I Live Alone in the Inventory

Episode 20

“It’s a trade secret.”

Seeing Jung-min burying himself on the sofa and talking leisurely, Jo-won’s anger rose, but he took a short deep breath to calm himself down.

The pain that ran through my forehead was real, so it was very painful.

Jo Won, who did not want to go through that pain again, calmed down and said to Jung Min.

“To sum up, the gate outside now is just the beginning, and an additional gate that spits out more and more powerful monsters will appear? And the gold accumulated in the status window can be used in the shop that will open later. Is that correct?”

Jungmin nodded.

Jo Won muttered as he looked at Jung Min.

“Then, I’ve eased my worries about supplies. Even so, someday they will run out, so I was worried about what to do at that time…”

“You’re on your own.. Now let’s talk about trading. You said you were buying the three swords I suggested? What can you give me in return?”

“To be honest, this is the first time I’ve seen this type of item.. It’s hard to figure out how to price it. If there’s anything you want, just let me know. I’ll prepare it.”

Jungmin nodded and said what he wanted one by one.

After hearing Jung-min’s request, Jo Won nodded.

“All of these things can be prepared. I will prepare them.”

“Does the requirement for three swords feel excessive?”

“…Honestly, the supplies you’re asking for are too few. Even if you go to the [Pearl] Shelter with only one of the swords I gave you, I’m confident that I’ll rip out far more supplies than you asked for.”

“Well, since I live alone, I don’t really need a lot of supplies. Think of it as stocking up the rest.

Joey nodded and said.

“Then please wait. I will prepare the supplies you said.”

“Um…then can I take a look around the shelter while it’s getting ready?”

Jo Won looked at Jeong-min with dejected eyes and said.

“What’s wrong. This shelter is yours.”

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

The personnel department was still empty.

Jungmin stood leaning against the door and let out a small sigh.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever hit someone like this…”

Even in his school days, Jeong-min, who was a quiet student who was far from fighting, felt that the act of hitting someone was very unfamiliar.

‘You can’t be shaken by something like this… You have to develop a poisonous mind that can kill a dangerous enemy. There’s only one use of the Ring of Effort left…’

Jung-min clenched his fists once and left the HR department.

Outside the door, Kang Sang-do, his face still covered in blood, was waiting for Jeong-min.

Jeongmin looked at Sangdo blankly.

“Do I still have business to do?”

Sang-do approached Jung-min.

“…?”

Sang-do looked at Jung-min for a moment, then dropped to his knees and said.

“I want to be your slave!”

Seeing the man with a languid figure asking in a deep voice to become his slave made Jung-min take a step back with goose bumps on his back.

“What are you talking about? Slaves.”

“Please do as you did to Director Kwak earlier. Put a brand on the forehead.”

“..you didn’t faint”

“I was just pretending to pass out because I didn’t want to get entangled anymore.”

Jung-min thought as he looked at Sang-do, who was kneeling.

‘Well, it seemed like he had a lot of strength, but it was a bit strange to faint with one head-butt. It seems that even before that, he was reluctant to participate in Kwak Jo-won’s tricks…’

“It’s even weirder if you’ve seen it all. You’ve seen the personnel officer in so much pain, so why are you asking to be made a slave?”

“I’ll become your slave and do anything. But…if you do just one favor…”

“Please?”

“I heard that you have a very good potion. If you share it, I will really do anything!”

“…?”

“Actually, I participated in this work because I was able to receive a potion from Director Kwak. I know it’s really shameless to be involved in such a thing… but it’s really okay to become a slave. Could you share some potions with me? “

Jung-min looked at Sang-do’s confused face.

The nose bone was broken, and the area around the distorted nose was covered in blood.

‘I didn’t even treat that kind of wound and took the potion I gave you without using it…’

Presuming that something was going on, Jung-min walked past Sang-do and said,

“Please follow me. Let’s go and talk.”

Hearing Jung-min’s words, Sang-do’s face lit up.

Jeongmin walked ahead and asked.

“It was Yoon-gu and Gi-chan? What happened to them?”

“I put them both in the ward.”

“Nice job. Have you eaten?”

“That… I was called by Manager Kwak while I was about to eat…”

“Then let’s have dinner together.”

“Ah yes.”

The two walked to the restaurant.

Arriving at the restaurant, Jeong-min looks around to see if Jun-gi or Seong-dong are there, but they are nowhere to be seen as they have already finished eating.

‘Come to think of it…how does the food distribution system work here? Is it just serving?”

While Jeong-min was looking around, Sang-do stepped forward and put his wrist near the entrance of the food table.

“Twice, please. Two people will eat together.”

There was a beeping sound from inside, and two plates and cutlery came out.

Sang-do gave the plate and tableware he had brought to Jeong-min.

“Now you can receive food from the food table.”

“…I was the one who asked to go out to dinner, but I suddenly ended up getting it…well, I’ll eat well.”

The two sat down on one side of the restaurant and started eating.

Jeongmin thought while eating.

‘It’s like eating properly for the first time in a while. Multigrain rice, seaweed soup, kimchi, and frozen pork cutlet… It’s not a bad meal. Food will still be fine. Well… there will be a shop later, so if you manage it well, it won’t be that hard to maintain a diet like this.’

The two quietly finished their meal.

After finishing the meal, Jung-min asked Sang-do.

“Then… let’s talk. Why do we need potions?”

After hearing Jung-min’s words, Sang-do lowered his head and thought for a moment before speaking.

“That…I have a daughter.”

“Daughter…?”

Sangdo nodded.

“Yes, he’s four years old now. But… he’s suffering from some nasty illness…”

“It’s a disease.. that’s why you need a potion?”

“Yes… Actually, I kept requesting Shelter, but I couldn’t get it. A precious potion for that much bottle.

I can’t waste it.. In the meantime, I tried using the small amount of potion that Director Kwak gave me.. The effect was so good. therefore…”

“So you took the potion and attacked me?”

“…I have nothing to say about that.”

Jeongmin thought as he looked at Sangdo, who lowered his head.

‘Well.. Actually, it didn’t seem like he was really willing. Even when he overpowered me, he told me to pretend to faint, and he ignored Kwak Jo-won’s order to break his arm…’

After thinking, Jung-min said to Sang-do.

“Well, that’s all right. It wasn’t much of a threat. Anyway…so, as a condition of becoming a slave, give me a potion that can cure my daughter’s illness. You mean?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Jungmin thought as he leaned back in his chair.

‘I’m handing out overflowing potions. It’s not even a job… but anyway, can potions cure diseases?’

“What kind of disease does that…daughter say she has?”

“That…”

Sang-do hesitated for a moment before talking to Jung-min.

“…Atopy..”

“Atopy…?”

“I know it’s a fairly common disease. But the atopy my daughter suffers from is so severe… the skin all over her body wakes up red and she can’t sleep because she scratches her body every day. It’s about to be gone.”

Looking at Sang-do talking urgently, Jung-min said.

“Ah… calm down. I understand enough.”

“Before I moved into the shelter, it wasn’t to this extent because I had a well-suited ointment.. After entering the shelter, the environment suddenly got worse, maybe it didn’t suit me, so until now…”

Sangdo bit his lip and said.

“If you don’t mind, could you take a look at my daughter? If you do, you’ll probably understand what I’m saying.”

“Your daughter? Where are you now?”

“At this time, you’ll be at a daycare center. It’s run for the Awakened within the Shelter.”

“Well…”

Jungmin measured the time.

It will take some more time to prepare the items Jung-min said.

Jeong-min, who had been planning to look around the shelter until then, nodded and stood up.

“I will. Please guide me.”

At Jeong-min’s words, Sang-do’s face turned bright and he took the lead in guiding him.

Restaurants and daycare facilities were not far apart.

The two soon arrived at a facility marked ‘Daeseong Daycare Center’.

Inside, the sound of children playing was loud.

Sang-do took out a wet tissue from his inventory, wiped the messy face, and said to Jeong-min.

“Please wait here for a moment. I will bring you out soon.”

After speaking, Sangdo went inside.

And after a while, he came out holding a small girl under his eyes.

As soon as Jung-min saw the child, he knew why Sang-do was so desperate.

‘Ah…this…is really, really bad…’

All parts of the child, including the face, where the flesh was exposed were redder than expected. There were also many scratches and peeling skin.

Even while being hugged by Sang-do, he scratched all over his body without stopping, as if his body was itchy.

Sangdo said to the child.

“Jia. Daddy said, right? If you scratch this, you need to know a lot. You can’t scratch it.”

The child called Ji-ara looked at Sang-do and whined.

“I tickle.

“Wait a minute. Dad brought some medicine. I’ll apply it.”

Sang-do took out the low-grade potion he had received from Jung-min earlier.

After seeing the medicine, Jia struggled in Sangdo’s arms.

“Medicine Syrrh! Medicine Syrrh!”

Sang-do calmed down the struggling Jia and said to Jeong-min.

“When I apply that potion, it doesn’t itch for a while, and my skin slightly subsides and gets better.

Jung-min looked at the two who were playing the ball and took out an advanced potion from his inventory.

Jeong-min, who approached Sang-do with a potion, looked at Jia and said kindly.

“Jia? Would you like to apply this? This medicine is painless at all.”

“Sirer! Sirer! I won’t!”

“If you apply this medicine, oppa…no, my uncle will give you chocolate”

Jung-min took out a small piece of chocolate from his inventory and showed it to Jia.

“Choco?”

I said to Jia, who was distracted by the chocolate Jung-min offered, as she opened a bottle of the advanced potion.

“Let’s put a little bit of this instead. I’m going to put a little bit of this on. Here on my arm.”

Jia seemed to be conflicted for a moment, then nodded.

Jung-min smiled and handed Jia chocolate, sprinkled some of the high-quality potion on her palms, and then gently applied it to Jia’s arm.

“Ah kick..”

Jia shrinks her body as if it is slightly cold.

However, as soon as he felt cool, he quietly left his arm to Jung-min.

The potion Jung-min applied to his arm healed minor scratches in an instant. New skin sprouted from the peeled skin, and in addition, the reddened skin subsided and returned to its normal skin color.

Jia’s eyes widened as she spoke to Jung-min.

“This is cool! It doesn’t tickle! It doesn’t hurt!”

After giving Jia a smile, Jung-min handed the rest of the potion to Sang-do, who was standing in amazement.

“Apply to every nook and cranny of the body. The effect looks good.”

Sangdo was very surprised and said.

“The potion I received from Director Kwak didn’t work this far. Really… it’s a really great potion!”

After Sang-do applied the potion he received from Jung-min to his hands, he put his hand inside Jia’s clothes and applied it to every nook and cranny.

Jia giggled and giggled as if it was itchy, and soon after applying the potion all over her body, all of the red spots subsided and she no longer looked like a sick child except for the dark circles under her eyes.

Sangdo looked at Jia with tears in his eyes.

“Dad! Don’t tickle me! It’s cool!”

When Jia said happily, Sangdo hugged Jia tightly.

“Yeah…I’m so glad you didn’t tickle me…I’m so glad…”

“Dad hurts.”

Sang-do, who quickly released Jia, who complained of pain in Sang-do’s arms, looked at Jeong-min and said,

“Really… I really don’t know if I should say thank you… Oh, I’ll take Jia back to the daycare center for now. Could you wait for a moment?”

Jungmin nodded and greeted Jia.

Jia smiled brightly and said to Jung-min.

“Oh, I’ll go. See you again”

“It’s not you, it’s your brother.. No, it’s your uncle, it’s your uncle.”

“Three seconds!”

Jung-min waved to Jia and Sang-do went back to the daycare center holding Jia.

Seeing the child’s bright smile made my heart warm.

After a while, Sang-do came out of the daycare center and bowed down to Jeong-min.

“Really…Thank you so much. It’s the first time I’ve developed atopy and looked so fine…Really…Thank you very much…”

“Keep the rest of the potion well and apply it little by little whenever the skin breaks out again. I heard that atopic dermatitis is not cured?”

“Yes… even after getting better, it gets worse again and again…”

“So, take care of it. Then… Shall we talk about us now?”

When Jung-min told Sang-do, Sang-do nodded.

“Yes, I am ready. Please make me a slave. Just the potion, if you take care of the potion properly…”

“What. It’s done.”

Jung-min took out two more high-grade potions from his inventory and handed them to Sang-do.

“If you use it sparingly, you should be able to use it for a long time. When the shop opens later, you will be able to purchase it yourself. Use the low-grade potion I gave you to treat your face.”

Sang-do said with a puzzled expression while accepting the potion Jeong-min gave him.

“….Yes?”

“Unfortunately, you can only brand a slave once. And to treat a child’s illness with the ample amount of potions… It seems like it would be too much trash… I have a very close relationship with this shelter. I think it will be, but think of it as patronizing in advance.”

“ah..?”

Looking at Sang-do’s face with an expression that he did not understand well, Jung-min waved his hand roughly.

“Ah, that’s all right. Just take care of Jia with that potion. That’s it. I think the appointment time is over, so I’m going to leave.”

Jung-min walked past Sang-do, who was absent-mindedly.

Jo Won should have prepared the items by now.

Sang-do, who was looking at Jung-min’s back as he walked away, shouted as he ran to Jeong-min.

“brother!!”

Jeongmin looked back, wondering if he had heard something wrong.

Sang-do ran and knelt down in front of Jung-min.

“Brother! If I’m not your slave, I’ll become your younger brother and serve you. Please allow me, brother!”

“Who, who, who is your brother! Do I look that old?”

“Aren’t you friends with Captain 6? If so, you’re my older brother…”

“….Yes?”

Sang-do explained to Jung-min, who answered with a bewildered expression.

“Captain 6 is older than me by one year. So he must be one year older than me.”

“…Yes? What are you talking about? Are you not misunderstanding the age of the 6th leader? Junki is 23 years old..”

“Yes, I know. And I’m 22 years old.”

“…..”

Jeongmin was confused.

Sang-do nodded his head as if he understood Jung-min.

“Oh, you must be wondering that a 22-year-old has a 4-year-old child. I understand. I’m a bit precocious, so I had a baby early…”

‘No, that’s not the problem, it’s the appearance… I just thought it would be at least in its early thirties…’

Jung-min, who couldn’t bear to let his thoughts out of his mouth, shook his head and said.

“Ah..that..yes..that’s right..ah, I don’t have enough time…”

As Jeong-min turned around and walked away with a confused face, Sang-do, who was kneeling, shouted.

“Hyung-nim! Whether you accept it or not, I will serve you as my older brother. I swear that I will devote my whole body to becoming a younger brother who will follow through on anything. Thank you, older brother!”

With tears in his eyes and ignoring Sang-do, who was shouting loudly, Jeong-min quickly left the place as if he were running away.

Episode 20