Chapter 48

“Y-you? What are you doing there?”

“Good question. What am I doing here?”

“Then, could it be…?”

“No ‘could it be’ about it. It is.”

Kim Sangshik’s face turned dark and sallow, like he’d been poisoned by shit.

Seeing him like that felt like ten years of constipation finally letting go. Ah, so this was a shitgasm.

“Anyway, back up a little. You’re not the only one here, you know.”

I took a step forward, and Kim Sangshik backed away weakly.

The other scouts surrounded me with business cards in hand.

“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. In no time at all, I had dozens of business cards in my hands.

So this is what it feels like.

It was a strange new feeling. Things I hadn’t experienced even once in seven years were unfolding right before my eyes.

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

No.

I’m the one who changed.

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

At last, it sank in that I had stepped onto 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 get in touch later.”

“You really will, 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 and blocked the scouts who kept clinging to me.

They didn’t usually go that far for a C-rank Hunter, but I was such a rare case that I seemed to be drawing a lot of attention.

Well, I did make quite a jump with a single reawakening.

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

I fought down the smile that kept tugging at my lips and left the Association. Even then, one person followed me.

“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 from before, too.”

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

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

“Business.”

I rolled the word around on my tongue.

It had a nice ring to it. The feeling was terrible. Even more so because the business partner was Kim Sangshik and Sopung Guild.

“You already know this, Mr. Taekyung. Unless it’s a major Guild, they’re all more or less the same.”

“I know. I also know that once you’re C-rank, even the major Guilds will reach out.”

“I’m telling you to think it through. They won’t be desperate to have you. That’s the kind of place where a C-rank Hunter isn’t hard to find. They’ll treat you like any other C-rank, too.”

Kim Sangshik kept going, spraying spit as he talked.

“No matter what anyone else offers, we’ll add more on top. The Guild Master has already signed off on 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 in anticipation of what would happen when the Guild Master, notorious for his temper, found out.

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

“Mr. Kim Sangshik.”

At my quiet voice, Sangshik shut his mouth.

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

“Tell him what?”

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

It was obvious who I meant.

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

Yeah. This should do it.

I sank back 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?”

“Huimang Goshiwon 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 goshiwon roof. Jinho hyung gazed happily at the meat as it cooked.

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

“I wasn’t planning to give you one.”

“Are you a punk?”

“Right back at you.”

We sat across from each other and tilted our soju glasses.

“But where did you get the money? You were whining that even this month was going to be tough.”

“Today’s pay.”

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

“How much?”

I couldn’t help letting out a short laugh.

“Oh, you’re laughing?”

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

Jinho hyung froze.

“How much?”

“Ten million won.”

“You made ten million won in one day’s pay?”

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

“You didn’t…”

Jinho hyung 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 goshiwon manager, I have a duty to know.”

If you only heard that, you’d think he was the prime minister, not a goshiwon manager.¹

“I made it at a Gate.”

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

“Suit yourself. Here.”

I handed him my phone. It was the message I’d gotten on the 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 hyung finished reading the message and his eyes went wide.

“10.3 million won? Am I reading this right?”

“Probably.”

According to the contract, the payment was supposed to be 300,000 won. Team Leader Choi had added another ten million.

And there’s still a balance left.

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

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

When I came to my senses, I found myself in a nearby supermarket, grabbing every piece of beef I could get my hands on.

“You…”

Jinho hyung stared blankly, looking back and forth 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 hyung chuckled and gripped the scissors.

“And your life’s a short one?”

Where was I even supposed to start?

I had decided not to say anything more about the capsule.

I figured it was better if, for Jinho hyung, it just stayed 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 story hastily stitched together, but Jinho hyung bought it.

“So now you’re a C-rank Hunter?”

“The reassessment procedure will take a few days, so technically, not yet.”

“Same thing, you idiot.”

His face was dazed, his voice hoarse.

Jinho hyung 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 fell. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he roughly rubbed his face with his sleeve.

“Hyung?”

“Turn the meat over. It’s burning.”

“Changing the subject?”

“I said it’s burning!”

“Ah, all right.”

Sizzle.

As I turned the meat, I felt flustered, and yet a corner of my chest tickled.

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

Six years? Seven? I didn’t know. I’d never counted. Whenever I came back to the goshiwon after a hard day, he had always been 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 hyung broke the awkward silence. I turned the meat over one more time for no reason.

“Yeah? What?”

“Good for you.”

“…Yeah.”

“And…”

His quiet voice followed.

“You worked hard.”

At just those words, something surged up from deep inside me. The emotions and memories that had stacked up over the past seven years all came rushing in at once.

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

“Hyung…”

“Taekyung…”

“Hyung!”

“Taekyung!”

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

“Do you remember what I said earlier?”

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

“That’s not what I meant. The finder’s fee.”

“…What?”

“You have to pay me the finder’s fee. Hyung’s having a hard time these days.”

“…”

“You make a lot of money now.”

Should I really kill him?

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

A short laugh escaped me as I thought 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 Jinho hyung. The way he congratulated me, and that last prank.

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 at that moment, I’d almost cried.

Yeah. I really did work hard.

After my father died, I had run nonstop. I graduated high school while working part-time jobs, and I had to hold on and keep holding on for my sick mother and little sister.

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

And then—

Ding.

System

• You have been afflicted with the Status Effect: Dead Drunk.
• It can be detoxified 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 the thing 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?

The reason I was thinking this even after the best day of my life was simple.

Nothing comes for free.

That was the world I knew. Everything had a price tag. Visible or not, sooner or later you had to pay.

How expensive is the System?

A hundred billion? A quadrillion? Maybe even more?

I laughed weakly and felt my eyelids growing heavy.

Oh, right. I was dead drunk.

Chirp. Chirp-chirp.

Outside the window, the grass insects chirped 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.

“Squad Leader, Squad Leader!”

Weirdly, just hearing it made me want to punch whoever it belonged to. Part of me wanted to see who that familiar voice belonged to, but I was too sleepy to open my eyes.

“What do we do?”

“We have to tell the main force right away…”

“Why is the Squad Leader suddenly like this now of all times…”

It felt like listening to a broken radio. The voices had static in them, and they kept cutting out.

I’m sleepy…

As my consciousness drifted farther away, I heard a small but clear voice.

“Youngest, survive.”

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