Chapter 101
Chapter 101: Rumors
Yoo Ji-han’s party took the Ah-Hyuk Flower and Goemi, which they hunted at the department store, to Mongdang.
Jang Sa-im informed Kim Si-hu about their sales plan during a call.
—We plan to supply Ah-Hyuk Flower to an overseas leukemia research institute. They are currently buying in bulk.
Ah-Hyuk Flower is primarily used as medicinal material rather than food.
Especially since it is highly effective against leukemia, the demand is high, making it not too difficult to sell.
One downside, however, is that the unit price isn’t very high.
“What about Maple Goemi and Giant Goemi?”
—It’s not confirmed yet, but it seems there’s a furniture manufacturer dealing with Goemi, so we’ll probably send it there.
Furniture made from Goemi is considered quite high-end.
Turning existing furniture into Goemi pieces has become a trend somehow.
Many wealthy individuals are so interested in monster furniture that they even have their Go board made from Goemi.
Once it hits the market, it’s one of the items that will sell like hotcakes.
—I’m still looking for a buyer for the leaves…. I’ll contact you again if I find one.
“Thank you.”
After ending the call, Kim Si-hu looked at Yoo Ji-han.
“Sa-im says it’ll be about 70 million won.”
“Not bad.”
If it were just for the Ah-Hyuk Flower, the amount would have been less than half.
The Goemi they hunted on the rooftop was priced relatively well.
Since most of the heroes who hunted alongside them had died due to Barbarians, the ownership of the Goemi was currently with Kkuljaem.
“It seems the condition of the Maple Goemi is not that bad.”
“If Sa-im says so, then it probably is.”
Kim Si-hu nodded, worried that using fire magic on the Maple Goemi would decrease its value.
The two had developed great trust in Jang Sa-im through their repeated dealings with Mongdang.
At least they were confident he wouldn’t cheat them out of money.
“The Hero Department should be arriving soon.”
The corpse of the Barbarian at the scene was taken by the Hero Department.
Since the news of the Barbarian’s appearance had not yet reached outside, someone from the Hero Department was said to be coming directly to the office today for disposal.
“Squawk.”
“Stay still for a moment.”
Min Yu-ri was grooming Chilla with a large brush in one corner of the office.
Chilla seemed to be enjoying it, closing its eyes and perking up its ears.
After watching for a moment, Kim Si-hu said,
“Is Chilla’s shield a bit wrinkled?”
“It is. It’s not unusable right now, but it should be repaired.”
Yoo Ji-han recalled the Barbarian who tried to crease the shield with his hands.
Really, those ignorant fools.
Even though the shield wasn’t that expensive, it was going to cost them for repairs.
‘Should I get better equipment?’
Yoo Ji-han thought of the equipment of his party members.
Yoo Ji-han himself, Kim Si-hu, and Chilla were wearing the equipment made by Nam Ho-yeol, while Min Yu-ri was still using her old equipment.
He judged that these were adequate for a Rank 4 party.
But considering the recent events around them…
All the party members could benefit from using more expensive equipment.
‘Who would have thought I’d be worrying about this so soon?’
The time Kim Hyun-tae’s party began to seriously think about proper equipment was after they were promoted to Rank 3.
Monsters ranked at 3 generally used special powers through magical energy, so there was a lot to pay attention to.
Just think about the Maple Goemi from the department store: it used branches as tools and threw countless maple leaves at them.
As a result, once they hit Rank 3, not only did their earnings significantly increase, but their expenses did too.
“……”
Yoo Ji-han sighed inwardly.
Encountering the Barbarian at the department store had a huge impact on him.
If their equipment couldn’t hold up, their combat sustainability would surely drop.
‘I need to work harder to earn money.’
*
The visit from the Hero Department to Kkuljaem’s office occurred just before 11 AM.
“Ah? Ji-cheol!”
“Haha. Good to see you again.”
The person who entered the office was Yang Ji-cheol from the Hero Department.
He had a few prior exchanges with Kim Si-hu and Yoo Ji-han, making him a natural choice for the visit.
Dragging a large suitcase, Yang Ji-cheol handed something he was holding in his other hand to Kim Si-hu.
“It’s a housewarming gift for your office relocation.”
“What is this?”
“It’s a Monster Energy Bar infused with good-for-you monsters! It’s a product from the company that made the Monster Juice I gave you before.”
“Th-thank you….”
Kim Si-hu awkwardly smiled as he recalled the horrific taste of the Monster Juice he had consumed earlier. He thought it was incredible how they made such things.
After delivering the gift, Yang Ji-cheol looked around the office.
“The new office is spacious and comfortable.”
“The previous place was too cramped.”
“That one was cozy too. All great guilds start from places like that.”
From the very first time Yang Ji-cheol visited Yoo Ji-han’s party’s office, he had a very favorable impression of them.
There was unexpected trouble during the Rank 4 advancement interview, but they ultimately succeeded, and recently they even blocked intruders, validating his insight.
After checking the surroundings briefly, Yang Ji-cheol sat down on a chair.
He placed his phone on the desk and, with a serious expression, got to the point.
“The investigation into the Barbarian your party defeated has been completed.”
“What are the results?”
“According to the research institute, it was concluded that your party encountered them less than 20 minutes after their invasion of Earth.”
“So they must have appeared at the department store first.”
“They are currently searching the entire department store thoroughly.”
The Hero Department was tracking the invasion route of the Barbarian.
Searching for the invasion route often ended in failure, but it was news that this time they were searching carefully under the direct orders above.
“Of all times, the barrier is involved…”
In Korea, barriers could only be deployed with the permission of the Hero Department, which oversaw them.
No matter how large the guild, they could not tamper with the barrier without permission.
However, the appearance at the department store was a barrier within a barrier.
It was one that blocked physical access by humans, and even now the Hero Department was still in the research phase regarding this type of barrier.
“Can you really disclose this to us?”
“You’ve already seen it with your own eyes, so it can’t be helped.”
The development of barriers was handled as highly confidential information.
However, the fact that a research matter was deployed externally meant that someone inside had leaked information.
While it was impossible to recover the barrier that had already been stolen, members of the development team were being investigated one by one due to the possibility of a spy within.
“Anyway, that’s how things stand on our end.”
“Thank you for all your hard work.”
“Thanks to you, we survived. If it weren’t for you, many more people would have died.”
Yang Ji-cheol bowed his head toward Yoo Ji-han’s party members.
It was a sincere gesture filled with gratitude.
‘It means I’ve also achieved something.’
Yang Ji-cheol had encouraged Yoo Ji-han’s party to advance.
Thanks to them reaching Rank 4, they could enter the Rank 4 Monster Area department store, greatly reducing the damage caused by intruders.
Although it was not an intended result, Yoo Ji-han’s party’s achievements could be seen as Yang Ji-cheol’s achievements.
“So, the Hero Department wants to reward you for defeating the intruder.”
“What kind of reward?”
“We’ll give you 200 million in cash.”
“200 million?”
“It’s 200 million after tax. However, this is on the condition that we take the Barbarian’s corpse with us.”
“Wow….”
Yoo Ji-han let out a small exclamation.
It was not common for a national agency to offer such a large sum in cash.
“Actually, this is still an insufficient amount. You took down over 10 Barbarians! Given the achievement, I’d like to offer at least 300 million, even 500 million, but…the person in charge of rewards said that much can’t be given to a Rank 4 party.”
“Rewards are divided based on rank, I see.”
“I personally don’t like that method.”
Saying this, Yang Ji-cheol looked quite apologetic.
However, from Kkuljaem’s perspective, who unexpectedly gained profits, there was no dissatisfaction.
“And these are the items the Barbarians had.”
Vroom!
Yang Ji-cheol unzipped the suitcase he had dragged along.
Inside were axes and clothes that the Barbarians had.
“If you don’t want them, we can dispose of them.”
“I’ll take a look.”
Yoo Ji-han rummaged through the open suitcase.
He picked out the things that grabbed his attention and set them on the floor.
“Hmm….”
Was there anything useful?
He hadn’t expected to get something from these guys, who relied solely on their sturdy bodies.
The axes were poorly made and in bad condition, making it impossible to sell them externally.
Technically, he might be able to sell them to unique collectors as “weapons used by Barbarians,” but he wouldn’t get a high price for them.
“This one….”
However, inside the suitcase, there was a broken axe.
It looked a bit different from the other axes, as Yoo Ji-han recalled it being the axe held by the leading Barbarian.
It seemed to have broken from being crushed in the hands of a giant.
‘What’s this?’
Yoo Ji-han felt something strange from that axe.
“Wait a minute.”
He lifted the axe’s handle to examine it.
But it was just a sturdy wooden handle, feeling quite ordinary.
Yoo Ji-han then picked up the blade part, where there was a crack.
But at that moment.
Wooong!
He felt strange magical energy flowing through the hand that was holding the axe.
It felt oddly familiar….
‘It’s a Magic Crystal!’
Magic energy was flowing from the crevice of the axe blade.
Yoo Ji-han felt déjà vu from the day he obtained the dagger artifact at the open market.
He gulped down the saliva that had pooled in his mouth and asked Yang Ji-cheol,
“Is this all the axes you have?”
“We brought everything except the broken or severely damaged ones.”
“For now, we’ll take everything in the suitcase. Please make sure to send over even the broken ones.”
“Understood.”
There was a Magic Crystal inside the blade of the leading Barbarian axe.
So it was worth investigating the other axes too.
‘They weren’t entirely shameless, after all.’
To offer both the reward and the Magic Crystal!
It seems that the Barbarians weren’t just mindlessly unscrupulous.
*
At the headquarters of Keroes, there were personal rooms assigned to each member of Kim Hyun-tae’s party.
An independent relaxation space that one could never enter without their permission.
“Press harder.”
“Yes!”
Keroes’s star, Kim Hyun-tae, was lying in his personal room receiving a business massage.
To properly massage a solid Hero’s Body, the masseuse also needed to possess magical energy.
That much made the massage one of the high-priced services provided by the guild’s welfare.
‘There must be no mistakes.’
Kim Hyun-tae was known to be a very picky customer.
The masseuse visiting Keroes that day was meeting Kim Hyun-tae for the first time since joining the company.
‘He’s incredible.’
Every time he touched Kim Hyun-tae’s body, he felt the rock-hard muscles and the swirling magical energy.
Unless he infused his hands with magical energy, it would be hard even to provide a slight stimulation.
It was as if even if you stabbed him with a knife, not a drop of blood would come out.
‘This is why people become Rank 1 Heroes.’
The masseuse put forth his all, to the point of getting his back soaked in sweat.
He was giving his best to a VIP customer.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“I hope to see you next time!”
As the masseuse finished and left,
Kim Hyun-tae, who had been lounging around, sat up.
“Hmm.”
He checked his physical condition through the full-length mirror.
Thick eyebrows, dense eyelashes, flawless skin, and a straight nose: a handsome face.
The solid muscles, gained from years of activity, were like sculptures, enough to awe even other men.
“Perfect.”
He felt satisfied enough to get lost in himself.
Vroom—
Striking a pose while staring at the mirror, a new message arrived on his mobile phone.
It was sent by Hwang Joon-ho, the tanker of the same party.
[Hwang Joon-ho: Hyun-tae, have you seen this?]
Attached to the message was a web address.
Kim Hyun-tae clicked the link.
“……Cheongyeongsa?”
It was news announcing that Cheongyeongsa had begun this year.
