Chapter 22

< My Person (2) >

“What the hell!”

“What the fuck?!”

F3 lunged to grab the contract, but I kicked his ankle, causing him to fall forward. I grabbed his body as it toppled over,

Bang!

and slammed him onto the table. Wow, the glass is pretty sturdy.

“Y, Yujin!”

Yumingu, thoroughly flustered, awkwardly got up from his seat. D also sprang up from the sofa, his expression menacing.

“This guy isn’t F-rank! He’s probably only level 1, and even if he’s E-rank, fuck, I’ll cut off his fingers and make him stamp the contract!”

D spat out these threatening words. Thanks to my luck, I’m higher than him, but I didn’t use full strength because cleaning up the mess would be a hassle.

I stood up, shielding Yumingu behind me, and took out my phone. D and the others sneered at me.

“Even if you call for help now, it’s too late-.”

“Come in.”

Clang!

The locked steel door caved in and fell with a loud noise.

I wasn’t trying to make a call but to end one. I pressed the end call button for my conversation with Kim Sung-han and smiled at him standing at the door.

“Can I ask for your help?”

I would be fine on my own, but I need to protect someone.

That’s why I called Kim Sung-han before pressing the doorbell. If it’s a civilian, I’d ask for help if it seems dangerous. It’s better to take a little risk and cover up the evidence and shut them up rather than let Yumingu get hurt.

But they’re all hunters, so I’m grateful.

“There’s a gang!”

D shouted, trying to boost his morale.

“He seems capable, but I-!”

“That face! K, Kim Sung-han? The Shield of Hyeon Guild!”

F1 interrupted D, pointing at me with a frightened look.

“A-rank, that guy, no, that person is A-rank!”

A-rank. The atmosphere turned tense with just those words. From D-rank to E, F, F, F, everyone was flustered and sizing each other up.

Kim Sung-han, who had taken control of the situation with just a facial recognition, twitched his eyebrows.

“Kneel.”

Thud, thud

Five pairs of knees hit the ground in unison. Good, they listen well.

“What should we do with them?”

Kim Sung-han asked me. Why is he asking me? He’s much higher ranked than me, so he could handle it himself. Maybe he’s used to giving direct orders, like Yuhwan.

“Hmm, in situations like this, they say an eye for an eye. Why don’t we do the same?”

If we let them go, they’ll just continue to prey on F-rank hunters like flies in hell. There’s no point in being lenient.

I took out the last S-rank contract from my inventory. It’s worth over 20 million won, so it’s a bit of a waste, but it’s not my money, and I’ll consider it as paying off Yumingu’s debt.

“So... you there, D-rank, what’s your name?”

I know it from the leaf, but I can’t show that I know.

“...Kim Deok-su.”

He answered reluctantly. He knelt immediately in front of an A-rank, but it seems he’s annoyed that an F-rank is talking to him casually. He’s the one holding the reins, yet he has no sense of the situation.

“Kim Deok-su. You need to answer my questions honestly. If you lie, I’ll cut off your fingers one by one. No need to stamp, I’ll just shove it down your throat.”

I held the contract and pen in front of him.

“Write down your skills and sign.”

“B, but this is...”

“It’s an S-rank contract. Write down a skill that has an immediate visible effect. If you lie and get your skill sealed, I’ll cut off your fingers and make you sign the next contract. I have plenty of fingers and a variety of ways to cut them, so don’t worry.”

In fact, I only have one, but how would he know about my inventory?

Kim Deok-su swallowed hard and wrote down his skills and signed. I should probably buy a few cheaper contracts. This one is surprisingly useful as a lie detector. Of course, it’s best not to need it.

“How many guild members do you have? Only call the official ones.”

“...Eleven.”

For a C-rank guild leader, that’s not many. Given that they prey on F-rank hunters, it’s not surprising that the guild isn’t large.

“One is the C-rank guild leader, and the other five are?”

“D-rank.”

“Give me their phone numbers.”

If I let him make the calls, he might do something foolish, so I used his phone to call them myself. Luckily, I caught a C-rank healer, and I told Kim Deok-su that they were struggling to hold him and that I was a newly contracted F-rank. They agreed to come immediately.

“Where’s the healer!”

A C-rank guild leader burst in.

Smack!

“Gah!”

He was knocked down by Kim Sung-han’s punch. Stats are everything.

Then, five more D-rank members joined, making a total of eleven men kneeling. The room is getting crowded.

“Is there a C-rank dungeon we can throw them into?”

At my words, their faces turned pale. Even a lower C-rank dungeon would be a death sentence for them. But they’ve done the same to others.

The stack of contracts in the vault exceeded thirty. It was said that less than half of them had all their limbs intact. What a bunch of lunatics.

“I’ll contact the guild and see what we can do.”

“If it were a personal dungeon, it would be easier, but can we involve the guild?”

If it’s not a personal act but a guild operation, it could be criticized. It would look like an illegal execution without proper legal proceedings.

“We can handle this cleanly.”

“Even so, there’s no need to create a weakness over a minor issue. How about handing them over to the association instead?”

Kim Sung-han’s expression became subtle at my words.

“They’ll claim it’s a legitimate contract, and the worst they’ll get is a license revocation.”

“That’s if we only report it without taking any action.”

I brought in blank contracts and changed the Hope Resource Guild to the Hunter Association and the 10-year contract to 50 years. Other than that, it was a perfect slave contract.

No, the ratio should be 1:9. Giving them nothing at all is too harsh.

I kindly placed the modified contracts in front of the kneeling men one by one. They looked up at me in confusion. What are you looking at?

“Stamp it.”

I threw the ink pad at them. The C-rank’s cheeks trembled, either from anger or injustice.

“This is a complete scam!”

You’re spitting in your sleep.

“Introducing an easy and convenient job where you just pick up money, and you call it a scam? That’s too much. Changing from a C-rank guild to the Hunter Association is a minor change.”

You’re being greedy, getting 10%.

“Besides, who knows? You might end up in a decent guild with good luck.”

Of course, the probability of being sold to a guild of similar level is higher.

When such contracts are submitted to the association, they are usually put up for sale like shopping mall items. Buying and selling people is illegal, but buying and selling contracts is fine as long as both parties agree. Of course, this applies only to hunters.

The men, though aggrieved, pressed their fingers into the ink.

“Stamp the modified parts, not just the signature.”

Stacking the contracts like that and acting amateurish.

“Let me warn you.”

I continued as I collected the neatly stamped contracts.

“Don’t make a fuss over the contract. If the association contacts you, just agree. If not, I’ll really find a C-rank dungeon and throw you in.”

I’d like to do it right away, but I don’t have the money yet. C-rank dungeons are expensive, especially if they’re privately owned.

To prevent them from fleeing, I collected their resident registration numbers, hunter license numbers, and phone numbers. If they run, I can contact Do Hamin to catch them.

Yumingu still looked dazed as we got into the car. He opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, and finally managed to speak softly.

“...Thank you.”

If you’re grateful, get a skill and pay me back with your body.

“I don’t know how to repay you... I don’t really have a way to...”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Just sign a contract with Hyeon Guild and give me the incentive.

“Don’t worry, but I...”

Yumingu’s voice started to waver. Don’t cry, please.

“It’s just a coincidence! We just happened to meet! There’s no need to worry! And half of it was done by Mr. Kim Sung-han.”

Yumingu laughed through his sobs.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

No, I think I’m a good liar.

“Of course, I’m grateful to him, but if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have interfered. Right?”

“Well, yeah, but...”

From his perspective, he had every reason to be grateful for what I did, but it wasn’t purely out of goodwill, so my conscience was a little pricked.

If I didn’t have the leaf skill and Yumingu didn’t have the potential for an SS-rank skill, we would have just passed by, not knowing each other’s faces or names.

“When we met at the association, I was really grateful, even if it was just words. But today, I was really surprised and moved. Yujin, you’re really...”

Wait, wait, don’t say it... I don’t want to hear the rest...

“You’re my hero.”

...I got goosebumps. How can you say such things? I’m so embarrassed! I’ll give you my skill! I can say “I love you” without any hesitation.

“...No, not really...”

Please don’t look at me with those admiring eyes. There’s nowhere to hide in the car. Hero, what a ridiculous word, I’m so embarrassed. Someone save me. Should I open the door and run? I’m still wearing gloves, so I won’t die.

“You were really amazing. Slamming the guy who tried to grab the contract onto the table, and making them sign the contracts.”

...Why are you doing this to me when the guy who broke the steel door with a kick is sitting right in front of you? Shouldn’t you be saying, “Wow, Mr. Kim Sung-han, you’re amazing, as expected of an A-rank!”?

“Anyway, I get it.”

I quickly changed the topic before I embarrassed myself.

“T, the new hunter training starts on Tuesday.”

“Really? I’m not really confident.”

Yumingu said dejectedly. He was already in a bad state, and the contract had further eroded his self-esteem.

“You’re not confident? Hey, I’m also F-rank.”

Of course, with my skill, I’m not really F-rank, but Yumingu will soon have an SS-rank skill, so let’s consider it similar.

“...You’re completely different from me.”

“What do you mean? See this glove? It’s an A-rank item that boosts stamina and strength. With this, you could have smashed that guy’s head if you had the courage.”

Most low-rank hunters, without a high mental stat, panic and can’t even swing their weapon in their first battle. That’s why new hunter training is essential.

“Still, I... I don’t think I can do what you did.”

His voice is almost gone. I hope he doesn’t refuse the training. You need a license to enter a dungeon, and you need to enter a dungeon to grow.

After some hesitation, I took off the manticore leather gloves and tossed them to Yumingu.

“Huh?”

He opened his eyes wide at the gloves that landed on his lap.

“You can use them for a while. I’m lending them to you, not giving them.”

“But this is an A-rank item, isn’t it? Isn’t it very expensive?”

“I said I’d lend it to you before.”

“I thought it would be D-rank or lower! D-rank and below can survive with equipment... No, I can’t accept it!”

I forced the gloves into Yumingu’s hand, which was trying to refuse.

“What do you mean you can’t? I don’t even use this much. It’s hot these days. Use them until the new hunter training ends.”

You need to face monsters during the training, and I’m worried you might panic and get hurt. I have experience, so I don’t need items.

It’s actually hot, and I don’t want to use it. I should tighten my belt.

“Still, you...”

Yumingu, gripping the leather gloves tightly, had tears in his eyes. His grateful gaze was very uncomfortable.

“Yujin!”

“Wait, don’t cling to me!”

...Shit, maybe I should jump out.

< My Person (2) > End

ⓒ Geunseo

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