Chapter 3

Chapter 3

3. I Got Followers

“You want me to clean?”

“Yes.”

“That’s work.”

“Yes. But you only need to take out the trash and wash the dishes. That’s a part-time job paying 50,000 won an hour.”

The cleaning service wanted 800,000 won.

That was because their package included pest control, mopping, and everything else.

Apparently, it was their minimum package, so nothing could be removed.

‘But if I make this guy do it?’

Problem solved for just 50,000 won!

“Can’t you just lend it to me?”

This bald guy seriously has no shame.

“Nothing in this world is free.”

“Hmm...”

But then?

“That won’t do.”

The scary-looking loan shark spoke in a deep voice.

The loan shark glanced at his wristwatch.

“You’ve got an hour and a half left.”

It was 4:30 p.m.

Guess he got off work at six.

“How much does he have to pay back?”

“Five hundred thousand won left.”

It looked like he’d been borrowing 50,000 won from each household.

That meant he had to borrow from ten households.

‘In an hour and a half?’

Could he do it?

I doubted everyone in this building was as kind as me.

“What happens if he can’t pay?”

At my question, the bald guy glanced behind him too.

Looks like Baldy was curious as well.

Though judging by the cold sweat pouring down his face, he probably had an idea.

“You’re better off not knowing.”

“He gets hurt if he can’t repay it anyway, right?”

“Probably.”

“He won’t be able to come back here?”

“Maybe not.”

A good idea suddenly occurred to me.

“Mister. Want me to give you 500,000 won right now?”

“What? Really?”

“Yes. But you’ll have to clean my place.”

“Ah! Fine. I’ll do it! Just later. I’m in a hurry right now.”

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“What?”

“Sign an IOU.”

“Fine, fine! I just have to sign it, right? I’ll sign!”

I quickly wrote up an IOU and handed it over.

The bald guy read it and jumped in surprise.

“You said you’d give me 500,000 won!”

“Yes.”

“Then why is the IOU for one million?”

“Don’t sign it if you don’t want to.”

“You crafty little bastard!”

I took out ten Shin Saimdang bills and fluttered them in front of the bald guy.

His eyes followed them left and right like magnets.

“Sign it while he’s offering.”

The loan shark growled from behind him.

“Eek! I-I’ll sign!”

In the end, the bald guy signed the one-million-won IOU.

And took the 500,000 won.

Then the loan shark snatched the 500,000 won away with a whoosh!

‘When did he even—?’

In the blink of an eye, he was standing right in front of us.

“That settles today’s interest. Good work.”

“Yes, sir!”

“You’re lucky. Got such a generous young man for a neighbor.”

“Seems so. Haha!”

The bald guy scurried away.

As expected, he had no intention of cleaning.

‘I knew it.’

No wonder he’d lost all the hair on top of his head when he had no conscience, tsk, tsk.

I called the cleaning service again.

“Fine. I’ll pay the 800,000 won.”

-We’ll come right away.

The cleaning service arrived.

Five cleaning ladies stood outside my door holding their equipment.

“That’ll be 880,000 won.”

“Up front?”

“Yes.”

“But you said 800,000.”

“VAT is separate.”

“Hmm, nobody told me that. Should I cancel?”

“You’ll still have to pay a 100,000-won call-out fee if you cancel.”

This world would rob you blind if you let it.

“Fine.”

When I handed over 880,000 won, they beamed with delight.

“We’ll make this place sparkle!”

“Yes. I’m heading out for a while.”

“Yes! We’ll text you when we’re done.”

“Okay, okay.”

There was a bag containing one billion won inside, but there was no need to worry.

I’d put it in a drawer and locked it securely.

‘No need to worry.’

There were five cleaning ladies here alone.

Honestly, even if I left the billion won sitting openly in the living room, none of them would dare take it.

There were too many witnesses for anyone to steal it.

‘Where would that loan shark’s business card be?’

He probably stuck one on every door.

‘There it is.’

[Friends Capital]

-We lend emergency cash with no questions asked!

-We guarantee collection of unpaid debts!

-Friends Capital, warm as family and comfortable as friends!

-Feel free to visit or contact us anytime!

-Contact: 010-XXXX-XXXX

-Address: Joyful-dong, Happy-gu, Seoul...

I went to the office address on the card and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

“Hello.”

“Hmm? You?”

Sure enough, the loan shark from earlier was sitting inside.

“You’re not here to borrow money, are you?”

“I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“I can tell just by looking at someone’s eyes whether they’re here to borrow money.”

The corner of the loan shark’s mouth curled upward.

‘What about me until yesterday?’

I probably had the face of ‘someone here to borrow money.’

‘This guy’s the real deal.’

He’d been around the block.

“Actually, I want to sell you a bad debt.”

“A bad debt? What kind?”

“This. I’ll sell it for half price.”

I placed the one-million-won IOU I’d made the bald guy sign earlier on the table.

The loan shark looked at it.

“You little bastard.”

“Yes?”

“You know what’ll happen to that guy if I take this?”

“You said I’d get hurt if I knew.”

“Hah.”

He looked dumbfounded.

“And you still do this knowing that?”

“People who borrow money and refuse to repay it deserve whatever they get.”

The loan shark’s eyebrow twitched.

“Watch your mouth. Someone hears you say that and you’ll get beaten to death, punk.”

“There’s a huge difference between ‘can’t’ repay because circumstances won’t allow it and ‘won’t’ repay.”

The loan shark’s eyes sharpened.

His look practically said, ‘Well, look at you.’

“You’re a ruthless bastard too.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment... Whatever. No skin off my back. Here, 500,000 won.”

“But, boss.”

“What?”

“Can you really collect this debt?”

“Well... there are ways. Nothing you need to worry about.”

“True.”

“If you’re done here, get going.”

“Yes. Goodbye.”

I headed straight home and, coincidentally, ran into the bald guy again.

“Mister. Give me the 500,000 won now. If you pay right now, I’ll only take the principal.”

“Ah, fuck... I said I’ll pay you back! Who said I wouldn’t? Quit ruining my drink and piss off!”

I knew it.

The bag in the bald guy’s hand was full of soju bottles.

‘Hmph!’

I walked upstairs and opened the door to my apartment.

The moment I did, I froze in surprise.

‘This is... my place?’

Was the wallpaper always white?

‘It’s dazzling!’

And it smelled incredibly fresh too.

You really did get what you paid for.

The apartment was spotless.

Best of all!

“Hey. Pay up.”

“Huh? D-Didn’t I already pay you earlier?”

“Your debt increased by one million. See this IOU?”

“Wait, that’s—?”

“Yeah, asshole. Now come quietly.”

“J-Just give me a little more time...”

Smack!

“Gueegh...”

The drunk who woke up the whole neighborhood every dawn with his drunken screaming was gone too.

‘For exactly zero won!’

I permanently got rid of someone who made my life miserable.

In ten minutes!

‘Maybe I’m a genius?’

That was when.

Ding!

[Followers increased (x11).]

A message appeared.

‘Followers? Ah!’

My hunter ability.

I was pretty sure it said gathering followers would develop my ability.

I accessed Hunter’s Inventory, otherwise known as ‘Hunven.’

[‘Divine One’s’ rank has evolved from ‘Earthworm’ to ‘Mammal.’]

Apparently, I’d evolved into a mammal.

‘Feels like I’ve been recognized somehow.’

My shoulders rose on their own.

Looking into it, ‘followers’ on Hunven weren’t anything special. They were basically the equivalent of followers on social media.

When I checked the post I’d uploaded.

‘It has fifty comments.’

-You’re amazing, bro

-Sending some of that good luck my way~

-May you keep walking the path of fortune from now on!!

-He shut down that A-Rank humblebragger with an income flex lmao

-Followed you.

It was full of praise for me and criticism of ‘WaterPpomi.’

This reaction from the guys on Hunven was only natural.

‘Nobody can stand a humblebragger.’

Humblebragging is a serious crime.

Because one careless brag from someone.

Stirs envy, jealousy, and inferiority in everyone who sees it.

And makes society as a whole less happy.

‘All misery!’

Comes from comparing yourself to others.

You don’t believe me?

‘There was supposedly some developing country.’

It was one of the poorest countries in the world, yet its people had the highest happiness levels.

But then smartphones became widespread.

And once people gained access to social media, their happiness supposedly plummeted to the bottom.

Because they became aware of ‘the difference between themselves and others.’

‘I’ve got ten messages too.’

[Title: What floor of the Tower are you on?]

-Content: I’m not doubting you, I’m just curious. Are you really E-Rank? If so, could you possibly share your Tower strategy? I’ll compensate you!

Most of the messages were like this, asking me to share my Tower-clearing strategy.

‘How am I supposed to explain that?’

Even if I told them, it wasn’t something they could copy.

Anyway.

“I’ve got eleven followers. Don’t I get something?”

[You have received an ‘E-Rank Gate Open & Close Ticket.’]

[The highest grade of gate you can currently open or close is ‘F.’]

I currently had tickets all the way up to EX-Rank.

“What happens if I open an EX-Rank gate?”

No response.

I thought this thing was like an AI, but apparently not.

‘Is it telling me to open one if I’m curious?’

I was curious, but I didn’t want to die.

‘What about an S-Rank gate?’

It felt like one could put an average country in danger.

Because it was S-Rank.

I wasn’t some Demon King bent on world domination, so I figured I’d never have reason to open an S-Rank gate or higher.

But then!

[Title: North Korea’s provoking us again]

-Content: Apparently they bombarded Yeonsan Island with missiles. Thirteen of our soldiers died.

I saw this post on Hunven’s Free Board.

[Title: I’ll teach the pig a lesson. Wait up]

[Author: Divine One]

-Content: I’ve had enough. Big bro’s heading to Pyongyang, so just wait right there yeah...

I posted something on Hunven’s Free Board too, then spoke aloud.

“Can you open one dangerous S-Rank gate?”

[Please specify a location.]

“Kim Jong Un’s house.”

[Searching for conditions matching the user’s request...]

[Search complete.]

[Opening ‘80th Floor of the Tower of Fate, Orc Grand General’s Munitions Factory (S)’ at the Presidential Palace in Pyongyang.]

‘The 80th floor of the Tower of Fate?’

Nobody had even cleared the 75th floor yet.

Anyway.

“Did it open?”

Since I’d created the gate in Pyongyang, there was obviously no way for me to know immediately.

But then.

Ruuumble...

An earthquake struck.

This was the sign that an S-Rank gate had opened.

‘No doubt about it!’

The aftermath of a gate opening in Pyongyang reached all the way to Seoul.

This was an S-Rank gate!

Sure enough, thirty minutes later, shocking news broke.

-Breaking news. Thirty minutes ago, an unidentified tremor in North Korea completely destroyed the Presidential Palace. And... we have received reports that State Affairs Chairman Kim Jong Un is dead.

“Gasp.”

Did I... just become a Demon King?

My hands and feet trembled violently.

B-b-b-b-brrr.