Chapter 5: Chapter 5

As Lee Jun-cheol checked the accounts in his office, he let out a sigh.

The number of transactions over the past two months had decreased drastically compared to before.

The issue arose because large guilds began monopolizing monster hunting, leaving no room for others to intervene.

“Damn bastards.”

Hunters belonging to big guilds traded only through the association or with merchants contracted by their guilds.

Given the situation, organizations hiding in the underworld could only face extinction.

To escape this quagmire, he needed to align with a guild.

However, it was unlikely for a guild to deal with organizations that thrived on illegal activities.

If things continued like this, he might have to cut down the office workforce significantly.

“Hyung, I’m heading out to make some business.”

Hearing his subordinate’s words, a hint of color returned to Lee Jun-cheol’s face.

A subordinate who consistently brought in results in this recession was an invaluable asset.

“Is that the person you said you were going to trade with?”

“Yes. He keeps calling me every day, insisting that he’s not going to trust anyone else.”

“Don’t complain and treat him well. He’s a valuable customer.”

“Yes, sir.”

After his subordinate replied cheerfully and left the office, not long after, another subordinate jumped up from his seat.

“I’m going out to trade too!”

Lee Jun-cheol checked the identity of the person who said that and showed clear disappointment.

“That’s Jo Hyung-il, the one I assigned menial tasks to…”

“Sure… Just go and come back.”

“Hyung, isn’t that a bit of a different reaction?”

“The people who contact you are all looking for trouble, what can I say?”

Jo Hyung-il’s assigned number was spread among lower-class hunters who seemed ready to sell their legs for cash due to lack of funds.

Occasionally, they might get lucky and trade monster corpses, but those cases were extremely rare.

Even if they did, the scale would be so small that it wouldn’t be worth much.

“This time it’s a bit different, Hyung.”

“Different? How so?”

As Jo Hyung-il spoke with a beaming expression, Lee Jun-cheol’s interest began to pique.

“He wants to sell us the corpses of 15 goblins.”

“What?”

Without even realizing it, Lee Jun-cheol raised his voice and stood up.

“Is he perhaps trying to sell something that even the guild has given up on, like rat meat?”

If one couldn’t even tell if it was a goblin or just a hideous mound of green pancake, it made sense to sell 15 at once.

However, Jo Hyung-il shook his head, denying Lee Jun-cheol’s assumption.

“They say the corpses are intact, except for a few head injuries.”

“Then why sell it to us?”

“You shouldn’t be saying that… Are you planning to stop your business?”

“No, it just doesn’t make sense.”

It seemed absurd to think that such well-preserved corpses would trade with an illegal organization instead of the association.

“I guess I’ll have to follow along.”

“Wait? Didn’t you say you were feeling off today and were going home early?”

“Shut up and tell me the trading location.”

As Lee Jun-cheol put on his coat, he continued,

“Have the kids wait in the back.”

“Are you going to make an example of them if this is a scam?”

“Are you implying what I think you are? We should at least let them know that playing games with us could end badly.”

* * *

The trading hour agreed upon by Jo Hyung-il and the customer was set for 4 PM.

The current time was 2 PM, just past lunchtime, so preparing now would mean they could arrive without being late.

Lee Jun-cheol’s instructed subordinates rushed to the trading location first and hid in an inconspicuous spot.

Since the trading spot was an abandoned underground parking lot, there was plenty of hiding space.

As Lee Jun-cheol and Jo Hyung-il arrived at the scene, their subordinates held their breaths behind cars and columns.

And soon after, the contact Jo Hyung-il had reached out to appeared right on time.

Once Lee Jun-cheol saw Kang Jin-hyuk’s face, he internally scoffed.

“Looks fine on the outside, but he’s a total rookie.”

Although he stood tall with his waist and shoulders straight, it only made him look even more foolish in Lee Jun-cheol’s eyes.

To him, Jin-hyuk resembled a herbivore trying to appear larger by puffing out.

“Is this guy really carrying the corpses of 15 goblins?”

At first glance, it didn’t seem like he personally captured that many.

Lee Jun-cheol thought that this rookie hunter couldn’t have evaded the eyes of large guilds to secretly hunt a large number of goblins.

So he directly made a request as soon as he saw Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Can I check the goblin corpses first?”

Skipping even basic greetings, Kang Jin-hyuk appeared flustered.

“Is this how trades usually go?”

Despite being rude, it wasn’t an unreasonable request.

Jin-hyuk soon regained his composure and began pulling out the goblin corpses one by one from his inventory, as Lee Jun-cheol requested.

Each time a goblin corpse was stacked in the middle of the parking lot, the expressions of Lee Jun-cheol and Jo Hyung-il changed.

Lee Jun-cheol was taken aback by the sight of genuine goblin corpses, as he had been doubting their authenticity.

“Okay, that’s definitely 15 corpses.”

There was no need to count them with his fingers.

Lined up in the parking lot were exactly 15 goblin corpses.

“…How much are you thinking for the price?”

Since the other party was a genuine customer, Lee Jun-cheol had to approach the matter seriously.

As the negotiation started, Kang Jin-hyuk quoted the price he had prepared beforehand.

“How about 5 million won per corpse, including the magic stones?”

“Hmm… The head damage is too severe; I’d say around 3 million would be enough.”

“Hey! Who would use the heads of goblins? Their faces are so deformed they can’t even be used as decor!”

“Haha…”

Jo Hyung-il let out a laugh, but upon feeling Lee Jun-cheol’s glare, he awkwardly coughed.

“Let’s settle on 3.5 million then.”

“450. I won’t sell for any less.”

Even reducing the price by 500,000 won meant a total of 7.5 million lost.

Kang Jin-hyuk had no intention of taking a loss.

With so many organizations willing to trade, it would be foolish to sell at a loss.

Lee Jun-cheol sensed that Kang Jin-hyuk would not budge any further.

The rookie hunter’s internal emotions were evident in his expressions and actions, given that he wasn’t accustomed to negotiations.

Lee Jun-cheol didn’t miss this detail; he could gauge Kang Jin-hyuk’s true intentions just by observing his body language.

“Alright, I’ll take it.”

In truth, the goblin corpses Kang Jin-hyuk brought were high-quality enough to merit a price of 6 million won.

Purchasing 15 of them for 450 million was a huge profit for Lee Jun-cheol’s organization.

“I’ll buy them for the original 5 million you mentioned.”

Jo Hyung-il jumped in surprise at Lee Jun-cheol’s statement.

He rushed over with a frightened face.

“Hyung, what are you doing? Why are you raising the price again?”

“I can’t rate these goblin corpses as anything less than 5 million.”

“So you’re saying that nothing changes despite the buyer crucially losing?”

“What?”

The situation was too dangerous for Lee Jun-cheol to consider taking anything for granted.

“Besides, the customers need to know the consequences of playing tricks on us.”

Not knowing that the cost of jinx would be severe on the part of the seller, he swiftly lowered the price.

Jin-hyuk’s expression revealed dissatisfaction as he shook his head.

“I’ll need to know where you got these before paying 5 million, you know.”

“…I was told that’s not something to be disclosed.”

“Ah, I’m not trying to put the blame on you. You’d have our full loyalty for keeping the secret.”

Jin-hyuk was curious whether his getting those corpses was through luck or skill.

If he had hidden away an area swarming with monsters while avoiding the eyes of a large guild, that meant he was a skilled hunter.

To the naked eye, he may not look like someone experienced outside the hunting grounds.

“What if I refuse to tell you?”

At that, Lee Jun-cheol nodded in reply.

“I’m afraid I’d have no choice.”

Though his outward appearance showed disappointment, inwardly, Lee Jun-cheol rejoiced in Jin-hyuk’s dismissive answer.

Thus, he couldn’t freely share information again.

Failing to share knowledge meant he likely already had plans to hunt and acquire monsters again soon.

Kang Jin-hyuk remained unaware of the underlying maneuvering from Lee Jun-cheol’s side and asked,

“Then there’s no way to negotiate at 500?”

“That’s right. It’s difficult to go above 400.”

Lee Jun-cheol maintained a relaxed smile.

Just because they obtained his secret immediately didn’t mean that they should push him away outright now.

“No problem. I’ll consider it once again.”

The rising goblin corpses he’d acquired remorsefully returned to Jin-hyuk’s inventory as Lee Jun-cheol watched, unable to shake the foreboding feeling settling upon him.

“Should I just give him what he asks?”

The large scale of the deal influenced his decisions as it represented quite an important transaction.

However, if he retracted it, he risked losing out on future trades.

Caught between the two choices, should he risk getting nothing, or take the loss but retain an opportunity?

Lee Jun-cheol fought through the mental struggle when suddenly one of his subordinates came rushing in, pale-faced.

“Monsters have appeared, hyung!!”

“What?!”

It was hard to believe that just as many hunters were desperately searching for monsters, one would appear at such an inconvenient moment.

Lee Jun-cheol realized he had overlooked one crucial detail:

‘Those corpses attracted nearby monsters!’

Attracting monsters with numerous other corpses was a tactic previously practiced by large guilds.

Though they abandoned it due to the less than 10% success rate, it still proved effective under the right conditions.

“What awful luck.”

He couldn’t ever have predicted they would land on the 10% success.

As the panic set in, Lee Jun-cheol observed monsters emerging from both the entrance and the exit.

“Orc!?”

“Quick, contact the association! We’re all going to die!”

“I already did!”

How long could normal humans hope to withstand against two orcs until the association sent hunters?

At least two B-rank hunters were needed to land a hit against a single orc, but here stood two.

If things went poorly enough, the time it took for ramen noodles to cook might be shorter than the way the bodies of those present were torn apart.

“Hey, you’re a hunter, right? Do something!”

Lee Jun-cheol shouted to Kang Jin-hyuk, who had become startled.

“What do you want me to do?”

He had leveled up, but Kang Jin-hyuk still capped at Level 15.

Despite employing plenty of tricks, there was no way he could face off against an A-class threat without any skills.

The orc, however, showed no mercy toward him and ran toward him, roaring at the fallen goblin corpses.

“Uargh!”

The orc came charging like a tank, swinging its heavy club with explosive power.

If struck with such force, it might do away with not just the goblin corpses but also turn his own body into pulp.

Yet against everyone’s expectations, Kang Jin-hyuk remained unscathed.

As if compelled to survive, a red baseball bat flew from his inventory, meeting the orc’s club with a clang.

It was almost as if the bat was saying, ‘Use me if you want to live.’