“Here is your Hunter Registration Card.”
“Thank you.”
Park Il-sang received his registration card from the Association and left.
This time, he had decided to go to a better restaurant.
He headed for a 3rd-class Residential District.
This damned Republic of Korea was in the midst of enthusiastic social stratification, so an unauthorized 5th-class resident could not even enter a 4th-class Residential District.
Now that he had obtained a Hunter Registration Card, he could enter up to the 3rd-class Residential Districts.
That was what it meant to be a Hunter.
A life-changing lottery ticket!
Of course, it was not an ordinary lottery, but one he played with his life on the line.
Wearing the full Necromancer Set (the one Park Il-sang had made himself earlier), and accompanied by two escort Necro Guards (he had named them that), he boarded the subway bound for a 3rd-class Residential District.
He made for a conspicuous sight, but no one paid Park Il-sang any attention. In truth, Park Il-sang was hardly the only unusual one there.
There were people covered from head to toe in cybernetic prosthetics, people standing atop floating discs, and all manner of strange individuals.
The station where he got off was Guro Station.
Unlike in the past, this was now a 3rd-class Residential District.
The areas close to the Han River were now all 5th-class Residential Districts, and Cheongdam, which was said to have been staggeringly expensive in the past, had long since become a slum.
Of course.
Since the Han River had become the defensive line, it was inevitable.
“Let us see….”
Just as he was about to leave the station, however, the station security guard stopped him.
“Sir, one moment, please.”
“What is the matter?”
“You will have to unsummon your Summons.”
Only then did Park Il-sang realize his mistake.
That was right.
Starting from 3rd-class Residential Districts, one was not allowed to bring Summons and the like around. Not that it was particularly bad, since public security was considerable there anyway.
“My apologies.”
Park Il-sang stored the Necro Guards inside [Corpse Box].
The security guard’s eyes widened when he saw it.
Leaving that guard behind, Park Il-sang exited the subway station.
“Wow….”
Just setting foot inside a 3rd-class Residential District at all was, in itself, a first in his life.
He had seen plenty of it in videos, but still.
“The air really is different….”
And it truly was. It was different from the musty, damp air of Yeouido. How could it feel this fresh when it was not even that far away?
On top of that, the cleanliness of the streets could not even be compared, and proper, intact apartment buildings stood lined up in rows.
It was a place that could not be measured against the 5th-class Residential District.
This was a 3rd-class Residential District.
After taking a look around, Park Il-sang took out his phone and searched for good restaurants.
“Pasta. I have never eaten it before…. Is it good?”
There was a restaurant nearby said to be famous for pasta. Its rating was high too, and the food seemed good.
He walked right in. Since it was 2 p.m. on a weekday, fortunately, it seemed he did not have to stand in line.
He was dressed unusually (although he had put away the Necro Guards, he had not taken off his equipment), but no one cared.
A beautiful waitress approached and politely took his order.
“This is my first time having pasta. Do you have any recommendations?”
“If you like spicy food, I recommend this Cheongyang Chili Rosé Pasta. If you would prefer something mild, I recommend the Pollack Roe Carbonara Pasta.”
“Hmm. I will have the Pollack Roe Carbonara Pasta, and one Newca-Cola for the drink.”
“Yes. I have your order.”
After placing his order, he looked around. People in clean, neat clothes were having meals. Some looked like couples, and others, like Park Il-sang, were dressed in peculiar attire.
‘Hunters always stand out no matter where they go.’
For Hunters, equipment was an extremely important thing that raised their abilities.
Taking it off?
That was not easy.
It truly was not easy.
Suppose, for example, that one had several items that increased Mana.
Setting them aside made the loss hit all too sharply.
Naturally, since one’s Mana decreased.
[Corpse Box] was the same.
It had not taken the form of a backpack worn on the back for no reason.
It was the manifestation of a powerful will to keep it on forever!
That was why it had taken this shape.
And at the same time, it was also a Necromancer’s greatest weakness.
Once one became something like an Arch Lich later on, [Corpse Box] would no longer be necessary, but still.
While he was thinking that for a moment, his drink came out.
Newca-Cola was still imported from far-off America.
However, according to what Park Il-sang had heard, it was at least four times more expensive than it had been before the world became like this.
That was why domestic cola cost exactly one quarter as much.
Well. The world had not been completely ruined; it had been half-ruined, then stabilized well enough. That was likely why things had turned out this way.
“Your food is here.”
The waitress set down the Pollack Roe Carbonara Pasta and disappeared. For Park Il-sang, it was a dish he was eating for the first time in his life.
It was not as though there were no pasta restaurants in the 5th-class Residential District, but even there, the price had been high.
“I remember there being a dish somewhat like this in my previous life too… Let us see. SLURP. Oh!”
It was delicious!
The flavor of the cream and the taste of the pollack roe harmonized beautifully, dancing inside his mouth!
But perhaps it was a little rich?
What did one need at a time like this?
Newca-Cola!
“Ahh….”
After taking a sip,
Park Il-sang became happy.
Then he thought of his previous life.
The world of his previous life had not been half-ruined; it had been ruined to the point of utter collapse.
Because of that, even while he had been alive, he had not been able to eat anything proper.
And after he became an Arch Lich, he naturally could not eat, so he had been unable to.
In this life, he had been too poor to eat anything proper….
From now on, he wanted to earn money diligently and enjoy the things he had never been able to enjoy.
“This is nice.”
Living was a good thing.
Simply eating something delicious alone like this could give him that kind of happiness.
“The check, please.”
After paying, he decided to walk around the area near Guro Station. There was a park, the streets were clean, and as he took a leisurely stroll, he stopped by a convenience store on the way and bought an ice cream.
There were convenience stores in the 5th-class Residential District too, but they were not open like this.
They were blocked off by iron bars, and when a customer chose an item, the part-timer inside would take the item out and accept the money.
As he wandered around at a relaxed pace, the sun set.
Park Il-sang decided to take the subway back to his residence.
He could move residential districts soon enough anyway.
From now on, all that remained was earning money.
And so, in a good mood, he got off at Yeouido Station and headed home.
The sun had set, leaving the roadside dark.
Some of the streetlights seemed broken and were out, while others flickered.
The atmosphere was already so different that it was enough to make a hollow laugh escape him.
Even so.
These were streets where he had lived for a long time. He headed home with familiar steps.
And when he had passed through several dark alleys, Park Il-sang found himself frowning.
“Hey. Stop right there.”
In front and behind him, people appeared.
“Looks like you have been making good money lately?”
“Donate some money.”
“We have to help one another~”
The 5th-class Residential District was a lawless land.
So if one showed any sign of having money, people like this were bound to swarm.
Park Il-sang stared for a moment at a flickering streetlight in the distance, then let out a sigh.
“Haa… Today was really. I was in such a good mood. I really was…. And now it has turned to shit all at once.”
The belief that his life from now on would become better.
The feeling of it. The pleasant mood.
It felt as if all of that had been thrown into a garbage can.
“Come to think of it, is this because I did not take out the Necro Guards?”
When he returned from Guro-dong, he had absentmindedly come back without taking the Necro Guards out.
Perhaps that was why this had happened.
Thinking that, he activated a Skill.
It was nothing special.
He had merely activated [Life Ravagement].
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Does this bastard not understand the situation? Hand over everything you have and get— Aaaaargh!”
“I-it hurts!”
“Graaaagh!”
Whether they were hoodlums who had appeared in front of and behind him, gangsters from this neighborhood, or simply murderous robbers, he did not know. Whatever they were, they collapsed and writhed, screaming in pain.
Having one’s Life Force drained continuously was accompanied by pain.
They could not endure that agony.
That Life Force gathered thickly inside Park Il-sang’s body, and what remained after that was sucked into [Corpse Box].
“Ahh… What a waste. Such a waste.”
He approached one of those rolling on the ground.
“Why did you have to show up at such a bad time? It would have been nice if you had come after I made [Life Vessel].”
“S-stop! Ughhhh. Stop this!”
“If it were going to stop just because you told me to stop, I would not have started it in the first place. Tsk. What am I supposed to do when your miserable lives are being wasted right now?”
That was right.
Park Il-sang was regretting it.
Life Force was a valuable resource, but right now, he had no item for storing this Life Force.
[Corpse Box] was already full. Park Il-sang himself was not injured anywhere either. What he needed at times like this was an item called [Life Vessel], but
he had not made one yet.
In other words, their Life Force was scattering uselessly.
“This would never have happened in my previous life.”
It had been that way in his previous life. To stop the end of the world, to fight the Demon King, even the smallest resource had to be used frugally.
“Well. It cannot be helped.”
“You damn… COUGH… CHOKE.”
And then, in the end, all of those who had attacked Park Il-sang died.
He searched the corpses’ pockets, and when he looked around, he could sense people watching this place.
But he paid them no mind.
This was a 5th-class Residential District.
There were police personnel, but they would not move in the slightest for an incident of this level.
Rather, the ones who controlled this area were nothing but various kinds of gangs.
Cash. Weapons. He also tore off and collected things like cybernetic arms and legs.
All of these were money too.
In truth, organs also made for good profit, but his hands were too full to take even those.
Park Il-sang took out two Necro Guards, then left the place as it was.
Even without looking, he knew that the residents of this neighborhood were creeping out of the darkness and raising knives to take what remained.
They would cut open the bellies.
And tear out the organs.
But there was no need to care.
It was something that always happened.