Chapter 42

­ Searching for Migi (1)

“The original 10,000,000 won plus interest . Payment has been confirmed . ”

At the private moneylender, Park Wuyoung’s words, An Jaehyun turned his gaze towards him . Although it was a mysterious gaze, Park Wuyoung seemed to have figured out what he was thinking, and he smiled lightly .

“Are you suspicious because the trade ended so cleanly?”

“Well…”

An Jaehyun turned around and avoided his eyes . Although he didn’t like the fact that his thoughts were read, it was exactly as Park Wuyoung said . An Jaehyun found it hard to believe that the private loan contract had ended like some bank transfer . That was what private loans meant to ordinary people .

An Jaehyun was expecting them to play tricks on him or ask for more money . He had even walked in after preparing himself for any schemes to come .

Park Wuyoung was quite used to attitude similar to An Jaehyun’s .

“This isn’t a job you can survive in by being nice, but it’s also not a place that tries to screw over customers who pay their dues on time . ”

‘I didn’t think you’d be able to do it though . ’

Park Wuyoung was interested in something else .

When An Jaehyun first came in to borrow money, Park Wuyoung was sure that he would come begging on his knees to save him . Of course, Park Wuyoung had no intention of doing so . Be it selling his body or taking his room An Jaehyun signed as guarantee, he planned to get his money’s worth .

However, An Jaehyun paid back the money much earlier than it was due .

That’s what caught Park Wuyoung’s attention . As such, he stealthily changed the conversation topic .

“I know Warlord makes money, but you must be quite skilled to earn so much in such a short period of time . ”

An Jaehyun did not answer the question . Instead, he asked his own .

“Can I get up now?”

Park Wuyoung also did not answer, and said what he wanted to say . He took out his wallet and gave An Jaehyun his business card . An Jaehyun stared fixedly at the business card .

“I’ll keep it short . If you’re troubled by conversion fees or taxes, feel free to contact me . I’ll take care of it for a much more reasonable price . ”

Only then did An Jaehyun take the business card .

‘Does he think I’m some pushover?’

Even as he took the business card, An Jaehyun sneered on the inside .

He didn’t come see Park Wuyoung without doing his research . Although many private loaners used V-Gears for their business, not all private loaners earned their money this way .

Before returning to the past, An Jaehyun worked at a Warlord workshop, and he saw the workshop owner talking with Park Wuyoung multiple times . At the same time that he was a private loaner, Park Wuyoung also made money from illegal VR game money conversion or trade .

It wasn’t a particularly spectacular business .

To change in-game currency to money, a conversion fee had to be paid . As income tax also applied to money earned from games, many people looked for ways to decrease the conversion fee and tax rate .

Of course, An Jaehyun had no intention to do business with Park Wuyoung .

It was obvious .

A kind private moneylender? Maybe such a thing was possible, but Park Wuyoung certainly wasn’t one .

This was a trap . Once An Jaehyun did business with Park Wuyoung to lower the conversion fee or income tax, Park Wuyoung would hold An Jaehyun’s weakness . It was clear what would happen to those whose weaknesses were held by private moneylenders .

An Jaehyun got up from his seat .

“I’ll contact you if I have the chance . ”

Those were An Jaheyun’s last words to Park Wuyoung .

★★★

Thwack!

With an intense sound of a watermelon breaking, a Skeleton’s head fastballed towards Hyrkan .

“Whoop . ”

After narrowly catching the Skeleton’s head, Hyrkan made a sour face .

“Hey, hey, go easy . Don’t send heads flying everywhere . ”

Hyrkan put the Skeleton’s head under his arm and began beating it with his hammer . Meanwhile, his Skeleton Warriors raised their hammers high, then slammed it down at the Skeleton on the ground .

It was terrifying to see up close, but ridiculous if seen afar . Of course, it was a typical scene for Hyrkan . As such, he was expressionless .

‘I can’t do this anymore . ’

Hyrkan was currently level 39 . Furthermore, he only had 11 percent EXP left to go until level 40 .

From level 30 to level 40, he only hunted Skeletons and Skeleton Warriors . The number of Skeletons he had hunted was well over a thousand by now . He had obtained skeleton-related titles long ago . Rather than to say he was hunting skeletons, it was now better to say he was a skeleton-dismantling machine .

Of course, the result was more than satisfactory . Even Hyrkan was surprised by his level up speed . His profit wasn’t small either . Although Skeletons didn’t particularly give a lot of money, every little bit accumulated to a rather large sum .

However, his happy feeling did not last long .

‘So what if I have money? Level 40 items are too much of a luxury . ’

If he could, he would have sold his current items and bought the best level 40 Rare items using the money he had saved up . However, he had another place to use the 3000 gold and donation money he had .

With the donation money, he had to pay next month’s V-Gear installment fee and Warlord user fee . As for his 3000 gold, he had to buy Magic Power Switching Set, a core uniform for level 30+ magicians .

That was how bad Hyrkan’s current magic power was . Once he became level 40 and learned Golem Summon, he would have even less magic power . He couldn’t throw away Golem Summon either . Golems changed the entire battle paradigm of necromancers . The existence of a solid tanker was a godsend compared to the brittle skeletons .

In any case, what Hyrkan was doing was nothing short of amazing . Normally, it was impossible to get all the items one needed using the money earned through gameplay . Most players spent their own money to buy things .

Even so, the only thing Hyrkan could feel was sadness on the fact that all the money he earned had disappeared into thin air . It was only natural for him to be bitter about it .

“Tsk!”

After clicking his tongue shortly, Hyrkan angrily chucked the skeleton head he had been holding .

Hyrkan’s Skeleton Warriors ran after the skeleton head like a dog with a new toy ball, then began hammering down at the skeleton head . Watching this, Hyrkan let out a light sigh .

‘Never mind beef . Looks like I won’t even eat pork for a while . ’

An unspeakable hunger .

The only thing that could satiate his hunger was Ahimbree, waiting at the Bangtz’s Castle for him to hit level 40 .

★★★

When Hyrkan walked into Ahimbree’s office, Ahimbree drew a symbol in the air instead of speaking . Immediately after the symbol was completed, a book flew up from the pile of books spread out like trash heap . Then, it fluttered towards Hyrkan like a butterfly .

It was his reward .

According to Ahimbree’s Teachings (2), Hyrkan would receive 2 rewards upon hitting level 40 .

A skillbook and Pursuer of Corruption Ring .

Clearly, the book flying in front of him was his skillbook . Hyrkan quickly snatched the book from the air, then silently read its title .

‘Skeleton Science . ’

Hyrkan doubted his eyes .

‘No way . ’

Hyrkan read the title once again . Just like he thought, it was Skeleton Science .

Hyrkan’s expression stiffened up .

‘No freaking way . ’

Skeleton Science .

It was one of the most desired skill for necromancers using Skeleton Summoning . Although it was only a Rare rank skill, its effectiveness easily made it a Unique rank skill .

Its effect was simple . It was a passive skill that raised the stats of all skeletons, while decreasing the amount of magic power used .

‘It’s not impossible to obtain one… but I didn’t think I’d get it here . ’

Hyrkan had learned about this skill from Helgen . When Helgen was explaining good skills for necromancers to have, he gave Skeleton Science 4 stars out of 5 . At the same time, he said the reason he was able to stand out among all the necromancers was because he was lucky enough to obtain Skeleton Science . After that, he said to pay for information to obtain Skeleton Science .

‘First Madness Helm, now this . As expected of one of the seven disciples of the Great Sage . Everything he gives is fantastic . ’

It was above his expectation .

It was a skill he had to obtain one day . Although it was a skill he could obtain if he had the money, he didn’t think he would get it here as a quest reward .

There was more .

“Come on over . ”

Ahimbree called Hyrkan over to his desk . Hyrkan quickly rushed to his desk, after which Ahimbree took something out from his desk drawer .

A ring .

It was a plain ring that had a rock where a jewel should have been .

‘So this is the Pursuer of Corruption Ring . ’

Pursuer of Corruption Ring .

Although he didn’t know its specific effects, he knew it had to be similar to the Pursuer of Corruption Necklace he had . Although necklaces usually had better options than rings, it would still be a fantastic Chronical Unique nonetheless .

Above all, it wasn’t easy to get accessories at this point in the game .

“This ring was made using the Corrupted Stone you brought . It’s a ring that uses the Corrupted One’s powers . Since you brought the stone, you have the right to own this ring . ”

At this, Hyrkan was all smiles on the inside .

‘After what I went through to get that stone, of course . ’

Hyrkan naturally reached out for the ring . He wanted to put it on his finger as soon as possible .

Then .

Swish!

Ahimbree grabbed a hold of Hyrkan’s hand reaching out for the ring . Hyrkan’s froze .

The hell?

Hyrkan asked with his facial expression, and Ahimbree answered immediately as if he had read his face .

“You have the right to own this ring, but it comes with a responsibility . ”

“I will do anything . ”

Hyrkan answered without hesitation . Currently, he was ready to jump into a pit of fire if Ahimbree told him to . That was how happy he was .

“I lost contact with an agent named Migi who was pursuing the root of corruption . His last report came from Churu Castle . Go there and search for him . Then, you will have to finish his mission . ”

[You obtained the quest, ‘Searching for Migi . ’]

Hyrkan had no reason to refuse Ahimbree’s quest .

“Sure, sure . ”

‘I can even tell you who the Corrupt Count is . What’s to finding a person!’

The moment Hyrkan answered, Ahimbree moved his hand and Hyrkan quickly took the ring in his hand .

‘It’s… my… precious . ’

Hyrkan’s face as he put the ring on his finger was exactly like that of Gollum from Lord of the Rings .