A Lucrative Exchange
At that moment, Kang Han-sung, who had been watching the transaction from up front, glanced over and flashed a friendly smile. He even raised one hand in a playful salute.
“……?”
The female hunter, knowing exactly where his gaze was directed, turned slightly and saw their leader in the passenger seat of the transport vehicle give a small nod of acknowledgment.
“What? You know the captain too?”
“I told you. Plenty of people owe him their lives from the Yeouido incident.”
“Huh.”
They were about to resume chatting when the deal wrapped up faster than expected, forcing them to prepare for departure.
“It was a good transaction. We’d appreciate it if you’d continue to prioritize the government in the future.”
“Aigoo. Things must be tough these days, huh?”
“The corporations are all obsessed with hoarding gold…”
The government official shaking hands with Kang Tae-sung spotted Kang Han-sung eavesdropping nearby and shook his head with a weary sigh.
“There are gold mines in North Korea, aren’t there?”
“Those lunatics— ahem… It seems they sold the mining rights to China in the past. The Chinese companies still operating there have locked the gates and are staging a sit-in…”
“For over three years?”
“With diplomatic protests coming in from China, we can’t suppress them by force. And trying to supply them on top of that is a nightmare.”
“International diplomacy won’t last much longer anyway…”
“Most of the prophecies turned out accurate, but… China is a different story.”
“They’re not complete idiots either.”
China, which should have fragmented and descended into civil war, remained internally chaotic yet still operated under the single banner of “China.” Everyone agreed, however, that its days were numbered. They had tried to prevent the inevitable using their knowledge of the future, but some things could not be stopped even when foreseen. Human greed was the same everywhere.
Contrary to their initial tension, the transaction concluded without incident. The government side made no high-handed demands or unreasonable haggling.
“Hmm.”
Kang Tae-sung checked the message confirming that thirty billion won had been deposited into his bank account. The banking app on his phone displayed the same figure.
Thirty billion plus ten thousand points.
That was the price the government had paid for his gold. Currently, points traded at roughly 1.5 to 1.8 million won each due to supply slightly lagging behind demand—almost the same value as a one-nyang gold coin. With prices expected to rise further, point-based investment funds had already appeared on the market.
From the points he received, Kang Tae-sung transferred two thousand to each of his younger siblings.
“Nice!”
Kang Han-sung abandoned any pretense of polite refusal and immediately claimed the two thousand points hovering above Kang Tae-sung’s palm. He knew exactly why his older brother was giving them points—it wasn’t merely because they were family.
“Thank you, hyung.”
“Level up.”
Kang Tae-sung also spent roughly two thousand of his remaining points to purchase the experience needed to finish his own level-up. Since levels up to three could be raised with points, he had deliberately taken part of the payment in points to raise both his siblings’ levels and his own.
Three beams of light poured down from the sky above the quiet park. The two younger siblings sat on either side, faces etched with indecision as they pondered which stats to raise, while Kang Tae-sung, already certain of his choices, allocated his points without hesitation.
‘A shame.’
It would have been nice if the random stat had gone into Mental Strength, but it landed on Endurance instead.
The disappointment was fleeting. Endurance was not a bad outcome; it directly affected stamina—HP. Unlike the past, the current world possessed far more detailed research on how each awakened stat functioned. Endurance in particular had been studied extensively, with data showing that higher values allowed one to withstand greater impacts and blood loss for longer periods.
While the fact that the data originated from China made it somewhat suspect, many also noted that only China could have conducted the necessary experiments in the first place. After all, everyone could guess how those measurements had been taken.
The random stat raised his Endurance to three. With the remaining two stat points invested in Mental Strength, Kang Tae-sung’s current stats at level three stood at Strength 2, Agility 1, Mental Strength 4, and Endurance 3.
His siblings were still deep in thought.
Despite taking breaks in between, the youngest had spent more than half of the past three years hunting, yet his accumulated experience still hadn’t exceeded ten percent. Points had been even harder to gather, split among so many team members. A level-up that should have taken another ten years had arrived far too early, leaving him unprepared.
“Just pick anything. Everything’s good anyway.”
The youngest glanced at Kang Han-sung, who had offered that less-than-helpful advice from the side, then spoke with lingering hesitation.
“What did you pick, second brother?”
“I’m going to do it at home.”
“……”
So he hadn’t even allocated his own points yet.
The youngest looked away. Kang Han-sung clicked his tongue and turned his gaze back to his older brother, who remained standing in the same spot.
“By the way, what are you going to do with all that money?”
Thirty billion won. And it was sitting in an ordinary deposit account that could be withdrawn in cash.
If he walked into a bank right now and demanded three hundred billion in cash, even the largest bank would be thrown into chaos. They would try everything to talk him out of it.
But he hadn’t earned the money just to cause that kind of scene.
Kang Han-sung watched his brother, who seemed to be mulling something over, until Kang Tae-sung finally turned and answered.
“There’s a lot I need to buy.”
“Well, with that much money, there’s plenty to buy. What are you getting?”
“I saw yesterday that hunter equipment is ridiculously expensive.”
“Especially when it includes monster byproducts. Processing is a pain too… Now that I think about it, you came back empty-handed. Planning to buy a weapon? You’d be better off going through a private company than the government.”
“I’ll look into it.”
Kang Tae-sung spoke lightly. Kang Han-sung nodded with a similar expression.
When had they started discussing hundreds of billions so casually?
The youngest smiled faintly and shook his head.
*
*
*
Perhaps deciding on stats was more important than work, because Kang Han-sung had apparently taken the day off. He remained shut in his room and showed no sign of coming out. The youngest was the same.
Kang Tae-sung sat on the living-room sofa, slowly examining the changes that came with reaching level three.
The most immediate difference was the activation of the inventory function—or more precisely, the ability to purchase an inventory.
The base inventory was a one-cubic-meter square space costing one hundred points. Each additional block also cost one hundred points. The shape wasn’t fixed to a perfect square; it would adapt to fit whatever was placed inside.
Kang Tae-sung purchased one block to activate the inventory, then bought two more to expand it. He didn’t need massive storage right away, so he planned to add more later if necessary.
After giving two thousand points to each sibling, spending the same amount on his own level-up, and purchasing the inventory, he had roughly three thousand five hundred points left. For now, he left them untouched and began searching the internet on his tablet.
“Hmm.”
As Kang Han-sung had mentioned, equipment supplied to the government was priced for cost-effectiveness. The performance was decent but nothing particularly impressive. Items made by private companies or individual artisans were far more expensive, yet they caught his eye more. Still, when he saw a breastplate priced over two billion won, he couldn’t help shaking his head—even if it came with a defense-enhancement enchantment.
‘Defense isn’t really necessary.’
The fundamental rule of monster hunting was to dodge rather than block. Defense boosts only mattered when you failed to evade, which ultimately came down to lack of skill and hoping for luck.
“Sort by magic type…”
Kang Tae-sung began searching for gear enchanted with mana-recovery or mana-capacity increases. He soon learned that permanently enchanted equipment commanded astronomical prices. Because the item itself had to absorb mana to activate the magic circles, multiple overlapping circles were required to achieve a permanent effect.
Other options existed that used monster cores like batteries, but there was always the risk of the effect vanishing at a critical moment. Though far cheaper than permanent enchantments, his attention still drifted toward the permanent options.
“Aha.”
While browsing, Kang Tae-sung let out a small exclamation upon discovering a skill-book sales page. The same effects could apparently be obtained through skill books rather than worn equipment.
“Found it.”
A skill book titled Mana Recovery Reinforcement existed. The level-one version provided a five-percent boost and was priced at five hundred points—ten billion won in cash.
“No joke.”
Private listings ranged from eight to twelve billion won, or four to five hundred points.
“Maybe I’ll buy ten copies.”
Negotiating with private sellers might lower the price, but buying multiple copies would be inconvenient. Private trades required meeting in person, and acquiring ten books could mean traveling across the entire country.
He decided to spend a little more and purchase from a specialized trading company instead—one that both bought and resold items at a markup. Among them, Hunter Market was the most well-known. It had been established with investment from a major corporation and reportedly earned enormous revenue from transaction fees alone.
He held no particular grudge against large corporations.
As he prepared to order ten copies, an advertisement caught his eye.
“If we fail to deliver within two hours, we’ll pay you ten percent of the purchase amount in cash on top of the item…”
It was a bold claim. If he bought ten billion won worth of goods and delivery was late, they would hand over an extra billion. The promise reminded him of old food-delivery services that advertised “free if it takes over thirty minutes” while running their riders ragged.
“The price already includes the fee.”
Because the listed price incorporated the transaction fee, no additional charges would apply. Purchases over ten billion won also qualified for free shipping.
The company priced each skill book at ten billion won—likely because they acquired them from individuals at a lower cost.
Still, when he added ten copies to his cart and applied a new-member coupon, the price dropped by fifty million won.
The payment process itself proved surprisingly complicated.
When he tried to complete the order, the bank called to verify the transaction due to the large amount. The employee offered to visit in person, but Kang Tae-sung found the idea bothersome and opted for an online video call combined with fingerprint scanning and a three-dimensional satellite scan for identity verification.
He had thought satellite facial and skeletal scanning technology existed only in the United States, but apparently it had reached Korea as well. Feeling a sudden sense of being watched, Kang Tae-sung glanced up at the ceiling before shaking his head and finalizing the order.