Chapter 7

Chapter 7

7. My Item Is Worth 999.9 Billion Won

‘One billion won! How do I spend it?’

I was still wrestling with that problem.

‘Should I ask that trendy AI everyone’s talking about?’

WhipPT was famous.

I went to the chatbot site.

‘How to spend one billion won in cash on a game without the National Tax Service finding out.’

I asked it that.

-Sorry, but I cannot provide information related to crimes such as tax evasion.

“What?! A crime? Are you saying carefully honoring the great Lady Shin Saimdang is a crime?”

-I’m sorry. I do not understand what you mean.

“This thing’s completely useless.”

The way I saw it, the AI itself didn’t know the answer, so it was spouting nonsense about crime or whatever.

I heard everyone uses AI these days.

A useless program like this was becoming widespread.

And people were even starting to rely on it?

‘The world’s gone insane.’

I’d rather trade riddles with the system messages.

‘Do I really have no choice but to clear the tutorial?’

I had to clear through the 10th floor to unlock the Trading Board.

More importantly!

‘I don’t want to climb the Tower...!’

Because I’m scared?

No!

‘I’m someone who can’t afford to die.’

I’m worth four billion won an hour.

If there were even a one-in-ten-thousand chance.

That I might die, it would be a national loss.

No, a loss to the entire world.

As I agonized over it, a brilliant idea suddenly struck me.

“What rank are the floors up through ten?”

[They are F-Rank.]

“Open a gate connected to the 1st floor of the Tower of Fate.”

[The 1st floor is a waiting room. The Tower can be climbed from the 2nd floor through the portal on the 1st floor.]

So that was how it worked.

“Then the 2nd floor!”

[Search complete.]

[Opening ‘Tower of Fate 1st Floor, Slime Family’s Room (F).’]

Flaaash!

A tall, egg-shaped portal appeared before me.

I poked the barrels of the Gatling Laser slightly into that cluster of light.

And pulled the trigger.

Pewpewpewpewpew!

Sure enough.

[You have cleared ‘Tower of Fate 1st Floor, Slime Family’s Room (F).’]

“Oh!”

I exclaimed in delight.

“Next!”

[Opening ‘Tower of Fate 2nd Floor, Goblin Spearman (F).’]

Pewpewpewpewpew!

[You have cleared ‘Tower of Fate 2nd Floor, Goblin Spearman (F).’]

“Next!”

[Tower of Fate 3rd Floor...]

[You have cleared the Tower of Fate 3rd Floor.]

[Tower of Fate 4th Floor...]

“Next, next, next!”

[You have cleared the Tower of Fate 7th, 8th, and 9th Floors.]

And finally!

[All tutorials have been completed.]

[The Trading Board has been activated.]

First, I checked how much S-Rank weapons normally sold for.

[For Sale! Selling S-Rank Weapon Sun Sword.]

[Nickname: Kwon]

-Please DM to negotiate the price. Cash only.

Even after searching the Trading Board, hardly any S-Rank items were listed.

And every single one had a negotiable price.

‘Guess the seller really can name whatever price they want.’

Still, I probably couldn’t ask for a quadrillion won.

‘The world can’t even afford my 35-trillion-won annual salary.’

This world was simply too small to contain a vessel as great as me.

‘I need to sell it for as much as possible.’

But the people trading S-Rank items kept all the details tightly under wraps.

‘So this is why S-Rank hunters are such assholes...!’

Of course, this was probably only the tip of the iceberg.

Then one sentence caught my attention.

‘Cash only?’

Looking closer, Hunven’s exchange had its own currency called ‘Gold.’

Apparently, Gold could be purchased with cash.

But Gold couldn’t be converted back into cash.

‘Which means, if you want to trade for cash?’

You had no choice but to meet the other party in person.

An S-Rank weapon and an astronomical amount of money would be changing hands, so there was no way anyone would trade without seeing the item in person.

And nine times out of ten, anyone buying an S-Rank weapon would be an S-Rank hunter.

“Lady Shin Saimdang. Please wait. I’ll rescue you from the clutches of those rude S-Rank hunters.”

My chest burned with patriotism.

[For Sale! Selling an S-Rank Weapon!!]

-Price is 999.9 billion won!! For a quick deal, I’ll throw in an extra 100 million and sell it for 1 trillion won!! Bank transfer only!!

If I received it by bank transfer?

It would be a legitimate transaction, so I could simply pay the taxes.

‘Fine, I’ll pay the damn taxes!’

Not that I had ever done anything illegal in my entire life, of course.

* * *

Lee Geonho’s house.

“Pffft!”

A-Rank Hunter Lee Geonho.

‘WaterPpomi’ spat out his water while browsing Hunven.

“What? S-Rank weapon, Krog’s Gatling Laser?”

There was nothing strange about an S-Rank artifact being traded.

But the seller’s nickname was ‘Divine One.’

“Bullshit. What S-Rank weapon could some lousy E-Rank possibly have?”

In fact, ever since the ‘humblebragging’ incident, WaterPpomi had been keeping an eye on Divine One’s posts.

Practically monitoring his every move.

He could never forget the humiliation of that day.

Ever since then, WaterPpomi had been treated as a ‘villain’ on Hunven.

Some might wonder why gaining a bad reputation on some online community mattered.

But it absolutely did.

Countless Hunven users had blocked him, cutting him off from almost all information sharing.

And that was disastrous for a hunter’s career.

Sure enough.

[Tower of Fate 51st Floor, ‘Arachne Nest’ Absolutely Safe Strategy!]

[Nickname: Heavenly Demon]

Every time a guide was posted, it received countless recommendations and shot to the top of the popular posts.

WaterPpomi frequently relied on ‘Heavenly Demon’s’ guides too.

Without Heavenly Demon, he couldn’t say with confidence that he would have made it to the 50th floor.

But!

[You cannot view this post because ‘Heavenly Demon’ has blocked you.]

“GRAAAAAH!”

If he couldn’t clear the Tower, he couldn’t earn money.

And if he couldn’t earn money, he couldn’t make his mortgage payments.

And if he couldn’t pay his mortgage?

‘I’ll have to ask my parents for money...!’

After everything he’d gone through to become independent.

WaterPpomi feared his father more than anyone else in the world.

More importantly!

‘I absolutely cannot stand being blocked by Heavenly Demon!’

Who was Heavenly Demon?

The Heavenly Demon.

Did that require any further explanation?

But then.

‘Wait. This is my chance to meet that bastard.’

An S-Rank weapon naturally meant an in-person transaction.

And as an A-Rank hunter, beating the hell out of some lousy E-Rank would be effortless.

‘And if it really is an S-Rank weapon?’

What was there to think about?

Kill him and take it.

Of course, if it really was an S-Rank weapon, the risk would be considerable.

WaterPpomi called someone.

Riiing.

-Hey, what’s up, son?

“Dad. Have you checked the Hunven Trading Board?”

-No. Why?

“Someone says they’re selling an S-Rank weapon.”

-...What?

* * *

Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Lee Jinho Hunter Office.

“So this hunter called ‘Divine One’ is selling an S-Rank weapon? But the guy himself is an E-Rank hunter?”

“Yes.”

WaterPpomi nodded vigorously at his father’s question.

“You’re sure?”

“He wrote it himself. Said he was some lousy E-Rank.”

“Where’s the post?”

“Uh... it’s deleted now.”

“How?”

“Well... it was a reply to another post, and the original post got deleted.”

WaterPpomi coughed awkwardly.

“Anyway, I saw it clearly. I’m telling you, it’s true.”

“Hmm.”

WaterPpomi’s father looked skeptically at Divine One’s sales post.

“What? 999.9 billion? And what the hell does he mean he’ll charge an extra 100 million if we make a quick deal?”

“I told you he’s insane.”

“Fine, let’s say he is. So what do you want?”

“Come on, Dad. You know.”

“Know what?”

“You used to be pretty handy in the back alleys back in the day...”

Smack!

WaterPpomi grabbed the back of his head after his father hit him.

“Ow!”

“You pathetic bastard. Do I look like a gangster to you?”

A thick gold ring on his thumb.

A floral dress shirt.

Even a knife scar stretching across the bridge of his nose.

You absolutely do look like a gangster—no, straight-up organized crime.

Or so WaterPpomi thought.

“Your father is an S-Rank hunter now. Got it?”

“Yes...”

“Tell me the truth. You’ve got something going on with this Divine One bastard, don’t you?”

Dad really was psychic.

“Well... actually.”

WaterPpomi told him the whole story.

“So you became a villain on Hunven, got blocked, and now you can’t clear the Tower?”

“Yes.”

Smack!

He got hit again.

“Ow!”

“Tsk, tsk.”

“D-Daaad...”

WaterPpomi’s father sighed.

Then, his expression darkening, he spoke.

“Useless as you may be, you’re still my son. I can’t let someone who’s blocking my boy’s future get away with it. Guess I’ll have to teach him a lesson.”

“Dad!”

WaterPpomi beamed through his tears.

“Common sense says there’s no way it’s really an S-Rank weapon... but there’s no harm in being prepared.”

WaterPpomi’s father grinned sinisterly and typed a private message with two fingers.

[Title: Divine One, my friend~ nice to meet you ^^*]

[Nickname: CleanSweep]

-Content: I’ll make it a nice round~ 1 trillion won for the S-Rank,, weapon,, if we close quickly. *^^~*

-I’m an active S-Rank hunter,,, and can verify my identity,, looking forward to a pleasant meeting ^^~

[ID photo attached]

[Hunter Association S-Rank certification photo attached]

“I sent the message, but an S-Rank weapon will attract plenty of attention. He might not even notice ours...”

Ding!

“Huh?”

A reply arrived immediately.

[Title: Where should we meet!!]

-Content: Should I send you my bank account number!!

WaterPpomi’s father, Lee Jinho, snickered.

“Where should we meet? Bank account number? This bastard doesn’t know anything.”

It was obvious he had never traded hunter items before.

‘I was sure he’d be a scammer.’

Ironically, Lee Jinho was beginning to hope it wasn’t a scam.

They had to meet if he wanted to teach the guy a lesson anyway.

“This... actually feels real, Dad.”

“Yeah. I’m getting that feeling too.”

After all, the guy had replied even after seeing an S-Rank hunter certificate.

Almost nobody in the world had the nerve to scam an S-Rank hunter.

“And if, by some one-in-ten-thousand chance, it really isn’t a scam?”

“Then... he was simply holding treasure he wasn’t capable of protecting. Hehehehe.”

“Hehehehehe!”

Dark shadows fell across the faces of father and son, Lee Jinho and Lee Geonho.

The pair sent a message specifying the meeting place and transaction method.

“...”

Then waited quietly for the reply.

For fifteen hours.

“...?”

Until their bloodshot eyes nearly fell out.

“WHY ISN’T HE ANSWERING?!”