Chapter 77

"It took about two days to interpret the data extracted through hacking."

"Is that so."

While listening to Jenny's voice over the phone, Renock was walking down the street.

Although his head still throbbed from the aftereffects of inhaling the Feather Fall, he felt physically fine, probably because he had taken an additional pill to reduce the side effects.

"Apparently, they told me to wait until then. Unlike other freelancers, there will likely be a separate conversation for us, so it seems we can wait calmly."

"A separate conversation?"

"They know the operation can't be carried out without you. Look at how things are going. If it were just dealing with black mages, it might be different, but once Palsion got involved, it became clear that the operation had its limits with just freelancers."

"......"

Renock remained silent.

He partly agreed with what Jenny was saying.

Even if each individual was a formidable force, there would inevitably be cases where team dynamics didn't align when operating as a group.

They couldn't match the cohesion of a well-trained mercenary agency or a gang.

To overcome this, one would need to either have Renock's overwhelming skills to dominate the decision-making of other team members or, like Chan, have a natural ability to coordinate and naturally draw out cooperation.

How many such talents could there be among freelancers?

In a way, it was natural.

The more skilled one was, the more they would receive recruitment offers from various places. By the time they realized the benefits of working alone were outweighed, they would already have joined an organization.

While the number of people like Renock, who worked alone due to unique circumstances, wasn't small, it was nothing compared to the scale of the organizations spread throughout this vast city.

The only surprising thing was that Jenny, who handled the arrangements between freelancers and organizations, had mentioned this directly.

"Alright, I get it. So it'll take about two days."

"Do you have something else to do? They seem ready to proceed with the next operation as soon as Palsion's location information is updated. It might be better to spend the time on personal maintenance."

"Since when have you been so concerned about my health?"

"Wouldn't you be worried? Not just during the Dike incident, but looking at the amount of money in your account from collaborating with the agent, anyone would think so. Have you checked your bank statement recently?"

"......"

Despite Jenny's cheerful tone, it was true that the consecutive operations carried out by the agent had brought him a considerable amount of satisfaction in terms of compensation.

So far, he had participated in about two major operations and assisted in three others.

The amount of money in Renock's account had already surpassed 200 million cells, so Jenny's commission must have been substantial as well.

"Will it be that much?"

"The more famous you become, the more people will be watching. Conversely, this means that the evaluation of your worth will become much more accurate and sharp."

"Do you think there's a 5th-level mage or higher who operates alone in this line of work?"

After finishing the call with Jenny, Renock silently operated his phone to check his account.

The nine-digit number that had become familiar to him.

'Over 500 million cells. They must have started sending the money from Dike's side, from robbing Siger Bank’s vault.'

While the amount was enough to make anyone excited, it was also the kind of money that could easily be spent on purchasing elixirs or relics.

During the conversation with Jenny, they had discussed the underground auction house.

If he could obtain an entry ticket through Evelyn's connections, he planned to spend all the money in his account to acquire something that could help resolve the current situation.

'For now, I'll put it out of my mind.'

If Jenny had called to discourage him from acting, it was evidence that things were busy within the agent's organization. However, Renock hadn't walked this far just for some entertainment.

Artificial intelligence and necromancy.

He needed to find someone to get clues about the two types of books he had discovered at the temporary base.

How could he approach these two entirely different fields to find an answer?

There was no reason to suffer for a long time over a problem that couldn't be solved by thinking alone.

While Renock trusted his own way of thinking and intuition, he had never once thought negatively about hearing other people's thoughts.

There was no reason to hesitate to seek advice from others.

Especially from someone who had some intention to resolve the problems in Balkan.