The Debt Collector

I barely managed to dodge the Debt Collector's golf club as the auto-combat system seized control of my body.

The club, aimed squarely at my head, smashed into the ground instead.

I'd made the right call activating auto-combat the moment I heard the title Debt Collector. Without it, I wouldn't have reacted to that last strike. My skull would have been split clean in two.

"Yeah. That's the least you can do if you don't want our kids to feel embarrassed."

"Get back!"

While the Debt Collector muttered to himself, a wall of mist erupted from the ground, cutting him off from me. It was Elly's mist.

Having separated us, Elly bit her lip hard and shouted at me.

"Run. You'll only get in the way if you stay here. If you can just make it to the main road, that bastard won't be able to follow you."

She was right. There was no reason to fight the Debt Collector here.

I reached the same conclusion and tried to flee, but—

"Ugh?!"

A cage of bars like prison bars descended from the sky, blocking the alley.

There was no escape upward either. When I looked up, all I saw were eerie, glowing flames drifting overhead—the very things that had trapped us here.

At the same time, the Debt Collector strolled out of Elly's mist with a leisurely gait.

"O' Wisp. Well done. Keep them pinned like that."

"...You're always dragging around such annoying things."

"Everyone runs the moment they see my face. I need at least one friend like this, you know."

At the Debt Collector's mocking tone, Elly glared at him and shot back.

"Are you really planning to make the Special Task Force your enemy? What about Styx?"

"First, I'm not affiliated with Styx. Second, haven't we been fighting Styx for a while now? You kill each other on sight. Third, you're not a reaper, are you?"

"Oh? Then don't regret this."

With those words, mist surged from every direction and swallowed the Debt Collector.

The surrounding buildings touched by the mist crumbled into powder and scattered. The mist itself had become countless razor blades, grinding everything apart. An attack launched with no chant, no preparation whatsoever. It was a clear reminder of why Elly was part of the Special Task Force.

This should end it.

That's what I thought, but—

"True to your name, the Ash Witch."

"...A lich?"

"Correct. You're not the only one who can control mist. If anything, we're the originals."

The Debt Collector stepped out of the mist again with a wide grin. No—he was reshaping the mist surrounding him at will. The mist, now turned into sharp thorns, shot toward Elly, but right before touching her it reverted to harmless vapor.

Neither could harm the other with mist. And that gave the Debt Collector the advantage.

With a savage laugh, he charged at Elly, golf club raised. But Elly wasn't about to take it lying down. A sword of mist formed in her hand and clashed against the club.

The Debt Collector seemed to want to scatter her mist, but it didn't go as planned. After one heavy collision, he retreated.

It looked like he couldn't disrupt the mist Elly had refined. Realizing this, Elly reshaped her mist sword into a form I recognized all too well. The Debt Collector smirked at the new shape of her weapon.

"You think copying a reaper will let you win?"

"It's the best weapon for cutting down trash like you."

The two clashed again.

Elly had abandoned her initial tactic of attacking with the mist itself. Now she forged the mist into swords, spears, and other weapons, raining blows on the Debt Collector. The narrow alley was filled with her assault.

"Too slow! And too weak!"

The Debt Collector shattered the mist weapons one beat faster than they could strike. Their speeds looked similar, but Elly was at a disadvantage because she needed the extra step of shaping the mist into physical forms. On top of that, her Mental Image seemed far weaker than his. Close combat had never been her specialty anyway.

I wanted to jump in and help somehow, but the auto-combat system had kept me rooted in place this entire time. It had decided that my interference would only make things worse. The best thing I could do was watch from here.

As I stood there feeling utterly powerless, Elly and the lich began melting into the mist. They transformed their bodies into vapor and clashed in midair like formless ghosts, blades and golf club ringing against each other.

But just as the earlier exchange had hinted, a crack finally appeared in their battle.

"You're so damn slow!!!"

In a burst of acceleration, the Debt Collector completely evaded Elly's sword, closed the distance, and slammed his golf club into her side.

"Ugh…!"

Because they shared the same color of Mental Image, Elly's power couldn't defend against his attack. She was sent flying into the alley wall.

That was a fatal blow. Elly shouldn't have been able to stand again. Anyone could see that.

"H-huh? Why…"

Yet Elly staggered back to her feet. She looked like she couldn't believe her own body was still moving. This couldn't be explained by simple toughness. There wasn't a single wound on her.

It was as if she'd already been completely healed.

"Right? It's strange, isn't it? I definitely felt your ribs shatter, but you're fine. That wound should've killed you if I'd left it alone. I wonder who healed it?"

The Debt Collector approached Elly with a smug look. Without a word, she formed another mist sword.

But—

"Since I saved your life, it's only fair you pay the price."

"Ugh?!"

Gray chains suddenly shot from the Debt Collector's hand and wrapped around Elly's neck. She tried to sever the chain that now resembled a dog collar, but her attacks simply passed through it.

The Debt Collector clenched the chain hard. Purple energy flowed along it and into Elly's body.

"Ugh… energy drain…?"

Elly collapsed to the ground, breathing hard. The Debt Collector looked down at her with a sneer.

"How does it feel? Hard to even stand, right? A life debt isn't cheap. Health really is wealth."

But Elly ignored him. Still lying on the ground, she stared straight at me. Then the mist surged forward and shoved me away.

"Ugh?!"

The path that should have been blocked by O' Wisp's cage was now wide open. I looked up, sensing something, and saw a spear of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mist piercing the pale core of the will-o'-wisp. Had that been Elly's goal from the very beginning?

"...Run, you idiot!"

As if to confirm my suspicion, Elly squeezed out her last strength from the ground and shouted. My body, still under auto-combat, recognized the opening and dragged me out of the alley.

"Tsk. How annoying."

I heard the Debt Collector click his tongue, realizing he'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been outplayed, followed by the sound of his golf club swinging again.

"Since it's come to this, I might as well take your Mental Image too."

"Ugh…"

Was this really the right choice? She'd told me to run, so was running the correct move? Even as auto-combat moved my body, the question gnawed at me.

The system informed me that the odds had dropped even further. It was as if it were telling me this was the rational choice.

Yeah. Even I had to admit it was.

Running away once is fine, right? Elly herself had told me to run. It wasn't an unwinnable fight. Losing wouldn't mean losing everything—just some money. It was just another ordinary day in Shion that no one would notice.

So it was okay to run.

Was it really?

"......"

I already knew the answer to that question. Was no one really watching this fight? The answer was no.

Someone would be watching. The users ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Last Shion would see my story. After all, when an unpopular male character gets implemented into the game, wouldn't they look for any excuse to complain? They'd scrutinize every scene involving me, hunting for things to criticize.

Therefore, I couldn't run. It would look pathetic. If I ran now, the users would hate me even more.

So—

"...Auto-combat, disengage."

I spun around and sprinted back into the alley I'd just escaped.

The system kept flashing the win rate as if trying to stop me, but I dismissed the messages. The odds didn't matter. This was just another ordinary day in Shion that no one was watching.

It was a fight where I could choose to stand and fight instead of running. If I failed, I'd just resurrect. So I charged back in.

"...Huh?"

At that moment, a future vision appeared before my eyes.

"...Love's Golf Club?"

The name sounded familiar. Was it the weapon the Debt Collector was using? If it was an Anomalous Aggregation, then maybe I still had a chance.

With my resolve renewed, I returned to the alley where the Debt Collector waited and shouted.

"Hey, leech. Isn't your target me?"

"Hm?"

The Debt Collector, who had been driving his golf club into Elly's stomach, turned to look at me. His expression shifted to one of pure disbelief.

"What? You didn't run?"

"Me? As if."

I glanced at Elly, who lay sprawled on the ground. She seemed to have no strength left to yell at me, probably because her energy was still being drained. Still, the look she gave me was filled with pure rage. If I'd gone through all that effort to make someone run for their life only for them to come back, I'd be furious too.

"I thought about it. I managed to take down a 4-Star as a 1-Star. Now that I'm a 2-Star, there's no reason to be scared, is there?"

"Haha. After playing with small fry for so long, you've completely lost your sense of danger, huh?"

The Debt Collector spun his golf club lightly as he sneered. Then, moving at a speed I couldn't possibly react to, he drove the club into my side.

"I hate people who don't know their place."

"Khhk…!"

Agony exploded through me. I felt my ribs shatter and my internal organs rupture from the impact. I learned for the first time that when pain becomes too intense, you can't even scream.

"People who don't know their limits and take on debts they can't handle are disgusting. If you had even a shred of sanity, you'd know that much. Everyone has survival instincts, don't they?"

Chains immediately wrapped around my neck, and the contract with the Debt Collector was established. He didn't even bother looking at me properly as he began the collection through the contract.

"You knew and ignored it anyway, right? That you're different. That you can do it. You have to pay the price for ignoring your instincts. Hmm."

My head grew foggy. I could feel my life force draining away. Was I going to die like this? The thought crossed my mind right before—

"...Kgh?! What the—what are you?!"

"...Ah. It worked."

My horribly damaged body began to heal. At the same time, the Debt Collector, who had been holding my chain, staggered as he sensed something wrong. I rose to my feet, my body gradually recovering, and now I was the one gripping the chain that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bound the Debt Collector.

"What... is this..."

I laughed at the Debt Collector, who clearly didn't understand what had just happened.

"You weren't even looking at me properly, were you?"

"What?"

"If you're going to make a contract, you should at least look at your target. Isn't that common sense for a necromancer?"

The Debt Collector's energy drain worked through contracts. He attacked with an Anomalous Aggregation that converted damage into healing, then used that to form a contract. Naturally, the victim believed they had been healed by the Debt Collector and thus owed him a debt. From there, he could steal their life force as payment.

But what if the Debt Collector ended up owing the debt instead?

The contract would simply reverse, and life force would flow from him to me.

I wasn't affected by Anomalous Aggregations. That meant I took the damage from his attacks directly. No matter how many times he hit me, I would never owe him a debt.

If he had actually looked at me and noticed I was bleeding, this wouldn't have happened. But the Debt Collector hadn't paid me any attention and completely missed that fact.

Of course, simply hitting me wouldn't have been enough to form a debtor relationship. But I already had a legitimate claim against him.

I quietly pulled the contract from my bag and waved it.

"Styx owes me quite a bit of money. I'll be taking that 100 million won worth of life force now."

The hundred million won reward the information broker had mockingly told me to collect from Styx. In other words, Styx already owed me a debt of 100 million.

Was it too much life force to maintain his Mental Image? The Debt Collector's chains scattered back into the mist, but astonishingly, he remained standing on both feet.

"...You fucking bastard. Don't think you've won yet."

Apparently too weak to even hold his weapon, the Debt Collector hurled his golf club to the ground and lunged at me. His movements were desperate, clearly trying to make physical contact. Could he drain life force through touch as well as contracts?

I summoned the gauntlet to my right hand. It had already absorbed the surrounding gray mist and was glowing with the same color. I drove my gray fist straight into the Debt Collector's face as he charged, sending him flying.

"Kgh…?!"

Had he not expected me to fight back? The Debt Collector rolled helplessly across the ground. His movements were clumsy; he hadn't adjusted to his weakened state after losing so much life force.

That didn't mean he was just a punching bag. Even after having 100 million won worth of life force stolen, he still moved like a human hunter. That was why I had a chance even without the auto-combat system.

I had memorized every movement the auto-combat system had made so far. As long as I remembered them, I was confident I wouldn't lose in a pure hand-to-hand fight under equal conditions. And that confidence translated perfectly into reality.

"Kuhk…!"

"What's wrong? Feeling heavy?"

The Debt Collector was desperately trying to land even a single punch. Even though I held the advantage now, if he hit me even once, he'd drain my stamina and turn the fight around.

But that had always been the case. Getting hit even once had always been fatal for me.

"Let's fight fair, shall we? No magic, okay? With the same body condition! Let's settle this with pure skill!"

"You... damn human bastard...!"

"You're annoyingly tough. Just fall down already!"

The Debt Collector's chest was wide open, his anger leaving him full of gaps. Suddenly, I saw a blue trajectory. I drove my fist along that path.

The clean, direct hit sent the Debt Collector crashing into the alley wall. He didn't move again.

"Haa... Haa..."

I'd won. Perfectly, in a way no one could criticize.

As the rush of victory washed over me and I paused to catch my breath—

"...You. You, you, you."

Had she recovered some strength? Elly slowly stood up and pointed at me.

And then—

"Are you crazy? You must be crazy. You're a lunatic. There's no way you'd come back here unless you were insane. You crazy bastard."

She hurled abuse at me.

"Well, I won anyway. So it's fine, right?"

"I told you to run! What did you think I meant?!"

"I heard you."

"Then why did you come back?! Do you think I'm that weak?!"

Elly was venting her anger at me. I thought for a moment. This rage didn't seem like it would fade easily. What could I say to calm her down? I had no idea. There was that saying about not spitting on a smiling face, so I just—

"I came back to help you."

I roughly told her I'd returned to help her. What could she say if I claimed I came back for her sake?

"What?"

"You came to help me too. So we're even now. Got it?"

"...You crazy bastard."

She kept cursing, but it seemed she had nothing left to accuse me of. Was this the end of it?

As I tried to brush it off—

"...You fucking bastards."

"What? He's still moving?"

The Debt Collector, who had seemed completely still, grit his teeth and rose to his feet. His life force really was incredible. I was about to finish him off for good when—

"I can't let you leave like this. Absolutely not...!"

A dagger had appeared in the Debt Collector's hand at some point. I didn't like weapons, but what he did next was completely unexpected.

"Kuaaaagh…!"

With a groan, the Debt Collector drove the dagger straight into his own head. The blade melted and disappeared, and in its place, a grotesque eye formed where the wound had been.

"What the...?!"

"This is...?"

Even Elly seemed to be seeing it for the first time, her voice filled with shock. At that moment—

"Eye Awakening!"

With that unexpected declaration, the world flipped upside down.