Chapter 32

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Wjin

Chapter: 032

Chapter Title: Two Rewards

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Vasuki had been subjugated in just half a day.

During that chaotic dawn, people had tossed and turned sleeplessly, and some had even suffered major or minor injuries.

It was only natural that articles with somewhat heavy and gloomy content were flooding the feeds.

But despite all the chaos, the mood in Korea wasn't all that despairing...

The citizens had seen it all for themselves.

The hunters standing against the relentless rain of fire under the blood-red sky.

The lightning striking Vasuki and the rectangular barrier.

When the barrier shattered and the fiery rain began to pour once more, pushing people's despair to its peak...

Something had cleansed the serpent-tainted sky with a burst of rainbow light.

The efforts of those hunters had been passed directly to the people.

Donations for recovery efforts, volunteer work... Korea was currently showing remarkable resilience.

...Classic Korea.

In that heartwarming atmosphere, Park Ha-jun rubbed his nose.

However, he didn't have time to read through every single one of those articles.

This morning, a full day after subjugating Vasuki, an email had arrived from Lee Dong-gyu.

In short, the commission payment might be delayed.

Additionally, the end of the email mentioned a new commission. It even included a note that they were giving advance notice to allow for a flexible deadline.

For reference, the part the hunters had targeted was the "head."

However, the humanoid "torso" had shrugged off attacks from not just the Sword Saint but even the Association President.

'At that level, even my scrolls probably wouldn't work.'

Of course, Park Ha-jun could unlock 3-circle magic right away or boost destructive power with higher-grade parchment.

He had even learned through this Barrier how to maximize performance at the cost of efficiency.

'...Unlike the freeform barrier circuits, I'm not sure if it applies to other circuits until I draw it out.'

In any case, Park Ha-jun could create more powerful scrolls.

But he hesitated to accept the commission outright.

It was because of the system message that had appeared when Vasuki showed up.

Sinister stuff.

A clan's curse, a deal with Kali...

'Vasuki and Kali... Indian mythology?'

Park Ha-jun wasn't particularly interested in Indian myths. He didn't have the time, and compared to math, they just weren't as engaging.

But he couldn't help wondering why Vasuki had been given a backstory that other monsters lacked.

If simply killing Vasuki was the answer, why would the system bother assigning it such a narrative?

In other words, what if obliterating Vasuki's corpse turned out to be the wrong move?

Even at just 9% manifestation, it had pushed us to our limits. We might not be able to handle whatever came next.

This incident had already given us a glimpse of how horrific that could be.

Park Ha-jun could no longer treat commissions as mere money-makers.

'...I should request a detailed report from the Association.'

After sending the email to Lee Dong-gyu, Park Ha-jun checked the time and stood up.

"Hey, kids, decided on lunch yet?"

It was the only reward he could offer them.

He couldn't pay them out of his own pocket, so the least he could do was treat them to a hearty, delicious meal.

The researchers actually loved it, since it helped them save on food expenses.

But oddly enough, no one answered today.

"...?"

Wondering what was up, he looked over and saw the researchers, along with Kang Eun-ho and Kim Ah-hyun, all huddled together staring intently at something.

It was a video. The footage from last dawn, when Park Ha-jun's barrier scroll had intercepted the rain of fire.

They had been too busy with tasks and crashed out, missing the spectacle, and were only now seeing it.

"Whoa... So that's magic. Forget how strong it is—it's just stunningly beautiful..."

At the awestruck researcher's words, Kang Eun-ho replied in a somewhat serious tone.

"Not magic—a magic scroll. Let's be precise about what deserves our awe. This isn't the Association President's work. It's asd123's..."

To Park Ha-jun, it was a collaborative effort. Without the Association President's mana reserves, it never would have manifested in the real world.

But such behind-the-scenes details were none of their business.

"Magic scrolls... I heard only Awakeners can use them. That right?"

"Yep. They require mana, so normals can't. But with asd123, I bet they'll overcome that limit someday too."

Park Ha-jun nodded at that. A brilliantly Eun-ho-like idea.

'...Not sure if zero mana cost alone would make it possible, though.'

As Park Ha-jun pondered the intriguing thought, the researchers kept sharing their reactions to the video.

"Classic asd123. Word is, it was just one barrier scroll. Intercepting attacks, predicting them, neutralizing... everything."

Sighs erupted here and there at Kang Eun-ho's admiration.

"...Sigh. Scrolls? If they can do that, science and tech are done for. All replaced by Awakening powers. Seriously, what am I gonna do for a living in ten years...?"

"Kinda deflating. That stuff the prof sent last time felt similar... Awakeners have already..."

Feeling sorry for their grumbling, Park Ha-jun mouthed silently.

'You guys made that...'

But it wasn't time to tell them yet.

As he swallowed a sigh, thankfully Lee Soo-ji clenched her fists and cheered them on.

"No need to get down! If it were easy, it wouldn't be blowing up like this. Let's go!"

Of course, it didn't instantly revive their spirits, but Park Ha-jun picked up the momentum and pulled out his secret weapon.

"Hmm... How about we eat out today? You kids like beef?"

The researchers jumped in surprise.

"Huh...? B-beef...?"

"Yes! Haven't had it since I started living alone... only once."

"Arrrgh!!!"

The place erupted. He should've treated them sooner.

No—he'd do it more often from now on. His account had billions now, after all.

And so, the researchers, Kang Eun-ho, and Kim Ah-hyun—who was gazing at Park Ha-jun with some oddly intense eyes—headed out for the department's first-ever group lunch outing.

That evening, at the Association's executive meeting.

With the Association President absent due to health issues, the meeting was led by Councilor Jeong and Councilor Shin.

The agenda: Determining the commission fee for asd123.

The scrolls used by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Association: one Barrier and fourteen Mana Arrows.

The Operations Support and Admin Team was openly showing their dilemma.

And Councilor Shin was backing them up.

"...They resolved a national crisis, so we owe them fitting compensation? Ridiculous! Scrolls have a set market value. Why pay more than that?"

It sounded a bit emotional, but it wasn't entirely wrong.

However.

"If asd123 had ill intentions, they could've gouged us in that situation."

But asd123 hadn't.

They hadn't even haggled over the fee and had trusted the Association enough to send the scrolls first.

Of course, aside from Lee Dong-gyu and the President, no one knew those details, but it was undeniable that asd123 had shown considerable consideration.

Shouldn't they at least express gratitude for that?

"I get what you're saying... But once you start, it becomes the new normal. Don't you know that?"

Lee Dong-gyu immediately countered Councilor Shin's point.

"It should become the norm going forward. Especially if asd123's abilities resolve national crises like this."

"...Wrong. That's only if there are no other options besides asd123's scrolls. Didn't the President have a separate plan for that incident?"

"The President himself called it Plan B. We couldn't have handled it that cleanly."

"Hmm. If the President hadn't let the scroll drain his mana and used Surgeon's virtual barriers instead, it might've been perfectly doable."

Lee Dong-gyu was at a loss for words.

Only the President knew exactly what Plan B entailed.

But as Councilor Shin pressed his advantage...

"We're not a charity. As a national institution, we can't give special treatment to anyone..."

The remaining eight had all received 5% contributions.

The meeting room's atmosphere turned icy upon seeing this.

How could a maker who hadn't even been on the battlefield surpass the Association President's contribution?

It was hard to accept, and no one knew what to say.

In the frozen silence, Councilor Jeong—Jeong Hyun-seok—spoke up.

"Regardless, asd123 had the biggest role this time. The system says so."

They couldn't argue with the system itself.

Jeong Hyun-seok smiled faintly and sealed it.

"As you said, we're no charity. But if asd123 were a mage of equal skill instead of a maker... I wonder if your reaction would be the same."

Councilor Shin's casual stance against special treatment was only possible because the Association was headed by its strongest mage, the President.

But what if an Awakener surpassing the President appeared? One with real power, not just as a maker?

Could he still spout such complacent nonsense about "value" then?

"... "

Councilor Shin fell silent.

The meeting thus converged on setting a more reasonable commission fee for asd123.

Around that time, in Park Ha-jun's workshop.

He stared blankly at the message.

Or more precisely, at the reward notice overlaying the contribution rankings.

...
[Reward: Item Enhancement Ticket (Bound)]

'Do I really deserve this?'

Of course, back then Park Ha-jun had poured his soul into designing and drawing those circuits.

But could that hardship compare to the hunters facing Vasuki on the battlefield?

'Honestly, probably not. I actually enjoyed the process.'

Aside from the President, the other hunters hadn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even broken a sweat. But Park Ha-jun didn't know that.

'First, let's check the Association's and public's reactions. Can't use it right away anyway...'

To use it efficiently, consulting an item analyst like Lee Dong-gyu would be best.

Of course, he already had a rough idea for it.

The item he'd get after perfectly drawing the remaining Levitation circuit in 2-circle.

Was there any item with higher expected value than a Skill Enhancement Ticket?

'...Yeah. I'll finish this quest first and think it over.'

With that, Park Ha-jun opened his Status Window and began analyzing the Levitation circuit.