I Live Alone in the Inventory

Episode 21

Jung-min walked to Jo-won’s office.

‘Ah…that face is really younger than me? What is this… I was thinking of calling him Mister…’

After shuddering once, Jeong-min entered the office where it said “Human Resources Department”.

Several employees returned and sat in the previously empty office.

Jung-min went to the small office inside and opened the door.

“Are you here?”

Jo Won, who was sitting at a small desk, stood up expressionlessly and greeted Jung Min.

“Yes, are you ready?”

Jo Won nodded at Jung Min’s question.

“Yes. They are piled up in one corner, so you can take them with you.

Jung-min looked at the supplies piled up in one corner of the office.

‘Looking at it like this, it doesn’t seem like much.

As Jung-min opened the inventory and moved the supplies, Jo Won, who was looking at him, said.

“The food you mentioned has been discussed with the restaurant, so you can take it with you when you leave. We decided that it was better to bring cooked food than to bring ingredients, so we prepared cooked food. Anyway, put it in your inventory. It won’t hurt if you leave it there. Are you okay?”

Jungmin looked at Jowon blankly.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No.

“Who is compliant now-“

Jo Won, who was frowning and frowning at Jeong-min’s words, sat down and took a deep breath, clutching his forehead.

After taking a breath for a while, Jo Won sighed heavily and spoke to Jung Min.

“I don’t think you’ll ever know this pain… you haven’t experienced it. It’s a pain that drives people crazy. It’s better to accept that I’m your slave than to continue to suffer… It’s about the kind of pain you think, you know?”

“Why did you do that? To be honest, I think it was a bit excessive that I even took the seal of a slave. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have even put a slave’s seal on it? Perhaps…?”

“……”

Joey kept his mouth shut, as if he had nothing to say.

“Well, let’s get along with this anyway. At least my existence is good for this shelter, it will never be harmful. Even if you need something, don’t worry, I’ll trade it for you at full price. Rather, isn’t it better for the shelter? It goes through me. How can I get those items without it? If only you serve me diligently as my slave, the future of this shelter is solid.”

Jo Won, who had been listening to Jeong-min silently, sighed deeply before speaking.

“Please tell me just one thing. Those items… where do they really come from?

“There’s no such thing. Don’t worry. But if you continue to do business with me, maybe Daesung Shelter will be able to become a leading Shelter.

“…..”

Jo Won thought for a moment before talking to Jung Min.

“Okay. As long as I’m your slave, I’ll have to do what you’re told. But like you said, this is where your friends and their families belong, so please take care of them as much as possible.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that. Oh, and do you have any spare rooms? A small room is fine.”

“…I need to find out about that. But I’m sure there will be. Why is the room…”

“Please prepare a small room for me next time I come. I’m not going to live there… I just have something to write about.”

“..All right.”

After hearing Jo Won’s words, Jung Min left the office.

Jung-min walked to the restaurant and received the food prepared by Jo-won.

Various types of side dishes were placed in dedicated containers and stacked one on top of the other.

‘When you eat, you can just take out a little bit and eat it. Leah will like it too. Kwak Jo-won’s work is quite good. It’s because I’m not cheap, but I think I’m doing a good job’

Jung-min put the food in his inventory and walked down the aisle to get out.

At the training ground through the window of the aisle, I could see the Awakened combat unit in full swing.

‘With that much power, tomorrow’s level D gate subjugation will be no problem. Still, if you don’t know, you should come and see. Didn’t I say it’s going on after lunch…?’

Jung-min walked slowly towards the main gate of Daesung Shelter.

As soon as Jung-min went, there were no instructions given, and he opened the door without any restriction.

Jung-min got out of the Daeseong Shelter and entered the alleyway where he had settled before.

To designate a point to come out, I opened and closed my inventory once, then opened the base gate and entered the inventory.

“Phew… You’re even more dwarfed.”

Inside the inventory, there was no space to step on due to the supplies received from the Daesung Shelter.

“First… the lighting…”

Jung-min found the lantern he had received from the shelter and turned it on.

As the inside of the inventory became brighter, the messy piled items caught my eye.

“Cleaning up…for now..until then, let’s just secure a place to sleep.”

Jung-min roughly made a seat in the middle and spread the thick mattress he got from the shelter.

“Finally freed from the hard floor. How much I needed this…”

Having made a place to sleep, Jung-min started packing up to go to Leah.

Jung-min, who took a few bottles of coke from the shelter, various foods, and alcohol from another dimension’s inventory, moved to Leah’s inventory.

“Hmm..? The gate hasn’t opened yet… did you come too early?”

Leah had always left the inventory gate open at dusk and waited for Jeongmin, but today the inventory gate was not open yet.

Jung-min sat on the floor and waited for the gate to open.

“…It seems like a lot of time has passed…Why doesn’t it open? Is there something going on?”

After waiting for a long time, Leah’s inventory gate showed no sign of opening, and Jung-min began to worry.

“Well… when we first set up the appointment time, we said we’d take a break that day because we might not be able to open it if we’re in combat or something… So now… are we in combat? Is it okay…”

Jeongmin was worried, but he shook his head and murmured.

“Who are you worried about? It’s not anyone else, it’s Leah.. Hmm.. Then I can’t go today. Should I go back?”

Now that a considerable amount of time has passed, it must be quite late at night outside.

Jung-min got up from the floor to return to his inventory.

at that time

The inventory gate opened without a sound.

“It’s open..?!”

Through the inventory gate, Leia could be seen looking at the gate anxiously, her face covered in dirt.

Jung-min moved to Leah’s side without delay.

Now that Jung-min has hardly felt the aftereffects of the dimension shift, he was naturally able to stand next to Leah.

“Jungmin!”

Leah looked at Jung-min and shouted happily.

“I opened it just in case… You’ve been waiting! It’s too late, I thought you had to go back!”

“I was going to go back today because I was taking a break. Fortunately, the gate opened before I went back.”

Jung-min also greeted Leah.

“But what happened? My body is covered in dirt…”

Hearing Jung-min’s words, Leah brushed herself off and said.

“There was a battle just before. I wanted to open the gate right after the battle, but I was afraid that Jung-Min would be in danger… I just ran here and opened the gate.”

“Ah.. you were in the middle of a battle.

“Oh, yes, I should? I’ll wash up for a while and come back.”

“Then, in the meantime, I’ll prepare meals. I made a deal today, so there’s a lot to eat.”

Leah’s eyes sparkled at Jeongmin’s words.

“I’ll wash up soon!”

As Leah ran to the shower booth, Jung-min looked at her with a smile and started preparing dinner.

Jeong-min, who prepared various side dishes and rice from the shelter restaurant, waited for Leah to wash up and come out.

Soon Leah came out and seemed very happy to see the food prepared.

Jung-min first handed a can of cola to Leah.

“Drink this first. Are you thirsty?”

Leah received a cola from Jung-min, used her skills to make it cool, then opened the lid and started drinking it.

Leah, who had been drinking for a while, frowned and shrank.

“Keuh.. Really this stinging feeling and coolness… It’s addictive! How long has this cola…”

“Ah… it’s been so long… hasn’t it? It’s been a few days…”

“That’s how nice it sounds!”

Leah, who shot Jung-min lightly, drank the remaining coke again.

And sat down to eat.

“There are a lot of food I’ve never seen before. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“I hope it suits your taste. I got it from Shelter’s cafeteria. Try it.”

The two started having dinner.

Leah exclaimed admiration as she ate the food Jung-min brought from the shelter.

“Really…it’s my first time tasting something like this…it’s so delicious, Mr. Jeongmin!”

“Ah…it’s good that they’re delicious. They’re just ordinary side dishes..”

“It might be normal for Jeong-min, but it’s not for me. All of these are new foods.”

“It’s nice to eat well.”

The two finished their meal with a chat.

After roughly tidying up the place, Jung-min said to Leah.

“It’s too late.”

“Okay. I think it’s better to take a break from training today. I’m a little tired after a big battle in a while.”

“What kind of battle did you fight?”

“Hmm… Lately, the attacks of monsters have been rare, so I’m searching the area myself. But today, I was attacked while searching. They were monsters on a different level from the monsters that had attacked me in the past. Thanks to that, I took quite a bit of time. It ate and became muddy.”

Jeongmin recalled the monsters that had attacked him before.

‘They said they were monsters on a different level from those monsters…? Then, what a terrifying monster they are…’

Leah’s words continued.

“If the monsters that appeared before were a rehash of monsters that had come out of the gate so far… the monsters I met today were the first I’d ever seen. Perhaps it feels like they are real S-class monsters that only appear at S-class gates? They’re powerful. So it took a while to catch them all. What is it”

‘…I can’t believe that I can catch such incredible monsters just by investing a little more time…’

Jung-min looked blankly at Leah and asked.

“They’re real S-class monsters…what’s different from the previous monsters?”

“Hmm.. If you look at the characteristics.. I think it’s probably a dragon.”

“A dragon…?”

Leah nodded and said.

“Yes, they are dragons. Their characteristics match the monsters of the dragon race that Master taught me before. Looking at that, I think the gatekeeper of the S-class gate is probably… a dragon.”

“D..Dragon..?”

“Yes, a dragon. Do you know?”

“Ah.. I don’t know if the dragon I know and the dragon Leah-san is talking about are the same, but.. Anyway, I can say that they are the same in terms of strength. A dragon… will it be okay?”

Leah tilted her head at Jeongmin’s question.

“What..?”

“Oh, no. Nothing.”

Leah looked at Jeongmin and said.

“I don’t know what’s good, but I want to meet the dragon as soon as possible. If I catch the dragon, this long [Trial of the Gods] will end, right? I hope I can meet the dragon soon.”

“…”

Jeongmin looked at Leah sadly.

‘I’m sure you’re sick of it.. It’s a trial of the gods that you’ve been through for 9 years…’

Leah stretched out and said to Jung-min.

“It’s too late today. I’m tired. Can I take a break from today’s training?”

Jimin nodded and said.

“Ah, sure. From the time Leah-san waited in the inventory and was about to go back, I thought that today is a day off. Then… shall we have a drink? There are many side dishes…”

“Alcohol? Today? That would be fine!

Leah’s eyes sparkled.

Jung-min smiled at Leah and took out a bottle of alcohol from his bag.

It was a drink called ‘Baekhwaro’ that I brought from the inventory of another dimension before.

“Um… I’ll have a drink…”

Jung-min, who hadn’t even brought a drink, looked around.

Then Leah opened her inventory and took out two small wooden cups and handed them to Jung-min.

“Oh, I like this. It’s just the right size for a drinking glass.”

“This is the cup I used to drink with my colleagues and master in the past. It’s been a while since I’ve been using it again.”

“Oh, I see”

Jeongmin pours a drink into Leah’s glass.

Leah, who saw the clear liquor glistening in her glass, said in a faint voice.

“I didn’t enjoy it very much, but my master and my colleagues really liked alcohol. They liked it so much that I had three drinks from this glass. They never let me drink more than that. The first day we drank together, they didn’t say anything even if we drank as much as we wanted.”

Jung-min, who filled his glass with alcohol, asked Leah.

“You only made me drink three cups? Why?”

“Why? It must be because they have less to drink. Anyway, drunkards…Now, shall we have a drink?”

“Ah yes..”

Jung-min, somewhat anxious, bumped a glass with Leah and poured it into his mouth.

Leah looked at the empty glass and said.

“Wow.. This drink smells really good. It tastes good too… Oh, I got a message saying that my stamina has gone up. Isn’t Jung-Min like that too?”

“Yes, since it’s a drink that gives buffs… it’s really good. But it seems a bit strong…”

“Is that so? I don’t think there’s much difference from the alcohol I had before… Anyway, it’s good. Shall we have another drink?”

The two started drinking in earnest, and Jung-min could understand why Leah’s colleagues and mentors had stopped her from drinking too much.

Episode 21