins.
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