Chapter 9 - Karma Shop (業商店)
Karma Shop (業商店)
━
Skeleton Warrior
Grade: F
[Strength – 20] [Agility – 8]
[Vitality – 11] [Mana – 8]
Trait: Charge (F)
Loyalty – 100%
━
“…This is miserable.”
Was it because of its F-rank?
The stat values were pitiful beyond words.
Aside from Strength, there was nothing worth looking at.
At least it had a trait called Charge, but—
━
Charge
Grade: F
Effect: When charging at an enemy, Strength and Agility increase by +10 each.
━
Unfortunately, it wasn’t an effect worth getting excited about.
Of course, +10 wasn’t a small number by any means.
Even so—
‘It’s awkward.’
That was it.
Awkward.
Strength would reach 30 when Charge activated, so it would be fairly effective, but Agility wouldn’t even surpass 20, meaning the change would be minimal at best.
That was exactly why it felt awkward.
‘No level, no stat points either.’
In other words—
There was no way to raise its stats.
Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t completely impossible.
There was something called a Trait Evolution Rune.
Items like that occasionally appeared in dungeons.
If the trait grade increased, then even the Skeleton Warrior would change, one way or another.
However—
‘Using something that’d be a waste even on an S-rank… on a C-rank?’
Lee Jeon-seok immediately shook his head.
It was already an incredibly rare item.
A treasure you might only see once in a lifetime.
Sure, since he’d lived through the future, Lee Jeon-seok knew when and where such runes would appear.
But even so, using such a precious treasure on a mere C-rank trait would be nothing short of overkill.
Like putting pearls around a pig’s neck.
Huu—.
Lee Jeon-seok let out a small sigh.
King of the Dead.
Truly a chicken-rib of a trait.
Not bad, but not good either.
Utterly mediocre.
Even if he could tame more monsters, if they were all at this level, it wouldn’t mean much.
To begin with, since the trait was only C-rank, he wouldn’t even be able to tame that many monsters.
Lee Jeon-seok stored the Skeleton Warrior again.
More precisely, he put it into subspace.
Just thinking about it was enough.
Whoosh—.
The creature vanished as if being sucked into the air.
Left alone, Lee Jeon-seok pondered.
King of the Dead.
It was definitely a mediocre ability.
But it wasn’t something to be disappointed over.
Because Lee Jeon-seok had Heavenly Slaughter Star.
This wasn’t the end of his traits.
The more villains and monsters he killed—
The more numerous and powerful traits would fall into his hands.
Just a stage to pass through.
Nothing more, nothing less.
‘Still…’
Lee Jeon-seok recalled the Skeleton Warrior’s appearance.
‘It’ll work well enough as bait.’
Using tamed monsters in combat.
No hunter had ever done such a thing before.
An unknown trait and ability.
That alone would be enough to confuse an enemy for a brief moment—
And that brief moment was more than enough for Lee Jeon-seok to slaughter them.
And then—
━
Owned Traits
└ Heavenly Slaughter Star (EX), Mark of Eternity, Ignition (B), King of the Dead (C), Karma Shop
━
Lee Jeon-seok checked his status window.
Karma Shop.
A trait that appeared after his good karma exceeded 10,000.
Like the Mark of Eternity, it had no rank.
Looking at its effect—
━
Karma Shop
Effect: Summons a Karma Merchant.
━
That short description was all there was.
A Karma Merchant?
A merchant related to karma?
Could he buy and sell things using karma?
‘Well, I’ll find out if I use it.’
Lee Jeon-seok activated Karma Shop immediately.
The next moment—
Rip—.
Space tore apart like a gate.
Smaller than expected.
A crack that only reached up to his knees.
From within—
“Greetings.”
A rabbit appeared.
Not just any rabbit—
A rabbit wearing a suit, walking on two legs, and speaking human language.
※ ※ ※
“Ghk—!”
A man in a gray cloak collapsed, vomiting blood.
Countless wounds and sword slashes were carved into his body.
All of it had been done by a single person.
Kim Baek-dong.
Team leader of the Villain Response Division of the Korean Hunters Association.
An SS-rank hunter, known as the strongest inspector.
Also called—
The Villain Hunter.
“Where is the Dawn Society headquarters?”
He asked while stepping on the fallen man.
The sword in his hand pointed at him.
But the man said nothing.
Instead—
Crunch—.
He bit down on something hidden in his mouth.
Soon, he convulsed, coughing up blood.
Purple liquid mixed in with the red.
It seemed he had hidden poison between his gums.
Kim Baek-dong hurriedly checked him, but—
“…He’s dead.”
He had already stopped breathing.
“Tch.”
Kim Baek-dong clicked his tongue and shook the blood off his blade.
“T-Team Leader!”
An intern came running over belatedly.
“Is it already over?”
“It ended… awkwardly.”
“Then…?”
“He took his own life.”
That’s right.
Suicide.
The Dawn Society was always like this.
The moment it seemed like someone had grabbed their tail, they would cut it off without hesitation—like a lizard.
They felt no fear or hesitation in throwing away their lives.
Even low-level members frequently committed suicide to prevent information leaks.
Because of that, investigations into the Dawn Society had progressed far less than expected.
‘Huu…’
Kim Baek-dong sighed inwardly.
Soon, the Association would launch a large-scale operation to suppress a villain organization.
Not the Dawn Society.
Another villain group.
Once that operation began, the Dawn Society would be pushed to secondary priority—
And they would retreat even deeper into the shadows.
That was why he wanted to uncover something before the operation began.
But the result was as obvious as it looked.
‘Another dead end.’
Kim Baek-dong felt irritated.
Ding—.
Suddenly, his phone chimed.
“You head back to the Association first.”
He sent the intern away.
Then—
He checked the message that had arrived.
It was from Anya Ivanov.
She had found a promising talent during the Hunter Exam.
Not only that—
The message included the examinee’s personal details.
‘Lee Jeon-seok?’
A familiar name.
Just a few days ago—
An Awakened he had met during the Bukhansan dungeon rampage.
‘So he took the Hunter Exam.’
His talent was easy to predict.
After all, he had stopped a dungeon rampage by himself.
But Kim Baek-dong hadn’t expected even the notoriously strict Anya to recommend him.
‘I should meet him sometime.’
You could never have too much talent.
Of course—
That this talent was a golden egg holding all of the Dawn Society’s secrets was something Kim Baek-dong couldn’t possibly know yet.
※ ※ ※
A white rabbit suddenly appearing in midair.
Thud!
It landed lightly on the ground.
The rabbit wore a top hat—a black gentleman’s hat—along with a small black suit fitted to its body, and a monocle over one eye.
Its red tie and crimson eyes stood out.
“Pleased to meet you.”
The rabbit bowed, speaking in an unusually deep voice.
An extremely polite gesture.
“I am Toyoto, the Rabbit of Dreams.”
Toyoto.
That, the rabbit said, was its name.
“I travel across all realms—the Underworld, the Heavenly Realm, and the Three Worlds—selling various goods in exchange for karma.”
“Hah.”
Lee Jeon-seok let out a hollow laugh.
Selling goods for karma?
He’d never even heard grim reapers spout nonsense like that in hell.
“…What exactly do you sell?”
He asked, setting aside his confusion.
There was curiosity in his tone.
“Everything that exists.”
Toyoto smiled cutely.
(Though its voice was anything but cute.)
“Unlike other merchants, I accept only good karma as currency. In exchange, I sell gold, jewels, special dungeon items, and all kinds of valuables. Of course, I also carry exclusive items that only I deal in.”
“But,” Toyoto continued.
“It seems you are quite lacking in good karma, sir.”
The monocle flashed.
“At the same time… your evil karma is absurdly high.”
Even Toyoto, who had worn a sly smile from the start, looked genuinely surprised now.
“Fascinating. This is the first human I’ve seen with so much evil karma. Even killing people usually only accumulates around ten thousand, but for it to pile up beyond what a status window can handle…”
Haha—.
A soft chuckle escaped.
“You are destined for hell.”
…Did he really have to say it like that?
Lee Jeon-seok was dumbfounded.
The situation itself was ridiculous enough.
A rabbit calling itself a karma merchant popping out of nowhere was bad enough—
Now it was casually telling him he’d go to hell.
“But a merchant must be fair to all.”
Toyoto adjusted its monocle.
Immediately—
Countless status windows appeared in midair.
Square panels rotated around Toyoto before spreading out in front of Lee Jeon-seok.
“Please, take your time and choose.”
Toyoto smiled meaningfully.
“If you lack good karma, you may take out a loan using traits, evil karma, or even your body as collateral. Ah—though in your case, your evil karma is far too high to be used as collateral.”
The more he heard, the more absurd it became.
A loan?
Was this a bank?
“And if I fail to repay?”
Lee Jeon-seok asked to be sure.
Toyoto smiled eerily.
“A system-enforced seizure procedure will be carried out.”
Forced seizure.
‘So even if it’s collateral, I keep it until the loan period ends?’
When he asked, Toyoto confirmed it.
Even traits could be used freely.
Collateral wasn’t immediately taken away.
Lee Jeon-seok continued asking questions, as if satisfying his curiosity.
Could loaned karma be used freely?
Was selling possible, not just buying?
Toyoto answered surprisingly easily.
“Karma obtained through loans is treated separately from your original good karma. Therefore, it will have no effect on your afterlife and can only be used to purchase items in my shop.”
In other words—
There was no loophole where he could sell off traits, commit suicide, and go to heaven.
“And from my perspective, I do not handle purchases.”
“I see.”
Lee Jeon-seok nodded slightly.
It felt strange for a shop to only sell and not buy, but if that was the owner’s rule, so be it.
Only then did he examine the windows floating before him.
━
Drake’s Heart (C) – 30,000 karma
Trait Evolution Rune (A+) – 220,000 karma
Twisted One’s Benevolence (B) – 90,000 karma
Excalibur (SS) – 2,200,000 karma
━
Every item had an outrageous price.
Even the cheapest, Drake’s Heart, cost 30,000.
And all of it was in good karma.
Meanwhile, Lee Jeon-seok had only 10,000.
“If I use a C-rank trait as collateral, how much could I borrow?”
He asked, just in case.
Toyoto chuckled softly.
“Approximately 3,000 good karma.”
Three thousand.
Not a small number.
Compared to the measly increments of 100 he’d been getting, it was huge.
But was it worth sacrificing a C-rank trait for that?
‘Out of the question.’
This wasn’t his previous life, where traits overflowed.
Right now, even King of the Dead—barely useful as it was—was something he desperately needed.
Using his body as collateral?
That was even crazier.
Of course, collateral could be recovered if repaid—
But Lee Jeon-seok didn’t want to gamble his future on uncertainty.
Unless there was something he absolutely needed to buy.
“Is there anything worth buying with 10,000 karma?”
“Hmm… not nothing, but…”
Toyoto waved its hand through the air.
The windows shifted aside, leaving a single panel floating before him.
━
Rotten Orc Blood – 5,000 karma
Skeleton Bone Fragment – 1,000 karma
Torn 5,000-won Bill – 500 karma
Someone’s Chewed Gum – 10 karma
━
Lee Jeon-seok let out yet another hollow laugh.
“You even sell gum someone spat out?”
“There is demand, you know?”
“I can’t imagine any.”
“People are diverse creatures.”
Haha—.
Toyoto laughed lightly.
Impossible to read its thoughts.
“Let me ask you one thing.”
“As much as you like.”
Lee Jeon-seok scrolled through the list as he spoke.
“Besides me, is there anyone else who can summon you?”
Good karma, evil karma—
And Karma Shop.
Was there anyone else experiencing this phenomenon?
If so—
How did they acquire karma?
Had they regressed too?
There were many things he wanted to know.
Lee Jeon-seok wanted to fully understand and accept what was happening to him.
However—
“No. You are the first customer in five hundred years.”
Toyoto shook its head.
Still, it wasn’t a complete loss.
‘So there were customers in the past.’
Then there were ways.
Traits that see spirits.
Traits that summon the dead.
Traits that read past memories.
With those, he might learn about the customer from five hundred years ago.
“Do you also sell information?”
“We do… but with your current amount of good karma, you wouldn’t be able to afford even the lowest-grade information.”
“I see.”
Then it couldn’t be helped.
Lee Jeon-seok silently continued scrolling.
‘It’s all trash.’
A tissue an idol used to blow their nose.
A pebble discarded on the roadside.
Goblin saliva.
Even cat feces.
Only absurd items filled the list.
Eventually, the scrolling stopped.
Lee Jeon-seok sighed and closed the window.
Or—
He was about to.
“This is…”
Something caught his eye.
He had planned to save his good karma.
Without it, he couldn’t go to heaven.
Browsing the shop had been nothing more than curiosity.
He had no intention of buying anything.
Nothing he urgently needed.
Excalibur, dragon hearts—
None of that stirred him.
But—
[Broken Red Short Blade – 1,000 karma]
The moment he saw it—
“I’ll take this.”
Lee Jeon-seok was forced to spend the good karma he had so carefully saved.