Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Butchering the Zombies
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If the hunt was over, there was something you had to do as a matter of course.
No, more precisely, there was something Jeong-hyeon had to do the moment he laid eyes on the monster's corpse.
"Shall we tear out the zombie claws~?"
Humming a little tune, Jeong-hyeon plopped down next to the zombie corpse with its head smashed in.
It had fallen so neatly—might as well harvest what could be harvested, right?
"Huh? Jeong-hyeon, what are you doing?"
But the others watching him all wore expressions of bewilderment.
"What? We have to take the useful parts from here, don't we?"
Jeong-hyeon tilted his head.
Even hunters with a system didn't get something like an inventory.
That meant even if you excitedly massacred monsters, the party couldn't carry everything out themselves.
So naturally, Jeong-hyeon had started getting to work.
"But if you pay the Association fee after leaving the gate, they'll handle the collection themselves... More importantly, how do you even process it?"
Somehow, even that was a bit detached from common sense.
Monster corpses caught inside gates were released to a designated spot outside after the hunters exited and a set time passed.
The Association would then collect them for a fee.
They calculated the total volume of corpses and paid the hunters accordingly.
Those collected corpses ended up at the workshop where Jeong-hyeon used to work.
But why buy scraps when you had the skills yourself?
"Huh? You guys can't process zombies? This is really easy."
Jeong-hyeon pulled out his work knife from his pocket—which was basically his sixth finger by now.
It was called a work knife, but with pliers and other simple tools attached to the handle, it was practically a multi-tool.
First, he grabbed the pliers and started pulling out the discolored zombie claws.
Crack.
"Eek!"
At the horror-movie-worthy sight that came out of nowhere, Jeonga squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head without thinking.
Sunhyeong and Doyun didn't look too great either.
The gloomy hallway atmosphere just made Jeong-hyeon's bizarre actions even creepier.
But the man himself felt utterly wronged.
'Come on, aren't you guys doing way worse stuff than this?'
They'd stared blankly when he smashed heads, but pulling claws made them freak out? Jeong-hyeon couldn't understand it.
If Sunhyeong smashed a zombie torso with the edge of that huge shield right now, it'd be far more grotesque.
While he thought that, the ten claws were soon neatly stored in Jeong-hyeon's bag.
'Next up, the eyeballs.'
Among a zombie's fully rotted body, these were one of the more valuable parts.
Jeong-hyeon hadn't understood it at first either, but apparently, magic trait hunters bought them at high prices.
Zombie eyeballs burst if you tried grabbing them with pliers, so you had to dig them out by hand.
Just as Jeong-hyeon's finger was about to touch the zombie's eyeball, lightning flashed opportunely.
"J-Jeong-hyeon! Why don't we just pay the Association and keep it simple? We're wasting time anyway..."
Sunhyeong, flipped like a switch by the sight, frantically stopped Jeong-hyeon.
It was obviously not about the time.
Battles were usually followed by breaks anyway.
At Sunhyeong's reaction, Jeong-hyeon replied as if he'd said something ridiculous.
"What? Why buy scraps? How much do you get per zombie?"
"Uh, zombies are about... 80,000 won each?"
"For real. Do you know how much ten claws fetch wholesale at the workshop?"
"Huh? What, like 20,000 won?"
Sunhyeong's hesitant answer, and the other two who weren't much different.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Jeong-hyeon shook his head and clicked his tongue.
No wonder bad guys who preyed on good people thrived—too many folks clueless about the world.
Of course, the bad guys were a hundred, a thousand times wrong.
"Claw sets go for 40,000 won, and a good pair of eyeballs fetches up to 80,000 won."
"Huh?"
Sunhyeong's eyes widened at the price twice what he'd expected.
They might know gates better than Jeong-hyeon, but when it came to monster byproducts, few hunters could match him.
Jeong-hyeon hammered the facts home like he meant to knock them out.
"And monster hearts are the priciest. Zombie hearts go for at least 130,000 won each. More if they're in good shape."
Even wholesale, you could tell how much the Association pocketed.
Most would cover labor and distribution margins, but per zombie, the workshop price alone was probably 50% more than what hunters got.
The three stared blankly at Jeong-hyeon's explanation.
Doyun snapped out of it first.
"But why does the Association only pay 80,000 won?"
"Because the price skyrockets through distribution. If you can process and sell direct, it's way more profitable."
It might look like highway robbery to others, but Jeong-hyeon found it reasonable.
The industry was barely a decade old—not a red ocean yet—and without good pay, who'd do the work?
Most of it went to labor costs, which was normal.
That's how Jeong-hyeon had survived and paid off debt till now.
Of course, as a hunter now, he had to maximize his own gains.
Even if they hunted hard here, maybe 50 zombies tops?
That wouldn't even dent the workshop's supply.
As if to say he was done talking, Jeong-hyeon looked up pointedly, and Sunhyeong's group averted their eyes slyly.
They chatted among themselves, leaving Jeong-hyeon to resume work.
"Is that guy really F-Rank? He some rich kid or what?"
"Yeah. Look at him pull that heart out. Maybe he's here on a byproduct commission?"
"Then what's with the newbie act earlier? Weird... But he's level 2 or under since he got in here."
Opinions split on Jeong-hyeon's identity.
He must be on a commission.
Sent secretly by a famous guild.
He's actually high-rank but acting low for some reason, etc.
None imagined he was a total newbie who'd just registered as a hunter today.
No rookie would disassemble a zombie corpse with such enthusiasm.
And of course, his identity wasn't the main topic.
Sunhyeong swallowed hard and spoke up.
"Hey, then maybe we should..."
Right then, Jeong-hyeon finished up in a flash, dusted himself off, and called to them.
"Hey, all done. Shall we go again?"
The three party members exchanged urgent glances.
Then they nodded in unison, turning to Jeong-hyeon with bright smiles.
"Ah, yeah. Let's do it!"
The next monsters were, predictably, five zombies.
Maybe skeletons were tougher, since you had to go deeper according to Sunhyeong.
Jeonga was relaxed now, and her arrow nailed a zombie's forehead dead-center.
"Yes! That's my real skill!"
She excitedly nocked the next arrow, but it was basically backup.
Melee was just starting.
"Hraaah!"
Sunhyeong charged with a shout, swinging his shield.
The unlucky zombie that took it to the neck had its bones snap grotesquely and its head slam hard into the wall.
Instant kill.
Watching, Jeong-hyeon tsked inwardly.
'These are the people who freaked out over me pulling claws? Tch, tch. Hit like that, and the eyeballs pop—80,000 won down the drain.'
Jeong-hyeon kept such thoughts to himself.
Anyway, the party's combat power had improved since the first fight.
Partly from relaxing, but mostly because they'd proven far more skilled than Jeong-hyeon expected—beyond his wildest imaginings.
Not bad for someone fighting alongside them.
'Alright, time to get started.'
Gripping his mace tighter, Jeong-hyeon moved.
The remaining three zombies were naturally his.
Sunhyeong, brimming with confidence, focused more on checks than blind defense, making it easier than the first fight.
He drew attention at just the right moments when zombies focused on Jeong-hyeon.
E-Rank level 2 was tank-worthy anywhere, confirming the notion.
All that was left was circling behind with his quick movements and smashing exposed heads.
One swing per zombie, three total, and the fight ended.
As the battle wrapped, Jeonga approached curiously.
"You're really fast! What's your trait?"
"Just... level 1 agility type. Nothing special."
Jeong-hyeon brushed it off vaguely.
His real trait was EX—who knew what type—and unrelated to combat anyway.
Strictly speaking, the traits he used were level 1 agility types.
He just hid that there was more than one.
Jeonga had seemed sharp at first, but once she opened up, she was friendly.
"This speed matches hunting with Sang-su oppa. You don't seem F-Rank..."
She trailed off.
She was curious but knew better than to pry into a trait someone hid on purpose.
Still curious enough to chat, which Jeong-hyeon understood.
At first, he hadn't gauged his power well, but their reactions confirmed he was no F-Rank.
The two traits plus synergy had a bigger effect than expected.
Good thing he'd hidden his rank too.
Since he wouldn't see them after this hunt, Jeong-hyeon threw out a casual excuse.
"Maybe 'cause I work out a lot."
Seeing he had no intention of sharing, Jeonga nodded and backed off.
Jeong-hyeon spread out to process his share.
"Uh... Jeong-hyeon."
Just as he reached for the pliers to pull claws, Sunhyeong stopped him.
When Jeong-hyeon paused and looked, he got to the point.
"Sorry, but could you handle the zombies we caught too?"
'Here it comes!'
He'd guessed from their whispering earlier.
Jeong-hyeon cheered inwardly but played it cool.
"Ah, processing?"
"Yeah. After hearing you, the price difference is huge. Possible?"
They'd taken 80,000 won per head for granted; learning it was nearly 300,000 won made this natural.
How could you eat bean-paste soup carefree after tasting meat?
Jeong-hyeon looked down thoughtfully, then smiled and nodded.
"Sure, not hard. We're fated to meet like this."
"Thanks!"
Sunhyeong turned, eyes meeting his party's—they were thrilled at the inflated profits.
Of course, Jeong-hyeon had never said it'd be free.
"But I can't do it for nothing."
"Huh? Ah... of course."
Sunhyeong deflated a bit but wasn't surprised.
Jeong-hyeon slipped in the condition swiftly.
"I'll take the claws. Sound good?"
"Uh..."
"That's plenty generous! I'm in!"
Jeonga answered instead of Sunhyeong, who'd glanced at the group.
Even minus 40,000 won per claw set, it was multiples of Association pay.
No reason to hesitate.
Jeong-hyeon grinned and nodded.
"Then I make more money too. Let's bag a ton today."
"Yep!"
Money was king for hunters—morale soared with the boosted earnings.
Swift hunts!
Swift butchery!
"He's crazy fast at hunting. Even with processing time, isn't this as good as five rounds normally?"
"For real. We'd be fighting our fifth by now."
Contrary to expectations, Jeong-hyeon was the bus driver—and one handing out cash!
Jeong-hyeon, harvesting claws from six zombies, didn't show it but was thrilled.
He limited himself to about 50% kills, being perceptive.
The real thrill?
'Claw sets actually fetch 60,000 won.'
He was sneaking a commission.
Even direct sales needed margins, right?