Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The Refrigerator Gambit
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The Paradox Flame blazing in the wrecked room gradually died down. I let out a deep breath and stepped out the door to rejoin Lee Se-eun and Han Sang-ah.
"Killing a Partner Hunter from Taebaek."
"I couldn't exactly let myself get killed there."
There had been six pretty skilled beefcakes, and as Lee Se-eun said, Yoon Sung-hyun was a Partner Hunter from Taebaek.
I couldn't afford to toy around leisurely when guys like that were charging at me to kill. Plus, the fight with Yoon Sung-hyun had been in a room, which wasn't exactly advantageous for me.
"Taebaek's going to flip out and come after you now."
"They were never an organization we could get friendly with anyway."
There was no reason to.
"And 'come after me'? Well, the Hanwha Eagles will win the championship someday too."
Han Sang-ah shot back with a look of utter disbelief at my words.
"If you're talking about the baseball team Hanwha Eagles, they've won the KBO League five years straight. Everyone's predicting another Hanwha championship this year too."
"…."
I stared at Han Sang-ah in shock. Who was doing what for how many years now?
A good chunk of time had passed since I returned to Earth, but I hadn't had the bandwidth to keep up with baseball standings. This bombshell was hitting my ears for the first time today.
It really drove home how the world was going to hell for other reasons. Anyway, Han Sang-ah's story was a massive shock, but that shock was mine to deal with—it wasn't what mattered.
"Enough about baseball. Let's talk Taebaek."
Taebaek's company structure was so infamous that pretty much everyone knew it. The only hunter company with an actual CEO. But I didn't know much about the guy myself.
I glanced at Lee Se-eun, and she jumped right in.
"Taebaek's CEO is Sung Si-hoon. A narcissistic pretty boy, but strong."
"How strong?"
Lee Se-eun gave a curt reply to my question.
"Pure power-wise? He could psychically lift Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the London Eye and juggle them."
Damn, he's basically a walking natural disaster. Makes sense—Taebaek settles everything with brute force. Like the deranged protagonists of some battle manga who duel over everything. Their CEO wouldn't be weak.
"So basically stronger than you, sis?"
Lee Se-eun responded to my words.
"He's got limits. Sung Si-hoon's psychokinesis only works within a 20-meter radius."
If you're within 20 meters, he could Darth Vader your throat with psychokinesis or snap it outright. But step outside that radius, and he can't directly attack with it.
To hit someone beyond 20 meters, he'd have to lift something within his range and hurl it psychokinetically.
"Not much of a weakness, honestly."
I could think of a few ways to attack Sung Si-hoon from outside 20 meters right now. But the moment any attack entered his domain, that insane psychokinesis would block it.
Overall, a seriously tricky ability. No wonder he's a narcissist with power like that.
"Anyway, the transfer market's about to open…."
At my words, Lee Se-eun glanced toward London before continuing.
"The British Hunter Association's gonna be swamped because of you."
"Really?"
"You think only one or two hunter companies will come knocking to sign you? Britain's infrastructure is a mess right now—only the Hunter Association in London can handle proper remote negotiations."
In other words, the association's phones would be melting.
"Not planning to go anywhere."
Han Sang-ah and Lee Se-eun nodded like they'd expected that. Our British contract was almost up anyway. The shield generator in Dover had yielded most of its useful intel too.
"I was planning to stick around longer after the contract anyway. But."
We needed to move fast before the transfer window and build more fame.
"With this much, think we can take down Russia's Grade 1 Erosion Core, the Refrigerator?"
Lee Se-eun replied.
"From Grade 1 Erosion Cores on, it's not just the monsters—the gimmicks are massive wild cards. Can't say for sure. But… I'd say 40% odds."
Even if nothing was certain, 40% was a brutally ambiguous probability. Lee Se-eun eyed me and Han Sang-ah seriously.
"Adapting to gimmicks inside Erosion Cores isn't about raw power—it's about experience. And you two don't have much."
After finishing, Lee Se-eun pondered for a moment before adding.
"For reference, the bounty for clearing the Refrigerator Erosion Core is 38 billion won."
Han Sang-ah and I fell silent for a beat. How much?
Lee Se-eun pulled out a calculator and started tapping away.
"Of course, just the three of us charging in is basically impossible. Factor in Erosion Core risk level… and we'll need an operating team too…."
A moment later, she handed me something.
"What's this?"
"My juniors and seniors under me. Plus a hunter company in Japan where I know someone—they owe me. They won't go all the way to clear the core, but they'll clear the path until we reach it."
After covering operating team hire costs and everything else, Han Sang-ah and I would each pocket about 1.5 billion won.
Assuming success, that is. Right now, I didn't have the assets to hire the people Lee Se-eun mentioned upfront.
So, conditional hire. In simpler terms, pay later.
"What happens if we fail?"
Lee Se-eun answered Han Sang-ah's fair question without hesitation.
"Hiring them and not paying means you two become debtors. But as hunters, you could probably scrape by paying interest your whole lives."
I looked at Han Sang-ah, and she spoke up.
"I'm fine. Geumyang Group will cover it."
"And me?"
Han Sang-ah replied simply.
"Using Geumyang Group money to pay off debts isn't smart. You'd end up more miserable than a regular debtor. But if you're okay with that, I'll help."
What, drag me underground for manual labor? I could already picture myself moved to tears, gathering my pitiful paycheck for chicken skewers and beer.
"But success means jackpot. Clearing a Grade 1 Erosion Core isn't ordinary."
Lee Se-eun finished and rubbed her thumb and index finger together.
"Money'll come pouring in stacks. Even if you don't want to earn it, it'll multiply on its own."
Crushing debt and ruin, or soaring high off this job.
"Life's not that big a deal."
I stood up, staring at Lee Se-eun as I said it.
"We've gotta do it."
No such thing as "let's give it a shot." Life's like a burning scrap of tissue—flares up in a flash, then snuffs out like nothing.
"Alright. Guess I'll prep what we need too. First…."
Lee Se-eun made a call somewhere.
"Hey, Nanami? Time to pay up. What? Magic girls don't have debts? What bullshit is that. Wanna die?"
While Lee Se-eun handled business as Zanabi's famed Partner Hunter for once, Han Sang-ah and I diligently continued our usual training. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A week later, Lee Se-eun handed me some documents. Prep for assaulting the Grade 1 Erosion Core Refrigerator was complete.
"One thing upfront: everyone's on conditional hire. None of the hunters I'm pulling in will enter the Erosion Core. The Refrigerator only lets exactly two people in—no more, no less."
The rest would just clear the path for us.
"Think about it—if we fail to clear the Erosion Core, don't Han Sang-ah and I just die anyway?"
Once inside an Erosion Core, it's death or bust until the core's destroyed.
Meaning no debts to pay if we enter. Lee Se-eun replied to my point.
"There's ways."
She showed Han Sang-ah and me something. A small glass bead.
"This is."
Lee Se-eun explained.
"Glass Candy of Salvation. You don't eat it—just input your mana pattern and carry it. Borrowed it from the Korea Hunter Association by name-dropping myself."
A spare life, basically. The price of even one would make your head spin. For someone important like Lee Se-eun, the association provided it.
The Korea Hunter Association kept about 50 on hand for emergencies.
"If you hit death's door inside the Erosion Core, it force-ejects you. Cost? You can never re-enter that core."
Failure, in other words.
"Clear it clean without using the candy, and we return it to the association."
But fail… and we're bounced out, straight into blissful debtor life.
Plus repaying the consumed candy's value, naturally.
"Failure's a nightmare."
"Yeah. And once I started rounding up people, the news stations worldwide lost their minds."
Failing here means debt plus torching all the fame I've built.
"Then let's go."
Heaven on success, hell on failure. Han Sang-ah and I donned the in-ears Lee Se-eun handed us.
―Connection confirmed. This is Operator Team Seagull. Yoo Chan-seok Hunter, correct?
"Yes, connection confirmed."
A calm voice responded. The operating team Lee Se-eun usually contracted with.
―Current time 1357. Lee Se-eun Hunter plus two others confirmed departing Dover. Final objective: Eliminate the Grade 1 Erosion Core Refrigerator in Bratsk.
They continued with details on our target, the Refrigerator.
―Bratsk Refrigerator requires exactly two entrants. No more, no less.
Exactly two. I already knew from Lee Se-eun.
―Confirming once more: Yoo Chan-seok and Han Sang-ah Hunters entering the Refrigerator Erosion Core?
"Yes."
Of course, if Lee Se-eun or I tagged along, it might be easier. But the impact would be too weak. Clearing a Grade 1 with No. 10-ranked Lee Se-eun? Bus ride vibes.
But Han Sang-ah and I clearing it? No bus there.
I'm already gambling with debtor resolve. Might as well go for max payout.
―Honestly, I'm a bit worried.
Lee Se-eun's voice came through the in-ear.
"It's fine."
I muttered, fiddling with the glass bead in my pocket. Lee Se-eun's Glass Candy of Salvation.
No point charging in with "better dead than debtor" mindset. My mana pattern was already input. To deactivate it, I'd have to exit the core and go through the release process.
"Alright, let's do this."