The Debt Collector's Karma

"Mom...."

I glared up at her with all the resentment I could muster. My back, where she'd smacked me, still stung.

Is my mom secretly an Awakener or something?

Her hand hurt enough to plant the strangest suspicions.

"Well, whose fault is that? Someone went three whole months without a single phone call."

"......"

At that, I could only break out in a cold sweat, no answer coming. The mood didn't look like it would thaw anytime soon, so I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worked up the courage to defend myself.

"I-I didn't expect it to drag on that long either...."

Mom didn't dignify the excuse with a reply. She just stared me down, and I looked away.

"Ha...."

She sighed, then set a spread of side dishes and rice down in front of me—along with my favorite, army-base stew.

Gulp!

"You haven't been eating properly, have you?"

"......"

I looked at her without a word, and at the sight of my eyes, Mom let out a small snort of laughter.

"Eat up."

"Thank you for the food."

The words were barely out of her mouth before I was shoveling rice into mine like a man possessed.

"Oppa! Slow down!"

It sounded like Sunha was nagging at my side, but none of it reached my ears. The only thing that mattered right now was clearing every last dish on the table.

"Ugh!"

I stretched as I walked. Now this is what a good night's sleep feels like.

How long had it been since I'd slept in my own bed? There'd been a bed on the fifth floor too, but it couldn't hold a candle to this one. Beds truly are a triumph of science.

The reason I'd gone out the very next day after coming home was to visit Sunny Workshop. It should be finished by now. The original estimate had been a week, but I'd gone and entered the Tower of Trials, so I was showing up later than planned. I hope she's been doing well. When I visited this time, I'd need to pay her the crafting fee.

I hailed a taxi and headed for Myeongdong.

"Alright, let's see how it turned out."

Heart full of anticipation, I opened the door.

"I'm here."

No answer came. There wasn't a sound at all—as if the place were empty.

"Is anyone here?"

I stepped carefully into the smithy. And then I saw it: a workshop wrecked beyond wrecking, smashed to pieces.

What the hell is this....

I was too stunned to speak. Just then, I caught the sound of someone stirring deep inside the ruined shop.

"Master."

There sat Seo Jincheol, bleeding.

I propped him up, carried him outside, and called an ambulance.

"What happened here?"

"Kgh! Those bastards... they took Inha and the stone...."

"What?"

Seo Inha. And the stone. Both of them mattered to me too.

"Who took them?"

"Go Myeongsik...."

"Go Myeongsik?"

The name meant nothing to me. He hadn't been anyone notable before my regression, so he was probably not that strong.

"A famous loan shark. She couldn't pay the money back."

"What? Couldn't pay it back?"

I'd handed over 400 million won up front before entering the Tower. That should have been more than enough to wipe out the debt.

"The debt had swollen into something insane."

A classic loan shark's playbook: lend out a small sum, inflate it into a debt worth hundreds of millions, and if it can't be collected, sell the debtor off by the organ.

"Where do I need to go?"

"Jeongseon. Gangwon Province."

Home to the only legal casino in South Korea. It made sense that a loan shark would nest there.

"How long ago were they taken?"

"Let's see—kgh! About three days now."

Wee-oo! Wee-oo!

The ambulance siren wailed into earshot. I left the old master in its care and stepped away.

"We'll need a guardian to ride along—"

"I don't think there is one."

With that answer, I was gone. Jeongseon, Gangwon Province. That was where my stone and Seo Inha were.

Just you wait a little longer.

I slammed the footwork into motion and tore off for Gangwon Province. Using it in the middle of a city was asking for trouble, but I had no room in my head for caution.

You dare lay a hand on someone close to me?

She was the artisan I had hired and paid. From that moment on, she was no stranger to me—the instant she took my commission, she became one of my people.

And I have to get the stone back, too.

Come to think of it, a quest had popped up while I was listening to Master Seo Jincheol.

A half-forced quest from the System. I was going regardless, but it was still unnerving. Especially those exclamation marks. Just how hard does it need to emphasize this?! Shuddering at the System's madness, I pushed my speed even higher.

I've arrived, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but....

The problem was finding the loan shark Go Myeongsik in this town. He was famous around here, apparently, so he'd turn up soon enough if I went looking.

I walked into the first pawnshop I laid eyes on.

"Welcome, welcome."

The owner beamed at me the moment I pushed the door open. "What can I do for you today?" He rubbed his hands together like a merchant straight out of a cartoon or a movie.

Cooperative types make this easy.

I skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. "Go Myeongsik. You know him?"

The man's face drained white. "Wh-what business brings you to Mr. Go Myeongsik...?"

"None of your concern."

"Eep!"

I'd only dropped my pitch a little, and the owner acted like he might die on the spot. Does he think I was sent by Go Myeongsik? If so, all the better. It paid to play the part here.

"I've been away on business, so I'm out of the loop. Where's the boss at these days?"

"H-he's at the Black Casino."

"I see."

The Black Casino was an illegal den operating in the area. There was a legal casino nearby, but plenty of people went looking for the Black one instead.

"This is for the tip."

I left a crisp 50,000-won note on the counter and walked out.

The Black Casino sat 'inside' the legal casino itself—an underground den catering to a select wealthy clientele. So that's where he's hiding.

By now a sliver of reason had returned to me, so I skipped the footwork and took a taxi. "To the casino, please."

As the cab rolled along, I opened my status window.

I was holding 420 stat points. I needed to bank 500 of them by level 20, which meant I could only afford to spend 220.

Fine. Let's distribute.

Honestly, I didn't want to. But the state of that workshop—the state of Sunny Workshop—was absolutely not something an ordinary person could have caused.

There were traces of lingering mana, too.

Judging by the residue alone, B-Rank. Not overwhelming, but a full rank above mine all the same.

My skills can cover some of the gap, but—

Loan sharking was never a one-man trade. It took an organization. If a B-Rank Awakener and the rest of his crew rushed me all at once, I wasn't confident I could put them down without killing anyone.

Because killing is a crime.

This wasn't a gate, and I hadn't been struck first. Self-defense wouldn't fly. Kill someone here and I might well end up with an S-Rank Awakener hunting me down.

Yeah, I'll pass on that.

I poured 70 points into each stat. A short while later, the taxi rolled to a stop in front of the casino. I paid by card and stepped out.

The real question is how to get inside.

Casinos barred Awakeners as a matter of course—if one decided to cheat, no one at the tables could beat them.

Nothing for it, then.

Wrapping my presence in the footwork, I slipped through the doors. The entrance was wired with a mana sensor, but my mana read lower ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than an F-Rank's, and an amount that faint was easy enough to smother.

"Now then, let's find that entrance."

I drifted here and there, hunting for the way into the Black Casino—until a suspicious figure caught my eye. The man glanced around in front of the men's restroom, then slipped inside.

"Smells fishy."

I followed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him straight in. After a quick sweep of the room, the man opened up a fire-hose cabinet. Stairs waited inside.

Bingo.

I trailed him down, and below unfolded a scene that anyone would clock as a black casino at a single glance.

Hm. Hazardous to my health.

The dealers were dressed head to toe in bunny outfits. The sight was, frankly, far too harmful to my eyes.

I began circling the floor in search of Go Myeongsik—and then his name drifted over from a table.

"Hey, isn't Go Myeongsik taking too big a cut these days?"

"Hoh. Look who's talking."

"Word is you landed something big lately?"

"Something like that."

At that table sat Go Myeongsik and one fat man.

Found you.

The moment my foot fell, the casino floor detonated.

"Kyaaah!"

"Somebody help!"

With the floor caving in, everyone seated at the tables stampeded for the exits. Everyone except Go Myeongsik.

"Who sent you? An assassin?"

Go Myeongsik asked with his arms folded across his suit. I stared at him and said nothing.

About ten of them, then.

Ten, counting Go Myeongsik himself—and most of them B-Rank. At this level, my current stats could manage.

And it looks like Go Myeongsik's the only one who's even reached level 100.

While I was sizing them up, his face twisted. Then he roared:

"Boys, kill 'em!"

At his word, the men lurking in every corner of the room lunged.

"Too slow."

I flung the shattered fragments of the Destruction step out in every direction—toward the exits with no fleeing civilians, naturally. At the men charging in from those directions, I hurled a hail of smaller shards.

Raising my stats really was the right call.

The power of Destruction lived and died on Strength and Vitality. And my base stats now stood at 100 across the board.

No reason on earth to yield an inch.

I arrived directly in front of Go Myeongsik.

"Wh-what the hell are you?!"

"......"

Without a word, I raised my fist and sheathed it in mana. With gangster trash like this, there was one method that never failed.

"Let's start things off with a punch."

"Like hell—"

WHAM!