Corpses of several monsters scattered all over the floor of the templeâs basement.
Goblins, Kobolds, and even golems.
Jinhyuk faced all these monsters.
He wanted to put them all in his inventory, but thatâs not possible now.
Lying face down on the cold stone floor, Jinhyuk was breathing as if he was fighting for his life.
âI-I canât do this anymore. Even dying is betterâŚâ
âYouâre really. If anyone sees you, theyâd think youâre being tortured.â
âIs this not torture? What kind of person makes a human swing his bat for three days straight?â
âItâs all for your good.â
âBullshxxâŚâ
Although Jinhyuk cursed unintentionally, he knew that Luciaâs words were true.
His list of skills was the proof of the achievements of this harsh training.
[Divine Power â Level 3]
[Precise blow]
[Persistence]
He gained two new passive skills, and the previous one he gained levelled up.
After three days of nonstop effort, Jinhyuk was able to get his hands on it.
An active skill that enables him to use aura.
[Holy Aura]
Materializing the power of faith through aura
Current skill level: F
<Skill Effect>
Strengthens the body or weapon once given aura
Damage caused by aura cannot be offset other than by another aura.
As his body was aching in pain, it became tolerable after he read the skill description.
The effect of the new skill was stronger than what Jinhyuk expected.
The fact that others canât defend against the damage of the aura unless they have aura themselves is a great thing.
Although the skill level is still low, the effect of the skill was enough.
Jinhyuk was satisfied with his achievement.
But it doesnât seem like Lucia is.
Now that he has acquired Aura, Lucia never stopped whipping him and saying that he should develop this new power.
Jinhyuk, who could no longer take it, lied on the floor to protest.
âWhatever. I canât move my body anymore so Iâd rather you just kill me.â
âOhoo, youâre going to do this?â
Lucia loaded an arrow on her bow with a meaningful smile.
Jinhyuk thought that she was threatening him at first, but looking closely at the direction she was pointing at, it doesnât seem to be the case.
Lucia fired an arrow at the end of the hallway, where nothing seems to be visible.
Shortly after the sound of the arrow cutting through the wind, a cry of a monster was heard.
It wasnât a scream of pain, rather of surprise or anger.
âI missed it by a narrow margin on purpose. Itâs going to come over here soon.â
âAre you the devilâŚ.â
What Lucia actually meant was, if Jinhyuk wanted to live, he should get up from the floor soon.
How can a person be so wicked?
As Jinhyuk was admiring the wickedness of the elf, a group of orcs came closer with their clubs up high in the air.
âWhat the heck is this place even? There are orcs here too?â
âWe caught the boss monster and broke the boundary. Thatâs why monsters gathered from different places.â
âThereâs nothing to gain here thoughâŚâ
Jinhyuk had no idea that the monsters were being dragged by the magic of the temple.
In his perspective, the monsters were nothing more than an inconvenience for him.
âF**k.â
Jinhyuk picked up his body with a deeply annoyed voice.
That woman seriously left him alone to die.
*Â *Â *
Lee Juncheol was satisfied with the trend of the business these days.
Jinhyuk gave the saving rope to his organization right when they were suffering from a decline.
The monster corpses that he regularly supplies was of better quality than any other hunters sell.
He doesnât know why such high-quality corpses were being sold to him and not to the association.
Honestly, there are some aspects about their business relationship that makes him uncomfortable, but considering the amount of their transaction and the profits he earned, it was something that he could endure.
âIt only matters to me that he brings in profits.â
Morality was not needed to build credit in this world.
As long as the contract is kept and money is made, thatâs enough.
Lee Juncheol waited for Jinhyuk to come into the conference room. The separate one that serves VIPs only.
He checked the agenda for todayâs meeting when he heard the door open.
âWelcome and comeâ whatâs the matter?â
âItâs nothing.â
Jinhyukâs complexion wasnât very good, and he didnât speak much.
His eyes looked very tired, and his hair seemed flaky.
He looked like someone who just returned from remote areas after suffering for a long time.
Jinhyuk leaned on the sofa as if he was about to collapse.
âIf youâre exhausted, we can hold the meeting some other time.â
âIâm here to collect my money so I wonât be doing that.â
Jinhyuk sighed loudly put a pouch-type inventory on the table.
âI brought in the monster corpses separately, so go check its quality.â
âIf itâs something that Mr. Jinhyuk brought, then I think wonât need to do that.â
Juncheol said that as if he had absolute trust in Jinhyuk, but he in fact doesnât.
He will be checking thoroughly for the quantity and quality of the corpses after Jinhyuk leaves.
It was merely lip service to please Jinhyuk.
âJust as you called for in advance; 21 goblin corpses, 21 kobold corpses, and 6 orc corpses. Is that right?â
âYes, and I want you to check this one out.â
Jinhyuk put a lump of metal with a subtle blue color.
It was the Mithril that he secretly didnât hand over to the dwarf.
âT-this is something Iâve never seen before.â
âCan you check how much itâs worth?â
âI will do that right away. Iâll call in an expert.â
Lee Joonseok recognized in one glance that the metal brought by Jinhyuk wasnât ordinary.
A strange magical energy was leaking from where the Mithril was placed.
Heâs not sure about the details of the mana flowing, but he knew that it had outstanding power.
âIâd like to trade for that metal after it is priced.â
âAlright. Iâll contact you as soon as I can.â
Lee Juncheol carefully picked up the mithril and placed it in a separate case.
He handed over the documents on the table towards Jinhyuk.
The document was organized into one or two sheets of paper, and it contained simple personal information of the companyâs contacts.
âWhat is this?â
This is a list of people who wants the alcohol that you gave me last time. They want to promote it.â
âWhy are you showing it to me?â
âSince youâre the person who supplies the product, shouldnât you know about its production process?â
Juncheol explained that he promoted the alcohol as a high-end brand to high-ranking officials.
The image that he tried to build was of a âtraditional soju enhanced by an outstanding craftsman using traditional methodsâ.
ââŚHow was their reaction?â
âIt was very positive. Itâs safe to say that this business is bound to succeed.â
The soju brought by Jinhyuk was both excellent in taste and rich in mana which restores energy.
âThere are many people who want to pay for it right away.â
âIf there are too many orders, itâs not going to be easy to meet the demand.â
âThereâs no need to worry about that. I established that itâs a liquor made by an individual craftsman, so they know that the supply is going to be low.â
âYouâre very smart.â
âHahaha, yes I hear that a lot.â
But the truth was, Juncheol didnât do it for Jinhyuk.
Even if the supply could meet the demand, Juncheol would have done the same thing. It would be more beneficial for the organization to sell it at a high price by increasing its rarity.
âHow much do you think we should sell this?â
When asked by Jinhyuk, Lee Joonseok realized that the time had come.
Deceiving him here by lowballing Jinhyuk would benefit them greatly.
He wants to do that right now.
However, he realized that greed will always bite back.
Lee Joonseok considered it foolish to do such a thing.
Lee Junseok suppressed his greed and spoke honestly in order to secure future transactions.
âI think 150,000 Won per bottle is enough.â
âIsnât that too expensive?â
The price was too high compared to regular soju.
However, Lee Joonseok was confident that sales would go well even at that price.
âDonât worry. Iâm sure it will sell.â
âHow are you so sure of that?â
âI am confident because of how well it went when I promoted it. If the sales donât go well, I will still compensate you at the same price.â
Lee Joonseok made such a proposal, so Jinhyuk has nothing to lose.
âSoju costs less than 2,000 Won at the convenience store. Weâre selling it at 150,000 a bottle just because I put it in a bottle.â
It was a product that left a more terrifying margin the more he thought about it.
Even if he quit hunter work now, he could live in abundance just by selling alcohol.
âAlright. Then Iâll trust you and leave it to your hands.â
After Jinhyuk agreed, Lee Joonseok bowed his head deeply.
âThank you.â
*Â *Â *
After settling the contract with Lee Joonseok, Jinhyuk went outside with a brighter face.
Itâs funny how his mind becomes lighter the heavier his wallet became.
He feels like heâll collapse right away because of the training given by Lucia for the week.
He felt energized when he thought of the money that would accumulate in his account.
âI should head home and get some sleepâŚâ
Jinhyuk yawned and stretched out his arms and legs.
He sold the monster corpses and even the mithril alcohol, so all thatâs left for him is to rest his tired body.
However, things doesnât always go the way he wanted.
<Current Situation! Current Situation! Civilians on the street, please evacuate immediately!>
The sleepiness completely left Jinhyukâs body as he heard the evacuation broadcast along with a loud siren sound.
For a moment he thought that a war broke out, but the moment he saw a âWyvernâ crossing the sky, he realized what was going on.
âWhat the⌠Why is this going on right here on the streets?â
Wouldnât one or two guilds at least know of this?
There were more than 10 of them at least.
âHow did this happen?â
It was never normal for so many monsters to run around in the open.
Feeling the situation getting serious, Jinhyuk took out his bat from his inventory.
âDonât tell me today isâŚâ
Jinhyuk took out his phone and checked the alert message. He found out that his guess was right.
Heâs not sure whether heâs lucky or not.
Of all days, today was the day of the monthly massive monster invasion.