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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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Chapter 28: Grant Mercy, Let Me Join His Side at Once! (7)
Perhaps Hyunsik had handled the payment quickly, Yeonwoo chuckled when he saw the money deposited into the bank account managed by the Hunter Association.
He’d been meaning to get a phone to gather intel, but this amount of money made the phone seem like a minor expense.
“-Balance: 35,000,000 won.”
A huge sum had come rolling in all at once.
He wondered if there had ever been a time in his life when he had received this much money at once.
As he stood there in a daze, Mulhoe seemed to think it was a chance to show off his paltry knowledge.
“-Cores vary in value depending on their color. F-rank currently displays yellow.”
Being able to tell Yeonwoo something related to Hunters for the first time had Mulhoe nodding confidently, visibly pleased with himself.
"Let’s see, F-rank cores are 10 million won each. The Field Boss's core is 20 million. With 12 regular cores and the Boss core divided four ways… so that’s 35 million? That’s insane."
Yeonwoo, confirming her balance and reading through the pamphlet handed over by the male receptionist at the counter, let out a sigh of admiration.
It was quite a large amount of money, especially for an F-rank field, which practically anyone could manage if they had the guts after awakening.
In the past, people used to just leave the cores lying around, whether they kicked them accidentally or not.
Now, they had turned into pure gold.
Of course, when considering that this was a deadly job where one could die at any moment, and that only a few tens of thousands among the entire population were Hunters, the price seemed fair.
More than that, even an F-rank core held real value.
Compared to the Rune Continent where lives were as cheap as flies due to the hierarchical system, constant monster and other-race invasions, this place could be considered a safe haven.
"That Hunter I collected because she looked pretty turned out to be a jackpot."
He p’d thought this before, but it hit him again, this world was truly unpredictable.
An E-rank core goes for about 20 million won, and typically a field yields between 30 to 60 cores.
The field Yeonwoo first encountered when he crossed into Earth was E-rank, but due to the variable, the Field Boss, the number of kobolds had increased unnaturally.
For D-rank cores, each is worth 300 million.
C-rank: 1 billion.
And the highest difficulty currently in Korea, B-rank field cores, while their prices hadn’t been officially fixed, Yeonwoo remembered when they brought in foreign Hunters once to clear one, and the core that came from it was auctioned off by a corporation for 100 billion won.
It might sound unbelievable, but all of that was the price for a single core.
Considering that even higher-energy cores could appear, it made sense to set a price ceiling.
With rewards increasing exponentially like this, it was no wonder most Hunters focused on raising their ranks.
As long as a field was pre-booked, hunting could be done in a controlled way, keeping the daily supply within reason.
Of course, cores from unmanaged fields that the Hunter Association hadn’t identified would count as extra supply.
But by default, parties consist of at least four people, and you don’t bring back hundreds of cores in one go.
"Is the clear-cut pricing meant to make calculations easier...?"
The average party size ranges from four to as many as seven or eight, depending on the field’s size.
Bigger fields meant bringing more people.
Usually, as long as there was one healer and one frontline tank, the rest of the team could be freely assembled.
Now that he’d grasped the system, Yeonwoo turned to leave.
Relying on his memories, he soon purchased a decent modern smartphone and confirmed he could access the funds.
He then immediately signed a lease on a studio apartment a little distance from the Association.
All the houses, land, and money he’d once had were long gone.
Since he was starting from scratch, he needed a place to live.
The landlord practically jumped for joy when Yeonwoo said a Hunter needed a lease.
It was a bit funny, but apparently, there were benefits to the property when a Hunter moved in.
"Let’s stay here for the time being. I can’t keep searching for a room every time."
The small but cozy room had only the bare necessities.
"Wow! So fluffy!"
Areum, in high spirits, bounced on the bed, and as Yeonwoo calmed her down, Mulhoe asked with a pouty face:
“-This place is quite cramped. It doesn’t suit your image, Yeonwoo.”
"Do I really look that fancy to you?"
“-.....”
With Mulhoe’s silence, Yeonwoo giggled.
Artenis’s lair.
If it was truly her lair, even a decent-sized mansion wouldn’t be enough.
The actual size was comparable to the imperial palace of the Rune Continent.
It had originally been built inside the largest mountain of a vast mountain range that spanned the continent.
Its sheer scale had been awe-inspiring.
"A big, spacious house would be nice. But first, let’s take care of business."
At that, she looked at Yeonwoo with an expression of confusion.
“-But why are you collecting so many spirit stones? I still don’t understand the difference between the empty-shell spirit mages you mentioned and yourself. Sure, Areum is unusually strong, but that’s just because she’s an exception…”
She had long held doubts about Areum’s existence and Yeonwoo’s unconventional spirit arts, but had kept silent.
Now, she could no longer hold it in.
"Basically, I’m using spirit stones for contracts. Everything else has its own purpose."
“-Another... purpose?”
"Yeah."
The purpose was simple.
Yeonwoo intended to summon Artenis using the vast energy stored in collected spirit stones and the power of spirits who had grown into spirit kings.
To do that, the growth of Areum and the other spirits he would contract in the future was essential, as was a large amount of energy packed spirit stones.
Originally, he had planned to summon the spirit kings first to gather the stones quickly, then summon Artenis.
But now, he had to raise Areum and others first.
On Earth, he could be free from all restrictions.
He could meet people, cry, laugh, get angry, nothing would chain her down.
That had already been proven by her relationship with Yeonwoo, who was from Earth.
“-Your spiritual power is indeed strong. But for spirits, couldn’t you just summon them right away? Is this like... saving money in a bank?”
She looked like she couldn’t understand why Yeonwoo was bothering with collecting unfamiliar stones and performing tedious rituals.
It wasn’t an incomprehensible reaction.
Yeonwoo gave her a refreshing smile and replied:
"Nope. If it were that easy, would I be busting my ass doing Hunter work?"
He was so damn cool.
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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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