Chapter 53

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 53

Chapter Title: 0th Financial Sector (3)

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The first time the amount of stones he possessed exceeded 100,000 stones.

A message is said to have popped up for the Japanese community moderator.

'It really showed up.'

To verify if the Japanese community moderator was telling the truth, I took 40,000 of the stones he'd vomited up and shoved them into my Status Window.

The moment my stone balance hit 109,170 stones...

A message appeared in my Status Window saying I'd met the minimum requirements for 0th Financial Sector services.

And I could see there were exactly four services available to me.

Plus...

'No wonder his eyes rolled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back.'

Looking at the second service they offered...

There was a service that allowed escape even in ghost stories where Return couldn't be used.

'Makes me really curious about the next services.'

I could somewhat understand why the Japanese community moderator had tried to kill me just to farm more stones...

"But killing people, you fucking bastard?"

No way, you piece of shit.

Slap!

I smacked the man's cheek with my palm.

Honestly, it pissed me off more that he'd tried to kill me for stones than that he'd killed someone else.

"Y-You're sparing me...!"

"I said I'd spare you, not that I wouldn't hit you, you punk."

Slap! Slap! Slap!

When I unleashed the Serial Slap Technique on his right cheek three times in a row.

Suddenly.

"S-Stop... plea...

I realized a brilliant idea had just flashed through my mind.

"Hey."

"Ugh..."

"Wanna sign a contract with me?"

"What..."

"A contract where I spare your life."

"...What?"

I decided to experiment with both the contract and loan features on this guy at the same time.

"Look at benefit 4 from the 0th Financial Sector. It says they'll guarantee contracts between customers."

"...So?"

"So if I make a contract here saying I'll spare ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you, you're guaranteed to live, right?"

"...!!"

"While we're at it, let's add one more. How about I promise not to mention this incident at all?"

"What... what the hell do you want in return...?"

"Full loan. That's it."

"..."

"One more condition: after I spare you here, I won't give a damn what you do."

"?... What does that mean...?"

"Whether you go into ghost stories to earn money or kill people for stones, I won't touch you. Deal?"

"..."

Our eyes met as the man stared up at me like I was insane, the contract loaded with terms insanely favorable to him.

But.

"I'm serious."

"...After we write the contract... can I read it over again...?"

"Of course. I'll show it to you first, then we thumbprint it. Cool?"

I was genuinely giving the guy a shot here, so I agreed to whatever terms he wanted.

"...F-For me, it's... g-good, but..."

I started writing the contract between us on the back of what was now just plain paper—the surgical results sheet.

"What's your name?"

"...Sakai Yuuto."

"Hold tight."

"My eyes are gonna pop out."

"..."

I waited as he read the contract aloud five times, checking for loopholes.

Then...

"...You're just gonna do all this for real...? No way. Big Whale... hereinafter Party A..."

"You little brat."

Irritation surged as he started reading it a sixth time in that rude tone.

I grabbed the scalpel from the desk and flung it at him to threaten...

Stab!

"Guhk...!"

'Whoa... I didn't mean to actually hit him.'

I hadn't meant to hit him for real... but somehow, the scalpel embedded in his shoulder.

Of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠course.

"Y-You said no attacks...!"

"It says no attacks after you give me the stones, doesn't it? And we haven't thumbprinted the contract yet? Wanna die right now?"

"N-No, no..."

"Your tone's getting on my nerves too. Be polite. Before I change my mind."

"...Y-Yes, s-sir... Understood."

"I'm gonna pull this out of your shoulder, so shut up."

"...P-Pardon?"

No reason to show him I was flustered.

I yanked the scalpel straight out of his shoulder.

"Ughhh..."

"Look, if you drag this out any longer, I'm seriously just gonna kill you. Let's thumbprint."

The moment I pulled the scalpel free, his shoulder was drenched in blood.

Sensing the ink was ready, I shoved my thumb right into his wound.

"Gaaaaah...!"

He screamed the instant my finger touched the wound.

Ignoring his agony, I pressed my bloody thumb next to my name at the bottom of the contract.

"M-Me too... quick... m-my thumb... I-I..."

"Good boy."

He was desperate to fix his shoulder wound and get the thumbprint done.

"Here."

I smeared the blood from my finger onto the Japanese Gallery moderator's thumb and stamped it for him.

And so...

"N-Now... can I... this..."

"Yeah, yeah."

With our thumbprints on the contract guaranteed by the 0th Financial Sector.

To lower his guard for now, I started roughly bandaging his shoulder with bandages from the convenience store.

Luckily or unluckily.

His shoulder wasn't that badly damaged, so if he just got home safely after this? He'd handle it himself, right?

"Hurry up and finish this so we can go home. You need to treat that."

"Y-Yes... you're right..."

Now that the contract was done, there was no reason to drag this out.

This applied to Milk Carton Sakai or whatever too.

"You said it yourself, right? You figured out how to force max loans from those four Japanese guys you killed before."

"Y-Yes..."

"Man, you're a real piece of work. How much did you squeeze out of each?"

"Average... about 40,000 stones each... haha..."

"Was that their max?"

"Yes... there's a loan limit, so..."

"Can't be helped. Pull yours quick."

"Yes, sir!"

I untied the rope on his right hand—the one near the wounded shoulder.

He moved his hand in the air like it was second nature, inputting something into his Status Window...

"I figured you'd run. You're not?"

"...You think you couldn't catch me if I did?"

"Nah. I'd catch you right away."

"Exactly... So I figured, just hand over this pocket change and be done. I can earn it back quick anyway."

"By killing more people?"

"...You said you wouldn't care what I do..."

"You're hopeless. Fine, do whatever."

"...I can borrow up to 60,000 stones. Here."

He pulled 60,000 stones and handed them over.

The moment I received them and deposited into my DL...

'Takes 30% fee right away.'

"...Ha. For real?"

"?"

"How stupid can you be..."

I could hear his polite tone turning rude again.

"Why?"

"How desperate for stones do you have to be to sign a dumb contract like this?"

"Who hates money in this world?"

"Ha... unbelievable. Listen up, idiot. I'll explain it step by step."

And so.

As he slowly moved his right hand to loosen the ropes, he started explaining to me.

I lay back on the bed, nodding for Milk Carton Sakai or whatever to go ahead.

"Per Article 2, once you get the stones, you can't attack me anymore. Right?"

"Yep."

"Heh... moron."

"Ooh, sharp tongue."

"You really don't get it?"

"What're you trying to say?"

"If I untie these ropes... and try to kill you now, all you can do is run away."

"Hmm...?"

"Ahaha... ahahahaha... stupid fuck... haha... You thought you were so smart, huh? Ha..."

I could see him spewing nonsense, thinking he'd gotten the upper hand.

So I told him.

"...You okay?"

"Ahahaha!! What, trying to score sympathy votes now?"

"...Look behind you."

Look behind you.

"Behind? Why— ...Ah."

I smirked.

Choi Min-ah, scalpel in hand with a neat smile, scraped the man's shoulder.

Sizzle...

"...!! W-Wait a sec...! Just wait...!"

As his clothes and skin started peeling away smoothly.

Panic-stricken Milk Carton Sakai switched back to polite speech.

"C-Could you stop for a moment?"

"Pardon?"

"Got one more thing to show you. Hold on."

I opened my Status Window, ordered F Set, and waited.

"You here?"

"!!"

Soon, the Bellierd Library monster opened the door and delivered the F Set.

"Come in for a sec?"

"...A monster listening to a human...?"

I let the Bellierd Library monster right in and introduced it to Sugoi Milk Carton or whatever.

"That's the guy I told you about yesterday. The one I wanted to kill."

"...!!"

"Ah, no need to get mad. But if something comes up later, just eat this guy."

"You wanna eat him now?"

"Hmm... well, sure..."

"W-Wait! Just wait!! B-Big Whale sir!! Big Whale sir!! This... this isn't in the contract...!"

"I said I wouldn't touch you. Nothing about other people or monsters."

"I-I'm sorry!! M-My bad!! P-Please tie my hands again!! H-Hey... I wanna be tied up nice and quiet...!"

"Ow... still wanna live, huh? Thanks for the delivery today. This is a little token of my appreciation."

"I squeezed a ton of stones outta this guy. Here's some apology stones since I think I bothered you last night for no reason. 10,000 stones."

"Always appreci— ...What? Why'd it leave without hearing me out?"

The Bellierd Library monster bolted before I finished speaking.

But by now, the Japanese moderator should've figured out the situation on his own.

Who was Party A and who was Party B.

"Um... uh... but..."

"Yeah, spit it out."

"To... to let me go... so I can... go home and earn those stones..."

"Hit Return and go yourself."

"B-But... the safe zone rule says you can't use Return there..."

"Oh dear~ Was I not aware of that?"

"...You knew."

"Got a problem?"

"..."

"Figure out your own escape. Article 4: After receiving all loaned stones from Party B, Party A will not care about Party B's actions at all."

From here on, it was his problem.

To escape, he'd have to convince not me, but Min-ah—

Knock knock knock.

"Hm?"

I turned at the sudden knock.

The Bellierd Library monster, who'd run off when I tried to give it 10,000 stones, was back...

"...Huh?"

"No way... this is... a gift for me?"

The returning Bellierd Library monster... was dragging the corpse of some new monster I'd never seen before.

"Gasp... well, can't be helped. Here's another 10,000 sto—"

"...It left again?"

"...How can a human control monsters...? No way... this is a dream... a dream... How can a human...? Humans can't... or maybe you're not human...?"

"Shut up... I'm trying to sleep..."

"Sleep well, Big Whale sir. I'll cut his tongue so he can't talk anymore."

"...!! Hnng..."

"Ah~ go ahead. I'll just cut your tongue right off."

"..."

"Last chance?"

Nod nod...

'...Gotta listen to Choi Min-ah.'