Chapter 10
There’s a Corpse in the Hot Spring
I definitely followed the recipe for the “hot-spring-brand mugwort latte,” so why did a “green monster latte” come out?
I glanced down at my hands.
With my clumsy, cursed hands that had piled up countless dark histories, it was more than possible.
But when Haeryeong drank it, he said it was fine, didn’t he?
Suddenly, I recalled Haeryeong sprinting into the bathroom with every last ounce of strength he had.
Don’t tell me that was because of this unidentified latte too?
But he definitely said it tasted good…….
To check the taste, I gulped down the extra mugwort latte and immediately ran to the sink and spat everything out of my mouth.
Park Si-woo’s comment—that it tasted like juice squeezed out of a slime—hit me to the bone.
I made it myself, but…… is this really something a human can eat?
It didn’t seem possible with ordinary mental fortitude.
“Hyung, are you almost done? I’m really urgent right now…….”
“Use the bathroom in the big room!”
“That toilet broke a while ago! It hasn’t been fixed yet, so I can’t use it! So hurry up……!”
At that moment, along with knocking on the bathroom door, Jiho’s desperate cry was heard.
“Stop nagging! I’m about to die too—!”
Along with Park Si-woo’s groan, cut off before he could finish, a tremendous sound burst out from outside the bathroom.
Let’s run for it.
Realizing how serious the situation was, I quietly retreated into my room.
‘Haeryeong, are you still in the bathroom?’
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ worries, saying, “Haeryeong hasn’t come out since going into the bathroom,” and asks whether “he might have passed away in there.”]
It really must be because of the mugwort latte I made, right?
If it tasted strange, he should’ve spat it out—why force himself to drink it?
Since the mission isn’t completed, it’s obvious that what Haeryeong drank was also the green monster latte.
Then why did he say it didn’t taste bad?
Because of that, I thought I’d made it properly.
Suddenly, Haeryeong’s affection progress came to mind.
Don’t tell me…… he’s actually a tsundere?
[Constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’ crawls out, saying, “At least I’m still alive.”]
How much did he throw up to the point he can’t even walk!
‘If you thought the latte was weird, you should’ve said something.’
[Constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’ says, “It’s not because of the latte, so stop worrying.”]
How am I supposed to believe that after all this…….
Seeing Haeryeong insisting it wasn’t because of the latte even while crawling because he couldn’t stand on his own two feet, I became certain.
Haeryeong is a tsundere.
But more important than that right now was the fact that my clumsy hands had caused an incident.
‘Spirit Realm, is there something like an antidote to fix this situation?’
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ says, “There is an antidote, but only the owner of the hot spring can make it.”]
Then I can do it, since I’m the hot spring owner!
That was the best news I’d heard all day.
‘What do I need to do?’
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ says, “You can make the antidote using the medicine jar in the hot spring apothecary.”]
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ adds, “But before that, you need to gain the medicine jar’s recognition, so it won’t be possible right away.”]
It seemed the hot spring’s medicine jar was extremely shy.
In other words, there was no way to get an antidote for now.
‘Is there any other way?’
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ says, “There’s no choice but to keep going back and forth to the bathroom until everything you ate comes out.”]
Because of my clumsy hands, three grown men are clutching their backsides and unable to leave the bathroom.
Once again, I’m amazed by the destructive power of my hands.
I should practice making mugwort lattes much more carefully.
If I sold this as-is, I wouldn’t escape a lawsuit.
‘Spirit Realm, I have one more question.’
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ asks what it is.]
‘Can other hunters enter our hot spring?’
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ shakes his head, saying it’s impossible.]
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ says, “Our hot spring is only visible to your constellation and the hot spring owner.”]
What?
It’s invisible?
Then there was no point in hunters searching for it, was there?
As I relaxed, thinking I’d worried for nothing, Spirit Realm continued.
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ says, “It’s rare, but on days when the yin energy is strong, ordinary people can see the hot spring.”]
He said it was rare, but the thought that someone could enter the hot spring left me uneasy.
‘What do you do then?’
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ says, “It’s up to the owner, but since they can only see it for that one day, we’ve treated them as regular hot spring guests until now.”]
In the past, the existence of an EX-grade hot spring hadn’t been known, but now things were different.
Everyone was desperately trying to find the hot spring and me.
Growing anxious, I sat on the bed and logged into the anonymous hunter bulletin board.
There was no place faster for real-time information than this.
As I skimmed through the posts, my face turned pale.
Did someone actually see me?
I hurriedly clicked the post.
I want to try it. If you see this, contact me. xxx-xxxx-xxxx
└ Anonymous 1: Like hell you would.
└ Anonymous 2: That number’s gonna get bombarded lololol
└ Anonymous 3: It’s a sensitive topic right now, so please refrain from bait posts.
└ OP: Yeah, yeah, next serious guy.
Ah, my heart almost dropped.
I thought someone had really seen me.
Bait posts I used to read and pass over without thinking no longer felt light.
This is bait too, right?
No matter how I think about it, the place I went to seems like an EX-grade hot spring. I had a cup of tea there and my stamina went up by 5.
└ Anonymous 1: Yep, next bait.
└ Anonymous 2: This bastard’s a repeat offender. Last time he said he ate pork cutlet at a hot spring and recovered from near collapse.
└ Anonymous 2: But the ridiculous part is that when he tried to go back, the hot spring wasn’t there anymore. Probably a novelist.
└ Anonymous 3: A folktale told by OP.
This one sounds real, though?
Come to think of it, I remembered reading a post about a hot spring before.
Knowing that pork cutlet and tea had special effects, and the fact that the hot spring was gone when he tried to return—it all matched.
Seeing posts like this already circulating, it didn’t seem safe anymore.
‘Spirit Realm, where exactly is our hot spring located?’
[Guide ‘Spirit Realm’ says, “Between an SSS-grade dungeon and an EX-grade dungeon.”]
If what Spirit Realm said was true, you’d need to be at least an SSS-grade hunter to even accidentally see the hot spring.
I’ve never heard of an SSS-grade hunter existing.
If one did, Park Si-woo couldn’t be ranked first.
It was probably an S-grade hunter wandering through a dungeon who got swept in without knowing where they were.
Even now, there must be quite a few hunters roaming around outside…….
And if they ended up seeing the hot spring…….
Just thinking about it was terrifying.
I couldn’t relax like this.
I should go stand guard.
If worst comes to worst, I could knock them out and toss them outside the hot spring.
It’d be hard alone, but if I borrowed the constellations’ power, who knew what might happen?
I took out the hot spring master key.
Spirit Realm said I had to say a password to return to the hot spring, right?
‘I don’t have a password yet…… If I want to go to the hot spring, what do I do?’
[‘Hot Spring Master Key (EX)’ beeps and asks me to say a two-character password (special characters, English letters, and numbers not allowed).]
It really is smart.
The master key understood me perfectly.
[‘Hot Spring Master Key (EX)’ warns that once a password is set, it cannot be changed.]
Do I have to decide right now?
What should it be? I should pick something simple so I don’t forget, right?
As I was struggling to think of a suitable password, the door suddenly burst open and Park Si-woo rushed in with a desperate expression.
“Plungeeeer!”
[‘Hot Spring Master Key (EX)’: Beep—]
“Fu—!”
Startled by Park Si-woo bursting in like a ferocious monster, I let out a curse.
[Password setup for ‘Hot Spring Master Key (EX)’ has been completed.]
No! That’s not it!
My body trembled with rising anger.
“Why are you looking for a plunger here?!”
When I yelled at Park Si-woo, he grabbed his butt with both hands and twisted his body like a pretzel.
“The toilet’s clogged—what am I supposed to do?! I’m seriously about to die! The plunger! Hurry!!”
Seeing his face flushed bright red, he looked moments away from disaster.
“It’s in the utility room, so get lost!”
I kicked Park Si-woo’s backside and chased him out.
I heard his shrill scream as he was kicked away, but I locked the door without caring.
Ah, this is really bad.
They said the key password can’t be changed once it’s set.
“Seriously, Park Si-woo—calling that guy my older brother. Fu—!”
As I vented my frustration, another window popped up in front of me.
[The password matches that of ‘Hot Spring Master Key (EX)’.]
Damn it, the password was “fu—.”
The curse that slipped out habitually activated the master key against my will.
[Moving to Hidden Field ‘Hot Spring (EX)’.]
As I was transported straight into the hot spring, I looked down at the sticky liquid soaking my feet.
“Ah!”
Startled by the pool of blood spread thickly beneath me, I immediately stepped back.
There lay a black-haired man with a beautiful appearance, collapsed there.
His entire body was drenched in vivid red blood.
