6
06 - Settlement
Jin-woo, who returned immediately, rushed to the hospital. There was no contamination by Magi, but injuries remained, and just in case something happened, it was to receive a medical examination.
Treating all wounds and testing for possible viruses, plus purification by a healing Hunter affiliated with the hospital. It seemed somewhat excessive, but it still had to be done.
Now that his body had truly become his wealth, he had to take care of his body first, not just meticulously maintain his equipment.
"What? 2 million?"
"It's 2,137,000 won. Medicine costs are separate."
Of course, when he received the cost bill from the hospital administration, his head was spinning. Even the hospital fees alone were this much, and the medicine costs came out to 300,000 won.
Suddenly losing more than a month's income made him feel sick to his stomach. Still, it was a necessary expense, so he couldn't avoid spending it. Jin-woo let out a long sigh as he left the hospital.
'Still, I earned a lot. Let's go settle accounts.'
The expenses were painful, but he had also earned a lot. Jin-woo, whose mood had improved again, got on the bus heading to the Management Bureau. A little later. Jin-woo was able to meet with the person in charge and exchange pleasant greetings.
"Jin-woo! You've returned safely."
"I was lucky. I'm on my way back from the hospital right now."
Seeing the bandages visible at the edge of Jin-woo's shirt, the official nodded. So he wasn't uninjured after all. Still, seeing him walking around like this, it seems it was just minor injuries.
"That's fortunate. The first Gate is really dangerous when you have no proper abilities or experience, but you handled it well. Did you awaken any abilities?"
"Two, no, about three awakened."
"Wow."
The official's eyes widened at the mention of awakening three abilities. Usually, for the first Gate, awakening even one ability is considered a success. If you awakened two, that's quite an achievement.
Awakening three meant he had a very good start. Of course, the record holder for most awakenings reportedly awakened eleven abilities in their first Gate, but that's outside the norm.
"What's the tendency of the abilities? You don't need to go into detail, just whether you're front-line or rear-line, combat class or support class. Among support classes, if you have direct healing abilities, that too. Healing Hunters receive different treatment."
"Do I have to say?"
"You can keep it confidential if you want, but then it'll be hard to find companions."
He learned that with a magic item called Feather of Fate, multiple people can enter a Gate together. It's a consumable item that's not cheap, and since each person must possess one, they don't enter together unless they're truly reliable companions. This was fresh information for Jin-woo, who didn't even know such items existed.
"So such items existed. But where do you get those? Are there blueprints or something to make them?"
"No. You get them from the 3rd Layer. When you reach B-rank level, you become capable of operating in the 3rd Layer, and Feathers of Fate are the main source of income in the 3rd Layer. Thanks to that, when you reach B-rank, your income increases enough to add another zero."
Hunters are commonly divided at B-rank as the boundary between those above and below. Hunters up to C-rank who operate in the 1st and 2nd Layers are considered second-rate at best within the industry.
Only B-rank Hunters who enter the 3rd Layer and above are treated as first-rate Hunters who do their part.
"How do you raise your rank? Do you catch a lot of prey?"
"That does count toward the score, but at a very minimal level. It's mainly determined by the supply of Magic Stones."
"Magic stones..."
What level of magic stone was the one he obtained this time? The black bear that charged while crushing the forest was a suffocating crisis.
Thinking about it, it should be quite high, but... Still, it was just a monster from the 1st Layer's Primeval Forest, and it died in one strike from him, so it probably wasn't that high. Well, he could ask in a little while.
"More than that, please take care of this. I found a dead Hunter inside."
"Ah..."
Jin-woo handed over the identification tag with the name Mark Tesman and his personal belongings to the official. If left with the Management Bureau, they would contact New York and deliver it to his family. The official carefully received the items and prayed for the soul of the New York Hunter whose face she didn't even know. And a little later.
"Could I ask for a settlement?"
Changing the atmosphere, the settlement time had arrived.
"Of course. Please come this way."
When Jin-woo asked, the official also actively guided him to a certain room. It was a large, cavity-like room in the basement of the Management Bureau, with something like a workbench on one wall and blue vinyl bags spread on the floor. Jin-woo poured out the mushrooms and fruits he had collected onto the workbench.
"Could you separate the edible ones from the inedible ones?"
"Hmm... Almost all the mushrooms are inedible. This mushroom only causes mild stomach pain, how about it? It's said to taste good."
"That's a bit..."
The official examined each mushroom one by one and appraised them. If it were too difficult an appraisal, she would have called in an expert, but she was someone who definitely knew the ecology of the Primeval Forest.
"All the fruits are fine to eat."
"Even this colorful one?"
"Yes. Most fruits from the Primeval Forest are edible, so it's fine. The taste might be a bit lacking, so be careful about that."
That much didn't matter. He put the edible fruits back and decided to sell the mushrooms. Even poisonous mushrooms had a price since they had uses.
"About a basket of poisonous mushrooms... Roughly 100,000 won."
"What about this?"
When he poured out about a dozen fish, the official's eyes lit up.
"Wow, fish! You caught them well. With this much, including mushrooms and fruits, you'd get about 400,000 to 500,000 won?"
"I'm not selling everything, I'll take a few to eat."
"That's good too. Salt them heavily and grill them, kyaa! Boiling them into spicy soup would be perfect too."
The official examined the condition of the fish while smacking her lips.
City officials usually have middle-class incomes. Among them, officials at the Hunter Management Bureau who require specialized knowledge had exceptional allowances.
Even if they were low-level officials with only E or F-ranks, they were elites with considerably higher education.
The layer that mainly consumes the prey caught by Hunters is this layer.
After looking over the mushrooms, fruits, and fish, the official spoke in a reliable tone.
"You did well for your first time. 500,000 won for one Gate might seem small, but that's because you're not used to it yet. Once you get used to it, you'll earn 5 or 6 times more."
"There's still more left."
"Oh really? What is there?"
"Should I put the animal carcasses over here?"
"You hunted too! That's right, please put them on this blue sheet."
Succeeding in hunting at the first Gate! The official was quite impressed. Just returning alive was a success, and catching fish was already a sufficient activity. But hunting too! With sparkling eyes, she anticipated as Jin-woo poured out about a dozen rabbit carcasses in front of her.
"Wow, did you dig up a rabbit burrow or something?"
"It just happened..."
Since he didn't catch them himself, he was a bit modest with his words. The official excitedly examined each rabbit carcass one by one. All were caught with a single arrow, so there was little damage to the hide, and the meat was almost intact. This was top quality among top quality.
"With this, it would be better to take it to a private dealer rather than have us process it. Would you like to go to the Cheonok Group?"
"I understand. And there's more."
"More?"
Jin-woo showed the wolf carcasses. Large wolf carcasses suddenly appeared. Six of them at that, making the official's eyes widen. While he was at it, he also brought out all the deer and wild boar, and by then, the official had lost words and was just standing with her mouth open.
"Did, did you catch all of this?"
"I was lucky to get them."
It wasn't a modest expression but a truly lucky acquisition. Among these, only two wolves that Jin-woo directly cut with his sword were actually caught by him. The rest of the prey were all carcasses that the Elf had caught, killed with a single arrow.
"Uh, uhh, let's process just these two wolf carcasses here and take the rest to Cheonok."
"Understood. By the way, how much could I receive?"
"I don't know how much Cheonok will offer, but hmm, at least 30 million?"
30 million won! Jin-woo's complexion brightened. That was money Jin-woo would have to work nearly 2 years to earn. Two years' salary obtained from just one Gate.
"By any chance, is your father a Hunter?"
"Huh? Why?"
"No, I wondered if you learned hunting techniques beforehand before entering. Especially catching everything with a single arrow..."
As an official of the Hunter Management Bureau, she had seen a lot of caught prey. Among them, there had never been prey caught as cleanly as this.
Most were caught in snares or had severely damaged hides from thrashing around in traps. And when killing them, they usually had to stab with spears multiple times, so holes all over the body were common.
But the carcasses Jin-woo brought out, except for the two wolves, were all cleanly killed with a single arrow. It was impossible unless you were quite a skilled hunter.
"Oh, right. There's one more left."
"Again?"
Now it was getting scary, so tension appeared on the official's expression. Jin-woo took out the last remaining black bear carcass and the magic stone that was inside its body. Thud! The bear carcass was larger than all the previous prey combined, and a black magic stone the size of a fist. The official was speechless for a moment, then spoke in a dazed tone.
"...It would easily exceed 100 million."
"Wow."
Very, very successful for a first Gate. The 2 million won hospital fee had already flown out of his head.
***
At the Management Bureau, he disposed of all the inedible mushrooms and the two mangled wolf carcasses. He kept the fruits and fish he wanted to eat, and what he would take to the Cheonok Group.
Among the disposed items was also a magic stone, but magic stones were items prohibited from unauthorized private trading, so they had to be sold to the Management Bureau.
Magic stones had various uses, but since they were also used as fuel for the barriers protecting the city, Seoul City was strictly enforcing the Magic Stone Trading Prohibition Law.
'Though it's said to be traded secretly anyway.'
If you hand it over to black market brokers, they supposedly pay 1.5 times more than the Management Bureau. But Jin-woo had no intention of taking such a risk.
The Management Bureau paid satisfactorily enough, and above all, if he went to prison, he'd only eat three block-meals a day. Now that he had finally learned the taste of real food, he could never return to a life of eating only blocks.
So the amount received from the Management Bureau was...
[Balance: 37,432,900 won]
Over 30 million won. The mushrooms and two wolf carcasses were decent, but most of it was actually the magic stone's value.
'They said it was almost a D-rank level magic stone. The size was particularly large, too.'
Magic stones are graded by size and magic power amount, and the black bear's magic stone was said to be a full E-rank or barely D-rank level.
The magic stone's magic power slightly swells and contracts like a heartbeat, and it was exactly at the E~D boundary level. That level was said to be the highest grade of magic stone obtainable in the Primeval Forest.
That meant the black bear was the strongest, boss-level monster in the Primeval Forest. Originally, it wasn't something to hunt alone, but required a team of four or five people.
'It was boss-level?'
Sitting briefly on a park bench in the city, Jin-woo organized his thoughts. There was some time left until the appointment with Cheonok Group, and he also needed time to sort out his complicated head.
'It was definitely strong.'
The black bear was a strong and massive being. He felt the fear of death countless times, seeing it charge while crushing the forest like a shredder.
No, not countless times - every single moment was a moment fighting against fear. The explanation that it was the strongest monster in the Primeval Forest made sense. However, that made the sense of disparity even greater.
'It was one strike.'
Such a strong and magnificent creature was cut down by his sword in a single strike. A real sword is originally difficult to handle, requiring training even to cut a single straw bundle.
So he was shocked when he cut the wolf, but he literally bisected the even larger black bear. It seemed his previous life was a more remarkable being than he thought.
'The ability to cut blue flames.'
The ability to cut and absorb blue flames is obtained when confronting the black bear. What exactly were those flames? It was his ability, but he wasn't certain.
While the sensation of using it was engraved in his instincts and could be used as desired, he had no idea what principle it worked on or what laws governed it.
Blue flames are visible to all living beings. According to the message when awakening, it said to cut and covet souls, so could these blue flames be souls?
'I can see them on all the people passing by, too.'
Perhaps because it was a holiday, there were quite a few people in the park. He could see blue flames burning like candle flames at the core of all those people.
Some were really candle-sized, others were fist-sized, and the burning forms varied by individual. After observing people coming and going for over 30 minutes, not a single person burned the same way. Like fingerprints, each person's flame form was completely different.
'Just cutting that was enough to bisect the black bear.'
At that time, Jin-woo only looked at the blue flame rising inside the black bear's body and swung his sword.
But the iron sword pierced through the magic power and split through the thick fur, muscles, and bones, cutting down the black bear.
If even a boss monster with D-rank level magic power was like that, humans would be cut even more easily. Of course, he had no desire to cut people.
"Honey, isn't it a bit chilly?"
"That's true... Whoa, what's with the goosebumps on my arms? Should we go inside somewhere?"
"Yeah. Hug me a bit."
"Come here."
A couple passing by happened to cling together. Jin-woo clicked his tongue. Goosebumps indeed - their behavior was what gave goosebumps. The sun was blazing like this, hot enough to be sweltering, yet they clung together with the excuse of being cold, which couldn't be more irritating to watch.
Some people couldn't even dream of dating because they were busy just making ends meet... Anyway, after spending an appropriate time in the park, he got up from his seat. The appointment time with Cheonok was approaching.
Cheonok Group. A representative company of Seoul that didn't touch any business and dominated most of those markets, a conglomerate controlling Seoul's economy.
Well, no matter how big a company, the people working there were ordinary citizens like himself. There was no reason to be nervous about meeting just one employee.
Several hours later. The meeting with Cheonok's employee took quite a long time, and before he knew it, it was time for sunset. Only then could Jin-woo settle accounts for all the prey he brought - rabbit, wolf, wild boar, deer carcasses, plus even the black bear carcass.
"Thank you, Hunter! Next time, too, please! Please use our Cheonok Trading!"
The employee, grinning at the thought of receiving incentives, bowed excessively as he saw Jin-woo off. He gave Jin-woo a large shopping bag as a gift, containing a comprehensive set of the finest beef from various cuts.
A business card was tucked inside the packaging. Carrying the shopping bag and leaving the Cheonok Trading building, Jin-woo checked his smartphone account.
[Balance: 337,432,900]
The number in front had increased by one.