Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Proof of Qualification (4)
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“Here you go.”
I took out 50 tokens and handed them to the woman who had spoken up first.
She nodded, cleared the mission right away, and paid the coins on the spot.
It was supposed to be a post-payment, but if she settled it this quickly, it was a perfectly fine transaction.
‘Should I at least remember her name?’
[Using skill, ‘Extreme Eye’.]
I used the skill on her as she seemed to be checking her status window.
Information about her, a newly minted player, appeared in my vision.
Naturally, she had insignificant stats and no particularly special traits.
But my gaze froze on one part.
Min Dan-ah.
A familiar name. No, a name I couldn't help but know.
‘She’s alive?’
This was the first time I’d met her in person.
I had only ever heard that she was ‘already dead and gone.’
Meeting a living Min Dan-ah was something that had never happened while I played the game.
‘Is this because the story changed in several places, causing a divergence?’
I had no idea if she was originally here or not, but one thing was certain: in the not-so-distant future, whenever I heard Min Dan-ah’s name, she was already dead.
And every time, I thought the same thing.
‘Perhaps.’
The war that would break out later.
I might be able to proceed through it much more easily now.
“What's your name?”
I asked the question just as Min Dan-ah seemed to close her status window.
I already knew, but if I suddenly said her name here, it would obviously arouse suspicion.
“It's Min Dan-ah.”
“I see. Min Dan-ah-ssi. Are you perhaps aware of the five major guilds?”
“Yes. I heard about them when things like the news were briefly restored. They’re groups of players, and the five major guilds are the largest and most influential in Korea. The names were, I think…”
“Then, are you interested in joining one of them?”
She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes sparkling.
“Of course! If I can get in…”
Right after saying that with shining eyes, she furrowed her brow.
Min Dan-ah studied my expression, then asked cautiously.
“But I'm worried about what your scheme is.”
“Not at all. I thought I'd discovered a talent, so I wanted to recommend you. You can think of it as a scouting offer. The way you handled yourself just now was very impressive.”
“W-Well, if that's the case…”
Her suspicions allayed, a smile graced Min Dan-ah's lips.
I could feel certain gazes on me intensifying.
It was undoubtedly the guild masters.
A person I would call a talent.
Since I hadn't specified which guild I would recommend her to, the guilds would start competing.
They would either try to entice Min Dan-ah directly or try to coax me.
‘It would be a bit much to include her in my party.’
Min Dan-ah has nothing right now.
To make her strong enough to pull her own weight quickly, I'd have to intervene actively.
However, I have too much on my plate for the time being to afford that, and I don't even know what kind of power Min Dan-ah will awaken.
I didn't want to include an uncertain asset in my forces.
She's not someone I can take with me, but I can't just leave her be either.
The easiest way is to put her inside another sturdy fence, isn't it?
“Then, let's talk more after this is over.”
“Yes!”
After Min Dan-ah left, I proceeded to make deals with the others.
Even after trading away a good number of tokens, I still had plenty more in my pouch.
“W-What about us?!”
Those who hadn't managed to escape and were captured spoke up.
About 20 of them.
I scoffed.
“Why should I give you any?”
“What…?”
“They have virtually no power. They can't earn coins, get tokens, or proceed with the mission, so I helped them out. But you all should have power.”
“What can we do with power we've only just awakened! We're in the same boat! It's only been a few days…!”
“So?”
At my cold reply, they flinched, terrified.
“That's power you gained by committing murder as a group, systematically. If you wanted power that badly, you should act like it. Why are you asking me for help?”
[The ‘Judge of Consecration’ affirms.]
[You have been sponsored 500 coins.]
[The ‘Devil Who Mocks the Heavens’ says the popcorn here is delicious.]
[You have been sponsored 400 coins.]
I glanced at the new flood of sponsorship messages and slowly raised the corners of my mouth.
“100 coins per token. If you want to buy tokens from me, that's the price you'll pay.”
Their faces turned deathly pale.
The number of tokens needed to clear the mission is 50.
For them to survive, having collected virtually no tokens, they would have to pay me 5,000 coins.
‘There’s no way they have it.’
They’d only awakened a few days ago and hadn’t been hunting monsters.
Even if they had collaborated with the bounty hunters, they wouldn't have shared the bounty.
The bounty hunters would take the bounty, and these people would take the player's power.
That must have been the deal.
“F-Five thousand coins…”
“…You have it?”
“Of course not, you fucker. I just awakened at dawn today, so I haven't even gotten a settlement yet. I've never earned a single coin.”
The amount was something I could easily earn from a single day's settlement, but for them, it was a fortune they might not earn even after days of effort.
But I had no intention of cutting them any slack.
I'm just grateful that so many of them failed to escape and got caught.
Instead of the original 2,000-coin bounty, I could now earn 5,000 coins.
“I-If we pay later…”
“No.”
“Why not!? They paid later!”
“Because the reward for clearing this mission is only 2,500 coins. Even if you tried to pay later, it wouldn't be nearly enough.”
Post-payment is only possible when you can pay the full amount.
Otherwise, it's just buying on credit.
“If you can't pay, you'll be ejected into the Red Zone.”
Before I returned to Earth.
When the Red Zone first appeared, many people failed to properly sense the danger, took damage from the Red Zone, and were burned to a crisp.
Many here must have seen it with their own eyes.
If they didn't get the tokens, they would die the same way.
The thought must have filled them with terror, as a few of them began to desperately cling to me.
“P-Please! Please help me! No, help us! We beg for your mercy!!”
“We'll definitely pay for our sins, so please…!”
My lips twisted, and I felt a laugh about to escape.
These are the easiest kinds of people to exploit, the type to be used and discarded.
And here they are, begging me to use them.
“There is just one way.”
“A way…?”
“W-What is it!? …sir!?”
Like someone who climbed a tree to escape a tiger and barely found a rope.
They eagerly bit at my words, where I emphasized ‘just one.’
“A loan.”
They froze in the middle of their pleading, looking up at me as if they had misheard.
As most of them were working adults, they wouldn't welcome the word 'loan.'
At the same time, they would know all too well.
When you need it and have no other choice.
You have no option but to reach out, like forcing yourself to swallow something bitter.
“The interest is 10%. For a personal loan, that's incredibly cheap. Isn't that a steal?”
“Th-That's…!”
“If you could just cut us some slack…!”
“20%.”
“Hey, you thief!”
“Are you even human?!”
“30%.”
“…”
Bargaining. Anger. Resignation.
The interest rate rose every time they talked back, so they finally shut their mouths.
Eventually, a woman who had been watching the mood forced a smile and answered.
“F-Fine! What the hell, as long as we can live! I'll accept! It's better than dying!”
They've quieted down now.
I snapped my fingers and summoned Besial.
[What. Why'd you call?]
“Make me a contract. The contents will be as I dictate.”
[…Hmph. So that's what this is about.]
Besial, quickly grasping the situation, chuckled and materialized a sheet of paper in the air.
The woman who had spoken up so boldly now glanced nervously at Besial.
It was so obvious what she was thinking that I almost laughed.
“It's a devil's contract. The moment you break it, your body will be annihilated and your soul dragged to hell to suffer for eons. Well, as long as you don't break it, it shouldn't be a problem, right?”
“Is… is that really necessary?”
“I wasn't going to go this far at first.”
I snickered and jerked my chin.
“Because I can clearly see your intention to agree with words and then run away.”
“…!”
Her face flushed red, and she bit her lip.
But what could they do?
In the end, they had no choice but to sign the contract.
“Contract… in the event of failure to fulfill said contract… shall be dragged to hell.”
“Ugh…”
Leaving them to become debtors in an instant, I continued my business with the next targets.
“To all the other players, if you need them, I'll sell as many as you want. 100 coins for two tokens should be reasonable, right?”
For anyone who wanted to buy all 50, the price would be 2,500 coins.
Essentially, they would be giving up their entire mission reward.
Naturally, the players who were weak enough to need that many tokens didn't have the coins to pay.
I offered them loans as well.
A loan with a 0% interest rate, something you'd never find anywhere else in the world, just to show off.
It was a loan in name only; it was just post-payment.
Sponsorships poured in again from those who enjoy a good lesson, and I was practically raking in coins from this one event.
[Oh, right. The ranking is based on who proves themselves first.]
The succubus, who had been hiding, suddenly appeared, said that, and vanished again.
Not that I cared much about the ranking at this point, but still.
‘It seems the players with some power are planning to hunt for more before buying.’
The guild members, in particular, were like that.
But with more monsters than usual invading the residential area, hunting was more difficult than ever.
An enemy that could pop out from anywhere, anytime, to stab you in the back.
Trying to save a few coins could cost them their lives.
Those who didn't want to risk it just bought all the tokens they needed.
In the midst of all this.
An unexpected person approached.
“Hwang Chan-jin? What, you need them too?”
“…2,500 coins.”
Instead of answering, Hwang Chan-jin readily paid the price and took the tokens.
This was strange.
There was no way Hwang Chan-jin didn't know he had to collect tokens, and even if he didn't, it was impossible that he hadn't picked up a single one.
2,500 coins bought exactly 50 tokens, which was precisely enough for one person.
No, in the first place.
‘Hwang Chan-jin should have already cleared the mission before the succubus forcibly advanced it to the 10th stage, right?’
Back when we were carrying out the operation to wipe out the bounty hunters.
Hwang Chan-jin had already cleared all the missions and finished in first place.
It would make sense if he had been in such a rush to get first place that he hadn't prepared a second person's share of tokens.
The tokens he just bought couldn't be for himself.
…Does he have someone he needs to help personally?
“Who are you giving them to?”
“None of your business.”
With that cold reply, Hwang Chan-jin immediately left the residence.
Which meant the person he needed to give the tokens to wasn't here.
‘Hmm.’
Hwang Chan-jin's behavior in this chapter was clearly strange.
It was obvious he was acting desperately, as if he were being chased.
I had seen him obsess over first place a few times in this chapter.
He was definitely after the first-place reward.
But if you asked me if the reward was that good, the answer would be no.
It was an item you could get through other routes.
In other words, there was another reason why Hwang Chan-jin was so fixated on first place.
‘Ah, could it be that?’
A thought struck me.
I hadn't considered it because I had already lost my chance at first place due to the time that passed while I was in the other world, but this changed things.
What Hwang Chan-jin was truly after wasn't the first-place reward itself.
That was just a foundation.
Just as chapters 3 through 7 dealt with the Disaster of Verdure, chapters 11 through 14, where the Red Zone begins, are focused on a single boss.
And the best reward you can get from killing that boss.
‘…I can't let him have that.’
Watching the direction Hwang Chan-jin had gone, I twisted my lips into a smirk.
Because I need ‘that reward’ too.