The Big Spender (3)
When Junil descended into the basement, the scene was exactly as he expected.
Children, bound in chains.
“Ha… Seriously.”
Black mages always strengthened themselves the same way—by feeding on the suffering of the weakest victims.
“Mister! Please save us! Save us!”
He shattered every chain in an instant.
Clang. Clang.
“Kids, where are your—”
They burst into loud, hiccupping sobs before he could finish. The words died in his throat.
“Alright, hop on for now.”
Junil carried the ones too small or weak to run while the rest sprinted ahead on their own. The moment the chains fell away, the children bolted with everything they had.
Pat-pat-pat-pat-pat!
“Don’t run too far ahead!”
Carrying four children in his arms, Junil followed close behind.
Ding.
VIP Rescue Successful!
Human attention was like currency—once spent on one thing, it rarely shifted to another. If similar events kept happening, they stopped being interesting.
Selection and concentration.
Reporters understood this principle perfectly.
I can’t turn every rescue at this scene into an article.
Every rescue operation here held meaning. But only one photograph could truly capture the public’s interest.
This one.
The shot of the cat-masked man.
Do Juhye replayed the footage on her camera and let out a soft gasp of admiration.
“Wow. This is perfect.”
A hero carrying children out of a burning village—it was the very definition of a classic hero scene.
“Who even is this guy that he’s wearing a mask?”
The mysterious aura the mask gave off felt almost unreal. She wondered if any scoop could possibly top this.
This might be the birth of a hero.
The world had grown dark. Sudden surges of strange energy had cut off all overseas contact. Quests appeared. Monsters emerged. Goblin attacks caused daily casualties, while some people obsessively hunted the creatures to raise their levels.
Everyone was desperately hoping for a hero—someone with powerful abilities who could slay monsters and protect civilians.
Could it be him?
She didn’t know if this man would become that hero, but Do Juhye was certain of one thing.
This photo is exactly what the citizens are longing for.
I’m following him.
She darted after the masked man with the agile movements typical of a rogue.
I’ll at least try to get a word in.
If she could build a connection as a reporter, more exclusives would naturally follow.
Promotion, here I come…!
The thought made her heart race.
After handing off the children and stepping outside, Junil saw that the goblins had been mostly wiped out.
Did that Kang Hae-il guy clean them all up?
He clicked his tongue, a little disappointed.
I need to level up too.
Reach Lv.10 within 72 hours!
❌ Failure: Awakening revoked
✅ Success: Random item provided
Time Remaining: 32:38:13
He was still only level 4. Levels grew harder to raise the higher they climbed, so reaching ten in the remaining time would be tight. The bizarre system that gave worse exp efficiency to lower ranks put him at an even greater disadvantage.
Should I hunt a few more?
Junil hesitated.
I cleared the hidden quest, but no reward has come yet.
He had no idea what the hidden quest reward would even be. In that case, was it optional whether he cleared it or not?
The main quest, however, was not. Failure meant he was essentially out of the game. There was a massive difference between being an F-rank Awakened and not being an Awakened at all. He would lose access to quests and leveling entirely.
Just then, a small hand tugged at his pants pocket.
“Um… mister… thank you.”
It was a young boy with a runny nose, wearing a pair of broken glasses.
“No need to thank me.”
Junil turned his head away and muttered under his breath.
“Yeah, well… killing goblins wouldn’t raise my level much anyway.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
“Mister… where are we supposed to go now? Are there no more goblins?”
A bright-eyed girl beside the boy asked the question. Sure enough, the goblins in front of them had all been cleared. The streets were covered in scorch marks—clear evidence of that brute’s flaming fists.
“Yeah, looks like it. There are plenty of other Awakened around here, so you should be fine if you just head out.”
“Where to?”
“……”
Junil couldn’t answer.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know. He knew exactly where children who had lost their parents would end up. That was why the words stuck in his throat.
“Mister, why are you wearing a mask? Are you some kind of hero?”
“Is it cosplay?”
“Maybe?”
Those questions were even harder to answer.
Damn it.
Right as Junil struggled for a response—
Thud!
Someone dropped from the roof.
“Kids? Come with big sis to the police station. The nice police officers will help you from now on.”
The children flinched and stepped back in surprise. The woman had a perfectly ordinary, round face that didn’t look dangerous at all. Still, dropping out of the sky was startling.
The only one who didn’t react was Junil.
She’s been watching from the roof this whole time. Who is she?
He had already sensed her presence. Only now, up close, could he identify her clearly.
A camera?
Strapped to her back was a massive camera instead of a weapon.
Is that… some kind of awakened weapon?
It was the kind of question only a seven-time veteran hero from a medieval world would ask. It hadn’t occurred to him that she might be a reporter.
Feeling his gaze, the woman greeted him.
“Ah, I’m a reporter. I took photos of your heroic actions earlier. I’ll help escort the children.”
She held out a business card.
“Ah, a reporter…”
Junil stared at the card, frowning. It wasn’t the job title that bothered him—it was the card itself.
What is this? Is she flirting?
Memories of being burned in his hero days made him wary. He smoothly put the card away without taking it.
“??”
The reporter looked visibly confused.
“Ah… I have a business-card allergy.”
“……Did you get fired from your company?”
“Something like that.”
“Just take it. I’m interested in you, Mr. Mask.”
It was bait for an interview, but Do Juhye had made a critical mistake.
She had stepped on a landmine.
Interested? Is she crazy?
What kind of nonsense was that?
Junil’s face flushed red as he suddenly shouted.
“I said no!”
“?”
Not only the reporter but the children turned to stare at him in shock.
“I-I understand. Please calm down. You don’t have to take the card.”
“Ahem. Let’s just get to the police station.”
After delivering the children to the station, the masked man—who had stubbornly refused the business card—suddenly became extremely cooperative when it came to taking photos.
Click!
“One more~”
“Sure!”
Click!
He was happily posing again and again.
And he kept asking the same question.
“This will be in the article, right?”
“…Yes, I already told you it will. Why do you keep asking?”
The guy who wouldn’t even take a business card was strangely obsessed with this.
“Like, front page big?”
“Yes. At this level, it’ll be the headline.”
“Phew.”
“……?”
What kind of person is this?
Do Juhye was curious what lay behind the mask, but—
He might be dangerous.
The way he had suddenly shouted earlier was strange. He had an odd personality, yet his abilities as an Awakened were clearly strong. In other words, he was genuinely dangerous. If he wanted to, dealing with a D-rank like her would be trivial.
It was best to just walk away.
No. Still… I’m a reporter!
Even if ordinary people would back off, Do Juhye summoned her last ounce of professional spirit.
“Um, excuse me!”
She tried to at least learn his name.
“?”
“You won’t tell me your name… either…?”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller.
“The name is off-limits.”
As expected.
Of course he wouldn’t—
She thought that, but then it felt like the cat inside the mask was grinning ear to ear.
And then—
“?”
The man struck a bizarre pose.
This crazy bastard.
Do Juhye had to take a step back and focus very hard on not letting those words slip out.
“Could you introduce me as the 4th Line Goblin Slayer?”
The Constellations reacted with pure disgust.
The reporter’s reaction was the complete opposite. The face that had been ready to curse him a moment ago flipped 180 degrees.
“Wait. Y-you’re really… the actual… Sagosul?!”
“Haa.”
Back home, Junil threw himself onto the bed and muttered.
“I’m so damn tired.”
Using Julian’s power was convenient, but his body clearly couldn’t handle it well. Even a little use left him exhausted.
Still, I became famous again today.
The activity window had been short, but Junil felt he had achieved decent results. No matter how different modern media and the internet were from the legacy media of the past, going viral in online communities and getting covered by actual news outlets were two completely different things. His fame would spread like wildfire.
Of course, the mask would make it difficult for the Constellations to identify him. Since he wasn’t the main character, most of them weren’t that interested anyway—ninety percent were just casual viewers.
Still, some of them will figure it out.
There were always those who paid close attention to the storyboards. They would recognize him. So his number of Constellation viewers would slowly but steadily rise.
It’s good to be famous, but I need to level up. What should I do?
Junil was already incredibly tired. He must have burned through a lot of energy fighting the black mage and then Kang Hae-il back to back.
Just as his eyes began to drift shut—
Crackle—
Static buzzed, and then—
“?”
Hidden Quest reward will now be distributed!
Oh… right.
He was supposed to receive the hidden quest reward.
Huh?
Sudden cold sweat ran down his back.
Wait, they’re giving it right now?
His eyes flicked toward the chat window.
The Constellations had no idea about the hidden quest.
Can I receive the reward without them noticing?
If it was experience points, he would suddenly level up while lying down. Would that even work?
Maybe it’s not exp?
If he could receive it without their knowledge, that would be ideal. But if not?
They would think it was too strange. Constellations left quickly once they felt something was off. He had learned that lesson well across seven lifetimes.
That was why fairies almost never intervened directly with their protagonists unless absolutely necessary.
Gulp.
The reward had to be something they wouldn’t notice—
Bam!
Experience +4380
“!”
Damn it.
It was experience. And a massive amount at that.
He had jumped five levels at once while lying in bed. From the Constellations’ perspective, this was the mother of all bugs.
How is this going to play out?
Junil’s eyes trembled.
Question marks flooded the chat. Then he saw something even more surprising.
Big spender?