Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Proper Posture of an Unemployed Man with 3 Billion in His Bank Account
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The cheerful sound of the door lock disengaging was accompanied by the familiar aroma of stew wafting through the air.
An old apartment in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.
Han Jaewoo had successfully retreated to his family home, leaving behind the commotion in the Hunter Association lobby caused by the barbaric returnee Kang Taesan.
Handing his business card to Kang Taesan, who had clung to his pant leg sobbing, and turning away coolly had been a brilliant choice.
Escaping that massive misunderstanding and the blood-curdling stares had been the top priority.
As soon as he kicked off his shoes in the entryway, his younger sister Han Yujin, who had been watching TV in the living room, whipped her head around.
"Oh, you're back? Where'd you go strutting around today?"
Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
Then, his mother burst out of the kitchen, ladle in hand, while preparing dinner.
"You little punk! Crawling in right when dinner's ready—what do you think you're doing? If you're a hunter or whatever, go out and earn some money! All you do is scrounge that black coat and wander the neighborhood!"
Normally, Han Jaewoo's shoulders would have slumped endlessly.
No, he would have at least parted his lips to make some excuse.
But today's Han Jaewoo was different.
His steps were light as if walking on clouds, his back straight as a rod.
Even in the face of his mother's back-smacking wind-up, he didn't flinch.
Zero impact.
Because right now, dazzling capitalist essence coursed through his veins instead of blood.
He silently approached the living room table.
And pulled something from his pocket, tossing it casually onto the center of the table.
A glossy black card from Taesung Guild, freshly issued after their deal, gleaming with a luxurious sheen.
And a smartphone with its screen lit up.
"What is it? Another weird business card?"
Han Yujin peered indifferently at the smartphone screen.
It was the account inquiry screen of an internet banking app.
Behind the number 3, zeros stretched in an endless line.
One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, ten million, hundred million, billion.
3,000,000,000 won.
"...Huh?"
Han Yujin's eyes widened like watermelons.
With trembling hands, she snatched the smartphone and shoved her nose into the screen.
She counted the digits, counted again, and recounted.
"Mom."
"What! What accident did this punk cause now!"
"B-Bro's account... has 3 billion in it."
Clang.
The ladle slipped from his mother's hand and hit the floor.
A heavy silence descended on the living room.
The only sound was the hollow laughter from the variety show on TV, as mother and daughter froze like statues.
In that suffocating quiet, Han Jaewoo elegantly sank into the sofa.
He crossed his legs languidly and draped his arms over the backrest.
The languid, arrogant gaze of the Northern Grand Duke, seeped into his very bones, turned toward the pair.
"...Use it for living expenses, Mother."
His low, weighty voice vibrated the air in the room.
"Give my sister some generous pocket money too. I'll top it up if it's not enough."
A thick veil of leisure spread across his lips as he finished speaking.
The perfect taste of power forged by capitalism.
In an instant, the frozen attitudes of mother and daughter flipped 180 degrees.
"Oh, my goodness! My son! My fine boy! Mom knew you'd do big things!"
His mother rushed over barefoot and seized his hand.
The ladle she'd been about to swing moments ago was already forgotten.
"Dinner! Have you eaten? Stew's nothing—I'll run to the butcher right now and get two whole hanwoo cows! My boy needs meat!"
"Oppa! No, my lord! Shall I massage your shoulders? You must be exhausted from hunting monsters out there!"
Han Yujin darted over and began kneading his shoulders vigorously.
Han Jaewoo closed his eyes gently.
He needed neither the scandals of the world-commanding Heavenly Demon nor the guilds' blank checks.
Only this cold hard cash of 3 billion elevated him from the family's bottom-rung kangaroo to the true powerholder, the Northern Grand Duke.
'Yes. This is it. Money is the best.'
Tearing up internally with emotion, Han Jaewoo graciously accepted his family's flattery like an emperor.
A few days later.
Armed with a bulging wallet and sky-high confidence, Han Jaewoo headed out.
The location was a low-rank dungeon cluster on the outskirts of Seoul.
He stood at the dungeon entrance, waiting for someone he'd summoned in advance.
"Hyungnim! You've arrived!"
A earth-shaking footfall approached from afar, accompanied by a massive shadow.
190 centimeters tall. A barbaric brute who looked at least 3 meters, Kang Taesan.
Spotting Han Jaewoo, he charged over and bowed at a perfect 90 degrees.
"You're early."
"When hyungnim calls, of course I come early and stand by!"
Kang Taesan's eyes sparkled with blind loyalty toward Han Jaewoo.
And rightly so.
Over the past few days, Han Jaewoo had called him daily, feeding him unlimited samgyeopsal—not just refills, but top-grade black pork to the limit.
To Kang Taesan, Han Jaewoo was no longer the villain who shattered his peace.
He was the only man who could rein in that mad emperor's tyranny, the true liege who lavishly bestowed the lost flavors of daily life (meat).
A sticky lord-vassal bond forged by capitalism and meat.
Han Jaewoo flashed a satisfied smile and patted Kang Taesan's shoulder.
"Let's go. Loosen up lightly and clock out today too."
"Got it, hyungnim! I'll take the lead!"
Their destination was clear.
The safest, easiest spot with a near-zero death rate: the beginner hunting ground.
F-Rank Slime Dungeon.
Though he'd scored 3 billion, Han Jaewoo intended to keep earning pocket change to fulfill his hunter duties.
Of course, anywhere dangerous was strictly off-limits.
His goal was the honey-sucking office worker mindset: smack slimes, kill time, and head home early.
With an elegant gesture, he moved to scan his permit on the entry gate panel.
At that exact moment.
A chilling aura crept up his spine from behind, sending shivers down it.
An overwhelming cold that could freeze midsummer heat in an instant.
This ominous sensation belonged to one person alone.
Instinctively halting, Han Jaewoo slowly turned his head.
"......"
Under a roadside tree a dozen meters from the gate entrance.
A woman in dazzling white martial robes, long straight hair cascading down: Heavenly Demon Baek Seorin stood there.
Han Jaewoo's heart plummeted.
'Damn it. Why is she here again! I'm not mentally prepared yet!'
A few days ago in the Hunter Association lobby, while he was selling mana stones and locked in fierce political battles with other guilds' members, she'd overheard him proudly calling her his solid backing and fled with her heart about to burst.
This was their first encounter since.
But today, something was off about her.
Gone was her usual murderous arrogance, chin raised as she looked down on the world.
Head bowed, she fidgeted with her fingers, shrinking back.
Upon closer look, a faint blush tinged her pale cheeks.
Like someone peeking guiltily after committing a grave sin.
The moment he saw her shoulders trembling faintly, a horrific scenario flashed through Han Jaewoo's mind.
'Gasp! She's shivering! She's pissed!'
His plebeian survival instincts kicked into overdrive.
'It has to be that. She found out I sold the S-rank mana stone for 3 billion without her permission! She's suppressing her rage over me selling her trophy willy-nilly! She's debating whether to slit my throat right now!'
Cold sweat poured from Han Jaewoo's forehead like a waterfall.
He wanted to drop to his knees, recite his account number, and beg to transfer the full 3 billion.
But beside him stood his massive, devout subordinate Kang Taesan, watching wide-eyed.
To survive, and to save face.
Han Jaewoo frantically racked his brain and devised the most plausible compromise to soothe her wrath.
Before she demands the mana stone money, I'll preempt and butter her up.
Forcing strength into his shaking legs, he mustered his signature languid arrogance.
Stepping toward Baek Seorin, he opened his mouth in a fatal voice.
"...Have you come to enjoy some leisure as well."
Baek Seorin's shoulders twitched.
She cautiously lifted her head to meet his gaze.
"If you desire it."
Han Jaewoo smirked leisurely, nodding toward the gate entrance.
"I'll offer you a spot in my party."
'Please don't get petty about the mana stone money, cheer up, and let's hunt slimes together.'
The moment his offer hung in the air.
Baek Seorin's pupils shook wildly, like an earthquake.
A spot in his party.
To her ears, these words carried an entirely different dimension of meaning.
Just days ago, he'd boldly declared her his backing before everyone.
And now, he extended a hand, inviting her into his domain.
This was nothing less than a date proposal. No—a formal invitation as a lifelong companion.
'He's... truly accepting me.'
Baek Seorin's heart pounded as if it would shatter her ribs and burst out.
Swallowing a scream of joy threatening to escape, she shyly nodded, her face flushed crimson.
"...If that's what you wish, gladly."
Kang Taesan, watching this, dropped his jaw to the floor.
'Insane! Taming that pitiless mad emperor wasn't enough—now he's turned the Heavenly Demon of the world into a meek lamb! What abyss does hyungnim live in?!'
To Kang Taesan, Han Jaewoo was no mere returnee.
He was an untouchable demonic beast tamer, holding leashes on all the world's absolutes.
His loyalty to hyungnim had ascended to religious faith.
But simultaneously, a chilling rational doubt brushed his mind.
That mad obsessive yandere emperor who'd turned his turf to ashes.
And the fearsome Heavenly Demon blushing before his eyes now.
If those two disasters ever met in one place?
'...This guy won't end up stabbed in the gut with a nice boat ending, will he?'
A beautiful cruise ending with blood spraying and guts spilling.
Kang Taesan shuddered at the horrific melodrama finale.
'Hyungnim, live long and prosper. I'll stand way back with popcorn.'
In the end.
The arrogant Northern Grand Duke.
The survivor from an EX-rank hell.
And the blushing, shy Heavenly Demon.
The most unbalanced, freakish three-man party imaginable strode boldly into the F-Rank Slime Dungeon.
The dungeon interior was a damp, dark cave.
Blue jelly-like slimes bounced around the floor here and there.
"I'll demonstrate first."
Han Jaewoo cleared his throat and drew a cheap steel sword from his waist.
No matter that his companions were the Heavenly Demon and Kang Taesan—he couldn't pose forever.
An F-rank slime should be farmable enough with his meager mana and B-rank knight swordsmanship.
He leaped elegantly toward a slime.
Imperial Knight Order Swordsmanship: Honest Downward Slash (B)
A purely textbook vertical downward slash, devoid of any flair.
Splat—!
"Kyuuu-ing—!"
The slime's body split in half, spraying blue goo everywhere with an adorable death cry.
The impact felt amazing.
Unlike his days in the imperial knight training grounds, hacking straw dummies daily and getting reamed.
The thrill of a monster bursting in one hit from his sword.
"Heh heh..."
Han Jaewoo let out an involuntary chuckle.
'Yes, this is it! This exact thrill!'
Forget those trembling days in the S-rank dungeon.
This was his stage. He was the apex predator of this ecosystem!
Plebeian ecstasy zapped his brain.
Getting hyped, he swung his sword wildly, popping slimes left and right.
"Kyuu-ing! Kyuu iiiing—!"
Cute, pathetic slime screams echoed everywhere.
Kang Taesan followed eagerly, turning slimes into pancakes with his telephone pole-sized bone axe.
Meanwhile.
Baek Seorin trailed quietly behind the slime massacre party, lost in deep contemplation.
Her gaze fixed on Han Jaewoo's back as he hopped around slicing slimes.
What had been his true intent when he called her his backing?
Was it just a test of her feelings, or a shallow ploy to use her?
From the depths of her heart, scarred by decades of betrayal, bitter distrust began to sprout again.
But then.
Her eyes caught Han Jaewoo's sword stroke cleaving a slime.
Top to bottom.
Horizontal to vertical.
A sword allowing no petty tricks, no flashy techniques.
A path of pure integrity—fiercely honest and upright.
Baek Seorin stared blankly at that noble, foolish blade.
And soon, blushing in shame at her own suspicions.
'One who wields such an upright sword wouldn't resort to petty schemes.'
The sword is a man's true nature.
A man with such pure, unblemished martial prowess wouldn't toy with another's heart.
'Yes. Those words were sincere. The most honest confession—that he'd fully accept me as his own.'
Han Jaewoo's desperate survival B-rank swordplay was forcibly retranslated in the Heavenly Demon's mind into perfect romantic fantasy once more.
Her eyes now glistened not with doubt, but blind affection and trust.
Thus, pink delusions and plebeian farming bliss crossed perfectly in that peaceful, warm moment.
Sssslither.
A sticky, ominous aura began crawling up from the dungeon depths, coiling around ankles.
"...Huh?"
Han Jaewoo's hand froze mid-air while gleefully slicing slimes.
The air had changed.
Not the cool cave dampness from before.
A pungent, fishy stench of blood assaulting his nose.
Slimes that should have bounced on the floor sizzled with chiijik sounds upon touching some invisible something, melting tracelessly.
And from the cave's darkness came a grotesque noise.
Splurch. Squish.
Something massive, liquid-formed, crawling forth.
Han Jaewoo raised his trembling head to peer into the dark.
What tore through the shadows was no slime.
A grotesque beast formed of coagulated dark red blood.
Mimicking human shape, but where features should be, gaping holes poured blood like waterfalls.
A horrific aberration that could never, ever appear in an F-rank slime dungeon.
Grooooar—!
The blood monster's overwhelming killing intent crushed the dungeon interior.
Breath caught, hairs standing on end in terror.
Han Jaewoo paled and froze like a statue.
His cheap steel sword slipped from his hand, clattering to the floor.
To onlookers, it seemed the arrogant absolute's disdain for an intruder, needing no weapon.
But inwardly, he wailed desperately, screaming silent curses at the void.
'Fuck, this was supposed to be a safe F-rank! That bloody rag monster isn't F-rank anywhere you look!! Why is this happening to me?!'