I Just Traded in the Forest of Monsters, but the World Changed - Chapter 9

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 9
Se Hee studied the blue window hovering before her eyes once more.
“……This.”
It dawned on her then.
It had the exact same format as that tiresome and dangerous notification she’d encountered yesterday.
“Don’t tell me this is some kind of Mission or Quest nonsense?”
A chill crept down her spine in an oddly unsettling way.
‘Surely this doesn’t pop up every single day?’
Se Hee’s gaze flicked back and forth between the Cooking Pot and beyond the mist.
She muttered under her breath.
‘Do they honestly not intend to let me rest for a moment?’
That was when the ominous footsteps echoing through the mist finally filled the clearing before her tent.
Just as Cassian had feared.
The men surrounded her small tent in a wide circle, each carrying a Greatsword or axe across their shoulders.
Se Hee’s shoulders stiffened almost imperceptibly.
‘……Wait. Should I run?’
It was then that Bargas, the leader of the Mercenary Band, stepped forward, driving his Great Axe—as tall as he was—into the ground with a thunderous bang.
“Listen here, woman.”
Bargas advanced another step, tilting his chin upward.
“Running some peculiar business right in the middle of this forest takes nerve. Most would call it madness.”
He curled his mouth in a sneer.
“Do you know who we are? Few men in the northern Empire remain unacquainted with our name.”
Bargas thrust his scarred, grotesque face forward with a threatening laugh.
The mercenaries behind him raised their weapons or struck their shields.
The clang of metal and rough laughter soon filled the air.
Se Hee lifted her gaze and swept across them all.
‘If I run now, the business dies with me.’
But her eyes fell not on Bargas himself—rather on the clearing where he stood.
‘Really? Not even wiping your feet? I just tidied this place up this morning and they’ve already trashed it.’
Se Hee’s brow furrowed instead.
In an instant, these men ceased to be objects of fear to her.
They were nothing more than rude customers with no manners.
“You’ve got no sense of decorum. When I’m serving, the proper thing is to form a line first.”
Bargas’s eyebrow twitched momentarily.
But laughter burst out of him just as quickly.
“Ha! A line? You’re telling Bargas himself to stand in line?”
The mercenaries erupted in sneering laughter, wielding their weapons.
It was a show of force that looked ready to trample the tent at any moment.
“Look, I’m trying to be polite here—just step aside, would you? I’m busy right now.”
“What kind of game are you playing!”
Bargas hefted his axe and took a step forward.
That was when Se Hee’s hand moved like lightning.
She’d grabbed the thick, bright red sauce left over from the Spicy Chicken Noodles.
The sauce flew directly at the mercenary captain’s face.
“I said I don’t tolerate business interference!”
Slash—!
The vivid scarlet sauce cut through the air and splattered squarely across Bargas and the front-line mercenaries’ faces.
“……Ugh, what? Is this blood?”
Bargas snorted and tried to wipe the liquid from his face with his hand.
But a second later, his complexion turned purple.
“Aaaahhh! It burns! My face is melting! The fires of Hell itself!”
Capsaicin was ravaging their skin.
[Environmental Effect Activated: Hell’s Red Mist]
• Effect: Extreme pain, involuntary tears
• Status Change: Loss of fighting spirit, combat willingness sharply reduced
Se Hee glanced briefly at the text floating before her eyes, then set down the sauce packet.
‘Surprisingly effective.’
Unlike the calm Se Hee, the mercenaries couldn’t even stand straight.
“Cough! Cough! Is this magic? Or poison!”
The mercenaries stumbled backward, tears and snot streaming down their faces.
Se Hee paused, looking down at him, and tilted her head curiously.
“Ah, is this not enough?”
Without the slightest hesitation, she sprinkled more sauce.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
“What is this now!”
The already-broken mercenaries began rolling across the ground.
Some clutched their noses; others couldn’t breathe at all.
The space around the tent, consumed by Spicy Chicken Sauce, became chaos in an instant.
Bargas, the captain of the Mercenary Band, lowered his sword with trembling hands and fell to his knees.
His eyes seemed to glisten slightly with tears.
At the merest brush of his fingertips—stained with Spicy Chicken Sauce—against anything, Bargas would cry out and gaze up at Se Hee in supplication.
Se Hee dropped noodles into the Cooking Pot and clicked her tongue.
“You’re talking absolute nonsense. You come barging in here uninvited and then complain? Seriously.”
She rinsed her finger—which bore a bit of sauce—in water and continued matter-of-factly.
“Well? Are you coming to your senses now?”
Se Hee tilted her head slightly.
“You see, our establishment has strict policies about property damage and interference with business.”
She paused briefly and held up the sauce pouch for emphasis.
“If you’d rather not experience that again, you can purchase our merchandise.”
She turned her gaze slowly toward the Mercenary Band.
“Payment is required for your uninvited intrusion.”
Bargas ground his teeth and asked.
“…What merchandise are you talking about?”
Se Hee nodded and laughed briefly.
“You just tasted it, didn’t you? I’ll charge you specially—one Gold Coin per package for this hellfire stuff, as I’m calling it.”
She added:
“So everyone here—one pouch each. That’s an order.”
“One… Gold Coin?”
“Don’t like it? I can give you another round. This time I’ll aim for the eyes.”
As Se Hee shook the remaining sauce pouch, the entire Mercenary Band scrambled in unison and yanked purses from their belts.
“We’ll buy it! We’ll buy it! Please, just don’t do that again!”
Se Hee snatched up the coins the mercenaries thrust at her in haste.
The pouch made a heavy, jingling sound as it filled with money.
She glanced inside the pouch.
‘…Huh?’
There was hardly any glint of gold; most of the coins were silver or copper.
“Wait.”
Se Hee asked carefully.
“There are no Gold Coins?”
Suddenly, the air around the tent grew oddly still.
“Gold Coins? Who carries something that valuable around? We’re not nobility.”
Bargas let out a hollow laugh.
Se Hee’s eyes widened slightly.
“Then what do you usually use to settle accounts?”
“Silver Coins, obviously.”
Bargas answered as though it were self-evident.
“Daily wages, tavern tabs, equipment repairs—everything’s settled in Silver Coins. Copper Coins are just for change.”
Se Hee swallowed unconsciously.
‘So the Gold Coins Cassian gave me…what were they actually worth?’
Only then did she realize the price she’d just quoted was outrageous by their standards.
‘Wow. I really…’
A pang of conscience pricked at her—barely a whisper, thin as a fingernail.
But these men were brigands who’d burst into her tent without permission and drawn steel, weren’t they?
‘If anything, I’m letting them off easy.’
Se Hee shook her head and handed out pouches one by one.
“Here—one package of Spicy Chicken Noodles each.”
Se Hee swept her gaze across their faces, then tilted her head thoughtfully.
“Come to think of it, you all look so pitiful. I’ll give you a discount.”
The mercenaries’ faces lit with hope.
“One Silver Coin and three Copper Coins per package. How’s that?”
Bargas’s eyes went wide.
It was roughly the price of a hearty meat stew and a few pints of beer that the mercenaries would drink down at the Village Tavern.
But Bargas knew better than to refuse this offer—it would be a losing proposition.
“Oh! Of course, gladly.”
Bargas hurried to accept, afraid Se Hee might change her mind.
‘Since I quoted it cheaper than Gold Coins, there shouldn’t be any complications later.’
Se Hee gestured toward the front with her chin, looking satisfied.
“Everyone, go ahead and find your seats over there.”
The moment she finished speaking, a familiar system window materialized.
[Currency Exchange Notification]
• Detection: Empire Silver Coins x6, Copper Coins x18
• Conversion: 780P
• Fee (20%): -156P
• Final Acquisition: 624P
‘It feels completely different from when I brought it in as Gold Coins.’
Se Hee scanned the numbers again.
‘Points fluctuate this much?’
She wanted to calculate it properly.
But the Mercenary Band standing dumbly in front with their noodle packages forced her to shelve the thought and continue speaking.
“I’ll demonstrate the preparation method now.”
Bargas and his men received the noodle packets with bewildered expressions.
The weapon they’d believed was hellfire had apparently been a one-Silver Coin item, and the realization left their minds reeling.
But they didn’t dare protest under the force of Se Hee’s presence.
“Considering it a fine for trespassing, this is actually quite reasonable.”
Se Hee looked down at the Cooking Pot.
She swallowed a sigh and opened the System Shop.
• [Cooking Pot] … 700P
‘I’ll be using these regularly going forward anyway, so I can think of this as an initial investment.’
Making her decision swiftly, her hand moved toward the purchase option.
[Purchase History]
• Cooking Pot x3
Total Cost: 2,100P
Three new Cooking Pots dropped with soft thuds.
The sudden appearance of the pots startled the Mercenary Band.
“Since there are three pots, divide up—two people per pot.”
Bargas rolled his eyes briefly, counting on his fingers.
“Two to a pot, then?”
“Yes. Up to two packets per pot is fine.”
Se Hee nodded and continued.
“Oh, and get your water from over there.”
She pointed toward the faucet beside the tent.
“Build your own fires. This is self-service, after all.”
The mercenaries, their eyes still watering, exchanged glances, then set aside their weapons and clustered together in small groups.
Watching their rough, calloused hands fumble delicately with the noodle packets was oddly comical.
‘They can swing swords just fine, but with a packet they’re so careful.’
Se Hee let out a small cough.
“Now that everyone’s settled, pay attention.”
Once she confirmed that all eyes had naturally turned toward her, she proceeded.
“I’m now going to explain how to prepare Spicy Chicken Noodles deliciously.”
Se Hee lifted the Cooking Pot lid and launched into full-scale group instruction.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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