Chapter 4: A Lucrative Job (2)

<The Reckless Tycoon’s Rawhide Sack>  

– Storage Number: MRG-1689  

– Storage Grade: Safe  

Since ancient times, there has been a saying in Gobeklisi: “Don’t flaunt your wealth in Gobeklisi.”  

This is because Gobeklisi was renowned for its abundance of wealthy individuals.  

Rozchild III was a newly risen tycoon, counted among the top five in Gobeklisi.  

Had he not incurred the wrath of the Sorcerous Emperor, who was out incognito, by boasting of his wealth, his fortune might have lasted for generations.  

The Sorcerous Emperor stripped Rozchild of everything in a wager, and the cruelest act was how he took his life.  

Rozchild was flayed alive, and the Emperor sewed his skin into a large sack…  

I couldn’t even finish reading the artifact’s description before shoving the system window away.  

Reading the contents made my stomach churn.  

…This Sorcerous Emperor, or whatever, was a complete psychopath. So, this sack is made of human skin?

Now I understood why the leather sack reeked of rotting meat.  

I looked at the pile of treasures in the sink with a queasy expression.  

“Ugh. Disgusting.”  

I didn’t want to look at the leather sack again, but the treasures inside gleamed with a brilliance that belied the foul stench.  

“Fine. Money doesn’t have sin.”  

If I sold even a handful of these gold pieces and gems, I could say goodbye to this wretched financial struggle forever.  

“Alright, let’s do this. I’ve awakened, so I can’t just do nothing.”  

I reached for the treasures spilling from the sack.  

Since I’d gained this ability, I might as well start getting used to it.  

 *** 

…This is incredible.

The jeweler blinked repeatedly in awe.  

“It’s real gold. Very high purity. The craftsmanship must have cost a fortune too.”  

The jeweler and I were staring at a large gold coin on the table.  

He examined it with a magnifying glass and continued.  

“Hmm, it looks like an ancient relic. Or perhaps a family heirloom passed down through generations? Or did you dig up some treasure in a jungle somewhere? This would be a huge hit with collectors. Oh, are you a hunter, by any chance?”  

“Just settle the payment.”  

I avoided the jeweler’s gaze, pulling my mask and cap down low.  

I didn’t want to engage in conversation.  

Catching my hint, the jeweler began calculating without further comment.  

“Let’s see, one 20g gold coin is worth 1,743,600 won… So, how many did you say you had?”  

“57.”  

“Then that’s 8,718,000 won total. Will you take the payment in cash?”  

“Yes. Do I need to show ID?”  

The jeweler gave a sly smile.  

He glanced outside the shop before continuing.  

“You can just go. Looks like you forgot your ID, right?”  

Technically, selling precious metals requires presenting identification to prevent dealing in stolen goods.  

But that rule was rarely enforced.  

Especially since dungeons and monsters started appearing.  

Very few hunters who clear dungeons dutifully pay taxes.  

I stuffed the wad of cash into my bag and left the shop.  

“This takes care of living expenses and tuition in one go.”  

I had far exceeded the savings goal I’d set for returning to school.  

And my bag was still heavy with unexchanged gold coins.  

Clink clink—  

All thanks to that leather sack from the warehouse.  

What in the world is happening?

I pulled a crumpled notice from my pocket.  

<Hunter Rank Assessment Notice> / Korea Hunter Association  

– You are subject to a hunter rank assessment.

– Location: Korea Hunter Association (000 

Yeongdong-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)  

– Date and Time: 0 Month, 0 Day, 11:00 AM  

– Please bring your ID and this notice to the hunter rank assessment.  

It was a rank assessment notice from the Korea branch of the Hunter Association.  

A few days ago, I had applied for a new hunter assessment.  

Unregistered hunters are branded as serious criminals and eventually become wanted fugitives.  

Moreover, you need an official hunter rank to take on various hunter missions.  

The International Hunter Federation classifies ranks from F to S.  

S-rank hunters are considered beyond standard, so let’s set that aside…

Even an E-rank hunter could earn a salary comparable to a mid-sized company.  

From D-rank and above, you could easily make as much as a large corporation employee.  

On the other hand, F-rank hunters only earn slightly more than my current situation.  

F-ranks are typically assigned to those synced with useless individuals like “clumsy seamstresses,” “lazy loafers,” or “drunken brawlers.”  

But in my view, the warehouse keeper ability was far from F-rank material.  

At the very least, I could aim for B-rank, maybe even B+?

I pulled out my smartphone and searched for Korea’s Awakener rankings.  

The highest rank currently held by the Korea Hunter Association is A+.  

Among them, “Swordmaster” Cheok Junseong and “Red Mage Tower Lord” Shin Sodam are the most active these days.

Top hunters enjoy popularity that rivals A-list celebrities.  

I also looked up interviews with A+ rank hunters.  

[“…When ‘Swordmaster’ appeared as my class, I knew something was special. It’s a weighty title compared to other Awakeners.”]  

[“I awakened out of nowhere, and my title was Red Mage Tower Lord. At first, I didn’t know what it meant, but it turned out to be pretty useful. It means I’m the master of the Red Mage Tower. The person I synced with must have been a prominent fire mage over there.”]  

[“I’m very satisfied with my class as a Bowmaster. Skills? I have about 3,000, and each one has an impressive name.”]  

The skills an Awakener possesses vary drastically depending on who they’ve synced with.  

Take the basic swordsman skill “Slash” as an example…  

The “Slash” of an Awakener synced with a “retired old knight” is a C-rank skill.  

In contrast, Cheok Junseong’s “Slash,” synced with “Swordmaster Durandal,” is an A+ rank skill.  

Similarly, the “Fireball” of an “apprentice mage of the Red Mage Tower” is worlds apart from the “Fireball” of “Red Mage Tower Lord Charlemagne.”  

Ugh. 

If only I had a few decent skills…

The skills I acquired were just “Open” and “Close.” Two in total.  

But the real value lies in Morgue’s Magical Warehouse itself, activated by “Open” and “Close.”  

More precisely, the “items” stored inside the warehouse.  

Back during the Japanese occupation, didn’t Korea’s major corporations do something similar?  

They bought up warehouse sites left behind by the retreating Japanese for the price of the warehouses alone, then claimed the contents inside, massively increasing their wealth.  

Wasn’t that called “enemy property transfer”? 

Whatever, that’s basically what I’m doing…

I chuckled, thinking of the thick stack of cash and the leather sack in my bag.  

What does it matter if I only have two skills? I can make this much money.  

This one leather sack alone made me feel no envy for other Awakeners.  

From now on, no adventures. 

I’m not some fantasy novel protagonist. 

I don’t care about achieving great success or saving the world. 

I’ll just live quietly as an ordinary citizen, making money discreetly when I need it.

I made a firm promise to myself.  

No adventures, ever.  

No challenges, ever.  

Live as safely as possible, doing nothing.  

Safety first! Safety first! 

Safety first!  

…Alright, it’s a promise.

I hooked my left pinky with my right.  

Who could break a man’s solemn oath!  

As I grinned to myself, lost in thought…

Screeeeech~!

The bus came to a noisy stop.  

At the same time, it began to shake violently.  

“What’s that? What’s going on!?”

There were only two people on the bus: me and the driver.  

…No, now it was just me.  

“Aaaaah! What the hell is that!?”  

The driver screamed and bolted out of the bus.  

“…?”

Sitting in the back, I still hadn’t grasped what was happening.  

But the situation didn’t wait for me to catch up—it barreled forward on its own.  

Crunch! Craaaack~!

The space inside the bus began to twist.  

Like a wrung-out rag, the space distorted.  

Eerie magical energy waves oozed from the surroundings.  

I finally realized what this phenomenon was.  

“Dungeonization!?”

The most iconic phenomenon of otherworld interference.  

Dungeonization.  

A den teeming with all sorts of magical beasts.  

A subspace gate was forming right inside this bus.  

Rrrrrrip~!

With a deafening roar, the middle of the bus was torn apart.  

At the same time, the asphalt road was sucked toward the gate’s center, morphing into a shape like hardened lava.  

I reached for the bus window to escape.  

“Damn it! Wasn’t getting caught in a dungeonization supposed to be as likely as getting struck by lightning!?”

A gate forming inside a moving bus, no less.  

It was like being hit by lightning, a tsunami, an earthquake, and every other natural disaster all at once.  

Why was my life plagued by such absurd improbability!  

I frantically struggled to climb out the window.  

In my haste, I accidentally grabbed the leather sack sticking out of my backpack.  

Ding-dong!

As if it had been waiting, a page from the guidebook appeared.  

It was the page I hadn’t finished reading about “The Reckless Tycoon’s Rawhide Sack.”  

<The Reckless Tycoon’s Rawhide Sack> 

– Storage Number: MRG-1689  

– Storage Grade: Safe  

Rozchild was flayed alive, and the Sorcerous Emperor sewed his skin into a large sack, which contained the immense wealth Rozchild had amassed in his lifetime.  

However, unable to bear his resentment, Rozchild placed a curse on the sack.  

If anyone other than him used the wealth inside, they would inevitably experience misfortunes, big and small.  

Just as Rozchild had the misfortune of crossing paths with the incognito Sorcerous Emperor.  

…Oh.

At that moment, I learned a valuable lesson.  

You have to hear out the full story, whether it’s in Korean… or in Morgue’s language.  

As I came to this profound realization…

Rooooooar!

The pitch-black dungeon gate fully materialized, swallowing the bus entirely.  

And I, helplessly, was sucked into it.