chapter 2
chapter 2
Money Ghost (1)
“This is really the last time. No more, no less! At least hear me out once.”
“It’s not something good for me, it’s something good for you. Get lost. Just listening to you makes my ears rot.”
This bastard wouldn’t be persuaded unless I drew my sword.
I quickly pulled the sword at my waist and pointed it at his neck.
Srrng!
“Gasp!”
Crash!
As I suddenly raised my sword to his throat, the mercenaries who had been watching with interest jumped to their feet.
They were already treating me as an outsider.
I could feel it in their eyes—the cold gaze of people who no longer saw me as a comrade.
“Hey, you bastard. Do I look like a joke to you?”
“Haha, everyone calm down. I’m fine. Still, you said you’re retiring, but you’ve got plenty of energy. Looks like you could go another ten years?”
“Is your nickname bastard, so you decided to just live like one?”
“Come on, I came with a good offer. Calling me a bastard is too much.”
“That’s a good offer? Is it because you’re a bastard that you can’t understand human language?”
As we continued to confront each other, tension filled the mercenary guild.
“You’re crazy about money, right? I’m saying I’ll help you earn a lot.”
“Do you not understand what retiring means?”
I had already reached all the goals I needed to achieve.
There was no longer any reason to risk my life as a mercenary.
So ignoring this guy’s proposal was the right choice.
“I’m not interested, so go find someone else’s grave.”
It was extremely rare for a mercenary to retire with all their limbs intact.
And I was one of those rare cases.
To the mercenary guild, mercenaries were assets.
And now a top-tier asset with no defects was walking away on its own.
From the guild’s perspective, full of scumbags, there was no way they’d let go without regret—they’d want to squeeze every last drop out of me.
That’s also why this bastard was pulling tricks on me.
‘You don’t avoid shit because it’s scary, you avoid it because it’s filthy.’
I had almost died on my previous mission.
And I had already used up all my resurrection stones.
The resurrection stone I just mentioned was the most valuable item sold in the shop, functioning exactly as its name suggested.
‘A miraculous item that brings the dead back to life.’
In the game, I used it without much thought, but after becoming reality, it turned into an incredibly important item.
Maybe because of that, it used to appear fairly often in the game, but here, it became extremely rare when drawing items.
‘If I die now, everything I’ve done so far will be meaningless.’
I had only obtained two resurrection stones.
One was from a ridiculous early 30-day login reward.
Currently, the login rewards stop at 30 days and haven’t been updated further.
The other one I got through sheer luck in a draw.
But no matter how many times I tried afterward, I never got another.
‘And I used both of them during my mercenary life.’
Other mercenaries thought I had just been lucky to survive, but in reality, I had died twice and come back.
‘Now that I don’t have any resurrection stones, I need to be careful, but this bastard screwed me over.’
He lied about the mission details and tricked me into taking on a difficult request.
He must not have liked that I was taking it easy before retirement.
He said it was an easy mission, but when I got there, a monster strong enough to threaten my life was waiting.
‘I really wanted to kill him.’
I somehow managed to defeat the monster, but if this bastard had been nearby at the time, I would have killed him without hesitation.
That’s how furious I was.
The only reason I held back was because that mission was my last one before retirement.
I didn’t want to cause trouble and risk my retirement.
If that hadn’t been the case, I would’ve at least left another stab wound on his body.
‘I let it go because it was the last time.’
But this bastard must’ve thought I was easy since I stayed quiet, coming to mess with me on the very day I was retiring.
If I tolerated this too, I’d deserve to be treated like a fool.
In the end, I drew my sword, and only then did he come to his senses and raise both hands as if to show he wouldn’t push further.
“Wouldn’t it be a shame? There’s a huge amount of money on the line.”
“Get your head straight. I’m about to feel like killing you even if it means not retiring.”
“……”
I sheathed my sword again and left the mercenary guild.
I wanted to spit in front of the guild entrance to relieve my mood, but even turning back felt unpleasant, so I didn’t.
“Hey! Wait a second! Hah… j-just a moment!”
“Damn it. If you don’t want to get hurt, get lost quietly! I said I’m not doing it!”
“N-no! That’s not it! I just wanted to see you off!!”
The one who ran up and blocked my path was the new recruit who had introduced himself earlier.
“What are you trying to do?”
He wanted to see me off?
I didn’t even know how to respond to such a meaningless gesture.
“Huff huff… wow, you walk really fast. I didn’t come with any other intention. Actually, I’ve got something unfair going on too.”
“If it’s unfair, go find someone else. Don’t waste the time of someone unrelated.”
“I’m really sorry, but could you just listen a little? Just until the city gate.”
He was saying he wouldn’t follow me beyond that.
I found it bothersome, so I decided to ignore him.
As I started walking again, the recruit followed right behind me and began talking.
It seemed he took my silence as permission.
“I’m sixteen this year. When I was ten, my hometown was attacked by monsters and completely wiped out.”
“A cliché sob story.”
How many people have lost their homes and families to monsters?
No one would cry and sympathize over something like that.
“Hehe, that’s true, right? But I’m the only survivor of that village. It’s not like I was lucky enough to be outside, or hiding somewhere the monsters couldn’t find. Aren’t you curious how I survived?”
“……”
I was too emotionally worn out to feel anything about the fact that he was alive.
“The reason I survived… is because of you, mister mercenary!”
“??”
Me?
I saved him?
Did he notice that I was finally showing interest?
The rookie smiled brightly.
“Back then, I was really grateful. After saving me, you even put me in a good orphanage.”
Did I do that?
I don’t remember.
If he was ten back then and now looks about sixteen, that was six years ago.
Remembering that would be insane.
“I wanted to become someone like you. So I worked really hard. And thanks to that, I made it here.”
What a pity.
If I had known he’d throw away the life I saved by becoming a mercenary, maybe it would’ve been better not to save him.
“I wanted to work with the mercenary who saved me, and today I finally achieved that dream.”
And yet, on the very day he joined the guild, he heard that I was retiring.
No wonder he looked dumbfounded.
“Are you really retiring?”
“Yeah. What’s so great about mercenary work that I’d keep doing it past thirty? I’m done.”
“Uh… it’s a bit disappointing for me, but I still want to say congratulations.”
“Congratulations? You followed me into that place, and now things turned out like this. You’re not annoyed?”
“No!! It’s something to celebrate. I heard that most mercenaries only retire after getting so injured they can’t work anymore.”
Hearing such kind and innocent words made irritation surge up.
I stopped walking and glared at him.
“You’re pissing me off. Hey.”
“Yes!”
The rookie stiffened in surprise at my sharp expression.
“If you know it’s such a dangerous job, why use me as your excuse? It leaves a bad taste.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“If you die, it’ll end up being like you died because you followed me into this. That’s annoying. It’s unpleasant.”
He must’ve thought I’d pat his shoulder and tell him he did well after hearing he admired me.
After staring at the dejected rookie, I started walking again.
I thought he’d be hurt and fall back, but he followed me again.
“I won’t die. And even if I face death, I won’t blame you or regret it. I promise.”
What a persistent guy.
‘If he realized I’m not what he expected, he should just give up and leave.’
Since I kept walking without responding, he brought up another topic.
“By the way, isn’t thirty a bit early to retire?”
“What does age have to do with a mercenary retiring? The day you die is your retirement date.”
“I want to retire at thirty too. I’ll work hard and save money until then.”
If everything went according to plan, what couldn’t you achieve in this world?
“What are you going to do after retirement?”
After retirement?
It’s not like I could just live leisurely for the rest of my life after quitting as a mercenary.
My mercenary life so far was, simply put, like a ‘tutorial.’
My real life would begin at thirty.
“Why are you asking? Obviously, I’ll open a shop and live off the money I saved.”
My life after retirement would be the opposite of what I just said.
Using the money I earned like a dog as seed capital, I would make even more and become rich.
“Where are you going to open your shop?”
“What’s it to you?”
Where would I open my shop?
Obviously…
The academy city, where the SSR characters in the game were active.
That’s where I would go and open my shop.