novelraw Chapter 17 : Hard Work is Followed by Reward (1)
Chapter 17 : Hard Work is Followed by Reward (1)
Chapter 17 - Hard Work is Followed by Reward (1)
The moon recovered its original color. As the dark clouds mostly cleared, the sound of the rain also subsided.
The sound of a light drizzle quietly wet the road surface.
But the sound of rupturing flesh spread vividly throughout the area.
Not a shred of mercy could be found in the hands of Kang Hyunseong and Yoo Da-hee.
As soon as the two appeared, they mass-produced corpses, as if manufacturing products in a factory.
“A gun...! Just kill me with a gun!”
C-Runch–.
“Why? It'd be a waste of a bullet.”
While Kang Hyunseong crumpled a skull with his bare hands like aluminum foil, Yoo Da-hee provided covering fire from the rear with dazzling skill, leaving bullet marks on the enemies' bodies.
Pa-ting!
With her pistol, from a whole 30 meters away, she succeeded in one divine feat after another, precisely hitting the gangsters between the eyes.
Moreover, her reloading motion was so fast, you'd believe it was a submachine gun.
Lee Taebaek watched, looking fed up. It was a scene that made it hard to tell who were the good guys and who were the bad guys.
“Wait! Just listen to me!”
“Sorry. Can't hear you over the rain.”
“It's a drizzle, what bullshit is this!”
BANG–!
“Geok......”
...Phew.
“Even a drizzle can wet your ears.”
“Bullshit! And it's not my ears, it's my cloth—”
Pa-ting!
Kuheurk– gek.
Every time Yoo Da-hee killed one, she would repeat the unnecessary process of blowing on the muzzle, shooting, and blowing again. He guessed it was probably just for show.
“Oh~ a headshot this time.”
“R-Run! She's a crazy bitch!!”
Claiming to be a doctor by trade, she took the gangsters' lives while humming a tune.
“Go ahead, if you're confident you can run faster than a bullet. A stationary target is no fun to shoot anyway.”
He had thought she was the silent type, but with a gun in her hand, Yoo Da-hee transformed into a tough femme fatale.
“Alright, let's take a break.”
Fumito, the resident psycho, plopped down. Then he buried his back in the mud and stretched out like a starfish.
Rock, on the other hand, scurried about, diligently processing the corpses. For the purpose of collecting post-mortem evidence.
A scene of perfect division of labor. It was a moment where one could see the role of each member at a glance.
Lee Taebaek, using the cover of night, moved cautiously with a sideways scuttle. Toward the money bag full of cash.
It was money that deserved to be doused in oil and burned.
But you know what they say.
Hate the sin, not the sinner.
Because a person can always change.
Likewise, if black money is used for the right purpose, it can be reborn as white money.
To sum it up, how it's used is what's important. And I am, of course, the right person for the job.
Lee Taebaek was ooooonly trying to seize it because he had no other choice. The corner of his mouth turning up was just his imagination.
“...What the?”
His smiling eyes and lips withered into a triangular frown. Anyone could see he was clearly disappointed.
Because the carrier, which should have been full of bundles of cash, was empty. Inside the bag where 10 billion should have been, a puddle of rainwater sloshed around.
Did someone steal it in that short time?
Goddammit, no way.
In this pandemonium, it made no sense for someone to have scraped it clean without leaving a single scrap behind. It would be impossible even for a divine thief from a wuxia novel.
Even while fighting Haiyen, Lee Taebaek had checked on the carrier from time to time. And when he was slaughtering Lukaken Junior, one eye had been on the money bag.
Just like that, on thin ice where he couldn't see a foot in front of him, he had kept his eye on the money. Lee Taebaek had literally risked his life, his attention divided, for a huge windfall.
And yet.
“My money.”
Suddenly, all his arduous effort had evaporated.
Lee Taebaek sighed, looking up at the night sky, then lowered his eyes again. The carrier was still empty. What, was the money water-soluble? He'd heard of checks made from flammable materials for security reasons.
So how does he feel right now?
“Son... of... a... bitch.”
The face reflected in the puddle of water spat out the curse, biting off each syllable. For a Korean, there is no greater expression of emotion.
“My money!”
As he was staring down at the carrier with empty eyes, a status window suddenly appeared in the air.
[The Bug has been fixed, and its remnants have disappeared.]
[List of Bug Remnants- 100,000,000,000 Won.]
The thief wasn't a person, but the status window. It's always darkest under the lamp. He'd been robbed blind right in front of his own eyes.
Okay, he understood. When you fix a bug, the remnants are bound to be deleted along with it. Since the money was a product of that, it made sense for it to vanish when fixed.
Right. That makes sense, but.
“But you're just going to take it away without any warning?”
Then you should have given some notice beforehand. He would have been pissed even if a notification had popped up, but whatever. Reporting it after the fact is crossing the line.
In any case, in any game, the system's way of doing things is always high-handed. Most operators ignore the users' voices and, in the end, do whatever the hell they want.
It feels even more suffocating than when the smoke was thick. He can feel his lungs suffering.
It's really making me lose my mind.
He was just about to let out a satisfying string of curses. Just then, the status window added more text, as if in protest.
[Instead! The 10 billion will be converted into Reputation Points.]
[The Favor of the Chaos Goddess begins its adjustment.]
[10 points will be added to Operator Reputation Score.]
[Name: Lee Taebaek]
Level: 4
Point: ‘10’
☑ Operator Mode Active (Activated)
[Reputation Score affects Authority enhancement.]
[Score is arbitrarily determined according to the value of the remnants.]
[Access to the Operator Menu is possible from 15 points.]
[Build your reputation and try accessing the exclusive menu!]
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“I'm tired of being surprised anymore.”
Only a hollow laugh came out. But the funnier fact was that his sullen mood had lifted.
The money that had evaporated had returned as points. He didn't know their use. An unknown variable he would have to figure out in the future.
But one thing seemed clear. The Reputation Score couldn't be converted for a mere 10 billion, no, it couldn't be measured in something like money at all. An inner voice was whispering so.
The umbrella and sword in his hands suddenly came into view.
He had gotten the Para-Blade, his biggest prize, for free, yet hadn't even been properly happy about it. On top of that, he had monopolized the EXP bonus and the Operator Reputation Score.
The rewards were more than enough to make up for the disappearance of the 10 billion. To want more would make him a shameless scoundrel.
The thought occurred to him anew. In the Neuro-prison, he had only thought of escaping, but now that he was out, it seemed the goal of simple survival wasn't enough to satisfy him.
Humans are just this fickle.
A bitter taste filled his mouth for no reason. Countless obstacles and hardships would be waiting for him. As someone had said, Lee Taebaek would now be the target of various organizations.
Money alone was not enough to fend off that dark cloud.
The means to defend myself. Authority, weapons, skills.
“...Buff and Nerf, Para-Blade, Bullet Time.”
He closed his eyes and opened them. Lee Taebaek's hand moved.
Shhhk.
The thin blade melted into the Para-Blade's shaft, the core of the umbrella. The cleanup seemed to be finished. And so, he sheathed his sword.
Lee Taebaek turned his body from the money bag and began to walk. Rainwater pooled in the footprints he left behind.
The Para-Blade was slung over his shoulder. Just then, the rain stopped. There was no need to open the umbrella.
It was at that moment.
Cling–.
At the same time as the clatter of a shell casing ejecting.
The 9th Battalion annihilated a gang.
......
It was in the early morning of the day Lee Taebaek's group returned to headquarters. The Commander-in-Chief, having heard Kang Hyunseong's report, had urgently summoned the battalion commanders. It was the so-called Battalion Commanders' Meeting.
“It was a sudden summons, but quite a few of you have gathered.”
The Commander-in-Chief stretched his arms and began to speak. His sleeves fluttered.
“I was going to discuss this at the regular meeting, but I felt it couldn't be postponed. It was too good to keep to myself. Hyunseong brought in a real catch. You're all lucky.”
The commander of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Battalion, 8th Battalion, and 9th Battalion. These four were present at the meeting. For a sudden assembly, four people was a decent turnout.
Including the Commander-in-Chief, a total of five people sparsely lined the round table.
Of them, four were seated, and only the 9th Battalion's commander, Kang Hyunseong, was standing. For some reason, a triumphant smile played on his lips. The other commanders shot him a suspicious "What's up with that bastard now?" look before turning their eyes away.
In the center of the round table, a 3D holographic video was floating. It was the footage recorded by Rock.
“That black-haired guy… What's his identity?!”
The voice that broke the silence belonged to the 3rd Battalion's commander. She was so flustered that she shouted with the teacup still pressed to her lips.
“This makes no sense!! Making the ground sink wherever he steps is clearly magic, so why is he so good at close-quarters combat?! Martial arts? Is he a martial artist like me?”
“How is that martial arts? Have you ever seen a martial artist use smoke bombs before charging in? That's an assassination technique.”
The pedantic-looking man who cut the conversation short was the 5th Battalion's commander. He pushed his glasses up once and groaned.
“But it feels even stranger to call him an assassin. That agility is definitely that of an assassin. But he wasn't even pushed back that much in the contest of strength against Haiyen, that brute.”
According to the briefing, Haiyen had taken some kind of drug before the battle. That drug was likely the foundation that had allowed the weak Triad gang to become a major player overnight.
“Haiyen may have had no background, but he had a lot of potential from the start. Even without those strange bags of drugs, he was strong enough to have eventually joined a major gang…”
The 5th Battalion's commander trailed off.
“And yet he won, even though that Haiyen used a strange drug. He wasn't pushed back in strength, had a clear advantage in speed, and even used magic(?).”
The owner of the sharp jawline kindly elaborated. He was Kang Hyunseong's rival, the commander of the 8th Battalion, Dr. Pepper.
“After your little vacation in the Neuro-prison, you've brought back quite a big fish, haven't you, Hyunseong.”
Pepper said, sounding utterly vexed. The boiling envy and jealousy inside him seeped into his tone.
“No matter how I look at it, he seems too talented to rot away in the 9th Battalion. What do you think about transferring him to the 8th?”
“Fuck off.”
A perfect rejection. A vein popped on Pepper's pale forehead. Kang Hyunseong smiled at the reaction.
“Stop scheming and just finish opening that can of yours, Mr. Sugar Water. You insidious bastard.”
“You'll get a stomachache if you try to eat something you can't handle. Especially in that mad dog unit of yours.”
“That's not something the 8th Battalion, who only dig up dirt on others, should be saying.”
The atmosphere in the room heated up. Across the round table, the two exchanged glares that sparked like flint.
CLAP–!
The sound of clapping came from the head of the table.
“Seeing such a heartfelt reunion makes me happy. But shouldn't we get down to business first?”
The 5th Battalion's commander cautiously tested the waters with the Commander-in-Chief.
“Business, you say.”
“It looks like everyone is fond of Lee Taebaek. And rewarding a member is the unique authority of a battalion commander. Hyunseong, what's he doing now?”
“Probably sleeping. He sleeps a lot.”
“Then how about this. Before Taebaek wakes up, the battalion commanders will each present a reward package.”
“......?”
“He's still a free agent, you see. The reason he operated with the 9th Battalion was for his entrance evaluation; he's not an official member yet.”
The Commander-in-Chief rested his chin on his clasped hands.
“And the person in question will choose the package he likes best. This seems fair, what does everyone think?”
“Are you telling us to compete for a rookie?”
A sharp glint entered the eyes of the 3rd Battalion's commander. The Commander-in-Chief just gave an indifferent nod.
“I said it just a moment ago. That you all are lucky. The commanders who aren't here today can't even participate in the competition.”
“You're joking, right?”
“You're the only one who doesn't look serious.”
She quickly scanned the room. The air had become quite heavy. Before she could even say anything, someone shot their hand up.
“I'll make the first offer.”
“...You? Why...?”
It was the Commander-in-Chief.
“What do you mean, why? I'm a commander, too.”
“But that's cheating—!”
It was the beginning of an unprecedented bidding war.