[The examination has ended.]
With the notification announcing the end of the exam, the scenery around me returned to how it had looked when I first entered the examination room.
It felt almost as though I had traveled to another world.
Was it merely my imagination that the process felt strangely similar to returning home after exiting the Tower?
Soon afterward, the door to the simulation room opened, and an Awakened Management Agency employee approached me.
“Hunter Choi Kang Hyuk, you have passed the D-rank Promotion Exam. Congratulations.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
“Your certification will be issued shortly. You may wait here, or if you are busy, we can deliver it to your home by tomorrow.”
“I will wait.”
“Yes, understood. I will show you to the lounge. This way, please.”
Following the employee’s guidance, I left the simulation room.
When I arrived at the lounge, a familiar face was waiting for me.
“Deputy Director?”
Deputy Director Park Gi-yong of the Awakened Management Agency.
It was him.
I had no idea what someone as important as the Agency’s deputy director was doing here, but he rose as though he had been waiting for me and greeted me.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Senior. I knew you would succeed.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
“Please, have a seat. There is something I would like to discuss with you. Ah, I believe it will be good news for you as well.”
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Not exactly. I happened to stop by on other business and learned that you were taking the Promotion Exam.”
It was such an obvious lie that I could practically see through it, but I decided to pretend I believed him.
After all, having the Awakened Management Agency pay attention to me was not necessarily a bad thing.
“What did you want to discuss?”
“Ah, it is nothing particularly serious. To commemorate your promotion to D-rank, the Agency would like to offer you a small gift.”
“A gift?”
“Yes. I believe you will like it.”
“I appreciate the thought, but I do not think I have done anything to deserve a gift.”
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
That was an immutable truth, no matter how much the world had changed.
“You do not need to feel burdened. Think of it merely as a small gesture from the Agency, because we hope to maintain a good relationship with you.”
“Even so…….”
“I believe you may change your mind once you hear what the gift is.”
After he went that far, I could hardly continue refusing without even hearing him out.
“Then let me hear what it is first.”
“We would like to grant you a permanent rental of Ogre’s Giant Hammer, which you are currently renting. What do you think?”
“Ogre’s Giant Hammer?”
“Yes. You appear to be quite fond of the equipment, so the Agency would like to permanently assign it to you.”
A permanent rental.
They called it a rental, but in practice, it was almost the same as transferring ownership to me.
“There is no way you are simply giving it to me for nothing. What do you want from me?”
“Want something from you? You misunderstand, Senior. As I said, this is merely a small gesture to show that we hope to maintain a good relationship with you. If you feel uncomfortable accepting it, you are free to decline.”
In other words, it really was a gift intended to win my favor.
If that was all, accepting it did not seem likely to cause much trouble.
‘Ogre’s Giant Hammer is not an extraordinarily valuable piece of equipment to begin with.’
Ogre’s Giant Hammer performed well, but its demanding equipment requirement meant it was not highly valued on the market.
Its price would be burdensome to an individual like me, but for a quasi-governmental institution like the Awakened Management Agency, it was hardly a significant expense.
‘And if they ever try to use this as leverage to drag me into something later, I can simply return it.’
Depending on how the Agency treated me, joining them someday might not be a bad idea either.
I would probably earn less than I would in a major guild, but being affiliated with the Agency could provide things more valuable than money.
‘Hmm…….’
I did not deliberate for long.
There was virtually no downside to the offer from my perspective.
“If you insist, then I will gratefully accept.”
“You truly do not need to feel burdened by this. In that case, let us begin by signing the permanent rental agreement.”
The contract itself was simple.
It stated that, under the authority of the Awakened Management Agency, Ogre’s Giant Hammer would be permanently rented to me without restrictions.
It also stipulated that, to confirm the renter’s status, the Agency would contact me briefly at intervals ranging from one week to one month.
Normally, I would have had to visit the rental shop in person once every week to renew Ogre’s Giant Hammer.
Being able to replace that entire process with a single phone call was an enormous convenience.
More importantly, I would have exclusive use of Ogre’s Giant Hammer.
‘It seems I gained a competitor recently, so the timing could not be better.’
Before coming here today, I had already been involved in two separate disputes over Ogre’s Giant Hammer.
If I permanently rented it, I would never have to worry about that kind of trouble again.
Even so, I did not neglect to inspect the contract carefully.
There was no telling whether they had hidden some poisonous clause behind Ogre’s Giant Hammer as bait.
“What happens if I lose it? I do not see any clause regarding that.”
“Even if that happens, there is no need to worry. The Agency will assume full responsibility for any loss.”
“Could you specify that in the contract?”
“Ah, of course.”
I examined the rest of the agreement carefully, but there was not a single provision that seemed disadvantageous to me.
There was even a clause like this.
“Am I really permitted to lend Ogre’s Giant Hammer to someone else at my own discretion? It says so here.”
“Of course. The government will technically retain ownership, but for all practical purposes, you may consider this a transfer of the equipment to you.”
After thoroughly checking every other part of the contract, I signed it.
“Is that everything?”
“Yes. As of this moment, Ogre’s Giant Hammer from the Guro Branch rental shop has been permanently rented to you.”
“I am not sure whether I should be accepting something like this… but thank you.”
“Please do not say that. The country is merely providing, albeit belatedly, what it should have provided to someone like you long ago.”
The country…….
There had once been a time when I had risked my life for something like that.
Yet the reward I received afterward had, to be frank, been far from satisfactory.
No.
In truth, there had practically been no reward at all.
I knew that the gift Deputy Director Park Gi-yong was offering me now was not born from pure goodwill either.
But I decided not to dwell on that.
Accepting goodwill as goodwill.
That was one of the lessons I had learned over the course of my life.
“I will accept it gratefully.”
“I should be the one thanking you for accepting it, Senior. The country can only prosper if people like you continue clearing the Tower, can it not?”
“Ha ha…….”
I knew it was empty flattery, but hearing him say things like that to my face over and over was becoming embarrassing.
“Ah, and if you wish, we can arrange for you to take an additional promotion exam for another rank today. Would you be interested?”
“No. That will not be necessary.”
Hunter ranks were publicly available through the Awakened Management Agency.
If a Hunter suddenly jumped from F-rank to C-rank or higher in a single day, it would inevitably attract public attention.
I might no longer intend to hide myself completely, but that did not mean I wanted to advertise myself openly.
“I see. Understood. If you would like, we can also drive you home.”
“No, that is all right as well. I need to stop by the market.”
“Ah, understood. Then I will see you again next time, Senior.”
“Yes. Until next time.”
Deputy Director Park Gi-yong bowed deeply to me.
A man who was actually the deputy director!
I knew it was all part of cultivating a relationship, but I would be lying if I said it did not affect me.
After all, that was ultimately what such efforts were about—winning someone’s goodwill.
‘Hmm.’
Until now, I had not thought much about the Awakened Management Agency.
But if the time ever came for me to sign with an organization, joining the Agency might not be a bad option.
Provided, of course, that the terms they offered were not significantly worse than those of the major guilds.
***
After leaving the Awakened Management Agency, I stopped by the Government Official Market and sold all the monster materials and Magic Crystals I had accumulated.
“The total sale amount is 80,754,540 won.”
“…Excuse me?”
“80,754,540 won, Hunter. Is there a problem?”
“Ah, no.”
“How would you like to receive the payment?”
“Deposit it into my account.”
“Yes. We will transfer it immediately to the account linked to your Hunter identification.”
My mind went blank for a moment.
These were the materials and Magic Crystals I had accumulated from Floors 10, 11, and 12, along with seven clears of Floor 13.
Naturally, I had expected to make a decent amount of money.
But this was far beyond anything I had imagined.
‘80,754,540 won?’
An enormous sum of money by my standards had entered my possession all at once.
Everyone knew Hunters earned high incomes.
Experiencing it firsthand, however, was an entirely different matter.
‘With this much money… I can pay off all the outstanding surgery expenses and still have plenty left.’
The only reason I, who had spent my life clearing the Tower as a Scavenger, had decided to become a Challenger was to pay for my father’s surgery.
Yet I had barely begun climbing the Tower in earnest, and I had already earned more than enough to cover the entire cost.
With such a large sum suddenly falling into my hands, I could barely think straight about what to do first.
Until now, whenever I earned money, I had handed all of it to my wife and received an allowance in return.
I had believed that was the right way to live.
‘But not anymore.’
The money I earned.
Money I could spend for myself.
‘It would probably be best to start with equipment.’
No matter how overwhelming high Stats could be, the Tower was always filled with countless dangers.
There was no harm in being prepared.
The Tower was a place where an investment made today could return many times its value in the future.
And this happened to be a Government Official Market.
Besides purchasing monster materials and Magic Crystals, it also sold all kinds of equipment.
[Popular Products]
The first place I visited was the Popular Products section.
If an item was produced in large quantities, that meant there was considerable demand for it.
It also meant that its performance and value for money had been proven to some extent.
At the same time, high demand naturally encouraged greater supply, often resulting in comparatively reasonable prices.
‘I remember reading that when buying equipment from a market for the first time, it is best to start with the Popular Products section.’
Following the advice I had read in the Hunter community, I headed straight there.
I had spent all these years as a Hunter renting equipment, but this was my first time actually buying any.
For some reason, my heart began to race.
“Welcome, Hunter. Is there anything in particular you are looking for?”
At the employee’s question, I pointed toward the dagger displayed at the very front of the Popular Products section.
Being the first item displayed presumably meant it was among the most popular.
“How much is this?”
“This dagger is crafted from a Kobold Fang. Have you ever been bitten by a Kobold? With this weapon, you can inflict that same agony of pierced flesh and torn skin upon monsters. And all of that for only 159.8 million won. Is that not remarkably reasonable?”
Kobolds were practically scattered all over the place.
How did grinding down one of their teeth somehow justify charging that much money?
I could not understand it.
“Ah, this one looks better.”
“This spear is crafted from the venomous stinger of a Scorpion Assassin. Simply stabbing an enemy can inflict the Poisoned status, and it costs only 389 million won. I think it would suit you perfectly, Hunter!”
“…What about this?”
“That is Lizardman equipment. The sword and shield come as a set for 754.98 million won. Considering their performance, the price is quite reasonable, so they are very popular among Hunters.”
“I will come back another time.”
I fled the market as though I were running for my life.