Where Beans Are Planted, Beans Grow

The day Hong Ye-seong roared back into the secular world, an anonymous post appeared on the HunterNet's anonymous board. It was a sighting of Hong Ye-seong.

Title: [Anonymous] What is this? Has Hong Ye-seong come down the mountain?

Why is he here?

Comments (99+)

—What, already?

—Did he come down the mountain? No news articles yet.

—Finally made an escape button…

—Ah~ Artisan Exhibition is a week away, so it's about time for him to come down, yeah.

⤷Last time he came down the day before… Hong Ye-seong must have put in a lot of effort…

⤷For real, lol ㅋㅋㅋ

—Where are you right now, Anonymous?

⤷Chicken place.

⤷?? Lololol ㅋㅋ

⤷The first place he went after coming down is a chicken place?

⤷Ah ㅋㅋ, even the 8th ranked can't resist chicken ㅋㅋ

⤷Please share the story pls

Hong Ye-seong's sudden appearance turned HunterNet upside down in a good way. After all, with the Artisan Exhibition a week away, the hot topic in the hunter community was Hong Ye-seong and the equipment he created. As everyone waited for more detailed accounts, the hunter who had opened the floodgates of sightings thankfully appeared again soon.

Title: [Anonymous] The one who posted about Hong Ye-seong coming down

After work, I went to the chicken place, and it was super busy.

So, I checked if there was a soccer match today, but there wasn't.

When I asked, they said there's someone doing unlimited chicken refills, lol.

So, I sneak a peek to see who it is, and it's Hong Ye-seong, sobbing while holding a chicken wing in each hand and eating them one bite at a time…

He's even wearing colorful hiking clothes like children's Lego blocks…

I left quietly, feeling solemn.

Not easy.

Just paid 10,000 won for delivery.

Comments (99+)

—Lolololol ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

—Crying while < lolololol ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

—Why is a rich guy holding wings instead of drumsticks in both hands?

—Maybe he wants to fly… holding wings in both hands.

⤷Is he going to make artificial wings next? To fly.

⤷Wow, please make them.

⤷From today, let's only feed Hong Ye-seong wings?

⤷Ah ㅋㅋ, sending him a thousand wings, wait for it, Hong Ye-seong.

—Shouldn't Hong Ye-seong give this guy 10,000 won for delivery?

⤷Ye-seong, you have a lot of money, deposit 10,000 won, please. Nonghyup 30247…

The number of hunters increases every year, and equipment becomes increasingly scarce. It was a natural consequence given the rising demand. Even if you risk your life to clear a level 1 rift or dungeon, S-grade equipment was still extremely rare.

In this situation, Hong Ye-seong's value, who could steadily supply S-grade equipment even if slowly, had no choice but to skyrocket. Thus, during the Artisan Exhibition season, high-ranking hunters from all over the world flocked to Korea.

[Artisan Exhibition]

In short, it is a biennial auction event held in Songdo for equipment created by master Hong Ye-seong.

It's also why the government especially cherishes Hong Ye-seong. His mere existence boosts national power, and every two years, they even host a festival for him! Promoting tourism! Gaining foreign currency!

Of course, during this period, public hunter officials of the Awakened Management Bureau were exhausted maintaining city security and guarding Hong Ye-seong. With so many Awakened gathered in one place, security was paramount. Therefore, Jung Bin was also biting the edge of a paper cup while receiving reports.

—Team leader, I've sent the personnel deployment near the convention center by email.

"Thank you for your hard work. I'll check and reply. Where is Hong Ye-seong now?"

—After eating 11 chickens at the chicken place, he's on his way to a Korean beef specialty restaurant.

"…Did a ghost who starved from not eating meat possess him?"

As Jung Bin muttered, a small sigh was heard over the earpiece.

Hong Ye-seong became a meat massacring maniac as soon as he returned to the secular world. Did the various agencies feed Hong Ye-seong only temple food while confining him on Jirisan? No. Did they not feed him meat while confining him? Also no.

They provided perfectly balanced meals every time. Yet, holding his throbbing head, Jung Bin kindly replied.

"Well… Since the sighting story is up on HunterNet, please pay a little more attention to security."

—Understood.

During the period leading up to the Artisan Exhibition, Songdo was busier than ever. Surrounding hotels were fully booked a month in advance, and broadcasters, journalists, and fans of hunters flocked. Extra attention was needed for the safety of the meat-eating hippo genius.

Jung Bin sighed shortly again while opening emails on his tablet. Every day until the Artisan Exhibition day felt like it would be very long.

***

The ripple effect of the Artisan Exhibition reached even the peaceful hangover soup restaurant. Having easily finished two bowls of hangover soup, Bae Won-woo turned on the TV with the remote while holding a spoon in his mouth. Another hunter asked from behind, seeing him busy changing channels.

"What's on TV today?"

"The quiz show. They're re-airing the episode with Hong Ye-seong. I missed the original broadcast."

Cha Eui-jae, who was chopping green onions perfectly in the kitchen, hesitated. Another hunter admired.

"Wow, did he come down from the mountain?"

"You haven't checked HunterNet? There are already sightings from a chicken place and a Korean beef place."

"He must've gone crazy eating only wild greens on the mountain. He's going around only eating meat."

"But if I did a temple stay and came to Seoul, I'd probably eat chicken first too."

"Right, that makes sense."

Even Cha Eui-jae knew that Hong Ye-seong was on Jirisan. It was hard not to know when snooping on his InHeart. The man was addicted to InHeart, and sometimes on sleepless nights, he would post sunrise pictures from Jirisan, timed perfectly with sunrise. The pictures seemed like they would bring good luck, so Cha Eui-jae, who had considerable resentment towards Hong Ye-seong, quietly saved those pictures.

'That bastard… he came down the mountain.'

Cha Eui-jae had an obligation to hit that damn guy on the head. He quietly put down the knife and stepped out of the kitchen. Just then, Bae Won-woo, who was diligently changing channels, stopped. The program seemed to have already started, as the national MC was clapping and welcoming someone.

—Wow~ This time, he came down from Jirisan, and came to see us right away. The only S-grade creator! The pride of Korea, Master Hunter Hong Ye-seong!

—Haha, hello, hello.

A clean-looking Hong Ye-seong had a face shining with oil, with plump cheeks. Someone muttered.

"He must have eaten really well after coming down."

'Right.'

As the MC exchanged greetings and cautiously asked,

—You are famous for always creating excellent equipment. Have you made any equipment this time?

—If I say it here, it might lower the excitement… I'll show it on auction day.

—Ah, can't you give us a small spoiler?

—Haha, no.

Hong Ye-seong smiled kindly. A hunter who was about to slam the table ended up hitting his own knee instead.

"Ha… I really want to go."

"Even if you want to go… You need a black ticket to enter, right?"

"How much is the ticket now?"

"I don't know, but they say it trades for tens of billions, and there are no listings."

"When will I ever get to attend the auction?"

The hunters' dejected conversation pricked his ears. Cha Eui-jae subtly looked around the store. It was nearing the end of lunchtime business, so it didn't seem like any more customers would come.

Cha Eui-jae used a skill to hide his presence and quietly went to his small room. Fortunately, everyone's attention was glued to the TV, so he managed to get there without being noticed.

He lifted the neatly folded blanket. The black ticket, coveted by all hunters, lay safely asleep between the pink flower-patterned blankets. Not just one, but two. Cha Eui-jae glared at the tickets that retained their stiffness and shine even inside the blanket.

Nam Woo-jin… gave me a disaster.

Not just any disaster, but a colossal one.

'I got caught up in that guy's smooth talk and ended up receiving them without realizing…'

Cha Eui-jae covered his forehead and let out a long sigh. As soon as they were alone, Nam Woo-jin had started spouting stories about Lee Sa-young's past and other incomprehensible things, and he got unwittingly swept up in it.

In a moment of anger, Cha Eui-jae silently pounded the flower-patterned blanket with his fist. Why did that guy suddenly bring up Lee Sa-young's past to Cha Eui-jae? Making people worried.

Cha Eui-jae looked at the tickets worth tens of billions. They could fetch even higher prices with a premium attached. However, he learned a lot from the magic stone incident.

'I shouldn't act up.'

Of course, he might have done a lot here and there, but no more. He promised to live quietly and had already caused too much trouble. It was not too late now; he should really live quietly.

'Let's earn money honestly by working.'

When you think about it, hunters make a living by selling off materials from dungeons. But Cha Eui-jae decided to live as an ordinary person, not a hunter! Sure, he got a hunter's license, but… he had no intention of using it. So the license was just like an unused driver's license.

Even if you get a driver's license, if you don't drive, it's just another piece of identification with 12 extra numbers. It's only useful for identification purposes, nothing else.

How could an ordinary person, living a quiet and peaceful life, sell dungeon-related items? The recent Tomato Market EZ incident was just a stupid mistake driven by a temporary lapse in judgment over money.

'Yeah, a caterpillar should just eat pine needles1.'

Although, in terms of size, he was more like a dinosaur, Cha Eui-jae started brainwashing himself into thinking he was a caterpillar. A precious black ticket didn't suit a caterpillar like him. So he had to consider the proper way to handle it. He had three options.

First, go to Songdo and participate in the auction.

Second, dispose of the ticket.

Third, pretend it doesn't exist.

First option: go to Songdo and participate in the auction.

As soon as he sets foot near Songdo, he can kiss his quiet life goodbye. From what he's heard from other hunters, Songdo during the Artisan Exhibition is packed with top-tier hunters, including Hong Ye-seong and Jung Bin. They are all hunters who could easily afford to buy black tickets.

'Am I crazy?'

Of course, the people gathering at the hangover soup restaurant weren't ordinary either, but this was his home turf, where he had countless ways to handle things. But Songdo was uncharted territory. Cha Eui-jae decided he wouldn't even glance in the direction of Songdo. The first option was out.

Second option: dispose of the ticket. This had its own problems. There was no proper way to dispose of it!

Selling or transferring it was obviously impossible. Unless he wanted to join the hall of fame alongside EZ from Tomato Market and Mr. So-and-so2 from Thunder Market, it was a non-starter. Then he had to destroy it…

He had already tried holding the ticket to the burner where he cooked hangover soup, but this cursed ticket, whatever it was made of, wouldn't burn with ordinary fire.

'Should I just tear it up?'

With his strength, he could certainly tear it up. But unless he shredded it into tiny bits and turned it to dust, it was dangerous. Even when discarded, this ticket would likely have to go into non-combustible household waste, and there was no way it would turn to dust.

Ultimately, the last option was the only one left. To convince himself the ticket didn't exist. He could just stash these two pieces of paper somewhere and forget about them. Cha Eui-jae pushed the ticket deeper into the blanket, desperately trying to ignore it.

'Stay there until the Artisan Exhibition is over.'

He was making a futile prayer.

As always, Cha Eui-jae's prayers didn't tend to be very effective.

"…"

"Have you ever been to Songdo?"

When a black gas mask appeared late at night, brandishing the black ticket, it was clear.