HBWnovel Chapter 376
Chapter 376
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 376: The Host (2)
“What... A wreath has arrived?”
Yeongwoo instinctively checked the current time.
The numbers 10:39 glowed brightly on his wristwatch.
10:39 a.m.
Thankfully, it was almost in line with his desired wake-up time.
“Who sent the wreath?”
Yeongwoo asked again, this time with a hint of irritation.
Jeonggu scratched his forehead.
“How would I know? The host needs to sign for it before it can be taken away.”
“Excuse me? Who exactly?”
“It looked like a delivery person.”
Now Jeonggu was scratching his neck.
He seemed as perplexed by the situation as Yeongwoo.
“Anyway, hurry down. It’s a mess outside.”
“...”
The situation sounded ominous.
Yeongwoo quickly geared up and dashed out of the room.
As he stepped into the hotel corridor, he noticed Lim Suna from Taewon Group waiting for him.
“Mayor.”
“Oh, Suna.”
The title "Mayor" made Yeongwoo flinch momentarily, but Suna ignored it and proceeded with what she needed to say.
“A congratulatory item has arrived at the hotel entrance.”
“A congratulatory item... Are you talking about the wreath? I was just coming down after hearing about it from my father.”
“A wreath... I suppose it could be called that.”
Suna tilted her head slightly.
It seemed like calling it a wreath was purely her father's assumption.
‘What exactly is waiting down there...?’
The "wreath" was becoming increasingly mysterious.
“But why did you personally come all the way here for this? You could have passed the message to my parents and gone about your business.”
Yeongwoo tried to be considerate, but Suna wore an awkward expression.
“Well...”
She glanced toward the emergency stairs, confirming that the elevator was out of service due to overdue maintenance.
“The congratulatory item occupies an enormous space. According to the delivery company, the host must approve before it can be relocated.”
It was clear that Suna’s explanation was much more precise than his father’s vague account.
“So it’s a complicated issue. But in any case, it sounds like I need to go down and resolve it myself.”
“Yes. I apologize for interrupting your rest...”
“We’ll have to take the stairs, right? If you don’t mind, I’ll go ahead.”
When Yeongwoo offered, Suna bowed slightly in gratitude.
“I’ll follow shortly.”
* * *
Taewon Group.
Before the reset, it ranked third in the domestic corporate hierarchy.
Now, it functioned as an administrative unit managing Gangnam, the heart of Metal Seoul.
For such a corporation to send someone expressing “concern” was unusual.
They claimed that the congratulatory item addressed to Yeongwoo was causing problems in Gangnam.
What on earth could it be?
‘Surely they didn’t send something like a giant bomb?’
Given the diverse and utterly unpredictable affiliations of the guests, Yeongwoo couldn’t even hazard a guess about the nature of the “congratulatory item.”
Finally.
Tap tap!
As Yeongwoo descended the seemingly endless emergency stairs, he arrived at the hotel lobby.
‘Let’s see what this is about.’
The moment Yeongwoo stepped into the lobby, he sensed an unusual commotion outside.
“Wow...”
“What is that?”
“Isn’t it going to collapse...?”
A crowd had gathered in front of the hotel’s main entrance, murmuring in awe.
When a few people spotted Yeongwoo inside the lobby, they shouted out:
“Oh! It’s the Strongest Sword!”
“The Mayor’s here!”
“Yeongwoo! Over here!”
With the inconsistent ways people addressed him, Yeongwoo couldn’t help but notice how disorganized everything was.
Amidst the chaos, Yeongwoo stepped toward the bizarre structure towering at the front of the crowd.
‘What the hell is that?’
Standing at the front was a rectangular stone tower that resembled an ancient monument.
Even as Yeongwoo approached the main entrance, the top of the stone tower remained out of sight.
Finally.
Thud.
When Yeongwoo stepped outside, the crowd parted, creating a path for him to approach the tower.
-No. This is my first time on any Earth. If it weren't for a delivery job, I wouldn't have come here either.
"I see..."
Yeongwoo sighed, sounding almost disappointed.
But then, York said something that made Yeongwoo's ears perk up.
-However, I’ve heard the name before. Earth, I mean.
"What...? You've heard of another Earth?"
Yeongwoo unknowingly frowned in irritation.
Why?
Because the thought of a space-traveling deliveryman hearing about another Earth before this one felt slightly bruising to his ego.
Did that mean there was a more famous Earth than this one?
"Why... why is that Earth famous?"
-It's not so much famous as... infamous among deliverymen.
"Infamous?"
-"here's someone patrolling the boundaries between lower and upper universes. If you fail to answer their questions, they'll rob you of everything you're carrying. That person is said to hail from Earth.
"Wait, what? You're saying there's an Earthling robbing people at the edge of the universe?"
When Yeongwoo pointed to himself while saying "Earthling," York stared at him intently.
-As I said earlier, I’ve never seen that person myself. Thankfully, I’m only a lower-universe manager and don’t frequent the boundary. And the boundary is so vast that only a handful have encountered them directly.
York’s claim was that it was more of a ghost story circulating among deliverymen than a verified fact.
-When a deliveryman loses their cargo, the transport company naturally holds them accountable. So, many companies have sent teams to recover the stolen goods from the boundary.
This was the reasoning behind why the boundary ghost story had some factual basis.
"And?"
-But as far as I know, no company or client has ever caught the person at the boundary. Even now, rumors occasionally circulate about goods disappearing there.
"...It’s truly a ghost story."
Yeongwoo felt a strange mix of emotions.
The idea that someone from a planet named Earth was robbing people at the treacherous boundary of the universe—and surviving—was both absurd and fascinating.
"Who the hell is this guy?"
As Yeongwoo muttered this to himself, York checked his coordinate device again and handed something over.
Swish.
-Please sign here. I need to head to my next delivery soon.
It was a large metal plate with a spacious blank area for a signature.
When Yeongwoo placed his palm over the plate, York nodded.
-Thank you. The delivery today is a ceremonial gift. The sender is...
York studied the unfamiliar script written at the bottom of the plate, then looked back at Yeongwoo.
-It says, 'From Kwaya’s Hammer Team.'
"Kwaya?"
That Kwaya.
The prison design company scheduled to set up the wedding venue today.
-Yes. Let me briefly explain how it works...
"That thing works?"
-Of course. It has a criminal detection function.
"What?"
Yeongwoo facepalmed.
Leave it to a prison design company to send a wreath matching their theme.
-If you look at the top, you’ll see a bud forming.
"Yes, I see it."
-That reacts to cosmic sins and interstellar criminal records. When a particularly notorious guest visits, the bud will fully bloom.
"I see..."
It was an unwelcome gift.
But it was already delivered, so sending it back wasn’t an option.
It seemed they’d have to place it near the venue.
"By the way, the wedding is scheduled for a different region. Why did it arrive here?"
-The sender requested delivery to the host’s location.
"Sigh."
-If you'd like, I can change the installation site. Should I?
"Of course. This is practically my front yard."
As Yeongwoo sighed and replied, the sky above Metal Seoul flashed for a moment.
Fwoosh!
Then, with a deafening sonic boom, an obviously massive object shot down at incredible speed.
BOOM!
"Ah, crap. What now?"
As Yeongwoo stared at the sky in exasperation, York took a step back, his voice trembling.
-It's... an express cargo.
"What? Express? How can you tell?"
York stiffened his whiskers and replied.
-I can see the ‘handle with care’ mark.
"Handle with care?"
-Yes... Do you happen to have any guests arriving from the Void?
"Ah."
Yeongwoo blinked.
It seemed Mara, the Master of the Void, was indeed attending the wedding today.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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