Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: No Choice - 1
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"You've been through so much! Thank you!"
"Hahaha. It was just one measly ghost."
In both Secrets of Light and Shadow and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, a Yangsaeng Gui was treated as little more than a common 잡귀.
If we're talking monsters, it'd be like a goblin at best?
And yet here they were, thanking me profusely for taking down just one of those.
People sure are something.
"And, um... would you take this?"
"Confession. Awkward."
"...It's just my business card? Mage Yoo Wol-young. You haven't joined a guild yet, have you?"
"Nah, no guild for me."
"How about joining ours, then?"
"Yeah. Hunter Jang Yoon-jeong's guild is Blue Guild, right?"
"Yes. We're small compared to Korea's major guilds, but... we're more than equipped to welcome a mage like you."
"Hmm..."
"Is it because we're small? But we pride ourselves on our elite few..."
"Ah, I know. Pretty much everyone in Blue Guild has cleared past the 40th floor of the Tower. And what's wrong with small? Even Liu Bei started with just Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Jian Yong."
"Pardon?"
"You don't know Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"
"W-Well, I know of it, but..."
She doesn't seem to know it well.
The saying comes to mind: don't even share a meal with someone who hasn't read it three times.
"Right now, I'd rather go solo."
"Ah... I see."
"But feel free to call me for requests like this anytime. Just give me a ring."
"Sure. If you give me your card..."
"Don't have one. Haven't been a hunter long."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Check out my registration."
She gaped when I showed her it was my first mission since registering.
"I'll give you my number, though."
I added it to Jang Yoon-jeong's phone.
"Call me if anything comes up."
"Ah... Y-Yes, sir!"
And with that, my first mission was done.
I'd pulled an all-nighter, but I wasn't tired at all.
At the Association, when I showed my mission completion certificate, everyone was stunned.
Followed by admiring stares.
Kids love this.
"Th-That's incredible!"
"Blue Guild's leader, who had no progress until yesterday, is up and about in just one day..."
This was thanks to the healers' notes.
Blue Guild's leader had been on the brink of death yesterday, but by sunrise, he'd recovered rapidly.
By the time I left, he was even conscious.
"Truly... amazing! How many circles are you?"
"Hey, hey. It's rude to ask that."
"B-But still."
The staff's overwhelming attention felt great.
"Hahaha. Can't really say about circles. Anyway, call me anytime for requests like this."
"Yes! Thank you!"
"So... the reward?"
"We'll deposit it right away!"
One hundred million won hit my account.
Whoa. A hundred mil for one job.
"Plus the magic stone value..."
One hundred ten million.
This could buy the villa I'm living in now.
The landlord mentioned putting it up for sale anyway.
Man. No wonder everyone's dying to become hunters!
"Got any more requests like this?"
Ten of these and I'd have an apartment.
"Sadly, high-paying ones like this aren't common."
"Darn."
Too bad.
"Still, call me for similar ones."
"Got it!"
I'll build my reputation step by step like this.
"See you next time."
"Do you do rifts at all?"
"Rifts... I'd like to."
"Want me to let you know about rift parties recruiting mages?"
"Yes, please."
"What's your element? Fire mages are hot right now."
Element, huh.
Do I even have one?
"Uh, shaman type?"
Ghost busting and all.
"......"
"M-Maybe holy?"
The staff looked puzzled.
Guess I should just register for now.
.
.
.
.
Back home.
Worked up an appetite.
Meat it is.
Fired up the grill right away.
"You guys want some?"
I summoned the grimoires and set them beside me.
"Alright, let's talk straight."
I poured shots next to Secrets of Light and Shadow and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
Not sure if they can drink it, but...
Atmosphere matters.
But what to say?
"Hey. What if other grimoires..."
-Chrarararak!!
-Woooooong!!
What the—? They went berserk, like Bro, I'm right here and you're talking about other girls?
Ugh. So picky.
"Hey, hey, calm down. You know skill levels go up and let me summon other grimoires, right?"
-Chrararak...
-Wooong...
"Can't help it even if you hate it. But I'm a man who accepts harems. As long as I can handle multiple books, it's fine, right?"
-Chrak!!
-Woooong!!!
"Not like I'm saying I'll read or favor one over the others."
-Chrarararak....
-Woooooong...
Did they get it?
The grimoires settled down a bit.
"Don't worry. This Yoo Wol-young takes responsibility once you're in my hands."
-Chrak...
-Wooong....
I stroked the covers of both grimoires.
They flinched at my touch, but seemed to understand my intent.
"So let's clear the air here. Yeah? What if new grimoires show up later?"
-Chrarak...
-Wooong...
"Get along. Anyone who doesn't listen goes on the shelf unread. Got it?"
-Chrak...!!
-Wooong...!!
That should get the point across.
"Alright, shots all around to make up. Wait, how do you even... Oh. It worked?"
The soju in the glasses before the grimoires was gone.
They accepted it?
Nice.
"Thanks for understanding. I'll cherish you all that much, so let's make this work."
I gave the grimoires a pat.
This is about me, right?
Time to drop some info.
"Hunter Yoo Wol-young."
Just as I posted my one truthful comment, a staff member called me.
"When did you get here? You could've skipped the ticket."
The Hunter Association is always packed.
Even seeing staff means drawing a number and waiting.
Of course, with my record and being a mage, I could cut in.
But to be admired by the masses, show humility now.
"Hahaha. I'm just a hunter like anyone. If others draw numbers, so should I."
"Wow... You're amazing. If only other mages were like this..."
I know plenty of mages with trash personalities.
Thanks.
The worse they are, the brighter my rep shines.
"What can I do for you? Another rift?"
"No. A request similar to Blue Guild's came in..."
Similar request?
Wonder what it is.
"Hello."
Waiting in the lounge was a man in a suit.
Doesn't look like a hunter.
"I'm Yang Jun-tae, section chief at Seoul City's Redevelopment Support Division."
"Ah, I see. What brings a civil servant here?"
"We heard about the Blue Guild incident. You exorcised the ghost, right?"
"Yes."
"We have an apartment complex we need to demolish... but it's a headache."
"What's the issue?"
"Take a look at these."
He handed over some photos.
A rundown apartment complex on the verge of collapse.
The kind you see anywhere.
But the things around it...
Ghosts with stretched necks.
Torn-eyed ghosts.
Slit-mouthed ghosts.
Limbs shattered or dozens of appendages.
All sorts of grotesque horrors captured in the shots.
"It's a 50-year-old complex. Could collapse any minute, so demolition's urgent. But when heavy equipment arrives at the entrance... engines die instantly."
"Oh ho."
"And workers who enter all pass out."
"I see."
"We even asked hunters to investigate, just in case..."
"What'd they find?"
"Hunters got hit too."
Plenty of hunters heed national requests.
Seoul City asked directly, but results were the same as laborers.
Just fainting.
And vowing never to return.
"Can't you just leave it?"
"No choice. It's a collapse risk."
"Free demo op then?"
The official looked awkward; staff stepped in.
"It's a redevelopment site... for public rental housing. Lots lost homes to rifts."
"Ah."
Public good, huh?
How could a man with ambitions stay idle for a good cause?
Of course, the reward covering materials I couldn't otherwise afford helped.
"Fine. I'll do it. Where is it?"
"Yangjae-dong, Seoul."
Told the cabbie the address, and he freaked.
"Why the hell you goin' there?!"
"Work."
"Whatever it is, quit while ahead. Word's spread among cabbies. Some YouTubers went for a scare vid and all died."
"For real?"
"Yeah! Buddy of mine cabbed a YouTuber there, came back hauling bodies."
"No way."
"Big burly security types tried demo too. All dead."
Cabbie could talk.
Forty minutes without pause.
"Uh... seriously, be careful."
"Appreciate it. Oh, and sir."
"Yeah?"
"Yap."
"What the—?!"
I sprinkled salt on the driver's floor.
Finally, the head glaring murderously at him vanished.
"Drive safe."