T7RFHE 18💸

Chapter 18

After taking care of the Reclaimer Kim Min-gyu and equipping the set gear he obtained, Jang Su-nam habitually pulled the crow mask over his face.

Clang!

But the mask clashed with the helmet he was wearing and couldn’t be equipped.

‘Hmm, so it’s finally time to unlock that feature.’

The changed world was fundamentally similar to a game system.
Naturally, there also existed features to hide equipment appearances or overlay one item’s look onto another.

That way, you could keep the performance of the gear while making it disappear for a bath, or disguise yourself with the appearance of other gear for deception tactics.

Yet in his past runs, very few people ever bothered to use this function.

The reason was simple:

“It costs a whopping 50,000 coins just to unlock it.”

Convenient, sure. But the cost-performance was atrocious.

‘Still, in my experience, it’s better to have it.’

In his second run, he had been ambushed by an assassin mid-bath. Ever since then, unlocking this feature had become essential.
And besides, it had plenty of small, practical uses.

‘And this 7th run, I’ve already earned a ton of money early on. No problem.’

He currently had more than 65,000 coins in hand. Even after spending a fortune to unlock the feature, he’d still have plenty left.

‘The real problem is the annoying repetition required…’

Su-nam let out a deep sigh. Then he began stripping off all his equipment.

“Why’re you undressing, nya? Do you have some weird exhibitionist hobby, nya?”

Whack!

“Nyat!!”

He smacked Jelly on the head for spouting nonsense.

“I’m unlocking a feature, that’s all.”

Then he started the tedious cycle of taking off and putting on his upper armor—again, and again.
Jelly gave him the “this guy is insane” look, but Su-nam ignored it.

After repeating the action over 300 times…

“Mini-Hael, call Aria.”

At his command, Hael opened a portal.

“Su-nam!”

Aria stepped through with a delighted face.

“Only half a day apart this time. Do you need something?”

As she spoke, her gaze slid down toward Jelly.
Jelly immediately flinched back and hid behind Su-nam.

After all, Aria was the one who had once killed her with salt. The instinctive unease was understandable.

“I want to buy something. Open the shop.”

“Hm? There shouldn’t be anything worthwhile today though…”

Aria tilted her head but obediently opened the shop system.

And then—

“Huh?”

A product she had never seen before appeared on the list.

“That’s strange… The refresh timer shouldn’t be up yet…”

For sale in Aria’s shop was a mysterious item, with no description, priced at an absurd 50,000 coins:

[Random Box]

‘A hidden piece—appears when certain conditions are met before accessing the shop.’

Thanks to the power of his [Savior of Strangers] title, the price was discounted to 45,000 coins.

Without hesitation, Su-nam purchased the Random Box.

“H-hick…”

The sheer size of the transaction stunned Aria. She had just received a 4,500-coin commission in one go.

Her hands trembling, she presented the Random Box to him.

“Th-thank you for your patronage!”

She bowed deeply in gratitude, while the twin maids beyond the portal wore bitter expressions.

The once-revered Imperial Princess had become nothing more than a shop clerk. Naturally, their feelings were complicated.

“Um, Su-nam. I also have something to report.”

Aria straightened her posture, excitement in her voice.

“We’ve decided on a guild name: ‘Rhynesys.’”

“A wise choice.”

It was not only her family name but also the name of a kingdom well-regarded by many NPCs, which would certainly work to their advantage.

NPCs of the same world would instantly understand the guild’s nature.
Even in other worlds, they could get easy explanations about Rhynesys from local NPCs, making for excellent publicity.

“Then, Guild Master Aria of Rhynesys—let’s work well together.”

“And I’ll be counting on you, Su-nam.”

With that, Aria returned through the portal.
Before leaving, she turned gracefully and offered Su-nam a dignified royal bow.

Knowing when to step aside without wasting time—truly, she was every bit the princess.

As the portal closed, Su-nam opened the Random Box.

Flash!

Brilliant golden particles spilled out like smoke, not forming into an item this time, but instead wrapping directly around his body.

At that moment—

[Hidden Achievement ‘Fashion Flex’ unlocked.]

The concealed function was now open. A new tab—[Skin] settings—appeared in Su-nam’s system.

He could now keep gear stats while hiding their appearance.

Clack.

He turned off the helmet’s appearance and once again donned the crow mask.

‘Now I don’t need to worry about gear appearances anymore.’

It was just a small convenience for now, but he knew the time would come when it would prove vital.

‘Time to start the operation.’

Su-nam looked down at Jelly, who was clinging tightly to his leg with fur bristled.
Apparently, Aria had left her a little traumatized.

“…Nya.”

Jelly glanced up, then shot a glare at Mini-Hael perched on Su-nam’s shoulder.

“Don’t you dare report my shameful moments to Aria, nya.”

“I’ll do as I please.”

Mini-Hael replied instantly.

“Nyahh…”

Deflated, Jelly turned her gaze to Su-nam and asked:

“So what now, nya…?”

“We’re heading for White Authority’s headquarters. But first, some prep work.”

“Prep work?”

Su-nam smirked, locking eyes with Jelly.

“Time to put your specialty to use.”

At those words, Jelly’s downcast face instantly lit up.
It was finally time to sow discord among the Hunters.

* * *

Three hours later.

Under the now-darkening sky, Su-nam gazed at a place lit with flickering flames.

From the dawn of humanity, fire had been a gift that advanced civilization.
But depending on the user, it could show an entirely different face.

“Burn it all down!!”
“Bring fiery judgment upon White Authority!!”
“Vengeance for our comrades! Reduce them to ashes!!”

With countless Molotov cocktails hurled by furious Hunters, the eastern tents of White Authority’s headquarters were engulfed in a blazing inferno.

Indeed, fire was such a thing—it could nurture, or it could destroy all.

‘Jelly’s really letting out her stress, huh.’

He had ordered Jelly to use her shapeshifting powers to leak the HQ’s address.
And while at it, to incite the Hunters into storming it immediately.

“Those devils!!”
“They used humans as lab rats?!”

With fabricated rumors and endless provocation, Jelly poured oil onto the Hunters’ anger.
Already furious over the Goblin Plague and the zombie incidents, they were easily pushed into action.

Now, swarms of Hunters were rampaging against HQ, turning the eastern compound into hellfire.

And Jelly? She was still in the crowd, taking on different voices, fanning the flames of rage even further.

‘At this rate, slipping inside will be easy.’

Most of HQ’s guards had been pulled to the east.
The rear defenses were full of holes.

Su-nam vaulted the fence and infiltrated the compound with ease, heading into the grounds of the Gasu-won advanced hospital.

‘Now, where would Pi Gwang-seok be hiding…’

Fleeing was unlikely.
As a Collector, he would never abandon the massive chaos energy stirred up in his guild.

‘Hmm.’

Su-nam scanned the rooftops.

No sign of the large chaos-energy collectors that resembled air purifiers.
Instead, he spotted guild members lugging away smaller, household-sized units toward the east.

‘So the only large collectors were the ones at base camp.’

He followed their direction. Such valuable devices wouldn’t be stored just anywhere.
Wherever they were headed had to be important—perhaps where Pi Gwang-seok was.

‘Of course. The underground parking lot.’

Sure enough, the trail led him to the entrance of a parking structure.

For all its size, White Authority was still just a rookie-zone guild.
They couldn’t afford to outright buy the entire hospital.

So the spacious underground lot had been converted into their main base with large tents.

‘Makes sense. Buying buildings isn’t worth it anyway.’

After reaching E-rank, the Stronghold Construction feature unlocked.
By now—100 days into the tutorial—this was common knowledge, so few wasted money on buildings.

Exceptions existed for places like factories or labs with unique utility, of course.

‘Hm?’

At that moment—

“Still no word from the Second-in-Command?”
“No, sir. We lost contact with base camp and haven’t heard since…”

In the distance, Su-nam spotted a familiar middle-aged man speaking with a subordinate.

‘Pi Gwang-seok!’

At last, his target. Su-nam hid in the building’s shadow and observed.

“This doesn’t sit right… He’s not someone who’d go down easily…”

Stroking his beard, Pi Gwang-seok turned and descended into the parking lot.

Su-nam’s instinct screamed to rush him now and plunge a blade into his back.
But he froze—because of one problem.

‘Wait. Look at that gear.’

This run, Pi Gwang-seok was far better equipped than expected.

Su-nam wore the Goblin Warrior Set.
But Gwang-seok? He was clad in the Goblin Warchief Set.

The difference in rank alone meant a vast difference in stats.

‘In terms of gear alone, I might actually lose.’

In all previous runs, Gwang-seok had never invested this heavily in equipment.
He always strutted around like a scholar, pointing fingers and hiding behind guards, wearing light robes instead of armor.

‘So why is he fully armored now?’

The plan was compromised.

He could kill the man with Overdrive, sure.
But in the middle of enemy territory? That would ruin everything.

‘Looks like I’ll need to go the assassination route.’

Su-nam scanned his surroundings for an opportunity.

And then—

‘Perfect. Just the guy I need.’

A researcher, moving carefully out of sight, was sneaking by.

With his outfit, infiltrating the underground base would be simple.

Su-nam silently crept behind him and pressed a blade to his neck.

“What’ll it be? Hand over your clothes, or die?”

If the owner willingly handed over gear, it could be transferred without coin trade. No need for bloodshed.

“Eeek! You caught me! I’ll give you everything, I swear! Hiiieeek!”

The man panicked and stripped off his guild uniform instantly.

Then, without being asked, he began dumping the contents of his inventory.

‘I didn’t ask for that, but… Hm?’

Among the items, Su-nam spotted something shocking:

A Skill Enhancement Stone.

‘Jackpot.’

All he wanted was the clothes, but now… plans changed.
He picked up the stone without hesitation.

‘This’ll let me boost Mind & Body Training to +2.’

With Gwang-seok’s unusual gear, Su-nam needed every edge possible.
This was perfect.

But just then—

Glitter.

‘Huh?’

The researcher pulled out yet another skill upgrade item.

‘Unbelievable…’

This man was like a walking treasure chest.

Looking closer at his nametag, Su-nam noticed the name:

“Hwang Geum-go” (lit. “Golden Treasure”).

His instincts roared—
This guy would keep coughing up items endlessly if he let him.

And so, Su-nam simply watched in silence, as the panicked Golden Treasure kept pulling one item after another from his inventory.