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Chapter 7
The suffocating silence that hung over the VIP room was finally broken by the return of the branch manager.
“Has everything been taken care of…?”
He pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to freeze in place the moment he saw Seo Ye-rin.
“P-President…?”
“You. Three months’ pay cut.”
“…Y-Yes, understood.”
At the firm command of the woman who controlled the money, the branch manager’s shoulders drooped. But his punishment wasn’t over.
“Pfft! You. Cleaning duty. One month.”
“No! Please, anything but cleaning!”
“No. Cleaning. One month. Your mistake. Your responsibility.”
“Damn it! Do you know how hard I worked to escape cleaning duty?!”
“Angry? Want to die?”
“…No, ma’am. Thank you. I’ll do my best!”
I had no idea what “cleaning duty” actually involved, but judging from the branch manager’s horrified reaction…
It was probably better not to ask.
Seo Ye-rin casually took the candy out of her mouth as she asked, “Want to die?”
It didn’t sound like she genuinely meant to kill him. If anything, it felt half like a joke.
Even so…
Chills.
The atmosphere around her sharpened in an instant.
Her mana must have reacted to her will.
Seo Ye-rin was an S-Rank Hunter who wielded the power of spoken words. Whatever she said carried real power.
I couldn’t sense mana yet since I didn’t possess a Mana stat, but the heightened senses granted by my Infinite stat warned me.
If you don’t want to die, stay away from Seo Ye-rin.
Almost instinctively, I took a step back out of her range.
It was a perfectly natural, subconscious reaction.
“Oh~! As expected. Interesting.”
“…Your senses are remarkable. And you don’t even possess mana.”
Unfortunately, that single action only drew even more attention from the two of them.
“Ahem! I’d like to hear what happened, if possible.”
I cleared my throat and quickly changed the subject to escape their scrutinizing gazes.
“Ah, my apologies. As requested, we’ve already gathered the mercenaries to transport your younger sibling to the Miracle Guild Hospital VIP ward in Seoul. They’ve already departed. All of them are C-Rank and C-minus Rank mercenaries from Black Money, so you have nothing to worry about. As long as the President is involved, no one insane enough to harm a client’s family would dare exist.”
Wow.
I nodded gratefully and bowed toward the branch manager.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, my sister will be transported safely.”
“No, this isn’t enough to deserve your thanks. Considering the disrespect that fox bastard showed you, this much is the bare minimum.”
“Correct. Apology.”
“…No. I’ve already been compensated more than enough.”
An S-Rank Hunter bowed her head to me.
Receiving an apology from someone like her was far more nerve-racking than I had imagined.
“Next, we’ve prepared a residence for you in Seoul. Coincidentally, we recently purchased a three-story house near Miracle Guild Hospital. We’ve decided to give it to you free of charge. Oh, and since the property borders a mountain, ownership of the mountain will also be transferred to your name.”
“For free?”
“Yes. Technically, it’s a mansion the President purchased herself, but she wishes to offer it to you as compensation.”
“Correct. Compensation. I have many houses.”
A mansion worth tens—or perhaps hundreds—of billions of won…
Along with an entire mountain…
For free?
“I won’t refuse. I’ve lived with nothing all my life, so I have no objections to free gifts.”
“There’s no need to refuse. The compensation isn’t over yet.”
There’s more?
This was starting to become overwhelming.
The fox’s mistake must have been far more serious than I’d realized.
Well, it made sense.
Even if Black Money was an underworld bank, it was still a bank. Trust was everything when handling clients’ money.
Their compensation undoubtedly included money to ensure I kept quiet.
Not that I intended to tell anyone anyway.
Why would I go around announcing that I’d committed crimes?
“Wait. Card.”
“Ah! Here it is.”
I handed Seo Ye-rin the card marked with a glowing red “A.”
She lightly tapped it.
The single letter instantly expanded into three.
“VIP?”
“Yes. We’d have preferred to grant you VVIP status, but appointing a VVIP requires a rather troublesome approval process. So, using the President’s authority, we’ve upgraded you to VIP.”
VIP.
That meant the transaction fee dropped to 15%.
Compared to the outrageous 45% fee before, that was a reduction of a full 30%.
I barely managed to suppress the grin threatening to spread across my face and bowed again.
“Thank you very much.”
“No. We simply ask…that today’s events never leave this room.”
“Of course. After receiving all this—and even meeting an S-Rank Hunter—I’d have to be insane to talk about it. As for those mercenaries, I’ll leave them in your care.”
Kang-san and his lackeys.
The men who had been used as bait to trap the fox were probably imprisoned somewhere within Black Money’s facilities.
“They’ve already been dealt with.”
No…
Judging by his tone, they were probably already dead.
“Then… goodbye. I’ll be watching you.”
Only after confirming that all compensation had been delivered—and that I would remain silent—did Seo Ye-rin stand and leave the room.
The instant she disappeared, the oppressive pressure lifted.
“Phew…”
“Whew…”
The branch manager and I sighed deeply at exactly the same time.
“Then I look forward to seeing you again someday, Mr. Shin Ju-ha.”
Only then did I realize he had addressed me by name.
I nodded.
Was that a warning?
Maybe not entirely.
But calling me by my name definitely carried a message.
We know who you are. Watch what you say.
“I understand exactly what you mean. Don’t worry. And thank you again for everything. I’ll be going now.”
“Travel safely! By the time you arrive at your new home, one of our employees should already be there to assist you.”
And so I left Black Money.
With my new VIP card tucked safely inside my pocket, I walked out of the Black Market wearing a thoroughly satisfied smile.
