Infinite Evolution Hunter [NOVEL] - Chapter 11
“Mom.”
I called out to persuade her once more.
“So that’s why you suddenly started speaking politely lately, huh? To say this.”
Mom spoke with a dark look.
“Let’s eat first. It’ll get cold.”
She set the table and we ate in silence.
Mom’s cooking had always been good, but eating it again after so long made it taste even better. If I hadn’t been walking on eggshells, I would have enjoyed it more.
After the meal I kept urging her to move, but she would not change her mind.
She was far more firm than I expected, and I realized this was not something that would be settled in a day. I decided to take it slow from now on, and as I ate the pear she was peeling for me, I looked around. Our house was full of old appliances and furniture. It was cozy and I missed it, but honestly it was all too worn out.
“Mom, then at least let’s replace the fridge. It keeps making that noise.”
I pointed at the 15-year-old refrigerator that whined loudly and grated on the ears.
“No. It still runs fine. Why waste money.”
“Come on, at least let’s take a look. Think of it as going on a little date with your son.”
I took my reluctant mother to a nearby appliance store.
“My goodness. This one is so spacious inside.”
She had said she was not interested, but she quickly fell for the new models.
While she was absorbed in looking at refrigerators, I called over a clerk and ordered replacements for everything old at home: refrigerator, washing machine, TV, rice cooker.
“Please deliver as soon as possible, and haul away everything in the house.”
When I paid in full, the clerk bowed at ninety degrees.
“Thank you so much!”
Mom smacked my back asking why I was buying all that, then argued with the clerk to cancel, but I picked her up and carried her out of the store.
“Goodness, how strong have you gotten.”
“Mom, if you do not accept this, I will just buy a house under your name.”
“Heavens. Are you threatening your own mother.”
Maybe she understood my heart, because she accepted the gifts reluctantly.
We took a walk around the neighborhood and returned home. While we watched TV together, I secretly tucked an envelope of cash into her wardrobe.
No need to rush. I would slowly, gently persuade her with periodic little bribes and get her a different place within a year.
“Mom, I am heading out. I will come again.”
I wanted to stay longer, but there was a lot to do.
“Already leaving? Visit often. Do not do anything dangerous.”
Leaving Mom, who worried about me to the end, I headed to Hanam to find a place for myself to live. Even if I got her a new place, I was not planning to live together for a while. To raise my Regeneration skill, I would have to do odd things even at home, and if she saw them she would surely faint.
I chose Hanam because in my previous life it was an area that held out for quite a long time. It was also a convenient base for running Gates nationwide.
I went around with a real estate lady looking at properties in remote parts of Hanam. I wanted a place with a large lot and no neighboring houses, and it was not hard to find one.
No one had been living there, so the house needed work, but the structure was solid and I loved it. The lot was quite large, making future additions easy.
“The mountain behind is included as well. It is vacant now, so if you sign today you could move in as soon as tomorrow.”
With no houses nearby, it seemed perfect for training.
“I will sign.”
I wanted to pay all at once, but I did not have that much yet, so I paid half in cash and took a bank loan with the house as collateral for the rest.
After a few trips between the agency and the bank, it was getting dark. I hurried to an area with several car dealerships.
“Welcome… oh.”
As I walked into a dealership, the salesperson started greeting me, then looked at my shabby clothes and deflated.
I had been dressing sloppily and was getting treated accordingly. I would have to buy some clothes when I had time.
“A pickup truck…”
“Yes, feel free to look around.”
He was certain I would not buy anything and walked off without listening.
Hunters who carried a lot of gear favored pickups, and in my previous life I had driven one for a while. I took a quick look at a display truck and approached another salesperson.
“I will order that one.”
This model and year ran forever without issues, and in my previous life even commanded a premium over new cars.
“Pardon?”
I repeated myself to the salesperson, who looked like he had not understood.
“That one. I will order it. Same specs as the display.”
“Yes. Please, have a seat. I am Ha Cheolsun.”
The young salesperson hurried to bring out the paperwork.
“What are you doing.”
A few minutes later, the salesman who had acted rudely at first came over and tapped Ha Cheolsun on the shoulder as he was filling out my forms.
“The customer says he is signing. I will take it from here, since I helped him first.”
He nudged Cheolsun aside with a thick face, calling that initial attitude “help.”
“No. I will sign with Mr. Ha here.”
“Sir, I was just busy for a moment earlier…”
“Enough. Go do your work. I am buying two cars today, so I am busy.”
When I said I would buy two, Cheolsun’s face lit up like a flower, and the other man slunk away.
I ordered one pickup, and also bought a mid-priced sedan I could drive out immediately.
The truck was for hunting trips, but in narrow Korean city streets it would be inconvenient.
And since Mom lived in an old apartment, I did not want to roll up in an expensive sedan, so I chose a modest model. I could buy something nicer once she moved.
I drove my brand-new car to the apartment.
I packed my things, planning to move into the new house tomorrow.
“Jaewon.”
I opened the door and called out.
“Yeah, you are back.”
Jaewon was glued to his online game and barely responded.
“Let us drink. I brought whiskey.”
“What, whiskey? Gimme a minute.”
He widened his eyes at “whiskey,” but still kept playing.
While he finished his game, I ordered a pile of Chinese food. By the time the food arrived the match ended, and we set out a spread with the whiskey.
“I am moving out tomorrow.”
I said while eating.
“Man, I cannot cover the rent…”
He scratched his head. We had a one-year lease paid through February. He must have been worried he could not return my share.
“Do not worry. I will keep paying my portion for the remaining months. I am the one leaving early.”
“Thanks.”
“Think nothing of it. I found a place in Hanam, so come visit later.”
“Sounds good. To the glamorous Hunter life of Lee Jiseok.”
He raised his glass.
“Cheers.”
I did not get drunk, but drinking with a friend was fun.
After saying goodbye to Jaewon, I headed to the new house early in the morning.
It had clearly been a while since anyone lived there, and there was plenty to fix. The weeds were rampant too.
I rolled up my sleeves and started cleaning. Luckily the inside was just dirty and did not need major repairs. Outside, though, it was neglected, and it would take more than a day or two.
I finished cleaning, ordered a bunch of appliances, bought daily necessities, and stocked the house. With my unusual stamina I moved several times faster than a non-awakened person and did not get tired.
After roughly finishing the interior, I went out to the front yard. The house was surrounded by weeds and scrub.
I remembered following my uncle to tend family graves as a kid. Unless you cut weeds often, they quickly overrun everything.
I did not want to waste time on weed control while living here, so I decided to cover the ground near the house with gravel so nothing would grow.
I treated it as part of my training and started the work bare-handed without special tools.
Bending at the waist, I raised the edge of my hand and stabbed it into the ground. The soil was firm, but my hand sank in like clay. Like a farm machine I churned the earth and moved forward.
After turning the soil, I sifted out weeds and scrub, leveled the ground, then climbed the back mountain to gather stones.
It was a rocky mountain, so it was easy to find suitable boulders. I hoisted ones weighing several hundred kilos. My muscles bulged as if they would burst.
[Strength has increased by 1.]
Carrying heavy rocks up and down the trail raised my Strength. Pushing my body without rest soon had me breathing hard and sweating.
I smashed the rocks with my bare fists. I broke them down wildly until they were about the size of a finger segment. To cover the yard with gravel I would have to go up and down the mountain hundreds of times.
[Strength has increased by 1.]
[Vitality has increased by 1.]
Charging up and down like a boar and breaking rocks raised my stats. Combat raises stats and skills the fastest, but slowly stimulating different muscles like this also works. And since I could arrange my own home the way I wanted while raising stats, it was perfect.
After laying gravel around the house for a few meters out and over the front yard, I sat on the porch bench and pulled out a bottle of water I bought.
I gulped down a drink, then took out a vial of poison taken from Choi Miran and mixed it into the water.
I watched as the color slowly turned green, then drank it down when it had mixed.
It had a prickly taste that was oddly appealing. As the numbness crept in, I sat for a bit and waited for it to be neutralized.
Poison Resistance rises best in combat and when your life is in danger, but exposure in daily life also works. It just takes much longer.
I was not going to waste my time at home either. From now on, I would raise my stats by living and training simultaneously like this.
Clearing Gates counts toward promotion, but doing only Gates makes promotions take far too long.
The useful option for quick promotion is a culling mission. The high-risk monsters that escaped during the Gate Break 18 years ago were mostly hunted down, but some small and mid-sized ones fled into the mountains and started breeding.
Beyond the damage to the ecosystem, growing populations pose a direct threat to people. In response, the government has been reducing wild monster numbers through regular culling operations.
They were not very popular among the awakened because you had to run around the mountains to hunt and the pay was not great, at least until a few years ago. To attract awakeneds, the Administration began paying bonuses per monster head and also offered promotion perks for participating, which finally brought some people in.
I checked the Hunter app for the next culling schedule and saw a week-long Hellhound cull in Gangwon-do next week, so I applied immediately.