The 1 Billion Bounty and the Barcode Scanner

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There was a 1 billion won bounty on my head.

“Haaah…….”

I crouched in the corner behind the counter, staring blankly at my smartphone screen and letting out a hollow little laugh. What an absolute clusterfuck. In my hand was a 1+1 peach-flavored ion drink whose discard time had passed mere minutes ago. I was no reclusive master or shadow guild leader — I was the trash-tier Non-Awakened whose body wheezed and gasped from hauling a single logistics box. And yet a 1 billion won bounty.

The world had clearly gone collectively insane. That ice-cold S-Rank hunter Han Seo-yoon had put a price on my neck — all because I'd pointed out a single weakness right before Yurina nearly died on her stream. I didn't even want to imagine how badly that kind of money could flip a hunter's eyes inside out. It was terrifying just to think about. These were people who'd knife each other over a single byproduct from a low-grade monster; they were never going to leave a walking 1 billion won check alone.

Han Seo-yoon's frigid stare from the news broadcast just moments ago was still burned into my brain.

“I will put up 1 billion won of my own money. Find him, no matter what it takes.”

“He is the only hope we have of clearing the worst dungeon Baekya Guild faces.”

It was a manhunt order, dispatched to every money-hungry hyena across the country: hunt this man down.

Beep-

Beep- beep-beep-!

My smartphone notifications went off like they were having a seizure. The Hunter Raid Gallery app. Dozens, hundreds of private messages came pouring in like crazy — demands to reveal my identity, propositions to make money together, even outright threats swearing they knew who I was and telling me to come out right now.

A slick thread of cold sweat ran down my spine. If they caught me, I would actually die. I'd be torn limb from limb by hunters blinded by 1 billion won in cash. My unique ability, the Eye of the Spectator? A half-baked, pathetic skill that only activated through a monitor screen. If an S-Rank hunter showed up in front of me, I'd simply pop like a slime — because I had precisely zero combat power of any kind.

With trembling fingers, I brought them to the screen. There was no longer any reason to hesitate.

Permanently delete account.

One button, and it would all be over. After all, 'Hunsu-duneun-nom' — that fixed-handle identity — was nothing but fake data hiding behind an anonymous network. Wipe every trace and run. Once my shift ended I'd go home, boil myself a nice hot pack of ramyeon, and then spend the rest of my life breathing quietly from inside a mouse hole. That was the only way a useless Non-Awakened like me survived.

I was just about to press my thumb down hard on the deletion button—

Ding-a-ling-!

The convenience store door chime rang out, shrill and grating, shattering the 3 a.m. silence.

“Hiek!”

I dove under the counter on pure reflex, my heart starting to pound like a drum. No customer should be coming at this hour. This was a rundown convenience store on the edge of a redevelopment zone so dead that not even a stray dog wandered through. Had some money-mad hacker hunter already traced my IP and come crashing in?

Unable to even breathe audibly, I clamped both hands tight over my mouth. From beyond the counter came the sound of heels on tile — mechanical, precise to the millimeter, footsteps without a single trace of emotion echoing across the store floor. Every hair on my body stood on end at the approach of a thoroughly trained predator.

Carefully, I poked just my head out and looked up at the CCTV monitor on the counter. Meeting eyes directly was far too dangerous. And the moment I confirmed the woman reflected on that screen, my breath caught in my throat.

She wore an immaculate black suit, far too formal for a midsummer night. Her silver bob was perfectly in place, her face an expressionless mask cold enough that stabbing her wouldn't have drawn a single drop of blood. In one hand she gripped a black briefcase and the latest-model security tablet. She didn't spare so much as a sideways glance at the triangle kimbap or the drinks on the shelves — she walked straight toward the counter like a hunter with a very clear target.

Information Inspector? Hunter Association? No, what the hell — not even Baekya Guild, but the Hunter Association was coming after me? The words 'raid-strategy leaker' floating on the status window made my vision swim. The Association treated its monopoly on gate-clearing data like a religion, and I'd dumped it all over a public forum. From their perspective, I was a first-degree traitor to the nation. If they hauled me in, it was a life sentence in an underground cell at minimum. With bad luck, I might get handed over to illegal hunters and tortured to death.

The woman came to a stop directly in front of the counter. The cold air conditioning stirred her silver hair ever so slightly. Baek Seol-ah glanced down, noticed my crouched face on the floor beyond the counter — and froze for a beat. Then she thrust the tablet screen she'd been carrying right up to my face. On it glowed a tangle of code and a map with a red dot blinking. The red dot pointed precisely at the counter terminal of this very convenience store.

The final trace of my IP connection. I'd been caught by the collar, perfectly, with not one millimeter of room left to run.

“Mr. Cha Do-hyun.”

An ice-cold, bone-dry voice bored into my eardrums.

“…….”

“Baek Seol-ah, Information Inspector with the Hunter Association.”

“…….”

“The fixed-handle user 'Hunsu-duneun-nom' of the Hunter Raid Gallery, this country's largest community. That's you, isn't it?”

My heart felt like it was about to burst out of my throat. I wanted to drop flat against the floor right then and there, grovel, and beg for my life. I wanted to confess everything, swear through tears of blood that I'd be loyal to the Association forever. But the warning light of my survival instinct was blaring like mad in my head.

That woman was an A-Rank hunter. A monster who would snap my neck the instant I tried to run or fumbled out some careless excuse. What do I do? How do I get out of this insane, checkmate-level crisis? Think. Find the one way to survive.

And then, the last line of the status window floating in the air drifted into my vision.

※ By-the-book rules-freak. Brain blue-screens on unexpected variables.

Situations that broke from protocol. Yes — she was a strict principlist and a perfectionist to the core. As an Information Inspector, she'd have a full interrogation procedure mapped out in her head like a manual: apply logical pressure on the target, extract the confession. That manual had to be shattered. With an outrageous variable her brain couldn't possibly have predicted.

I swallowed dryly, then slowly forced strength into my legs and rose up from behind the counter. I snatched the worn barcode scanner off the register. Cold sweat slicking my palm made the plastic grip slip.

“Mr. Cha Do-hyun. Your right to remain silent is useless. On suspicion of violating Article 4 of the Association Act, you will be—”

Beep!

“Would you like a bag?”

Baek Seol-ah's razor-sharp interrogation cut off with a snap.

“…I'm sorry, what?”

Her perfectly straight brow furrowed — just barely, almost imperceptibly.

I pressed my trembling legs down tight below the counter and squeezed out the robotic tone of a convenience store part-timer.

“Standard trash bags are 500 won, regular plastic bags are 50 won.”

“Are you mocking me right now? I am from the Associa—”

“And if you don't have a carrier discount card, I'm required to let you know that the ion drinks behind me are technically a 1+1 cross-promotion, but the promotion does not apply.”

“……!”

Baek Seol-ah's crimson lips twitched. Her cold eyes began to waver, minutely, searching for somewhere to land. It's working. She's actually blue-screening.

Baek Seol-ah stared blankly at the briefcase and tablet she was clutching, glancing back and forth between them. I could see it clear as day — hundreds of error pop-ups cascading open inside her head. An Association Information Inspector raids a target suspected of being a shadowy mastermind. She's about to begin a pressure interrogation, brandishing conclusive IP-trace evidence. And then that very target shoves a barcode scanner in her face and starts asking about plastic bags and carrier discounts. Nowhere in the interrogation manual she'd memorized by heart would there be a protocol for this lunatic scenario.

Flustered, Baek Seol-ah reached out unconsciously and braced her hand on the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠corner of the counter.

Crrrick.

The marble counter edge cracked, just barely, under an A-Rank hunter's grip.

Hold on, WTF — doesn't that mean my skull could shatter like that too?! Crazy, crazy, CRAZY! Why is stone breaking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like tofu?! Somebody save me!

I barely suppressed the urge to scream and drop flat to the floor on the spot. I forced my shaking legs to steady and squeezed out the most soulless voice I could manage.

“Sir, if you break the marble you're leaning on, it comes out of my paycheck.”

“……!”

“If you're not going to buy anything, could you please step aside? There's a line forming behind you.”

I said it shamelessly, twirling the barcode scanner with a flick-flick of my wrist. It was a silent 3 a.m. where not even a fly buzzed, let alone another customer.

This man didn't flinch a single heartbeat even looking at the IP trace results. No — he's maintaining a low-level part-timer act to the very end, mocking me with exquisite subtlety. A disguise flawless down to the bone. There is unquestionably a massive black hand operating behind him.

Baek Seol-ah sucked in a sharp breath and hastily hugged the tablet to her chest. Then she leapt backward like a herbivore panicking in front of an enormous predator.

“…I will, withdraw for today.”

“Thank you, come again. If you have a Pop Card, you get an extra ten percent off.”

“……Kgh!”

Finally overloaded, Baek Seol-ah turned her back on me. She yanked the convenience store door open in what could only be called a flight, and hurried out.

Ding-a-ling-!

Before the cheerful chime had even finished ringing, my legs gave out completely and I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠collapsed in a heap on the floor behind the counter.

I was two seconds away from pissing my pants just now…….

“Haaaah…….”

Slick cold sweat poured down my spine like rain. My heart hammered so violently it felt like it would crack through my ribs. I survived. Somehow, I'd talked my way past that lunatic crisis. Han Seo-yoon, the Baekya Guild Master who'd put up a 1 billion won bounty — and now a Hunter Association inspector on top of her. What was this cramped little convenience store, some S-Rank-and-A-Rank hunter hotspot?

With trembling hands, I snatched up the crumpled water bottle shoved in the corner under the counter and gulped the lukewarm water straight down my throat. Only now did I feel like I might actually live. Yes — that ice queen had walked away on a completely wrong assumption. She must think I'm some executive of a shadow crime syndicate. With the target so badly overestimated, the Association wouldn't dare move on me with force for a while.

I let out a long, relieved sigh — and without thinking, glanced up at the CCTV monitor on the counter. The screen showed the dark alley beneath a dim streetlight. Baek Seol-ah's back. Thankfully, the Eye of the Spectator was still running. I watched her duck into the corner of the alley, pull out her smartphone, and hurriedly dial someone. And above her head on the screen, the system status window flashed once more and refreshed.

Oh, for the love of—