The Murder Association President, Kim Yeo-ul (2)

The sight of ten goblins charging all at once was pure violence. It was so brutal that a montage of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kim Yeo-ul's life flashed before his eyes.

His childhood, growing up under a violent father and a powerless mother, where every day felt like hell. The day he graduated elementary school and went to the department store with his mother.

"Yeo-ul, eat some ice cream while you wait. Mom's going to do the shopping."

She never came back. Kim Yeo-ul could never forget the taste of that ice cream. The first and last time he ever tasted something sweet and salty.

After that day, his father would always spit at him, "You're the most useless piece of shit in the world. Why the hell do you go to school? Get out there and find a job to make money!"

Kim Yeo-ul wanted to run away too. But his only younger sister had a bad leg, so he couldn't abandon her.

'Just hold on until I graduate high school.'

As soon as he entered middle school, he started working part-time jobs whenever he could, saving every penny. Of course, all behind his father's back. He planned to use that money to rent a small studio and live there with his sister.

Then came his high school graduation day. He searched for the bankbook he'd hidden away so they could leave right after the ceremony, but it was nowhere to be found.

'Th-this is weird. I definitely hid it right here.'

As he rummaged around, his drunk father stumbled in and casually dropped the bomb.

"Got any more hidden cash? You worthless bastard."

"...Do you even know what that money was for?"

No place would hire a middle schooler for a part-time job. So he'd had no choice but to take illegal work. Monster cleanup—processing the corpses of monsters that had appeared in the real world. Even in protective gear, the mana they emitted was lethal to ordinary people. Sometimes monsters would play dead, turning it into a life-or-death gamble.

"Shut up and deposit every single won you earn into my account from now on. If you don't—"

"If I don't?"

"Then that bitch will have to start earning too. Good thing she takes after her runaway mother and has a decent face, right?"

The last thing he remembered was the hologram floating before his eyes.

For some reason the awakening message appeared twice, and after that, he had no memory of what happened. When he opened his eyes, the room was covered in blood. He had no idea what had become of his father. No—he didn't want to know.

"O-oppa..."

"It's okay. I'll... take care of everything."

Becoming an awakened had at least given him some breathing room. The government provided generous support to awakeners. Simply reporting your awakening earned you a million won in aid, which he used to rent a basement room on the outskirts of town.

He had finally gained freedom, but misfortune refused to end. Living in a lawless zone without police meant constant exposure to crime. Yet strangely, whenever danger approached, he would black out. When he woke up, he'd be standing in a sea of blood.

He was terrified of both the criminals and the bloodbaths that followed his blackouts. But aside from that, everything was fine. At least he no longer had to repeat that gutter-like past. He thought that alone meant there would be no further misfortune.

But then one day, his younger sister contracted the incurable Awakening Disease.

"It's a disease caused by prolonged exposure to high concentrations of mana. Do you have any idea how this might have happened?"

It was because of him. While handling monster corpses, the mana had transferred to his sister.

"There is no cure... If she doesn't awaken, she will die. Most cases end in the latter... You should prepare yourself."

At first he didn't believe it. But he soon had to accept the truth. There was only one answer. Money. It all came down to money.

He had always needed money, but now he needed it even more desperately. They said hunters made a lot of money. So he decided to become a hunter, but...

Not just anyone could become a hunter.

"Mr. Yeo-ul, your timid personality makes you unsuitable for hunter work. Your skills are only D-rank as well, so you won't receive any preferential treatment."

Thinking it was his last lifeline, he took the official hunter exam. But once again, his timid nature held him back.

'If you don't score at least three points on the first test, it's practically the same as failing.'

According to the advice he'd found online, with his two points, he was already eliminated.

'Just give up. How could someone like me ever become an official hunter? I'll just go back to... cleaning up monster corpses like before.'

That was when Chae Mu-jin appeared. The unprecedented supporter who had scored a perfect ten—something even Cheon I-hwa couldn't achieve. And that man had suggested they form a party.

Kim Yeo-ul might be timid, but he wasn't stupid, so he refused. Why would a perfect-ten supporter want to party with someone like him?

But as he tried to leave, the man stopped him and introduced himself as a manager. Honestly, Kim Yeo-ul hadn't understood half of what he explained, and most of it hadn't even registered. But still... just one thing.

'This person... actually needs me.'

He had never heard of hunter management before, and it honestly smelled like a scam. But even though no one else wanted him, this man genuinely did. He wanted to believe in him.

And now, back to the present.

Ten goblins were charging at him, frothing at the mouth. Magic required setting five variables—power, range, speed, angle, and duration—so instant casting was difficult. No matter how quickly he set those five parameters, it normally took five minutes.

But this time, he activated the spell in just five seconds.

"Fireball!"

A massive sphere of flame shot forward from the tip of his staff. The single method his manager had taught him.

'The reason you overthink when trying to hit moving targets is because you're trying to hit moving targets. So do the opposite—aim at a fixed target. And don't overcomplicate mana control. Just think of firing twice and split it in half.'

The fireball didn't fly toward the goblins. Instead, it struck a stationary tree.

BOOM!

"Kieeeeek?!"

The seven out of ten goblins caught in the explosion's aftermath were set ablaze. While the burning goblins rolled around on the ground, the remaining three charged forward—but—

"Where do you think you're going?"

The dealer, Kim Ji-woo, blocked their path.

Chae Mu-jin had given Kim Ji-woo only one instruction as well.

'Just stand in front of Kim Yeo-ul. The enemies will come to you on their own. Just counterattack and you'll win.'

Everything happened exactly as Chae Mu-jin had said. Since the enemies came attacking on their own if he just stood still, all Kim Ji-woo had to do was swing his sword from that spot.

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His blade, enhanced by a ninety-nine times buff, could cut through anything. Spears, shields, even the goblins trying to rush him with their bodies.

"Kik?!"

They were sliced apart with ridiculous ease by Kim Ji-woo's sword. The three goblins were dealt with in an instant.

Then another fireball flew toward the strongest one—the goblin warrior. Here too, Chae Mu-jin had given an order.

'Don't aim for the body. Hit the ground. Attack using the fireball's shockwave.'

"But won't the damage be too low to kill it?"

"Don't worry. My buff will take care of it."

"Weren't you specialized in physical attack power buffs, hyung-nim?"

"I don't remember saying that."

Whether he believed it or not, the only thing he could do was shoot the fireball, so the moment he fired one at the goblin warrior's feet—

KWAAAAAANG!

An explosion far more magnificent than the previous one erupted. Even though it had struck the ground, the shockwave was powerful enough to snap nearby trees. There was no need to check if the goblin warrior was dead. With that kind of power, even a goblin grandfather would have died.

"C-crazy. So what you showed us at the testing site wasn't even your full power!"

Despite the excited shout, the manager spoke with a lukewarm expression.

"Just hurry up and finish off the remaining goblins. Before the noise attracts more of them."

Dealing with the burned goblins was ridiculously easy. Kim Ji-woo harvested their lives like a farmwife picking up fallen grains. Cleaning up the ten goblins that they thought they could never defeat took less than a minute.

Chae Mu-jin's promise to get him accepted as an official hunter hadn't been empty words.

"Yeo-ul, good work. For your first time, you did really well."

The manager patted his shoulder warmly, as if he'd never spoken informally before. Looking at that manager, Kim Yeo-ul spoke inwardly.

'Manager-nim. I'll really trust you this time.'

After dealing with the ten goblins, the way both Kim Yeo-ul and Kim Ji-woo looked at me had completely changed. It was only natural, since I'd just shown that I could raise magic attack power as well, not just physical attack power.

'Those kids are probably thinking I used up all my mana just now, right?'

Wrong. The mana I used in that last battle was a mere two points. Thanks to my Savior trait, both buff performance and duration were multiplied by ninety-nine. It was on a completely different level from other supporters who had to wait for their mana to recover after casting a single buff.

Of course, there was one weakness—

'Even with a ninety-nine times buff, I only get ten percent of the experience.'

Some people complained that supporters taking ten percent of the experience was too much, but for Chae Mu-jin, it was the opposite. Even though he provided the buffs that let them kill the monsters, he only received a measly ten percent.

'Supporters really are a profession specialized for leeching, huh.'

But that was only a matter of time. Monsters killed while under my buff gave me experience. In other words, as long as I kept casting buffs, I could just sit back and breathe while experience flowed in on its own.

What if I cast buffs on not just one or two people, but many?

'Leveling up just by breathing.'

My mana pool was still too small to do that right now, though.

At that moment, Kim Ji-woo's actions snapped me out of my thoughts.

'Look at this guy? He's secretly collecting magic stones?'

Even though they were in the same party—and he was the one freeloading—he was sneaking magic stones into his inventory like a thief. It clearly wasn't his first time doing this.

"Any magic stones drop?"

When I asked like I hadn't noticed, Kim Ji-woo lied without batting an eye.

"They must have been destroyed in the explosion. There aren't any."

He was so good at lying that if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I might have actually believed him. But I knew exactly how many magic stones he'd taken.

Kim Ji-woo was more cunning than I'd thought. I'd seen seven magic stones, but he'd actually picked up two more, making it nine. Those weren't worth ten thousand won each—they were worth a million won apiece. In other words, Kim Ji-woo had just pocketed nine million won all for himself.

"Search more carefully."

"I'll dig through the dirt too."

Watching Kim Ji-woo pretend to search so diligently made me chuckle inwardly.

'Gather them up like a squirrel. I'll be taking them all anyway.'

Moreover, I noticed his Grace Points had gone up. Only by six, though.

'Must have increased during this battle. Six points... Looking at it this way, even a thousand points doesn't seem easy to get at all.'

Since I'd already activated the collection skill, I checked Kim Yeo-ul as well. A window that hadn't appeared before now showed up.

Looking at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the traits and skills he possessed, I felt a clear sense of dissonance.

'I heard the Murder Association President was a martial artist. But these traits and skills are definitely for a mage?'

It was rare, but it was possible to acquire a second class at level 300 without learning an awakening skill. If that was the case, did that mean Kim Yeo-ul had lived as a mage all the way up to level 300?

The feeling that this would become a longer-term project than expected made my head ache.

'Looks like I'll need to recruit one or two more people.'

Since I'd already decided to run a hunter management agency, there was no need to cling to just one person. But too many would be hard to control, so about four should be appropriate.

'By the way, it seems this Grace Points thing can increase even from small favors.'

Kim Ji-woo had only gained six, but Kim Yeo-ul had gained eighty. The reason was still a mystery.

'Is there individual variation? If so, what determines that variation?'

Just thinking about it wasn't my style.

'I'll figure it out eventually by doing it.'

If I handed over a huge pile of passing tokens right now, how much would their Grace Points rise? Obviously, I knew exactly where a ton of those tokens were.

"Yeo-ul, break time's over. Let's get moving."

"Where to?"

"Where else? To get tokens. I know a place with tons of them."

"I'll follow you anywhere, Manager-nim!"

He said he'd follow even though he didn't know where we were going. I felt a slight twinge of guilt but shook my head to shake it off.

'It's because I showed him my ability. He's trusting in that ability. Not in me personally.'

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There was no need to feel guilty at all. I wasn't planning to make him an S-rank and then kill him. I was only going to take his traits and skills. Kim Yeo-ul could spend the money he'd earned so far enjoying a comfortable retirement. He'd be able to earn at least a hundred billion won while becoming S-rank, after all. I wouldn't take that money from him.

'Higher levels improve physical abilities too, so even without traits and skills, he'd still be stronger than a B-rank hunter.'

Recalling the betrayal from my past, I steeled my resolve. I forced a smile to relax my stiff expression.

"Let's go! We'll level up and collect a ton of tokens too."

Completely unaware of their own futures, both Kim Ji-woo and Kim Yeo-ul happily followed after me.