Level 1 Player (MT Novel) - Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Family (Part 1)

After twenty-four hours, I managed to upgrade my rank in the Horned Rabbit dungeon. I went back to the motel to finally get some rest, as immediately a phrase appeared in front of me:

[YOUR REGISTERED ITEM SOLD].
Apparently, someone had bought the Book of Skills. I lazily reached out and clicked on the information box that popped up: I got 1.7 billion won for the Master Book and 20 million won for the Tough Body*.

(P.p.: Approximately $17,780.)

The only problem was the commissions. The items I got in the dungeon were taxed quite differently. For example, I was barely charged anything for the Strong Body book, but I was charged 42% of the commission on the sale of the Master’s Book. I spent about $700 million.

– That’s a thankless job! – I swore.

It was to be expected. But faced with this in person, my heart bleeds. I realized that it’s better not to sell books for real money, or you can ruin everything badly.

– I’ve got to stop selling books for points.

Points are the length of my life. It’s not productive at all to spend my precious life making money. And now with the fact that I need to save up a round sum, there’s nothing I can do about it. But as soon as I do, I’ll quit that kind of activity right away.

– Okay, I need to get back to hunting.

I’m getting stronger every time I do it. At this rate, I’ll be able to look into higher level dungeons. And what happens if a non-low level Player goes to a higher level dungeon, and vice versa, a high level Player to a lower level dungeon? I’ll be able to get more achievements and ranks, as well as more points! And more powerful stones accordingly. The ranks will make me even stronger, and the rest will make me rich. In particular, the amount I got for the stones, even despite the commissions, seemed enormous. In a low-level dungeon, I was able to get 10 million won* out of the stones in a short period of time, which was less than ten days!

(P.p.: Approximately $8,890.)

And if you count it all together? In a month, the amount of profit should not exceed 100 million. In fact, hunting is the only thing that makes me money.

– That way I can acquire Elixir faster than I planned.

Cash into points, points into cash. The higher the profit from these figures, the better. I rummaged through my bag and found my cleanest clothes. It was the casual outfit I wore to university. I hadn’t bought anything new in a long time since my father had been in the hospital. Not even that, I had no reason to buy myself anything. It was the same situation with my mother and my sister.

– Well, that would be the end of it for today.

I walked out of the motel and headed to the bus stop, about to meet my mom and sister.

***

Items come off the conveyor belt quickly. Park Mi Suk instantly packs them up and moves them to another conveyor belt. And this is the kind of monotonous work the woman has been doing all day long. Because she had to work standing up, she always felt her legs fall off and her lower back ached at the end. Her hands and fingers were not spared from the same fate. But she couldn’t stop.

– Eh…” the woman sighed.

No, of course, the work was not difficult. And she was used to the physical pain, since she had been in the business a long time, but the woman looked morally lost. Life without hope.

It all started with the fact that she needed to earn money to pay for her children’s school fees. Despite the hardships, there was at least some use for it. But after her husband’s illness took his toll, things became too confusing. The newly-employed daughter’s salary was all spent on medical expenses, and her son dropped out of university and went to work on a construction site. The woman was held hostage by her life. But it was hard for her to accept that her loving daughter and son were in the same hole as she was. More than once the thought of death crossed her mind: if she and her husband were gone, it would be much easier for the children to live.

What was her husband thinking? He was in a state where he couldn’t even move. Did such an existence make sense if he was stealing the lives of his children? Wasn’t her husband thinking the same thing? Similar thoughts crossed her mind several times a day.

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Park Mi-sook flinched and pulled herself together. She was a person who had devoted her whole life to her family, and a person who earned money for the sake of her children’s good future. And someone who, in her youth, liked to drink and smoke. It was for this reason that she could not leave her husband. The woman tried to hold on, but not long ago reality came crashing down on her shoulders, causing her head to start having bad thoughts. No sooner had they come up again than the work was done. Park Mi Suk had already left the factory, but she still couldn’t rest because her work for the day wasn’t over. She went to a restaurant. Park Mi Suk decided to take extra money herself in order to relieve her family’s burdens. And even that money wasn’t enough. On the contrary, the debt was slowly increasing. And when she thought about reality, the bad thoughts swiftly overwhelmed her again.

– Mother!

The woman could not believe that she heard the voice of the man she loved.

– It couldn’t be,” she turned her head. – Son!

And a smile appeared on Park Mi Suk’s tired face.

***

I walked over and hugged my mother. From time to time we exchanged a few phrases on the phone. To be honest, I can’t even remember the last time I saw her face.

– You’ve lost a lot of weight, Mom,” I said, still holding my dear one in my arms.

She had changed a lot since the last time I had seen her. Other than that, she looked very tired, both mentally and physically-it was immediately noticeable.

– Hyun Seong, what are you doing here? – Mother asked in surprise.

– I just wanted to meet you.

My words made her smile.

– Thank you for coming. Are you hungry?

All I could think about was how to get to my destination as quickly as possible, so I hadn’t had a crumb in my mouth since this morning.

My mother was always worried about me, in particular, whether I was hungry.

– No, I hadn’t eaten yet. Thought we’d have lunch together.

– Oh, yeah?

My words made my mother gloomy. Probably more because she had to go to work at the restaurant. I’m sure she wanted to go home and cook her son something delicious herself, but there just wasn’t time for that. After rummaging through her pockets, Mom pulled out a 1000 won bill and a travel card. That was all she had. She would have liked to buy something tasty, but there was simply no money for that. Mother herself ate nothing in the morning, ate lunch at the factory, and dined at the restaurant where she worked.

All of her wages went to her father’s medical care. 1,000 won in her pocket and a few coins was all she had left.

– Sorry, I can’t go home now, I have to work. Go first and buy yourself a chajamun. And tomorrow morning I’ll cook something,” my mother said and handed me everything she had.

The sight of my mother made my heart ache. It took me a couple of seconds to realize what was going on.

– Mom, but you have not eaten anything. Let’s go out to dinner.

– I’ll eat here in the restaurant. It’s okay, go home.

– Let’s go together, I’ll help you.

– Don’t worry. You must be very tired, so go and rest.

Her words made me laugh.

– In fact, I would like to tell you something.

My mother’s face changed. She thought something bad had happened to me. The problem wasn’t even that I had been fired from the construction site, or that it had happened so suddenly. It was just that I mentioned it in the middle of a conversation, which is probably why my mother got the idea that I wanted to confess something bad. Nevertheless, I didn’t say it with a grim face; on the contrary, I was smiling with all my thirty-two teeth.

– I Woke up…

My mother took on a look of confusion at my words.

– What are you talking about, honey? – she asked and took my Player’s ID card from my hands.

– I became a Gambler.

My mother seemed to be speechless. She looked at my card with a blank expression on her face.

– That’s why I came… so you could quit your two jobs.

As soon as I finished the sentence, it was as if my mother came to her senses.

– It’s dangerous!

The government tries to keep the Players as safe as possible. Including with the help of dungeon security officers. But this only applies to low-level dungeons. Once a Player raises his level and moves to other dungeons, all security falls on his own shoulders. This goes without saying. There aren’t really that many players. Security officers are placed right up to the mid-level dungeons, as high level Players can be counted on their fingers. The thing is that a lot of people die in medium and high level dungeons. And Player is the scariest profession, and even insurance companies refuse to work with them.

– You don’t have to worry about me. Safety is more important to me than anything else!

It was definitely good news. There was definitely a little hope for the family now. But my mother couldn’t congratulate me on the Reawakening.

– So please quit.

– That’s not going to happen! – Mother answered firmly.

She knew little about the Players. However, rumors on the subject were spreading fast enough.

– Players make money, too. Although at first you have to spend a lot of money.

Namely for weapons and equipment, skill books, and dungeon entrance fees. Of course, all this costs a lot of money. That’s why the Player can only earn after he has achieved something.

– And I’ve already made some progress! – I said and handed my mother my savings book. – Take a look.

Mom looked at me puzzled at first and then opened the book. When she saw the number of printed numbers, it came out of her lips:

– One… one billion?

– During the hunt, I got a rare Skill Book and then sold it. So for a while we don’t have to worry about my father’s medical expenses-we can cover our debts with this money! So please don’t worry and live peacefully.

After my words, my mother’s eyes filled with tears. In fact, every month we had to spend not only on medical treatment, but also on expenses. All the fortune we had melted away like snow. That’s how the debt came about. It was hard for us to cope with economic hardship and mental anguish. But now we have hope. Dangerous hope.

– I’m sorry, I’m really sorry,” the mother began to apologize.

Because my son, who needed to study, went to work to support his father’s medical expenses. My heart was torn apart. As difficult and dangerous as it had been, surely she was proud of her son. But now things were taking a different turn: things were becoming more dangerous for her and her father.

Every parent should always give their whole self to their children. And in our situation it was the opposite. The children were trying to do everything for their parents. And it seemed to make it even harder for them.

– You don’t have to apologize. What are you sorry for? If it hadn’t been for you and father, would I have been the person I am now?

Tears came back to my mother’s eyes.

– So please get some rest and take care of your father.

– Thank you, son.