010. Results
010. Results
"Y-you cowardly bastard......! Don't run away! Fight me head-on!"
There was a brief commotion when Go Yoon-seo suddenly lashed out and charged at me, but it was settled right away.
Why act up when you couldn't even land a single hit.
If I actually hadn't been able to rescue Lee Yu-ri, I would've had no excuse no matter what kind of resentment they threw at me, but well, I did rescue her, didn't I?
Sure, I'd been in a rush and my words were a little rough earlier, and I'd made them do that ridiculous busywork of gluing Nakey leather onto their clothes, but that couldn't be helped.
'I mean, Lee Yu-ri seemed pretty close with these party members.......'
Close enough that I suspected they might've been the driving force that let her endure academy life even while drinking tap water every day and chewing on convenience-store triangle kimbap.
With us having to leave for the academy soon, I didn't want to leave Lee Yu-ri with that kind of emotional burden.
I handed Lee Yu-ri, whom I'd been carrying on my back, straight to Go Yoon-seo.
After that, it was nagging time.
"Go Yoon-seo, you. What the hell were you thinking! Trying to go in there!?"
"......What about you, Gukbap? What the hell were you thinking! You think we'd be grateful just because you—."
"Shut up. So you wanted us all to die together? My little sister is in the party too—were you trying to drag her into it as well? You're the vice-captain, for god's sake—you should catch on immediately. You should've taken it as me saying, 'Take care of my sister'!"
The moment I brought Yu-na into it, Go Yoon-seo shut her mouth as if her words had gotten stuck in her throat.
"Not a single word Jin Yu-ha said is wrong. In an emergency, the captain's orders are absolute. And you still disobeyed."
"......."
"Ha, So-yeon unni, I'm really shocked. I can make allowances for Yoon-seo, but I didn't expect even you, unni, to do that."
"......."
"Lee Yu-na, you. Banned from being a hunter for one year."
"......!"
At that, Yu-na wore an expression like she'd lost the world, but still, the mood on the way back wasn't bad.
Because Lee Yu-ri had come back.
On the way back, Choi So-yeon and I took the lead and cleared out the goblins.
Of course, no particular scenario for the Healer to shine ever came up.
* * *
6 p.m.
Surprisingly, we were able to exit the gate right on schedule.
There had been various incidents, so I'd assumed the gate penalty for being late would be unavoidable, but it wasn't.
We hadn't spent that much time killing the Blood Goblin,
and since I'd taken the lead on the way back and dealt with the Nakeys and goblins, the others had pretty much just run.
"Coughuegh—! Guhuhhhh......."
Go Yoon-seo especially, who'd run with Lee Yu-ri on her back, was dry-heaving with a face like she was about to die.
And so, after we'd barely made it out of the gate on time.
We headed straight for the settlement office located near the gate.
The settlement office had a modern, clean interior, lined with various equipment for measuring by-products.
And there.
"......You conducted an Unexplored Gate Exploration?"
When Lee Yu-ri submitted the report, the female staff member who received it spoke with a dubious expression.
"Yes."
Lee Yu-ri nodded, looking exhausted.
The staff member shifted her gaze back to the report, then her eyes flew open so wide they looked ready to tear.
"But there, you subjugated a C-Rank monster, a Blood Goblin......!?"
Yu-na placed the object wrapped in a cloth onto the table.
Thunk—!
The impact of setting it down loosened the cloth, revealing what was wrapped inside.
It was none other than the Blood Goblin's head.
"Here, the proof."
"......Oh my god."
As if she were truly amazed, the staff member examined the head several times.
Then, soon her expression hardened.
"......And you said there were countless goblins at that location."
"Yes. There were so many that we couldn't clear them all and came back."
"So you discovered in advance that the Camela Forest Gate was about to burst! Thank you so much! Thanks to you, massive damage was prevented!"
The staff member sighed in what appeared to be genuine relief.
Next, Yu-na began laying out various by-products and Magic Stones from her bag.
The staff member, who had been scanning the by-products with a sharp eye, finished the calculation in an instant and spoke.
"First, the settlement amount is...... 4.8 million won. I'll round it up slightly and give you 5 million won."
At that, the party members nodded as if they hadn't really been expecting much.
It was an unavoidable amount since we'd wasted precious Nakey leather by sticking it onto our coats.
Still, by simple math, that was 1 million won per person. Even if it was a little short, at least we had something to take home.
But the staff member's words weren't finished yet.
"However, this amount was calculated only from the goblin fangs and the Magic Stones. First of all, what is this?"
What the staff member pointed to was the three coats patched with Nakey leather.
"......Uh, um. That's."
Yu-na lowered her head and spoke as if she were embarrassed.
"Because I heard that Nakey stealth is effective against goblins......."
"Huh....... Don't tell me, that's why....... Ah-ha!"
The staff member lifted the crude coat and let out a gasp of admiration.
"You're truly incredible! I was wondering how you managed to kill a Blood Goblin, which never leaves the goblin horde, and you came up with this!!!"
At that, the expressions of every single party member turned awkward.
"First, these clothes made of Nakey leather. They're crude, but if we report this idea upstairs, you'll definitely be recognized for its value."
"Th-these......?"
Yu-na asked back, as if she couldn't believe it.
"To be honest, our side also knew that Nakey leather is effective for avoiding a goblin's gaze."
The staff member stroked the scraps of leather crudely stuck to the coat and chuckled.
"But then, why until now......."
"Because the unit cost doesn't work out. You'd be better off making luxury bags."
"Ah, then this too......."
Yu-na's expression grew gloomy again.
The staff member looked at her as if she found her cute, then spoke again in a serious tone.
"But we had never thought of using it to avoid the ordinary goblins and only kill the Blood Goblin. That's why I said the idea is incredible."
Actually, that caterpillar-like coat probably wouldn't have much effect,
but if you properly processed and made something out of Nakey leather, it would be effective.
In reality, armor made from Nakey leather appears in Velvetsra's gacha.
Once you get it, you can rampage through the early-game goblins, so it's an item hailed as the newbie's savior.
The Nakey Suit!
Its material is like the skintight suits in tokusatsu shows, so it's a little ugly, but there were people who'd say it was actually better and only equip that.
"If we report this coat together with the Blood Goblin's head as evidence, it'll be recognized as a sufficient achievement. My estimate would be about 5 million won?"
"Ah-ha!"
Yu-na let out a cry of joy.
She'd thought what she'd done was a pointless waste of expensive leather, but it wasn't so.
"Hmm, and I also need to tell you the settlement amount for the Blood Goblin's head. That will be a separate 10 million won."
"!"
At the words "10 million won for one head," everyone's eyes rounded into circles.
"And the Unexplored Gate Exploration that prevented a gate explosion will also produce a performance bonus of about 10 million won. Originally, in light of the massive damage you prevented, it would only be right to give you more, but that part is not within my authority to decide."
"......."
At first, the party members had been stunned by the Nakey leather. Now they were utterly speechless, having forgotten how to talk.
The results exceeded all imagination.
The usual goblin subjugation amount: 5 million won.
The Nakey leather clothes: 5 million won.
The Blood Goblin's head: 10 million won.
And the Unexplored Gate Exploration: another 10 million won.
In total, roughly 30 million won.
This was not an amount you could earn from a single E-Rank dungeon.
"What I can give you right now is 15 million won. Shall I deposit it into the captain's account?"
"Y-yes......."
Lee Yu-ri nodded, her face looking utterly dazed.
"Thank you once again. Thanks to you, a gate explosion was prevented."
Leaving the staff member, who was bowing her head deeply, behind us, we walked out of the settlement office.
"......."
"......."
"......."
Even after leaving the settlement office, all the party members were staring blankly with their mouths hanging open.
In the midst of that, Go Yoon-seo trembled and then let out a cheer of joy.
"Wooooo! This is insane, seriously!! How much is this, anyway!!!"
But her fuss was soon curbed by Lee Yu-ri, whose eyes were closed.
"......Go Yoon-seo. Quiet for a moment."
"Yep."
A short while later.
Lee Yu-ri opened her eyes.
And she looked around at the party members and spoke in a stiff voice.
"First, today's dungeon clearing has been successfully completed. The results were not bad either. Everyone, you've all worked very hard."
Hoooh—
Lee Yu-ri took a short deep breath and continued.
"However, today, I do not believe these results are ours. Does anyone have a dissenting opinion on this?"
"She's right."
"......Ah, well, that is true."
"Mm, yes. Without Yu-ha oppa, we wouldn't have even come back alive."
Even though a large sum of money was clearly about to come their way, Choi So-yeon, Go Yoon-seo, and Yu-na immediately agreed and nodded their heads.
And Lee Yu-ri's eyes turned to me.
"However, Jin Yu-ha. I would like to ask for your understanding. The other party members did honestly work hard too, so...... I would like to give them 1 million won each."
"Yes, that's fine."
When I readily nodded, Lee Yu-ri wore a relieved expression.
"Then, the remaining amounts will all be Jin Yu-ha's amount......."
"Ah, wait a moment. I have an objection."
I interrupted her and raised my hand.
"Go ahead."
A slight hint of disappointment, then a glimmer of acceptance settled in her eyes.
The disappointment probably came from not being able to secure a share for her party members, and the acceptance was likely her thinking, Well, that's only reasonable.
But the objection I wanted to raise wasn't about that.
"And how much does the captain take?"
Flinch—
At that, Lee Yu-ri flinched.
"I-I'll....... I won't take any......."
"That's why I'm raising an objection. When everyone else is taking at least a little, why doesn't the captain take anything?"
From the beginning, I'd seen through Lee Yu-ri's scheme to not take her own share and give it all to me.
Money?
The more, the better.
But since I'll be living in the dorms now,
once I have a certain amount, there won't be that many places to spend it for the time being.
Later on, when I need it, I can properly form a party and clear dungeons and earn sums that make a hundred million look laughable, anyway.
Plus, this Jin Yu-ha guy doesn't have debts like Lee Yu-ri, either.
Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not going to take my share for the role I played. But it'd be a different story if she'd offered me everything from the very start.
That Lee Yu-ri alone should take nothing—that I could not accept.
Lee Yu-ri's eyes shook with bewilderment.
"Then, shall we go over it piece by piece? First, the Blood Goblin. Didn't the captain, Lee Yu-ri, and I catch it 'together'?"
"W-well, that's......."
"Didn't we coordinate our teamwork there?"
"......."
"Captain Lee Yu-ri shoved the Blood Goblin, and I cut it."
Lee Yu-ri put on a stern expression.
"Don't talk nonsense, Jin Yu-ha. Everyone here knows you could've taken that bastard down by yourself."
"Ah, really? Then what about Go Yoon-seo?"
"......Huh? All of a sudden? Me?"
Go Yoon-seo, suddenly mentioned, pointed at her own face with her finger and made a bewildered sound.
"Just now, captain, you were essentially saying, 'Since Jin Yu-ha is so skilled he can handle that guy alone, it's right for me, Jin Yu-ha, to take it all myself.'"
"That's correct......."
"Then, captain, your skill is far better than Go Yoon-seo's, so why are you giving her a share? No, not just Go Yoon-seo—Choi So-yeon and Yu-na are the same. Does every party member's strength have to be equal?"
When I subtly gave a nod.
Choi So-yeon caught onto the meaning like a mind-reader and joined in.
Clearly, she also knew that at this rate, Lee Yu-ri wasn't going to take a single thing for herself.
"We honestly didn't see the fight, so we don't know. Captain, how did you end up with Mana exhaustion?"
"Huh? Yeah, right. Gukbap, how'd you get Mana exhaustion?"
Go Yoon-seo added on, apparently having caught the meaning belatedly.
"That's because the captain passed the Blood Goblin to me with her shield."
"Really...?"
"Wow. Then honestly, it's no wonder she hit exhaustion."
When the three of us pressured Lee Yu-ri as one like that,
she, who'd been trembling with her lip bitten, let out a shriek.
"Th-then! What about the price for saving my life!!!"
Ugly. Gukbap.
"Ha, jeez. Then captain, are you going to demand a life-debt payment from Go Yoon-seo and Choi So-yeon too? You charged out there alone, saying you'd save everyone. How much are you going to charge them?"
"Yeah, Gu-Gukbap....... How much do I have to pay......."
"Captain. For starters, my total assets are about this much......."
"......."
"Around here, do people get paid for saving a party member in danger?"
Then, as if she could hold out no longer.
Lee Yu-ri hung her head low and spoke in a crawling voice.
"......0.5 to 9.5."
"3 to 7."
"......1 to 9."
"3 to 7."
It was a strange standoff.
A situation where I was saying I'd give Lee Yu-ri money, and Lee Yu-ri was stubbornly refusing to take it.
I knew my own worth, so I knew I had to take 7.
Like the Wild Man of the Age shouting “Four dollars,” I held firm at 3:7.
But Lee Yu-ri's stubbornness was considerable too, so in the end, the negotiation settled at 2 to 8.
It was a little unfortunate, but if Lee Yu-ri could at least get that much, it was a relief.
"For the Unexplored Gate Exploration and the Nakey leather clothes, even so, Jin Yu-ha takes it all......."
"On that, even I won't deny I did more work. Let's go with 1 to 9 for that. And the Nakey leather clothes—Yu-na worked herself to the bone, glue all over her hands. Are you planning to steal your little sister's achievement and hand it over to a man?"
"St-stealing and handing it over to a man......! F-fine, I understand! Instead! With what I get, I'll give more to the other party members!"
Lee Yu-ri huffed through her nose as if this was the one point she absolutely would not concede.
"Well, do whatever you want on that."
In the end, that was how we used righteous negotiation to defeat the criminal who'd tried to stuff money into the party's pockets with zero regard for business ethics.
That punk, really.
Where does she get off, a pretty girl acting up in front of a former Velvetsra Player?
Just sit still and accept my sponsorship.
Hoo-hoo-hoo.