Unmasking the Parasite
"A-Aaaaargh!"
Even though it was only his Contribution Points being drained.
Park Kangsu's body convulsed as if in agonizing pain.
Thud.
When I pulled the jar off him again, I finally understood why Park Kangsu had been in so much agony.
"Ugh..."
Clumps of hair had fallen out, and his skin was heavily wrinkled.
What appeared beneath the jar was not the dignified, middle-aged cult leader Park Kangsu.
"So this is what you did with the Contribution Points you stole from others."
It was a shriveled, bald old man.
"All that just to look younger?"
Even when he was young, he was still bald.
"Urgh...!"
Park Kangsu began to crawl across the floor as if trying to escape.
But his newly aged body refused to cooperate, and he collapsed after moving only a few inches.
Unbelievable.
To think a pathetic creature like this was playing god and shaking down people for their Contribution Points.
The crowd began to murmur.
The Gakseonghoe cultists, witnessing their leader's true form, were equally stunned.
"W-What is that?!"
"How... how is the Leader...!"
They couldn't hide their horror.
It was only natural. They had just witnessed the true face of the "Leader" they had worshiped so blindly.
"N-No...! It's not true...!"
Park Kangsu curled into a ball, screaming in a desperate attempt to hide his face from his followers.
"What do you mean, 'no'?"
I picked up the Contribution Point Absorption Jar once again.
At that, he shrieked. "G-Give it back!"
Park Kangsu lunged at me as if possessed by a demon.
"Those Contribution Points are mine!"
Crack!
I lightly kicked him away.
He flew through the air.
Crash!
"Agh!"
Park Kangsu slammed into a fragment of the Babel Tower, nose bleeding as he tumbled across the floor.
Crack... The impact caused cracks to spiderweb across the Babel Tower fragment.
Thud! It split clean in half and collapsed.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—the falling debris missed the collapsed Park Kangsu.
"Park Kangsu."
There was no longer any need to go easy on him.
What he wanted and what he had done had all been laid bare.
"If you want Contribution Points, earn them with your own two hands."
"Ugh..."
"You parasitic bastard."
Collecting Contribution Points was never for the sake of his followers. Not for a single second.
Awakenings, enhancements—they were nothing but sweet bait.
Of course, Park Kangsu's abilities themselves might have been real. Perhaps, if he had truly wanted to help others, things wouldn't have ended like this.
Screeech! The sound of multiple cars pulling up echoed from outside.
Good timing.
Bam! Agents burst through the doors.
"Hunter Bureau!"
"Everyone, please cooperate!"
Three hours. The Hunter Bureau had arrived exactly at the promised time.
"Hunter Lee!"
Kang Mina came running across the red carpet.
"Are you alright?!"
Of course I was fine. More than fine, I felt refreshed. Maybe it was because I had just extracted a parasite.
"You're right on time."
I offered Kang Mina a smirk.
"Yes, just as you requested. Three hours!"
Kang Mina held up three fingers.
"By the way, this time too..."
Kang Mina clicked her tongue as she surveyed the ruined surroundings.
"...You certainly resolved this with a bang."
"I just taught him a little lesson."
Elder abuse! Ah, no, elder respect!
"I see. But where is Leader Park Kangsu...?"
Kang Mina looked around.
"Right there."
I pointed at the collapsed bald old man.
"Huh? But Leader Park Kangsu is supposed to be in his fifties..."
"That was a lie."
"What?!"
"He was collecting Contribution Points from his followers and using them to keep himself young."
Kang Mina's face instantly twisted in disgust.
"So..."
"Yeah. He was just a parasite."
One that sucked Contribution Points instead of blood.
"I'm so glad we caught him," Kang Mina said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks to you, Hunter Lee, we were able to prevent a national disaster."
A national disaster, huh? How grand. I just came here to beat him up because I was pissed off.
"Haha..."
As I scratched the back of my head with an awkward laugh, she spoke up.
"Ah! You must be tired. We'll handle the rest, so please go home and rest!"
"Is that alright?"
"Of course! Our staff will drive you home."
Well, I was feeling a bit tired, so this worked out perfectly.
I slipped the Ring of Vampirism back onto my finger, which I had taken off before entering the Gakseonghoe main hall.
Why did I take it off? Because wearing it would trigger the set effect. No matter how angry I was, turning Park Kangsu into strawberry-flavored popcorn in front of all his followers would have been a bit too much.
"Thank you for your hard work, Hunter Lee."
"Ah, yes."
"I'll escort you this way."
Guided by the Bureau agent, I walked out of the Gakseonghoe main hall.
As I walked out, various gazes fell upon me.
Anxiety. Anger. Sorrow.
It was unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do for them. In the end, everyone had to take responsibility for their own choices.
"Do you not fear God?!" Park Kangsu screamed from behind.
"What god?"
Without even looking back, I casually flipped him off.
The next day. As promised, Kang Mina shared the details they had gathered about Park Kangsu.
"...So he really was just a con artist?"
"Yes, pretty much."
Park Kangsu's trait wasn't Guide. His real trait was Loan Shark.
Thanks to his trait, he started with a large amount of Contribution Points as "capital." The "loans" he provided using those initial points were disguised as "Awakening" and "Enhancement."
By lending and reclaiming Contribution Points in this manner, Park Kangsu accumulated enough points to purchase a trait-exclusive item: the Contribution Point Absorption Jar. He then used it to lure in even more followers.
The followers who had awakened and enhanced their abilities through Park Kangsu's "loans" lost everything when Park Kangsu lost all his Contribution Points and went "bankrupt." Their awakenings and enhancements were completely nullified, leaving them with nothing but lost Contribution Points.
In the first place, if they had prepared for awakening properly through the Bureau, they would never have fallen for such a scam. They had tried to get a free ride in life, only to pay a heavy price.
"But what was he planning to do with all those Contribution Points anyway?"
Surely he hadn't done all this just to keep his body young.
"He claims that the 'God of the Babel Tower' ordered him to do it..."
"...'God'?"
"Yes. But we can't verify if a real 'God of the Babel Tower' actually exists, or if he's just lost his mind."
"Why is that?"
"The moment we asked him about the 'God of the Babel Tower,' he fell into a state of permanent insanity."
"What about healing?"
"Several healers, even Hunter Park Geumja, went to see him, but..."
So it was impossible. What on earth was this 'God of the Babel Tower'?
"Anyway, about the Contribution Point Absorption Jar we confiscated..."
"Yes."
"I know you said you weren't interested, Hunter Lee..."
"I did."
"But internally, we've concluded that it should be handed over to you..."
"Pardon?"
Hmm... Is it really okay for me to take that? It feels a bit uncomfortable.
"Shouldn't it be returned to the followers instead?"
"There are absolutely no records of who contributed what, so even if we wanted to return it, we couldn't. Plus, people would definitely try to abuse the system."
That was a fair point.
"So, we would really appreciate it if you could accept it..."
"..."
I fell into thought.
Contribution Points. They were always useful. There was no real reason to refuse a free offer.
"Then I'll take half."
"Only half?"
"Yes. Use the other half to support rookies at the Bureau... or something like that."
"Are you sure that's alright?"
"Yeah."
I had entered the tutorial empty-handed, but if they could provide even a basic weapon to aspiring hunters before sending them in, their survival rate would undoubtedly increase.
Until now, South Korea's pool of Contribution Points hadn't been very abundant. Just maintaining the barriers to prevent Demonic Outbreaks was stretching their budget to the limit. They simply didn't have the spare points to buy weapons for rookies.
If they handed out weapons and the rookies failed to return, it would be a massive loss. They couldn't afford to take that risk.
Perhaps that was why a swindler like Park Kangsu was able to run rampant. If they could set up some safeguards now, a similar tragedy wouldn't happen again.
"Thank you, Hunter Lee! We will transfer the Contribution Points to you immediately!"
"Got it. Keep up the good work."
In any case, I had somehow ended up with a million Contribution Points.
I decided to take my time figuring out how to spend them.
"Hey, Imir."
I called out to Imir, who was washing the dishes.
"Yes, Master!"
Imir rushed over, still wearing rubber gloves.
"Get ready."
"Pardon?"
"We're entering the tower. Get ready."
"B-But you just went yesterday. Are you going again?"
"I barely did anything yesterday."
"You wiped out an entire race of monsters..."
"No, that was over too quickly, so it doesn't count."
"..."
"What's with that face?"
"H-Huh?"
"Got a problem?"
"N-No, absolutely not! Absolutely not!"
"Then finish the dishes quickly and get over here."
"U-Understood!"
"I'll give you two minutes."
"...What?!"
"You said it yourself before. That five minutes was too long."
"Y-Yes, that's right! Five minutes is far too long!"
"Right?"
"How could a slave dare to make their master wait!"
"Glad you know your place."
"I will prepare immediately!"
Imir dashed back to the kitchen at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Ah, this was the life. Since Sangjin was busy handling my personal affairs, these chores naturally fell to this useless demon bastard.
"Three."
Pant, pant!
"Two."
Pant! Wheeze!
"One."
"I am ready!"
Imir stood at attention before me.
I tapped the Void Stone.
"Yes!"
With a wave of cool frost, Imir vanished into the Void Stone.
Hmm. Let's take it easy today. Maybe I'll finally clear the 50th floor, which I've been putting off.
Against the backdrop of the grim news report,
Slicing, slicing, slicing... The sound of a steak being cut.
Clink. The sound of a glass being picked up.
Pour... The sound of wine being poured.
Gulp. The sound of swallowing echoed through the room.
"...Lucien, are you listening?"
Unable to watch the man eat so leisurely any longer, another man finally stood up and pressed him.
"Of course I am listening."
The man enjoying his meal so calmly was Lucien Moreau, a French hunter.
"At this rate, all of France might fall to a Demonic Outbreak. You need to clear the tower and secure Contribution Points immediately..."
Lucien cut him off.
"You do know what my ability is, right?"
"..."
The man couldn't answer.
"Hehehe, to think you'd come begging for my help now..."
"..."
"You must be truly desperate."
The man clenched his fists tightly. However, he couldn't think of a single word to refute him. Because what Lucien said was the truth.
"Well, I don't mind."
"...Really?"
"However, if you want me to unleash one hundred percent of my ability..."
"..."
"...you will have to bring me a worthy prey."
Slicing, slicing, slicing... The sound of cutting meat was the only thing that filled the dark, quiet room.
"...Don't worry, you will definitely like this one."
"You seem quite confident."
"He is a hunter who has already achieved major clears."
"Oh, is it that Japanese samurai?"
"No."
Taking a brief breath, the man slowly continued.
"Your next prey is..."
"..."
"...the South Korean hunter, Lee Taepyeong."