Chapter 5: A Lesson in Value

An incomplete high-grade potion costs seven million won.

What if the word ‘Perfect’ was attached to the front?

The price would start at at least double that.

That was because high-grade potions were powerful enough to regenerate almost any wound.

Perhaps that was why a fierce price war broke out in the auction every time one was posted.

Watching the overheating competition, I realized once again just how effective the slime mucus from the first floor actually was.

“By the way, it’s a bit of a shame I can only do it once a day.”

Was it because I had become EX-grade?

Despite having just slaughtered slimes, I didn’t feel tired at all.

Normally, I would have been bedridden for half the day due to my illness, but now I felt like I had energy to spare.

“I’m bored….”

Just as I was thinking about watching a movie, my phone suddenly rang.

—Brother!

Hearing my sister’s voice for the first time in a while, I, Min-hyuk, couldn’t help but smirk.

Only a few days ago, I would have answered curtly, but now I replied with a voice happier than anyone else’s.

“What’s up?”

—What do you mean ‘what’s up’! Why haven’t you been answering your phone?—

“Ah….”

I saw a significant number of missed calls on the screen.

“What’s the matter?”

—Brother. I heard you resigned.—

“….How did you know?”

—Someone from your workplace contacted us. They said they were worried about your health.—

At those words, the happy smile that had been on Min-hyuk’s face until a moment ago began to turn ice-cold.

After quitting, he had ignored their persistent calls because they were annoying, so it seemed they had contacted his family while bringing up his incurable disease.

—Brother… I heard you have an incurable disease.—

Min-hyuk sighed softly at the sound of her sobbing voice.

“It’s nothing serious.”

—How is Mana Radiation not serious!—

“I’m receiving proper treatment.”

—Just meet me for now. Let’s talk in person.—

“Alright.”

Min-hyuk readily nodded in agreement.

He knew her stubbornness well—she would find a way to see him regardless—so he made an appointment to meet her outside instead.

“Should I wash up and head out for the first time in a while?”

That was what he said as he moved to change his clothes.

He saw the state of his room, which looked like a literal dump, filled with clothes scattered everywhere and leftover food.

He began to move, thinking he needed to do something about the house, which looked like a disaster zone.

First, he threw the dark windows wide open.

Since it was early summer, a wave of heat rushed in along with direct sunlight, but the sun felt warm and pleasant since he hadn’t seen it in so long.

“Whew… it’s clean now.”

It felt like the room had regained the cleanliness it had back when he regularly tidied up while working at the Monster Management Office.

Perhaps because he had neglected it for so long, several large trash bags were filled to the brim.

After finishing the cleaning, he immediately showered and prepared to head out to the meeting place.

“Brother!”

As soon as she saw him at the designated spot, Min-hyuk smirked at the sight of his sister rushing toward him urgently.

“Anyone watching would think I can’t even walk on my own.”

“…Huh?”

Was it because he looked different from what she had heard?

She stared at Min-hyuk blankly with a bewildered expression at his healthy appearance.

She had definitely heard that he looked like he was at death’s door.

They had even suggested that since he wasn’t answering his phone, he might be in a dangerous state.

“You look healthier than I thought? They definitely said you’d be in a dangerous situation….”

It wasn’t a lie.

If he hadn’t awakened, he would have lived every day feeling like he was dying.

But that was no longer the case.

“Let’s go inside and talk for now.”

“Huh? Oh, okay….”

Confused, his sister followed Min-hyuk inside, brought over some coffee, and sat at a table by the window.

“What happened?”

“What was bound to happen eventually.”

Everyone lives with the thought that Mana Radiation might accumulate in their body and cause illness.

Because of this, non-awakened individuals usually work for a maximum of three to five years.

If they don’t awaken during that time, it’s common to give up and look for other work.

However, Min-hyuk had worked for a staggering ten years.

“I worked for ten years, so I lasted a long time.”

“Exactly. I told you to quit a long time ago.”

Min-hyuk smirked as he watched his sister speak reproachfully.

“Anyway, Min-hye. How have you been lately?”

“Me? Nothing much. It’s not like I work at a strange place like you, Brother.”

“What do you mean ‘normal’….”

Was it normal to study hard and be in a Master’s program at Korea University?

To an average person, it would sound like nonsense.

“Isn’t it basically decided that you’ll go for your Doctorate?”

Was it because of him?

He had heard rumors that she was studying Monster Science properly and was already quickly making a name for herself in that field.

“I don’t know. But even if I quit now, there are plenty of places to go.”

He smirked at his sister’s confident appearance.

“All that hard work paid off.”

“That’s why you should live your own life now, Brother.”

As soon as he turned twenty, he studied monster anatomy and immediately joined a small company in charge of monster butchering.

There, he accidentally caught the eye of an employee from the then-expanding Monster Management Office and was scouted.

He remembered looking for a job urgently back then because his family was on the brink of bankruptcy.

‘I was even exempt from military service as a special industrial worker.’

Because it was such a grueling and high-risk occupation, he remembered thinking he would rather have just gone to the army back then.

Specialized protective suits didn’t have good performance like they do now, either.

‘Has it already been ten years?’

He took a sip of his coffee, feeling that time passed faster than he thought.

“Are you listening?”

“I am.”

“Don’t lie.”

“Ahem. How are Mom and Dad?”

Min-hye glared at Min-hyuk, who was trying to change the subject, and sighed.

“Thanks to you, they settled into the mana stone processing industry early, so they’re fine. Their business is gradually stabilizing with the information and know-how you gave them.”

His father had closed his original business, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, and switched industries based on Min-hyuk’s information and the conviction that this field would grow significantly.

In the end, it was a success.

‘Father is quite amazing for deciding to start a company immediately after hearing that information.’

Just as he thought that, Min-hye, who noticed he was daydreaming like a ghost, glared at Min-hyuk with a sharp gaze.

“Ahem! More importantly, tell me about that.”

“What.”

“The part about the Monster Management Office contacting you.”

Min-hye’s gaze, which had been glaring at him, wavered slightly as she saw Min-hyuk asking with a serious expression.

This was because she felt something was off, seeing her brother—who always just smiled in front of the family—asking with such a cold face.

“They didn’t say much. Just… that since you caught an incurable disease, they wanted to help….”

At those words, Min-hyuk burst into a hollow laugh despite himself.

A laugh leaked out, but to Min-hye, it was a voice that felt bone-chillingly cold.

“How?”

“Since field work is impossible, they want you to be in charge of training at the office….”

“They have no conscience, wanting me back after kicking me out. Right?”

“Ye… yeah.”

“What about our parents?”

“They don’t know yet. I only heard it because there’s an employee from the Monster Management Office in our lab.”

At those words, Min-hyuk sank into thought for a moment with a cold expression.

Min-hye asked him worriedly.

“What happened there?”

“…They just judged that it would be difficult for me to continue field work after getting sick, so I was fired.”

“Just like that? Don’t they usually give a handover period?”

“Right? But they just told me to leave.”

From those words, Min-hye was certain there had been a problem in the resignation process.

However, she couldn’t bring herself to ask more.

“I’ll handle it myself. Just pretend you don’t know.”

“Um… alright. You know your family is behind you, right? You’ve suffered a lot because of us all this time, so rely on us from now on. Why don’t you move back to the family home while you’re at it?”

“I have plenty of money.”

“Use that for your treatment.”

Min-hye told him to come home, saying he should at least save on living expenses.

“No, I really have a lot of money.”

“Hah… how much could a government agency possibly give you?”

“It’s true though….”

He wore a frustrated expression seeing that Min-hye wouldn’t believe him at all.

“Let’s go eat. Since you’re here, I’ll buy you something delicious.”

“Use my card. I have a lot of money.”

“You have a lot of expenses coming up, so save it!”

He smirked, watching Min-hye walk ahead as if his suggestion was out of the question.

“But what are we going to eat?”

“Spicy stir-fried pork.”

“Something else.”

“Pork cutlet.”

“Not that!”

“Blood sausage soup?”

“I’m an idiot for even asking.”

Watching Min-hye hit her chest in frustration, he smiled unconsciously as he thought of the old days.

In the end, everything Min-hyuk suggested was rejected, and they parted ways after eating boiled chicken soup for his health.

—I’ll visit often.—

Min-hyuk let out a smirk at the text from Min-hye, who seemed ready to visit even if he told her not to.

He returned home and looked at the pile of messages.

“I guess a problem finally cropped up.”

The best monster butchery management office in Korea.

The reason he was able to last ten years there as a non-awakened wasn’t simply because he was good at butchering monsters.

Depending on the condition, the butchering method for the same monster varies wildly.

He had passed on those know-hows and stepped up to solve problems whenever they arose.

‘I thought we were comrades….’

Comrades growing the Monster Management Office together.

The pride of contributing to making it the world’s best monster management office.

He thought he had those things.

However, at some point, things started to creak, and the non-awakened colleagues he worked with began to disappear one by one.

Was it because they hated seeing a mere non-awakened receiving a high annual salary?

In the end, they threw him away like a used rag.

Still, he was someone who had played the role of a firefighter whenever a problem occurred at the office.

Even if it was limited to lower-tier monsters, he had handled problems quickly, and now he was completely gone from the field.

His presence might not have been obvious when he was there, but his absence was bound to show.

A problem was inevitable.

“Tsk.”

It was a workplace he had been somewhat attached to, but a clean break is what matters most.

Now, it had become someone else’s business, with not even a shred of affection remaining.

“Well… it has nothing to do with me.”

Min-hyuk, who muttered so, looked at the system window.

Ever since he awakened to EX-grade, he was in a position where he didn’t need to care about the Monster Management Office.

“Hmm… but for some reason, I do want to get back at them….”

Ignoring them was fine, but there was no reason not to take revenge.

However, even as an EX-grade, he had to be careful in the beginning.

Other countries might try to contact him, and there were many cases of assassination if things went south.

Furthermore, there were countless cases where hunters who didn’t know better were tied down by malicious contracts in the early stages.

Even among current S-grade hunters, many were suffering from malicious contracts.

Moreover, even if one awakened to S-grade, their value wouldn’t rise to the level of tens of billions until they were proven to some extent.

There were cases of developing mental illness during the tower conquest process.

Cases of being too cowardly to hunt monsters.

Cases of falling into gambling early on and failing to grow properly.

Because such cases were so common, even S-grades were only truly treated as top-tier once they reached the 30th floor.

That was why he wanted to keep his identity a secret until he had grown to a certain extent.

“Is there a way….”

While rummaging through the system window to see if there was a way, one interesting thing caught his eye.

—17th Floor Walkthrough (Paid)

—23rd Floor Walkthrough (Ads Required)

※Some videos are paid.—

Walkthrough videos that every hunter watched.

“Right. There was this.”

A way to clearly increase his value.

A way to attract attention without necessarily revealing his identity came to mind.

[You have ordered a Tower-exclusive Drone Camera (Highest Grade). Would you like to add the auto-filming function?]

“Yes.”

[The options are….]

“Set everything to the maximum. Add the basic AI option too.”

[Including all options will cost 400 million….]

“I don’t care.”

When he spent over 400 million won at once, the air distorted and a drone equipped with AI popped out.

As soon as he saw it, he immediately stood up and began testing various things.

The next day, the slime and campfire set was posted again.

And at the same time, a post was uploaded to the Hunternet strategy board.

「Everything about the 1st Floor Walkthrough (Paid)」

—Anonymous: Level 1