No Hobby

When I returned to the office, the two of them were already preparing to leave work.

“Are you leaving right on time today?”

At my question, Go Yu-jin gave a bright smile.

“Yes! Because there’s no work.”

Our work was not regular. When there was no work, it was infinitely leisurely.

And currently, there was no work. It was because thorough investigations into many Gate entries had begun, thanks to the Cultists of Ruin causing trouble for the first time in a while.

If even a small problem was discovered, entry was controlled, and because various forms of investigation that weren’t usually done were carried out in parallel, situations even occurred where bidding for Gate entry itself was refused.

People said that investigation teams should be dispatched to those guilds that refused to thoroughly poke around everything, but such a thing did not actually happen; rather, it was expected to lead to a situation where social distrust would pile up layer by layer.

From the perspective of guilds that mainly frequented Gates, being investigated every time was a troublesome matter, but the problem was when a Cultist of Ruin was discovered during such an investigation.

In that case, all the images built up so far would go down the drain.

That wasn’t all. Damage could also come to a guild because of a Cultist of Ruin who secretly snuck into a Gate to avoid the eyes of the country.

This was because cases where a guild was annihilated for absurd reasons often occurred during Gate incidents.

It would be good if something was found when manpower was dispatched in a hurry to investigate the situation, but for the most part, it ended without even finding anything, so the atmosphere was not good in many ways, and there were signs that it would be noisy for the time being regarding the Gate bidding issue.

“But don’t we bid?”

A part I felt while working for over three months was that we had bidding authority but did not use it.

At this point, it was An So-mi who answered instead of Go Yu-jin.

“Why wouldn’t we? It’s because even if we do, they don’t raise their hands for us!”

“Why is that?”

“The first reason is a lack of personnel, and the second is because of the notion that since we are black mages, we can do it for the sake of basic industry.”

“Is it because they’re afraid we might clear the Gate by ourselves?”

“There are many reasons, but that possibility is quite high. They say even the Dark Magic Tower, which can be called a gathering of black mages, always suffers losses in bidding competitions, right?”

This was a society that mistreated black mages quite a bit.

“Now, let’s stop the serious talk and go home!”

Go Yu-jin had a bright expression, and An So-mi ran out quickly with a word to see us tomorrow. I had no way of knowing where she went so hurriedly every day.

“Let’s go. Us too.”

At Go Yu-jin’s action of lightly pulling my arm, I eventually ended up on a forced path home. Afterward, I ended up having a light dinner with Go Yu-jin, and she asked.

“How was the task you went to?”

“For now, it’s expected to be resolved smoothly, but it didn’t seem like it could be solved with only police manpower. The upper levels will have to move as well. Probably…”

Dealing with Awakeners was a job for Awakeners.

Nowadays, detectives basically had to be Awakeners as well, but since there were quite many cases where that wasn’t so, it remained to be seen what kind of results would be derived.

“The Cultists of Ruin are a problem.”

“They were always a problem. Because it’s difficult to grasp where they are hiding and causing accidents. At least beings like us can vaguely grasp it when they cause an accident, but socially we aren’t in a situation where we can advance to important positions to investigate such things, so isn’t it frustrating?”

“I often think that. Whether someone is intentionally ruining our image…”

If it’s a possibility, it’s sufficient.

It was because even a large number of the Cultists of Ruin were high-ranking officials.

While knowing this, there was an atmosphere of keeping it quiet, and since striking them all down would also lead to enormous social fallout and loss, they became a group that could not be easily touched.

Back when things were busy with the Great Cataclysm, it wasn’t a problem to kill and eliminate Cultists of Ruin as soon as they were found, but now, even if you kill a Cultist of Ruin, if there’s no way to prove it, the killer is instead framed as a murderer.

Afterward, Go Yu-jin made an effort to change the atmosphere, and thanks to her maintaining a bright atmosphere throughout the meal, the day ended with a quite pleasant dinner.

“Good morning!”

An So-mi arrived at work with a bright face; it seemed she was in a very good mood today.

“What brings this beaming smile?”

“Am I not allowed to be excited?”

“Of course not. I’m just curious. It’s rare for you to come to work so brightly.”

“Hehehe, there’s a reason for it. Look at this.”

She showed me a bag; it was a familiar leather.

“It’s Gold Lizard leather, isn’t it?”

“Correct! I finally got it!”

An So-mi beamed while hugging it tightly to her chest; her hobby was collecting bags. And not just any ordinary luxury bags, but collecting bags made of rare materials.

“If it’s Gold Lizard, it must have been quite expensive?”

“Ugh, my bank account almost buckled. It was incredibly expensive.”

So, at the question of how much it was, she looked around and held up two fingers.

“It wouldn’t be 2 million; is it 20 million?”

“Yes, isn’t it amazing?”

I was somewhat surprised that a small bag cost 20 million won, but I just let it be since it was a matter of personal satisfaction anyway.

In fact, it was a modest level compared to the price of equipment used by Awakeners.

“Tomorrow, a pouch made of Death Crocodile tail leather is coming out for auction, and I’m worried about what price it will trade at.”

Death Crocodile was a boss monster that appeared in Gates of Grade 5 or higher.

A pouch made from the tail leather of such a creature; I thought that a much more amazing item would come out if armor were made with it instead, but since I had no way of knowing the details of this situation, I had no choice but to remain silent.

But it was then.

“You, are you going to auction again?”

A startled An So-mi slowly looked back at Go Yu-jin.

“D-did you hear…?”

“It would be strange not to hear when you’re talking so loudly. So, how much is the one coming out this time?”

“That… wouldn’t it be a little expensive?”

“Phew, so how much do you think it’ll go for?”

“I think the collectors will swarm. Looking at previous transaction prices, similar items were traded for 90 million domestically, and sold for 12,000 dollars overseas.”

An So-mi talked about what she knew in great detail. Sometimes when I saw this aspect of her, I received the impression that she wasn’t the person I usually knew.

“Phew, you even asked for all your year-end bonuses; so you intended to spend them on that in the end?”

“It’s ‘my money, my purchase’ anyway. Besides, the value of collections goes up over time, so it’s a loss if I don’t buy it now!”

Go Yu-jin shook her head and said she understood, telling her not to have a long face later.

“Hehe, it’s an item people can’t get because there aren’t any. It’s an item that only one or two pieces come up for auction by chance when an auction opens, so if you manage it by casting preservation magic in an unused state, it becomes an asset in its own right!”

From what I heard, this type of investment (?) of An So-mi’s was a long-standing hobby. I heard from Go Yu-jin that she was living with the reins loosened after the world stabilized from its mess, but since many of the things she purchased like that had risen in price and she was seeing quite large profits, she didn’t seem to particularly discourage it.

In fact, if the Awakeners of our company found a suitable guild and frequented Gates, they could accumulate even more enormous wealth, but remembering the fact that most guilds did not welcome black mages because of their habit of going crazy when they see blood and the penalty of it being difficult to manifest power unless they made a corpse first, I thought they might be feeling grateful for even this.

“But doesn’t Mr. Geum Seong-chan have a hobby?”

At An So-mi’s sudden question, Go Yu-jin also looked at me with curiosity.

A hobby; I hadn’t thought about it.

Before the world broke, gaming was certainly a hobby.

I enjoyed it passionately, and my skills were decent enough that I never heard people say I was bad at games. But now, I had no hobby to speak of.

“Do I have to have a hobby?”

“What fun is there in living if you’re bored?”

“I’m not sentimental enough to particularly feel boredom. I can look at books, and I’m quite busy configuring magic or putting together my Memorize.”

“…Phew, aren’t you tired of doing Memorize every single day?”

“Boredom doesn’t protect your life, does it?”

“We aren’t on a battlefield. We’re living in modern times.”

An So-mi was right. But looking at the recent situation, I couldn’t necessarily think it was peaceful. Because it wouldn’t be strange at all no matter when or what happened.

However, it didn’t seem like it would work even if I actively talked about this to An So-mi.

“So-mi, that’s enough, stop.”

Just then, Go Yu-jin intervened and stopped An So-mi’s remarks, and I also no longer needed to think further, so I gave Go Yu-jin a light nod in greeting.

Afterward, the daily routine began, and because we had to move split between two Gates today, I examined the Gate characteristics.

“It seems the Ganghwa-do Gate was a place where Hound-type monsters mainly appeared, and flying things including bats formed a small-scale balance. The Gate scale is Grade 3 and the environment itself is forest terrain.”

“It’ll be hard for So-mi to go. What about the other one?”

“Spirit monsters appeared in this one. But it’s not a summoning type; can Ms. An So-mi handle it?”

At my question, she spoke as if it were obvious.

“It’s just that destruction magic is my main strength; it’s not like I can’t use other magic, you know?”

“Well, in that case, I think it would be fine if Ms. An So-mi went to this place, and I’ll go to this one.”

After hearing my words, Go Yu-jin asked.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“If you really want to help someone, I think it would be fine if you went with Ms. An So-mi.”

“I understand.”

Go Yu-jin nodded calmly. Thus, the work proceeded divided into two teams.

Afterward, as I left the office, just in case, I took an item out of sub-space, handed it to the two of them, and said.

“It’s an Emergency Escape Stone.”

“Why this?”

“Isn’t it unsettling these days?”

Furthermore, we were the ones who poked at the Cultists of Ruin. It didn’t seem like those petty and mean fellows who never forget a grudge would leave us alone after we made them eat dirt.

So, it was an item I had spent all night working on after obtaining high-grade Magic Stones.

“Mr. Geum Seong-chan, you knew how to make things like this too?”

An So-mi’s eyes twinkled.

“I make them from time to time. Why?”

“Why do you work at our company when you know how to make things like this?”

Go Yu-jin also recalled something at An So-mi’s words and looked at me with a curious gaze, so I said calmly.

“Because I don’t want to live like a machine. I can make at most two or three of those a day, and after making them, I’m so exhausted that I don’t want to do anything all day.”

“Still, they’re incredibly expensive. These days, the price of one Emergency Escape Stone is 200 million won…?”

It was absurd to watch An So-mi snatch the item I handed to Go Yu-jin and hug it tightly to herself, but I spoke as if it were no big deal.

“Had I not mentioned it before?”

“What?”

“I’m not doing this job particularly for the money.”

“T-then, what for?”

After looking at Go Yu-jin for a moment, I finished speaking.

“It would be good to think of me as a magpie repaying a favor.”

An So-mi went ‘Ohhh’ while looking back and forth between Go Yu-jin and me, but the conversation ended there. The daily routine was quite tight.