Housekeeper in the dungeon

The Dungeon keeper
Episode 5

Is it just me, or does the system message sound like a line from the Yabba the Hutt?

“……But a home is better than nothing.”

Hee-na muttered to herself as she alternated between the cleaned status window and the dirty house.

The dirty house could be cleaned up, and the fact that she had a home at all was more important.

“Well, the water flushes well.”

I checked the water pressure in the bathroom, and the water came out strong.

At least I had one of the most important things I look for when I’m house hunting.

After walking around the room, I squatted down in a corner and a notification window flashed in front of me, different from the system window.

“Congratulations on realizing your dream of owning your own home!” it said.

“Is …… mocking me?”

Hee-Na was offended and turned off the notification. The next thing she knew, another window popped up.

“It’s the landlord’s job to keep this place warm and comfortable.”

“I’m not a full-time cleaner, how am I supposed to clean this place?” I thought to myself.

As she spoke to herself, something that wasn’t the system spoke back to her.

“That’s the job of a housekeeper.”

“What is your duty…….”

“Not good enough to be a landlord. Needs a lot of training.”

“What, do you mean to say that because I’m a D-rank, you gave me such a dirty house?”

Hee Na snapped at the criticism.

It was bad enough that she had a strange Awakening ability and a low rank, but to be given such a shitty house was even worse.

“Who are you? I don’t think you’re part of the system, come out and explain this situation!”

Hee-na was scrambling around like an impatient customer calling the store manager.

Even though she didn’t think there was any way that ‘this’ person would come out, she felt like she needed to vent her frustration.

Hee-na’s mind was very tired. She didn’t know how many times she’d been torn between hope and frustration since dawn.

She wasn’t like cast iron, hardening with each quench. The mood swings between hot and cold made her irritable and tired.

“If you’re going to give me this shitty house to call home, don’t you think you owe me some kind of reparation?”

As I’m tsking in the air, something pops up from the floor.

It was quite large. Hee-Na swatted her hand away reflexively.

“Bug!”

With a boom, something hit her hand and bounced off the wall.

It was something jelly-like and squishy.

Thud.

It hit the wall and immediately landed on the dirty floor.

Hee-na dusted off her hands and examined them carefully. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a bug as she had suspected.

It was the size of a fist, wriggling and talking.

“Able…… worthy…… one…… for sale……. Reimbursement…… not required.”

“What, is that what you’ve been talking to?”

Hee-Na quickly let her guard down and walked toward it.

Upon closer inspection, she realized it was shaped like a snail. It was about the size of her fist, but it didn’t look as gross as a real snail.

It had a cute gray shell and a jelly-like, plump apricot-colored body.

“Violent…… response…… to…… struggle…….”

The snail chattered unintelligible words in Hee-Na’s hand for a long time.

It was a bit pathetic to see such a cute little creature crying out for help, so Hee-Na waited for it to regain its composure.

“……Homeowner’s personality reads: hot-tempered, violent!”

As soon as the snail regained his senses, he accused Hee-Na of violence.

Hee-Na apologized to the snail.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you. But suddenly a bug or something jumped out and surprised me with it…….”

Aside from her annoyance with the state of the house, Hee-Na is not one to take things lightly, even if it’s just a snail…….

As she apologized, the snail flicked its antenna-like tentacles. It was a delicate movement like it was annoyed.

“Sloppiness, sloppiness. A nasty disposition!”

“It’s understandable if you’re surprised, but isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“You’re an assailant, Yugumu.”

It was a snail that said all sorts of things.

Hee-Na bent down and peered at the snail. She wasn’t sure where its eyes were, but she put eye contact on what looked like them.

“Were you the one saying congratulations on realizing my dream of owning my own home, and blah, blah, blah about the nature of landlords?”

Then the two antennae twitched with the relay. It seemed to nod.

“Good.”

“Then what are you? You’re not a system, you’re not even a system, and you’ve just appeared out of nowhere like this……. I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”

“Of course. The Bone Snail. Very special.”

The snail’s antennae stood erect.

Even with just that, the fist-sized snail exuded an uncommon arrogance.

“This snail, skill ‘Home Sweet Home’ Home Manager.”

* * *

As a victim of the dungeon gate, Hee-Na had a lot of work to do.

The first thing she had to do was get clean. She washed herself in a public bathhouse, bought a new set of clothes, and changed into them before she could think clearly about her next goal.

Luckily, she had money. A credit card, which she’d slipped into her pocket because she couldn’t be bothered to carry a wallet, was her saving grace.

“Go to the civic center, get a temporary ID, get a cell phone, …….”

Hee-Na counted off the things she needed to do and the items she needed on her fingers. There were so many miscellaneous things to do that she was glad she was penniless.

“I’ll also need to buy …… household goods, cleaning supplies, and clothes.”

It was a lot. There was no time to sit like this. Hee-na scrambled off the bench and headed for the community center.

She had gotten her name on the list of Dungeon Gate victims yesterday and was able to get a temporary ID card quickly.

The number of dungeon victims over the past decade has increased the government’s speed to near-light speed.

It should be noted that the officials under the Dungeon Management Office were notorious for working overtime.

Anyway, Hee-na used her temporary ID to get a cell phone.

It was a necessity for living in South Korea and being treated as a Korean citizen. Without a cell phone, she couldn’t do anything.

She needed a way to contact her brother immediately, but also to find a new job.

“I have money in savings, so I won’t have to worry for a while, but I can’t stay unemployed forever.

Hee-Na texted her brother to let him know she was alive and well and to contact her when she got out of the dungeon.

She knew he wouldn’t be able to see the message right away since real-world communication devices were jammed in the dungeon, but she wanted him to know.

“Ugh.”

Hee-na sighed as she left a message for her brother. Her heart was already heavy with the thought of finding a new job.

No matter how turbulent the world had become, there was still no shortage of college graduates.

As someone who jumped into the job market right out of high school, Hee-na was one step behind them in terms of qualifications and salary.

“I heard that it’s hard to get a job as an experienced worker these days because of the economy. ……. You should be able to find a job soon.”

Hee-Na shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“Let’s not sit around and think about what we need to do right now, Lee Hee-na!”

At least things were better now than they had been when the dungeon first came into existence when her parents died and she was left alone with her brother.

The world was much more stable now, and there was support for dungeon victims.

“Plus, I’m an Awakened now.

It was a strange class, a housekeeper, but it saved my life and gave me a free house.

If you call it luck, it was a lot of luck.

As she thought about her powers, she remembered the gray-shelled snail waiting for her inside the house.

The snail was furious that she had to clean up the house as soon as possible.

“It’s a weird first impression, and it’s going to be even weirder if I’m late.”

Hee-Na muttered to herself as she imagined the snail’s fluffy head.

Maybe someday she’d get to know him better and bounce his head all over…….

* * *

“Ugh, it’s heavy!”

Hee-Na walked into the house with her arms full of stuff.

“Action. Slothful. Lack of housekeeping skills!”

As soon as she entered the house, she was bombarded with criticism.

However, Hee-na, who had been in the workforce for five years, had the inner strength to not raise an eyebrow at such petty criticism.

“Ugh. It’s a good thing you can call the front door from anywhere, or I would have broken my arm. I’ve spent over $200,000 on cleaning supplies because the place looks like shit!”

I grumbled, and the snail waggled its antennae impatiently.

“Landlord. You need to compare prices at the grocery store.”

How the snail, the manager who came with the house skill, could know how to shop thriftily is beyond me.

Hee-na was undeterred and replied.

“I have too much to do today, and it’s a waste of time to go around comparing prices. It’s better to just go to the grocery store and pick up something cheap and good. Haven’t you heard that time is gold?”

Hee-na rattled off a list of items, complaining about how busy she’d been today.

She put the bathroom cleaning supplies in the bathroom, the house cleaning supplies in the house, and the basic household items for her.

It was her habit to put things away immediately after shopping.

The snail twitched its antennae as if to monitor her nimble fingers, then conceded that it had no choice.

“……Rational thinking. Admit it.”

“So, you’re a snail who can admit things, huh?”

Hee-Na chuckled.

If she had been alone, she would have been overwhelmed by the prospect, but having a cute snail to talk to didn’t make her feel so bad.