Chapter 08
I’m the owner of that place! Huh?!
So the urgent matter you had to run out for was going to the bathroom?
Judging by how you ran with every ounce of strength you had, it must not have been just an ordinary emergency.
It seemed that even constellations couldn’t do anything about an urgent bowel signal.
Haeryeong even taught me the recipe, but since it might be embarrassing, I decided to pretend I didn’t know.
“When you come back into the hot spring, just say the password to the hot spring master key.”
The spirit realm being told me how to return to the hot spring as I grabbed the doorknob.
“What did I do with the hot spring master key again?”
“Isn’t it hanging around your neck?”
While rummaging through my pockets looking for the master key, I touched around my neck.
A golden key that had shrunk in size was caught in my hand.
‘When did this…?’
“The hot spring’s master key changes into a shape suitable for its owner. That way, it’s easier to carry around.”
Being EX-grade, the master key seemed to be smart as well.
“So what’s the password?”
“You can set that yourself when you come back in. But once you decide on it, you can’t change it, so choose carefully.”
Doesn’t sound particularly hard.
“Got it. Come to think of it, you helped me so much, but I didn’t do anything for you, Spirit Realm Being. Next time I come, I’ll definitely make you a mugwort latte!”
“I’m fine!”
I waved goodbye to the spirit realm being and turned the doorknob, picturing my room.
“I clearly said I’m fine!”
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm Being’ screams toward you.]
There was no need to be sorry. Even until the very end, the spirit realm being’s voice loudly rejecting my goodwill echoed behind me.
The moment I opened the door and stepped out, I had arrived in my room in the blink of an eye.
Isn’t this totally on the level of DoraXmon’s “Anywhere Door”?
At this rate, I might even be able to travel the world with it later.
While I was getting excited at the thought, I heard the sound of the front door opening.
“We really came back empty-handed today. Why is the gatekeeper lying there like a corpse and not moving at all?”
“If you knew that, hyung, we’d already be on the 46th floor.”
I heard Park Siwoo and Jiho’s voices from the living room.
Noticing that it was dark outside the window, I glanced at the clock on the desk.
It’s already 1 a.m.?
The lighting inside the hot spring was so bright that I hadn’t realized that this much time had passed.
“Oh, right. My clothes!”
Only then did I realize I was still wearing the hot spring outfit.
If they saw this, Park Siwoo and Jiho would definitely find it suspicious.
I didn’t want to let the outside world know that I had awakened.
I was already getting more than enough attention as it was.
I wanted no more than that.
Looking down from the window, I could still see reporters holding their ground.
Those damn trash reporters—persistent as ever.
“Noona, are you in your room?”
I was frowning at the reporters camped out in front of the apartment when I heard Jiho calling for me from outside.
First things first—change clothes!
I stripped off what I was wearing and grabbed whatever clothes I could from the hanger, quickly changing.
“She’s not in the living room, so she’s probably holed up in her room watching X-flix.”
Park Siwoo’s voice followed, sounding like it was obvious without even looking.
Park Siwoo, did you install a CCTV in my room or something?
I cautiously glanced around.
If I hadn’t awakened unexpectedly and been dragged off to the hot spring, it really would’ve been the perfect time to be watching X-flix.
“Noona, I’m coming in?”
I heard Jiho’s footsteps approaching the room.
I hurriedly stuffed the hot spring outfit that was strewn on the floor into the blanket.
“What, you were awake? Then why didn’t you answer? I thought you’d been kidnapped by reporters.”
Only after confirming that I was in the room did Jiho let out a shallow sigh of relief.
“With two S-rank hunters in the house, who would even think of kidnapping me unless they were insane?”
With lunatic Park Siwoo and Jiho, who went berserk over anything related to me, it would take a death wish to even consider it.
“There are a lot of crazy bastards in the world.”
“That’s true.”
Including you and Park Siwoo.
“But were you about to go out somewhere? There are still reporters swarming outside.”
Of all things, the clothes I’d grabbed at random were a tracksuit and a padded jacket.
Honestly, this outfit was my signature going-out look—the very definition of a homebody.
“It was cold, and I wanted to make something to eat, so I snuck out and bought some ingredients.”
“You’re going to make something? Who are you? Our Park Don-don would never abandon her teddy bear pajamas for a reason like that.”
Park Siwoo eyed me suspiciously in my tracksuit.
The teddy bear he mentioned referred to my beloved sleepwear, covered all over with teddy bear faces.
Whenever I was at home, I always wore those teddy bear sleep pajamas.
Of course, right up until I was dragged into the hot spring.
So it was understandable that Jiho and Park Siwoo found my changed appearance strange.
To avoid the sharp suspicions of these quick-witted brothers, I needed to change the subject.
“It’s pretty cold outside. Want me to make something warm to help you heat up?”
It wasn’t anything outrageous to say, but Park Siwoo and Jiho both fell silent as if on cue.
Then they exchanged glances and simultaneously placed their hands on my forehead.
“Fever…?”
“None.”
Moments like this made me wonder if they were actually twins—their timing was impeccable.
“So are you going to eat it or not?”
“Before that, let me ask you one thing.”
Park Siwoo asked seriously, and I was starting to get irritated.
“It’s edible, right?”
Seriously… should I just kill him?
“If you don’t trust me, then don’t eat it.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t eat it.”
Despite picking fights over every little thing, Park Siwoo followed closely behind me as I headed out with the bundle of ingredients.
“I’m eating it! Noona.”
Jiho, eyes wide like a rabbit’s, walked alongside me into the kitchen.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
Perhaps uneasy about leaving the kitchen to me, Jiho refused to leave my side.
“Just trust your noona and go sit over there.”
The confidence I’d gained from getting a decent evaluation for something I’d made for the first time in my life surged like a rising tide.
“Still, if you need anything, call me. Okay?”
“There won’t be a need. I even practiced, so don’t worry—just go sit down.”
Unable to win against me, Jiho reluctantly plopped down next to Park Siwoo, who was already seated.
“What’s on the menu?”
“Mugwort latte.”
“Where’d you even learn something like that?”
“On YouTube.”
Since it wasn’t common for me to stand in the kitchen, Park Siwoo seemed curious about everything.
It was a bit distracting, but I poured milk into a kettle, placed it on the induction stove, and calmly took out the ingredients from the bundle.
What was the recipe again?
Too lazy to check it, I recalled the memory of making mugwort latte for Haeryeong and added the ingredients to the cup by eye.
All that was left was to pour in the milk once it boiled.
Having done it once before, my body seemed to remember how to make mugwort latte.
People really do need to experience a variety of things.
Who knows? Maybe I had a talent for being a barista.
“Don-don, it looks like the reporters are going to quiet down faster than expected. You’ve heard already, right?”
“Heard what?”
Apparently bored while waiting for the latte to finish, Park Siwoo tapped the dining table with his fingertips before opening his mouth.
“You don’t know? Is that because you watch X-flix all day?”
“If you say it and it’s nothing, you’re going to live the rest of your life not knowing anything that happens.”
At the threat of eternal sleep, Park Siwoo quietly tucked his tail between his legs.
“An EX-grade hidden field opened today.”
My hand, which had been pouring hot milk into the cup, froze for a moment.
No way… it can’t be.
I’d never told anyone about the EX-grade hot spring.
More importantly, the two of them definitely didn’t know yet that I had awakened.
“At first it was a dried-up hot spring, but when the hot spring water burst out, it turned into an EX-grade hot spring.”
Then how on earth did Park Siwoo know that?
He even knew that the hidden field was an EX-grade hot spring.
“How did you find out about that?”
“How could I not? It was plastered all over the system window in real time all day. Because of that, the number of reporters outside dropped by half.”
According to Park Siwoo, while his guild was scrambling to enter the 46th floor, a global notification popped up in the hunters’ system window.
[Awakened ‘Dried-Up Hot Spring Owner’ acquires the ‘Master Key of the Dried-Up Hot Spring’.]
[Hidden Field ‘Dried-Up Hot Spring (EX)’ is opened.]
It was the first time an awakening had been announced in the global window, the first time a hidden field had opened like this, and the first time the existence of an EX-grade had been revealed—so the chat window had been buzzing about it all day.
“So now everyone’s in an uproar over this unidentified EX-grade awakened.”
Wait—what?
“Did you just say EX-grade awakened?”
“Yeah! Whoever it is, they’re a monster of a rookie! No matter what it takes, I’m going to find them first and recruit them into Jipil.”
My face twisted in disbelief as I looked at Park Siwoo, who was brimming with excitement.
I’m the owner of that hot spring, you know?
