Nothing Cannot Be AccomplishedOne Wednesday. The main building of the Korean Hunter Association.
“Have you ever bought a house, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi?”
The black-haired hunter’s eyes widened at my question. Until just moments ago, we had only been discussing dry matters, such as whether the Association’s regulations would be revised this year.
“A house? If you mean buying or selling one, I haven’t done that yet.”
“Aha.”
“But why are you suddenly asking about houses...?”
“I’ve been thinking about moving recently.”
Recently, I had been considering moving somewhere new. Until now, I had been reluctant to change residences because I had lost all memories belonging to this body. But now that I had recovered most of the information related to Kim Giryeo, there was no longer any reason to cling to that one-room apartment.
‘Most of what I recovered after meeting Lee Hwayoung consisted of particularly memorable experiences, so naturally there are still a few gaps in my common knowledge.’
The room being cramped or the wallpaper being worn out... Honestly, after living in far harsher conditions, things like that didn’t bother me much.
But security... Yes, I couldn’t tolerate that anymore. That old building didn’t even have a proper security guard, so some kind of trouble seemed to happen every day.
‘Once the barrier I set expires, I’ll move somewhere else.’
So, before finding a new home, I decided to ask one of this planet’s natives for advice.
“I don’t ask for much. Just somewhere with decent security and maybe a bathtub. What kind of house should I buy if those are my conditions?”
But the moment Seonwoo Yeon heard me, she stared back at me in shock.
“Right now... you don’t have a bathtub... in your house?”
I couldn’t understand why she was reacting like that. If I searched through Kim Giryeo’s memories, this body had never once lived in a house with a bathtub.
I didn’t answer Seonwoo Yeon’s question.
‘I think this every time, but there’s no need to go out of my way to act like an alien.’
Instead, I smoothly changed the subject, returning to what we had originally been talking about.
“By the way, is the printing finished?”
“Oh, yes. Here it is.”
Seonwoo Yeon handed me the A4 sheet that had just come out of the copier. I skimmed over the document and gave a small nod. With this in hand, my business here was finished.
“Thank you. Then I’ll see you next time.”
“Yes, Hunter-nim. Take care on your way back.”
When I stepped outside, the awakened individuals passing through the corridor turned to look at me. I ignored their gazes and continued walking, focusing entirely on the document in my hands.
Gymnasium Facility Rules
Article 1: The purpose of these rules is to regulate matters related to user registration and the use of facilities for the Awakener-exclusive gym.
Article 2: User registration shall be carried out in accordance with the 「Gate Management Act」 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), based on the hunter’s rank...
Where did hunters usually go to hone their skills?
In the past, I would have assumed somewhere like an F-grade gate, but in reality, that wasn’t always the best option.
Even if a gate was easy, it was still someone’s workplace. In other words, it was a place where people earned money. Low-ranking hunters were numerous, and guilds often competed just for the chance to enter a gate. If higher-ranking hunters unnecessarily occupied those hunting grounds, complaints were bound to follow.
“Ahem.”
That was how the food chain worked.
Even the weakest creatures in an insignificant ecosystem shouldn’t be trampled on without reason.
That was why some major cities, where lower-level gates had a 100% clearance rate, operated [Special Gyms] as a matter of policy. These were dedicated spaces where hunters could engage in combat training and awakened individuals could practice their skills.
Come to think of it, they also rented out equipment such as swords and spears, weapons commonly found inside gates.
For modern people unfamiliar with cold weapons, wasn’t that practically perfect support?
...I’ve spent quite a while on the introduction, but to get to the point, I had never been particularly interested in the gym system until now.
After all, the magic an F-rank hunter could use amounted to only a tiny sliver of power. There was no need for a large training space. And even when I needed to test my magic in actual combat, opportunities like that came along only once every few months.
‘Maybe it would be different if I were clearing beginner hunting grounds every day. But if I only brush past an F-rank monster every now and then, who would even care?’
However, in the span of only a few hours, I suddenly found myself with a reason to visit a gym I had never cared about before.
“Whew.”
I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose as I recalled what had happened the previous day.
After the summoner’s attack involving that monster, one fact had become painfully clear.
[Hydra] and [Surprise Box!].
It seemed unlikely that such flimsy measures alone would be enough to guarantee my safety from now on.
So, not long ago, I came up with a new plan.
Through Hydra, I had already confirmed roughly how powerful Earth’s epic-grade items could be...
‘Hmm.’
And that led me to a thought.
Why not use this opportunity to start seriously collecting epic-grade items?
‘It’s not a bad idea.’
Right.
It really wasn’t.
At least by Earth’s standards, Hydra was a considerably powerful item. If I equipped myself with magical tools of the same grade, even an F-rank could possess enough strength that no one could easily dismiss him.
Even if my physical body remained weak, the right equipment could at least allow me to function as a pseudo-sorcerer.
And so, recently, I had set my sights on a particular epic-grade item.
Unfortunately, buying it required several billion won in cash...
Wait.
At this point, someone might be wondering something.
After all, I had occasionally repaired Earth’s items using knowledge I possessed from before my reincarnation.
[Reflector]
[Effect: Reverses the direction of magic for attacks up to A-rank.]
Of course, I had once taken a one-million-won mirror from a street vendor and upgraded it to an absurd level of performance. I had even used a B-grade sleep fragrance to put Jung Haseong to sleep.
However, what I had been doing all this time was, in truth, little more than a cheap trick.
Forcibly boosting an item’s performance would drastically shorten the magic tool’s lifespan from that very day onward.
‘It’s basically overclocking, so that’s only natural.’
The Hydra I currently possessed could be modified until it became sharp enough to cut through an S-rank with nothing more than a thought.
But if I actually did that, there was a good chance the blade would shatter after a single swing.
There was a reason people said you got what you paid for.
‘There are limits to using low-grade items as your main equipment.’
So what did that leave me with?
In the end, if I wanted a stable means of protecting myself, I had no choice but to obtain equipment that was genuinely expensive.
“Damn it.”
And that brought me to the real problem.
I had grown tired of waiting for the dragon’s lung, so I decided to acquire a new means of protecting myself.
The magic tool I had my eye on cost an astonishing 3.7 billion won.
Which meant I still needed to earn approximately 3.48 billion more.
If I included the basic dividend from the Kagoshima raid, that amount might decrease somewhat.
Unfortunately, Japanese government offices were rather slow when it came to administrative processing, so I still hadn’t received my hunting rewards.
From the very beginning, the procedure for paying hunting rewards to foreigners there had been ridiculously complicated.
Complex tax processing, preliminary investigations intended to prevent possible financial crimes, appraisal of dungeon byproducts, hiring dismantlers, beginning the dismantling process, negotiations with guilds, auctions...
All those procedures were handled in an analog fashion in Japan, creating even further delays.
Besides, the only things I had contributed were the ordinary Black Dragon I killed early on to prove my abilities and the boss entities.
Since my overall contribution to the raid had been relatively low, the payment from Japan wasn’t going to be particularly large anyway.
So, for the time being, I had no choice but to forget about that settlement and find some other way to increase my wealth.
‘Most of the money in my bank account is already tied up in the lungs, so I practically have no spare funds.’
In the end, it always came back to money, money, money.
Once again, it was that damn problem of money.
Come to think of it, there was a slang term on this planet: ‘money-crazed.’
A person obsessed with money...
But honestly, wouldn’t someone who wasn’t obsessed with money be the crazy one?
“Why did the Association have to make the regulations so troublesome?”
I briefly drifted into thought before quickly returning to the matter at hand.
Earning money for an Epic-grade item!
Originally, I had planned to reach that goal little by little using Hydra’s venom.
However, after giving it some thought, I realized there was a slight problem with the idea of hunting directly.
Whenever I entered a dungeon, I was supposed to bring a bodyguard with me according to a certain contract, but...
– Wait, judging from the situation, it looks like all of you are trying to break the knight’s oath. Let’s cooperate. I’ll help you kill Kim Giryeo, so let me go.
As you can see, my trust in Kang Changho had once again been shattered after the Kagoshima Gate incident.
The instant Japan’s S-rank hunters attacked, that man switched sides without even a moment’s hesitation.
‘Traveling with someone who needs only three seconds to betray you is a little much.’
Besides, with my current equipment, the strongest monsters I could safely hunt were C-class at best.
It would be difficult to make serious money that way.
What I needed was a way to make a fortune overnight, despite having an absurdly fragile body.
‘I can’t help it.’
At times like this, nothing was more efficient than leeching off other hunters.
Of course, Ahn Yoonseung was excluded.
I had already squeezed him dry under the pretext of skill training, so I had no bait left with which to lure him.
‘What a shame.’
Unless another nationwide crisis like the Siren occurred, there was no way to make use of Yoonseung.
Which meant it was finally time to play the trump card I had been saving.
I would use a big shot capable of dramatically increasing my wealth.
“Haa.”
I took a deep breath and entered a building.
“Excuse me. I contacted you in advance...”
“Ah, Hunter Kim Giryeo! Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.”
At last, I had arrived at a certain guild in Seoul.
An employee wearing a beige cardigan greeted me with a friendly smile and led me into the reception room.
Two single sofas faced each other with a small tea table between them.
Compared with major guilds like the Korean Magic Tower, the place was rather modest, but an interior like this had its own cozy charm.
I thought it was quite nice.
“Hmm.”
Now all I had to do was wait for the guild leader to arrive...
Two hours later.
I was drinking the barley green tea the staff had given me when a sudden commotion erupted from the far end of the hallway.
After a moment, the door in front of me burst open.
“Ah...!”
Someone hurried inside, trying to catch his breath.
His hair was naturally parted neatly down the middle, but so many strands had already turned white that it almost looked gray.
His completely unscarred face was itself a testament to his strength.
On top of that, he wore a coat woven from monster scales draped over his shoulders.
A young awakened individual.
“Hunter Kim Giryeo?”
I raised my gaze toward the young man who had entered the room.
“...Hello. What brings you all the way here...? No, more importantly, I’m sorry for making you wait.”
That’s right.
It was Jung Haseong.
I never imagined I would one day come to a place called the Garion Guild of my own accord.
***
Korea’s S-rank Hunter, Jung Haseong, was currently in a state of shock.
Early that morning, he had received word from the guild secretary’s office that Hunter Kim Giryeo wanted to meet him.
‘That Hunter wants to see me?’
Unfortunately, the message had reached him just before a gate was on the verge of collapsing.
“I’m sorry for making you wait.”
In the end, Jung Haseong had prioritized his work over receiving his guest.
Of course, dungeons contained too many variables to predict exactly how long a clearance would take.
He had told Kim Giryeo that they could simply reschedule for another day, but...
“It’s okay.”
The other man had refused.
Kim Giryeo said it didn’t matter when the dungeon clearance ended. He would wait at the guild.
Thanks to that, Jung Haseong had been able to attend this meeting without wasting even the slightest amount of time.
But by now, he was beginning to feel uneasy.
‘Why did he suddenly come here?’
Now that he thought about it, this was the first time that Hunter had ever contacted him first.
‘Could I have made another mistake...?’
Whenever Kim Giryeo looked at him, he usually ended up scolding him for something.
As a result, even without any particular reason, Jung Haseong found himself subconsciously shrinking back.
“Haseong-ah.”
But the words that followed were completely different from what he had expected.
“You... now that I think about °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° it, you said before that you wanted to work together with me as a team. That was around last winter, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. I did.”
“Have you changed your mind since then?”
“Yes?”
“That’s exactly what I came here to talk about.”
Tak.
Giryeo set the cup of green tea he had been holding down on the table and went straight to the point.
“You’re probably busy, so I’ll be direct. Actually, it isn’t entirely impossible for the two of us to team up.”
Perhaps the important part was that the offer was genuinely tempting.
“That’s why I came here today. I wanted to hear what you thought.”
“Yes?”
“Anyway, answer this first. Jung Haseong, do you still want to work with me?”
That cold-hearted hunter had suddenly come all the way here to ask for his opinion about forming a team?
Haseong hesitated for a moment.
Could one of the monsters in the dungeon he had just cleared have cast an illusion on him?
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