Chapter 9

Chapter 9

9. My Item Is Worth 2.12 Trillion Won

I got yet another S-Rank weapon.

‘What is this, some buy-one-get-one-free deal?’

I immediately picked up [Shadow Dagger (S)] and left the waiting room.

‘Let’s do the math for a second.’

Originally, I was going to sell the S-Rank weapon, [Krog’s Gatling Laser], for 1.06 trillion won.

But now I had another S-Rank weapon of the same grade.

Which meant?

‘...2.12 trillion won!’

This is me.

This is Choi Hyunwoo.

This is an EX-Rank hunter!

This is the genius worth four billion won an hour!

‘No. Not four billion won an hour.’

Should I say I’m now a talent worth 2.12 trillion won a day?

Then how much is that per hour?

All kinds of thoughts, shock, and terror churned through my head.

Why?

‘I’m terrified of myself.’

Even I could no longer predict where the limits of my ability lay.

B-b-b-b-brrr!

After trembling in fear of myself for a while.

I debated whether to repost [Krog’s Gatling Laser] for sale, then made my decision.

‘Right. I’ll use it myself.’

S-Rank hunters are rude.

Meaning they have rotten personalities.

I don’t want anything to do with people like that.

‘It’s definitely not because I’m scared of facing an S-Rank hunter.’

More importantly, from my experience as a professional gold farmer, the world is full of scammers.

Just look.

That S-Rank hunter I just met, CleanSweep—Lee Jinho—was a scammer too, wasn’t he?

And he was even officially certified by the Hunter Association.

I wouldn’t feel the slightest bit sad if someone like that died.

‘All scammers should die!’

Looking at [Choi Hyunwoo’s Gatling Laser] again, it actually seemed pretty cool.

I stroked the body of [Choi Hyunwoo’s Gatling Laser].

“Good. You’re the first item in my collection. From now on, I’ll call you Laser No. 1.”

I confidently opened the gate to the 11th floor.

‘From the 11th floor onward, it’s E-Rank.’

Just like before, I stuck only the muzzle through the gate and pulled the trigger.

But!

Click.

“Huh?”

It didn’t work.

As I examined Laser No. 1 from every angle.

I suddenly noticed a covered compartment.

Click.

When I opened it, there was a large mana stone embedded inside, but it had turned gray.

‘Uses top-grade mana stones as fuel.’

I remembered seeing that line in the item description.

I checked the price of top-grade mana stones on the Hunven exchange.

‘What? One rock costs 200 million won?’

That was almost the price of a Legendary weapon.

Fortunately, there were quite a few top-grade mana stones listed on the exchange.

Even though Gold couldn’t be converted back into cash, it seemed everyone used plenty of it.

‘Well, I guess that makes sense.’

If you constantly needed mana stones just to use weapons, there was no reason to insist on cash transactions.

More importantly.

[You have purchased a Top-Grade Mana Stone (x1).]

Flaaash!

The moment the transaction went through, a top-grade mana stone dropped into my hand in a burst of light.

‘Without any risk of being scammed.’

You could make an instant transaction remotely.

‘To cover the cost of mana stones?’

I’d have to sell an S-Rank weapon after all.

I stared for a moment at the [Shadow Dagger] in my inventory.

Then a sheet of paper caught my eye.

The S-Rank weapon sales contract signed by Lee Jinho and me.

“Heh... Hehehehe.”

A brilliant idea suddenly came to me.

* * *

A funeral hall somewhere in Seoul.

“Sniff, sniff, Father!”

WaterPpomi collapsed before Lee Jinho’s memorial portrait and sobbed.

WaterPpomi had dreamed of using his S-Rank hunter father’s influence.

And someday rising to become an S-Rank hunter himself.

‘But he suddenly died in the Tower?’

Of course, nobody had actually told him that his father was dead.

No one had seen Lee Jinho’s corpse.

But when a hunter entered the Tower and failed to come back out, they were normally presumed dead.

Which meant.

‘...Dad’s inheritance is mine now?’

Lee Jinho had been an S-Rank hunter.

So his assets and the value of his office were substantial.

They were worth at least tens of billions of won.

‘What? I’m rich now?’

Come to think of it, there was no reason to be sad.

Thank you for dying, Father!

“I’ll live diligently from now on. Hahahaha!”

I’ll put your inheritance to very good use!

“That sounds less like wailing and more like laughter. Unless you’ve lost your mind, perhaps I misheard?”

That voice, could it be?

“Ah, I didn’t expect the Hunter Association President to come.”

“Nonsense. The Republic of Korea has lost a precious S-Rank hunter. Of course I had to come. My condolences.”

“Thank you, President.”

Hunters were national power.

And S-Rank hunters were a symbol of national prestige.

“By the way... who did you say the suspect was?”

“An E-Rank hunter named ‘Divine One.’”

“What? Divine One? Did I hear that correctly?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“No, I simply find it difficult to believe that an E-Rank hunter killed an S-Rank hunter.”

“He may be E-Rank, but he had an S-Rank weapon.”

“Are you certain?”

“Almost certain!”

If an E-Rank hunter possessed an S-Rank weapon, they could hardly be treated as an ordinary E-Rank.

The Hunter Association generally agreed they would be at least B-Rank, perhaps even A-Rank in combat strength.

“How did an E-Rank hunter get an S-Rank weapon?”

“Well, he probably got lucky. Maybe through some kind of gacha?”

“Gacha?”

“Yes. Hunters have all sorts of strange abilities, you know. I heard some can synthesize weapons and have a chance to obtain one of a higher rank. Probably something like that.”

It sounded plausible.

‘The odds would probably be like winning the lottery, though.’

But someone wins the lottery every week.

And awakening as S-Rank was basically the same thing.

“Then can we contact this hunter called Divine One? We’ll launch a full investigation—”

The Association President was about to continue.

“President!”

“Hmm?”

“Take a look at this. Hunter ‘Divine One’ has broken the world record for clearing the tutorial floors.”

“What! You said that record could never be broken!”

The world record for clearing a tutorial floor was just 0.1 seconds.

The record holders were Kwon.

And Sword.

The two of them shared first place.

Countless hunters had challenged the record thousands, tens of thousands of times, trying to break below 0.1 seconds.

But they all reached the same conclusion.

Knocking ‘Sword’ and ‘Kwon’ down to joint second place.

And producing a new number one.

Was impossible.

“But 0.1 seconds wasn’t the limit. It turns out times below that can be measured.”

“And Divine One proved it?”

“Yes. His record is exactly zero seconds.”

“Right. Of course it would be below 0.1 seconds. Zero-point-what?”

The reporter shook his head.

“No. Just zero.”

“0.09 seconds?”

“No. There’s nothing. No time.”

“Ah, 0.08 seconds?”

“No. Just zero. There is no elapsed time at all.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. He’s been inducted into the Hunter’s Inventory Hall of Fame.”

“Which means?”

The reporter nodded solemnly.

“Yes. There’s a very high probability he’s an S-Rank hunter. And one far superior to someone like Lee Jinho.”

“...!”

Lee Jinho, also known as CleanSweep, was certified as an S-Rank hunter.

But his actual hunter rank was not S.

Lee Jinho possessed an S-Rank weapon and could climb higher than most A-Rank hunters, so the Association had issued him an S-Rank certificate.

Why?

Because having more S-Rank hunters was good for the country.

‘S-Rank hunters are national prestige.’

That was why the Hunter Association had intended to actively investigate Lee Jinho’s disappearance or death.

‘But if the other party is an even stronger S-Rank hunter?’

Then the situation changed.

“P-President? You were saying something about a full investigation... What comes after that?”

Lee Geonho, also known as WaterPpomi, asked again.

“Before launching a full investigation... you know the government must tread carefully when it comes to incidents between hunters inside the Tower, right?”

“Government–martial world noninterference? Is the hunter industry some wuxia novel?”

“Hardly any evidence remains inside the Tower. We can’t accuse someone without evidence. That is the rule of law!”

“So it’s only powerless people without money who get screwed.”

“That isn’t exactly something you should be saying.”

“True.”

Because!

‘I’m about to become a man worth tens of billions!’

The thought immediately cheered WaterPpomi back up.

‘What should I do with the first ten billion? Move into Signiel? Hehehe.’

* * *

Friends Capital office.

“Boss.”

“What? You again?”

The loan shark’s eyebrow twitched when he saw my face.

Apparently, I still didn’t look like someone who had come to borrow money.

“Why are you here?”

“I saw on your business card that you also recover unpaid debts.”

“What did the court say?”

“Do I really have to go through the court?”

“This is the place people come to after they’ve tried everything else.”

“But you collect the money either way, right?”

“Well, yes. The fee is thirty percent. Minimum. For small debts, it’s fifty.”

“Then conversely, for a huge debt, you could go lower, right?”

“What did you just hear? I said thirty percent minimum.”

“But there are always exceptions in this world.”

The loan shark gave me a strange look.

“And do you think you qualify as one of those ‘exceptions’?”

“What if the amount is in the trillions?”

“What?”

“The money I need collected exceeds one trillion won.”

Is this guy insane?

That was what the loan shark’s expression said.

‘Well, that’s understandable.’

Anyone would react like that if someone suddenly asked them to collect over a trillion won.

I handed over the contract I’d brought.

“Here, look. It’s written right here. Party A shall transfer 1.06 trillion won in cash to Party B.”

“Where did you get this?”

Rather than shocked, the loan shark looked suspicious.

“It isn’t forged.”

“Proof?”

“I printed out Hunter Lee Jinho’s Association certificate too. And a copy of his ID. See how the signature matches the one on the contract?”

“I asked where you got it.”

“Where else? He sent it himself.”

“Hunter Lee Jinho did?”

“Yes.”

“How? Email? Show me.”

For the first time, the loan shark looked genuinely serious.

Until now, his eyes had been ten parts suspicion.

But after seeing the Hunter Association certificate and ID copy, they became about five parts suspicion and five parts businessman.

“We exchanged them through Hunven messages.”

“Hunven? You mean Hunter’s Inventory?”

“Yes.”

“Forward the message to me.”

This loan shark.

‘I suspected as much.’

He was a hunter too.