A Cornered Rat
“So… you’re offering me fifteen billion won to join your guild?”
“That’s correct.”
“Cheonhyung? Asia’s largest criminal guild?”
“That’s correct.”
“Have I lost my mind?”
At some point the woman with the neck tattoos had come fully into the room and sat down across the table. I could only sigh in sheer disbelief, but she didn’t so much as twitch — just kept repeating the same answers.
“You do realize that simply joining Cheonhyung is enough to land you in prison, right?”
“I’m aware.”
“Then why would I take that kind of risk just to join a place like that?”
“That is…”
Fifteen billion. An enormous sum, no question — but not an amount I couldn’t earn on my own. Hell, if I walked into the Hunter Association right now and revealed I was ranked number one, I could probably pull in something similar. The road ahead of me was already paved in gold. There was no reason to take on that kind of risk.
“You would receive high-paying commissions.”
“Which would be equally high-risk, I’m sure.”
With an unstable job like Summoner, I needed to avoid dangerous options as much as possible. Besides, I already had more than enough money.
“Most of your taxes could be waived as well.”
“That’s tax evasion, isn’t it?”
Hunters who got caught dodging taxes faced heavier penalties than people in other professions. Better to just pay the damn taxes.
“And there are various ways to relieve the stress of tower raids from time to time…”
“If that means drugs, prostitution, or gambling, I’m not interested.”
“…”
Every condition she put on the table was worthless to me. When all her prepared incentives failed to land, she fell silent for a moment, then seemed to reach a decision and spoke in a firm, resolute voice.
“I can assign you a beautiful female secretary.”
“And who would that be?”
“Me.”
“Get the hell out.”
As expected — the best policy with crazy women was to stay far away.
“Me.”
“Oh, right, Ihwa. Did he say he’d join?”
After being thrown out of the hotel by Yuseong, Ihwa called her superior, Hyunwoong. She needed to report that the recruitment had failed and figure out a next move.
“He refused.”
“Did he? That’s unexpected… I thought those terms would’ve been right up his alley.”
Fifteen billion was an attractive figure, but the black-guild stain had been the deal-breaker. Then again, if she were in his shoes — already a skilled hunter — she wouldn’t have joined a black guild either. Her own situation was… a special case.
“But you didn’t actually tell him to join Cheonhyung, did you?”
“E-excuse me?”
“I told you we were bringing him in as vice-leader of the new legitimate guild we’re launching aboveground this time. Don’t you remember?”
“Uh…”
The hand holding the phone began to tremble violently. Come to think of it, she might have received that call yesterday after seven bottles of soju, completely blackout drunk…? Without thinking, she had just delivered the same pitch she always used on ordinary criminals.
“…Don’t tell me you only said you’d give him fifteen billion.”
“I-I delivered the full details properly.”
“Hmm. All right. Ah, from the guild’s side—”
With that, the call cut off.
How am I supposed to fix this…
Ihwa was an A-class hunter who had spent her entire life learning nothing but combat. When it came to paperwork, she was about as useful as a broken door.
“Thank you for visiting the Korean Hunter Association, Seoul Branch. How may I help you?”
“I’d like to sell some equipment I brought out of the tower.”
The next day, I headed to the Korean Hunter Association. The plan was to offload the junk I’d pulled on the eighty-eighth floor run. Things like the TS potion wouldn’t sell, of course, but among the summons were a few perfectly solid items.
Things like these, for example.
Rank: ★★
Type: Weapon / Dagger
Attack Power: 43
Effect: Damage of the finishing blow is doubled.
— A keenly honed crimson dagger. Truly awesome.
Rank: ★
Type: Weapon / Longsword
Attack Power: 52
Effect: None — but it’s sharp, sturdy, and looks really cool.
I planned to dump a bunch of these ordinary items on the Association. They were useless to a Summoner like me anyway — just space-hogging clutter.
“For equipment sales, please use the Awakened Department Store on the ninth floor.”
“Thank you.”
I thanked the Association staffer and took the elevator up to the ninth floor.
“Whoa… this place is ridiculously huge.”
The scale of the Association’s Awakened Department Store was staggering. Gear of every kind, skill books, elixirs — even summons — all laid out by rank. It was less a store and more a massive marketplace. I felt like some country bumpkin who’d just arrived in Seoul for the first time.
Still, I had equipment to sell, so I went looking for the manager who handled tower goods.
“Do you buy equipment here as well?”
“Oh my, of course! What sort of items did you have in mind, sir?”
I stepped into the corner labeled Tower Goods Exchange. An Association employee greeted me with a bright, professional smile. I handed her one Cool Longsword.
“How much would something like this go for?”
“Oh…! This is actually quite high-quality.”
“Is it?”
“I’d need a full appraisal to be sure, but it looks like a C-class longsword.”
C-class, huh. I hadn’t expected a mere one-star item to rate that high. Well, from my perspective, more money on the sale was nothing but good news.
“What kind of price are we talking?”
“C-class longswords typically trade for around twenty million won. Would you like to sell?”
“Yes, I’ll sell it. And also…”
I handed her the two bags I’d packed in advance.
“I’ll sell everything in these as well.”
“Uh… excuse me?”
How much junk had I pulled with Out-of-this-world Summoning by now? Roughly counting, over seventy items. And of those, how many were worth selling to the Association?
“Fourteen swords, eleven bows, six shields, three daggers, and nine spears.”
“…I’m sorry?”
“The quality should be about the same as the one I just showed you.”
The Association employee froze for a solid thirty seconds, staring a hole through the bags. Her face was the living embodiment of What the hell is this?
“The bag on the left has the higher-ranked stuff.”
“I-I’ll go get my supervisor!”
“Take your time.”
I felt a little bad — like I’d become one of those nightmare customers.
“Safe travels, sir!!”
“I’ll be back.”
I walked out three billion won richer from the equipment sale. Thirty-six one-star pieces totaled nine hundred million; seven two-star pieces brought in two-point-one billion. Among them, a shield called the Auto-Reactive Panel had been valued at nearly one-point-two billion.
◈ Defense: 73
◈ Effect: Automatically blocks fatal damage up to 5 times.
— Last user’s final words: “I am your shield!”
It was only a two-star piece, but specialty defensive gear like this commanded premium prices — apparently they made excellent personal protection for important people.
Either way, I had a small fortune now. Maybe I’d buy something nice for my summons, I thought as I walked.
“Ah — Oksun asked me to show her around outside last time.”
Come to think of it, during the last summoning Oksun had said she wanted to see a modern city. She’d begged me to let her, promising she wouldn’t cause any trouble. And here I was at a subway station, a perfect showcase of urban civilization. Since the thought had crossed my mind, I summoned her.
“What is it, Summoner?!”
Oksun burst into existence shouting at full volume. I flinched and glanced around, but nobody reacted. Maybe people couldn’t hear a ghost’s voice?
“Oksun, keep it down a little.”
“Hah! Understood!”
Just to be safe, I quieted her down and continued.
“Any idea why I called you out today?”
“Ah! Judging by the situation, Summoner must require this young maiden’s specialty — exorcism!”
“Haha. Last time you asked me to show you around Seoul. I happened to be out, so I called you.”
“Pardon? Truly?!”
Her eyes went round with shock, and for a second she looked just like an excited puppy. The summons had been grinding tower raids every day lately — giving them a day off to play couldn’t hurt. Yeonbi didn’t seem to like going out, so I’d show her a movie at home later.
“Thank you! This young maiden has long wished to experience the civilization of a city at least once!”
“Sure, sure. We’ve got plenty of time — take it slow and enjoy yourself.”
The moment I finished speaking, she bounced off in every direction. She stared openly at people waiting for the train, stretched her hands toward a distant approaching car. After exploring the station in her own peculiar way, she came back to me.
“What splendid wonders of civilization there are!”
“Yeah?”
“Well — the people are the same as in the old days, though.”
“Haha. Once we head outside the station, I’ll show you even more interesting things.”
“This young maiden can hardly wait!”
I boarded the train that had just pulled in, Oksun hopping excitedly at my side. I was thinking about taking her to an amusement park once we got above ground when she suddenly said something I didn’t understand.
“But do you intend to leave those alone?”
“Hm? Leave what alone?”
“Those seated over there.”
She pointed. Ordinary people. Commuters exhausted on the way home, some asleep, some scrolling their phones. Nothing strange about any of them.
“Is there a problem? They all look like they’re living their lives just fine.”
“Summoner — what on earth do you mean by that?”
“Huh? What do you…”
Oksun’s expression turned suddenly grave. The moment she opened her mouth again, the train lurched hard and the lights flickered.
“From the moment we entered that place called a subway station, the only living person has been you, Summoner.”
When I looked again, the subway car had transformed into its complete opposite. Bloodstains. Handprints smeared across the windows. I’d seen enough disaster-preparedness drills to recognize the scene for what it was.
“Ah, shit.”
I’d been swallowed by a dungeon.