Chapter 12:

There’s no one in this world who doesn’t know the importance of money.

Even a five-year-old child, who’s barely grown their first few hairs, understands that.

As people grow older and start working, most come to realize the harsh truth:

Earning money is excruciatingly difficult and exhausting.

Unless you were born into privilege or happened to win the lottery by sheer luck,

earning money requires you to continuously create equivalent value.

Because of this, one must always remember how precious money is whenever spending it.

Fail to do so, and one day, you’ll be left with nothing but deep regret.

‘I’m broke. I could’ve sworn I had a decent buffer of cash…’

Clink.

Inside the empty can, a few coins rolled around weakly.

Two 1-credit coins and one 5-credit coin—a total of 7 credits.

That was the change left over from the deluxe chocolate croissant I’d had for lunch today.

Not enough for a full meal. Not even enough for a pack of gum. Yet, this was all the money I had in the world.

Overwhelmed by self-loathing, I covered my face with both hands and rolled around on the bed.

‘Why did the baker have to release a limited-edition special menu now of all times?!’

Of course, the baker wasn’t at fault.

With business booming lately, he’d simply used his newfound resources to ambitiously create a limited-run product.

It was my own stupid choice—falling for temptation and blowing all my money.

‘But still… how could anyone resist that massive golden croissant, gleaming like it was glazed in honey?’

Half in resignation, half in self-reproach, I ended up crumpling the edge of the bed with telekinesis.

Then, feeling dejected, I held my head in my hands and mulled over my situation.

‘Sigh. I never used to care that much about food. But ever since I got this body, it’s like I can’t control my appetite. Especially these days—it’s getting worse.’

Back when I first landed in the underworld, a single hamburger a day was enough to fill me up.

But the more I used my telekinesis, the hungrier I seemed to get.

Over time, my meals quickly grew from one a day to two, then from two to three. It all happened in the blink of an eye.

At this rate, I’d end up becoming a pig with a big round belly.

‘Ugh… well, I guess eating well is good for me. Maybe this tiny body of mine will finally grow taller. But more importantly, I’ve spent all the money I saved up. That’s the real problem.’

I glanced up at the dirty calendar hanging on the wall.

Today marked one week since the nighttime chase with that blonde pervert.

For the past week, I’ve minimized my time outside.

If I ran into that creep again in the back alleys, I wasn’t confident I’d be able to lose him this time.

Naturally, I’d also put a complete stop to my one source of income: stealing bits and pieces here and there.

With nothing coming in, I’d spent my days doing nothing but burning through my funds.

Thankfully, I had saved up a bit of money to buy a bed, so I hadn’t starved right away.

But it seemed that even that buffer had now reached its limit.

I had to do something. Anything.

‘Maybe… just today. Just for a little while, I could try picking a few pockets again…?’

The thought crept into my mind cautiously.

After all, finding work outside seemed nearly impossible for me.

I’d have to hide my body—or at least cover my face—to do any kind of job.

In a city like this, my appearance drew too much attention.

But what employer would hire someone who kept their identity completely hidden?

And if that someone couldn’t even speak and didn’t know the first thing about the world? I’d kick myself out in a heartbeat.

On top of that, I was a walking empty can—useless without my telekinesis.

Yet, using my powers openly came with too many risks.

In the end, no matter how I turned it over in my mind, the only viable option was petty theft.

Oh? Why not just outright steal goods or rob every person you come across, you ask?

Unfortunately, that would be the absolute worst decision.

In this city, there were countless people stronger than me. Why hand them a reason to beat me senseless?

Honestly, my chances of surviving a bungee jump off a skyscraper without a cord were probably higher.

‘Sigh. If only I could speak… There’d be so much more I could do. I never realized how frustrating it is to be mute.’

Ultimately, no matter how I turned it over in my mind, I always circled back to the same conclusion: petty theft was my only option.

I suppressed the creeping sense of unease and tried to calm myself.

But it had already been a week.

Surely the blonde pervert wasn’t still lurking around.

And even if I did run into him again, there was nothing I could do about it.

After all, starving to death wasn’t exactly an option.

With those thoughts, I pushed down my rising fear.

Wrapping myself in the new fabric I had found, I leaped lightly across the western labyrinth’s night skyline.

“Kyahhh!”

‘Found you. A bad person.’

The underworld of Nighthaven hadn’t changed at all in my absence.

As usual, it didn’t take long to find a bad person ripe for some light pickpocketing.

I silently descended into the back alley, and with my telekinesis, I easily subdued the bad guy with a gentle tap.

As he collapsed to the ground, I moved to pull the wallet from his pocket.

But before I could even touch it, I heard the sound of multiple footsteps rushing toward me.

“Found it! It’s the real ghost!”

“Kiheheh! We’ve gotta catch it alive!”

“Woohoo! The 700,000-credit bounty is mine!”

What the…

I instinctively took a step back when I saw the group charging toward me.

They looked like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie, with mohawks and suspicious grins.

And it wasn’t just a couple of them. The alley was packed with people.

I didn’t even have time to grab the fallen man’s wallet. Instead, I turned and fled as fast as I could.

Thankfully, none of them were as skilled as the blonde pervert, so I managed to shake them off quickly.

But something was definitely wrong.

‘W-What’s going on?’

Flustered, I paused my pickpocketing spree and watched the alleys from a rooftop.

“Kyahhh!”

“Is it the ghost? Damn it, no, it’s not! Who the hell dumped a hell-toad in the back alleys?!”

“Those guys with the spiked hair spotted it earlier! The ghost must be real!”

“700,000 credits, where are you? Kiheheheh!”

The back alleys were crawling with an unusually large number of different species.

An alligator-like humanoid with a sword, a dwarf with spiky Heihachi-style hair, and even a fishman wearing a fishbowl helmet.

They were so diverse that I couldn’t even tell what they had in common.

These bounty hunters would respond instantly to screams or noise, rushing en masse to wherever it came from.

Listening to their conversations, I quickly realized what was going on:

They were bounty hunters.

And there was a 700,000-credit bounty on me.

‘Seven hundred thousand credits?!’

That kind of money was enough to live comfortably for a whole year without lifting a finger.

Judging by their frenzied reactions, it was no wonder the bounty hunters were going wild.

‘There’s no way I can pickpocket like this…’

To be honest, none of the bounty hunters seemed particularly strong.

From the way they fought with the back-alley thugs, they were only slightly tougher than the average person.

But their sheer numbers… There were just too many of them.

How bad was it? So bad that by the time I found a “bad person” to steal from, the bounty hunters had already dealt with them first.

I couldn’t even wander around at night safely, let alone pickpocket.

‘Ugh, this is bad. I didn’t see this coming at all.’

This was entirely beyond my expectations.

Even if I had predicted trouble, I would have expected the blonde pervert to still be stalking around.

Who could have imagined the back alleys would be overflowing with bounty hunters?

My grand plan to earn money through pickpocketing was now in shambles.

‘What do I do now…?’

Growl.

Apparently, my tiny stomach didn’t care about my worries and demanded food instead.

Of course, it couldn’t have been a better time.

Feeling despondent, I trudged aimlessly through the labyrinth with my shoulders slumped.

‘How did I end up here…?’

Eventually, I realized I had wandered near Greg’s general store.

Perhaps it was because this area was relatively quiet and seldom visited by bounty hunters.

Subconsciously, my steps had led me here.

Quiet was nice, but… I didn’t have anything to sell right now.

And I didn’t want to risk getting too involved with a main character like Greg unnecessarily.

Making up my mind, I turned to leave without hesitation.

That is, until a certain scent stopped me in my tracks.

‘Ugh, this smell… B-Barbecue…!’

It was a form of violence.

To someone as hungry as me, it was like being leashed by the neck—a brutal assault of fragrant, meaty aroma.

The savory, tantalizing scent was so overwhelming that it made me drool uncontrollably.

‘No, no, no. Greg is just a trustworthy trading partner. I can’t risk creating unnecessary ties like this…!’

“Is that the ghost? Have you come to trade?”

‘Ah.’

By the time I came to my senses, I was no longer on the rooftop.

Instead, I found myself standing at Greg’s shop door, which was half-open.

I couldn’t believe myself. I’d actually caved to the smell of meat.

Overwhelmed by shame and self-reproach, I clenched my eyes shut and lowered my head.

Greg, noticing my sudden appearance, walked over with a puzzled expression.

—

Growwwl!

Suddenly, a thunderous rumble echoed from my stomach.

The sound was so loud that I felt like my entire body had been drained of blood, leaving me trembling with embarrassment.

“…Would you like to eat something?”

Greg, seeming to understand my condition, offered cautiously.

An orc sharing their food…

It was so gentlemanly that it nearly brought me to tears.

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