The Gardener in a Hunter World

Is this a dream or real? 

‘Was the sea this close?’

Could the topography thought to be a forest actually be a basin? It didn’t even smell like the sea, so I didn’t notice it. 

‘Or maybe there is a dimensional door somewhere in the cave.’

At its narrowest point, he felt a strange sensation as if his entire body was shivering. At first, I thought it was dizziness, but it didn’t seem to go away after a while. 

‘I don’t think the return entrance is blocked……’

Hurrying back to the cave and seeing the forest, Ji-ha was relieved. He came back to the sea and took off his shoes. It was because it felt like a sin to leave show marks on the white sand where nothing existed. The very soft sand tickled the soles of his feet and the subtle scent of the sea passed by his nose. It is a really nice view, but it’s a bit hot, so I took off my jacket and put it in my backpack. 

‘Looking at how hot the weather is, it is probably not the same terrain……’

The forest and the sea here are in different dimensions, I thought it would be better to interpret it that way. Ji-ha walked along the sandy beach and approached the sea. 

‘I’m only walking on the sandy beach……’

The sea was feared by modern people, including him. There were so many monsters that it was difficult to float a ship, and escorting them with warships made the cost difficult to calculate. So these days, almost all imports and exports were done by plane. 

‘I thought it was empty, but it’s not.’

Coconut claws hanging from palm trees and hundreds of sand crabs roaming around the sandy beach cough his attention. What is more surprising is that the Coconut Claw has a special effect, just like the Sun Apple or Winter Strawberry. 

{Coconut Claws: Acquire Pain Resistance LVL 1 for 30 minutes.}

‘Pain tolerance? It’s the first time I’ve seen that.’

First of all, there is no pain resistance stat. If so, it should be regarded as a characteristic, but among the hunters who were active as tanks, there were people that were exceptionally good at enduring pain. Wouldn’t that be the same as the characteristics of those people?

‘If that is true, then that is great.’

If you can use someone else’s traits, they will pack up their money and come running. However, Ji-ha did not have much greed for this kind of buff. More than anything, he was very afraid of the coconut claws that were as big as a human torso. 

‘It looks like some kind of monster.’

I tried to catch it, but the underground was caught. he looked away from the Coconut Claw and looked around some more. There was no special effect or buff for the busy sand crab, but the big one still looked quite tasty. 

‘It’s been almost 10 years since I ate crab.’

Since the sea and beaches have been taken over by monsters, it has become extremely difficult to eat seafood. Importing from abroad is also done by air, so the per unit price is extremely high. If you are rich, you might be able to eat something with money. So, it is said that countries with low food self-sufficiency have reached the point of bankruptcy. 

‘It’s unfortunate.’

Anyways, the sand crab creatures don’t think about running away when around Ji-ha for some reason. it is probably the power of the animal-friendly skills. When Ji-ha picked one up, it didn’t struggle much even when he opened its claws. JI-ha licked his lips without realizing it. 

“I’m sorry, please be my food.”

After a while, a bonfire was lit on the border between the sandy beach and the palm tree grove. Dry palm leaves and shavings were gathered and set on fire with an ignition stone. 

“It works well.”

Probably because the branches of palm trees have a lot of fiber, they caught fire very easily and burned roaringly. Ji-ha put a knife into the sand crab’s mouth, threaded it through a thin wooden skewer, and raised it over the fire. 

*Tat tat tat*

The smell of the crab meat being cooked was no joke. When the sand crabs were moderately cooked through and hot, Ji-ha took it off of the fire and started eating. 

“Aww.”

it was hot, but Ji-ha was able to get to the red crab meat flesh with effort, such as using a branch as chopsticks and cutting the carapace with a camping knife. 

*Hurulup*

“Ah, delicious.”

The chewy texture and rich umami full of the smell of the sea were excellent. Ji-ha was excited and indulged in the crab meat. In the meantime, the only thing that looked like crab meat was the crab meat sold at the mart. Even fish meat was expensive, so he didn’t eat it often. After sucking the broth, crab shells piled up on the floor. 

‘I have to take what I ate.’

I roughly wrapped it in plastic, put it in my backpack and cleaned up after myself. There was hardly any trace of fire left. I wanted to eat another sand crab, but I decided to hold back. At first, he didn’t eat much. 

‘Anyway, that creature……’

His gaze landed on the Coconut Claws hanging from the palm tree. Sand crabs are so delicious, how about that one? I wanted to see what the pain resistance buff was like, and to taste it. Ji-ha glared at the creature. 

*Took*

Suddenly, the Coconut Claw fell to the ground. 

“Hey, great.”

***

Some dungeons have a fairly long time limit. There are places that last for more than a few days, and hunters pack food in case they enter such a place. Food that was high in calories and easy to eat. It’s not like you are worried about extravagance in a dungeon. Anyways, hunters don’t skimp and try to save money on supplies for hunting. Therefore, food companies put grandiose names on canned food, such as survival wheat or special food. Since the market is tough, Ji-ha has tried to make other food several times, but couldn’t beat the off-the-shelf products. 

‘Hmm……’

Ji-ha was now glaring at the flesh of the Coconut Claw. The Coconut Claw fell to the ground and died on the spot, perhaps due to its weight, and Ji-ha succeeded in dismembering it and separating its flesh after all sorts of hardships. Because of its size, the carapace was incredibly thick, so he had to bring a pickaxe to hit it. The amount of flesh was no joke either. It seemed like it would be enough to feed 4 or 5 people. 

“How am I going to cook this……”

As a result of experimenting here and there, I found out that the pain resistance buff of the Coconut Claws needed to be cooked to be applied. 

‘As expected, it would be better to make something similar to the pemmican.’

Pemmican is a preserved food made by mixing animal meat and fat, flour, fruits and nuts. If you make it in the form of a bar, it is easy to carry and has a lot of calories per piece, so it was a food that was favored by hunters. However, beef is the most commonly used ingredient, and I was wondering if I could replace it with the flesh of Coconut Claws. 

‘Let’s try it.’

Ji-ha brought the flesh of one Coconut Claw Crab to the store and started cooking it in the kitchen. The well-grilled flesh was pounded with a meat hammer, dried and ground until it turned into a fine flour. If you add fruits and nuts to it, add fat for hardening, and dry it, the pemmican is completed. 

‘How does it taste?’

When I took a bite, it was good enough to eat even before it was finished. At the same time, Ji-ha’s status window was updated. 

{Attribute: -XXX’s Blessing LVL 1 Pain Resistance LVL 1.}

“It’s real.”

As a result of searching for pain tolerance on HunterNet, Ji-ha found that  it is listed as a characteristic that some hunters who focus on close combat have. Ji-ha was curious to read comments made by soem hunters on the post. 

Myeongjong Lee: Ha… A knight like me… A loser loser with no pain tolerance……

Park Chang-soo: Hee hee, can I tell you that you have no pain tolerance?

Myeongjong Lee: It doesn’t matter… anyways, everyone knows…

Han Chae-rim: Ah… why does a pain tolerance potion not drop from the treasure chests……

Myeongjong Lee: You have a big dream. If an attribute comes out as a potion, how do hooters that have it make a living?

Park Chang-soo: I dol. When it comes out, it will make a complete mess. 

Han Chae-rim: I also want to fight with monsters and not get sick! Damn…my god……

Since then, there have been a lot of comments expressing sympathy and agreement from the hunters. Ji-ha saw it and could feel the joys and sorrows of the close combat hunters. 

‘It’s really good to reduce pain.’

Wounds can be treated with healing skills or potions, but pain is difficult to reduce. The reason why hunters of the warrior class receive a lot of distribution is because their job is so dangerous and burdensome. According to the experiences from the hunters, it is said that even if the pain tolerance is LVL 1, the pain of being beaten with a hammer is alleviated to the extent of being hit by a fist. Ji-ha was thinking of giving this to Seong-ho tomorrow. 

‘Because monsters appear even in polar dungeons.’

Even if Seong-ho noticed the pain tolerance, there was no reason for him to be suspicious of Ji-ha. Not everything about dungeons has been discovered, so really strange things still happen. First of all, no one would suspect that they developed their traits by eating something like pemmican. If it’s repeated often, it will eventually get caught. If it is repeated often, eventually you will get caught. 

‘It doesn’t matter if I get caught, though.’

Ji-ha was tidying up the kitchen, thinking of what to do if it was discovered. Ji-ha was picking Winter Strawberries and packing my things in preparation for tomorrow’s polar dungeon, when a sports car stopped in front of the store. Seo Hye-jin, she came. 

“Welcome.”

Ji-ha greeted her normally, as always. 

***

Seo Hye-jin came to this general store for one reason. She felt uncomfortable with the interactions of the existing Hunter Supply store. Because it is a large franchise, a more personal interaction was the default. When Seo Hye-jin, the famous hunter, visits the store, two employees follow her. She felt indescribably uncomfortable, wanting to leisurely see what was new. There were no other options before, but now there is the general store. Apparently, the owner of the general store thought that they were just lucky and that they couldn’t recreate the potion to bring in large sales. But it is ok to just look around, right?

‘Maybe I can get a Sun Apple and eat it.’

Seo Hye-jin, who was driving, felt a little excited. It is the best fruit. If she asks a manager to order, a box of imported fruit would arrive within a few days. However, the Sun Apple she ate was on a different level from the bland fruit of the earth. You will never forget the crunchy flesh and sweet and sour taste. Seo Hye-jin drove to the general store. 

‘Also.’

The young store owner greeted her just as he did then. She gave him a glance, but when she looked at the shelf, she started looking at the book again. For Seo Hye-jin, who has difficulties with interpersonal relationships, it was a welcome event, as it was nice to be able to look around the display stand slowly. 

‘There are some basic things, but……’

The general store had basic potions such as health potions, ether potions, and poison resistance potions, but minor potions were rare. For example, a paralysis resistance potion. The store is small, so it can’t be equipped with a lot of variety. Hyejin looked through the shelves and found the Sun Apple. And next to it, something resembling an unidentified berry was put in a basket. 

“What is this?

“Ah, that. I was lucky enough to find it in a dungeon. At first, I named it Winter Strawberry.”

She opened her eyes wide. a category 0 dungeon appeared twice for one person? 

‘Well, I can.’

Hey-jin was a person who valued results. As long as there are results in front of your eyes, don’t ask too much. She wondered what effect these strawberries had. 

‘Have you ever eaten it? Like the Sun Apple?”

“Yes. It is delicious to eat as it is, but making a potion with it after concentrating it increases you cold resistance.”

“I guess you didn’t know about the Ether Potion?”

“I tried it, but there was no change.”

Well, this young man has no skills or attributes. In order to know the effect, you need to be able to consume ether. The value of cold resistance was different, so he could tell right away. When Hye-jin touched the bottle with the blue liquid in it, Ji-ha informed her that the effect of the potion was 32%. Her hand stopped. 

“32%? Really?”

“Yes, I don’t lie, it went up by 32% over 40 minutes.”

If that is true, Hye-jin can run the polar dungeon alone. She pointed at the potion bottles with a trembling hand. 

“From here to here.”

“Hmm… there is one problem, I haven’t decided on a price yet.”

“You can search on Hunter Mania, see where you should price it.”

It’s rare. She was talking to this man. Hye-jin, who rarely talked to anyone other than her manager, couldn’t stand it because she was humiliating herself. After living a life of going back and forth between the house, the store, and the dungeon for three years, all of her friends and colleagues had left. The manager takes care of things, so she doesn’t feel uncomfortable in her life. So there is not much to talk about. Sometimes there were times when we didn’t talk all day. However… when I come here, strangely, I talk a lot. The two put their heads together and searched for prices. The result was beyond imagination. 

“It’s too expensive.”

“Because it’s worth it. Ring up the account.”

“Hmm… I’ll take a little more off of this price.”

Hye-jin couldn’t understand the young man who dared to sell products at a reduced price, but that is what he did. After the deposit was over, Ji-ha brought some Winter Strawberries over on a plate. 

“This is delicious, try it.”

“…It’s precious, are you sure it is okay to eat it?”

“It’s okay, I want to treat guests like this.”

I’ve felt it before, but it seems like this person is kind whether they have money or not. Hye-jin picked up a dark red strawberry and brought it to her mouth. 

*mess*

“Ah……”

Where did this small fruit flesh come from? Such a rich fragrance and refreshing taste? It was a really delicious fruit that brought tears to her eyes. In the blink of an eye, the plate was empty, and when her hand stopped, Ji-ha was embarrassed. 

“Sorry, this is all that I have.”

“That, no… you are fine. I was greedy for nothing.”

After taking the bottle, she nodded to him and asked.

“Mr., can I come back?”

It is a strange question. If you have something that you need to buy at the store, just come. Ji-ha answered without hesitation. 

“Of course.”

That is it. When she comes here, she feels at ease and good things happen. Hye-jin left the store with a light heart. 

‘When I stopped by before, I thought that I would never come back……’

She was wrong. Hye-jin unknowingly drove off with a smile on her lips. Ji-ha saw her off from behind.