Chapter 10. The Start of the Solo Run (1)
Chapter 10. The Start of the Solo Run (1)
1
What's the most annoying situation when you open your eyes in the morning?
Your smartphone alarm you set last night going off extra loud?
Your hair caked in overnight grease so it feels sticky even when you hold still?
The simple fact that you have to work again today?
-Wake up! Hurry up and get up!
"Ah, please, just......."
-From now until you wake up, I'll sing you a song we used to enjoy back in my hometown. For reference, I also learned sound arts in life, you know? When I sang a single verse, thirty grunts' heads would burst at a time!
None of the above.
Some ghost who couldn't even attain nirvana running his mouth is the worst situation of all.
-Do you even know what time it is, lying in bed like that!
"What time is it, exactly?"
I checked my smartphone with bleary eyes.
The lock screen displayed AM 4:01 in fancy lettering.
"It's four in the damn morning, you lunatic!"
-Ahem, at four in the morning even the bugs are waking up and squirming. You're weaker than a bug, so you should wake up even earlier.
"You just can't sleep and you're bored, aren't you!"
-I have no idea what you're talking about.
The guardian spirit turned his head slightly, as if something had struck a nerve.
"Wow, I always wondered why the Sword Saint woke up at four in the morning to train, and it wasn't diligence—it was because you wouldn't shut up!"
-Fine, I woke you because I was bored alone. Happy? Thanks to that, you get up early and train, which is a huge win, so this is all something you should be grateful for. Now get on your knees and bow.
"I, I want to kill you......."
-Heh heh. I'm already dead, so you can't kill me. If you're jealous, why don't you try dying too! Ah, but then again, you can't die even if you do. You zombie bastard. From now on your name isn't Kim Gong-ja, it's Kim Zombie.
"Damn it."
I threw on some sweats and headed out. I couldn't stand the ghost yapping nonstop in my 70-square-foot shoebox room.
For the sake of my mental health, I left my studio and jogged under the still-dark dawn sky.
"Huff, huff......."
-Kim Zombie, let me say it again: you have no talent except sheer grit.
The guardian spirit floated along beside me.
-I normally prefer teaching thoroughly from the ground up. But you don't even have a ground. Should I say you're the ground beneath the ground?
It had already been three days since I copied the [Sword Constellation] skill from the Sword Saint.
In that time, I'd hunted Yoo Soo-ha once more and diligently avoided running into the Sword Saint. Right now, I was training according to a schedule the guardian spirit had personally drawn up.
-In terms of talent, you've got what they call abyssal talent. Heh. Impressive! I'm jealous!
"Huff... I'm trying to run, so stop interrupting... huff. Please......!"
-Well, in short, you need special tutoring, is what I'm saying. And to receive special tutoring, you first need to prepare a hefty tuition fee.
The guardian spirit grinned.
-Time to go claim our lottery winnings, zombie.
2
There is a guild called Merchant Alliance.
The name was short for Merchant Alliance. Its guild master was the rank 3 hunter commonly known as the 'Count.'
As I'd mentioned before, the Count was the only one who could send goods out of the Tower or bring them in from the outside world. She was practically a one-woman corporation. Thanks to that absolutely broken skill, the Merchant Alliance monopolized the Tower's economy.
What that means is—
"Excuse me."
"Yes, sir. How may I help you?"
"I'm here to claim my lottery winnings."
—that in Babylon, the city on the Tower's first floor, Merchant Alliance is also the only issuer of lottery tickets.
"Ah, you've won our Merchant Alliance Happiness Lottery!"
"Yeah, well."
"Congratulations!"
The clerk wearing a cat-ear hat bowed deeply. A business smile bright as a sunflower came free of charge.
-Hey, something I've been curious about every time I see it: why do they wear cat-ear hats?
'The Merchant Alliance Master is apparently a cat butler.'
-No matter how much you like cats, you put cat ears on a perfectly normal person? Whoever runs it is definitely a pervert. I'd bet on it.
'Is that what matters right now?'
Of course, the clerk in front of me probably thought the cat-ear hat was bullshit too. But a clerk is the lowest of the low. Cat ears or cockroach antennae, if the guild master says wear it, you shut up and wear it.
Oh, and for reference, the clerk was male.
It's a unisex uniform. That thing.......
"Pardon me, but have you checked the date, sir? I'm sorry, but lottery tickets purchased more than two years ago cannot be redeemed."
"It's fine. It's from last week."
"What a relief!"
It was a ticket I'd bought immediately after the guardian spirit possessed me. I needed to win the lottery at least once anyway, and the guardian spirit had been relentlessly insisting that 'first you need capital!'
"Then I'll proceed with identity verification. Ah, right. What prize tier did you win?"
"First prize."
"Pardon?"
The clerk reflexively asked again.
"First prize."
"......."
"Please check the number here."
Above the clerk's head hung an electronic display. On the board reading [Merchant Alliance Happiness Lottery First Prize Amount], the carried-over amount blinked like a casino slot machine.
53,000 gold.
Converted to the currency from my home country, roughly 5.5 billion won.
-Hey, making money sure is easy. Right?
The guardian spirit's humming voice drifted through the suddenly quiet surroundings.
The clerk spoke with a flustered expression.
"...I've confirmed the number. Now, please wait just a moment, sir. I'll fetch the person in charge right away."
"Yeah, take your time."
The clerk scurried off somewhere.
The Merchant Alliance headquarters building. I could feel a few people murmuring and stealing glances this way. They must have caught wind of the first-prize announcement. Everyone was looking at me with envy.
-Zombie, you okay? At this rate, aren't you going to get shanked in some dark alley?
"I've thought it through."
I shrugged.
"Hiding it doesn't keep it hidden anyway."
Every hunter who won the lottery was on record. Flame Emperor Yoo Soo-ha was the same. That's how I knew he'd hit first prize twice in a row in the past.
'If it's going to get out anyway, it's safer to just put it out in the open.'
Winning the lottery didn't mean you'd get assassinated right away.
If that kind of rumor spread, the side that would take an image hit would be none other than Merchant Alliance, who had to keep selling lottery tickets.
A moment later.
"Thank you for waiting, Mr. Kim Gong-ja. I am Arthur Taylor, the person in charge."
A man dressed far more neatly than the receptionist approached and bowed. It was an extremely courteous greeting.
Except for the fact that he was also wearing a cat-ear hat.
"My alias is 'Keeper of the Vault.' I'd appreciate it if you called me by my alias."
"I'm Kim Gong-ja. That alias suits your guild very well."
"Haha! I hear that often. Now, please come upstairs with me."
The Keeper of the Vault smiled warmly.
However he looked, if he had an alias, he was at least a hunter ranked within the top 300. A ranker I, still a mere F-rank, couldn't dare look up to—yet the Keeper of the Vault was courteous to me the entire time.
-Of course he is. You're a customer worth a whopping 50,000 gold.
The ghost was ruining the moment again.
-Zombie, I've been thinking it over. You've probably never been treated well in your life, so you get moved too easily. A few days ago, when I praised you for having a talent for dying, you got all touched. It was pitiful to watch.
'Ah, shut up, please. Just a little.'
-A person shouldn't be that easy, man. Learn from me. Think of it this way: everyone in the world exists to serve me.
No matter how desperate I got, I would never, ever take after Yoo Soo-ha or you.
Coincidentally, Yoo Soo-ha and this ghost had similar aliases. Flame Emperor. Sword Emperor. Maybe everyone whose alias ends in 'Emperor' is a complete lunatic.
"Um, Mr. Kim Gong-ja. I apologize. Is something troubling you......?"
The Keeper of the Vault spoke while guiding me upstairs. His face showed worry that he'd done something wrong. Afraid of looking like a madman, I answered quickly.
"No. I was just lost in thought for a moment."
"Ah, what a relief."
The Keeper of the Vault sighed in relief.
"You looked unwell, so I worried I'd been rude without realizing it. Haha, I'm relieved to hear you say otherwise......."
What is this? Is this guy an angel?
-Tsk tsk. So easy. So easy.
I ignored the psychopath ghost's nagging.
We entered the VIP reception room. A pile of gold coins was already stacked on the table. Another clerk must have come by earlier and prepared it.
The Keeper of the Vault smiled.
"This is the entire amount that belongs to you, Mr. Kim Gong-ja."
"...Incredible."
Over 50,000 gold coins!
When the light hit them all at once, the room glowed. Just looking at them got my blood pumping. Whether it was staged or not, it was certainly overwhelming.
"You may take all of these coins with you, or you may open a vault with us at Merchant Alliance and store them. What would you like to do?"
"Hmm."
I tried to pull myself together.
'The magic of money really is something.'
Honestly, my mouth was watering.
But my goal was, above all, to stand at the very top. To become a hunter so exceptional that I'd monopolize everyone's envy. Money was merely a means to get there.
'Be a person who wields money, not a person wielded by money, Kim Gong-ja.'
Regaining my composure,
I slowly nodded.
"I'll store it in a Merchant Alliance vault."
"Ah, truly a wise choice, sir!"
The Keeper of the Vault brightened.
"Personally, I always tell all our winners this. I fully understand the desire to take it with you, but I strongly recommend a Merchant Alliance vault whenever possible. There are always people with ill intentions......."
"Also."
I opened my mouth.
"I'd like to purchase honorary guild membership status with Merchant Alliance."
"Pardon?"
"The cost of purchasing a second-class honorary position is 10,000 gold, correct?"
I approached the table and placed my hand on the pile of coins. Gold. The color that beguiles humans glittered. But I already knew a flame of the same gold—yet far more captivating.
My future.
For the sake of my future, I would invest as much of this gold as it took.
"I'll pay in full."
"......."
The Keeper of the Vault stared at my face for a moment.
"Mr. Kim Gong-ja... you don't currently belong to any guild, do you?"
"Correct."
A guild.
A hunter joining a guild wasn't simply about socializing. The greatest significance lay in receiving the guild's [protection].
Even with the Hunter Management Bureau and the Vigilante Corps around.......
'One wrong move and you could be attacked before you know it.'
I could tell just from how the Flame Emperor and the Sword Saint had killed me.
Lawless territory. Compared to the developed nations of the outside world, this place was brutal beyond measure.
'I must not foolishly follow in the Flame Emperor's footsteps.'
The Flame Emperor lived high on his own arrogance.
Even after winning the lottery back-to-back, Yoo Soo-ha probably never paid [protection money] to anyone. It was obvious. He just lived it up, calling it all his own money.
'Which is why he gets assassinated and poisoned later.'
Pathetically, at that.
What need was there to pointlessly make enemies of the major guilds?
"...Understood."
The Keeper of the Vault took out a notepad and wrote something down.
"Anyone can become an honorary member of our guild by paying the set price. I'll have a staff member issue your second-class honorary membership card right away."
"Ah, right. Also."
I stated the remaining items I needed.
"I'm currently living in a cheap studio. I'd be very grateful if Merchant Alliance could recommend lodging where I can stay for the time being. Of course, I'll pay properly."
"......."
"Also, the newspapers will probably try to find out who the first-prize winner is. Even if my real name isn't revealed, I'd appreciate it if you made sure to let the reporters know that I'm an honorary member of Merchant Alliance."
The Keeper of the Vault jotted down what I said, then briefly wore a dazed expression.
"Y-you're very thorough, sir."
"Goodness, what kind of world do we live in these days? I have to prepare at least this much."
"...You're absolutely right."
Behind the Keeper of the Vault, the guardian spirit clutched his stomach and cackled.
-Hey, this guy was treating you like a pushover and now he's a little caught off guard. This is delicious. This is why I can't give up the fun of messing with elites.
'No, you're the one who was tsk-tsking about how easy I am. What's with the double standard?'
-Did I say that? I don't remember. If I don't remember it, it probably didn't happen.
Good lord. How can a personality be this rotten?
I must never become that kind of scumbag.
-Well, anyway, you're managing pretty well on your own.
The guardian spirit grinned.
-I was worried about what I'd do if I had to change your diapers like babysitting a newborn, but seeing you now, you'll be fine.
'If only you couldn't talk, at least then you wouldn't be so insufferable.......'
-You little shit, you look pretty happy yourself, you know.
That was true.
I grumbled inwardly, but a smile was forming on my lips too.
'Of course I am. This is just the beginning.'
4,000 deaths and 4,000 days of regression.
The privilege of regression I couldn't properly use because I was too busy getting revenge on the Flame Emperor.
Now it was time to enjoy it with my head held high.
