24
As soon as Buy This’s broadcast ended, the Hunter Forum board became a battlefield where Molotov cocktails had been thrown.
└ Monthly rent of 4,000,000 credits? lololol. Boss is seriously poisoned by capitalism now, lololol.
└ 4,000,000 in an Area 4 outskirts garbage dump? Did you get a trash-grade magic stone stuck in your brain? lololol.
└ Yeah, not buying.
Thinking about it, it was an obvious reaction.
After all, it was not 2,500,000, but a full 4,000,000 credits!
Because of that, it was only natural for Thundercloud to be cursed at.
└ He made some money, and now he is doing nouveau riche crap like crazy.
└ Is this as far as Thundercloud goes?
└ For real, with 4,000,000, you can live somewhere really good even on prime land. If it were 2,000,000, I would understand, but 4,000,000? That crossed the line. I just will not go, lololol.
└ Lord Thundercloud. I am saying this because you really feel like a younger brother to me. This kind of arrogant business cannot create anything. It is not too late even now. 2,000,000 is too much as well. If you adjust it to 1,500,000 and split the households to accept 300 people, it will help your household finances much more. If you would like detailed consultation, please contact me. Or please reveal your business email. This is Dae-Wang Real Estate!
└ Self-promotion in the middle of this, are you insane? lololol.
└ Wow, lololol. Look at him shoving in his business while pretending to be an old nag. Disgusting, right?
└ But this might actually be decent? Share the air, and earn money through low-margin, high-volume sales?
└ Of course, whether 1,500,000 really counts as low-margin is a separate issue....
There was much other slander as well.
From sentimental criticism that he had become money-grubbing and forgotten his tadpole days, to seemingly reasonable criticism that, putting everything else aside, they thought he was a smart man and were disappointed by such a stupid, arrogant business move!
Even amid the chaos of those countless communities, there were also plenty of defenders who stood up for Thundercloud.
└ Traits of people cursing him: They do not even have 1,000,000 credits in their accounts, so they buy protein blocks on installments, lol.
└ 2. They curse all they want, but when elixirs go up, they mash the buy button faster and more uniquely than anyone else. They cannot live without elixirs.
└ 3. They cannot buy Krushvalbi Elixir (True) because their Rank is too low.
└ lololol. That hit bone.
└ Bark all you want, lololol. With Thundercloud’s personality, I doubt he is even looking at this stuff.
└ Lord Thundercloud, you should not be doing this here.
Sure enough, even after that, Thundercloud’s reaction did not appear anywhere.
Only rumors circulated, saying that he was happily walking Thunder on a stroll path, or that he was making home visits(?) to manage various matters in the Village.
└ Wow, lololol. In this situation, a walk? That is some insane power play.
└ From what I hear, he does not even leave the Village? He has completely become a castle lord, lololol.
└ lololol. He is too scared to come out.
└ Maybe he does not need to go out? Even if he leaves the area around that place, what is there besides the stench of cheap cigarettes?
└ Ha... I went near there, and seriously, the fog dumped there by bottom-of-the-barrel lives was so thick I could barely see ahead. It was really fascinating how only the inside of the Village was clear, as if a barrier had been put up.
└ For real. Even so, this is Area 4, and it is that bad. What kind of place is Area 5?
└ Is that not where Thundercloud will soon go? He fell into the abyss, did he not?
└ No matter how badly he falls, he will probably live better than you.
└ Krushvalbi Elixir and Elixir (True) are still selling extremely well.
└ Stop picking stupid fights and go back to the real world to work, room-corner ruined-life losers.
While Thundercloud was being gossiped about like that by everyone,
Buy This suddenly turned on an emergency live broadcast.
[Live] {Emergency} Everyone... I Ranked up!!! Wooooow!! I am finally B- Grade!!!
......!
The live window filled with thousands of viewers in an instant.
On the screen, Buy This’s face was flushed red with excitement.
“Everyone... I finally became B Grade! Yesterday, at the end of a hunt, I killed a monster and Ranked up!”
The moment she said that, congratulations poured out!
Receiving that shower of congratulations, Buy This shed tears of joy.
There was a saying that up to C Grade could be reached through bloody effort, but from B Grade onward, it was the realm of talent.
Of course, the same was true for going from B to A Grade, and from A Grade to S Grade.
In any case, C Grade was the zone where that wall of talent first began. Without talent, no matter how hard one tried, one could not rise to B Grade.
And yet, she had been promoted to B Grade.
└ But is this not thanks to Forest-Access Druid Village?
└ No, no, it is coincidence. Does it make sense to become B Grade just by breathing air with high mana concentration?
└ If that were the case, she would have Ranked up already when she lived on prime land!
└ If breathing some air made you promote to B Grade, I would crawl to Druid Village right now and lick the ground, lololol.
However, this phenomenon was by no means mere coincidence.
Buy This was not the only person who had Ranked up while living in the forest-access area.
A few days later, Buy This gathered those people and turned on a live broadcast.
All of them began giving testimonials about Forest-Access as if they were bearing witness.
“Well...I had been stuck at D+ Grade for five years. Honestly, I thought I was finished as an Awakened. I wanted to become stronger, but maybe I lacked talent, because I was nailed in place at D Grade. With the mindset of grasping even at straw, I applied to move into Forest-Access Druid Village. As a result, I passed...and before moving in, there was not a single place on my body that did not hurt. In particular, maybe the nerves around my enhanced prosthetic body were being compressed, because phantom pain would rise faintly too...but after coming here, I stopped feeling those things entirely. As a result, I am C Grade now. Truly, I have never experienced a condition like this in my life.”
As soon as his words ended, the camera on the screen showed the large man sitting beside him.
It was Jo Ji-un, a hunter from Area 5.
He still gave off the rough impression of a cattle thief, but he was also scratching his head shyly with his lips pressed tight together.
That there was cuteness mixed into that appearance was probably not just a feeling.
“I have a Trait called Berserker. Because of that, I had no choice but to solo. When my frenzy flared up during battle, I lost consciousness...and after that, the battle would be won, but I would remember nothing. Wounds I did not know about kept increasing...and because of those wounds, I sometimes had to rest for months... It felt unfair. But it is strange. Since a month ago, I started remembering every battle, and it felt like a new sense had opened. My insomnia disappeared too.”
Jo Ji-un tapped his chest with his thick fingers.
“After moving here, I completely quit sleeping pills. I moved hunting grounds too, but that hunting ground was easy, so the next day I moved again to an even better place. My current Rank is C+. The Village Chief is truly...my benefactor.”
└ Shiver shiver shiver. Is it really that much?
└ Oof. Look at that cattle-thief-like guy’s eyes sparkling.
└ He is kind of cute, though? He is my type.
└ Holy shit. Was that what it meant when he said recovery rises on a cellular level?
└ ...At this point, Buy This’s promotion was not coincidence either, was it?
Was it because the impact of this video was so large?
On Hunter Forum, even a Bill Gates of free time appeared to track and observe the changes in Forest-Access residents.
The post he organized with his overflowing time and information-gathering ability even became pinned as a popular post.
[Info] Summary of stat changes among Forest-Access Druid Village 1-month residents.txt
Park OO (D Grade): Mana operation efficiency increased after move-in, currently succeeded in promotion to D+ Grade.
Lee OO (D- Grade): Broke through chronic mana stagnation zone, currently succeeded in promotion to D Grade.
Kim OO (E Grade): Incurable atopy and dermatitis caused by hunting-ground metal poisoning cured.
Choi OO (F+ Grade): Mana measurement values increased by 12% compared to before.
Jeong OO (E- Grade): Insomnia and nervous exhaustion suffered for 3 years cured.
Jo OO (C- Grade): Frenzy values specific to Berserker-types significantly reduced. Succeeded in promotion to C+ Grade.
Public opinion that had been cursing Thundercloud turned 180 degrees.
Because the “proof” they loved so much had been posted.
Before facts, there was no community user who ran their mouth.
└ ...At this point, is it not real?
└ No, is the mana concentration not only 200? How is something like that possible?
└ If you are curious about that, you have to move in. Honestly, if you can Rank up, is 4,000,000 credits not a cheap price?
└ They say Buy This got promoted to B Grade, right? If someone said they could make you B Grade in two months, there would be countless people who would pay 400,000,000, not 4,000,000.
└ Ha... If I had known this would happen, should I have applied in the first round?
└ Ah... 2,000,000 in the first round was ridiculously generous. The ones who got in then are the winners, sob sob.
└ 4,000,000 is not the issue. It is a guaranteed B Grade promotion ticket, so if it is 4,000,000 a month, Boss is doing charity work, lololol.
└ I am taking out a loan even now. Handsome Thundercloud oppa, please make eye contact with me for one minute too, sob sob.
└ Ma’am, you should not be doing this here....
***
└ Hey, you guys probably cannot get in even if you apply in the first place, right?
└ Why? If they pay, why would he not accept them?
└ I am telling you, it is not that units “went unsold.” He “left them unsold.” From what I saw in the first round, people with trash personalities got cut no matter how much money they brought. Turns out the people chosen were all people who had lived so faithfully it was almost foolish.
└ What is this... Did Thundercloud attach detectives to them? How does he know everything?
└ Who knows? What can Thundercloud not do?
└ What? He only accepts good people? Then that is exactly me, right? Please pick me... sob sob.
“Indeed. I hope he accepts them again.”
Kang Cheol-jin, who had been examining the internet reactions, wore a smile.
As if he felt relieved, and proud, that public opinion of Thundercloud was changing.
However, bitterness was melted into that smile.
Apology was mixed in as well.
– You. Did you kill someone?
“You were right.”
It was not just one person he had killed.
That man’s evil deeds were endless no matter how much one dug.
This major accident too had been a snake-like scheme he had pulled.
He had tried to kill the people Kang Cheol-jin thought of as Family.
For the sole reason of making himself look good to Kang Cheol-jin...!
– You are no longer my Family.
The face of the man who had cried endlessly, saying he was sorry and begging to be forgiven just once, had been so disgusting that Kang Cheol-jin had driven his fist into it.
By now, he would be rotting away in an Awakened prison.
“Whew......”
He had thought of relationships as vintage.
He had also thought that the longer he had known someone, the more precious that relationship was.
But being old also meant it was a rash relationship decided when he himself had been immature.
He should have reviewed that.
He had overlooked it and lived on.
He should not have stormed out of that place like that.
Kang Cheol-jin had been deeply wounded.
His heart was troubled.
“I almost want to enter that place myself.”
However, there were many members of Family who had been hurt even more than him.
Ding!
A notice went up.
It was an advertisement saying Forest-Access Druid Village was accepting residents.
The capacity was 50 people, and the monthly rent was 4,000,000 credits.
It happened to be dinner time.
When he went down to the living room, the members who had not gone hunting—in other words, the people injured by this incident—were eating.
His Family.
He spoke to them once again.
“A notice just went up for Forest-Access Village. Everyone, apply again. I do not know if they will accept us again, but at least try....”
“We already applied.”
“...What? Without telling me?”
“Come on, brother. You are the one who became enemies with him, not us. At times like this, we need to look after our own rice bowls.”
A small laugh slipped out.
“Right. That is true.”
At that moment, the bracelets of the members rang at the same time as if promised.
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!
Move-in notification messages rang from everyone’s bracelets!
Whoa... An exclamation came from everyone.
“He says we can move in even tomorrow?”
“What? Has the interview date not even passed yet...?”
“...So that is how it is.”
Kang Cheol-jin burst into an empty laugh.
Those who had passed once were accepted forever.
The fact that there was no need to repeat a screening he had already done once meant he was that confident in his own eye.
Will you be moving in? If so, you pass.
‘I truly want to.’
They now had to pay an extra 2,000,000 on top of the original 2,000,000, but that did not matter.
If that was the price for helping him cut off a traitor, he felt like he would willingly hand over not 4,000,000, but even 10,000,000 credits.
A rookie he was sorry to and grateful toward.
As was always the case with unconventional rookies, Ki Ja-hyeon exposed far too much of himself, and Kang Cheol-jin could not help feeling nervous about whether he would be able to grow properly from now on.
Kang Cheol-jin had no intention of making an apology only in words.
To him, apology and gratitude were things done,
“If you ever see him in danger, help him unconditionally as if it were my own matter.”
through action.
***
Ki Ja-hyeon smiled faintly as he looked at his smartphone.
“Real recognizes real!”
Even after he raised the hurdle to 4,000,000 credits, there were not few applicants.
Of course, even Ki Ja-hyeon did not know how many of them he would be able to accept.
Still, he could see a few names he could accept for certain.
“That is a relief.”
Apparently, they had resolved their internal problem well.
Kang Cheol-jin’s appearance had also left a strong impression on Ki Ja-hyeon.
To think he had stormed out of that place just because someone under him had been insulted.
Of course, because he was someone so high up, it could be seen as acting however he pleased, but that was not how it looked in Ki Ja-hyeon’s eyes.
Had the guild name been Family?
The applicants were also people of the same kind as Kang Cheol-jin.
“It is always a happy thing to accept residents I like.”
Of course, he intended to raise the rent exactly as announced.
Because 2,000,000 credits had been the early-bird price!
In truth, 4,000,000 credits was also an early-bird price.
Because....
“The quality of the forest-access area is going to rise even higher!”
Like that, right now, Ki Ja-hyeon was standing before the thing that was the greatest reason he was working so madly hard to earn money.
The bizarre Spirit Tree surrounding the 330-square-meter warehouse, growing in a way Ki Ja-hyeon had never seen before across both this life and his previous one!
That Spirit Tree,
it was now time to strengthen it.