Chapter 2 - Snail Husband? Not even a Snail Bride, what...
[ Snail Husband? Not even a Snail Bride? What the... ]
=== Snail Husband? Not even a Snail Bride? What the... ===
[You have awakened the S-rank unique ability: Snail Husband.]
"..."
It was amazing to finally awaken, a moment I'd yearned for my entire life.
Considering it was an S-rank unique ability—the absolute highest tier—it was undoubtedly a stroke of insane luck.
But the name itself was highly suspect.
"Snail Husband? I don't even get a Snail Bride? What the..."
The Snail Bride.
Or the Snail Maiden, whatever you wanted to call her.
She was a character from a Korean folk tale—a snail who transformed into a human, secretly did chores for a lonely bachelor, and eventually married him.
Usually, Hunter abilities had cool names like 'Pyromancy' or 'Strength Enhancement.'
But "Snail Husband"? It immediately conjured up images of that old fairy tale.
The name alone made me seriously doubt it would be of any use in a fight.
Sure, not all abilities were combat-oriented, but still.
Instead of worrying blindly, I needed to see it for myself.
"Status window."
I spoke the words I'd practiced countless times while praying for an Awakening.
A wave of intense emotion washed over me as I finally got to use the command for real, and a blue hologram floated into my field of vision.
----------
[Yoo Ga-on]
Snail Husband (S)
Strength: F
Agility: F
Stamina: F
Mana: None
Skills: None
----------
...?
Wait, was I seeing things because I'd just awakened?
Rub, rub.
Maybe I should rub my eyes and look again.
"...Fuck? What the hell is this?!"
I tried to deny reality, but even after splashing water on my face and blinking repeatedly, the same garbage status window stared back at me.
"Even if you awaken as a D-rank, your stats aren't supposed to be this fucking pathetic!"
What kind of S-rank ability didn't even boost your basic stats?
I was reeling from this bottom-tier report card—which basically told me to fuck off with straight Fs and a big fat 'None' stamped next to Mana and Skills—but I hadn't even read the skill description yet.
My excitement thoroughly dampened, I focused on the description, praying that an S-rank ability had to have some kind of hidden trick.
Ding!
[You have awakened the S-rank unique ability: Snail Husband.]
[A dedicated Snail Husband status window has been unlocked.]
[A new quest is available.]
Following the brief messages from my initial Awakening, a flood of new notifications filled my vision.
"Aha!"
Of course.
There was no way a fucking S-rank unique ability could be this much of a joke.
These notifications meant there was still more to it, completely separate from those trash stats.
[Snail Husband (S)] [Unique]
- Maximize your own or others' growth by completing quests.
The description was incredibly simple.
But instead of staring at it and overthinking, I needed to check out the rest of the interface.
I started by opening the dedicated status window.
----------
[Yoo Ga-on]
Strength: F
Agility: F
Stamina: F
Mana: None
Skills: None
[Quest]
----------
"..."
The window had turned green, but just as I was about to lose my temper at the exact same garbage stats, I noticed a new addition.
"Quest!"
There it was: the 'Quest' tab mentioned in the notifications and skill description.
Though I'd only ever seen quests in video games, I desperately hoped this was where the true power of my S-rank ability lay. I clicked it with a silent prayer.
[Generating first quest.]
[Quest]
- Go to Room 305 and clean the floor (00:29:58)
Reward: Permanent acquisition of Intangibility (A), Han Cho-yeon's concentration greatly enhanced
Penalty for Failure: Kidney removal
[Intangibility (A) has been temporarily granted to assist with the quest.]
...Excuse me?
Trespassing?
I lived in Room 306.
Which meant Room 305 belonged to my next-door neighbor.
"This is insane."
The quest was literally telling me to break into my neighbor's apartment and sweep their floor. It was completely absurd.
"Kidney removal? What kind of system threatens to steal your organs?!"
But looking at the timer ticking down from thirty minutes, and the terrifying penalty for failure, I didn't exactly have a choice.
Break in and clean, or lose a kidney to some supernatural force?
If this was a game of 'Would You Rather,' whoever designed it seriously needed their head examined.
Besides, since the system had temporarily gifted me a high-tier A-rank skill like Intangibility just to help me break in, there was no point in hesitating.
Getting access to an A-rank skill like this was already mind-blowing.
[Intangibility (A)]
- Allows the user to pass through solid walls.
It gave me a literal cheat code of a skill and actively encouraged breaking and entering, yet the actual objective was... cleaning.
"It really is like the Snail Bride story."
Since the reward mentioned boosting the concentration of someone named 'Han Cho-yeon,' she had to be the neighbor living next door.
Secretly tidying up and helping them succeed was the exact premise of the fairy tale.
...I wasn't going to turn into an actual snail, was I?
I let out a heavy sigh.
I stared at the wall separating me from Room 305.
In a cheap studio apartment building where the soundproofing was practically nonexistent, the absolute silence from next door meant I could safely assume no one was home.
Clinging to the desperate hope that this wouldn't land me in prison, I grabbed a hand broom and dustpan and approached the wall.
No time like the present. With only twenty-eight minutes left on the clock, I couldn't afford to waste another second.
I'm sorry. I'll just sweep up and get out.
Intangibility.
With a strange, weightless sensation, I slipped right through the solid wall.
Even though I'd never used a skill before, the knowledge of how to trigger it came to me as naturally as breathing.
"...Phew."
Fortunately, Room 305 was completely empty.
The faint scent of fabric softener drifted into my nose as I took in my surroundings.
Soft sunlight filtered through the window. The place wasn't a total disaster, but it definitely wasn't tidy either—it had a cozy, lived-in clutter to it.
Thanks to the paper-thin walls, I'd already known a woman lived here, but I never imagined I'd end up inside her apartment like this.
"Right, better get to work."
Shaking off my daze, I squatted down.
Thankfully, my clothes and the dustpan had phased through the wall with me, sparing me the embarrassment of arriving stark naked.
With a sigh, I began sweeping the floor of the cramped studio apartment.
"Phew..."
Even though it was a tiny studio, the cleaning took longer than expected.
[Quest]
- Go to Room 305 and clean the floor (00:02:45)
Reward: Permanent acquisition of Intangibility (A), Han Cho-yeon's concentration greatly enhanced
Penalty for Failure: Kidney removal
There was dust and dirt tucked away in every corner, and I even found a few stray leaves. Sweeping up all the tiny debris was what ate up most of my time.
It made sense, considering she was growing five different houseplants in such a cramped space.
Ding!
[Quest complete. Distributing rewards.]
As soon as the notification popped up, I activated Intangibility and slipped back into my own apartment.
"Ugh... That was fucking exhausting."
Hunching over to sweep was bad enough, but the rapid drain on my stamina from using the skill made me twice as tired.
Skill: Intangibility (A)
But seeing that beautiful new entry on my status window made it all worth it.
I was utterly dumbfounded. I had just acquired a high-tier A-rank skill after less than thirty minutes of sweeping.
As someone who had spent years dreaming of becoming an Awakened Hunter, I knew the basics.
Aside from the initial Awakening, the only way to obtain new skills was through grueling, blood-sweating effort.
And even then, if luck wasn't on your side, you might never get one.
I opened and closed my status window a few times, unable to believe my eyes, when the sound of a digital door lock cut through the silence.
Beep-beep-beep-beep—
Click!
It wasn't my door, of course. It was Room 305 next door.
If I had lingered for even another minute, I would have been absolutely fucked.
I froze, holding my breath as a sudden wave of tension washed over me.
There was no logical reason to panic, but my body had reacted on instinct.
Wait, hold on.
When I actually thought about it, there was no reason to be terrified.
It wasn't like she had security cameras inside her studio apartment. I hadn't messed with her door lock or picked any deadbolts.
I had literally walked through a wall.
Even if she notices something is different...
Nobody wakes up to a clean floor and immediately assumes someone phased through their wall to do chores.
At worst, she'd assume she forgot she had swept it herself, or that she'd done a quick tidy-up in the morning before leaving.
People are surprisingly overconfident in their own memories.
They rarely stop to consider that their brain might just be playing tricks on them.
"Phew..."
I let out a slow, quiet breath.
My heart was pounding for no reason. Logically speaking, I was completely safe.
Even if the landlord checked, the door was locked and there was zero sign of forced entry.
No evidence.
No witnesses.
You couldn't even build a case.
...Wait, is cleaning even a crime?
Ga-on thought about it for a second, then shook his head.
"I mean, I literally just cleaned."
Even if it was just to claim a reward.
Either way.
Listening to the faint footsteps moving around next door, Ga-on collapsed onto his bed.
For now, he didn't have to worry.
Click.
The moment she stepped inside, Han Cho-yeon kicked off her shoes and trudged into her apartment.
"Ughhh..."
Letting out a long, exhausted sigh, she let her bag drop to the floor with a heavy thud.
Today had been another brutal day.
Unbuttoning her coat, she walked into the main living area of her studio.
It was her usual space, smelling faintly of fabric softener.
"...?"
Wait.
Her eyes swept across the floor.
It was... clean.
She wasn't a slob, but her floor definitely shouldn't have been this spotless.
She tilted her head, confused, but her sheer exhaustion quickly pushed the thought aside.
"Did I sweep before I left...?"
She muttered to herself, letting the thought go.
Flop.
She collapsed onto the bed, the mattress sinking under her weight.
"Ughhh..."
She stretched her arms high above her head and let out a massive yawn.
Her thin knit sweater rode up, exposing a sliver of her waist.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, she slowly let her eyes drift shut.
The apartment was dead silent.
Silent, and strangely spotless.
The next day.
When Han Cho-yeon came home from work and stepped inside, her eyes naturally drifted toward her plants.
"...Huh?"
The leaves of the Monstera sitting by the window looked exceptionally vibrant and glossy.
They had been drooping sadly when she left that morning.
The soil was perfectly damp, too.
But she had no memory of watering it.
She reached out and gently touched one of the stems.
As a C-rank Awakened with a plant-related ability—specifically, Plant Taming—she could read a plant's condition through touch.
It was incredibly healthy.
In fact, the plant felt... happy.
"Did I actually water this...?"
Once again, she brushed it off.
"......"
This time, she was absolutely certain.
The 'Neplaon' was a special mana-infused plant that required watering every single day.
She had intentionally left for work that morning without giving it a single drop.
It was a test to confirm the strange sense of déjà vu she'd been feeling for the past two days.
And now, in the evening...
The soil was perfectly moist.
Han Cho-yeon's eyes narrowed.
The front door, the windows, the balcony.
There were absolutely no signs of a break-in.
The digital lock's entry logs showed nothing out of the ordinary.
She knelt down quietly beside the pot.
She pressed her palm flat against the damp soil.
"...Someone touched it."
A faint trace of biological mana lingered on the plant.
As an Awakened with a nature-type attribute, she could tell with absolute certainty that another living being had touched it.
But the energy—
It wasn't hostile at all.
If anything, the plant felt incredibly calm, almost happy.
Which only made the whole situation weirder.
Han Cho-yeon made up her mind.
I need to see for myself.*
She pulled a small potted plant out of her bag.
It was a young sapling she'd bought and freshly potted on her way home.
Though its roots were still shallow, the tiny split leaves made it look like a magical sprout straight out of a fairy tale.
She channeled mana into her fingertips.
A soft green glow radiated from her hand.
"Sprout Eye."
It was a basic, low-level taming skill—the absolute limit of what a C-rank could maintain.
It was a plant-based surveillance tool, far too weak to even be called a spirit.
Part of her knew she should report an intruder... but the problem was, they hadn't stolen a thing. In fact, they seemed to do nothing but clean her apartment.
So, she decided to take matters into her own hands first.
A single leaf trembled slightly, beginning to sense the subtle shifts in the room's airflow.
While she couldn't share its vision in real-time,
it was set to record a brief snapshot of the room the moment someone stepped inside.
"I'm counting on you, little guy. Just for today..."
Han Cho-yeon set the pot down on the windowsill.
Then, she did something highly deliberate.
She left the room completely messy.
She left loose dirt scattered on the floor,
and even snapped a few leaves on purpose, leaving them where they fell.
She took one last look at the messy room before stepping out the door.
"I don't know who you are..."
But this time,
I'm going to find out.