The Debt Collector

Setting aside the minor problem of not knowing how to get back, I grunted as I collected Hwa-ryeong’s corpse.

“...Done.”

I pulled the copper tree that had sprouted from Hwa-ryeong’s body free and stuffed the corpse into the body bag. I’d done this so often that the whole process took almost no time at all. The bags helpers carried always had a body bag inside, after all.

“Now I just need to get to the Hunter Guild…”

I had to return to the Hunter Guild, but I had no idea how to navigate out of this fog-choked street without getting lost. The vehicle that had brought us here obviously wasn’t coming back. They were perfectly happy to leave us here to die.

“I screwed up. Damn it.”

Too fixated on the game guide, I had completely neglected proper request preparation. I should have treated this like entering a gate and planned for the return trip from the start. If this were still a game, I could have used fast travel to return to Central Street. But this wasn’t a game. It was reality. I had to walk back on my own two feet.

I could never make a mistake like this again. Once more, the truth sank deep into my bones: in this city called Shion, half-assed power meant certain death.

“The necromancers… left nothing useful. Tsk.”

I searched the villa one more time on the off chance they had left a map, but found nothing. There were traces that something had been there, but everything had rotted away along with the necromancers’ decaying corpses.

To break out of this situation, searching the Community seemed to be my only option, but there was a problem. After reaching 2-Star, my daily search limit had increased to five uses. I had already burned through all of them. Relying solely on future sight was risky; there was no telling when a genuinely useful post would appear.

At first glance, the situation looked hopeless.

But it wasn’t. Not entirely.

Why? Because right in front of me lay a mountain of transparent mental stones—stones of the exact color that could strengthen my ability. Every time my power had grown before, the number of daily searches had increased. If I raised my ability again now, the search count should rise with it.

“All right, then…”

There were enough stones to completely fill my bag. They weren’t particularly large—the biggest was only about the size of a ping-pong ball—but the sheer quantity was staggering.

I switched to Hand Mode to raise the purity as much as possible while absorbing the stones. Back when I first started, a single stone was enough to make me grow. Now it took five infusions before anything happened. Maybe the requirement had increased after I reached 2-Star? Either way, the message appeared only after I had used up nearly half the stones filling my bag.

Just as I expected. I clenched my fist in satisfaction, then noticed an extra line I hadn’t seen before.

“...Huh?”

Download function?

What was this? According to the description, it sounded like I could download photos or videos posted on the boards. Before testing it, I hurriedly ran a search.

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Surely someone had uploaded a map of Mist Street. With that hope, I entered the query. Three results appeared.

It looked like there weren’t many posts on the board, but at least one seemed useful.

“Found it.”

Perfect. It was a map of Mist Street, and the villa’s location was even marked on it. With this, getting back to Central Street safely would be easy.

“Hm?”

As I nodded in satisfaction, I touched the map image with my finger. A pop-up appeared.

This was the new ability I had just obtained. Could I only download once per day? What exactly was this function?

“Should I try downloading it once?”

Maybe it would let me keep viewing the image even after closing the post? With that vague thought, I proceeded with the download. But the result was nothing like what I had imagined.

“...What?!”

The instant the download finished, a crystal-clear map of Mist Street etched itself into my mind. Just as someone who had lived on a street for years could find their house with their eyes closed, I now felt I could walk every path in Mist Street blindfolded.

But that wasn’t all. Every detail written on the map flooded into my head—where enemies would appear, what rewards waited, everything.

So this was what “download” meant? It transferred the Community’s information directly into my body?

“...This is incredible.”

Quite literally, every piece of information about an entire street had been uploaded into my brain. The ways I could use this were limitless. In simple terms, it meant I was now the only person who could never get lost in Mist Street.

Satisfied with my new ability, I was carefully reviewing the fresh knowledge when—

“...Ugh.”

A suffocating wave of terror suddenly crashed over me. Why?

After examining the map data for a moment, I realized the source of that fear.

Something lurking beyond the fog. A colossal entity that was constantly generating this mist in order to swallow the city of Shion whole. A monster nearly the size of an entire city. Shion’s disaster.

“This… is a 5-Star fusion anomaly?”

I finally understood why Estelle was so desperately searching for other 5-Star hunters. This wasn’t a monster an individual could stop. It was a monster that required an entire city working together to defeat.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

I took deep breaths, forcing down the terror that threatened to choke me. It was still okay. The monster was still hiding inside the fog, biding its time. It would need more time before it could act in earnest.

So I was still safe. For now.

“...Time to go back. Quickly.”

Now that I knew what lurked in the mist, I had no desire to stay here any longer. Carrying the body bag containing Hwa-ryeong’s corpse, I ran through the fog. Nothing hindered my path. I could instinctively sense where the fusion anomalies were, allowing me to avoid danger.

“I made it.”

I finally emerged from Mist Street on foot and returned to Central Street. As I let out a sigh of relief, the hunters at the checkpoint widened their eyes and stared at me. They seemed shocked that I had walked out of Mist Street without a vehicle. But once they noticed the body bag I was carrying, they silently opened the way without a word.

“Hang in there, kid.”

“Thank you.”

I gave a polite bow at the words of encouragement and ran toward the Hunter Guild. The moment I stepped inside, the receptionist immediately guided me to the revival room.

“This, this, and this. Please fill out the paperwork. The corpse is in pretty bad shape, so revival probably won’t be possible until tomorrow.”

“Understood. The revival fee…”

“It gets collected from the revived person. Will you pay it instead?”

“Yeah. I’ll cover it.”

Since I had received fifty million won in help, paying ten million back was only right. That was just basic decency. After leaving Hwa-ryeong at the revival room, I immediately headed for the alley where I had met the information broker earlier. I needed to collect my request fee, after all.

When I arrived, the broker was still there, waiting for me instead of running away.

“Hey, old man. I completed the request, so hand over the money.”

“...You actually came back. What a bold kid.”

“I even figured out what was causing the noise in the villa, so the reward should be 100 million won as promised, right?”

I didn’t feel the need to speak politely, so I demanded the money confidently in casual speech. The broker let out a chuckle.

“Heh heh heh heh.”

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking you were even more clueless than I thought, demanding money on top of everything.”

“The clueless one is you, pulling weird pranks with people’s lives.”

“Sorry, but where’s your proof that you actually completed the mission?”

The broker’s face screamed that he had zero intention of paying. Without a word, I showed him the photos I had taken inside the villa.

“Photos of the villa interior. You know what I’m getting at, right?”

“Hah. So you’re suggesting we settle at 100 million before you report this?”

“Something like that. So, what’s it going to be?”

“Unfortunately, business has been bad lately. Fine. If you want the reward that badly…”

Snickering, the broker handed me a contract.

“Take this to the Styx Credit Vault and you’ll be able to withdraw as much money as you want.”

“Aha. So the backer was Styx? Well, that was the only real option.”

“Getting cocky just because you killed a few small fries. Tsk.”

It was only natural that Styx Guild came to mind first when thinking about necromancers. When I didn’t back down even after he revealed his connection to Styx, the broker let out a deep sigh. Then he spoke.

“If you can’t understand with words, there’s no helping it. Spend a few days as a puppet and you’ll understand how you should live, whether you want to or not.”

Necromancers appeared from the alley as if they had been waiting. Four in total. Even at a glance, their equipment looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠far more powerful than the ones I had encountered at the villa.

The auto-combat system delivered bad news as well. But I hadn’t come to see the broker without a plan.

“Activate.”

“Ugh?! Hate—”

With a short mutter, the necromancers realized something was wrong and tried to cast their spells immediately. But it was already far too late.

Copper trees burst from the necromancers’ chests. The broker suffered the same fate. In the middle of the chaos, the only one left standing was me. This Copper Apple thing worked pretty well.

Whistling, I moved to loot the fallen necromancers’ corpses, but their bodies rotted and vanished in an instant. Tsk. I had wanted to take their gear as compensation instead.

“Hmm…”

My eyes fell on the request form the broker had mockingly handed me. Should I keep it for now? It was rightfully mine, after all. I might find a use for it later. I picked up the form and stuffed it into my bag.

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“...I came to help, but it looks like you don’t need it.”

A slightly irritated voice reached my ears. I whipped my head around. There stood a familiar face—Elsie.

“Elsie?”

“You actually made it back alive after taking a trap request.”

“If you know it’s a trap, then it stops being one.”

“Ha. Anyone would think you’ve been in this city for years.”

I tried to act cool, but Elsie still seemed to dislike me, responding with a sharp tone. I cautiously asked her a question.

“Did Estelle send you?”

“You think I came because I wanted to help you? That’s disgusting. Gives me the creeps.”

Seeing her genuinely repulsed, a harsh reply slipped out of me.

“Then don’t come if you hate it so much.”

At my retort, Elsie’s eyes narrowed.

“If someone as pathetic as you keeps dying on your own, it becomes a hassle for Lady Estelle. That’s the only reason I’m here, got it? Don’t flatter yourself.”

Clearly worked up, Elsie clicked her tongue and glared at me.

“Seriously. I don’t understand what Lady Estelle sees in a 1-Star hunter like—”

Unable to take her constant jabs anymore, I started a childish argument.

“Estelle herself said I have the potential of a 5-Star, you know?”

“You’re still 1-Star right now.”

“Not anymore. I’m 2-Star. I just broke through earlier.”

“Wow. You’re 2-Star now? I’m so jealous.”

“.....”

She was being petty, using ranks against me. I wanted to argue back, but anything I said about ranks would just let her look down on me. Having no energy left to bicker, I finally raised the white flag and muttered with a sigh.

“Yeah, yeah. Must be nice being 5-Star.”

At that moment, Elsie’s expression froze. It was the face of someone whose most painful spot had been stabbed—shock and rage mixed together.

“...What?”

Her voice dropped to a dangerously low tone.

“Are you… mocking me right now?”

“Huh? Mocking you? How?”

Mocking her? I had meant it sincerely. What was wrong with telling a 5-Star that it must be nice to be 5-Star?

“...Never mind. Forget it.”

Realizing I hadn’t meant anything by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it, Elsie’s voice returned to normal. An awkward silence fell. After clearing her throat, she quickly tried to leave.

“Anyway, stop doing such reckless things. Don’t make Lady Estelle’s kindness meaningless.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I was about to wrap up the conversation and send her on her way when thick fog suddenly rolled in. Feeling the mist wrap around my ankles, I looked at Elsie in confusion. But her expression had already turned deadly serious as she stared into the depths of the fog.

“...Debt Collector.”

The moment Elsie muttered that name while gazing into the mist—

Step. Step.

With ominous footsteps, a man emerged from the fog. A lifeless man with a thuggish face, dragging a long golf club along the ground. He rested his chin on the club’s grip and muttered in annoyance.

“Figures. The reaper was watching over you. Well, whatever.”

Then he swung the golf club at me with terrifying speed.