Golden Goblin Payday
It's a Golden Goblin!
"2,000 gold... for real?"
Aruen shot me a look of utter disbelief.
The woman in the suit sat there with her legs crossed, staring right at me.
'Eek...!'
The moment my eyes met her red ones, my body jerked instinctively.
The woman who'd introduced herself as the Queen of Loss just shrugged it off.
A utterly bored reaction, like it was no big deal.
'She specifically asked for exactly 2,000 gold at the exchange rate.'
There were easy options like banks, but she came all the way here to force this deal... She can't afford to be exposed.
Black Cloud was a major player in the underworld, after all. And it operated like a point organization, so its base location wasn't widely known.
'The Queen of Loss is definitely that same person from before.'
Aruen furrowed her brow, staring at the glittering 2,000 gold in her hand.
Thinking about it, it wasn't a bad deal at all. Gold from the Tower was worth way more anyway.
The problem was...
'This Queen of Loss bitch is the top dog here, and we're the ones on the bottom.'
I'd given up on winning. After that failed attack earlier, I'd poured everything I had into it and hadn't landed a single hit.
An overwhelming powerhouse. And if she needed exactly 2,000 gold and couldn't risk exposure...
'The unregistered hunter that's been making waves lately. Looks like my guess was spot on.'
Her mind raced. This could be an opportunity.
The Queen of Loss was strong.
Aruen herself was top-tier A-rank. With the right conditions, she could even take down S-rank with her versatile abilities.
Even using all the stored smoke here in Black Cloud's base, and still losing? That made her at least top S-rank, no question.
Tap. Tap.
Her fingers drummed on the desk—a habit when she was mulling things over.
Aruen nodded. She'd accept the deal.
The Queen of Loss nodded back.
Her expression was blank, like she knew the deal was going through no matter what.
Creak.
She opened the desk drawer, revealing the emergency slush fund she'd stashed away.
2,000 gold... roughly 20 million won, give or take.
'Honestly, I'd love to throw in extra cash to buy some quick goodwill, but we need to keep this as an equal trade.'
Aruen tossed over the stack of bills.
A hand-shaped plume of black smoke caught it and handed over the 20 million won.
"Good doing business with you."
She took the bills without even checking them and stuffed them into her bag.
Aruen swallowed hard. That casual move was a threat in itself.
'If we'd shorted you, we're dead. We don't need to check the gold.'
That unspoken message.
Aruen had no choice but to tense up even more.
Didn't she say earlier she was the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings? It could be taken as a joke, but thinking back...
'That means she has a boss?'
Someone on the level of ruling heaven and earth wouldn't work under anyone.
Aruen herself had started as a pickpocket, awakened as a hunter, and swallowed up the organization whole.
But... the Queen of Loss was even stronger. Her boss had to be at least on par—or superior.
Aruen smiled faintly.
'This is worth investing in.'
Of course, Han Yuseon had just said it as a joke, but Aruen's imagination was running wild.
Right before the Queen of Loss left.
"Hold on." "...What?"
Her icy gaze turned my way.
Every time I saw those blood-red eyes, it triggered my PTSD.
Aruen smiled and said,
"Come back anytime for more deals."
Building friendly ties was always a win.
That was her judgment. She had to grab this connection somehow.
"Sounds good."
The Queen of Loss nodded.
The door clicked shut.
Aruen was left alone in the room.
"...How strong could she be?"
She muttered, thinking of the Queen of Loss's boss.
At least not some frail body like hers, that much was sure.
'Oh, right.'
Her jjajangmyeon had gone cold.
...
"I'm back."
I'd been in the middle of researching abilities.
Click.
The door opened.
"Eek! Knock first, damn it!"
I dove under the desk with a rustle and yelled.
"Oops."
Han Yuseon smirked.
That was totally on purpose. One hundred percent.
I glared daggers, but she just smiled leisurely.
"Did you exchange it? I was a bit worried about whether banks would even deal in it..."
It only hit me after she left, and there was no way to contact her anyway.
"Actions speak louder than words, ma'am."
She opened the bag, and stacks of bills poured out. All cash.
My eyes went wide. I'd never seen that much money in one place before.
She flipped the bag over, and thud thud thud! The bills rained down.
Like something out of a movie.
"Holy... shit..." "Luckily, gold's in short supply here in Korea, so they snapped it up the moment they confirmed it was real—no ID needed."
"...For real?"
This sounded too good to be true.
Han Yuseon chuckled.
"I dealt with a reliable contact." "Anyway, this is our money, right?" "Yes, ma'am. Exactly 20 million won. I counted it myself with my eyes."
"Twen... twenty million?!"
I knew Tower gold went for about 10,000 won per piece on the market, but seeing it for real? That was huge money.
Months of scraping by for a few grand? Yeah, that tracked.
I let out an awed "Ooh" and fondled the cash.
Han Yuseon added,
"We can afford something nice for dinner tonight."
"What do you wanna eat?"
Come to think of it, I had no idea what her tastes were.
This money? She earned it, fair and square.
Han Yuseon faltered for a second.
"...My, tastes, ma'am?"
She looked like the thought had never crossed her mind.
I tilted my head.
"Problem? Like, do puppets need special fuel or something? You don't eat human flesh, right?" "I'm basically human. As long as my puppeteer lives, I live forever, but... no human flesh. You're just the first to ask my preferences."
Han Yuseon gave me a deadpan stare. She clearly hated the human flesh idea.
Okay, noted. Good thing— I'd half-worried I'd wake up missing an arm someday.
"So. What do you wanna eat?" "... "
Han Yuseon closed her eyes, pondering.
Made sense. Dinner choices were eternal dilemmas.
Like agonizing all day over "What's for dinner?"
"Jjajangmyeon. How about that?" "Jjajangmyeon? Hmm... yeah, solid choice. Gotta add tangsuyuk, though. Too extravagant?"
I grabbed my phone to order.
Oh, right—no delivery. Couldn't deposit the cash into an account anyway.
Ever since the Tower showed up, more people carried cash.
Apocalypse panic led to mass withdrawals, banks took a huge hit, and no one trusted accounts anymore.
That's what kicked off the obsession with tangible stuff.
"Can you pick it up?" "Of course, ma'am."
Han Yuseon nodded.
I grabbed some cash, sent her off with our usual scoring game, then browsed the community while waiting. What else to do?
"What a mess."
Perfect.
Oh yeah, that Sword whatever—I remembered now, she was a huge deal.
Yoo Sorang.
A hunter more famous for her looks than her sword skills. But her antics made her even more notorious.
Even when her info leaked and she pulled aggro before, it was the same crap. Maybe she really was just a sword simp.
This community had more hidden powerhouses than I thought.
'Hmm...'
That one's kinda scary.
Eh, probably just aggro.
Click.
"Eek!" "I'm back. Pfft." "Goddamn it, knock for real!"
Han Yuseon giggled. In one hand, a jjajangmyeon set.
Her gaze drifted to the community screen.
"...Sword12556?" "Oh. Yoo Sorang's alt." "She's coming to find you?" "Nah, just bait."
I shrugged.
Han Yuseon smirked as she set up the food.
"Dinner tonight... might get lively." "Huh? Why?"
I gave her a puzzled look.
Han Yuseon snapped her wooden chopsticks apart and said,
"No need to worry about it, ma'am. Oh, the fried dumplings are mine." "Hey! No manners?!"
I snapped mine too.
Snap.
"Ooh, clean break." "Good omen. Mine too." "You psycho, stealing my fried dumplings...!"
Han Yuseon glanced out the window.
Pink eyes stared right back at us.