I Became the Golden Sun Stealing the Pig's Woman

It was none of my business. Meddling I had absolutely no need for.

The only reason I'd decided to help Lee Arin was that I needed her—an S-rank alchemist, high-grade labor to process the Life Fruits grown on the 100x Server—and I was willing to put up with the hassle for that. As for Ryu Hyeju, S-rank hunter or not, we had zero connection whatsoever.

Worse, I was quietly competing against Taeseong Pharmaceuticals under an alias—a situation where even the utmost caution wouldn't have been excessive.

And yet, I wanted to do it.

It wasn't that my heart raced watching that pretty face struggle, or that I'd spiraled in on some worthless delusion of seizing an opportunity as a man. Nothing like that.

"That pig bastard. Trying to build his whole life out of money and power."

Call it disgust.

Thirty years spent mooching off his parents in his room, the only women he'd ever laid eyes on being idol girls in Shorts clips, curvy Japanese women, or cosplayers—and even I could see his looks and specs were trash. Watching a guy like that attempt something I wouldn't even dream of made my skin crawl.

If this were before I got the 100x Server, I might have shrugged it off. Such is life—a man's wealth is his power, whatever.

But not anymore.

How should I put this...

Whether or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not that was really it—seeing Lee Arin, and Ryu Hyeju, bowing their heads as they lost to that pig Kim Hyeon-soo?

And the faint, fishy smile spreading across Kim Hyeon-soo's face as his plan ran exactly on schedule?

As a man, I knew precisely how dark and filthy the desire behind that smile was—and that alone was something I could never allow. The urge to slam the brakes on it was my most honest, serpentine ulterior motive.

I knew it was truly pointless meddling.

But what could I do? I wanted to.

"Excuse me."

"...?"

Ryu Hyeju, kneeling with her upper body doubled over, lifted her head and looked at me.

Still expressionless, her eyes sharp with wariness.

The cold sweat beading on her skin showed she was struggling far harder than she had been at the start.

I didn't ask why.

There was no way I could solve her problem, and stirring up any new entanglement with Kim Hyeon-soo would do me nothing but harm.

Which made this a one-time chance.

Everyone else had cleared out—the only moment the two of us would ever face each other alone.

"Here. This should help."

I took a white fruit out of my inventory and offered it to her.

About the size of a thumb.

It looked something like a strawberry, except seedless and pure white.

The handful of fruits had been sitting among the mountains of resources piled up in my front yard.

When I went into the Forest of Life to chop trees, a small quantity had dropped along with the lumber from the trees I felled at the forest's edge. I'd found them while packing up before returning to Earth, decided I'd try planting them next time I visited the 100x Server, and stashed them in the warehouse.

And I had, quite unintentionally, already run an experiment on what they could do.

My "training sessions" with the feral dogs—sessions that consisted entirely of us failing to communicate.

Back then, one of them had gone berserk and, apparently hungry, scarfed down one of these very Seeds of Oblivion that had been lying nearby.

At the time I'd assumed that particular dog was just freakishly tough, but while packing them away I finally remembered—that was what it had been.

"It'll work."

Every one of those dogs got knocked flat, yet that one came charging back at me with fire in its eyes.

The others had limped from the pain, trembling so hard they couldn't even meet my gaze—but the dog that ate the Seed of Oblivion charged with its original ferocity fully intact. Something similar probably worked on people too.

"…"

Ryu Hyeju, still watching me with guarded eyes, stared at the Seed of Oblivion resting on my palm without reaching for it.

Natural, really. When a total stranger offers you something, you can't help but be suspicious.

Especially when that stranger was someone she'd met for the first time today, holding out an unfamiliar fruit while she was so visibly worn down.

But the choice was hers to make.

My meddling extended exactly this far.

I took hold of Ryu Hyeju's wrist, gently uncurled her fingers, placed the fruit in her palm, and turned to leave.

"If it works, contact the 100x Channel at the Hunter Auction House. That's where I got mine."

Please let it work.

Please don't let things go the way Kim Hyeon-soo wants.

But what if she ate it and felt nothing? What if her suffering wasn't from the pain at all?

"Or don't. Your call."

She was a woman I'd never see again anyway.

An S-rank hunter, no less. Even Taeseong Pharmaceuticals with all its money would only be able to squeeze her so far—she'd carve out her own path eventually.

When I stepped out of the dungeon, the colossal Rift Dungeon gate had already shrunk back into an ordinary field dungeon, and it was slowly dwindling.

Outside, hunters were regrouping and gearing up to sort through the loot and harvests from inside.

Far off in the distance, Kim Hyeon-soo was cheering on the Taeseong Guild hunters, his face still brimming with a satisfied smile.

"Better hurry back and list those potions."

Somehow, the shape my life was taking made me feel like I'd become some kind of Golden Sun—the guy who kept snatching away every woman Kim Hyeon-soo had his eye on.

Not that he was someone I wanted to get tangled up with.

With that uncomfortable feeling churning in my chest—and simultaneously soothed by the Server Points deposited into my account—I headed home.

A familiar title at the top of the Hunter Gallery's popular posts.

I clicked in to find myself on display yet again—this time as a video.

The one mercy was that my face was covered.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

No idea how exactly I ended up becoming a "gold spoon."

But with my identity hidden, there was nothing bad about it.

"Got beaten absolutely rotten."

The video itself was less a highlight reel of my heroics and more twenty unbroken minutes of me getting pummeled like a punching bag, so anyone watching could only wince.

So it really had been that long.

I hadn't noticed at the time, too busy downing potions and grinding out skills in a haze.

I'd thought I was holding out with my guard up, blocking whatever I could—but on film, I was basically just standing there like a stone statue, absorbing hits everywhere except my face.

Still, the reactions weren't bad, all things considered.

My plan to snag a boss kill had gone completely off the rails, but precisely because I'd stepped in, civilians who otherwise would have died had made it out alive.

Same as it had been at the scene—watching civilians line up to thank me tugged at even my cold, T-type heart despite myself.

So I decided to run a customer appreciation event.

"Three swords, going out."

One every five minutes.

Word spread, drawing an even bigger crowd.

And with everyone packed in tight, I launched the main event.

In name, it was a sale meant to smash Taeseong.

More precisely, it was the first business venture selling off the resources of the 100x Server.

And the very first item to throw open those doors—the opening shot of the potion trade—had just gone live.

At exactly one quarter of Taeseong Pharmaceuticals' A-rank potion price.

One quarter of 20,000,000 won.