==
[When an enemy is killed in a single blow with the “Desert Eagle,” the destructive power amplification function is doubled.]
─Increases by 1% per individual, based on a “lower-intermediate 9th-grade monster.”
─If monsters of the same grade are killed repeatedly, the rate of increase will gradually decrease.
===
By placing reasonable restrictions on it and making it necessary for me to put in the legwork myself, I was able to add a very good setting for the SP it cost.
“How is it? Neat, isn’t it?”
Once again, I felt certain about the weapon called a “gun.” I didn’t have to face enemies up close; I could shoot them from afar.
There was no danger, so there was no tension. It was the best hunting method.
“Uh…… you’re really good with guns. Your shooting skills are incredible too.”
“Hahaha. You flatter me.”
I pointed at the boar’s corpse and asked,
“By the way, how much would this be worth? It seems expensive.”
“W-Well, Steel Boars are expensive to begin with, and since you pierced cleanly through the middle of its forehead, even after all the fees are deducted, it should be around 600…… no, about 800,000 won.”
“Oh, jackpot.”
“Please wait a moment. I’ll store the carcass first.”
Bak Suhyeok took a sack out of his backpack. That was probably a magic sack with expansion magic cast on it.
Seeing him struggle to stuff the boar into the sack was pitiful, so I grabbed the boar’s front legs with him.
“I’ll help.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“……This is insanely heavy.”
But now that I thought about it, my strength wasn’t all that great either.
“Ugh. Ugh. Oh, damn. What the hell.”
“Wow~ this guy’s seriously heavy.”
“How are you only realizing that now? Aren’t you an agent?”
“……I guess so.”
“I’ll lift the hind legs for now. You lift the front legs. But we still have to put this in the sack and carry it back, right?”
“Ah, that should reduce the weight by about half.”
“……Only half?”
A sigh escaped me on its own. As expected, Bak Suhyeok was someone Kim Suho only met when he became a third-year. Even back then, he had been miserably poor, but right now…… it was a relief he hadn’t starved to death.
“Ugh.”
“Uuuugh.”
“Come on, put some strength into it.”
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t eat lunch……”
The groans of two grown men echoed for an hour.
At last, we succeeded in cramming the boar into the sack.
“Wow……”
Exhausted, I collapsed onto the ground. My strength and stamina stats definitely must have gone up from this.
“……It’s already seven.”
Before I knew it, the sun had set, and darkness had settled over the field. A chill wrapped around my body, cold enough that being alone would have been frightening.
From the looks of it, today was ending after catching only one monster.
The time that had passed felt a little wasted, but in exchange, I’d made a connection with Bak Suhyeok, so I’d have to be satisfied with that.
“How do we carry this back now?”
“Ah, don’t worry about that. If there’s really no other way, we can call 119. We just have to pay the dispatch fee.”
“There’s a way like that?”
We looked at each other and chuckled.
That was when it happened.
“……Wait a second.”
Rustle. A faint sound came from the bushes over there.
Shh. I put my index finger to my lips and took out my gun again. Then I fired straight toward the direction the sound had come from.
Thud.
There was no scream. Only the sound of a heavy living body collapsing to the ground rang out.
“Uh, what is it this time?”
“A Black Pelican.”
“Pardon?”
Bak Suhyeok probably couldn’t, but I could see it. These eyes could see even a thousand li away.
“……A pelican?”
“Yes. Jackpot. Jackpot. Let’s hurry up and take that too~”
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
Connections (2)
Friday morning, I opened my eyes while lying in bed. The moment I woke up, pain stabbed through my entire body.
A boar and even a pelican…… No matter how I thought about it, I’d only hunted monsters that were far too heavy yesterday. It was a relief I’d arrived before curfew; otherwise, I would have been slapped with disciplinary action and penalty points on top of it.
“Ugh.”
The one fortunate thing was that today was Friday, a day with no physical training. I forced myself up and checked my smartwatch first. Three messages had arrived.
[810,130 won has been deposited.]
[450,270 won has been deposited.]
[The monsters hunted yesterday have been settled. I look forward to working with you in the future. SH Entertainment Team Leader Bak Suhyeok.]
The deposits came in faster than expected. In the case of an exclusive contract, I knew settlements were usually done monthly. Was it because mine was a per-case contract that I received it so quickly? Even so, settlement in a single day—he certainly handled his work properly. As expected of Bak Suhyeok, I suppose.
Thanks to that, I had something to do today. Now that I had money, I could open a securities account and buy up shares of Demonic Merchant. Putting in a light one million won should be enough.
Thinking about this and that, I entered the bathroom.
I washed away the lingering drowsiness with cold water, dried myself off, neatly put on my cadet uniform, and walked toward the Hero Hall where class was held.
*
The first-period class on Friday was “Phenomenal Realm Analysis.” According to the cadets, in exchange for there being no physical training, the most difficult theory class had been assigned. Of course, that had nothing to do with me.
I sat down anywhere and took out my laptop. Ever since I learned that only I could see it, I had been fiddling with it openly like this.
===
▶Sharpshooter
[Lower-intermediate] [Permanent] [Growth-type ─ Proficiency Grade 8] [Proficiency Experience 13%]
─Sharpshooter’s Proficiency
*You become proficient with all types of ranged weapons.
─Clairvoyance
*You can see far away and predict a target’s movement path.
*Your reflexes and perception increase by 0.3.
─Bullet Time
*Limited to actual combat, a total of 10 seconds every 24 hours is assigned to “Bullet Time.”
─Veteran Marksman
*Depending on the value of the target “Kim Hajin’s” immutable stat “Luck,” you can inflict special damage on targets stronger than yourself.
===
I was also quite pleased with “Veteran Marksman,” the lower-tier talent I had obtained after eliminating the Djinn, and my proficiency grade had already reached 8. Well, it was only natural that the lower the grade, the faster the growth speed.
“Sit down.”
While I was admiring my growth, which pleased me every time I saw it, the professor entered.
“As I said before, today will be a quiz.”
After sweeping his gaze over the cadets, he said it without any preamble. Sincere groans burst out from the cadets. Even I had absolutely no memory of hearing that we would have a quiz.
“Ah, seriously? I didn’t study at all!”
The woman despairing in front was Chae Nayun. In the seat beside her, Kim Suho showed her the content he had studied yesterday. Chae Nayun’s face reddened, and she cleared her throat for no reason.
“Now, now. Quiet.”
The professor silenced the cadets in a cold voice and handed out the question sheets. After the sound of paper passing hands several times, I received mine.
Question 1. Describe the monster “Pygmalion.”
Question 2. Describe the Djinn of the Old Evils (舊惡:九惡).
Question 3. Describe the “attributes” measurable in the Phenomenal Realm that humans can manifest.
Question 4……
The ambiguity and difficulty of the questions were far higher than I had expected. The other cadets sighed the moment they saw the contents. But not me. They were all things I could describe using my laptop.
[Pygmalion is a Myeolgwi (滅鬼) with intelligence surpassing that of humans. It generally cannot be seen in the Phenomenal Realm, and it enters humans it has sculpted and impersonates them. Because of this characteristic, there are opinions that it should be classified as a Djinn, but……]
Of course, even if I wrote the answer like this, it would be wrong if the setting had changed. But that would actually be better. If I was wrong, it meant I had learned one more altered setting.
“……What?”
But just when I had finally written down everything,
“What’s wrong with this?”
The laptop suddenly stopped working. In other words, my lifeline stopped working. Cold sweat flowed from the anxiety that swept over me. Since I was in the middle of an exam, I couldn’t do this or that, and then blue letters suddenly appeared on the LCD screen.
[One month has elapsed.]
[The laptop’s functions will be updated.]
[The target “Kim Hajin’s” talent “Observation and Reading” will be strengthened.]
* * *
Every even-numbered Friday of the month, there was a gathering. Yu Yeonha had given this gathering the rather splendid name of a social leaders’ meeting: the “Noble Society.”
Yu Yeonha hoped that this Noble Society would become a crucial connection even after they entered society in the future, but the most important connection, Chae Nayun, did not think much of it. To Chae Nayun, the Noble Society was closer to a reunion where she met friends she had hung out with since childhood.
And today, the gathering place was a coffee shop in downtown Seoul.
“How are your grades these days?”
“Fine.”
“The Jonghak I know is the type who won’t be satisfied unless he’s first place.”
In the afternoon coffee shop, only Shin Jonghak and Yu Yeonha were present. There were no customers other than them. It was a coffee shop on a street with quite a lot of foot traffic even for Seoul, but that was because Yu Yeonha had deliberately given the owner a word in advance.
“I said they’re fine.”
“……Mm, okay.”
Jingle—
The bell hanging at the entrance rang. Yu Yeonha and Shin Jonghak looked that way at the same time.
It was Chae Nayun. Chae Nayun was dressed like Chae Nayun. Blue jeans, and a white shirt glimpsed beneath a black jacket. She wore it like a man, but those graceful curves were more charming than any woman’s.
“Chae Nayun, you came today?”
Shin Jonghak raised his hand in greeting. Chae Nayun strode over, looked around the interior, and said,
“Yeah. But where did all your lackeys go?”
Chae Nayun thought Shin Jonghak went around with subordinates. Among the children of large corporations or guild families, the boys who especially groveled before Shin Jonghak were those subordinates. Though they themselves made excuses, saying they weren’t subordinates but “friends.”
“Extra training. Midterms are soon, you know. They’re probably in the gym.”
“Ah. So they prepare for exams too.”
Chae Nayun sat down with a scoff.
“More importantly, did you do well on the quiz this time?”
“Are you making fun of me?”
“No. You just asked if those guys prepare for exams too.”
“……That’s a little different from this, okay? I’m talking about actual combat, actual combat. What’s the point of being good at theory……”
Unlike when he had been alone with Yu Yeonha, Shin Jonghak took the lead in bringing up topics. Chae Nayun’s answers were the same as usual.
Yu Yeonha quietly watched the conversation between the two. No particular emotions passed between them. It was truly just a conversation between friends. But Shin Jonghak’s expression as he looked at Chae Nayun—the faint smile and tender gaze—did not feel very pleasant to Yu Yeonha.
Grit.
Yu Yeonha quietly clenched her teeth and picked up the coffee cup she had ordered for Chae Nayun. Since it had been ordered thirty minutes ago, it had already cooled to a suitable temperature, but Yu Yeonha released magic power into it. The magic power became intense heat and seeped through the coffee cup.
“Hey. By the way, do you know that guy? Kim Hajin.”
But in that instant, all her concentration scattered, and her ears perked up.
Yu Yeonha found herself joining the conversation without realizing it.
“Kim Hajin?”
“Yeah.”
“……Why him?”
Chae Nayun’s face twisted severely.
“No. Yeonha, what do you think of that bastard?”
Yu Yeonha’s heart sank. Kim Hajin. Normally, there would have been nothing to think about. It would have been either “no interest at all” or “that crazy psycho.”
But now, the situation was different.
He was different somehow. She did not know the depths of him in detail, but he certainly could not be called ordinary. However, Yu Yeonha deliberately hid what she thought.
“……What do I think? He’s just nobody special.”
“No. He’s not.”
Chae Nayun roughly grabbed the coffee cup. At that unusual reaction, Yu Yeonha gulped.
“That bastard. He’s definitely hiding something.”
“What made you angry this time?”
This time, Shin Jonghak asked. As if simply watching the furious Chae Nayun was enjoyable, his face was full of smiles.
“You don’t know? Back when that monster incident happened in Seoul. There was a Djinn at the museum then. But that bastard……”
Chae Nayun stopped speaking for a moment and gulped down the coffee. Then immediately spat it out.
“Aaagh! Ah, hot, fuck! Water, water!”
She panted and searched for cold water. Feeling the knot in her heart loosen slightly, Yu Yeonha cautiously admonished her.
“...Nayun. That’s coffee. Not cold water.”
“How come you haven’t changed at all?”
Shin Jonghak laughed heartily, and an employee hurried over with a glass of cold water.
“H-Here you go.”
Chae Nayun took it and gulped it down.
“Ah, damn it. I burned my whole tongue.”
As if it were still stinging, she went hoo— hoo— and caught her breath before continuing.
“Anyway. That Djinn was unexpectedly strong. Even I...”
Chae Nayun inserted another pause there. Then she gauged the expressions of her two listeners. What had happened back then was still embarrassing to her, so she didn’t particularly want to explain it in detail.
“...had a bit of trouble with him. But fine, if it’s Kim Suho, that makes sense. What I’m saying is, how does an ordinary cadet inflict a fatal wound on that Djinn?”
“What exactly happened?”
“Well, there’s no need to explain it in that much detail. He just blew off one of the Djinn’s arms. With a gun, at that. Does that make sense? With a gun! I’m telling you, it really doesn’t make sense.”
He had destroyed a Djinn’s arm with a gun. It certainly wasn’t something one could believe without seeing it firsthand.
Yoo Yeonha also stroked her chin in thought. She had seen Kim Hajin fight herself. It was true that his reflexes were astonishingly good. But he shouldn’t have had enough destructive power to break a Djinn’s arm.
“Ah, wait.”
Just then, Chae Nayun suddenly grew serious. Her closed mouth, her tense brows—without realizing it, their attention focused on her.
“Don’t tell me he’s a Djinn?”
“...Nayun. If he were a Djinn, he wouldn’t have attacked another Djinn, would he?”
But Yoo Yeonha’s sharp retort quickly dispelled the tension.
“Is that so? Ah, anyway, that bastard’s hiding something.”
“So. You’re saying you don’t like him?”
Shin Jonghak, who had been listening quietly until then, spoke up. Both Chae Nayun and Yoo Yeonha could sense the meaningful implication in his voice.
Chae Nayun pondered for a moment over how she should answer. She knew Shin Jonghak’s personality well. Depending on her answer, that man’s future would likely change quite drastically.
After a brief hesitation, Chae Nayun answered shortly.
“...I’m not sure. Well, I guess you could say that.”
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
Connections (3)
[Update in progress... 79%]
The current time was Saturday, 9 a.m.
As you can see, my laptop was still dead. I had no idea what revolutionary function it was trying to update, but after a full day, it had only reached 79%. In contrast, my state of mind as I waited was so smeared with anxiety that I was about to go insane.
As I was glaring fixedly at nothing but the laptop’s update percentage, an alarm suddenly rang from my smartwatch.
[Kim Hajin’s securities account has been successfully opened.]
“Huh? It worked.”
This was also something I had been slightly anxious about, unsure whether it would go through or not. If I were an adult, it would have been easy, but officially, I wasn’t an adult right now. Also, in this world as well, minors couldn’t open securities accounts without a guardian’s consent. If I didn’t have the status of a Cube cadet, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make one.
Anyway, now that the account was made, I moved quickly.
First, I used my smartwatch to transfer money from my bank account to my securities account. One million won I earned from hunting monsters, plus the two million won I already had, for a total of three million. With that small nest egg, I opened the stock trading program. Unlike the ordinary stock market, the guild stock market operated on weekends as well.
[Guild—Master of Demon Subjugation]
As per the chronological table, Master of Demon Subjugation had already been listed. The price was around 170 won per share.
Since I didn’t really understand complicated things like market fluctuations, short selling, short buying, and whatnot, I cleanly put in a buy order with the entire amount.
[Purchase of 17,647 shares of the guild “Master of Demon Subjugation” has been executed.]
What I needed to do was finished in no time.
But since I felt awkward just sitting still, I tried entering a stock-related café.
“A Gathering of People Who Enjoy Stocks.”
With about 930,000 members, it was the largest café among the portal sites.
I searched for Master of Demon Subjugation there.
[List of new guilds.]
[List of guilds listed this time.]
[The guild market’s been rough lately ㅜㅜ Seems like there’s not much to see among the new guilds either...]
There were no posts focused on Master of Demon Subjugation; most of them only mentioned it in passing.
“Well, what did I expect from an internet café...”
Clicking my tongue, I turned off the smartwatch. In this society, where information itself had become money, there were many cases where even “whether a site exists or not” had to be found out with money. Because of that, experts didn’t even glance at portal sites that were publicly available to everyone.
If they preferred the light side, they would probably make frequent use of information guild intranets, and if the dark side