Making Money (5)
“Hm. They're late.”
Kim Yujin, the man in the suit, glanced at his wristwatch to check how much time had passed.
“Did they die or something?”
A smirk escaped his lips. He pictured Gusechan and Siwoo, who had entered the sewer. To Kim Yujin, they looked like total rookies.
“This is why mages are...”
Kim Yujin shook his head with a faint smile playing on his lips.
Kim Yujin hated mages. Their arrogance and sense of superiority were nothing but unpleasant memories for a sorcerer like him.
'Trash who can't even use magic, get lost.'
Just thinking about it made the scar on his chest throb. But imagining those newbie mages dying in the sewer brought him a sliver of satisfaction.
“Nice day. Guess I'll head home and crack open a beer.”
That was when he turned the key in the ignition and gripped the steering wheel.
Thud!
A handprint smeared with blood appeared on the driver's side window. Startled, Kim Yujin hurriedly checked who it was. A man in ragged clothes and a thug standing stark naked. It was Siwoo and Gusechan.
“Open the door, please.”
Siwoo leaned his head close to the window and murmured lowly. The sight of him peering through the glass with blood-soaked hands chilled Kim Yujin to the bone.
'His eyes... they're different.'
Back at the office, when their eyes had met briefly, Siwoo's impression had been mild and ordinary. But the mage's aura clashing with that face had been deeply unpleasant. Now, locking eyes with Siwoo through the window, Kim Yujin felt pure terror.
Tremble, tremble.
His hands shook on the steering wheel. Staring into those eyes dredged up memories he'd rather forget.
'No one cares if a sorcerer dies, got it?' 'Don't even think about standing next to me, you worm.' 'Why do I hate you? Isn't it obvious? You're a sorcerer.'
The cold, piercing gaze of a mage. That look that made him feel smaller than dirt—it paralyzed Kim Yujin.
Siwoo had been an ordinary guy right up until he entered the sewer. Now, his eyes gleamed with the dark madness of a true mage.
Click.
Siwoo and Gusechan opened the back door and climbed in.
“Man, it's freezing! Hey, give me some clothes.”
“No way.”
Gulp.
Kim Yujin barely steadied himself. It was bizarre. He brokered jobs between mages and sorcerers. He'd dealt with mages plenty of times.
For him to tremble just from eye contact—it didn't make sense.
No matter how much he despised mages, he wasn't scared of facing them anymore. He'd overcome his trauma long ago. So why had terror gripped him just now?
He shoved the questions aside for the moment. To pay the commission, he pulled a thick envelope of cash from his briefcase and offered it to the mages in the back seat.
“Good work. Leave the cleanup to me.”
But the mages didn't take the envelope. Puzzled, Kim Yujin froze. Siwoo's eyes were boring straight into him.
Gulp.
Kim Yujin swallowed dryly, wondering if he'd been rude somehow. Maybe Siwoo was holding a grudge from his attitude at the office? Mages like that were petty enough.
“You said there were three ghouls, right?”
“Y-yes! That's correct. Is there a problem?”
Hiss.
Siwoo furrowed his brow, and Kim Yujin froze solid. That glare reignited his buried trauma.
“Wh-what... problem...”
Gusechan snickered at the stammering Kim Yujin, naked as the day he was born, while Siwoo ignored him and pressed on.
“I took down over ten ghouls myself. You messing with us? I almost died.”
“Yeah, yeah! Getting bitten by those things hurts like hell! Wanna try it?!”
Gulp... “Understood. We'll double it to twenty million won.”
Kim Yujin swallowed again and upped the offer. But they didn't like it—both grimaced.
“Twenty?”
“Too low.”
Click.
Siwoo suddenly opened the car door and stepped out, clutching a single talisman in his hand.
“Looks like there's still a ghoul left.”
A ghoul was shambling out from the sewer entrance.
Siwoo hurled the talisman at the sewer mouth. It flew straight and true, striking the ghoul's head before exploding.
KABOOM!!
“...”
Kim Yujin was speechless at the insane power. That talisman was definitely a basic Ghost Fire Talisman—a cheap one you could buy at any market. But its power was nothing like what he knew.
There was only one explanation. A mage who could unleash a Ghost Fire Talisman with that much force was at least 5th Grade. The rookie he'd dismissed was actually a high-mid rank mage.
Click.
As Kim Yujin reeled from misjudging Siwoo's rank, Siwoo got back in the car.
“So, how much more?”
“Thirty... no! Forty... how's that?”
“Forty?! For real?”
Siwoo's voice rose sharply, panicking Kim Yujin.
“Fifty million!”
It wasn't his money anyway. As a broker, he'd squeeze it from the client. He couldn't worry about his reputation now—life came first.
***
“This isn't a dream, right?”
I sat blankly on the living room sofa, staring at the glowing phone screen.
I pinched my cheek with my empty hand.
“Ow.”
Rubbing the stinging cheek, I kept gazing at the account. Money earned from one day's work.
Five million won a day.
“Just last week, I was making 200,000 won a day...”
But earning this much wasn't easy. I'd nearly died for it. Gusechan had even gotten torn apart all over by ghouls.
Still, if dangerous jobs paid like this, the risk was worth it.
“When's sis coming home?”
On the way back, I'd stopped at the butcher for expensive beef. Planning to eat with her after her shift—and maybe convince her to quit.
“A bit more savings, and we can treat Yuseoah.”
To send my little sister Yuseoah to the US for treatment required an insane amount of money. The kind we could never afford scraping by day to day. But now, it wasn't some unattainable dream.
“Heh heh!”
The balance made me grin uncontrollably.
“Might as well gather some info while waiting for sis.”
Bored of waiting, I logged into the community to resolve questions from today's job.
Seoul Mage Community
“No magic talk anywhere?”
Time to use the search bar. No newbie guide, but basic magic info should pop up.
Search keyword: Magic
“Huh?”
Scrolling down, I spotted the newbie guide I'd hunted for yesterday. Posted this morning.
“Hm.”
It felt desperately earnest, that long post.
I scrolled to the comments.
“Not false info, then.”
Pretty helpful. At least it confirmed I needed to keep doing these jobs to awaken magic.
“Magic...”
I recalled the magic I'd seen in the sewer today.
Immortality. Gusechan's magic. Head rolling on the ground, yet he regenerated instantly. Incomprehensible, truly mysterious.
What was my magic?
Curiosity piled up. Excitement swelled—I felt like I could burst any second.
Then, my phone buzzed briefly.
Ding.
A text from sis.
“...It's so late, and she's still working?”
Tsk.
The magic hype drained away like the tide. I turned off my phone and lay on the lumpy sofa.
“Better sleep.”
I shut off the phone, settled on the uncomfortable sofa, and prepared for bed.
Couldn't visit the hospital today—tomorrow for sure. With that thought, I drifted off.
***
Next day. First thing, I called Gusechan.
“Let's work.”
“Work? Ah, sorry, can't today.”
Me: “Why?”
“Family stuff came up.”
Nothing I could do about that. Solo today.
I rummaged in my pocket and pulled out the business card I'd kept.
Kim Yujin
The broker from before. Seemed generous—worth teaming up again.