Ghost Sweep and First Profits

After successfully taking down her first ghost, Hyun-ji became a completely different person. From then on, she started swinging her clumsy fists at every ghost that appeared, dispatching them one by one. She even got a bit carried away in the middle, finding real enjoyment in it.

Puppet Enhancement.

With her overall physical abilities boosted by Hyun-seong's skill, attacks from the ghosts couldn't touch her. In essence, she was like a high-rank hunter casually sweeping through a low-grade dungeon.

"Another one."

Along the way, she occasionally pocketed the byproducts found in the ghosts' remains. Ghosts were ethereal monsters that didn't leave corpses behind—or so you'd think—but surprisingly, they dropped something like a white cloth. The cloth itself was useless, but rummaging inside often yielded valuable items.

One of those was a mana stone.

"This one's a big one."

The price of mana stones varied wildly depending on the amount of mana they contained. The reason was that mana had become the new era's primary energy resource, perfectly replacing hard-to-substitute or limited energy sources. It boasted incredibly broad applications and high efficiency.

And above all...

The output is on another level.

When used as energy, mana's output far surpassed any other resource. The purer it was, the greater the power multiplied, making mana stones from high-rank dungeons worth a fortune.

"There's a soul stone here too."

Hyun-ji had found it while rummaging through the ghost she'd just defeated. Soul stones were even rarer byproducts than mana stones, which made them quite valuable.

Hyun-ji explained that in this dungeon, soul stones were actually the main source of income rather than mana stones.

"Keep it safe."

"Yeah... I should've brought a bag if I knew it'd be like this."

Her pockets were now stuffed full with no room left. The silver lining was that the raid was over. Still, it felt a bit unsatisfying.

From slaying 30 ghosts, they'd obtained 14 mana stones of various sizes and 3 soul stones. That worked out to one mana stone every two ghosts and one soul stone every ten.

"How much do you think this'll make us?"

Hyun-seong, who had been inwardly curious, asked her.

"Hmm, mana stones this size go for about 50,000 won each, so around 700,000 won minimum. Soul stones are about 300,000 won apiece, so 900,000 for three. That's nearly 1.6 million won total."

"Is that a lot?"

"Not really. The dungeon we hit yesterday should net around 3.8 to 4 million won once we sell all the byproducts."

Hearing that explained why this dungeon wasn't popular. A typical raid party had 3 to 5 hunters, plus as many porters as the party leader wanted. Even with the bare minimum of a three-person party and meager byproducts, splitting 1.6 million won left scraps for everyone—especially with one porter. And the average clear time was twice as long as other dungeons.

No wonder no one comes here.

Hyun-seong himself wanted to revisit the Goblin Den from yesterday. However...

"But we're just two, so it's all ours. Lucky break."

"Yeah. Good thing you knew how to handle ghosts properly, bro. This place isn't popular, so the Association sends hunters periodically to clean it out. Keeps monster waves from happening."

From Hyun-ji's explanation, a monster wave was what happened when an uncleared dungeon collapsed after a certain time, spilling monsters into reality. The monsters that had assaulted Earth in the early days ten years ago had all emerged that way.

"We've saved the Association hunters some work."

Hyun-seong nodded at her words, but a question popped into his mind.

"Is it impossible to completely wipe out a dungeon?"

He'd experienced dungeons in the other world, but those were merely gateways to the demon realm—not structured with objectives and clear conditions for escape.

"No one knows the details, but it's narrowed down to two theories: clear count or time."

"Why the mystery?"

"Too irregular to pin down. Take yesterday's E-rank Goblin Den—there are dozens in Korea alone. They're all the same dungeon type, but..."

"They vanish under different conditions?"

"Exactly. That's why it's still an unsolved riddle."

Hyun-seong nodded. "Pretty complicated."

"Eh, nothing for us to worry about. Ready to head out?"

"Yeah."

With that, the two exited the dungeon.

Rattle, rattle.

At the Hwarang Porter Office, boss Baek Seong-cheol was shaking his leg anxiously. He was biting his nails, sweat beading on his forehead, all because...

What the hell happened to that bitch Choi Hyun-ji?

He couldn't track her down at all. Normally, she'd show up early in the morning for some light banter before heading out on jobs. But today, she hadn't even clocked in.

He'd half-expected that much. After all, he'd tasked his close buddy Eun Seong-jin with something. She might need a day off from the mental shock.

But the problem was the radio silence.

Not just Hyun-ji—Eun Seong-jin too.

Hyun-ji was one thing, but no word from Seong-jin felt off. He couldn't exactly go sniffing around either. The porters she'd gone with yesterday had shown up today, but they weren't close, and poking around might raise suspicions.

So Seong-cheol was left suffering alone.

If that bastard Seong-jin spills that I ordered the hit...

His life was on a downhill slide. No, a sheer cliff.

Unable to bear the anxiety, Seong-cheol grabbed his phone and scrolled to Eun Seong-jin's number.

Just in case. Maybe he forgot.

He dialed with faint hope—and immediately made a face like he'd eaten shit. The ringtone was wrong. It should've been some upbeat idol song.

Swearing nearly escaped his lips, but he held it back and scrolled to another contact.

"...Choi, Choi."

He found Hyun-ji's number. So many Chois—it was a chore. Finally spotting it, he hesitated, then squeezed his eyes shut and hit call.

Pick up, pick up.

The ringtone continued, thankfully. And at last...

Click—the call ended, and Seong-cheol's anxiety melted away. But fury toward Seong-jin ignited like wildfire.

This bastard's ghosting me?

All the favors he'd done him flooded his mind, fueling pure betrayal.

"Ungrateful prick."

Seong-cheol wasn't one to cling. He blocked and deleted Seong-jin's number on the spot. Relief washed over him, his face relaxing. He leaned back hard in the cheap office chair, nearly reclining, and stared at the ceiling.

That bitch Hyun-ji sounds better than expected.

Her voice had carried the lightness of someone free of worries.

Doesn't seem hung up on yesterday either.

His expression twisted slightly.

Gotta rough her up sometime.

Seong-cheol never forgot those who inconvenienced him. That's how he'd survived this scene for years.

"Who was that?"

Hyun-ji had taken the sudden call, so Hyun-seong asked.

"Oh? Uh, the boss from my old porter office."

"Hold a grudge? What happened?"

"He secretly signed me up for a D-rank dungeon porter gig without telling me. I said no, and he got all pissed, so I threatened to quit for good."

"Why skip it? Sounds like decent money."

"Body over bucks. E-ranks, you got a shot at surviving. D-rank? If the hunters wipe, you're done."

Hyun-seong nodded in full agreement.

"Oh, right—something I meant to ask."

"What?"

"Awakened porters should command higher pay than regulars, right? But E-ranks pay the same?"

"You got paid like a regular?"

She nodded, and Hyun-seong's instincts flared.

So that's how it is.

No one fooled him, even if they did others. Yesterday's incident, the porter office boss—it all fit too perfectly.

Time to look into it.

"Don't take any more jobs for now. Just raid dungeons with me."

"Yeah... let's try being real hunters. Couldn't have done it solo..."

Hyun-ji seemed lost in thought, head down. Then, steeling herself, she spoke haltingly.

"Bro, thanks. Without you, Mom and I..."

She looked up—but her brother was gone, replaced by an innocent utility ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pole.

Then.

"Choi Hyun-ji! Hurry up! Taxi!"

Hyun-seong was holding open the arrived taxi door, calling her.

"Sigh! What was I even saying."

Of course, she thought, heading to the taxi.

Inside, they glanced at the navigation's destination, excitement building.

Hunter Market, huh.

The Hunter Market was in Itaewon. After the Great Cataclysm ten years ago—the area with Korea's worst casualties and destruction—it had been redeveloped into the main Hunter Market and various hunter facilities.

Most hunter-related organizations clustered nearby, Hunter Association HQ aside.

"That's why all the big guild buildings are around here. Look—Silver Eagle Guild, run by that Snow Woman hunter Min Seol-hee we saw earlier."

Hyun-seong followed her pointing finger. There stood a building emblazoned with a silver eagle in flight, just like on the business card.

"Must be loaded."

That was his take. Soon he'd be the same—no envy needed.

Like country bumpkins visiting Seoul for the first time, they subtly gawked at the towering buildings en route to the Hunter Market.

"Welcome! Fair trade hosted by the World Hunter Association—the Hunter Market!"

The staff greeted them warmly right away—because they were hunters, of course.

The market's quirk: you needed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a hunter registration card just to enter as a customer. No civilians allowed, not even to browse.

It gave them a smug thrill, a sense of exclusivity.

This must be what hooks everyone.

Hyun-seong didn't mind. Striding in like VIPs, they entered the sales area.

"Welcome. How can I assist?"

"Uh, wanna sell these items."

Hyun-ji pulled out 14 mana stones and 3 soul stones from her pockets.

"Oh, soul stones? Must've cleared some ghosts. We'll appraise them right away and show the results. For transparency, we display the full process—check the screen on the right."

Hyun-seong and Hyun-ji watched the screen curiously. The staff took the byproducts inside, placed them on the appraiser, and measured values.

The number that appeared was a whopping...

"1.82 million won?"

Earned in under an hour. Hyun-ji was stunned; Hyun-seong regretted.

"Should've grabbed a bag and farmed a few more rounds."