Chapter 303

A week earlier, the four people who heard my whole story had reacted in ways that were both alike and completely different.

“You captured a Named Monster alive, took control of it, and used it for raids? Hahaha! You crazy bastard!”

“……Are you actually fucking insane?”

“I’m sorry to ask this, but… have you truly lost your mind, Hunter Jin Taekyung?”

“You’ve gone insane. I’ll pretend I never heard any of this.”

Im Kkeokjeong was the only one who laughed. Song Song, Butler Kim, and Team Leader Choi looked at me as though I belonged in a psychiatric ward.

But what else could I have done? The moment the interview ended, the media erupted like an active volcano, and in less than an hour, I became a celebrity known to half the population of Korea.

“I should have stopped it then.”

Papapapapat!

Team Leader Choi lamented as he watched Warlordmon perform Quick Attack.¹

But the water had already been spilled, and for such a spectacular mess, it had been cleaned up remarkably well.

“Still, everything worked out.”

Even the government audit team, renowned for its thoroughness, failed to uncover the truth behind the incident.

That was only natural. No one could have imagined what had really happened. Besides, there was plenty of evidence to support the official story.

“The magical-power distribution survey conducted with a magical-power meter passed without issue, and they recovered both fragments of the Skeleton Warlord’s armor and pieces of its bones. It was an open-and-shut case.”

Everything left traces behind.

Unlike the other Skeletons, which had either melted or shattered under One Annihilation, the Warlord’s incredibly durable bones had retained their shape.

Still saturated with immense magical power, they were accepted as crucial evidence proving both the Named Monster’s existence and its defeat.

“Come to think of it, didn’t they put those soup bones up for auction? I wonder how much they sold for.”

“Soup bones?! Do not refer to my noble body in such a manner!”

“You still haven’t grasped your situation. Warlordmon, Body Slam.”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The Warlord bounced off the office walls like a tennis ball, clicking its jaw mournfully.

“Ah, my loyal soldiers. How I long to see you.”

“So, where’s this month’s tribute of troops?”

“……I shall replenish their numbers as soon as possible.”

Just then, the office door opened with a click.

A pair of shapely legs began to step inside, then stopped short. Looking up into a pair of light-brown eyes, I asked,

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”

“……Jin Taekyung, you crazy bastard. If you were me, would you want to walk into a room where someone was playing ball with a talking skeleton?”

“Yeah.”

I waved the Skeleton Warlord at the disgusted Song Song.

“Warlordmon, scare her.”

“Eeeeeeeek! Don’t! I said don’t!”

“Warlordmon, wag your tail.”

“I do not have a tail.”

“Then use Quick Attack.¹”

Papapapapat!

“Urrrgh, urrrghhhh!”

“Eeeeeeeek!”

Thank God for the sound-blocking spell.

Just as Song Song’s screams and the Skeleton Warlord’s howls blended into a perfect a cappella harmony, Team Leader Choi’s phone rang on the table.

“Everyone, please be quiet for a moment.”

Team Leader Choi stared intently at the screen. Several minutes passed before he finally spoke.

“I think I’ll need to step away.”

“Did something happen?”

Team Leader Choi shook his head at my question.

“I’ll tell you once this matter is confirmed. And, Miss Song.”

“Yes?”

“First, cancel the additional raid scheduled for next week. I expect to be neglecting my duties for the next several days, so please assist Butler Kim.”

These days, even ten of Butler Kim would not have been enough. On top of handling the aftermath of the incident, he was leading the Guild members on raids and continuing his training in the Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique.

Of course, the five of us, myself included, were dividing the work between us. But as the Guild Master, he was busy on a completely different level.

“Got it. That’s easy enough. It’s not like we can make Uncle Kkeokjeong do it.”

Song Song nodded readily, then paused and looked at me.

“But what are you going to do?”

“Me?”

“Who else would I be talking about?”

“Warlordmon, Quick—”

“If you do that one more time, I’ll kill you. I mean it.”

“……Attack.”

That was probably enough.

I casually slipped Warlordmon into my Inventory as it spasmed reflexively like one of Pavlov’s dogs.

“I’m getting ready to leave.”

“Leave? I’m working overtime today.”

“I have somewhere to be.”

“Oh, really? What could possibly be so important that you get to leave on time while everyone else keeps working?”

I answered with a huge yawn.

“An exam.”

“An exam? What exam?”

“What do you think? Don’t you even know what day it is?”

Song Song blinked for a moment, then her eyes widened.

It was the middle of November. No matter how busy someone was, they knew what day it was. This was an exam important enough for the news to run a countdown to it.

“Are you taking the college entrance exam?”

“Are you crazy? My sister is.”

I checked the clock on the office wall.

Five in the afternoon. If I left now, I should arrive around the time the exam ended.

“I’m heading out. Hang in there. You too, Song-i.”

I rose from the soft sofa and left the office.

I could picture Mom praying fervently near the test center and Hayeon working her way through the questions.

I’m worried. She probably hasn’t been able to study properly lately because of me.

For the past few months, the various incidents surrounding me had exposed Hayeon to the media and forced her to endure intense attention from everyone around her.

For a student on the verge of taking the college entrance exam, it was devastating.

I feel bad.

I could only hope her results reflected all the effort she had put in.

With anxiety gnawing at me, I headed for the test center. An hour later, I saw Hayeon’s gloomy face and realized my fears had come true.

“You… Never mind. You worked hard.”

“Yes, sweetheart. You’ve worked so hard.”

At Mom’s and my words, Hayeon gave us a faint smile.

“Well, look who actually showed up. I can barely remember the last time I saw your face.”

“My little sister is taking the college entrance exam. Of course I had to come, you brat.”

“Even after disguising yourself like that?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah. Sunglasses and a mask at night look terrible. They make you stand out even more.”

“Damn it. No wonder people have been staring at me.”

“Are you an idiot? Of course they’re going to stare when you’re so obviously disguised.”

Her smile was gray and wilted, without a trace of energy. Seeing how completely drained she looked only made me feel guiltier.

“Are you okay?”

Hayeon answered with a miserable expression.

“No.”

“I’m sorry. It’s because of me.”

“I thought I’d get a perfect score, but I got one question wrong in English.”

“Here I am, your own brother, making things harder for you. I’m so ashamed I can’t even look you in the face… What did you just say?”

“I got one wrong! I missed a perfect score on the college entrance exam by one question!”

Thud! Thud!

I stared blankly as Hayeon kicked the ground in frustration.

Is she insane?

She had missed only one question across every subject on the college entrance exam?

I knew she was smart, but I had no idea she was this smart.

No, more importantly, how does she already know she got one wrong?

Was that why she had come out thirty minutes late?

Either way, one thing was certain. This winter was going to be a fairly warm one for our family.

And…

“I got one wrong! One more correct answer and I would’ve had a perfect score, but I missed it!”

If I left that lunatic alone, the students and parents around us would cast a net over heaven and earth to hunt us down.

“Stop talking nonsense and let’s go eat.”

“Let go! What would someone with seventh-tier school grades² know about how I feel?”

“Keep your voice down. Please.”

I grabbed my hysterical sister by the back of the neck and dragged her away. From inside my Inventory, the Skeleton Warlord muttered,

“Blood truly cannot lie.”

You’re getting one hundred Quick Attacks.¹ Guaranteed.

Time flew by.

With Hayeon’s college entrance exam finally over, our family moved back into our old house once the remodeling was complete. Mom shed tears of joy at the unexpected gift.

“Son… Thank you so much. I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s nothing. Please don’t say that.”

“I’m grateful too, son.”

“Hayeon, now that the college entrance exam is over, would you like your life to be over too?”

Taking care of something that had been on my mind for so long left me feeling much lighter.

Even so, something still nagged at me.

They might go after my family.

Taking someone’s family hostage was a simple but effective tactic.

I didn’t think Lee Jungryong, who had a weakness, would resort to such a method, but I had to prepare for the worst.

I’ll keep making money anyway. There’s no reason to be stingy.

High-ranking Hunters earned so much that people called them walking small and midsize businesses.

But even those top Hunters couldn’t compare to my income.

I cleared raids several times faster than other people, and I often fought solo.

For a Hunter, exceptional skill naturally led to wealth.

And if there was one more thing that came with it, it was fame.

“Butler Kim, could you handle the interview and advertising offers that have come in for me?”

“All of them?”

“No. Just the important ones that pay well.”

Even though I accepted only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of offers, an enormous sum poured into my account.

That was how much interest people had in me, both in Korea and abroad.

A few advertisements, interviews, and appearances on television talk shows. That was more than enough.

The number in my bank account became morbidly obese, and the Peace Guild’s stock price soared.

Two birds with one stone. A double windfall.

“May I ask you for one important favor?”

“Anything. Just say the word.”

“Please find me a security company. A reliable one.”

“Heh-heh. Leave it to me.”

Mom and Hayeon never noticed a thing.

They did not know that the houses on either side of ours and across the street had secretly been purchased. Nor did they know that several seemingly happy married couples were actually undercover bodyguards.

They were only puzzled.

“Son, did you know a lot of married couples live around here?”

“Really?”

“Yes. I run into them whenever I go to the neighborhood market. Some are young and some are older, but none of them have children.”

“It’s the age of low birth rates.”

“Oppa,³ only two men live next door. They walk around with their arms linked.”

“……It’s the age of gender equality.”

That made them stand out way too much!

A few days after I asked the company to rearrange its personnel, I received a KakaoTalk⁴ message from Hayeon.

Jin Hayeon

└ Jin Hayeon: Wow

└ Jin Hayeon: This time two women moved in

└ Jin Hayeon: They walk around with their fingers interlaced all the time;;

“…….”

Could this security company really be trusted?

Contrary to my concerns, the bodyguards did an excellent job.

Reports came in every thirty minutes, and they never took their eyes off my family.

I was so busy I barely had time to breathe, but everything was proceeding smoothly. Even so, there was one disappointment.

Leveling up.

Ding.

System

• You defeated a Lv.70 Skeleton Archer!

• You gained an extremely small amount of EXP!

• The difference in power is substantial. The amount of EXP gained is drastically reduced.

“Oh, shit. God, please!”

Despite my desperate pleas, the EXP factory was no longer much help to me.

Three or four level-ups. That was all I got out of it.

“Heh-heh. I do not understand this EXP or leveling up you speak of, but this is excellent news. Human, this is where greed leads!”

“But if I erase you, I can probably squeeze out one more level-up, right?”

“……I shall try harder. Please, anything but that!”

“Whew. I’ll put that off for now. But you’ll keep paying your tribute in troops.”

“Why?! You just said you gain nothing from killing my soldiers anymore!”

“That’s true for me. Our Guild members still need to gain experience.”

“Experience?”

“We can use them to give our people some combat practice. Have your subordinates rehearse their acting. Tell them to make it convincing without letting on that they’re going easy on us. Of course, you know what happens if anyone on our side dies, right?”

“……You intend to suck the marrow from my bones. Just how cruel can the human race be?”

The Skeleton Warlord lamented, but I already held its leash.

The new Guild members gained experience in combat that was almost real against the Skeletons, who made excellent supporting actors.

That’s right. Train hard and grow big and strong.

It was exactly one week after Hayeon’s college entrance exam when Team Leader Choi reappeared.

“It’s been a while, everyone. But before we catch up, there’s something I need to show you.”

With a tired voice and a stiff smile, he looked at us, pulled a USB drive from inside his jacket, and connected it to the hologram TV.

“This video came from China.”

Beep.

The video began playing with a cold electronic tone.