Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Fox Hunt
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"Ugh, how much did I burn because of these bastards!"
A whopping 250,000 purple coins!
Before regression, as Abyss exploration progressed further and coins from green upward appeared beyond purple, navy, and blue, their value had dropped significantly. But at this point, where even blue coins were extremely rare, purple coins were a common currency with each one worth about 1,000 won—a precious resource.
The resources I'd used to overwhelm those guys just now amounted to 250 million won in cash terms.
Thinking about it that way made my irritation surge, and my hand grew rougher as I shook awake that punk Kang San.
Slap! Slap! Slap!
"Wake up, you bastard! You think you can just eat my money and sleep peacefully?!"
After about five slaps?
By the time his lip split and his cheek swelled, the guy shot up from his seat with a scream.
"Aaaagh! Wh-what? A dream? Then why does my cheek hurt so much?"
"A dream? Did getting beat mess up your head?"
"Eek!"
Watching Kang San recoil from me in terror, I flashed a sinister grin.
"Looks like you're alert now. So, we still have business left, right?"
"...What business?"
"Playing dumb, eh, Fox? About that guy."
Kang San's face stiffened for a moment. As if wondering how I knew, he racked his brain and recalled that he'd let slip seeing my status window.
'Damn! I only said that assuming he'd kill me!'
Who would've thought a level 0 hunter could beat five seasoned criminal hunters?
No matter how good his unique ability was, his stats would still be low and his experience shallow—I figured he'd win for sure.
With that much money on him, he had to be either a rookie from a major guild or some famous hunter's kid, so there was high risk. I'd checked that out beforehand.
More precisely, I assumed the safety-first Fox had investigated everything and would tell me, so that slip-up happened.
"Th-that! Truth is, we're basically just mercenaries. The Fox commissioned us for 1 billion to get your card and kill you!"
I knew that already. The Black Market outskirts were also called the Mercenary City.
A place frequented by mercenaries who hid their identities and took any job for cash.
A kind of manpower market created with permission from the Black Market's owner, an S-rank hunter, by the A-rank Mercenary King.
That was exactly why I'd planned to head to the outskirts. To safely and quietly transport my sister to Seoul away from the loan sharks and the boss's clutches.
'I was gonna use a reliable outfit I'd heard about before regression.'
Mercenaries got exiled from the underworld even there if they committed crimes on the job, so trust was a given. And since they were skilled, I was willing to pay top dollar.
"But then something more urgent came up."
I looked down at Kang San, who stared at me with eyes full of fear, flashing a sinister smile before raising my fist.
"So, you'll cooperate, right?"
I shot him a wicked laugh.
Ding-a-ling!
"Thank you."
"Have a great shopping experience. This was Consultant Fox."
As soon as the customer left, Fox hurriedly checked the burner phone in his pocket.
-Mission complete.
-Photo
-Card left at the promised spot. Please deposit the fee.
Kuh! Kuhahaha!
Fox stifled a bursting laugh upon seeing the photo of the bloodied corpse and stood from his seat.
"Guess that's it for today?"
It was 1 p.m., lunchtime. Far too early to clock out, but he planned to take the afternoon off today.
Known as Ace, his reputation was solid, and the sudden half-day request sailed through without issue.
"Take care!"
Fox waved brightly to his colleagues and stepped out of Black Money.
"Puhahaha! This is awesome! Too awesome!"
40 billion! No, since he'd prepaid 10 billion as the fee, it was 30 billion.
That was plenty. Enough to crash in hotels, devour pricey steaks daily, and live it up for a full year.
"Hotel suite tonight."
With the half-day off, he'd leave this Black Market, breathe the outside world's air!
Swallowing his swelling dreams and bursting excitement, Fox quickened his steps.
How far had he gone?
Arriving at the promised spot—a remote wasteland devoid of people—Fox cleared his throat, scanned around,
And...
"Yes!!!"
He flung open what looked like a trash bin and lifted the black object inside.
"Fuck! 30 billion! I'm set!!!"
Excitedly shining the card in the bright light, one alphabet appeared in Fox's eyes.
D.
"...Huh?"
Fox's mind blanked for a moment. He rubbed his eyes, checked the card again, and his mouth gaped open.
Why? Why was it a dull D instead of the gleaming red A?
The mystery resolved quickly.
Step. Step. Step.
Steady, crisp, chilling footsteps pierced his ears. Familiar. But one that absolutely shouldn't echo here. The moment Fox whipped around in panic,
"Mm..."
A low sigh escaped. Fox froze solid.
"H-headquarters chief? How are you here?"
The man in a black suit and white mask—the headquarters chief—simply stared impassively at Fox.
Like a child home from mischief, facing the silent prelude to parental scolding, the chief just gazed, as if saying, explain yourself.
"Th-this! It's all a misunderstanding! Chief!"
Fox desperately tossed the card aside and shouted. But the lame excuse in such a caught-red-handed moment only dug a deeper hole.
"What misunderstanding?"
"W-well. You see."
"Sigh... Because of this worthless punk, I'm in for a beating from the boss. I knew you were pulling pranks bit by bit, but you finally crossed the line. Stupid bastard."
As the chief spoke and withdrew his hand from his pocket, Fox's face grew frantic.
"I'll explain everything! I'm Black Money consultant Ace, right? Trust my abilities just one more—!"
Krunch!
Fox could never finish that sentence.
A small mana orb from the chief's hand exploded his head.
Blood sprayed everywhere, creating a gruesome sight, but the chief remained impeccably clean as he turned away.
"I deeply apologize. We acknowledge this as our company's fault. Sir."
He bowed his head to Shin Juha, who had quietly watched it all from behind.
'Whoa! Brutal.'
I shuddered watching Fox's head burst from a single strike.
How strong do you have to be to do that so casually?
'Is that mana?'
To graduate from F rank, you need the four basic stats: strength, agility, stamina, endurance.
To graduate from E rank, the three advanced ones: , [Internal Energy], <ether>.
In other words, D-rank hunters are defined by having at least one of those three.
For example, having F- stats doesn't necessarily make you F- rank.
Even Kang San, an [F+] hunter, admitted under torture that his highest was [Strength [Common] F (41/99)]—no F+ stats.
Even those sky-high S-rank hunters didn't actually achieve S-rank stats. Nor A-ranks A-rank stats.
The world's highest stat rank was still [A-] anyway, so by that logic, there'd be no [A-] or higher hunters globally.
Of course, this was just humans' arbitrary classification. Later, as Abyss exploration advanced and connected to alien dimensions for the first time, a upheaval fixed all hunter ranks to system-assigned grades.
'That guy's mana stat is at least C-rank.'
So, at minimum an [A]-rank hunter.
Stats get harder to raise with each rank, devouring more points.
And that power level is mythic?
'Without the Golden Treasury, it'd be grim.'
Right now, as [F-], it's 1 point per spare point, but even hitting [F] rank doubles the cost per stat up.
As I pondered strength, the white-masked chief approached and bowed crisply.
"My apologies. We accept this as our company's error."
"I see."
"Yes. That Fox employee—I personally scouted him—so the blame is largely mine."
I waved him off.
"No need to go that far!"
It felt burdensome. I'd only come to him to eliminate the Fox risk factor.
"No. Since it's our fault, we'll compensate. Do you have a moment?"
Checking my watch at the chief's words, my face hardened.
Over five hours had passed. Lingering longer risked trouble.
"Sorry. I'm short on time. Got something urgent."
The chief brightened slightly.
"Whatever it is, I'll help. What do you need?"
I hesitated long, then explained part of my situation decisively.
"Then trust me over mercenaries. We can handle your sister's transport and provide a Seoul residence immediately. In the meantime, could you spare some time?"
"Sure... if you're helping."
"Thank you. Oh! No safety worries. Our boss despises evidence-erasing murders—we don't do that."
"Ah... okay."
Stunned by the unexpected dangerous truth, I nodded. The chief hurriedly escorted me back to Black Money, assigned a VIP room, told me to wait, and left.
"Nice."
I surveyed the luxurious—if not flashy—VIP room, awaiting the chief's return. Soon, the door opened.
"Oh! All set?"
I jumped up eagerly, but instead of the suited masked chief, a candy-sucking girl entered.
Carve beauty and cuteness into sculpture, and you'd get this girl—stunningly pretty.
Gulp!
I froze on the spot, silent.
'How's she here?'
Outwardly, I looked older—and I was—but I couldn't treat her casually.
She was Seo Ye-rin (Word Spirit Sorceress), the S-rank hunter who'd whimsically built the Black Market underworld in her territory and chaired the massive Black Money corporation.
Awakened at just 10, her talent mocked the heavens, making her the youngest S-rank—a monster among monsters.
Was the reward for surviving Misfortune a meeting with an S-rank hunter?
'Not exactly welcome.'
Just her entry shifted the VIP room's air.
"You?"
"...Yes?"
"Fox. Death. You?"
"Ah... yes."
Pop!
Seo Ye-rin pulled the candy from her mouth, tilted her head, eyes gleaming.
Like a sage probing all truths, a mystical aura gathered in her gaze.
Unlike when Fox observed me, normal messages appeared with a crackle!—sparks flying from Seo Ye-rin's eyes.
"Ow!"
Oh no, that backfired completely.
Bluntly using observation on someone was a huge rudeness, but against an S-rank who could kill me with a finger—or a breath—it flipped the script.
"Are you okay?!"
I shouted in alarm, but her blinked-open eyes held no anger.
Instead...
"You. Interesting?"
Her eyes brimmed with boundless curiosity toward me.