Chapter 72

After the appearance of monsters, people had no choice but to live with constant anxiety.

The military helpless against monsters that were immune to modern weapons, the emergence and spread of an unidentified virus, skyrocketing prices and a collapsing economy.

A desperate situation with not even a speck of hope in sight

That’s why people became desperate to find even the smallest glimmer of hope.

When Contractors appeared, rumors spread that there was no longer any need to fear monsters.

Announcements claimed quarantine efforts were successful when virus spread decreased slightly, and when it became known that new materials could be made from monster parts, stock prices began to soar.

No one paid attention to studies showing Contractors only slightly slowed monster spread, news of new virus variants, or the fact that the new materials market was smaller than expected.

This was because what people wanted was hope to overcome their harsh reality.

And among the hopes they created, the most talked about were the heroes.

“Did you hear? There’s a guild called Round Knights in England, and they’re doing amazing work.”

“Round Knights is old news. These days it’s all about Metal Warriors from America. They say they have exoskeleton suits that work perfectly in actual combat. It’s like watching a sci-fi movie!”

Heroes fighting monsters to save the world.

The reason for using the term ‘heroes’ rather than ‘hero’ was because there were almost no Contractors who operated individually.

The limits of strength that most Contractors possessed were all too clear, while monsters, even those that looked identical, varied greatly in strength.

Contractors who didn’t want to die naturally gathered in parties or guilds, and as a result, while there were famous groups, famous individuals were extremely rare – you could count them on one hand worldwide.

However, being so rare meant that individuals had far greater fame and recognition than groups.

Those who became heroes as individuals possessed tremendous power that overwhelmed ordinary Contractors, and with that power, they achieved feats that even groups couldn’t match.

Such were Japan’s War God who eliminated the giant turtle that devastated Okinawa, England’s Ark Knight who single-handedly stopped an undead army of 100,000, and Russia’s Ice Queen who perfectly protected her city from the giants’ aerial assault.

And recently, a new hero emerged who achieved feats no less impressive than existing heroes.

A mysterious city that suddenly appeared and began transforming its surroundings and atmosphere, an overwhelming defense barrier that remained undamaged after ten days of bombardment by Contractors and military forces.

In Korea, at a critical moment that could have spread to become a global crisis, a young man who single-handedly rescued hundreds of missing people and escaped, ultimately destroying the city that was the source of all evil.

The young man, Han Yuseong, instantly became a worldwide celebrity.

* * *

-I am that hero.

Clap clap clap!

“Amazing. Amazing! I’d believe it if you said this was a scene from a Hollywood movie.”

“……”

“I heard you got a new title too? That’s something only really successful people get, I’m so jealous.”

“……”

Kang Changseok, who had been trying to lighten the mood with an exaggerated tone and attitude, cleared his throat and sat down when he noticed Yuseong’s cold stare.

Heavy silence.

Only after enough time had passed to drink a cup of tea did Yuseong finally speak.

“Explain yourself.”

“I really just asked for protection because I was genuinely worried about your safety. I had no other intentions.”

“So you passed my information to another user? Even though you knew perfectly well how much effort I was putting into avoiding contact with other users?”

“Uncle Kasim is trustworthy. The things you’re worried about…”

Crack!

Kang Changseok swallowed hard as he looked at the table with its corner torn off.

It wasn’t the show of force that frightened him.

He could do this much just by flicking his pinky finger.

But he couldn’t help feeling afraid of the fact that Yuseong was angry.

Because the connection he had finally made with a user might disappear.

The moment that thought occurred to him, Kang Changseok stood up from his chair and bowed 90 degrees to Yuseong.

“Leaking your information to another user on my own, arranging for a user to meet you based on my personal judgment. These are all my mistakes with no room for excuses. I formally apologize.”

“Have you shared my information with any users besides Kasim?”

“No. Only Kasim.”

“What’s the possibility that Kasim has told or will tell other users about my information?”

“……”

Seeing Kang Changseok bow his head without answering, Yuseong let out a sigh.

Though he had suspected it the moment he heard from Kasim, there was clearly a possibility that his information had been spread among users.

‘I made the right choice stepping forward back then.’

While it might have been different if his identity hadn’t been revealed at all, it would have been dangerous to try living quietly like before when he didn’t know how many users might know about him.

So Yuseong changed his approach.

Instead of hiding in the background, he decided to step boldly forward.

Judging that even the most reckless users wouldn’t dare treat carelessly someone who was a celebrity attracting worldwide attention, he boldly revealed his identity and declared himself a hero in front of countless people and foreign reporters.

Additionally, he had worked to make his presence known by appearing in various media over the past few days.

As a result, Yuseong successfully packaged himself as a protagonist straight out of a B-grade Hollywood action movie – someone who had dramatically escaped after being captured by lizardmen, conducted guerrilla operations to deal critical damage to the city’s central facility, and rescued numerous captives during his escape.

‘Though I don’t know how long this armor of fame will last…’

It would at least buy him enough time until people’s attention faded.

“Um…”

“Information. Give me information about other users. Then I’ll let this incident slide.”

Until now, Yuseong had deliberately avoided asking about other users.

He thought it would be unreasonable to expect others to provide information while wanting to keep his own hidden.

However, now that his information had leaked, the situation had changed.

“I’ll compile and send you everything I know.”

Naturally, Kang Changseok couldn’t refuse Yuseong’s proposal.

After staring at the serious-faced Kang Changseok, Yuseong spoke in a somewhat relaxed voice.

“Good. Now let’s talk about payment.”

“Payment?”

“You forgot? You said you’d pay handsomely if I disabled the barrier.”

“Ah, that? Of course I’ll pay. Money, artifacts, information. Whatever you want. I’ll get you anything I can provide.”

“Really? In that case…”

Yuseong closed his eyes and fell into thought for a moment.

‘What I need is…’

The most urgent need was money.

Until a few days ago, money had been something Yuseong could take or leave, but now he needed to tighten his belt and earn money to repair Dragonia.

“How much money do you have?”

“Money? I have plenty. Won, dollars, yen, euros, pounds, stocks, bonds, gold, silver, gems, art, real estate. In terms of pure assets, I’m probably the richest among users? It’s embarrassing to say, but I used all my user abilities to make money. There’s a reason my nickname is SuperAnt.”

Yuseong, who had been considering asking for money, shook his head.

Money could be easily earned by bringing items from other dimensions.

Of course, using Kang Changseok’s wealth would make things much faster and easier, but since there wasn’t much use for it even if Dragonia was perfectly repaired right now, it had to take lower priority.

‘Then there’s only one thing left.’

Something he strangely hadn’t obtained despite completing numerous quests.

“I want artifacts.”

“There are many types of artifacts. Swords, spears, knives, bows, guns, shields, armor. What do you want?”

“Something you wear on your hands. Like gauntlets or gloves.”

“Gauntlets and gloves. Wait a moment.”

When Kang Changseok waved his arm, the space in front of them distorted and several gauntlets and gloves fell onto the table.

“Pick whichever you like.”

After looking down at the table for a moment, Yuseong first picked up the black gauntlet that was closest.

<Demon’s Arm>

-Grade: C+

-Type: Gauntlet

-A gauntlet made from the torn-off arm of a mid-level demon defeated in a duel. Though difficult to handle due to containing powerful demonic energy and the demon’s grudge, its power is extraordinary. Be careful not to be consumed by the grudge when using.

-20% increase to all fist-based attack techniques.

-Possesses Demonic attribute.

-20% additional damage to Holy attribute beings.

-Strength +30

-Agility +30

-Constitution +40

Performance beyond imagination.

The 20% attack increase alone was incredible, and the stat increases totaled a whopping 100.

‘But the appearance…’

While the performance was excellent, the appearance was problematic.

It wouldn’t be an issue if only used on Earth, but for quests where one couldn’t know what dimension or situation awaited, it was better to have something with a more neutral appearance.

As Yuseong carefully examined the items, his eyes lit up when he discovered a pair of black gloves in the middle.

Apart from some slightly unusual decorations, they looked like ordinary leather gloves that could be seen anywhere.

However, their abilities were far from ordinary.

<Thousand Hands (千手)>

-Grade: B+

-Type: Gloves

-Gloves created at the request of the great Fist Master Palmawon. Special enchantment magic is engraved allowing storage of 3 weapons per side, 6 total, which can be used at will. Stat increases vary depending on the performance of stored weapons.

-Slot 1: Empty

-Slot 2: Empty

-Slot 3: Empty

-Only weapons in the form of fists can be stored.

-Applied stat effect: Sum of all stats stored in slots × 0.5

“I’ll take these.”

Though currently just ordinary gloves with no abilities, they had the potential to become more powerful than any weapon if filled with suitable contents.

Both their modest appearance and everything else about them was exactly what he wanted.

“Is just that one enough? You can take a few more.”

Kang Changseok, who knew about Thousand Hands’ abilities, picked up a gauntlet from the table and held it out.

Since he neither engaged in combat nor fought with his fists, he didn’t particularly value them.

“If you’re giving more, could I have something else instead of that?”

“What do you want? Inner armor? Treasures? Shoes?”

“Forget those, give me money.”

“……”

“What? Why? You said you’d give me what I wanted. Don’t want to give money?”

“No, that’s not it… Fine.”

Kang Changseok, wearing a sour expression, took out a black card from his wallet and handed it to Yuseong.

“It’s connected to one of my accounts. I don’t know how much you need, but with that one card you won’t have to worry about running out of money no matter what you do.”

“Really? I wonder about that?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, never mind. Well, I have something to do, so I’ll be going.”

Leaving behind a dazed Kang Changseok, Yuseong left the room and took out his smartphone, tapping the name at the top of his call list.

-Seoul Auction House Jin Han-su

‘Won’t have to worry about running out of money?’

Yuseong would bet his entire fortune that Kang Changseok’s card wouldn’t last even a day.