"Anyway, thank you so much. Seriously, my older brother is strong too, but not to the point of swiping two of them out in one shot!"
'Swipe….'
As if he were answering Sihyun’s questions nonstop on his own, Lee Gyumin’s words kept coming without pause. It was to the point where, if he didn’t stop him now, it felt like he’d start talking about family matters too, so Sihyun raised a hand and cut him off firmly.
"We need to get out of here fast. Come with me."
"Ah… yes, got it! Oh—right, I’m Lee Gyumin! If you tell me your name, benefactor sir, I’ll definitely repay you!"
"Forget it."
Just as there were signs his words were about to get long again for some reason, repay-my-ass—Sihyun answered in short, dull replies and shook his head like he couldn’t be bothered.
Even so, with Gyumin excitedly continuing to talk, Sihyun knit his brow a little and seriously considered whether he should forcibly shut his mouth, glancing at the acupoint between his face and neck as he weighed it.
But a moment later. Sihyun—who was even coming up with slightly coercive methods—had no choice but to look at the man who’d just introduced himself as Lee Gyumin with an expression like he couldn’t believe it.
"Even if I don’t have much on me right now, as repayment, three hundred million…."
"I said forget i—... What? What did you just say?"
"Y-Yes? Huh?"
"What did you just say?"
Sihyun’s face hardened into a serious expression as he asked again.
Three hundred million? He figured he must have misspoken and meant something like three million won. What kind of insane bastard could just toss out a number in the hundred-millions all of a sudden?
"Ah! I don’t have much, so I can’t give more, but for now, about three hundred million as repayment… I was thinking… um, are you okay?"
In that instant, Sihyun’s pupils quivered finely, and the corner of his mouth started to twitch.
Those eyes shining so bright and clear didn’t look like he was lying. It was a totally flat, matter-of-fact face, like he was saying, “I’ll just cut my money off and give it to you, so what.”
If he were someone who could adjust that expression, the tremor of those pupils, even the highs and lows of his voice to fool Sihyun’s instincts, then Sihyun would need to cut his throat on the spot and remove future trouble.
"I’m Jeong Sihyun. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?"
Meaning—this was too much money to say, “Forget it,” to.
Three hundred million was enough to make him think maybe he could wipe out the money he owed Hajung and the loan in one go.
Belatedly, Sihyun put on the nicest, coolest-looking smile he could manage—something not like him at all—and let it curl faintly on his lips.
The sudden facial change felt like it made the corner of his mouth cramp, but he lightly ignored that too.
"Huuk. N-No!!"
"You said you’re Lee Gyumin, right? With three hundred million, do I have to process it as a gift. Ha. Ha."
Even if the taxes got ripped out of him like hell, it was still fine. Where else do you ever just get handed a few hundred million? Go dig in the ground—will even a five-hundred-won coin pop out?
Sihyun still left a sliver of suspicion, but just in case, he mumbled while thinking about how he should take three hundred million so it’d be talked about as “taking it properly.”
Then Gyumin, who’d been laughing awkwardly, scratched his head and opened his mouth.
"If you tell me your Hunter license number, I’ll send it right to that!"
"...Hunter license number? What is that?"
"Huh?"
At that moment, an awkward silence sank heavily between them. And when Sihyun noticed Gyumin’s gaze trembling in tiny shakes again, he quickly realized he’d just said something wrong.
As if to match Sihyun’s worry, Gyumin was already spreading all kinds of wild imagination in his head.
'No way… an illegal, unregistered Hunter?'
An illegal, unregistered Hunter—basically, someone who didn’t take the rank test at the Hunter Association and left no official record because they meant to commit crimes.
Somehow, seeing him smash that pack of silver lycans in one go, he’d seemed like an absolute monster of a fighter, but did it make sense that Gyumin wouldn’t know his face?
Maybe even that handsome face was something made to lure out the other side’s carelessness. As that fear slowly swelled and Gyumin’s body started to tremble—
Sihyun, who’d been a bit flustered, quickly smoothed out his expression and spoke.
"Sorry. I mean… I haven’t been at this for very long, so I was slow picking up information."
"Ah."
Seeing Sihyun give a small, slightly embarrassed smile, Gyumin thought about it again and started doubting his own suspicion—what would a criminal gain by pretending not to know what a license was and doing something that openly invited suspicion?
And even if it was thin, once he applied what Sihyun had just said, a story that fit at least somewhat came to mind.
If Sihyun had awakened not long ago, but it was an awakening through Dreamwork, and he was someone who’d gone through that place for quite a long time, then everything made sense.
Even if someone awakened literally yesterday, depending on what kind of dream they’d had and how many years they’d been there, their power and how skilled they were could vary wildly—so making careless guesses was forbidden.
Wasn’t the most famous example of that Shin Ryuha of the Share Guild, the one who used light-attribute techniques?
'Lee Gyumin, you rotten bastard. How dare you doubt a benefactor who saved your life!'
Even so, there was no way he wouldn’t know about licenses, but Gyumin was all on his own, making a complete beginning-middle-end and writing an optimistic little novel in his head.
But Sihyun, who’d been standing there a bit anxiously the whole time, felt a little sad that he was now in a situation where he had to smile brightly and butter up someone he’d even gone as far as to save.
"If you awakened not long ago, you might not know! Don’t worry. Sir!! A Hunter license is like an ID card you get issued when you take the official test at the Association! Hunters usually trade using their license number, so that’s why I asked!"
"I see."
Sihyun nodded slightly with an agreeing smile. Then Gyumin got even more excited and started explaining in more detail.
Once Gate resources got released into the world, prices swung like crazy. Of course it was still chaotic now, but he said the first year had been a truly, insanely confusing period.
Even so, countries started making all kinds of laws and rules, late as it was, and began getting a grip on the messed-up situation.
In the middle of those conditions changing so fast, the license account came out as a method made through separate agreements, because even in all that, the amounts Hunters spent were beyond imagination.
"They ended up creating and managing separate accounts for Hunters, but honestly, early on it couldn’t really settle because of groups trying to profit however they could. But under existing law, if you traded items or Gate byproducts, you’d have to get hit with taxes in the hundreds of millions, billions, even tens of billions—sometimes even into the tens of billions—and who’s going to just sit there and take that?"
Naturally, explosive complaints burst out, and in countries that didn’t allow it and forcibly ripped out huge taxes anyway, Hunters started leaving in droves.
At first, the gain from taxes looked big, but that huge burden ended up activating only that country’s underground economy, and at the same time public safety became a wreck.
And the moment Hunters—one of the major groups that would be leading the future now that it was rising—left, each country’s evaluation shook hard and dropped straight down, so who wouldn’t try to guarantee Hunters’ interests?
In the end, this system began to take root in an instant thanks to Hunters making fast decisions. Meaning: if he wanted to receive three hundred million properly and use it comfortably, he needed a Hunter license.
"Thank you for telling me…. First, once we get out of here, I’ll have to stop by the Hunter Association."
Sihyun dipped his head and thanked Gyumin, glancing at him—at least he was kindly telling him things like this. In that moment, Gyumin’s face brightened wide, color returning.
"If you need information, just tell me! I might not have anything right now, but I’ll help you with all my heart and sincerity, sir. Seriously—no, I mean, I’m sure it was just two loud bangs, and that was it, but for it to be this effortless! I truly respect you. Sir!!"
Sihyun kept a polite smile and nodded, cutting off the loud chatter.
'Ugh…. My ears are ringing. And he says he has nothing, but it’s three hundred million….'
In fact, three hundred million was only about enough to buy a decent top with some good stats attached.
Hunters with item-crafting skills had been showing off their abilities quite a bit lately, but most equipment still mostly came from clearing Gates in the first place, and it was hard to get at all.
So there wasn’t much supply, and naturally the prices shot straight up.
Just looking at how even a single Light Shield ring that formed a round shield about thirty centimeters across went for over seventy million won, you could tell how brutal the market was.
Of course, it wasn’t something Sihyun could know yet, so he was currently thinking Lee Gyumin was a bit childish.
'And he’s this generous even to someone he’s seeing for the first time….'
Sure, Sihyun had saved his life, but if he’d just held on well until Hajung finished handling the Gate, he would’ve lived—so it wasn’t like there had been no way at all for him to survive.
Sihyun threw Lee Gyumin a sidelong look of suspicion. But seeing that face smiling brightly, eyes shining, he couldn’t help but snort a laugh and shake his head.
This wasn’t murim, where people changed even their face skin and their aura to weave schemes. In the first place, with Insight, wasn’t it even easier to read people?
-Title: Simple Charge
The title he’d seen earlier in Lee Gyumin’s status window floated up.
Sihyun smiled faintly, letting the nonstop chattering voice in front of him go in one ear and out the other, then walked closer to Lee Gyumin, who was starting to slacken into a daze.
"You’re going to get a little motion sick, so if your stomach feels bad, close your eyes. Even if you feel like you’re going to throw up, hold it in."
"Huh?"
Sihyun’s hand clamped down firmly around Gyumin’s nape. Then his other hand dropped toward the back of his knee, and he hoisted up the big body—about his size—in one clean lift.
"Ueok!"
"Close your eyes."
A pleasant, suitably low voice came out firm and decisive.
But even though he told him to close his eyes, Lee Gyumin just stared up at him blankly while being held like a princess, and Sihyun barely managed to swallow the sigh trying to burst out.
'Just don’t throw up on my clothes. Please.'
And unlike earlier, after gauging the chaotic, trembling flow of energy in the air that looked like it could burst at any second, he gathered Inner Power into his legs and started running forward.