Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: The First Bounty
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“You could pick any guy you wanted, Se-yeon.”
I grinned teasingly, and Han Se-yeon furrowed her brows.
“I’m too busy to date. I haven’t even dated anyone before... Ahem. Oh, and take this.”
Han Se-yeon pulled a card from her pocket.
It was an elegant-looking card with the Hanseong family name inscribed on it.
“What’s this?”
“It’s proof that you’re with the Hanseong family. We only give these to people who’ve served us for a long time, but I got a spare recently, so here you go. If a staff member gets suspicious looking for me on a day like today, just show them this. They’ll take care of everything.”
“Oh.”
I examined the card closely, feeling intrigued. Her explanation made it seem even more prestigious.
“Plus, you can use any facility affiliated with the Hanseong family freely, so it should come in handy.”
“Nice. I’ll make good use of it.”
Han Se-yeon smiled.
“Even so, it’s nothing compared to that Ilwol Pharmacy Manual you gave me—like a drop in the bucket.”
“Sounds like you’re putting it to good use.”
“Yeah, the quality of the medicines has improved overall thanks to it. But we’ll need more research before we can commercialize them.”
“That’s great to hear. I can look forward to some scraps if it works out, right?”
“Of course.”
Han Se-yeon replied with confident conviction.
“Anyway, enough chit-chat. Here’s what you asked for.”
Han Se-yeon stood up and retrieved a brown envelope from a drawer.
She placed it on the desk in front of me.
“This is the personal info and activity logs on those wanted criminals you mentioned. There are some civilians mixed in— are they all criminals too?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I skimmed through the documents.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected much since I only gave her two days, but the files were surprisingly extensive.
The info on villains I already knew was spot-on, and there were detailed records on wanted criminals I wasn’t familiar with.
“Great. Thanks for the hard work.”
“But why do you need this? Planning to catch wanted criminals or something?”
“Yeah, thought I’d try some bounty hunting.”
At my answer, a glint of interest sparked in Han Se-yeon’s eyes.
“Aren’t you loaded?”
“I’ve got plenty of money.”
“Then why? Oh, a sense of justice, huh. Like that time at the Pioneer Night cult gathering—you’ve got a real standout sense of justice.”
I gave a wry smile instead of answering.
I didn’t have a good excuse.
“Anyway, I’ll put it to good use.”
After parting with Han Se-yeon, I reviewed the documents she gave me as I headed to my destination.
[Kwak Chan-yong: Frequently appears at illegal gambling dens in Suwon.]
My target was a small illegal gambling den in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.
Kwak Chan-yong was a villain who ran several small crime syndicates from the shadows.
But Kwak Chan-yong was an alias, so almost no one knew his real identity or name.
His true name was ‘Mu-jin’.
A demon.
“Hmm. This the place?”
I slowly walked into the gambling den.
A man blocked my path.
“Security check. Need to see some ID.”
I pulled Kim Jin-woo’s ID from my pocket.
It felt a bit awkward, but no choice.
“Yeah, you’re good.”
I entered. I scanned the surroundings, slowly gauging the atmosphere. It was exactly what you’d expect from a gambling den.
People bet money on games—winners cheered, losers fumed.
I used Person Appraisal to check each person one by one.
It was a small illegal joint, so not too many people. Wouldn’t take long.
“...What? He’s not here.”
Contrary to my expectations, Mu-jin wasn’t there.
Did I get the day wrong?
As I wondered what to do next, a man entered through the entrance.
A gaunt man in his thirties.
I used Person Appraisal on him.
Name: Mu-jin
Age: 35
Race: Demon
Status: Calm
Mana Rank: B+
Interest Level: 0
Found him.
Time passed, and Kwak Chan-yong—no, Mu-jin—stepped out of the gambling den.
I followed him stealthily, making sure not to be spotted.
I chose Mu-jin as my first target for several reasons.
One was to quickly build light attribute proficiency by exploiting his demon nature.
The second was that he was a direct subordinate of Cheonhae, the frontman for the Ten Demon Society.
With Jang Ye dead, I had no idea what Cheonhae might do next, so this was preemptive deterrence.
We reached a quiet alley with few people around. I called out his name from behind.
“Mu-jin.”
At my call, Mu-jin turned toward me.
He seemed a bit startled to hear his real name out of the blue.
“Who are you? A demon?”
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I gathered mana to reinforce my body.
A surprise attack would’ve made it easier, but I wanted to test my new trait, so I confronted him head-on.
Mu-jin sensed something off and lowered his stance into combat readiness.
[Activating effect: ‘Victory Herald’.]
[Target: ‘Mu-jin’.]
[Victory in combat against the target grants a random additional stat point or trait.]
Target set.
Now I just had to take him down.
“...A human, huh. What’s your deal? How do you know my real name?”
Mu-jin glared at me.
Soon, five blazing flame thorns floated around him.
A flawless compression manifestation—impressively so.
I could feel the intensely compressed mana in each one.
For a moment, I thought this guy might be stronger than Jang Ye.
Combat experience matters as much as mana rank.
Time to experiment.
Without Mana Elixir or Heart of the Great Nature, how well could I handle a B-grade demon?
“How do you know my real name?!”
With Mu-jin’s shout, the five flame thorns shot toward me.
But thanks to the trait-enhanced dynamic vision, their movements looked slow to my eyes.
I dodged leisurely and charged at him.
I planned to close in, disrupt his focus, and target vitals.
That’s when it happened. Mana condensed intensely from the ground, and a massive fire pillar erupted with a boom!
“Ugh!”
I barely dodged. Without the Combat Light trait’s dynamic vision boost, I’d have been done for.
He can even handle form conversion.
Being able to manipulate secondary forms like fire pillars—not just main forms like swords, spears, or arrows—proved his mana control was top-tier.
“...How is this only B-grade?”
His mana control alone screamed higher than B.
Yet he was B-grade, probably a case like mine: great manifestation but lacking innate mana reserves.
Still, his total mana pool was way bigger than mine...
“Whew.”
Pure stats alone can’t quite handle a B-grade demon yet.
Time for the next experiment.
[Activating effect: ‘Fighting Spirit’.]
[All stats increase by 20% for 3 minutes.]
Vmmm—!
I felt my body grow stronger.
Especially my physical abilities—it was pronounced.
A 20% boost to all stats.
The higher the base, the better it scales, but even now, the effect was clear.
“Good.”
I grinned and rushed him.
Mu-jin looked flustered by my sped-up movements.
He tried blocking with another fire pillar like before, but it was futile.
I was faster now.
As I closed the distance, I manifested three light attribute orbs over my hand.
One at his head.
One at his torso.
One with a delay at his head again.
Kwaaaang!
“Gaaargh!”
He blocked the first two, but the delayed final one got through.
Now, while he writhed in pain—that was my chance.
I gathered all my mana and formed a maximum-output orb in my hand.
“Haaaah!”
A massive light that pierced the darkness.
The brilliant glow shot toward his head.
Kwaang!
[Victory achieved against the target!]
[Victory Herald grants: Strength +0.5, Mana +0.5, Mana Control Proficiency +2%.]
[Successfully eliminated a demon using light attribute.]
[Light attribute proficiency +15%.]
[Solo subjugation of B-grade villain ‘Mu-jin’.]
[A minor story change has been detected.]
[Karma increases by 0.3.]
“Whew.”
Victory.
Even without Mana Elixir or Heart of the Great Nature, I took down a B-grade demon.
Pairing ‘Fighting Spirit’ with ‘Heart of the Great Nature’ would probably amplify it hugely.
As I let out a sigh of relief, a brilliant light flashed from my body.
“What’s this?”
[Trait ‘Blessing of the Great Nature’ rank has increased to 4.]
[Trait ‘Blessing of the Great Nature’ unlocks a new effect.]
[Blessing of the Great Nature (A) [Rank: 4 (0%)]
[Passive Effects]
► Blessing of the Great Nature
Mana training yields additional mana. Up to 170% extra based on surroundings.
Attribute proficiency gains extra. Up to 80% extra based on situation.]
“Jackpot.”
‘Blessing of the Great Nature’ unlocked a new effect.
Extra attribute proficiency—up to 80% bonus.
Perfect for me, just starting with attributes.
If I use this right, I can fill light attribute proficiency way faster.
“Wizard Kim Jin-woo?”
As I sat on the bench checking my traits, someone called my name. Looking up, a Special Task Force agent confirming Mu-jin’s body was staring at me.
“We’re done here. You said you were attacked by a demon—glad you handled it safely.”
Technically, I attacked first, but I didn’t want the hassle, so I’d fudged the story.
The agent, clueless that I could identify demons, bought it wholesale.
“The subjugation bounty should deposit tomorrow.”
“Got it. I’m in a rush—mind if I go?”
“Yes! You’re free to leave. Good work.”
The agent bowed politely.
I stood, gave a light nod to the staff, and turned away.
The next day, Sunday morning.
News hit the internet: another demon taken down by Kim Jin-woo.
Headline: ‘The Demon Who Attacked Without Knowing His Foe Was a Wizard Meets His End.’
Comments ranged from “Serves him right” to “Picked the wrong target.”
I earned a bit of Fame Points.
There was also an unusual message.
[Character ‘Ha-ryeong’ takes interest in you.]
[Reward: 3,000 points acquired.]
[Character ‘Cheonhae’ feels rage toward you.]
[Reward: 2,000 points acquired.]
Messages from Ha-ryeong and Cheonhae toward me.
I got why Cheonhae was mad—losing his friend Jang Han and subordinate Mu-jin.
But Ha-ryeong? Like last time, no clue why she was interested.
She had some unique traits unlike typical demons in the original story, but this was still weird.
“I’ll find out eventually.”
If I knew their goals, I could prepare, but no such luck.
I got up for my Sunday schedule when my smartphone alarm rang.
[You’ve been busy.]
It was Han Se-yeon.
[What?]
[You took down a demon yesterday. I thought you just wanted criminal backgrounds—didn’t expect demons. How’d you know?]
Too lazy for details, I replied curtly.
[Coincidence.]
I sent it, went to the shoe rack, and slipped on my shoes.
Then another message from Han Se-yeon arrived.
[(Throwing object emoticon)]
I started my usual training schedule. Met Yoon Ha-young for magic practice, then hit the dungeon to take down devil-type monsters and raise light attribute proficiency.
[Light Attribute Control] [Rank: 0 (34%)]
After today’s session, light attribute control proficiency surpassed 34%.
Wins against strong demons helped, but the new ‘Blessing of the Great Nature’ attribute bonus was huge.
At this rate, I could master light attribute within two months.
“Ugh. Tough one today.”
Evening 8 PM, after grueling outdoor training.
Yoon Ha-young and I walked toward the bus stop.