The Regressor Has Already Touched the Gold
After the butler's attempted rape incident, the mansion plunged into chaos.
A mere commoner had lusted after a noble lady, after all.
The fact that the upright butler had tried something so vile—and that his target was the mansion's tyrannical terror of a young lady—made for prime gossip among the servants.
"So the butler had his eye on that arrogant bitch."
"Her personality's trash, but damn, that face is a knockout."
"Who knows? Maybe he's already done her a few times."
Crude chatter like that floated around the mansion.
There were other theories too: maybe the butler was framed, or perhaps he'd been screwing around with the lady all along. But amid all the opinions, one question everyone was dying to know was...
"So was it really just an attempt?"
"You can tell just by looking. She already got taken."
Whether it was truly just an attempt.
All the servants knew was that the butler had tried to rape the lady and that he was dead. Nothing else.
A frail young noblewoman overpowering a knight-turned-butler? No way. So maybe she'd already been violated and was hiding it to save face? That was the speculation.
In this medieval fantasy world, it happened all too often.
In a culture that prized women's purity and chastity above all, victims of rape frequently got the blame instead.
"Her face at the party is gonna be priceless."
"You said it."
And to top it off, a birthday banquet for the lady was coming up soon.
If last night's incident hadn't ended as just an attempt, it would be the worst party of her life.
The servants, long tormented by their demonic young mistress, secretly relished the dark schadenfreude.
Unfortunately, their hopes were dashed.
"Thank you all for attending my birthday celebration."
"Milady, that ring on your left hand..."
"Oh, this? "
Her expression was far too serene for someone who'd been through such a trauma. She glanced at the gleaming ring on her left hand and spoke.
"It's a ring made from a unicorn's horn. A gift from Father."
A ring crafted from the exceedingly rare mythical beast's horn.
Just like in the famous legends, the horn glowed in the hand of the pure, proving her innocence.
This should settle it.
She'd deliberately pinned the sensational charge of attempted rape on the butler for exactly this scenario.
People would focus more on whether it was truly just an attempt than on whether the butler was guilty. That minimized the risk of her frame job being exposed.
But she couldn't let rumors spread that she'd actually been assaulted, so the unicorn horn ring from the baron proved her purity.
A social climber eliminated without a hitch.
"I hope everyone enjoys the banquet."
With a faint smile, she finished greeting the guests and returned to her seat.
Even she had to admit it was a perfect plan... or so she'd thought at the time.
She didn't check the raid broadcast comments—ignored them after clearing the dungeon—until then.
"Why are my ears so itchy?"
Learning she'd certified her "virginity" in front of the whole nation would come later.
By killing the social climber posing as the butler, I'd successfully completed the first phase of my plan.
Losing one cultist wouldn't halt their ritual, but it would slow things down with one fewer participant.
And I had no intention of wasting that time.
"Daughter. Are you really okay with this?"
"I'm fine, Father."
"That's a relief, but your father can't help worrying..."
Howard Baron, my in-dungeon "father," had been ready to exterminate the butler's entire clan after hearing about last night. I'd talked him down.
The doting old man's firmly in my corner, so before showing off the glowing unicorn horn, he'd just sobbed uncontrollably.
"My dear girl, if anything happens, you must tell your father right away."
"I told you, I'm good."
Getting this treatment from a fake dad felt awkward, but it was necessary for clearing the dungeon, so whatever.
"More importantly, there's a birthday gift I want..."
"Ah, yes! You need something to lift your spirits. Name it—anything at all."
The baron beamed, boldly promising to grant any wish.
To cheer up his daughter, he'd probably splurge even more than usual.
"I want gold."
Sorry, but I'd exploit that goodwill. My request was a bit pricey.
"G-gold? How much?"
"A ton."
"Whoa, how much is all this worth?"
Two days after the villainous lady's birthday bash, my room brimmed with golden ingots.
Easily over a hundred by count.
"Roughly 5kg, I'd say."
"Don't say it like that—it sounds so little."
...Not exactly brimming, more like ostentatiously piled.
Fantasy gold bars are ridiculously tiny, so it wasn't as much as I'd imagined.
Makes sense—modern gold hits hundreds of millions per kg, so why would a fantasy world be different? The baron scraped together this much because he's nobility.
"Still, 5kg should do the trick."
"What do you plan to use all this gold for...?"
Even in this fantasy world, alchemy was a failed science.
Gold remained precious here too.
And I already knew exactly what to do with this precious hoard.
"Blow it up."
"Pardon?!"
Blow it sky-high.
"Mr. Kim Minho, could you step out for a moment?"
"Oh, Sion. You okay?"
"Don't worry about yesterday. It was nothing."
"Yeah, a civilian couldn't take down a hunter anyway."
Next stop after hauling my gold stash: the Dan-gun Guild's outpost.
He thought the butler was just a normie, not a cultist, so no suspicions. Straight to business.
Visited here in past loops too, but this time, a specific person to meet.
"Sion, it's not that we don't want to raid..."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just call Choi Seong-jin for me. Got something to say."
"Huh, what?"
"You guys handle the raid however. Just get Choi Seong-jin."
"...Hah. Fine."
Kim Minho looked flustered as he fetched the hunter I'd requested.
"Seong-jin, this lady wants you."
"Me?"
"Choi Seong-jin, Hunter. Mind a quick chat?"
C-rank hunter Choi Seong-jin.
Dan-gun Guild casualty from past loops, scroll-maker class holder.
"I hear you have the scroll creation skill. That right?"
"Uh... yes, that's correct."
"Came to ask a favor for the dungeon raid."
Scroll magic stored spells in objects for later activation.
Power matched regular spells, but the real perk was unleashing multiple pre-stored ones at once for massive burst damage.
And a little-known fact:
"Enchant this gold with explosion magic."
Scrolls weren't limited to paper.
"Pardon? This gold?"
"Yes. For the raid."
"Not impossible, but... is it necessary?"
Raid delayed, plenty of time—but was it worth it? He pushed back.
"Association request. Refusal comes with penalties..."
"I'll pick 'em up the day after tomorrow."
Of course, fabricate a reason and done.
One lowly employee speaking for the Association? Overreach? Sure, but...
Surprisingly, in this dungeon right now, I represented the Association. Hyeji sunbae was miles away.
Results matter. Payback later.
"Thanks for the help."
"Sure..."
Felt his glare burning my back, but ignored it.
Ultimately, saving lives.
Just wait now.
Prep done. Time would handle the rest.
Nap time?
Dan-gun Guild raid leader Kim Minho had a flawless plan.
Intel on extra dungeon rewards from a black market deal: sacrifice cultist souls to the goblin lord for special evolution, then feed it gold and kill for massive bonuses.
Industry rep in the toilet anyway—grab the loot, flee to Southeast Asia, live easy.
Genius, if he said so himself.
Then, on the final raid day, it all crumbled.
"Kr, kruweck..."
"There you go. Good eating."
Started fine.
Killed the two cultists mid-ritual, tossed their corpses into the magic circle as offerings.
One missing? Whatever, two was plenty.
But somehow, the Association's newbie office lady had beaten them to the goblin lair.
Long white hair, blue eyes, beauty eclipsing celebrities.
Mystery why she wasn't a hunter. She was feeding mystery gold to the goblin lord with a sly smile.
Kim Minho sensed something wrong.
"Sion, what the hell is—"
"Oh, you got here faster than I thought."
She dusted off her pants, stood casually, and approached.
Eyes on the gold-stuffed goblin lord, she pressed something switch-like with her black-gloved hand.
"Kruuaaak!!!"
BOOM!
The goblin lord's belly ballooned and burst in a fiery explosion.
"..."
"..."
"Should've come a bit sooner."
In the stunned silence, only her clear voice echoed through the cave.