Chapter 48

“Y-you? What are you doing here?”

“Good question. What am I doing here?”

“Then, could it be…?”

“What do you mean, ‘could it be’? It is.”

Kim Sangshik’s face turned dark and sallow, like a man suffering from shit poisoning.

Seeing him like that felt like finally passing ten years’ worth of constipation. Ah, so this was a shitgasm.

“Anyway, let’s take a step back. We’re not the only ones here, you know.”

I stepped forward, and Kim Sangshik retreated weakly.

The other scouts surrounded me, business cards in hand.

“We’re from Sangdong Guild. We promise you the best possible treatment.”

“Instead of doing this here, why don’t we move somewhere private and talk…”

Recruitment offers poured in from every direction. Within moments, I had dozens of business cards in my hands.

So this is what it feels like.

It felt strange. Surreal. Things I hadn’t experienced once in seven years were unfolding right before my eyes.

In just half a day, the world around me had changed.

No.

I’m the one who changed.

People said C-rank was where you started being a real Hunter in this business. Exceptional abilities, a high salary, and recognition from society as a mid-level Hunter.

It finally sank in that I had set foot on that path.

And…

This was only the beginning.

With the System’s power, I could keep growing.

That was how I would step onto a new path faster than any other Hunter.

“Sir, name your terms and we’ll meet them, no matter what.”

“Ah, sure. I’ll contact you later.”

“You mean it, right? We’ll be waiting!”

No. Don’t wait. I’m not going to call.

“All right, everyone, calm down.”

Association security guards stepped in to hold back the scouts who refused to leave me alone.

They normally wouldn’t go this far for a C-rank Hunter, but my case was so unusual that it seemed to be attracting a lot of attention.

Well, I did jump all the way to C-rank from a single reawakening.

It wasn’t a bad feeling. No—it felt good.

Suppressing the smile that kept tugging at my lips, I left the Association. Even then, one person followed me out.

“Jin Taekyung! No, Mr. Taekyung!”

“Heh.”

I looked at Kim Sangshik and swallowed a hollow laugh.

Only thirty minutes ago, he’d been calling me a bastard. Now I was suddenly Mr. Taekyung.

“What do you want?”

“I’m sorry about earlier. Really. And I’m sorry about everything that happened before, too.”

Kim Sangshik rambled on, confessing every wrong he’d ever done me. Once his untimely confession was over, he finally got to the point.

“So let’s forget all that and treat this as business.”

“Business.”

I rolled the word around on my tongue.

It sounded nice. It felt awful. All the more so because the business partner in question was Kim Sangshik and Sopung Guild.

“You know how it is, Mr. Taekyung. Unless you’re dealing with a major Guild, they’re all more or less the same.”

“I know. I also know that even the major Guilds will reach out to a C-rank Hunter.”

“I’m telling you to think carefully. They’re not desperate. Major Guilds can find C-rank Hunters without much trouble, so they’ll treat you accordingly.”

Kim Sangshik kept going, spraying spit as he talked.

“No matter how much anyone else offers, we’ll top it. The Guild Master has already approved it, so you can count on that.”

Sopung Guild had been in steady decline for several years.

Given the situation, the Guild Master seemed scared shitless.

And this guy’s no different.

His standing in the Guild was already at rock bottom, and now the F-rank Hunter he’d fired on a whim a few days ago had reawakened as a C-rank.

The corners of my mouth rose at the thought of what would happen once the Guild Master, a man notorious for his temper, found out.

“Just look at it positively. Actually, forget standing around here. Why don’t we go somewhere decent and talk it out honestly? The Guild Master is on his way here right—”

“Mr. Kim Sangshik.”

At my quiet voice, Sangshik fell silent.

“If you want to recruit me, tell the Guild Master this. Don’t leave out a single word.”

“Tell him what?”

“I’ll think about it if he gets rid of one man I can’t stand the sight of.”

It was obvious who I meant.

Leaving Kim Sangshik behind with his face twisted in fury, I got into a taxi.

Yeah. That should do it.

I sank deep into the soft seat.

The rank reassessment. Running into old bad blood. An indescribable rush, and at the same time a sense of relief.

“Where would you like to go?”

“Hope Goshiwon¹ at Songnae Station.”

The taxi driver looked at me and chuckled.

“Oh, you’re that passenger from earlier.”

“Ah.”

Goddamn Seoul taxis.

“What’s gotten into you? You actually bought beef.”

We spread out a mat and set up a grill on the goshiwon¹ roof. Jinho hyung² gazed contentedly at the meat as it cooked.

“All right. In recognition of your sincerity, I’ll forget about the finder’s fee.”

“I wasn’t planning to pay you anyway.”

“Are you some kind of thug?”

“Right back at you.”

We sat across from each other, sipping soju.³

“But where did you get the money? Just this month, you were whining about how hard up you were.”

“Today’s pay.”

“How much could that possibly be? Did getting fired from the Guild make you give up on life?”

“How much?”

I couldn’t help letting out a little laugh.

“Oh, now you’re laughing?”

“Of course I am. You’re treating ten million won⁴ like pocket change.”

Jinho froze.

“How much?”

“Ten million won.”⁴

“You made ten million won⁴ from one day’s work?”

“A little more came in, but that’s for now.”

“You didn’t…”

Jinho swallowed hard. He caught on fast. I gave him a meaningful smile.

“That’s right. Today, I—”

“Did you sell an organ?”

Should I kill him?

I let out a long sigh, then downed my drink.

“Tell me the truth. As the goshiwon¹ manager, I have a duty to know.”

If you only heard that, you’d think he was the prime minister, not a goshiwon¹ manager.

“I earned it at a Gate.”

“Show me proof. I only believe what I see with my own eyes.”

“Suit yourself. Here.”

I handed him my phone. The message had arrived while I was on my way back from the Association after the reassessment.

The sender was…

“Designer-Brand Junkie? Who’s this?”

“The Team Leader I ran the raid with today.”

“He must be rich. I want to become sworn brothers with him.”

This guy and I really did think alike.

A moment later, Jinho’s eyes widened as he read the message.

“Ten million three hundred thousand won?⁵ Am I reading this right?”

“Probably.”

According to the contract, I was supposed to receive three hundred thousand won.⁶ Team Leader Choi had added another ten million.⁴

And there’s still a balance left.

The Hobgoblin Priest and Hobgoblin Great Warrior were C-rank Rare Monsters. Team Leader Choi had added that he was looking for buyers for their equipment, hides, and Magic Gems.

“We’ll make an additional payment as soon as they’re sold.”

The next thing I knew, I was at a nearby supermarket, sweeping up every piece of beef I could get my hands on.

“You…”

Jinho stared blankly between me and the phone in his hand.

“Where the hell have you been, and what did you do?”

“It’s a long story.”

Jinho hyung² chuckled and gripped the scissors.

“The story’s long, but your life’s about to be short?”

Where was I even supposed to begin?

I had decided not to tell him anything more about the capsule.

It seemed better to let him keep believing it was an absurd lie.

“Two Rare Monsters showed up at the Gate today, and…”

At a life-or-death moment, the luck of a reawakening had come, and I’d been able to take them down. Then I told him about the Association.

It was a hastily stitched-together story, but Jinho bought it.

“So you’re a C-rank Hunter now?”

“The reassessment process takes a few days, so technically, not yet.”

“Same thing, you idiot.”

His face was dazed and his voice hoarse.

Jinho hyung² stared at me for a long moment. Moisture gathered in his eyes.

What’s gotten into this guy?

“…Don’t tell me you’re crying?”

“The fuck I am. What kind of bullshit is that?”

He turned away with an unnecessary curse, but he couldn’t hide the single tear that slipped down. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he roughly rubbed his face with his sleeve.

“Hyung?”²

“Turn the meat over. It’s burning.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I said it’s burning!”

“Okay, okay.”

Sizzle.

As I turned the meat, I felt flustered, yet something tickled deep in my chest.

Come to think of it, I’ve known Jinho for a long time.

Six years? Seven? I wasn’t sure. I’d never counted. Whenever I came back to the goshiwon¹ after a hard day, he was always there.

Sometimes I wondered if this was what it would have felt like to have a real older brother. We had lived like brothers, like friends.

“Hey.”

Jinho broke the awkward silence. For no reason, I flipped the meat again.

“Yeah? What?”

“Good for you.”

“…Yeah.”

“And…”

His quiet voice followed.

“You worked hard.”

Those few words were enough.

Something surged up from deep inside me. All the emotions and memories that had piled up over the past seven years came rushing in at once.

“Congratulations on becoming a C-rank Hunter. I guess I can’t make fun of you anymore.”

“Hyung…”²

“Taekyung…”

“Hyung!”²

“Taekyung!”

We hugged each other tightly across the grill. Jinho hyung² whispered in my ear, his voice shaking.

“Do you remember what I said earlier?”

“I know how you feel, hyung. Thank you.”²

“Not that. The finder’s fee.”

“…What?”

“Make sure you pay me. Hyung’s having a hard time these days.”²

“…”

“You make a lot of money now.”

Should I really kill him?

I staggered back to my room and threw myself onto the bed.

I let out a little laugh, thinking of the one person who was probably cleaning up the roof while grumbling.

You really can’t let your guard down around him.

That was so like Jinho. The way he congratulated me, and the joke at the end.

I knew it was all just his way of expressing himself.

You worked hard.

Those words kept circling in my head. It was embarrassing to admit, but for a moment there, I had almost cried.

Yeah. I did work hard.

After my father died, I never stopped running. I worked part-time jobs while finishing high school, then kept enduring for the sake of my sick mother and little sister.

At some point, all of it had simply become a given.

And then—

Ding.

System

• You have been afflicted with the Status Effect Dead Drunk.
• You can detoxify yourself by circulating your qi.

Something that wasn’t a given had entered my life.

It had all started with that unidentified piece-of-junk game capsule.

“A game capsule, huh?”

I didn’t even know what to call it anymore. It had made me a C-rank Hunter, so should I call it a gift from God?

No. Maybe it was a gift from the devil.

Is this really okay?

Even after the best day of my life, the thought still occurred to me for one simple reason.

Nothing comes for free.

That was the world I knew. Everything came with a price tag. Whether you could see it or not, sooner or later, you had to pay.

How much does the System cost?

A hundred billion won?⁷ A quadrillion won?⁸ Maybe even more?

I laughed weakly as my eyelids grew heavy.

Oh, right. I was dead drunk.

Chirp. Chirp-chirp.

Outside the window, the grass insects were crying loudly. My vision darkened, and sleep poured over me.

That night, I dreamed.

I dreamed that somewhere deep in the mountains, someone was shaking me awake.

“Captain! Captain!”

There was something about that voice that made me want to punch its owner just from hearing it. At the same time, it sounded familiar, and part of me wanted to see who it belonged to, but I was too sleepy to open my eyes.

“What do we do?”

“We have to tell the main force at once…”

“Why is Captain suddenly like this now of all times…”

It felt like listening to a broken radio. The voices crackled with static and kept cutting out.

I’m sleepy…

As my consciousness drifted farther away, I heard a quiet but distinct voice.

“Youngest, stay alive.”

But when I woke the next day, I couldn’t remember any of it.