[10,290,500 won]
The amount had surpassed ten million won!
Excluding the Juvenile Basilisk, which belonged to the Boss monster category, this was the first time Hae-jin had earned more than ten million won purely from hunting.
'The deeper parts of the Demonic Zone really are a gold mine. The scale of the money is completely different.'
Adding his streaming income brought the total to an astonishing twelve million won.
He had made this much money in a single day.
Moving to a more dangerous hunting ground had definitely been the right decision.
After receiving the settlement in cash, Hae-jin leisurely climbed back into his truck while humming to himself.
'Normally, I'd celebrate with something simple, like a Korean Beef feast.'
But instead of enjoying himself today, he went straight home.
He needed to go to bed early.
'I have a lot to do tomorrow.'
The more money he made, the more work he had to do.
But he did not feel tired in the slightest.
He had become a man earning ten million won a day.
What was a little work compared to that?
The next day, Hae-jin woke up early and prepared to head out.
Instead of getting into his truck, he climbed into his car and immediately started the engine.
Today's destination was none other than Incheon.
Following the navigation system, Hae-jin eventually arrived before an enormous used-car complex.
'They said this was the largest one in Korea, but wow... this really is on another level. How many cars are there?!'
Incheon was home to a massive used-car complex that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance.
The enormous parking lots and towers were packed entirely with used vehicles.
The moment Hae-jin called to say he had arrived, a dealer in a suit hurried out to meet him.
Naturally, Hae-jin had come to buy cars today.
And what he intended to purchase was—
“I'm looking at camper vans.”
“Yes, sir. As you requested yesterday, I've prepared a list of camper vans available for immediate purchase. I've brought ten options for you to look over first....”
“Hmm, these look good. I'll take all of them.”
Camper vans.
And not merely one or two.
He intended to purchase all ten at once.
“P-Pardon? I must have misheard you.”
“You heard me correctly. I'm buying all of them.”
“Ah, yes! I-I'll prepare everything immediately!”
Finding this many vehicles at once had required some effort.
Hae-jin had never imagined that he would someday buy ten cars in a single transaction.
'I feel like one of those Saudi billionaires you see in MeTube Shorts. Heh.'
Now this was what real extravagance felt like.
Perhaps because he was spending such an enormous amount of money, everything proceeded smoothly and efficiently.
Once Hae-jin finished signing the documents, the dealer returned carrying an entire bundle of keys.
“That concludes the transaction. Thank you so very much, my beloved customer!!”
“Oh, come on. There's no need to go as far as calling me beloved.”
“By the way, if you don't mind, may I ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“You purchased ten vehicles, so I was wondering how you planned to transport them.”
“Ah, that.”
“If you'd like, our company works with a private towing service. We can arrange a favorable price for you, so perhaps you might consider—”
“No, I'm fine. Thank you for your help!”
His instincts immediately warned him that he was about to be overcharged, so Hae-jin escaped without hesitation.
A private towing service?
Not a chance.
Hae-jin was far too experienced a miser to fall for such an obvious markup.
Of course, there was no way he could personally move ten camper vans one at a time.
“Did you call for a designated driver?”
“Yes. You can leave immediately!”
So he simply hired a large number of designated drivers.
There was nothing seriously wrong with the vehicles themselves, after all.
Using tow trucks would certainly have been more convenient.
'But that costs more, doesn't it? Designated drivers are cheaper even if it's a little troublesome. I need to save where I can.'
His extreme miserly instincts were on full display.
No matter how much money he earned, wasting it still felt painful.
There were a few complications along the way, but Hae-jin eventually succeeded in moving all ten used camper vans.
Their destination was a countryside rental house near the used-car complex.
There was a large pension district on nearby Ganghwa Island, so Hae-jin had rented a countryside house there for one night and two days.
-DING!
[A new property has been registered!]
Even though he had rented it for only a single night, it was still a house he had formally leased, so the System registered it as property without issue.
There was a reason he had specifically rented a countryside house rather than an ordinary lodge.
'The gate is definitely large. This should be enough.'
To get straight to the point, all ten camper vans needed to be moved into the Demonic Zone.
But driving every single one there from Incheon was completely impractical.
Whether he hired designated drivers or tow trucks, no one would enter the Demonic Zone even if he offered double or triple the normal price because it was simply too dangerous.
What other choice did he have?
He had to move them himself.
Hae-jin threw open the gate of the rented house and activated Go Home.
'The destination will be... The Forest Lodge.'
FLASH-!
The space within the gate distorted slightly before the inside of The Forest Lodge appeared beyond it.
The power of the Skill had directly connected the two spaces.
From there, the task became ridiculously simple.
The gate of the house in Incheon was now connected to the gate of The Forest Lodge in Gangwon Province.
All he had to do was drive each camper van a short distance through it.
Moving all ten vehicles took less than ten minutes.
“Ah, nice and clean!”
This was why people needed to use their heads.
Hae-jin felt extremely proud of himself for handling the task so efficiently.
VROOM-!
He climbed into the camper vans one by one and immediately headed toward the Demonic Zone.
While sitting behind the wheel, he unfolded a map he had prepared in advance.
It showed the locations of every base he had established so far, using The Forest Lodge as the central point.
And scattered across the Demonic Zone were ten additional red marks.
“Let's take them one at a time.”
That was right.
Hae-jin's plan was to stake claims.
Now that he knew camper vans could be recognized as real estate, he intended to plant one at each major point throughout the Demonic Zone.
He had not chosen the locations randomly, either.
He had carefully selected strategically useful areas.
Places where large numbers of monsters appeared.
Locations where Boss monsters had previously been sighted.
And so on.
After spending the entire day driving—
“Aaaagh... I'm finally done!”
By the time the sun began to set, Hae-jin had successfully stationed camper vans at all ten bases.
Of them all, he liked the final camper van he parked the most.
This region was famous for its especially high Mana concentration and frequent appearances of dangerous monsters.
Hardly anyone ever came here, and expensive monsters appeared with unusually high frequency.
It was practically a gold mine.
That was why he had deliberately brought his best camper van here.
[Royal Camp]
Royal Camp.
It was a high-end Swiss brand specializing in luxury camper vans.
Its used price was eighty million won, while a brand-new model cost more than two hundred million won.
Since Hae-jin intended to use this location as his main base, he had splurged on this particular luxury.
Of course, there was another reason.
“Look at that shine. It's beautiful. I could sell this as it is and make more than a hundred million won in profit, couldn't I? Hahaha!”
He was taking advantage of My Comfortable Home, which automatically repaired his vehicles and houses.
If things did not work out, he could simply sell the camper van.
Either way, the structure ensured that he could hardly lose money.
And furthermore—
-DING!
-A new property has been registered!
-'A Landlord's Gravitas' has been strengthened!
[Attack Power increase – 5.4%]
“Ahhh! Sweet. So sweet!!”
Camper vans were also recognized as having real estate value.
He had spent serious money purchasing them, and the Skill had even restored them to like-new condition.
That entire value was calculated and returned to him as increased Attack Power.
His Attack Power had risen by more than 4.5% today alone.
That was certainly a meaningful increase.
'I like this very much. Yes, indeed!'
With this, he no longer had to worry about running out of monsters to hunt.
He now had more than ten bases.
If the monsters dried up around one location, he could simply move to another.
“Wow... Now this is what I call an idea. Lee Hae-jin, that was very smart of you. Just how clever are you?!”
He spent a moment grinning to himself and basking in self-admiration.
“Woof! Woof!”
“Right? You agree too, Guard?”
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Now that he had spent all that effort opening new hunting grounds and establishing bases, he naturally had to try one out.
He set up the grill to spread the smell of meat and laid out his hunting weapons.
Finally, after covering his face, he started the livestream.
[Current Viewers – 167]
“Huh?”
Something was strange about how quickly viewers were entering.
[Current Viewers – 205]
“What in the world?”
Less than five minutes after starting the stream, he had already passed two hundred viewers.
Apparently, clips from yesterday's broadcast had spread through various online communities after the stream ended.
The response had been far better than he had expected.
[Yeombani - Hello, streamer. You're in the Demonic Zone again today?]
Watching the chat race upward at tremendous speed, Hae-jin delivered the announcement he had prepared.
“All right, everyone. I just have one announcement today. I've thought about it, and from now on, I won't be accepting any questions or Paid Challenges related to my personal information. That's the rule, so anyone who breaks it gets kicked out. Understood?”
[Yeombani - What? Why?]
“Why? Well, that's because....”
SKREEEEEE--!
A Rattla appeared right on cue.
As it began slamming its head against the invisible wall, Hae-jin pulled out his gun.
He skillfully aimed at the Rattla's head.
BANG-!
“I'm a little shy, you see. I hope you'll understand.”
He cleanly blew apart the monster's head.
[RedWorld - Um....]
[Cadida - I will behave myself. Salute.]
[Yeombani - Too bad.]
[Shurakakari - If the streamer says those are the rules, then those are the rules.]
Discipline had been established instantly.
Hae-jin looked over the suddenly well-behaved chat and was about to continue the stream when—
“Wait. Aren't the monsters acting a little... strange today?”
Hae-jin instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
Of course, he was extremely deep inside the Demonic Zone now.
It was such a dangerous region that crossing just one mountain would practically put North Korea within sight.
Even accounting for that, however, there were far too many monsters.
And furthermore—
SCREE- SCREEEEE!
SKREEEEEEEE!!
RATATATATAT--!
He was spreading the smell of meat, yet the monsters were not reacting to it as much as he had expected.
They appeared from various places, but rather than attacking Hae-jin, they seemed to be urgently heading somewhere else.
“They almost look like... they're running away from something....”
It was strange.
Extremely strange.
At that moment—
“WOOF! GRRR... WOOF WOOF WOOF!!”
“Guard, what's wrong with you all of a sudden?”
Guard began fiercely tugging on Hae-jin's pants.
The expression on the dog's face was anything but normal.
And as though confirming Hae-jin's growing unease—
BEEEEEEP-
BEEEEEEP-
BEEEEEEP-
Hae-jin's phone began screaming wildly.
It was not a call or a text message.
A bright red emergency alert siren flashed across the screen.
With trembling hands, Hae-jin read the message.
[Emergency Disaster Alert]
[<Demonic Zone Management Headquarters>]
[An extreme Mana reaction has been detected within the Demonic Zone. A Dungeon may form within a short period of time.]
[An Emergency Evacuation Alert has been issued.]
[Citizens currently near the border between the Demonic Zone and the Hunting City must evacuate immediately.]
BEEEEEEP-
BEEEEEEP-
BEEEEEEP-
[Emergency Disaster Alert]
[<Demonic Zone Management Headquarters>]
[This message has been sent to citizens currently located within the projected Dungeon formation area.]
[Evacuate immediately. Head south.]
[If you become caught within the Dungeon, take cover and calmly wait for government-affiliated Hunters to enter....]
“Huh?”
An emergency alert had suddenly arrived.
It said a new Dungeon was about to form within the Demonic Zone.
More importantly, the alert displayed the predicted location of the Dungeon.
“This is... here?”
Hae-jin opened the map and checked.
It matched perfectly.
The exact place where he was currently standing.
“You've got to be kidding me.”
RUMBLE--!
The ground began shaking as though an earthquake had struck.