Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Negotiation (4)
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I quietly gazed at Jeon Il-seop when he said it was a story that would appeal to me as well.
From experience, guys like him always had some ulterior motive, but I was still curious about what he had to say, so I nodded.
"Join the Hero Association. If you do just that, I'll help you in secret."
"So the Hero Association accepts criminals like me?"
"Normally, that's impossible. But your power is far from ordinary, so we can't just exclude you."
It was a way of saying they couldn't handle me by force, so they'd pull me to their side instead.
It was a reasonably logical decision, but I had no intention of joining the Hero Association and working like a dog.
"Secret help like that isn't nearly enough."
"Then what do you want? Skill Stones and Artifacts, I presume?"
"Not a bad start."
I nodded and laid out my conditions.
"On the premise that you don't interfere with me, pay me an appropriate price, and I'll cooperate."
"So if we leave you alone without interfering, you won't cause any more trouble?"
"If you want, I'll stay put right here nice and quiet."
I could say that because I had the Absolute Clone.
If things went south, I could just make another body to rampage while staying obedient here as requested.
"You're more reasonable than I thought. Alright, what Skill Stones and Artifacts do you want?"
"Rare and special ones."
"That's tricky. In any case, I need to show the others that I can control you."
Jeon Il-seop grumbled about my conditions being difficult as he finally got to the main point.
"Not control, exactly. At minimum, I need to show them you're cooperative."
"And?"
"Clear an S-Rank Gate for us."
"An S-Rank Gate?"
I glanced at Lee Seojun at the mention of an S-Rank Gate.
Lee Seojun wore a pensive expression, deep in thought alone, before finally speaking.
—It seems like a trap. The Jeon Il-seop I know despises villains. He's probably plotting to kill you deep down.
If Lee Seojun was right, everything about this proposal was suspicious from the start.
"We can't offer any support on our end, though. You'll have to clear the S-Rank Gate alone."
—Clearing an S-Rank Gate normally requires massive funding. Think at least 10 billion won, minimum.
Why would it cost that much?
I made a mental note to ask later and continued talking with Jeon Il-seop for now.
"An S-Rank Gate... That's not out of the question."
"Perfect. So your conditions are Skill Stones and Artifacts, then?"
"If it's just Skill Stones, three at Level 10. If Artifacts, then five items worth at least 10 billion each."
"...We don't have Level 10 Skill Stones, so it'll have to be Artifacts."
In truth, Artifacts were easier to procure than Skill Stones.
Even mediocre ones could fetch over 10 billion on the market.
'In other words, it's not objective.'
A Level 10 Skill Stone, on the other hand, was clear-cut.
Jeon Il-seop knew that, which was why he chose Artifacts.
"Or seven at Level 9."
"I'll go with Artifacts, just as you said—ones worth over 10 billion."
Figures it wouldn't fly.
'Doesn't matter anyway.'
If this was a trap, I could squeeze even more out of them.
With that in mind, I nodded to Jeon Il-seop, who was insisting on Artifacts, and asked about the timeline.
"When do I get the Artifacts?"
"After you clear the S-Rank? Doesn't that work?"
"No way. This is payment to get me to move, so upfront only."
Jeon Il-seop let out a sigh, his face complicated in various ways, before finally replying.
"I'll hand over the Artifacts in two days. You clear the S-Rank Gate two days from now."
"I'll judge after seeing them."
"You have an appraisal skill too?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
He nodded in understanding when I confirmed I had an appraisal skill.
"I wasn't planning to cheat anyway... but I'll have to be more careful selecting them."
"I'm looking forward to seeing just how careful."
And with that, the discussion was over.
Jeon Il-seop turned and left with his two attendants, as if he had nothing more to say.
—Mr. Lee Seongmin, it's probably a trap. You sure about this?
"No reason not to be."
It was just a clone anyway.
Even if something went wrong and it died, it wouldn't be a big deal.
"Besides, if they dig a trap, I can gouge even more out of them."
—...The Hero Association has my pity.
"More importantly, what kind of trap do you think they'll set?"
—Who knows? Maybe stab you in the back while you're fighting the S-Rank Gate boss.
"If that's all it is, I'll be disappointed."
Saying that, I asked next how the Hero Association had found me.
"And how did the Hero Association track me down?"
I'd used spatial transfer in an uninhabited area at the time.
No one should've seen me come to this mountain, but they'd found me faster than expected.
—Probably a hero in the Association with the Innate Ability [Animal Domination]. They likely sent out birds to scout everywhere.
"There really are all kinds of Innate Abilities out there."
With that, I decided to wait quietly for the next two days.
Of course, "wait" was just talk—I actually spent the time diligently raising my Absolute Clone's proficiency.
"Oh. Time to send you back to the Hero Officer Academy."
"Spirit contracts are super easy."
It was a bit before lunchtime.
Joo Ha-yeon and I had finished sparring and gathered in a secluded clearing.
"Once you summon a spirit, just convey your desire to bond with it. The spirit will respond by forming the contract."
"..."
But after hearing her explanation, I looked puzzled and asked one thing.
"How exactly do you convey that desire?"
"I did it through song."
Come to think of it, she'd said she infused emotions into her songs to communicate intent.
Having heard her sing and felt the emotion in it, I nodded, roughly getting it.
"But you can talk to spirits, Mr. Lee Seongmin. So just ask them to contract with you."
Unlike her, I could converse with spirits directly, so words would suffice, she explained.
"You know this already, but that's an absolutely huge advantage for a spirit mage. Other spirit mages would kill to steal that ability."
I stared at Joo Ha-yeon, who was using some pretty extreme phrasing.
She was a spirit mage too—did she want to kill me and take my ability?
"That's how insanely jealous they'd be."
Joo Ha-yeon grinned broadly at my gaze and then got serious, explaining how to contract a spirit.
"First, I'll overlap my mana with yours to summon one. It'll think you summoned it."
"Is that possible?"
"Yep. There's a minor issue, but since you can talk to spirits, I figure you'll sort it out quick."
The "minor issue" she mentioned was probably starting with rock-bottom spirit affinity.
'She thinks I can fix that with talk?'
Worst case, I just wouldn't summon it.
Or find another way to handle spirits.
"Let's start."
With that, Joo Ha-yeon came up behind me and hugged me tightly, pressing close.
I stayed still, and she began singing while holding me from behind.
'Feels kinda mystical.'
I could feel mana emanating from her body, flowing through mine.
At the same time, tiny lights appeared before my eyes, soon taking form.
'Spirits.'
Finger-sized little spirits popped up one by one, inspecting me curiously.
From their reactions, they couldn't see Joo Ha-yeon singing and hugging me from behind.
—Mr. Lee Seongmin. Contract now.
Following Lee Seojun's advice to contract at this moment, I looked over the spirits.
They each had different shapes, so I wanted to pick one that appealed to me.
'Hm?'
Then I spotted a female spirit with short hair and a prickly vibe.
Way better than bird, mole, or larva types, I thought, and addressed her immediately.
"You. Want to contract with me?"
[Huh?]
She looked startled at my words.
[What? How can you talk?!]
"That's not the point. You want to contract with someone you can communicate with, right?"
[True. Everyone else is so frustrating.]
"So contract with me."
The spirit nodded right away, solely because we could talk.
[Yeah. Contract.]
With that, I felt a thread-like connection form between me and the spirit.
Assuming that was the contract, the spirit I'd just bonded with suddenly yelled in shock.
[Wait? Wait?! What are you?!]
"What?"
[I can't sense your energy!]
"Can't sense my energy?"
I asked Lee Seojun and Joo Ha-yeon.
"The spirit says she can't sense my energy."
"Your energy?"
Joo Ha-yeon sounded baffled, but Lee Seojun was different.
—It means you have no spirit affinity. Affinity lets spirits use their full power and reduces mana cost.
"What happens without it?"
—Efficiency would be abysmal. One attack would drain a huge chunk of mana, and the power would suck.
Meanwhile, regardless of Lee Seojun's explanation, my contracted spirit was freaking out.
[Fraud! There's tons of energy right now!]
She'd apparently mistaken Joo Ha-yeon's affinity for mine.
And as my spirit shouted, the others sensed something off and fled in a flash.
'So I need affinity, huh.'
I thought for a moment and said to the spirit,
"Just need energy, right?"
[You don't have any! How do you make energy out of nothing? This is fraud! I'm telling the whole spirit realm!]
Dialogue clearly wasn't solving this right away.
So after a brief think, I decided to invoke the system from the online game I'd played for 12 years.
'Job Change. Spiritist.'
In that instant...
[......]
The chattering spirit fell silent.