Chapter 024
[Chapter 024]
< No Longer the Underdog (2) >
100 million won.
On the premise that a 30% commission is given to the Bureau, a huge sum of 100 million won goes into the Bureau's safe.
It might be an unavoidable thing, and it might be a share to be tolerated to that extent.
“There's a way though.”
However.
You guys no longer have the qualification to even receive that.
“What if we report as joint reporters, with me as the initial discoverer and Old Man No as the reporting agent and safety-securing contributor?”
-What? Joint report? Is there such a regulation?
Association Act Article 32, Paragraph 3.
It is a clause stating that if a civilian discoverer receives help from a current Hunter in securing dangerous substances, the merit can be recognized and the reward can be distributed.
“Yes, it's a clause that's practically a dead letter, so almost no one knows about it.”
-Then, how does it work?
“In this case, 30% of the reward will be paid first to you, Old Man No, in the name of safety-securing contribution fee. The rest will come to me as the initial discovery reward.”
-W-wait... then I receive 100 million won just by sitting?
“You’re not just sitting. You have safely secured a dangerous substance, presumed to have been lost from a B-Rank Rift site, with a non-Awakener body while risking danger. This is a huge achievement.”
I legally get 200 million won.
Old Man No takes the commission for himself, not the Bureau, as a price for risking danger.
This too is something possible because he is a Bureau employee; no one can protest.
-Ma-Manager Jang! Even if it's money that would return to the national treasury, isn't it a bit too much to give it to me? How can I accept that. I didn't exactly do anything.
I gave a bitter smile at Old Man No’s words.
‘Why would there be nothing.’
When I was living as a Bureau civil servant, there were more than one or two hard things.
I once collapsed several times after suffering from overwork enough to die and live.
Each time, the person who helped me nonchalantly while pretending not to was Old Man No.
What would it have been like if Old Man No hadn't been there?
Maybe I would have already been exhausted by overwork and both my body and mind would have been broken.
He was a person I was thankful for.
Whatever the amount of money, leaving all that aside.
It wasn't a waste to give it to Old Man No. Not even a tiny bit.
But the Bureau?
Is there a reason I should be helpful to them?
100 million might not be a large sum, but I don't want to give them any profit.
“As you said, it's property that would return to the national treasury anyway. Money that is fine whether given or not. The Bureau would receive it without having done anything, so I won't give it because I think it's a waste.”
-Heh, really....
“Instead, please just do one favor for me.”
-What favor?
“Just don't ask where I got this. I’ll be processed as anonymous so just keep that a secret. It's something possible in the system.”
Silence lengthened from Old Man No’s hesitation over the phone.
-...Still, isn't 100 million too much.
“Considering the debt I owe you all this time, this is nothing.”
-No, still this is....
“No one recognizes your 20 years of hard work, so you should at least take care of it with money. And honestly, even if I hold such a large sum, I have no place to use it, so it's safer for me if you hold it as a slush fund.”
When I added even non-existent reasons, he finally sighed and spoke.
-...Fine, then let's say I’m holding it for a while. Then, is the money you receive okay?
“Ah, I have a place to use the remaining 200 million.”
-If it's a place Manager Jang spends such a large sum, perhaps....
“Yes, tomorrow is the day I pay So-ye’s hospital bills.”
* * *
After hanging up, Old Man No leaned his body deep into his old office chair.
The heart of that young friend who took care of him felt heavier than the number 100 million that would soon enter his account.
‘Still, to think it's 100 million....’
Honestly, it wasn't that he was short of money.
Having worked without a day off for 20 years at the Bureau, his salary had steadily accumulated.
To him, who had neither a wife nor children, money was just a number.
But what about Kang-hyun?
Wasn't he someone who was always struggling to pay for his sick sister's hospital bills.
‘That precious money, to me....’
He felt he must repay this gratitude somehow.
It was nominally holding the money for a while, but he could just give it back when Kang-hyun needed it.
“Let's see··· our Manager Jang, his car was quite old.”
Old Man No showed a pleasant smile at the thought of spending money for someone for the first time in a long while.
* * *
Seoul Central University Hospital Administration Office.
“That day has returned again.”
Staff were looking at the calendar with heavy faces.
Today was the payment deadline for long-term hospitalized patients who required special management.
“On this day, there are so many guardians who cut contact and vanish.”
It was a frustrating thing for each other.
They couldn't estimate how miserable the feeling would be, being frustrated by hospital bills they couldn't handle and unable to come.
“Still, So-ye’s guardian has never once been late.”
“Ah, Manager Kang-hyun?”
“Yes, he even brings coffee for us to drink whenever he comes. The more I see him, the more he seems like a decent person.”
“Right. The money must be significant... Since So-ye shows no sign of getting better, even I feel sorry for her.”
“And how pretty and kind is So-ye? In that small face, her eyes are so large and black, she's like a doll. Look at her bowing her belly to every doctor and nurse passing the hallway. Stuck in that hospital room when she's at the age to run around... Why did the parents leave so early.”
The moment the staff were clicking their tongues in pity, another staff member spoke cautiously.
“Actually, I heard from an acquaintance at the Bureau that So-ye’s brother was laid off.”
“What? Mr. Kang-hyun was?”
“Yeah, they said there was a mass layoff this time. He seems to have been among them.”
“Then what about the hospital bills now? Oh dear, this is a disaster....”
In the moment the staff clicked their tongues in pity, the door to the office opened.
“Hello.”
“Oh, Mr. Kang-hyun!”
At the appearance of Kang-hyun who showed up with perfect timing, everyone looked at him with eyes mixed with a different concern and pity than before.
“I came to pay.”
“Oh dear, you’re here. Have a seat here.”
The administration manager welcomed Kang-hyun more warmly than usual.
“You’re eating well, right? Your face has become half its size.”
“If there's anything difficult, tell me anytime.”
“Ah... yes, of course.”
Kang-hyun distributed the drinks he bought as usual.
“Oh dear, why do you keep buying these things.”
“Right, you should save money now. Don't keep buying them.”
To Kang-hyun, who was puzzled by the reaction a bit different from usual, he spoke.
“I came to pay all of So-ye’s hospital bills.”
“Pardon? All of them?”
So-ye was a rare disease patient requiring special management in long-term hospitalization, so her monthly hospital bills surpassed imagination.
Since it was such a large amount, he had been paying in installments.
“Yes, please tell me the total amount until now.”
“Now, just a moment.”
the staff quickly checked the amount on the network.
And answered after hesitating.
“...It's 180 million won.”
“Yes, I’ll pay in full right now.”
In an instant, silence flowed through the entire office.
Everyone was just blinking and staring at Kang-hyun with eyes that couldn't believe it.
“Ka-Kang-hyun. Did you win the lottery or something?”
“The... Is the Bureau severance pay that much?”
After numerous questions, Kang-hyun held out the shopping bags he had.
“And this is a sign of gratitude.”
It was something prepared separately for each and every staff member.
“Oh my, Mr. Kang-hyun. You don't have to give such things, why buy them?”
“Thank you so much for always cherishing our So-ye.”
To the head nurse who said her shoulders hurt, a top-tier massager.
To the youngest staff member who said her skin was dry, a moisturizing cream said to be made with the essence of Water Elemental, a rare monster, costing hundreds of thousands of won.
Even to the administration manager who always lives in fatigue, top-tier nutrients.
“No, Mr. Kang-hyun. You remembered all these things?”
They were words said in passing, but Kang-hyun didn't let them go.
“How long has the time we've seen each other been. This is nothing.”
As So-ye’s hospital life lengthened, they were no longer strangers.
As much as the hospital stay lengthened, the faces became familiar.
Knowing how much heart-suffering those years were, no one could easily speak.
“...This year, let's definitely make So-ye well. Mr. Kang-hyun, it will happen. It's time we stop seeing each other.”
Kang-hyun was always comforted by the words given sincerely and the warm hands.
“...Thank you.”
After talking for a while and leaving the office, Kang-hyun visited So-ye’s attending physician.
“Mr. Kang-hyun, you came at the right time. I had something to tell you.”
“Pardon? What's the matter?”
In an instant, his heart sank.
Over the last few years, whenever the doctor spoke these words, it was never good news.
‘The condition has worsened.’
‘A new complication has been discovered.’
Because it was a continuation of such desperate words.
“So-ye’s condition has become very good lately.”
“Pardon?”
“It's completely different from last week's test results. Her mana resistance level has risen noticeably, and her skin rash level has dropped to a normal level.”
Positive words different from usual.
It was a hopeful diagnosis he had never heard even once.
The situation was so unfamiliar that he couldn't even distinguish if it was reality or a dream.
“Is it true?”
“Yes. If it continues like this, we can even positively review going to the countryside for recuperation.”
He hadn't even dared to hope for that.
To think such a thing is possible, Kang-hyun's heart began to beat vigorously.
“It seems a miracle is happening, Mr. Kang-hyun.”
* * *
Night at the country house after Kang-hyun left.
Under the moonlight, Muryong and the Hasuo root were playing peacefully.
Byok, byok.
When Hasuo walked around the field with its short root legs, Muryong sat on its head and bounced "tong-tong" as if matching the rhythm with its small feet.
-Hmyoot!
The two were now perfect best friends.
Muryong, tired of playing, began to doze on Hasuo’s head.
“....”
Hasuo carefully set down Muryong and headed to the middle of the herb garden.
There was the [Old Giant's Heart Fragment] Kang-hyun had brought from the Tower and set down.
The stone imbued with the power of time was glowing like a faint pulse as night fell.
Wa-ang!
Hasuo did not hesitate.
As if it had discovered a very delicious food, it opened its body and swallowed the giant's heart fragment whole.
Wooooong-
In that instant, Hasuo’s body began to shine dazzlingly with light bursting from inside.
The ancient power of time contained in the stone was becoming one with Hasuo’s existence.
[Item: Primordial Fleeceflower (Hasuo) (Childhood Stage)]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Description: Grown to the childhood stage by absorbing the time power of the ‘Old Giant's Heart Fragment’. It begins to perceive ‘Fate’ with its own will.]
Hasuo, feeling the change happening inside its body, began to perceive a single word for the first time.
‘Fa... te.’
It didn't know the meaning of that word.
Until now.
But it could tell vaguely.
Right, I am an existence born to be eaten by my master someday.
An existence born to place him at the peak of the world by dedicating my everything and to be a joy to him.
That was precisely its fate.
“....”
Hasuo quietly turned its head.
On the veranda, the rank 2 Muryong was sleeping peacefully with its belly out.
The sound of small breaths was heard.
In the yard to the right, the rank 3 Gorani was trying hard to chase away sleep.
While patrolling around the house by jumping "peol-jjeok peol-jjeok" without sound, it was soon repeating dozing off.
If.
I hadn't known such happiness.
Byo-ok, byok.
The sound of Hasuo walking while stepping on the soil echoed.
During the short time walking to the veranda, Hasuo calmly accepted its fate.
Then it returned to the side of the sleeping Muryong and quietly huddled its body.
Until that day of fate arrives, it embraced only one wish to enjoy this peaceful time just a little longer.
< No Longer the Underdog (2) > END